Topic: Government Operations — General
Subject: Economics and public finance
Date: 2014-06-05 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015 - Title I: Department of Transportation - Department of Transportation Appropriations Act, 2015 - Makes appropriations for FY2015 to the Department of Transportation (DOT), including: (1) the Office of the Secretary, (2) the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), (3) the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), (4) the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), (5) the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), (6) the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), (7) the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), (8) the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, (9) the Maritime Administration, (10) the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), (11) the Office of Inspector General, and (12) the Surface Transportation Board (STB).

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds and transfers of funds appropriated under this title.

(Sec. 102) Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary in this title) or designee to lobby states and state legislators to consider proposals for the reduction of motorcycle fatalities.

(Sec. 103) Authorizes the DOT's Working Capital fund to provide advanced payments to vendors to carry out the federal transit pass transportation fringe benefit program for federal employees.

(Sec. 104) Directs the Secretary to: (1) post on the DOT website a schedule of all Credit Council meetings, including the agenda for each meeting; and (2) require the Council to record the decisions and actions of the meetings.

(Sec. 110) Prohibits the use of funds to compensate more than 600 technical staff-years under the federally funded research and development center contract between the FAA and the Center for Advanced Aviation Systems Development during FY2014.

(Sec. 111) Prohibits the use of funds to pursue or adopt guidelines or regulations requiring airport sponsors to provide to the FAA without cost building construction, maintenance, utilities and expenses, or space in airport sponsor-owned buildings for services relating to air traffic control, air navigation, or weather reporting. Exempts from this prohibition any negotiations between the agency and airport sponsors to: (1) achieve agreement on "below-market" rates for these items, or (2) grant assurances that require airport sponsors to provide land without cost to the FAA for air traffic control facilities.

(Sec. 112) Authorizes the FAA Administrator to reimburse amounts made available from certain fees to carry out the Essential Air Service (EAS) program.

(Sec. 113) Requires that amounts collected for safety-related training and operational services to foreign aviation authorities be credited to the appropriation current at the time of collection, to be merged with and available for the same purposes of such appropriation.

(Sec. 114) Prohibits the availability of funds for paying premium pay (pay for Sunday and holiday work) to an FAA employee unless the employee actually performed worked during the time corresponding to such pay.

(Sec. 115) Prohibits the obligation of funds for an FAA employee to purchase a store gift card or gift certificate through use of a government-issued credit card.

(Sec. 116) Requires the Secretary to make the minimum apportionment for primary and cargo airports to sponsors of airports that: (1) received scheduled or unscheduled air service from large certified air carriers, and (2) had more than 10,000 passenger boardings in the preceding calendar year.

(Sec. 117) Prohibits the obligation of funds for retention bonuses for an FAA employee without the prior written approval of the DOT Assistant Secretary for Administration.

(Sec. 118) Caps at 20% the maximum allowable local share of costs of an airport sponsor or state or local government with jurisdiction over an airport in cases where the operating costs of an air traffic tower under the Contract Air Traffic Control Tower Program exceed the benefits.

(Sec. 119) Prohibits the use of funds to implement, or to continue to implement, any limitation on the ability of a private aircraft owner or operator, upon a request to the FAA Administrator, to block, with respect to its noncommercial flights, the display of the owner's or operator's registration number in the Aircraft Situational Display to Industry data provided by the FAA to the public, unless the data has been made available to a government agency.

(Sec. 119A) Prohibits the availability of funds for salaries and expenses of more than nine FAA political and Presidential appointees.

(Sec. 119B) Prohibits the use of funds to increase fees the FAA Administrator may assess a state, federal agency, public or private organization, or individual to conduct special services or develop special products relating to navigation, transportation, or public safety, until the FAA provides Congress a report that justifies all aeronautical navigation product fees and explains how they are consistent with Executive Order 13642.

(Sec. 119C) Bars the use of funds to change weight restrictions or prior permission rules at Teterboro airport in Teterboro, New Jersey.

(Sec. 119D) Bars the use of funds to close an FAA regional operations center or reduce its services unless the FAA Administrator notifies Congress at least 90 full business days in advance.

(Sec. 119E) Revises the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, with respect to reauthorization through FY2015 of the FAA Center for Excellence for Applied Research and Training in the Use of Advanced Materials in Transport Aircraft, to specify the Center as the FAA Center for Excellence for Applied Research and Training in the Use of Joint Advanced Materials and Structures.

(Sec. 119F) Revises the federal share of the costs for a non-hub airport improvement program (AIP) project located in a state containing unappropriated and unreserved public lands and nontaxable Indian lands of more than 5% of the total area of all lands in the state. Requires the federal share for a non-hub airport located in such a state within 15 miles of another such state to be an average of the federal share applicable to any AIP project in each of the states. (Under current law, the allowable federal share of costs for AIP projects shall not exceed the lesser of 93.75% or the highest percentage federal share applicable to any such project in a state.)

(Sec. 120) Prescribes requirements, including a formula, for certain FY2015 distributions from the obligation limitation for federal-aid highways.

(Sec. 121) Allows crediting to the federal-aid highways account of funds received by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics from the sale of data products to reimburse the Bureau for necessary expenses.

(Sec. 122) Requires the Secretary to make an informal public notice and comment opportunity on the intent of the waiver before waiving any Buy American requirement for federal-aid highway projects.

(Sec. 123) Prohibits the use of funds by DOT to provide direct loans, loan guarantees, or lines of credit for eligible infrastructure projects unless the Secretary notifies Congress at least three days before any loan or credit application approval.

(Sec. 124) Specifies the amount of certain unobligated federal-aid highway funds that shall be available, with specified exceptions, for FY2015 for FHWA administrative expenses.

(Sec. 130) Subjects funds appropriated or limited in this Act to certain safety examination and other requirements of the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 and the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 relating to Mexico-domiciled motor carriers involved in cross-border trucking between the United States and Mexico.

(Sec. 131) Bars the use of motor carrier safety operations and programs funds to deny an application to renew a Hazardous Materials Safety Program permit for a motor carrier based solely on that carrier's Hazardous Materials Out-of-Service rate, unless the Secretary determines the carrier's corrective actions or corrective action plan is insufficient to address the safety concerns that resulted in that rate.

(Sec. 132) Bars the use of funds made available by this Act to enforce any regulation prohibiting a state from issuing a commercial learner's permit to individuals under age 18 if that state had a law authorizing the issuance of permits to those individuals as of May 9, 2011.

(Sec. 133) Bars the use of funds made available by this Act or any other Act to enforce during a specified period the 2011 restart rule ("Hours of Service of Drivers"), which applies to operators of commercial motor vehicles of property subject to maximum DOT driving requirements.

Suspends the 2011 restart rule between the date of enactment of this Act and the later of: (1) September 30, 2015, or (2) the date of submission of the Secretary's final report required by this Act. Makes the restart rule as it was on June 30, 2013, in effect again during this period. Requires the Secretary to publish a Notice in the Federal Register and on the FMCSA website announcing this suspension of enforcement and the temporary resumption period of the old restart rule.

Directs the Secretary to initiate a naturalistic study of the operational, safety, health, and fatigue impacts of the suspended new and the temporarily resumed old restart rule on commercial motor vehicle drivers.

Requires the Secretary to submit to the DOT Inspector General (IG) for review and comment beforehand a plan outlining the study's scope and methodology.

Requires the Secretary, after receiving the IG's comments, to submit to the IG a final report on the study's findings, conclusions, and recommendations on whether the new restart rule in effect on July 1, 2013, provides a greater net benefit than the old rule for its operational, safety, health, and fatigue impacts.

(Sec. 140) Makes certain additional funds available to NHTSA to pay for: (1) travel and related expenses for state management reviews, and (2) core competency development training and related expenses for highway safety staff.

(Sec. 141) Declares that certain limitations on obligations for NHTSA programs shall not apply to any obligational authority made available in previous public laws, except to the extent that the obligational authority has not lapsed or been used.

(Sec. 142) Prohibits the use of funds to implement establishment in the DOT of a National Highway Safety Advisory Committee.

(Sec. 150) Declares that funds provided in this Act for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) shall immediately cease to be available to Amtrak in the event that it contracts to have provided at or from any location outside the United States any service that was, as of July 1, 2006, performed by a full-time or part-time Amtrak employee whose base of employment is located within the United States.

(Sec. 151) Authorizes the Secretary to receive cash or spare parts from non-federal sources to repair damages to or replace federally-owned automated track inspection cars and equipment as a result of third party liability for such damages.

(Sec. 152) Makes amounts available for Amtrak for the operation of intercity passenger rail actually available for distribution only after the Secretary reviews a grant request for each specific train route accompanied by a detailed plan justifying the federal support to the Secretary's satisfaction.

(Sec. 153) Bars the use of funds for Amtrak to pay overtime costs in excess of $35,000 for any Amtrak employee.

Authorizes the president of Amtrak to waive such cap in cases where it poses a risk to the safety and operational efficiency of the Amtrak system.

(Sec. 160) Declares that the limitations on obligations for FTA programs shall not apply to any grant authority previously made available for obligation, or to any other authority previously made available for obligation.

(Sec. 161) Declares that funds appropriated by this Act for specified FTA discretionary program projects which are not obligated by September 30, 2019, and other recoveries, shall be directed to projects eligible to use the funds for the purposes for which they were originally provided.

(Sec. 162) Authorizes certain transfers of any public transportation funds appropriated before October 1, 2014, that remain available for expenditure.

(Sec. 163) Prohibits the Secretary from enforcing federal charter bus service regulations against any transit agency that during FY2008 was both initially granted a 60-day period to comply with such regulations, and then was subsequently granted an exception from them.

(Sec. 164) Authorizes the Secretary, when applying project justification and local commitment criteria to a New Starts project, to consider the costs and ridership of any connected project where private parties are making significant financial contributions to the construction of the connected project. Authorizes the Secretary also to consider the significant financial contributions of such parties to the connected project when calculating the non-federal share of net capital project costs for the New Starts project.

(Sec. 165) Requires the Secretary to consider Small Starts Projects, including streetcars, in developing guidance implementing a Program of Interrelated Projects under a fixed guideway capital investment grant.

(Sec. 166) Requires new bus rapid transit projects recommended in the President's budget submission to Congress for capital investment grant funds appropriated under this Act to be funded from a specified amount of unobligated discretionary funds for the bus and bus facilities program in FY1984-FY2012. Subjects all such projects to Capital Investment Grants Program requirements for New Starts, Small Starts, or Core Capacity projects.

(Sec. 170) Authorizes the Maritime Administration to furnish utilities and services and make necessary repairs in connection with any lease, contract, or occupancy of property under its control.

(Sec. 171) Bars the use of funds by DOT or the Maritime Administration to negotiate or execute, enter into, facilitate or perform fee-for-service contracts for vessel disposal, scrapping, or recycling, unless there is no qualified domestic ship recycler that will pay to purchase and scrap or recycle a vessel owned or operated by the Maritime Administration or that is part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet.

(Sec. 180) Increases from 2% to 4% the amount that may be used from the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness Fund to pay for certain administrative costs.

(Sec. 181) Authorizes the Secretary to require the person proposing a project with design and construction costs over $2.5 billion for the construction, expansion, or operation of a gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facility or liquefied natural gas pipeline facility to pay the facility design safety review costs incurred by the Secretary.

(Sec. 182) Directs the Secretary to initiate a rulemaking or alternative risk-based compliance regime for the siting of small-scale liquefaction facilities that generate and package liquefied natural gas for use as a transportation fuel for domestic delivery via non-pipeline means. Urges the rulemaking or alternative risk-based compliance regime to incorporate the 2013 National Fire Protection Association Standard 59A and industry best practices.

(Sec. 192) Prohibits the availability of the funds in this Act for salaries and expenses of more than 110 political and presidential appointees in DOT. Prohibits assignment of any of such appointees on temporary detail outside DOT.

(Sec. 193) Bars recipients of funds made available in this Act from disseminating personal information obtained by a state department of motor vehicles in connection with a motor vehicle record, except as permitted under specified federal criminal law. Prohibits the Secretary, however, from withholding funds for any grantee if a state fails to comply with this prohibition.

(Sec. 195) Requires the Secretary to notify the congressional appropriations committees at least three full business days before announcing any project competitively selected to receive a discretionary grant award, letter of intent, or full funding grant agreement from certain grant programs, including the federal highway emergency relief program, the FAA AIP, any FRA program, any FTA program other than the formula grants and fixed guideway modernization programs, any Maritime Administration program, or any funding for national infrastructure investments.

(Sec. 197) Makes available for reimbursement of recovery costs any recovered funds that the Secretary has determined represent improper DOT payments to a third party contractor under a financial assistance award.

(Sec. 199) Prohibits the use of funds by the STB to charge or collect any filing fee for rate or practice complaints filed with it in an amount in excess of that authorized for district court civil suit filing fees under the federal judicial code.

(Sec. 199A) Authorizes the obligation of funds appropriated to the modal administrations for the Office of the Secretary for costs related to assessments or reimbursable agreements only when such amounts are for the costs of goods or services purchased to provide a direct benefit to such administrations.

(Sec. 199B) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a program to establish uniform standards for developing and supporting agency transit pass and transit benefits, including distribution of such benefits by various paper and electronic media.

Title II: Department of Housing and Urban Development - Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2015 - Makes appropriations for FY2015 to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for: (1) administration, operations, and management; (2) the Office of Public and Indian Housing; (3) the Office of Community Planning and Development; (4) the Office of Housing and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA); (5) the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae); (6) Office of Policy Development and Research; (7) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity; (8) the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control; and (9) the Office of Inspector General.

Rescinds permanently $10 million from funds previously provided for the General and Special Risk Insurance Funds Program account.

(Sec. 201) Requires rescission of 50% of the amounts of budget authority (or, in the alternative, remittance to the Treasury of 50% of the associated cash amounts) that are recaptured from certain state-, local government-, or local housing agency-financed projects under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1988. Requires such recaptured budget authority or funds, as well as any budget authority or cash recaptured and not rescinded or remitted to the Treasury, to be used by state housing finance agencies or local governments or local housing agencies with HUD-approved projects for which settlement occurred after January 1, 1992.

Authorizes the Secretary of HUD (Secretary in this title), all the same, to award up to 15% of the budget authority or cash recaptured and not rescinded or remitted to the Treasury to provide project owners with incentives to refinance their projects at a lower interest rate.

(Sec. 202) Prohibits the use of funds during FY2015 to investigate or prosecute under the Fair Housing Act any otherwise lawful activity engaged in by one or more persons, including the filing or maintaining of a non-frivolous legal action, that is engaged in solely to achieve or prevent action by a government official or entity, or a court of competent jurisdiction.

(Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary to make a grant under certain authority of the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act for any state that received an allocation in a prior fiscal year, but is not otherwise eligible for an FY2015 allocation because the areas in the state outside of qualifying metropolitan statistical areas in FY2015 do not have the number of cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) otherwise required.

Prescribes a formula for the allocation of such grants to Jersey City and Paterson, New Jersey.

Requires the Secretary to: (1) adjust the funds allocated for FY2015 under the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act to Wilmington, Delaware, on behalf of the Wilmington, Delaware-Maryland-New Jersey Metropolitan Division; and (2) allocate a portion to the state of New Jersey according to a specified formula.

Directs the Secretary to allocate to Wake County, North Carolina, certain funds that otherwise would be allocated for FY2015 under such Act to Raleigh, North Carolina, on behalf of the Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

 Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) adjust FY2015 allocations under such Act upon the written request of a grant applicant for a formula allocation on behalf of a metropolitan statistical area, and (2) designate the state or states in which the metropolitan statistical area is located as the eligible grantee(s) of the allocation.

(Sec. 204) Requires any grant, cooperative agreement, or other assistance made pursuant to this title to be made on a competitive basis and in accordance with the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989.

(Sec. 205) Makes certain funds available, without regard to limitations on administrative expenses, for: (1) legal services on a contract or fee basis; and (2) payment for services and facilities of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), Ginnie Mae, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), the Federal Financing Bank, Federal Reserve banks, Federal Home Loan banks, and any bank insured under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Act.

(Sec. 207) Authorizes any HUD corporations and agencies subject to the Government Corporation Control Act to make expenditures, contracts, and commitments without regard to fiscal year limitations as necessary to carry out their FY2015 budgets.

(Sec. 208) Directs the Secretary to report quarterly to congressional appropriations committees regarding all uncommitted, unobligated, recaptured, and excess funds in each program and activity within HUD jurisdiction, along with additional, updated budget information upon request.

(Sec. 209) Requires the President's formal budget request for FY2016 and HUD's congressional budget justifications to use the identical account and subaccount structure provided under this Act.

(Sec. 210) Declares that a public housing agency (PHA) (or other entity) that administers federal housing assistance for the Housing Authority of the county of Los Angeles, California, or the states of Alaska, Iowa, or Mississippi shall not be required to include a resident of public housing or a recipient of section 8 rental assistance (under the United States Housing Act of 1937) on the agency or entity governing board.

Requires each such PHA (or other entity) that chooses not to include such individuals on its governing board to establish an advisory board, which shall meet at least quarterly, consisting of at least six residents of public housing or section 8 rental assistance recipients.

(Sec. 211) Prohibits the use of funds provided under this title for an audit of Ginnie Mae that applies certain requirements of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990.

(Sec. 212) Authorizes the Secretary for FY2015-FY2016, subject to specified conditions, to authorize the transfer of some or all project-based assistance, debt, and statutorily required low-income and very low-income use restrictions, associated with one or more multifamily housing project, to another multifamily housing project or projects.

(Sec. 213) Prohibits any section 8 rental assistance to any individual who: (1) is enrolled as a student at an institution of higher education; (2) is under age 24; (3) is not a veteran; (4) is unmarried; (5) does not have a dependent child; (6) is not a person with disabilities, and was not receiving section 8 assistance as of November 30, 2005; and (7) is not otherwise individually eligible, or has parents who, individually or jointly, are not eligible, to receive such assistance.

Declares that, for section 8 rental assistance eligibility purposes, any financial assistance (in excess of amounts received for tuition) that an individual receives under the Higher Education Act of 1965, from private sources, or an institution of higher education shall be considered income to that individual, except for a person over age 23 with dependent children.

(Sec. 214) Requires that the funds made available for Native American Housing Block Grants in this title be allocated to the same recipients that received funds in FY2005.

(Sec. 215) Authorizes the Secretary through FY2015 to insure, and enter into commitments to insure, home equity conversion mortgages (HECMs, or reverse mortgages) for elderly homeowners.

(Sec. 216) Requires the Secretary during FY2015, in managing and disposing of any multifamily property that is owned or has a mortgage held by HUD, and during the process of foreclosure on any property with a contract for section 8 rental assistance payments or other federal programs, to maintain any rental assistance payments attached to any dwelling units in the property. Authorizes the Secretary, however, to the extent that such a multifamily property is not feasible for continued payments, based on specified cost, operation, or environmental considerations, to: (1) contract, in consultation with the property's tenants, for project-based rental assistance payments with an owner or owners of other existing housing properties; or (2) provide other rental assistance.

(Sec. 217) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize the Secretary to use Community Development Loan Guarantee funds to guarantee, or make commitments to guarantee, notes or other obligations issued by any state on behalf of its non-entitlement communities.

Repeals limitations on the total amount of outstanding obligations guaranteed on a cumulative basis by the Secretary for any fiscal year.

Requires the Secretary to monitor the use by eligible public entities, as well as states, of commitment amounts authorized in appropriation Acts for any fiscal year.

Repeals the prohibition against imposing a fee or charge on or with respect to HUD guarantees and commitment to guarantee loans.

Requires any state receiving a guarantee or commitment on behalf of non-entitlement areas to distribute all funds subject to such guarantee to the general local governments in non-entitlement areas that received the commitment.

(Sec. 218) Authorizes PHAs that own and operate 400 or fewer public housing units to elect to be exempt from any asset management requirements imposed by the Secretary in connection with the operating fund rule.

Prohibits exemption from such requirements, however, for an agency seeking a discontinuance of a reduction of subsidy under the operating fund formula.

(Sec. 219) Prohibits the Secretary, with respect to the use of funds for the operation, capital improvement, and management of public housing authorized by the United States Housing Act of 1937, from imposing any asset management requirement or guideline that restricts or limits in any way the use of capital funds for central office costs.

Prohibits a PHA, however, from using capital funds authorized for eligible operation and management activities with operating funds in excess of specified permitted amounts, unless otherwise specified under this title.

(Sec. 220) Prohibits designation of a HUD official or employee as an allotment holder unless he or she has: (1) implemented an adequate system of funds control, and (2) received training in funds control procedures and directives.

(Sec. 221) Requires the Secretary to report annually to congressional appropriations committees on the status of all section 8 project-based housing, including the number of all project-based units by region, as well as an analysis of all federally subsidized housing being refinanced under the Mark-to-Market program.

(Sec. 222) Requires the Secretary for FY2015 and thereafter to notify the public through the Federal Register and other appropriate means of the issuance of a notice of the availability of assistance or notice of funding availability (NOFA) for any program or discretionary fund that is to be awarded competitively.

Authorizes the Secretary for such period to make the NOFA available only on the Internet at the appropriate government website or through other electronic media.

(Sec. 223) Requires payment of attorney fees in program-related litigation from the individual program office and Office of General Counsel personnel funding.

(Sec. 225) Considers the HUD-administered Disaster Housing Assistance Programs as a HUD program under the McKinney Act for income verification and matching purposes.

(Sec. 226) Requires the Secretary to take specified actions when a multifamily housing project with a section 8 contract or contract for similar project-based assistance: (1) receives a Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) score of 30 or less; or (2) receives a REAC score between 31 and 59 and fails to certify in writing to HUD, within 60 days, that all deficiencies have been corrected, or receives consecutive scores of less than 60 on REAC inspections.

Applies such requirements to insured and noninsured projects with section 8 rental assistance attached to the units; but not to units receiving PHA project-based assistance under the voucher program, or to public housing units assisted with capital or operating funds.

(Sec. 227) Prohibits during any PHA FY2015 the use of funds, made available for specified purposes of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (including the Section 8 tenant-based rental assistance program), by any PHA for any amount of salary, including bonuses, for its chief executive officer, or any other official or employee that exceeds the annual rate of basic pay for a position at level IV of the Executive Schedule.

(Sec. 228) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to extend through FY2015 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) demolition, site revitalization, replacement housing, and tenant-based assistance grants for severely distressed public housing projects; and (2) grants for assisting affordable housing developed through main street projects in smaller communities.

(Sec. 229) Allows up to $10 million out of funds appropriated for salaries and expenses under all accounts under this title (except for the Office of Inspector General account) to be transferred and merged with amounts appropriated for the Information Technology Fund account.

(Sec. 230) Bars the use of funds made available by this Act for the HUD doctoral dissertation research grant program.

(Sec. 231) Modifies funding requirements for Rental Assistance Demonstration provided in the Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2012. Extends through FY2016 a specified program for conversion of tenant-based rental assistance vouchers to PHA project-based vouchers.

(Sec. 232) Bars the use of funds in this Act provided to HUD to make a grant award unless the Secretary notifies congressional appropriations committees at least three full business days before any project, state, locality, housing authority, tribe, nonprofit organization, or other entity selected to receive a grant award is announced by HUD or its offices.

(Sec. 233) Amends the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 to extend through October 1, 2018, the FHA-Insured Multifamily Housing Mortgage and Housing Assistance Program and the Office of Multifamily Housing Assistance Restructuring.

(Sec. 234) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to modified requirements governing the public housing Capital and Operating Funds.

Authorizes a PHA to establish a Replacement Reserve to carry out certain listed capital activities.

Allows a PHA to deposit funds from its Capital Fund at any time into a Replacement Reserve, subject to specified conditions.

Authorizes the Secretary to allow a PHA, in first establishing a Replacement Reserve, to transfer more than 20% of its operating funds into it.

Allows funds in a Replacement Reserve to be used to carry out capital and management activities and for any purpose in its Capital Fund 5-Year Action Plan.

Exempts funds held in PHA Replacement Reserves from penalties for slow expenditure by a PHA of capital funds.

(Sec. 235) Limits a PHA's use, for capital and management activities eligible for assistance from the Capital Fund, to 20% of any appropriations for FY2015 or any ensuing fiscal year that are allocated to the PHA from the Operating Fund, but only if the public housing plan for the agency provides for the use.

(236) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to revise requirements with respect to termination of tenancy by an owner of affordable housing assisted under such Act for rental.

States that the mandatory 30-day notice is not required if the grounds for the termination or refusal to renew a lease involve a direct threat to the safety of the tenants or employees of the housing, or an imminent and serious threat to the property (and the termination or refusal to renew is in accordance with requirements of state or local law).

Allows a community housing development organization funded by the state to serve all counties within the state.

(Sec. 237) Directs the Secretary to establish a demonstration program under which, during the period between enactment of this Act and the end of FY2017, the Secretary may enter into competitively selected, budget-neutral, performance-based, 12-year agreements that result in a reduction in energy or water costs with appropriate entities to carry out projects for energy or water conservation improvements at up to 20,000 residential units in multifamily buildings participating in:

 section 8 project-based rental assistance programs under the United States Housing Act of 1937, other than section 8 (voucher program) assistance; supportive housing for the elderly programs under the Housing Act of 1959; or supportive housing for persons with disabilities programs under the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act. Prescribes requirements for payment under an agreement, which shall be contingent on documented utility savings.

Authorizes the Secretary to use for the demonstration program any funds appropriated for the renewal of contracts under the specified housing programs.

(Sec. 238) Amends the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1996 to allow national and regional organizations and consortia experienced in providing or facilitating self-help housing homeownership opportunities to use certain grants for rehabilitation of existing dwelling units. Includes planning, administration, and management of grant programs as eligible expenses. Limits them to 20% of a grant.

Requires the Secretary to establish a deadline (which may be extended for good cause) by which time all units that have been assisted with grant funds must be completed and conveyed.

(Sec. 239) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to modify requirements with respect to loan guarantees for Indian housing.

 Requires the holder of a guarantee, before any payment under a loan guarantee is made, among other things to give good faith consideration to making a loan modification as well as meet standards for servicing loans in default.

(Sec. 240) Amends the National Housing Act to authorize the Secretary, in each fiscal year, to charge and collect a fee of up to four basis points of the original principal balance of mortgages originated by the mortgagee that were insured during the previous fiscal year. Requires the use of collected fees as offsetting collections for part of the administrative contract expenses funding and any necessary salaries and expenses funding provided under the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Program Account.

(Sec. 241) Revises procedures under the section 8 rental assistance program for publishing fair market rentals for an area with respect to the amount and scope of monthly assistance payments. Requires the Secretary to publish such rentals at least annually on the HUD website and in any other manner specified by the Secretary.

Repeals the requirement that the Secretary establish separate fair market rentals for Westchester County, New York, and for Monroe County, Pennsylvania.

(Sec. 242) Rescinds permanently all unobligated balances, including recaptures and carryover, remaining from funds appropriated to HUD for: (1) brownfields redevelopment, (2) rural housing and economic development, (3) drug elimination grants for low income housing, and (4) the Youthbuild program under the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act.

(Sec. 243) Requires any sums necessary to implement the Homeowners Armed with Knowledge (HAWK) pilot to be absorbed within the levels appropriated in this Act.

(Sec. 244) Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to authorize the Secretary, for purposes of providing assistance for housing for low- and moderate-income families, to enter into appropriate multiyear agreements, subject to the availability of annual appropriations.

(Sec. 245) Amends the National Housing Act with respect to minimum property standards established by the Secretary to promote energy saving techniques in newly constructed residential housing, other than manufactured homes, subject to mortgages insured under the Act.

Authorizes the Secretary to establish an exception to any such minimum property standard in order to address alternative water systems, including cisterns, which meet requirements of state and local building codes that ensure health and safety standards.

(Sec. 246) Requires the Secretary, in addition to making certain funds available to metropolitan cities and urban counties located or partially located in a major disaster declared area, to provide assistance to any state for use by any non-entitlement area in which there was a major disaster declared by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act in 2014.

Title III: Related Agencies - Makes appropriations for FY2015 to: (1) the Access Board, (2) the Federal Maritime Commission, (3) the Office of Inspector General for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), (4) the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), (5) the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, and (6) the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

Title IV: General Provisions (This Act) - Specifies certain uses and limits on or prohibitions against the use of funds appropriated by this Act.

(Sec. 401) Prohibits the use of funds for the planning or execution of any program to pay the expenses of, or otherwise compensate, nonfederal parties intervening in regulatory or adjudicatory proceedings funded in this Act.

(Sec. 404) Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of funds made available in this Act for any employee training that meets specified negative criteria. Declares that nothing in this prohibition shall prohibit, restrict, or otherwise preclude an agency from conducting training bearing directly upon the performance of official duties.

(Sec. 407) Prohibits the use of funds to support any federal, state, or local projects that seek to use the power of eminent domain, unless eminent domain is employed only for a public use.

(Sec. 408) Requires all federal agencies and departments funded by this Act to report by March 30, 2015, to the congressional appropriations committees on all sole source contracts.

(Sec. 409) Prohibits the transfer of funds made available in this Act to any federal department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government, except pursuant to a transfer made by, or transfer authority provided in, this Act or any other appropriations Act.

(Sec. 410) Prohibits payment of the salary from any appropriation under this Act for any person filling a position (other than temporary) formerly held by an employee who has: (1) left to enter the U.S. Armed Forces; (2) satisfactorily completed his or her period of active military or naval service; (3) within 90 days after release from such service, or from hospitalization continuing after discharge for up to one year, applied for restoration to his former position; and (4) been certified by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as still qualified to perform the duties of his or her former position, but not been restored to it.

(Sec. 411) Prohibits the expenditure of funds appropriated under this Act by an entity unless the entity agrees to comply with the Buy American Act.

(Sec. 412) Prohibits the availability of funds to any person or entity that has been convicted of violating the Buy American Act.

(Sec. 413) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act for first-class airline accommodations in contravention of specified federal regulations.

(Sec. 414) Prohibits the provision of any funds made available under this or prior Acts to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or its affiliates, subsidiaries, or allied organizations.

(Sec. 415) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act to enter into a contract, memorandum of understanding, or cooperative agreement with, make a grant to, or provide a loan or loan guarantee to any corporation that was convicted of a felony criminal violation under any federal law within the preceding 24 months, where the awarding agency is aware of the conviction, unless the agency has: (1) considered suspension or debarment of the corporation, and (2) made a determination that this further action is not necessary to protect government interests.

(Sec. 416) Makes the same prohibition as in Sec. 414 with respect to any corporation with any unpaid federal tax liability that is not being paid in a timely manner, where the awarding agency is aware of the unpaid tax liability, unless the agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and determined that this further action is not necessary to protect the interests of the government.

(Sec. 417) Expresses the sense of Congress that Congress should not pass any legislation that authorizes spending cuts that would increase poverty in the United States.

(Sec. 418) Requires all agencies and departments funded by this Act to report to Congress at the end of the fiscal year a complete inventory of the total number of vehicles owned, permanently retired, and purchased during FY2015 as well as the total cost of the vehicle fleet, including maintenance, fuel, storage, purchasing, and leasing.

(Sec. 419) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act to pay for the painting of a portrait of a federal officer or employee, including the head of an Executive branch agency.

(Sec. 420) Requires the head of any executive branch department, agency, board, commission, or office (entity) funded by this Act to report annually to its Inspector General (or senior ethics official if there is no Inspector General) regarding the costs and contracting procedures related to each conference held by the entity during FY2015 for which the cost to the U.S. government exceeded $100,000.

Requires each entity head, within 15 days of any conference costing the U.S. government during FY2015 more than $20,000, to notify its Inspector General or senior ethics official of the date, location, and number of employees attending the conference.

Declares that a grant or contract funded by amounts appropriated by this Act to an executive branch agency may not be used to defray the costs of any such conference that is not directly and programmatically related to the purpose for which the grant or contract was awarded.

Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act for travel and conference activities that are not in compliance with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-12-12 dated May 11, 2012.

(Sec. 421) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act to send or otherwise pay for the attendance of more than 50 employees of a single federal agency or department, who are stationed in the United States, at any single international conference occurring outside the United States unless the relevant Secretary reports to specified congressional committees at least 5 days in advance that such attendance is important to the national interest. Specifies that such an international conference involves representatives of the U.S. government and of foreign governments, international organizations, or nongovernmental organizations.

(Sec. 422) Requires that any report a federal department or agency must submit to either congressional appropriations committee be posted on the department or agency public website 30 days after receipt by the committee. Exempts a report from this requirement if the posting would compromise national security or the report contains proprietary information.

(Sec. 423) Requires federal departments funded by this Act to report by March 1 a detailed summary of its advertising in the prior fiscal year, including the total amount spent.

(Sec. 424) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act to make bonus awards to contractors for work on projects that are behind schedule or over budget.

(Sec. 425) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act for premium travel by a federal agency that did not provide a report on premium travel to the General Services Administration (GSA) in the prior fiscal year.

(Sec. 426) Requires each federal department funded by this Act to report by March 2, 2015, on its efforts to address the duplication identified in the annual reports on duplication issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), along with legal barriers preventing the department's ability to further reduce duplication.

(Sec. 427) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act to purchase a light bulb for an office building unless the light bulb has, to the extent practicable, an Energy Star or Federal Energy Management Program designation.

(Sec. 428) Requires any federal agency or department funded by this Act to respond in a timely manner to any recommendation made to it by the GAO.