Division K — Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015

None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Transportation may be obligated for the Office of the Secretary of Transportation to approve assessments or reimbursable agreements pertaining to funds appropriated to the modal administrations in this Act, except for activities underway on the date of enactment of this Act, unless such assessments or agreements have completed the normal reprogramming process for Congressional notification.

The Secretary or his designee may engage in activities with States and State legislators to consider proposals related to the reduction of motorcycle fatalities.

Notwithstanding section 3324 of title 31, United States Code, in addition to authority provided by section 327 of title 49, United States Code, the Department's Working Capital Fund is hereby authorized to provide payments in advance to vendors that are necessary to carry out the Federal transit pass transportation fringe benefit program under Executive Order 13150 and section 3049 of Public Law 109–59: Provided, That the Department shall include adequate safeguards in the contract with the vendors to ensure timely and high-quality performance under the contract.

The Secretary shall post on the Web site of the Department of Transportation a schedule of all meetings of the Credit Council, including the agenda for each meeting, and require the Credit Council to record the decisions and actions of each meeting.

None of the funds in this Act may be used to compensate in excess of 600 technical staff-years under the federally funded research and development center contract between the Federal Aviation Administration and the Center for Advanced Aviation Systems Development during fiscal year 2015.

None of the funds in this Act shall be used to pursue or adopt guidelines or regulations requiring airport sponsors to provide to the Federal Aviation Administration 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: Provided, That the prohibition of funds in this section does not apply to negotiations between the agency and airport sponsors to achieve agreement on “below-market” rates for these items or to grant assurances that require airport sponsors to provide land without cost to the FAA for air traffic control facilities.

The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration may reimburse amounts made available to satisfy 49 U.S.C. 41742(a)(1) from fees credited under 49 U.S.C. 45303 and any amount remaining in such account at the close of that fiscal year may be made available to satisfy section 41742(a)(1) for the subsequent fiscal year.

Amounts collected under section 40113(e) of title 49, United States Code, shall be credited to the appropriation current at the time of collection, to be merged with and available for the same purposes of such appropriation.

None of the funds in this Act shall be available for paying premium pay under subsection 5546(a) of title 5, United States Code, to any Federal Aviation Administration employee unless such employee actually performed work during the time corresponding to such premium pay.

None of the funds in this Act may be obligated or expended for an employee of the Federal Aviation Administration to purchase a store gift card or gift certificate through use of a Government-issued credit card.

The Secretary shall apportion to the sponsor of an airport that received scheduled or unscheduled air service from a large certified air carrier (as defined in part 241 of title 14 Code of Federal Regulations, or such other regulations as may be issued by the Secretary under the authority of section 41709) an amount equal to the minimum apportionment specified in 49 U.S.C. 47114(c), if the Secretary determines that airport had more than 10,000 passenger boardings in the preceding calendar year, based on data submitted to the Secretary under part 241 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations.

None of the funds in this Act may be obligated or expended for retention bonuses for an employee of the Federal Aviation Administration without the prior written approval of the Assistant Secretary for Administration of the Department of Transportation.

Subparagraph (D) of section 47124(b)(3) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking “benefit.” and inserting “benefit, with the maximum allowable local cost share capped at 20 percent.”.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds made available under this Act or any prior Act may be used to implement or to continue to implement any limitation on the ability of any owner or operator of a private aircraft to obtain, upon a request to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, a blocking of that owner's or operator’s aircraft registration number from any display of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Situational Display to Industry data that is made available to the public, except data made available to a Government agency, for the noncommercial flights of that owner or operator.

None of the funds in this Act shall be available for salaries and expenses of more than 9 political and Presidential appointees in the Federal Aviation Administration.

None of the funds made available under this Act may be used to increase fees pursuant to section 44721 of title 49, United States Code, until the FAA provides to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations a report that justifies all fees related to aeronautical navigation products and explains how such fees are consistent with Executive Order 13642.

None of the funds appropriated or limited by this Act may be used to change weight restrictions or prior permission rules at Teterboro airport in Teterboro, New Jersey.

None of the funds in this Act may be used to close a regional operations center of the Federal Aviation Administration or reduce its services unless the Administrator notifies the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations not less than 90 full business days in advance.

Section 916 of Public Law 112–95 is amended by striking “Advanced Materials in Transport Aircraft” and inserting “Joint Advanced Materials and Structures”.

Subsection 47109(c)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding before the period “, except that at a primary non-hub airport located in a State as set forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection that is within 15 miles of another State as set forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the Government’s share shall be an average of the Government share applicable to any project in each of the States”.

Notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, funds received by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics from the sale of data products, for necessary expenses incurred pursuant to chapter 63 of title 49, United States Code, may be credited to the Federal-aid Highways account for the purpose of reimbursing the Bureau for such expenses: Provided, That such funds shall be subject to the obligation limitation for Federal-aid Highways and highway safety construction programs.

Not less than 15 days prior to waiving, under his or her statutory authority, any Buy America requirement for Federal-aid Highways projects, the Secretary of Transportation shall make an informal public notice and comment opportunity on the intent to issue such waiver and the reasons therefor: Provided, That the Secretary shall provide an annual report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations on any waivers granted under the Buy America requirements.

None of the funds in this Act to the Department of Transportation may be used to provide credit assistance unless not less than 3 days before any application approval to provide credit assistance under sections 603 and 604 of title 23, United States Code, the Secretary of Transportation provides notification in writing to the following committees: the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations; the Committee on Environment and Public Works and the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives: Provided, That such notification shall include, but not be limited to, the name of the project sponsor; a description of the project; whether credit assistance will be provided as a direct loan, loan guarantee, or line of credit; and the amount of credit assistance.

Section 127 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

Funds appropriated or limited in this Act shall be subject to the terms and conditions stipulated in section 350 of Public Law 107–87 and section 6901 of Public Law 110–28.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shall send notice of 49 CFR section 385.308 violations by certified mail, registered mail, or another manner of delivery, which records the receipt of the notice by the persons responsible for the violations.

None of the funds limited or otherwise made available under this Act shall be used by the Secretary to enforce any regulation prohibiting a State from issuing a commercial learner’s permit to individuals under the age of eighteen if the State had a law authorizing the issuance of commercial learner's permits to individuals under eighteen years of age as of May 9, 2011.

None of the funds limited or otherwise made available under the heading “Motor Carrier Safety Operations and Programs” may be used to deny an application to renew a Hazardous Materials Safety Program permit for a motor carrier based on that carrier’s Hazardous Materials Out-of-Service rate, unless the carrier has the opportunity to submit a written description of corrective actions taken, and other documentation the carrier wishes the Secretary to consider, including submitting a corrective action plan, and the Secretary determines the actions or plan is insufficient to address the safety concerns that resulted in that Hazardous Materials Out-of-Service rate.

An additional $130,000 shall be made available to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, out of the amount limited for section 402 of title 23, United States Code, to pay for travel and related expenses for State management reviews and to pay for core competency development training and related expenses for highway safety staff.

The limitations on obligations for the programs of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration set in this Act shall not apply to obligations for which obligation authority was made available in previous public laws but only to the extent that the obligation authority has not lapsed or been used.

None of the funds in this Act shall be used to implement section 404 of title 23, United States Code.

The Secretary of Transportation may receive and expend cash, or receive and utilize spare parts and similar items, from non-United States Government sources to repair damages to or replace United States Government owned automated track inspection cars and equipment as a result of third-party liability for such damages, and any amounts collected under this section shall be credited directly to the Safety and Operations account of the Federal Railroad Administration, and shall remain available until expended for the repair, operation and maintenance of automated track inspection cars and equipment in connection with the automated track inspection program.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation, the Secretary of Transportation is authorized to allow the issuer of any preferred stock heretofore sold to the Department to redeem or repurchase such stock upon the payment to the Department of an amount to be determined by the Secretary.

None of the funds provided to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation may be used to fund any overtime costs in excess of $35,000 for any individual employee: Provided, That the President of Amtrak may waive the cap set in the previous proviso for specific employees when the President of Amtrak determines such a cap poses a risk to the safety and operational efficiency of the system: Provided further, That the President of Amtrak shall report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations each quarter of the calendar year on waivers granted to employees and amounts paid above the cap for each month within such quarter and delineate the reasons each waiver was granted: Provided further, That the President of Amtrak shall report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations by March 1, 2015, a summary of all overtime payments incurred by the Corporation for 2014 and the three prior calendar years: Provided further, That such summary shall include the total number of employees that received waivers and the total overtime payments the Corporation paid to those employees receiving waivers for each month for 2014 and for the three prior calendar years.

For an additional amount, $10,000,000 shall be made available until expended for the Secretary to make grants for grade crossing and track improvements on rail routes that transport energy products.

The limitations on obligations for the programs of the Federal Transit Administration shall not apply to any authority under 49 U.S.C. 5338, previously made available for obligation, or to any other authority previously made available for obligation.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds appropriated or limited by this Act under the heading “Fixed Guideway Capital Investment” of the Federal Transit Administration for projects specified in this Act or identified in reports accompanying this Act 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.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any funds appropriated before October 1, 2014, under any section of chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, that remain available for expenditure, may be transferred to and administered under the most recent appropriation heading for any such section.

The Secretary may not enforce regulations related to charter bus service under part 604 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, for any transit agency that during fiscal year 2008 was both initially granted a 60-day period to come into compliance with part 604, and then was subsequently granted an exception from said part.

For purposes of applying the project justification and local financial commitment criteria of 49 U.S.C. 5309(d) to a New Starts project, the Secretary may consider the costs and ridership of any connected project in an instance in which private parties are making significant financial contributions to the construction of the connected project; additionally, the Secretary may consider the significant financial contributions of private parties to the connected project in calculating the non-Federal share of net capital project costs for the New Starts project.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the funds made available in this Act shall be used to enter into a full funding grant agreement for a project with a New Starts share greater than 60 percent.

None of the funds in this or any other Act may be available to advance in any way a new light or heavy rail project towards a full funding grant agreement as defined by 49 U.S.C. 5309 for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas if the proposed capital project is constructed on or planned to be constructed on Richmond Avenue west of South Shepherd Drive or on Post Oak Boulevard north of Richmond Avenue in Houston, Texas.

In developing guidance implementing 49 U.S.C. 5309(i) Program of Interrelated Projects, the Secretary shall consider projects eligible under section 5309(h) Small Starts Projects, including streetcars.

Of the unobligated balance of amounts made available for fiscal year 2011 or prior fiscal years to carry out the discretionary bus and bus facilities program under 49 U.S.C. 5309, $27,989,839 shall be used for new bus rapid transit projects recommended, in the President's fiscal year 2015 budget request, to be funded under the heading “Department of Transportation-Federal Transit Administration-Capital Investment Grants”: Provided, That all such projects shall remain subject to the requirements of 49 U.S.C. 5309 for New Starts, Small Starts, or Core Capacity projects, as applicable, under the Capital Investment Grants Program: Provided further, That such funds shall be in addition to the amounts otherwise made available by this Act for “Department of Transportation-Federal Transit Administration-Capital Investment Grants”.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Maritime Administration is authorized to furnish utilities and services and make necessary repairs in connection with any lease, contract, or occupancy involving Government property under control of the Maritime Administration: Provided, That payments received therefor shall be credited to the appropriation charged with the cost thereof and shall remain available until expended: Provided further, That rental payments under any such lease, contract, or occupancy for items other than such utilities, services, or repairs shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

None of the funds available or appropriated in this Act shall be used by the United States Department of Transportation or the United States Maritime Administration to negotiate or otherwise 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 any sum of money to purchase and scrap or recycle a vessel owned, operated or managed by the Maritime Administration or that is part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet: Provided, That such sales offers must be consistent with the solicitation and provide that the work will be performed in a timely manner at a facility qualified within the meaning of section 3502 of Public Law 106–398: Provided further, That nothing contained herein shall affect the Maritime Administration's authority to award contracts at least cost to the Federal Government and consistent with the requirements of 16 U.S.C. 5405(c), section 3502, or otherwise authorized under the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

During the current fiscal year, applicable appropriations to the Department of Transportation shall be available for maintenance and operation of aircraft; hire of passenger motor vehicles and aircraft; purchase of liability insurance for motor vehicles operating in foreign countries on official department business; and uniforms or allowances therefor, as authorized by law (5 U.S.C. 5901–5902).

Appropriations contained in this Act for the Department of Transportation shall be available for services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, but at rates for individuals not to exceed the per diem rate equivalent to the rate for an Executive Level IV.

None of the funds in this Act shall be available for salaries and expenses of more than 110 political and Presidential appointees in the Department of Transportation: Provided, That none of the personnel covered by this provision may be assigned on temporary detail outside the Department of Transportation.

Funds received by the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, and Federal Railroad Administration from States, counties, municipalities, other public authorities, and private sources for expenses incurred for training may be credited respectively to the Federal Highway Administration's “Federal-Aid Highways” account, the Federal Transit Administration's “Technical Assistance and Training” account, and to the Federal Railroad Administration's “Safety and Operations” account, except for State rail safety inspectors participating in training pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 20105.

None of the funds in this Act to the Department of Transportation may be used to make a loan, loan guarantee, line of credit, or grant unless the Secretary of Transportation notifies the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations not less than 3 full business days before any project competitively selected to receive a discretionary grant award, any discretionary grant award, letter of intent, loan commitment, loan guarantee commitment, line of credit commitment, or full funding grant agreement is announced by the department or its modal administrations from:

Rebates, refunds, incentive payments, minor fees and other funds received by the Department of Transportation from travel management centers, charge card programs, the subleasing of building space, and miscellaneous sources are to be credited to appropriations of the Department of Transportation and allocated to elements of the Department of Transportation using fair and equitable criteria and such funds shall be available until expended.

Amounts made available in this or any other Act that the Secretary determines represent improper payments by the Department of Transportation to a third-party contractor under a financial assistance award, which are recovered pursuant to law, shall be available—

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if any funds provided in or limited by this Act are subject to a reprogramming action that requires notice to be provided to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, transmission of said reprogramming notice shall be provided solely to the Committees on Appropriations, and said reprogramming action shall be approved or denied solely by the Committees on Appropriations: Provided, That the Secretary may provide notice to other congressional committees of the action of the Committees on Appropriations on such reprogramming but not sooner than 30 days following the date on which the reprogramming action has been approved or denied by the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.

None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this Act may be used by the Surface Transportation Board of the Department of Transportation to charge or collect any filing fee for rate or practice complaints filed with the Board in an amount in excess of the amount authorized for district court civil suit filing fees under section 1914 of title 28, United States Code.

Funds appropriated in this Act to the modal administrations may be obligated for the Office of the Secretary for the costs related to assessments or reimbursable agreements only when such amounts are for the costs of goods and services that are purchased to provide a direct benefit to the applicable modal administration or administrations.

The Secretary of Transportation is authorized to carry out a program that establishes uniform standards for developing and supporting agency transit pass and transit benefits authorized under section 7905 of title 5, United States Code, including distribution of transit benefits by various paper and electronic media.

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.

None of the amounts made available under this Act may be used during fiscal year 2015 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.

Sections 203 and 209 of division C of Public Law 112–55 (125 Stat. 693–694) shall apply during fiscal year 2015 as if such sections were included in this title, except that during such fiscal year such sections shall be applied by substituting “fiscal year 2015” for “fiscal year 2011” and for “fiscal year 2012” each place such terms appear, and shall be amended to reflect revised delineations of statistical areas established by the Office of Management and Budget pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 3504(e)(3), 31 U.S.C. 1104(d), and Executive Order No. 10253.

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).

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).

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.

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 2015 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.

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.

The President's formal budget request for fiscal year 2016, 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.

A public housing agency or such other entity that administers Federal housing assistance for the Housing Authority of the county of Los Angeles, California, and 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.

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.).

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.

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, 2015, insure and enter into commitments to insure mortgages under such section 255.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in fiscal year 2015, 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.

The commitment authority funded by fees as 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.

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.

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).

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”, “Government National Mortgage Association—Guarantees of Mortgage-Backed Securities Loan Guarantee Program Account”, and “Office of Inspector General” within the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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 identify all existing units maintained by region as section 8 project-based units, all project-based units that have opted out or have otherwise been eliminated, and the reasons these units opted out or otherwise were lost as section 8 project-based units.

The Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development shall, for fiscal year 2015, 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 2015, 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.

Payment of attorney fees in program-related litigation must be paid from the individual program office and Office of General Counsel personnel funding. The annual budget submissions for program offices and Office of General Counsel personnel funding must include program-related litigation costs for attorney fees as a separate line item request.

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.

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.

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, including bonuses, 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 2015.

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.

Section 24 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437v) is amended—

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.

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 $2,500,000 may be transferred to and merged with amounts made available in the “Information Technology Fund” account under this title.

Section 579 of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act (MAHRA) of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note) is amended by striking “October 1, 2015” each place it appears and inserting in lieu thereof “October 1, 2017”.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to require or enforce the Physical Needs Assessment (PNA).

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—

None of the funds made available by this Act nor any receipts or amounts collected under any Federal Housing Administration program may be used to implement the Homeowners Armed with Knowledge (HAWK) program.

None of the funds made available in this Act shall be used by the Federal Housing Administration, the Government National Mortgage Administration, or the Department of Housing and Urban Development to insure, securitize, or establish a Federal guarantee of any mortgage or mortgage backed security that refinances or otherwise replaces a mortgage that has been subject to eminent domain condemnation or seizure, by a state, municipality, or any other political subdivision of a state.

All unobligated balances, including recaptures and carryover, remaining from funds appropriated to the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the heading “Brownfields Redevelopment” are hereby permanently rescinded: Provided, That all unobligated balances, including recaptures and carryover, remaining from funds appropriated to the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the heading “Drug Elimination Grants for Low Income Housing” are hereby permanently rescinded: Provided further, That all unobligated balances, including recaptures and carryover, remaining from funds appropriated to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for Youthbuild program activities authorized by subtitle D of title IV of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act are hereby permanently rescinded.

Clause (i) of section 3(a)(2)(B) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)(2)(B)(i)), as amended by section 210 of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014 (division L of Public Law 113–76; 128 Stat. 625), is amended—

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to require the relocation, or to carry out any required relocation, of any asset management positions of the Office of Multifamily Housing of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in existence as of the date of the enactment of this Act.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to terminate the status of a unit of general local government as a metropolitan city (as defined in section 102 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302)) with respect to grants under section 106 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5306).

Section 184(h)(1)(B) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 1715z–13a(h)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting after the first sentence the following: “Exhausting all reasonable possibilities of collection by the holder of the guarantee shall include a good faith consideration of loan modification as well as meeting standards for servicing loans in default, as determined by the Secretary.”.

None of the funds in this Act shall be used for the planning or execution of any program to pay the expenses of, or otherwise compensate, non-Federal parties intervening in regulatory or adjudicatory proceedings funded in this Act.

None of the funds appropriated in this Act shall remain available for obligation beyond the current fiscal year, nor may any be transferred to other appropriations, unless expressly so provided herein.

The expenditure of any appropriation under this Act for any consulting service through a procurement contract pursuant to section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, shall be limited to those contracts where such expenditures are a matter of public record and available for public inspection, except where otherwise provided under existing law, or under existing Executive order issued pursuant to existing law.

Except as otherwise provided in this Act, none of the funds provided in this Act, provided by previous appropriations Acts to the agencies or entities funded in this Act that remain available for obligation or expenditure in fiscal year 2015, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury derived by the collection of fees and available to the agencies funded by this Act, shall be available for obligation or expenditure through a reprogramming of funds that:

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, not to exceed 50 percent of unobligated balances remaining available at the end of fiscal year 2015 from appropriations made available for salaries and expenses for fiscal year 2015 in this Act, shall remain available through September 30, 2016, for each such account for the purposes authorized: Provided, That a request shall be submitted to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations for approval prior to the expenditure of such funds: Provided further, That these requests shall be made in compliance with reprogramming guidelines under section 405 of this Act.

No funds in this Act may be used 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: Provided, That for purposes of this section, public use shall not be construed to include economic development that primarily benefits private entities: Provided further, That any use of funds for mass transit, railroad, airport, seaport or highway projects, as well as utility projects which benefit or serve the general public (including energy-related, communication-related, water-related and wastewater-related infrastructure), other structures designated for use by the general public or which have other common-carrier or public-utility functions that serve the general public and are subject to regulation and oversight by the government, and projects for the removal of an immediate threat to public health and safety or brownsfields as defined in the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownsfield Revitalization Act (Public Law 107–118) shall be considered a public use for purposes of eminent domain.

All Federal agencies and departments that are funded under this Act shall issue a report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations on all sole-source contracts by no later than July 30, 2015. Such report shall include the contractor, the amount of the contract and the rationale for using a sole-source contract.

None of the funds made available in this Act may be transferred to any 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.

No part of any appropriation contained in this Act shall be available to pay the salary for any person filling a position, other than a temporary position, formerly held by an employee who has left to enter the Armed Forces of the United States and has satisfactorily completed his or her period of active military or naval service, and has within 90 days after his or her release from such service or from hospitalization continuing after discharge for a period of not more than 1 year, made application for restoration to his or her former position and has been certified by the Office of Personnel Management as still qualified to perform the duties of his or her former position and has not been restored thereto.

No funds appropriated pursuant to this Act may be expended by an entity unless the entity agrees that in expending the assistance the entity will comply with sections 2 through 4 of the Act of March 3, 1933 (41 U.S.C. 10a–10c, popularly known as the “Buy American Act”).

No funds appropriated or otherwise made available under this Act shall be made available to any person or entity that has been convicted of violating the Buy American Act (41 U.S.C. 10a–10c).

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used for first-class airline accommodations in contravention of sections 301–10.122 and 301–10.123 of title 41, Code of Federal Regulations.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used in contravention of the 5th or 14th Amendment to the Constitution or title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to obligate or award funds for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s National Roadside Survey.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to mandate global positioning system (GPS) tracking in private passenger motor vehicles without providing full and appropriate consideration of privacy concerns under 5 U.S.C. chapter 5, subchapter II.

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used by the Federal Transit Administration to implement, administer, or enforce section 18.36(c)(2) of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, for construction hiring purposes.

None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to lease or purchase new light duty vehicles for any executive fleet, or for an agency’s fleet inventory, except in accordance with Presidential Memorandum—Federal Fleet Performance, dated May 24, 2011.

It is the sense of the Congress that the Congress should not pass any legislation that authorizes spending cuts that would increase poverty in the United States.

All agencies and departments funded by the Act shall send to Congress at the end of the fiscal year a report containing a complete inventory of the total number of vehicles owned, leased, permanently retired, and purchased during fiscal year 2015, as well as the total cost of the vehicle fleet, including maintenance, fuel, storage, purchasing, and leasing.

None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to send or otherwise pay for the attendance of more than 50 employees of a single agency or department of the United States Government, who are stationed in the United States, at any single international conference unless the relevant Secretary reports to the Committees on Appropriations at least 5 days in advance that such attendance is important to the national interest: Provided, That for purposes of this section the term “international conference” shall mean a conference occurring outside of the United States attended by representatives of the United States Government and of foreign governments, international organizations, or nongovernmental organizations.

(a) Any agency receiving funds made available in this Act, shall, subject to subsections (b) and (c), post on the public website of that agency any report required to be submitted by the Committee in this or any other Act, upon the determination by the head of the agency that it shall serve the national interest.

Any Federal agency or department that is funded under this Act shall respond to any recommendation made to such agency or department by the Government Accountability Office in a timely manner.