[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3026 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3026

 To amend the United States Public Housing Act of 1937 to establish a 
 predisaster mitigation program to benefit public and assisted housing 
                   residents, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 24, 2009

 Mr. Thompson of Mississippi introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the United States Public Housing Act of 1937 to establish a 
 predisaster mitigation program to benefit public and assisted housing 
                   residents, 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 ``Hazard Mitigation For All Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. IN GENERAL.

    Title I of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 37. HAZARD MITIGATION FOR ALL GRANT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Purposes.--The purpose of this section is to provide grant 
assistance to public housing agencies for activities to--
            ``(1) protect the lives of residents of public and assisted 
        housing by mitigating in advance against natural disasters; and
            ``(2) improve the resilience of resident-inhabited 
        residential structures to withstand storms and other natural 
        disasters, through restoration, reconstruction, replacement, or 
        retrofit initiatives in advance of such storms and disasters.
    ``(b) Grant Authority.--To the extent amounts for grants under this 
section for a fiscal year are made available in advance in 
appropriations Acts, the Secretary shall make grants under this section 
to public housing agencies that have submitted applications for such 
grants which have been selected pursuant to subsection (h).
    ``(c) Eligible Public Housing Agencies.--A grant under this section 
may be provided only to a public housing agency that--
            ``(1) administers one or more public housing projects;
            ``(2) provides project-based housing assistance under 
        section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
        1437f) for any rental housing project;
            ``(3) administers a program for tenant-based rental housing 
        assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 
        1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f); or
            ``(4) administers a program for tenant-based rental housing 
        assistance for the elderly, persons with disabilities, or the 
        homeless.
    ``(d) Eligible Activities.--Grants under this section may be used 
only for predisaster activities for hazard mitigation that benefit 
residents of the assisted housing of the public housing agency that is 
the grantee, which shall include the following:
            ``(1) Improving the strength of roof deck attachments.
            ``(2) Creating a secondary water barrier to prevent water 
        intrusion.
            ``(3) Installing coverings to reduce leakage in the event 
        hurricane-force winds remove roof shingles.
            ``(4) Improving the survivability of the roof covering.
            ``(5) Bracing gable-ends in roof framing.
            ``(6) Reinforcing roof-to-wall connections.
            ``(7) Upgrading exterior wall openings with protections to 
        resist hurricane-force winds.
            ``(8) Replacing storm shutters, exterior doors, windows, 
        and garage doors.
            ``(9) Adding anchor bolts or steel plates between the 
        property and the foundation.
            ``(10) Bracing the inside of any short wood-stud wall 
        between the top of the foundation wall and the first floor 
        (known as a cripple wall) with sheathing for added protection 
        against an earthquake.
            ``(11) Any other activities as the Secretary may determine 
        that improve the storm resilience of assisted housing through 
        restoration, reconstruction, replacement, or retrofit.
    ``(e) Matching Requirement.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), 
        each public housing agency that receives a grant under this 
        section shall provide, from sources other than a grant under 
        this section, an amount equal to not less than 25 percent of 
        the total funds necessary to complete an activity funded under 
        this section.
            ``(2) Supplemental funds.--For purposes of paragraph (1), 
        funds from other Federal sources, funds from any State or local 
        government source, any private contributions, and any in-kind 
        contributions available to comply with this subsection shall be 
        considered funds from sources other than a grant under this 
        section.
            ``(3) Adjustment.--The Secretary may consider the severity 
        and frequency of storms in the area for which the public 
        housing agency has jurisdiction in determining the percentage 
        of contribution required under paragraph (1).
    ``(f) Requirements.--Amounts from a grant under this section--
            ``(1) shall be used only to provide eligible activities for 
        real property that is assisted housing;
            ``(2) shall be used to provide eligible activities only for 
        residents of assisted housing whose family incomes do not 
        exceed 80 percent of the median income for the area;
            ``(3) may be used for eligible activities that result in 
        displacement of assisted residents only if accommodations are 
        provided for such assisted residents during such period of 
        displacement that are--
                    ``(A) similar to the existing assisted housing of 
                the resident;
                    ``(B) located in a community comparable to the 
                existing housing of the resident; and
                    ``(C) a reasonable distance from the existing 
                housing of the resident.
    ``(g) Requirements for Assistance to Private Owners of Assisted 
Housing.--A public housing agency receiving a grant under this section 
may not provide grant amounts to an owner of assisted housing that is 
not public housing unless the owner of the assisted housing agrees to 
make the assisted housing units that are designated at the time of the 
grant award available for occupancy, during the 5-year period beginning 
upon the initial receipt of any funds from a grant under this section, 
through an occupancy preference, in accordance with reasonable 
admissions screening criteria developed by the public housing agency, 
to families who are eligible for rental assistance under section 8.
    ``(h) Applications and Selection Criteria.--
            ``(1) Applications.--The Secretary shall provide for public 
        housing agencies to submit applications for a grant under this 
        section through the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs and 
        shall require, to be eligible for a grant for any fiscal year, 
        that an application be submitted not later than June 30 of the 
        fiscal year preceding the fiscal year of grant award. Such 
        Office shall establish such applications in consultation with 
        the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
            ``(2) Selection criteria.--The Office of Multifamily 
        Housing Programs shall establish criteria for the selection of 
        applications by public housing agencies for grants under this 
        section, which shall consider the following factors:
                    ``(A) The severity and frequency of natural 
                disasters within the area in which eligible activities 
                are to be carried out using grant amounts.
                    ``(B) The size and median age of the assisted 
                resident population within the jurisdiction of the 
                public housing agency applicant.
                    ``(C) The capability of the public housing agency 
                applicant to administer the grant funds.
                    ``(D) The nature and effectiveness of the eligible 
                activities to be carried out using the grant amounts.
                    ``(E) The long-term viability of the hazard 
                mitigation improvements for which the grant amounts 
                will be used.
                    ``(F) Whether energy efficient methods (such as 
                energy efficient storm windows) will be used in the 
                hazard mitigation improvements for which grant amounts 
                will be used.
                    ``(G) The efforts the public housing agency has 
                made to publicize the importance of hazard mitigation 
                to local owners of assisted housing.
                    ``(H) The extent of commitment by the public 
                housing agency to support ongoing non-Federal hazard 
                mitigation measures.
                    ``(I) The ability of the public housing agency to 
                maintain eligible activities funded with grant amounts.
    ``(i) Allocation of Funds.--
            ``(1) Competitive program.--Grants from amounts made 
        available under this section shall be awarded on a competitive 
        basis subject to the criteria specified in subsection (h)(2) 
        and regulations issued by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Maximum amount.--Of any amounts made available for 
        any fiscal year for grants under this section, not more than 15 
        percent may be provided to any single public housing agency.
    ``(j) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following 
definitions shall apply:
            ``(1) Assisted housing.--The term `assisted housing' means, 
        with respect to a public housing agency--
                    ``(A) any public housing administered by the 
                agency;
                    ``(B) any housing for which project-based rental 
                assistance is provided by the agency; and
                    ``(C) any housing occupied by a family for whom the 
                agency provides tenant-based rental assistance and for 
                rental of which such family uses such rental 
                assistance.
            ``(2) Assisted resident.--The term `assisted resident' 
        means--
                    ``(A) a resident of public housing;
                    ``(B) a resident of assisted housing described in 
                paragraph (1)(B) who resides in a dwelling unit for 
                which such project-based rental assistance is provided; 
                or
                    ``(C) a family described in paragraph (1)(C).
            ``(3) Eligible activities.--The term `eligible activities' 
        means activities that, pursuant to subsection (d), may be 
        funded with amounts from a grant under this section.
    ``(k) Funding.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this section, $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2013, 
to remain available until expended.
    ``(l) Regulations.--The Secretary shall issue any regulations 
necessary to carry out this section.''.
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