This title may be cited as the “Executive Office of the President Appropriations Act, 2014”.
Title II — Department of housing and urban development
II Department of housing and urban development
Sec. 201
Fifty percent of the amounts of budget authority, or in lieu thereof 50 percent of the cash amounts associated with such budget authority, that are recaptured from projects described in section 1012(a) of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 1437 note) shall be rescinded or in the case of cash, shall be remitted to the Treasury, and such amounts of budget authority or cash recaptured and not rescinded or remitted to the Treasury shall be used by State housing finance agencies or local governments or local housing agencies with projects approved by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for which settlement occurred after January 1, 1992, in accordance with such section. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, the Secretary may award up to 15 percent of the budget authority or cash recaptured and not rescinded or remitted to the Treasury to provide project owners with incentives to refinance their project at a lower interest rate.
Sec. 202
None of the amounts made available under this Act may be used during fiscal year 2014 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 nonfrivolous legal action, that is engaged in solely for the purpose of achieving or preventing action by a Government official or entity, or a court of competent jurisdiction.
Sec. 203
Sections 203 and 209 of division C of Public Law 112–55 (125 Stat. 693–694) shall apply during fiscal year 2014 as if such sections were included in this title, except that during such fiscal year such sections shall be applied by substituting “fiscal year 2014” for “fiscal year 2011” and “fiscal year 2012” each place such terms appear.
Sec. 204
Except as explicitly provided in law, any grant, cooperative agreement or other assistance made pursuant to title II of this Act shall be made on a competitive basis and in accordance with section 102 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545).
Sec. 205
Funds of the Department of Housing and Urban Development subject to the Government Corporation Control Act or section 402 of the Housing Act of 1950 shall be available, without regard to the limitations on administrative expenses, for legal services on a contract or fee basis, and for utilizing and making payment for services and facilities of the Federal National Mortgage Association, Government National Mortgage Association, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Federal Financing Bank, Federal Reserve banks or any member thereof, Federal Home Loan banks, and any insured bank within the meaning of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Act, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1811–1).
Sec. 206
Unless otherwise provided for in this Act or through a reprogramming of funds, no part of any appropriation for the Department of Housing and Urban Development shall be available for any program, project or activity in excess of amounts set forth in the budget estimates submitted to Congress.
Sec. 207
Corporations and agencies of the Department of Housing and Urban Development which are subject to the Government Corporation Control Act are hereby authorized to make such expenditures, within the limits of funds and borrowing authority available to each such corporation or agency and in accordance with law, and to make such contracts and commitments without regard to fiscal year limitations as provided by section 104 of such Act as may be necessary in carrying out the programs set forth in the budget for 2014 for such corporation or agency except as hereinafter provided: Provided, That collections of these corporations and agencies may be used for new loan or mortgage purchase commitments only to the extent expressly provided for in this Act (unless such loans are in support of other forms of assistance provided for in this or prior appropriations Acts), except that this proviso shall not apply to the mortgage insurance or guaranty operations of these corporations, or where loans or mortgage purchases are necessary to protect the financial interest of the United States Government.
Sec. 208
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall provide quarterly reports to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations regarding all uncommitted, unobligated, recaptured and excess funds in each program and activity within the jurisdiction of the Department and shall submit additional, updated budget information to these Committees upon request.
Sec. 209
The President’s formal budget request for fiscal year 2015, as well as the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s congressional budget justifications to be submitted to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall use the identical account and sub-account structure provided under this Act.
Sec. 210
Paragraph (2)(B)(i) of section 3(a) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)) is amended—
in the matter preceding subclause (I)—
by striking “Except as otherwise provided under this clause, each” and inserting “Each”; and
by inserting after “which shall” the following: “not be lower than 80 percent of the applicable fair market rental established under section 8(c) of this Act and which shall”; and
by striking the undesignated matter following subclause (II) and inserting the following: “Public housing agencies must comply by June 1, 2014, with the requirement of this clause, except that if a new flat rental amount for a dwelling unit will increase a family's existing rental payment by more than 35 percent, the new flat rental amount shall be phased in as necessary to ensure that the family's existing rental payment does not increase by more than 35 percent annually. The preceding sentence shall not be construed to require establishment of rental amounts equal to 80 percent of the fair market rental in years when the fair market rental falls from the prior year.”.
Sec. 211
A public housing agency or such other entity that administers Federal housing assistance for the Housing Authority of the county of Los Angeles, California, the States of Alaska, Iowa, and Mississippi shall not be required to include a resident of public housing or a recipient of assistance provided under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 on the board of directors or a similar governing board of such agency or entity as required under section (2)(b) of such Act. Each public housing agency or other entity that administers Federal housing assistance under section 8 for the Housing Authority of the county of Los Angeles, California and the States of Alaska, Iowa and Mississippi that chooses not to include a resident of public housing or a recipient of section 8 assistance on the board of directors or a similar governing board shall establish an advisory board of not less than six residents of public housing or recipients of section 8 assistance to provide advice and comment to the public housing agency or other administering entity on issues related to public housing and section 8. Such advisory board shall meet not less than quarterly.
Sec. 212
Subparagraph (A) of section 3(b)(6) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(6)(A)) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: “, or a consortium of such entities or bodies as approved by the Secretary”.
Sec. 213
No funds provided under this title may be used for an audit of the Government National Mortgage Association that makes applicable requirements under the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.).
Sec. 214
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, subject to the conditions listed under this section, for fiscal years 2014 and 2015, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may authorize the transfer of some or all project-based assistance, debt held or insured by the Secretary and statutorily required low-income and very low-income use restrictions if any, associated with one or more multifamily housing project or projects to another multifamily housing project or projects.
Phased Transfers— Transfers of project-based assistance under this section may be done in phases to accommodate the financing and other requirements related to rehabilitating or constructing the project or projects to which the assistance is transferred, to ensure that such project or projects meet the standards under subsection (c).
The transfer authorized in subsection (a) is subject to the following conditions:
Number and bedroom size of Units—
For occupied units in the transferring project: the number of low-income and very low-income units and the configuration (i.e. bedroom size) provided by the transferring project shall be no less than when transferred to the receiving project or projects and the net dollar amount of Federal assistance provided to the transferring project shall remain the same in the receiving project or projects.
For unoccupied units in the transferring project: the Secretary may authorize a reduction in the number of dwelling units in the receiving project or projects to allow for a reconfiguration of bedroom sizes to meet current market demands, as determined by the Secretary and provided there is no increase in the project-based assistance budget authority.
The transferring project shall, as determined by the Secretary, be either physically obsolete or economically nonviable.
The receiving project or projects shall meet or exceed applicable physical standards established by the Secretary.
The owner or mortgagor of the transferring project shall notify and consult with the tenants residing in the transferring project and provide a certification of approval by all appropriate local governmental officials.
The tenants of the transferring project who remain eligible for assistance to be provided by the receiving project or projects shall not be required to vacate their units in the transferring project or projects until new units in the receiving project are available for occupancy.
The Secretary determines that this transfer is in the best interest of the tenants.
If either the transferring project or the receiving project or projects meets the condition specified in subsection (d)(2)(A), any lien on the receiving project resulting from additional financing obtained by the owner shall be subordinate to any FHA-insured mortgage lien transferred to, or placed on, such project by the Secretary, except that the Secretary may waive this requirement upon determination that such a waiver is necessary to facilitate the financing of acquisition, construction, and/or rehabilitation of the receiving project or projects.
If the transferring project meets the requirements of subsection (d)(2), the owner or mortgagor of the receiving project or projects shall execute and record either a continuation of the existing use agreement or a new use agreement for the project where, in either case, any use restrictions in such agreement are of no lesser duration than the existing use restrictions.
The transfer does not increase the cost (as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended) of any FHA-insured mortgage, except to the extent that appropriations are provided in advance for the amount of any such increased cost.
For purposes of this section—
the terms “low-income” and “very low-income” shall have the meanings provided by the statute and/or regulations governing the program under which the project is insured or assisted;
the term “multifamily housing project” means housing that meets one of the following conditions—
housing that is subject to a mortgage insured under the National Housing Act;
housing that has project-based assistance attached to the structure including projects undergoing mark to market debt restructuring under the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Housing Act;
housing that is assisted under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 as amended by section 801 of the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act;
housing that is assisted under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, as such section existed before the enactment of the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act;
housing that is assisted under section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act; or
housing or vacant land that is subject to a use agreement;
the term “project-based assistance” means—
assistance provided under section 8(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937;
assistance for housing constructed or substantially rehabilitated pursuant to assistance provided under section 8(b)(2) of such Act (as such section existed immediately before October 1, 1983);
rent supplement payments under section 101 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965;
interest reduction payments under section 236 and/or additional assistance payments under section 236(f)(2) of the National Housing Act;
assistance payments made under section 202(c)(2) of the Housing Act of 1959; and
assistance payments made under section 811(d)(2) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act;
the term “receiving project or projects” means the multifamily housing project or projects to which some or all of the project-based assistance, debt, and statutorily required low-income and very low-income use restrictions are to be transferred;
the term “transferring project” means the multifamily housing project which is transferring some or all of the project-based assistance, debt and the statutorily required low-income and very low-income use restrictions to the receiving project or projects; and
the term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Public Notice and Research Report—
The Secretary shall publish by notice in the Federal Register the terms and conditions, including criteria for HUD approval, of transfers pursuant to this section no later than 30 days before the effective date of such notice.
The Secretary shall conduct an evaluation of the transfer authority under this section, including the effect of such transfers on the operational efficiency, contract rents, physical and financial conditions, and long-term preservation of the affected properties.
Sec. 215
No assistance shall be provided under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) to any individual who—
is enrolled as a student at an institution of higher education (as defined under section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002));
is under 24 years of age;
is not a veteran;
is unmarried;
does not have a dependent child;
is not a person with disabilities, as such term is defined in section 3(b)(3)(E) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(3)(E)) and was not receiving assistance under such section 8 as of November 30, 2005; and
is not otherwise individually eligible, or has parents who, individually or jointly, are not eligible, to receive assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f).
For purposes of determining the eligibility of a person to receive assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), any financial assistance (in excess of amounts received for tuition and any other required fees and charges) that an individual receives under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), from private sources, or an institution of higher education (as defined under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)), shall be considered income to that individual, except for a person over the age of 23 with dependent children.
Sec. 216
The funds made available for Native Alaskans under the heading “Native American Housing Block Grants” in title II of this Act shall be allocated to the same Native Alaskan housing block grant recipients that received funds in fiscal year 2005.
Sec. 217
Notwithstanding the limitation in the first sentence of section 255(g) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–20(g)), the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may, until September 30, 2014, insure and enter into commitments to insure mortgages under such section 255.
Sec. 218
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in fiscal year 2014, in managing and disposing of any multifamily property that is owned or has a mortgage held by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and during the process of foreclosure on any property with a contract for rental assistance payments under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 or other Federal programs, the Secretary shall maintain any rental assistance payments under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 and other programs that are attached to any dwelling units in the property. To the extent the Secretary determines, in consultation with the tenants and the local government, that such a multifamily property owned or held by the Secretary is not feasible for continued rental assistance payments under such section 8 or other programs, based on consideration of (1) the costs of rehabilitating and operating the property and all available Federal, State, and local resources, including rent adjustments under section 524 of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (“MAHRAA”) and (2) environmental conditions that cannot be remedied in a cost-effective fashion, the Secretary may, in consultation with the tenants of that property, contract for project-based rental assistance payments with an owner or owners of other existing housing properties, or provide other rental assistance. The Secretary shall also take appropriate steps to ensure that project-based contracts remain in effect prior to foreclosure, subject to the exercise of contractual abatement remedies to assist relocation of tenants for imminent major threats to health and safety after written notice to and informed consent of the affected tenants and use of other available remedies, such as partial abatements or receivership. After disposition of any multifamily property described under this section, the contract and allowable rent levels on such properties shall be subject to the requirements under section 524 of MAHRAA.
Sec. 219
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the recipient of a grant under section 202b of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q) after December 26, 2000, in accordance with the unnumbered paragraph at the end of section 202(b) of such Act, may, at its option, establish a single-asset nonprofit entity to own the project and may lend the grant funds to such entity, which may be a private nonprofit organization described in section 831 of the American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000.
Sec. 220
Inspections— Section 8(o)(8) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(8)) is amended—
by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (G); and
by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting the following new subparagraphs:
“(D) Biennial inspections
“(i) Requirement—Each public housing agency providing assistance under this subsection (or other entity, as provided in paragraph (11)) shall, for each assisted dwelling unit, make inspections not less often than biennially during the term of the housing assistance payments contract for the unit to determine whether the unit is maintained in accordance with the requirements under subparagraph (A).
“(ii) Use of alternative inspection method—The requirements under clause (i) may be complied with by use of inspections that qualify as an alternative inspection method pursuant to subparagraph (E).
“(iii) Records—The public housing agency (or other entity) shall retain the records of the inspection for a reasonable time, as determined by the Secretary, and shall make the records available upon request to the Secretary, the Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and any auditor conducting an audit under section 5(h).
“(iv) Mixed-finance properties—The Secretary may adjust the frequency of inspections for mixed-finance properties assisted with vouchers under paragraph (13) to facilitate the use of the alternative inspections in subparagraph (E).
“(E) Alternative inspection method—An inspection of a property shall qualify as an alternative inspection method for purposes of this subparagraph if—
“(i) the inspection was conducted pursuant to requirements under a Federal, State, or local housing program (including the Home investment partnership program under title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act and the low-income housing tax credit program under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986); and
“(ii) pursuant to such inspection, the property was determined to meet the standards or requirements regarding housing quality or safety applicable to properties assisted under such program, and, if a non-Federal standard or requirement was used, the public housing agency has certified to the Secretary that such standard or requirement provides the same (or greater) protection to occupants of dwelling units meeting such standard or requirement as would the housing quality standards under subparagraph (B).
“(F) Interim inspections—Upon notification to the public housing agency, by a family (on whose behalf tenant-based rental assistance is provided under this subsection) or by a government official, that the dwelling unit for which such assistance is provided does not comply with the housing quality standards under subparagraph (B), the public housing agency shall inspect the dwelling unit—
“(i) in the case of any condition that is life-threatening, within 24 hours after the agency's receipt of such notification, unless waived by the Secretary in extraordinary circumstances; and
“(ii) in the case of any condition that is not life-threatening, within a reasonable time frame, as determined by the Secretary.”
Effective date— The amendments in subsection (a) shall take effect upon such date as the Secretary determines, in the Secretary's sole discretion, through the Secretary's publication of such date in the Federal Register, as part of regulations promulgated, or a notice issued, by the Secretary to implement such amendments.
Sec. 221
The commitment authority provided under the heading “Community Development Loan Guarantees Program Account” may be used to guarantee, or make commitments to guarantee, notes, or other obligations issued by any State on behalf of non-entitlement communities in the State in accordance with the requirements of section 108 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974: Provided, That any State receiving such a guarantee or commitment shall distribute all funds subject to such guarantee to the units of general local government in non-entitlement areas that received the commitment.
Sec. 222
Public housing agencies that own and operate 400 or fewer public housing units may elect to be exempt from any asset management requirement imposed by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in connection with the operating fund rule: Provided, That an agency seeking a discontinuance of a reduction of subsidy under the operating fund formula shall not be exempt from asset management requirements.
Sec. 223
With respect to the use of amounts provided in this Act and in future Acts for the operation, capital improvement and management of public housing as authorized by sections 9(d) and 9(e) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(d) and (e)), the Secretary shall not impose any requirement or guideline relating to asset management that restricts or limits in any way the use of capital funds for central office costs pursuant to section 9(g)(1) or 9(g)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(g)(1), (2)): Provided, That a public housing agency may not use capital funds authorized under section 9(d) for activities that are eligible under section 9(e) for assistance with amounts from the operating fund in excess of the amounts permitted under section 9(g)(1) or 9(g)(2).
Sec. 224
No official or employee of the Department of Housing and Urban Development shall be designated as an allotment holder unless the Office of the Chief Financial Officer has determined that such allotment holder has implemented an adequate system of funds control and has received training in funds control procedures and directives. The Chief Financial Officer shall ensure that there is a trained allotment holder for each HUD sub-office under the accounts “Executive Offices” and “Administrative Support Offices,” as well as each account receiving appropriations for “Program Office Salaries and Expenses” within the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Sec. 225
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall report annually to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations 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. The Secretary shall in the report identify all existing units maintained by region as section 8 project-based units and all project-based units that have opted out of section 8 or have otherwise been eliminated as section 8 project-based units. The Secretary shall identify in detail and by project all the efforts made by the Department to preserve all section 8 project-based housing units and all the reasons for any units which opted out or otherwise were lost as section 8 project-based units. Such analysis shall include a review of the impact of the loss of any subsidized units in that housing marketplace, such as the impact of cost and the loss of available subsidized, low-income housing in areas with scarce housing resources for low-income families.
Sec. 226
The Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development shall, for fiscal year 2014 and subsequent fiscal years, notify the public through the Federal Register and other means, as determined appropriate, of the issuance of a notice of the availability of assistance or notice of funding availability (NOFA) for any program or discretionary fund administered by the Secretary that is to be competitively awarded. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for fiscal year 2014 and subsequent fiscal years, the Secretary may make the NOFA available only on the Internet at the appropriate Government Web site or through other electronic media, as determined by the Secretary.
Sec. 227
Payment of attorney fees in program-related litigation must be paid from individual program office personnel benefits and compensation funding. The annual budget submission for program office personnel benefit and compensation funding must include program-related litigation costs for attorney fees as a separate line item request.
Sec. 228
The Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development is authorized to transfer up to 5 percent or $5,000,000, whichever is less, of the funds appropriated for any office funded under the heading “Administrative Support Offices” to any other office funded under such heading: Provided, That no appropriation for any office funded under the heading “Administrative Support Offices” shall be increased or decreased by more than 5 percent or $5,000,000, whichever is less, without prior written approval of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations: Provided further, That the Secretary is authorized to transfer up to 5 percent or $5,000,000, whichever is less, of the funds appropriated for any account funded under the general heading “Program Office Salaries and Expenses” to any other account funded under such heading: Provided further, That no appropriation for any account funded under the general heading “Program Office Salaries and Expenses” shall be increased or decreased by more than 5 percent or $5,000,000, whichever is less, without prior written approval of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations: Provided further, That the Secretary may transfer funds made available for salaries and expenses between any office funded under the heading “Administrative Support Offices” and any account funded under the general heading “Program Office Salaries and Expenses”, but only with the prior written approval of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.
Sec. 229
The Disaster Housing Assistance Programs, administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, shall be considered a “program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development” under section 904 of the McKinney Act for the purpose of income verifications and matching.
Sec. 230
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall take the required actions under subsection (b) when a multifamily housing project with a section 8 contract or contract for similar project-based assistance:
receives a Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) score of 30 or less; or
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.
The Secretary shall take the following required actions as authorized under subsection (a)—
The Secretary shall notify the owner and provide an opportunity for response within 30 days. If the violations remain, the Secretary shall develop a Compliance, Disposition and Enforcement Plan within 60 days, with a specified timetable for correcting all deficiencies. The Secretary shall provide notice of the Plan to the owner, tenants, the local government, any mortgagees, and any contract administrator.
At the end of the term of the Compliance, Disposition and Enforcement Plan, if the owner fails to fully comply with such plan, the Secretary may require immediate replacement of project management with a management agent approved by the Secretary, and shall take one or more of the following actions, and provide additional notice of those actions to the owner and the parties specified above:
impose civil money penalties;
abate the section 8 contract, including partial abatement, as determined by the Secretary, until all deficiencies have been corrected;
pursue transfer of the project to an owner, approved by the Secretary under established procedures, which will be obligated to promptly make all required repairs and to accept renewal of the assistance contract as long as such renewal is offered; or
seek judicial appointment of a receiver to manage the property and cure all project deficiencies or seek a judicial order of specific performance requiring the owner to cure all project deficiencies.
The Secretary shall also take appropriate steps to ensure that project-based contracts remain in effect, subject to the exercise of contractual abatement remedies to assist relocation of tenants for imminent major threats to health and safety after written notice to and informed consent of the affected tenants and use of other remedies set forth above. To the extent the Secretary determines, in consultation with the tenants and the local government, that the property is not feasible for continued rental assistance payments under such section 8 or other programs, based on consideration of (1) the costs of rehabilitating and operating the property and all available Federal, State, and local resources, including rent adjustments under section 524 of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (“MAHRAA”) and (2) environmental conditions that cannot be remedied in a cost-effective fashion, the Secretary may, in consultation with the tenants of that property, contract for project-based rental assistance payments with an owner or owners of other existing housing properties, or provide other rental assistance. The Secretary shall report semi-annually on all properties covered by this section that are assessed through the Real Estate Assessment Center and have physical inspection scores of less than 30 or have consecutive physical inspection scores of less than 60. The report shall include:
The enforcement actions being taken to address such conditions, including imposition of civil money penalties and termination of subsidies, and identify properties that have such conditions multiple times; and
Actions that the Department of Housing and Urban Development is taking to protect tenants of such identified properties.
Sec. 231
None of the funds made available by this Act, or any other Act, for purposes authorized under section 8 (only with respect to the tenant-based rental assistance program) and section 9 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.), may be used by any public housing agency for any amount of salary, for the chief executive officer of which, or any other official or employee of which, that exceeds the annual rate of basic pay payable for a position at level IV of the Executive Schedule at any time during any public housing agency fiscal year 2014.
Sec. 232
Title II of division K of Public Law 110–161 is amended by striking the item related to “Flexible Subsidy Fund”.
Sec. 233
Paragraph (1) of section 242(i) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–7(i)(1)) is amended by striking “July 31, 2011” and inserting “July 31, 2016”.
Sec. 234
Section 24 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437v) is amended—
in subsection (m)(1), by striking “fiscal year” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting “fiscal year 2014.”; and
in subsection (o), by striking “September” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting “September 30, 2014.”.
Sec. 235
Of the amounts made available for salaries and expenses under all accounts under this title (except for the Office of Inspector General account), a total of up to $5,000,000 may be transferred to and merged with amounts made available in the “Information Technology Fund” account under this title.
Sec. 236
The proviso under the “Community Development Fund” heading in Public Laws 109–148, 109–234, 110–252, and 110–329 which requires the Secretary to establish procedures to prevent duplication of benefits and to report to the Committees on Appropriations on all steps to prevent fraud and abuse is amended by striking “quarterly” and inserting “annually”.
Sec. 237
None of the funds in this Act may be available for the doctoral dissertation research grant program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Sec. 238
Section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a) is amended—
in paragraph (2), by designating the first sentence as subparagraph (A), the second sentence as subparagraph (B), and the remaining sentences as subparagraph (D), and by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following new subparagraph (C):
“(C) The term extremely low-income families means very low-income families whose incomes do not exceed the higher of—
“(i) the poverty guidelines updated periodically by the Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of section 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant Act applicable to a family of the size involved (except that this clause shall not apply in the case of public housing agencies or projects located in Puerto Rico or any other territory or possession of the United States); or
“(ii) 30 percent of the median family income for the area, as determined by the Secretary, with adjustments for smaller and larger families (except that the Secretary may establish income ceilings higher or lower than 30 percent of the median for the area on the basis of the Secretary's findings that such variations are necessary because of unusually high or low family incomes).”
Section 16 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437n) is amended—
in subsection (a)(2)(A);
in subsection (b)(1); and
in subsection (c)(3), by striking “families whose incomes” and all that follows through “low family incomes” and inserting “extremely low-income families”.
Sec. 239
The language under the heading Rental Assistance Demonstration in the Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112–55) is amended in the penultimate proviso by striking “and 2013,” and inserting “through December 31, 2014”.
Sec. 240
None of the funds in this Act provided to the Department of Housing and Urban Development may be used to make a grant award unless the Secretary notifies the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations not less than 3 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 the Department or its offices.
Sec. 241
Section 202(f)(2) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(f)(2)) is amended—
in paragraph (A)—
by striking the matter before clause (i) and inserting the following: “The Secretary shall establish procedures to delegate the award, review and processing of projects, selected by the Secretary in a national competition, to a State or local housing agency that—”; and
in clause (iii), by striking “capital advance” and inserting “funding”, and by replacing the comma with a semi-colon;
in subparagraph (B), by striking “capital advances” and inserting “funding under this section”;
in subparagraph (C), by striking the first sentence;
by redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (E), and in the redesignated subparagraph (E)—
by striking “a capital advance” and inserting “funding under this section”; and
by striking “capital advance amounts or project rental assistance” and inserting “funding under this section”; and
by inserting the following new subparagraph after subparagraph (C):
“(D) Assistance under subsection (c)(2) may be provided for projects which identify in the application for assistance a defined health and other supportive services program including sources of financing the services for eligible residents and memoranda of understanding with service provision agencies and organizations to provide such services for eligible residents at their request. Such supportive services plan and memoranda of understating shall—
“(i) identify the target populations to be served by the project;
“(ii) set forth methods for outreach and referral;
“(iii) identify the health and other supportive services to be provided; and
“(iv) identify the terms under which such services will be made available to residents of the project.”
Sec. 242
Section 8(o)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(2)), is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
“(D) Utility allowance
“(i) General—In determining the monthly assistance payment for a family under subparagraphs (A) and (B), the amount allowed for tenant-paid utilities shall not exceed the appropriate utility allowance for the family unit size as determined by the public housing agency regardless of the size of the dwelling unit leased by the family.
“(ii) Exception for families in including persons with disabilities—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), upon request by a family that includes a person with disabilities, the public housing agency shall approve a utility allowance that is higher than the applicable amount on the utility allowance schedule if a higher utility allowance is needed as a reasonable accommodation to make the program accessible to and usable by the family member with a disability.”
Sec. 243
The Secretary shall establish by notice such requirements as may be necessary to implement sections 210, 212, 220, 238, and 242 under this title and the notice shall take effect upon issuance: Provided, That the Secretary shall commence rulemaking based on the initial notice no later than the expiration of the 6-month period following issuance of the notice and the rulemaking shall allow for the opportunity for public comment.