[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3422 Referred in Senate (RFS)]


109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3422


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 14, 2005

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 to exempt small public 
  housing agencies from the requirement of preparing an annual public 
                          housing agency plan.

    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 ``Small Public Housing Authority 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY PLANS FOR CERTAIN SMALL PUBLIC HOUSING 
              AGENCIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 5A(b) of the United States Housing Act of 
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c-1(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Exemption of certain small phas from filing 
        requirement.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or 
                any other provision of this Act--
                            ``(i) the requirement under paragraph (1) 
                        shall not apply to any qualified small public 
                        housing agency; and
                            ``(ii) except as provided in subsection 
                        (e)(4)(B), any reference in this section or any 
                        other provision of law to a `public housing 
                        agency' shall not be considered to refer to any 
                        qualified small public housing agency, to the 
                        extent such reference applies to the 
                        requirement to submit an annual public housing 
                        agency plan under this subsection.
                    ``(B) Civil rights certification.--Notwithstanding 
                that qualified small public housing agencies are exempt 
                pursuant to subparagraph (A) from the requirement under 
                this section to prepare and submit an annual public 
                housing plan, each qualified small public housing 
                agency shall, on an annual basis, make the 
                certification described in paragraph (15) of subsection 
                (d) of this section, except that for purposes of such 
                small public housing agencies, such paragraph shall be 
                applied by substituting `the public housing program of 
                the agency' for `the public housing agency plan'.
                    ``(C) Definition.--For purposes of this section, 
                the term `qualified small public housing agency' means 
                a public housing agency that meets all of the following 
                requirements:
                            ``(i) The sum of (I) the number of public 
                        housing dwelling units administered by the 
                        agency, and (II) the number of vouchers under 
                        section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act 
                        of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) administered by 
                        the agency, is 250 or fewer.
                            ``(ii) The agency is not designated 
                        pursuant to section 6(j)(2) as a troubled 
                        public housing agency.''.
    (b) Resident Participation.--Section 5A of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c-1) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (e), by inserting after paragraph (3) the 
        following:
            ``(4) Qualified small public housing agencies.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), nothing in this section may be 
                construed to exempt a qualified small public housing 
                agency from the requirement under paragraph (1) to 
                establish one or more resident advisory boards. 
                Notwithstanding that qualified small public housing 
                agencies are exempt pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(A) 
                from the requirement under this section to prepare and 
                submit an annual public housing plan, each qualified 
                small public housing agency shall consult with, and 
                consider the recommendations of the resident advisory 
                boards for the agency, in any determinations and 
                actions of the agency regarding establishing goals, 
                objectives, and policies of the agency.
                    ``(B) Applicability of waiver authority.--Paragraph 
                (3) shall apply to qualified small public housing 
                agencies, except that for purposes of such small public 
                housing agencies, subparagraph (B) of such paragraph 
                shall be applied by substituting `the functions 
                described in the second sentence of paragraph (4)(A)' 
                for `the functions described in paragraph (2)'.
    ``(f) Public Hearings.--''; and
            (2) in subsection (f) (as so designated by the amendment 
        made by paragraph (1) of this subsection), by adding at the end 
        the following new paragraph:
            ``(5) Qualified small public housing agencies.--
                    ``(A) Requirement.--Notwithstanding that qualified 
                small public housing agencies are exempt pursuant to 
                subsection (b)(3)(A) from the requirement under this 
                section to conduct a public hearing regarding the 
                annual public housing plan of the agency, each 
                qualified small public housing agency shall, not less 
                than annually, conduct a public hearing to discuss the 
                goals, objectives, and policies of the agency, and any 
                changes to such goals, objectives, and policies, and to 
                invite public comment regarding such issues.
                    ``(B) Availability of information and notice.--Not 
                later than 45 days before the date of such a hearing, 
                the qualified small public housing agency shall--
                            ``(i) make all information relevant to the 
                        hearing and any determinations of the agency 
                        regarding the goals, objectives, and policies 
                        of the agency to be considered at the hearing 
                        available for inspection by the public at the 
                        principal office of the public housing agency 
                        during normal business hours; and
                            ``(ii) publish a notice informing the 
                        public that (I) the information is available as 
                        required under clause (i), and (II) a
                        public hearing under subparagraph (A) will be 
                        conducted.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives December 13, 2005.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.