[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1525 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1525

 To increase the authorization of funds under the Library Services and 
 Technology Act, to provide funds for construction of libraries under 
                   such Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 4, 2001

 Mr. Thompson of California (for himself, Mr. Frank, Mr. Filner, Mrs. 
Tauscher, Mr. Baldacci, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Frost, and Mr. McGovern) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                      Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To increase the authorization of funds under the Library Services and 
 Technology Act, to provide funds for construction of libraries under 
                   such Act, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Libraries Enhancement Act of 
2001.''

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 213 of the Library Services and Technology Act (20 U.S.C. 
9122) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
            ``(7) Construction.--The term `construction' includes 
        construction of new buildings and acquisition, expansion, 
        remodeling, and alteration of existing buildings, and for the 
        purchase, lease, and installation of equipment of any such 
        buildings, or any combination of such activities (including 
        architects' fees and the cost of acquisition of land). Such 
        term includes remodeling to meet standards under the Act of 
        August 12, 1968, commonly known as the `Architectural Barriers 
        Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4151 et seq.), remodeling designed to 
        ensure safe working environments and to conserve energy, 
        renovation or remodeling to accommodate new technologies, and 
        the purchase of existing historic buildings for conversion to 
        public libraries. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term 
        ``equipment'' includes information and building technologies, 
        video and telecommunications equipment, machinery, utilities, 
        and built-in equipment and any necessary enclosures or 
        structures to house them; and such term includes all other 
        items necessary for the functioning of a particular facility as 
        a facility for the provision of library services.
            ``(8) Reference materials.--The term `reference materials' 
        includes any books, videotapes and audiotapes, magazines, 
        newspapers, software, and other library and media materials, 
        regardless of format, that are made available for public 
        reference.
            ``(9) Rural area.--The term `rural area' when used with 
        respect to the location of any library means that the library 
        is located in a non-metropolitan county, as designated by the 
        Bureau of the Census using the metropolitan statistical area 
        method, except that a portion of an urban metropolitan county 
        may be classified as rural area for such purpose if its census 
        block or tract number is identified by the `Goldsmith 
        Modification' methodology as a rural `pocket' areas within a 
        larger urban metropolitan county.''.

SEC. 3. INCREASE IN AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 214(a) of the Library Services and Technology Act (20 
U.S.C. 9123(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ``or (2)'' after 
        ``paragraph (1)'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(2) Construction; acquisition; operations.--In addition 
        to the amounts authorized to be appropriated by paragraph (1), 
        there are authorized to be appropriated $300,000,000 for fiscal 
        year 2002 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 
        fiscal years 2003 through 2006 to carry out section 232 of this 
        subtitle.''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO USE FUNDS FOR CONSTRUCTION, ACQUISITION, AND 
              OPERATION.

    Chapter 2 of the Library Services and Technology Act is amended--
            (1) in section 231(a) (20 U.S.C. 9141(a))--
                    (A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph 
                (1);
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (2) and inserting a semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(3) conducting library construction, acquiring reference 
        materials, and operating public libraries during hours of 
library service to the public, in accordance with section 232.'';
            (2) in section 231(b)--
                    (A) by striking ``(1) and (2)'' and inserting 
                ``(1), (2) and (3)''; and
                    (B) by inserting before the period at the end the 
                following: ``, subject to the limitations in section 
                232(a)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 232. USE OF FUNDS FOR CONSTRUCTION, ACQUISITION, AND OPERATION.

    ``(a) Identification of Amounts Available for Construction.--From 
the amount allotted to any State under section 221, the Secretary shall 
identify the portion of the allotment that is attributable to 
appropriations pursuant to section 214(a)(2). A State may, in 
accordance with this section, use not more than that portion of such 
allotment for the Federal share of the cost of any one or more of the 
following purposes:
            ``(1) library construction;
            ``(2) acquisition of reference materials; and
            ``(3) operation of public libraries during hours of library 
        service to the public.
Any amounts of that portion that are not used for such purposes shall 
be used for purposes described in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 
231(a).
    ``(b) Matching Requirement.--For the purposes of subsection (a), 
the Federal share of the cost of any activity under subsection (a) 
shall not exceed, as a percentage the total cost of the activity, the 
percentage specified in section 223(b)(1).
    ``(c) Requirements for Use of Funds for Construction.--Any State 
that intends to use a portion of its allotment for the purposes of 
construction shall revise its State plan under section 224--
            ``(1) to revise the goals and priorities specified pursuant 
        to section 224(b)(1) consistent with the purposes of this 
        section;
            ``(2) to describe, consistent with the requirements of 
        section 224(b)(2), the activities that the agency will carry 
        out under this section; and
            ``(3) to specify the procedures by which the State library 
        administrative agency will competitively award grants for 
        library construction under this section.
Such revisions shall be subject to approval or disapproval by the 
Director.
    ``(d) Minimum and Maximum Awards.--Of the amount of funds provided 
under this section that are used by any State for library construction, 
acquisition of reference materials, or library operation in any fiscal 
year--
            ``(1) not less than 35 percent shall be used in rural 
        areas; and
            ``(2) not more than $1,000,000 may be used for the 
        construction or benefit of any single library facility.
    ``(e) Labor Standards.--It shall be a condition of the receipt of 
any grant under this section that the State library administrative 
agency and any recipient of any grant under this section for purposes 
of construction furnish adequate assurances to the Secretary of Labor 
that all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or 
subcontractors on construction projects assisted under this section 
shall be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on similar 
construction in the locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor in 
accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C. 276a et 
seq.). The Secretary of Labor shall have with respect to the labor 
standards specified in this subsection the authority and functions set 
forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 and section 2 of the 
Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. 276c).
    ``(f) Continued Use for Library Purposes.--If, within 20 years 
after completion of construction of any library facility which has been 
constructed in part with funds made available under this title--
            ``(1) the recipient (or its successor in title or 
        possession) ceases or fails to be a public or nonprofit 
        institution, or
            ``(2) the facility ceases to be used as a library facility, 
        unless the Secretary determines that there is good cause for 
        releasing the institution from its obligation,
the United States shall be entitled to recover from such recipient (or 
successor) an amount which bears the same ratio to the value of the 
facility at that time (or part thereof constituting an approved project 
or projects) as the amount of the Federal grant bore to the cost of 
such facility (or part thereof). The value shall be determined by the 
parties or by action brought in the United States district court for 
the district in which the facility is located.''.
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