110 HR 3374 IH: To improve the ability of small communities to coordinate U.S. House of Representatives 2007-08-03 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3374 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES August 3, 2007 Mr. Space introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To improve the ability of small communities to coordinate with universities and design professionals in developing a vision to address their local needs.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Small Community Visioning Improvement Act.

2.

Findings

The Congress finds the following: (1)Small communities are vital components of the nation’s economic, social, agricultural, historic, and cultural fabric. (2)Our national character has been shaped by and is forever tied to the landscape in and surrounding small communities. (3)A growing number of small communities are facing significant challenges that place their long-term viability at risk, including economic hardship, declining population, eroding tax bases, and environmental pressures. (4)Revitalizing and strengthening small communities begins by helping residents of those communities to articulate and formalize their vision for the future and to develop an action plan to achieve that vision, including in the areas of economic development, agriculture, tourism, transportation, land use, education, recreation, and culture, and by understanding the amenity characteristics of landscapes. (5)In many cases, a community’s vision for the future is rooted in and inseparable from the landscape, including the natural and built environments. (6)Landscape architects have the education, training, and skills, including in the areas of community involvement and public participation, land use planning, design, project visualization techniques, scenic resource assessment, mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), environmental analysis, and environmental psychology, that ideally qualify them to lead community visioning efforts. (7)Expanding Federal support for small community visioning is an investment in the future of small communities and will leverage additional public and private sector participation in such efforts. (8)Successful community visioning efforts have yielded tangible results with regard to the enhancement of transportation corridors, economic development initiatives, land use policies, conservation of natural and community resources, community master plans, and park and recreation plans.

3.

Community visioning pilot initiative

(a)

Purposes

The purposes of this section are to— (1)develop and facilitate innovative visions that help small communities to address pressing local needs; (2)facilitate coordination between small communities, land-grant and other universities, and design professionals; (3)encourage public-private partnerships; and (4)translate the small community's vision into images of design projects that integrate physical planning and design techniques, with sustainable community action, at the appropriate geographic scale. (b)

Definitions

In this section: (1)The term small community visioning process means the process described in subsection (c)(2). (2)The term small community means a political subdivision of a State with a population less than 25,000 individuals, an Indian tribe (as defined by section 2(7) of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), a native Hawaiian organization (as defined by paragraph (11) of such section), or an Alaskan native village (as defined by section 3(c) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act). (3)The term design professional means a landscape architect licensed pursuant to State law or other individual with demonstrated skills, training, and education in community involvement and public participation, land use planning, design, project visualization techniques, scenic resource management, mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), environmental analysis, and environmental psychology. (4)The term eligible grant recipient means a small community, a land grant university or college established pursuant to the Morrill Act, an institution of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965), or an economic or community development entity authorized by a State or political subdivision of a State. (5)The term construction documents means technical documents, drawings, and designs which contain dimensions, measurements, material specifications, and other technical information necessary to complete design plans. (6)The term Department means the Department of Agriculture. (7)The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture. (c)

Grant authority

(1)

In general

The Secretary shall make grants to eligible grant recipients for the purposes of carrying out small community visioning processes. (2)

Small community visioning process

In order to be eligible for a grant under this section, the applicant must use a small community visioning process that includes the following: (A)

Soliciting and organizing public participation

The broadest segment of the public is invited to participate, and the process is structured to maximize participation and maintain efficiency. (B)

Needs determination

The small community determines whether the community requires assistance through this process with a broad-based needs assessment or whether it has identified a specific need through a prior community-based process that the community wants to address through the small community visioning process. Needs may include the areas of economic development, transportation, land use, agriculture, and the natural, cultural, and aesthetic values of the community. (C)

Developing design options

Members of the community engage in a series of discussions to articulate their vision for addressing the identified need. Design professionals facilitate the discussions, help members of the community identify areas of consensus, and begin translating the vision into images, including sketches, maps, digital images, computer simulations, and design concepts. The vision and design options are refined in an ongoing dialogue until community consensus is reached and physical designs for 1 or more projects are finalized. (D)

Implementation planning

Design professionals, members of the public, and others develop and finalize a plan that describes the specific steps the community would take to achieve its vision. At a minimum, the plan should identify— (i)projects relating to that vision, including projects the community can undertake and complete with existing resources, personnel, and funding, and projects which the community could undertake and complete only with the infusion of additional resources, personnel, and funding; (ii)government agencies, nongovernmental entities, and other potential partners that could participate in implementation; and (iii)possible sources of public and private funding to achieve the vision. (d)

Application processes

(1)

In general

Not later than 60 days after the Secretary issues final regulations under subsection (h), the Secretary shall solicit applications for grants from eligible grant recipients. The application shall include the following: (A)A statement of the needs that the small community would address through the small community visioning process, or a statement that the small community requires assistance to identify such a need. (B)A brief description of process the small community used or will use to involve a diverse cross-section of residents of the community in determining the need. (C)A description of how the applicant will use the services of design professionals or university programs with demonstrated expertise in small community visioning processes in providing assistance to the small community. (D)A description of how the applicant will involve a diverse cross-section of residents of the small community in the visioning process. (E)A description of the phases of the visioning process, the anticipated outcomes of each phase, and of the visioning initiative as a whole. (F)A detailed budget for the visioning process, including the contribution to be provided by the applicant pursuant to subsection (h) or a request for waiver of such a contribution. (G)A description of the steps the applicant will take to— (i)assess the effectiveness of the visioning process in addressing the community's need; and (ii)integrate the findings of the needs determination into ongoing efforts to implement the vision developed pursuant to this section. (2)

Alternative application process

The Secretary may establish an alternative application process through which eligible grant recipients may apply for funding sufficient to facilitate small community visioning processes in 2 or more small communities without having to apply separately for a grant for each community. The alternative application shall include the following: (A)A description of the applicant's capabilities to achieve the purposes of this section, including a description of experience providing the assistance described in this section. (B)If the applicant is an institution of higher education or land grant university or college and has an accredited undergraduate or graduate degree program in landscape architecture, a description of the substantive role that the landscape architecture program will play in carrying out the purposes of this section. (C)A description of how the applicant will use the services of design professionals and university programs with demonstrated expertise in small community visioning processes, in carrying out the purposes of this section. (D)A description of the phases of the small community visioning process, and the anticipated outcomes of each phase. (E)A projection of the number of small communities that the applicant could assist with the grant amount requested during the fiscal year in which the grant would be received, and with a proposed schedule for providing the assistance. (F)A detailed budget for the activities to be carried out by the applicant with the grant. (G)A description of the steps the applicant will take to— (i)assess the effectiveness of the visioning process in addressing each community's need; and (ii)support community-based efforts to integrate the findings of the assessments into ongoing efforts to implement the vision developed pursuant to this section. (e)

Grant award considerations

In making grants under this section, the Secretary shall consider— (1)the value of making grants to communities of various population sizes; (2)the geographic distribution of the grants; and (3)the value of giving priority to applicants with well-defined community, private sector, and university participation. (f)

Grant amounts and administrative expenses

(1)

Amounts

A grant under this section shall not exceed— (A)$25,000, if the application for the grant was submitted pursuant to subsection (d)(1); or (B)$250,000, if the application for the grant was submitted pursuant to subsection (d)(2). (2)

Administrative expenses

The Secretary may use not more than 10 percent of the total amount appropriated under this section for each fiscal year to administer this section. A recipient of a grant under this section may use not more than 25 percent of the grant for administration. (3)

Limitation

A grant under this section shall not be used to develop or produce construction documents. (g)

Recipient contribution requirement

(1)

In general

As a condition of receiving a grant under this section, the grantee shall contribute, from non-Federal sources, to the activities for which the grant is made an amount equal to 20 percent of total costs of the activities. (2)

Use of in-kind contributions

The Secretary shall allow a grantee to meet the requirement of paragraph (1) by making qualifying in-kind contributions of such type as the Secretary may allow in regulations. (3)

Waiver

The Secretary may waive the requirement of paragraph (1) in the case of a recipient who demonstrates to the Secretary's satisfaction that the recipient is incapable of meeting the requirement. (h)

Regulations

Within 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section and after opportunity for public comment, the Secretary shall issue such regulations as the Secretary deems appropriate to carry out this section. (i)

Report to the congress

Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report that describes, at a minimum— (1)the most effective practices and procedures used to assist communities in the small community visioning process; (2)examples of the public-private partnerships developed to identify and implement community goals; (3)examples of the tangible, physical outcomes of small community visioning processes funded under this section; (4)recommendations for improving, strengthening, and expanding the program carried out under this section; and (5)a list of all grantees under this section, the city and State in which the grantees are located, and grant amounts received by each grantee. (j)

Authorization of appropriations

(1)

In general

For grants under this section, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary not more than $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012. (2)

Reservation of funds for applications to assist multiple small communities

Not less than 40 percent of the amounts made available to carry out this section for each fiscal year shall be made available for grants for applications submitted pursuant to subsection (d)(2). (3)

Availability of appropriations

Funds made available to carry out this section are authorized to remain available until expended.