Topic: Housing — Community Development
Subject: Housing and community development
Date: 2009-08-06 00:00:00

Livable Communities Act of 2010 - (Sec. 5) Establishes in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) an Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC). Requires the OSHC Director to: (1) carry out the grant programs established under this Act; and (2) study and report on development of a housing location affordability index as well as incentives to encourage lenders to make, and homebuyers and homeowners to participate in, energy-efficient and location-efficient mortgages. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 6) Establishes in the executive branch an independent Interagency Council on Sustainable Communities to: (1) ensure interagency coordination of federal policy on sustainable development, among other things; (2) establish a clearinghouse for guidance, best practices, and other information for communities undertaking activities relating to sustainable development; and (3) lead the federal initiative to support healthy housing and eradicate housing-related health hazards. Requires the Council to study and report on how sustainable building features, such as energy efficiency, in housing affect the quality of the indoor environment, the prevalence of housing-related health hazards, and the health of occupants. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 7) Requires the OSHC Director to establish a program to make comprehensive planning grants to eligible entities (partnerships between a consortium of units of general local government and an eligible partner or an Indian tribe that meets specified requirements). Defines "eligible partner" as a metropolitan planning organization, a rural planning organization, or a regional council, or one of these and a state, an Indian tribe, or a state and an Indian tribe. Requires the use of a comprehensive planning grant to carry out a project to: (1) coordinate land use, housing, transportation (including coordinated human services transportation), infrastructure, and environmental planning processes across jurisdictions and agencies; (2) identify potential regional partnerships for developing and implementing a comprehensive regional plan; (3) conduct or update housing, infrastructure, transportation, energy, and environmental assessments to determine regional needs and promote sustainable development; (4) develop or update a comprehensive regional plan or goals and strategies to implement an existing comprehensive regional plan; and (5) implement local zoning and other code changes necessary to implement a comprehensive regional plan and promote sustainable development. Requires geographic diversity among and adequate representation of grantees from small and rural communities, mid-sized metropolitan communities, and large metropolitan communities. Limits the federal share of the cost of a project carried out using such grants to 80% (but up to 100% if the eligible entity is a Indian tribe). Authorizes appropriations for FY2011-FY2014. (Sec. 8) Requires the OSHC Director to establish a program to make sustainability challenge grants to eligible entities. Requires the use of a sustainability challenge grant to: (1) promote integrated transportation, housing, energy, infrastructure, environmental, and economic development activities carried out across policy and governmental jurisdictions; (2) promote sustainable and location-efficient development; and (3) implement projects identified in a comprehensive regional plan. Requires the same geographic diversity among and adequate representation of grantees as for comprehensive planning grants. Allows grants of up to: (1) $3 million to fund local land use, zoning, and building code updates to promote livable communities and sustainable development; and (2) $1 million to fund building code enforcement. Limits the federal share of the cost of a project carried out using such grants to 80% (but up to 100% if the eligible entity is a Indian tribe). Authorizes appropriations for FY2011-FY2014. (Sec. 9) Requires the Secretary of HUD to establish a regeneration planning grant program to make grants to eligible entities (similar to those specified earlier in this Act, but that have experienced a loss in population of 15% since 1970 or a prolonged population, income, and employment loss resulting in substantial levels of housing vacancy and abandonment that are concentrated in more than one neighborhood or geographic area) to develop a regeneration plan. Requires the regeneration plan to: (1) integrate land use, economic development, housing, environmental, energy, food production, recreation, job and workforce development, infrastructure, and transportation programs, policies, and projects to address the special needs of an eligible entity; (2) create a community-driven vision and action plan for reclaiming the most distressed and abandoned areas of an eligible entity, stabilizing transitional neighborhoods within an eligible entity, and building on the strengths and assets of the stable areas within an eligible entity; and (3) develop specified holistic strategies for meeting the needs and goals of an eligible entity, including green infrastructure strategies and creation of new employment opportunities. Specifies geographic diversity and representation requirements for grantees. Limits the federal share of the cost of a project carried out using such grants to 80% (but up to 100% if the eligible entity is a Indian tribe). Authorizes appropriations for FY2011-FY2014. (Sec. 10) Authorizes the Secretary to make or guarantee (up to 75% of) loans to eligible governmental, corporate, or partnership borrowers for infrastructure development projects used to support transit-oriented development. Requires such loans to be repaid, in whole or in part, from dedicated revenue sources, which may include user fees, property tax revenues, sales tax revenues, or other revenue sources dedicated to the project by property owners and businesses. Authorizes appropriations for FY2011-FY2014. (Sec. 11) States tha no housing assisted using a grant under this Act may be made available to an individual who is not lawfully present in the United States.