[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 23 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  1st Session

                                H. R. 23

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize 
    communities to use community development block grant funds for 
   construction of tornado-safe shelters in manufactured home parks.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 23

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize 
    communities to use community development block grant funds for 
   construction of tornado-safe shelters in manufactured home parks.

    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 ``Tornado Shelters Act''.

SEC. 2. CDBG ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.

    Section 105(a) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 
(42 U.S.C. 5305(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (22), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (23), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (23) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(24) the construction or improvement of tornado-safe 
        shelters for residents of manufactured housing, and the 
        provision of assistance (including loans and grants) to 
        nonprofit and for-profit entities (including owners of 
        manufactured housing parks) for such construction or 
        improvement, except that--
                    ``(A) a shelter assisted with amounts provided 
                pursuant to this paragraph may be located only in a 
                neighborhood (including a manufactured housing park) 
                that--
                            ``(i) contains not less than 20 
                        manufactured housing units that are within such 
                        proximity to the shelter that the shelter is 
                        available to the residents of such units in the 
                        event of a tornado;
                            ``(ii) consists predominantly of persons of 
                        low and moderate income; and
                            ``(iii) is located within a State in which 
                        a tornado has occurred during the fiscal year 
                        for which the amounts to be used under this 
                        paragraph were made available or any of the 3 
                        preceding fiscal years, as determined by the 
                        Secretary after consultation with the Director 
                        of the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
                    ``(B) such a shelter shall comply with standards 
                for construction and safety as the Secretary, after 
                consultation with the Director of the Federal Emergency 
                Management Agency, shall provide to ensure protection 
                from tornadoes;
                    ``(C) such a shelter shall be of a size sufficient 
                to accommodate, at a single time, all occupants of 
                manufactured housing units located within the 
                neighborhood in which the shelter is located; and
                    ``(D) amounts may not be used for a shelter as 
                provided under this paragraph unless there is located, 
                within the neighborhood in which the shelter is located 
                (or, in the case of a shelter located in a manufactured 
                housing park, within 1,500 feet of such park), a 
                warning siren that is operated in accordance with such 
                local, regional, or national disaster warning programs 
                or systems as the Secretary, after consultation with 
                the Director of the Federal Emergency Management 
                Agency, considers appropriate to ensure adequate notice 
                of occupants of manufactured housing located in such 
                neighborhood or park of a tornado; and''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    In addition to any amounts otherwise made available for grants 
under title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 
U.S.C. 5301 et seq.), there is authorized to be appropriated for 
assistance only for activities pursuant to section 105(a)(24) of such 
Act $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 21, 2003.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.