1.This Act may be cited as the
Green Communities Act of
2009
.
2.
(a)Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)Landscaping adds to the economic value and
sales appeal of commercial real estate and increases office occupancy
rates.
(2)Greening can change people’s perceptions of
their neighborhoods, reduce violence and crime, and increase neighborhood
stability.
(3)Planting new trees, improving streetscapes,
and cleaning vacant lots increases property values.
(4)People will stay longer and shop more in
shopping districts that are well landscaped.
(5)Improvements to neighborhood parks increase
the value of single-family homes in the surrounding community.
(6)Homes adjacent to vacant lots that are
greened have a much higher property value than homes adjacent to vacant lots
that have not been greened.
(b)The purposes of this Act are as
follows:
(1)To promote investment in greening projects
and programs as effective economic development tools.
(2)To connect urban economic development
initiatives with environmental initiatives.
(3)To improve quality of life for city
residents.
(4)To encourage public-private
partnerships.
3.In this Act:
(1)Community greening initiativeThe term community greening
initiative means a program that increases economic development by
improving the environment. A community greening initiative may include the
following:
(A)Revitalizing municipal parks and public
spaces.
(B)Landscaping community gateways and key
corridors.
(C)Tree plantings and urban forestry
projects.
(D)Comprehensive planning for open space
preservation.
(E)Education, training, and volunteer
management concerning community green initiatives.
(F)Green roof construction.
(G)Green stormwater infrastructure.
(H)Vacant lot management.
(2)The term green roof means a
roof consisting of vegetation and soil or a growing medium planted over a
waterproofing membrane.
(3)Green stormwater
infrastructureThe term
green stormwater infrastructure means systems and practices that
use or mimic natural processes to infiltrate, evapotranspirate, or reuse
stormwater on the site where it occurs rather than transporting the water to a
stream or treatment facility.
(4)The term nonprofit
organization means an organization that is described in section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under
section 501(a) of such Code.
(5)The term Secretary means the
Secretary of Commerce.
(6)The term urban
forestry means an integrated citywide or neighborhood-wide approach to
the planting, care, and management of trees in the city or the neighborhood in
order to ensure environmental and social benefits for residents.
4.Grants for community greening
initiatives
(a)
(1)To the extent that funds are available, the
Secretary shall, acting through the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Economic Development, award grants to eligible municipalities to carry out
community greening initiatives.
(2)The Secretary may not award a grant under
this section in an amount that exceeds $2,000,000.
(b)For purposes of this section, an eligible
municipality is any municipality that meets—
(1)the criteria described by section 209(b) of
the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3149(b));
and
(2)the circumstances described by section
209(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3149(c)).
(c)Selection of grant recipients
(1)An eligible municipality seeking a grant
under this section for a community greening initiative shall submit to the
Secretary an application therefor in such form and in such manner as the
Secretary considers appropriate.
(2)The Secretary shall, in consultation with
the nonprofit organizations that receive a grant or enter into a contract with
the Secretary under section 5(a), select to receive grants under this section
80 eligible municipalities that have successfully developed and planned a
community greening initiative, as determined by the Secretary.
(3)The Secretary may not award a grant under
this section to an eligible municipality for a community greening initiative
that the Secretary determines will require more than 2 years to
complete.
(d)Each eligible municipality receiving a
grant under this section shall, with technical assistance and training provided
under section 5(c), use the grant to carry out the community greening
initiative for which the grant is received.
(e)An eligible municipality seeking a grant
under this section for a community greening initiative shall agree to make
available non-Federal funds to carry out the community greening initiative in
an amount equal to not less than 50 percent of the grant awarded to such
eligible municipality under this section.
(f)Not later than 60 days after an eligible
municipality that receives a grant under this section for a community greening
initiative completes such initiative, the eligible nonprofit organization that
assisted such municipality with such initiative under subsection (d) shall
submit to the Secretary a report assessing the implementation of such
initiative.
5.Technical assistance and training for
municipalities
(a)
(1)To the extent that funds are available, the
Secretary shall award grants to, or enter into contracts with, 5 eligible
nonprofit organizations to provide technical assistance and training to
municipalities that receive grants under section 4.
(2)A grant or contract under paragraph (1)
shall be for a period of 5 years.
(b)Eligible nonprofit
organizationFor purposes of
this section, an eligible nonprofit organization is any nonprofit organization
that has experience with the following:
(1)Planning and implementing projects
concerning urban open space, landscape management, and community greening
initiatives.
(2)Land and water conservation.
(3)Working with communities.
(4)Forming partnerships or regional
consortiums.
(5)Urban ecology.
(6)Such other experience as the Secretary
considers appropriate.
(c)Technical assistance and training
(1)Each eligible nonprofit organization
receiving a grant or entering into a contract under subsection (a) shall
provide technical assistance and training to municipalities receiving grants
under section 4 to assist such municipalities in carrying out the community
greening initiatives for which such grants were awarded.
(2)Technical assistance and training under
paragraph (1) may include the following:
(A)Developing, planning, implementing, and
assessing community greening initiatives.
(B)Developing and implementing training and
workshops for municipal agencies and local partners.
(C)Evaluating a community greening
initiative.
(d)Not later than 90 days after the end of
each fiscal year for which amounts are made available for grants under this
section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the technical
assistance and training provided under this section. Each report shall describe
the actions taken by the Secretary to ensure that technical assistance and
training provided under this section is responsive to the needs of
municipalities that receive grants under section 4.
6.Authorization of appropriations
(a)There are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Act—
(1)$30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010,
2013, and 2014; and
(2)$90,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011
and 2012.
(b)
(1)Grants for community greening
initiativesNot less than 66
percent of the amounts made available to carry out this Act for each of fiscal
years 2011 and 2012 shall be made available for the awarding of grants under
section 4.
(2)Technical assistance and
trainingOf the amounts made
available to carry out this Act, amounts shall be made available for technical
assistance and training under section 5 as follows:
(A)For each of fiscal years 2010, 2013, and
2014, 85 percent of such amounts.
(B)For each of fiscal years 2011 and 2013, 28
percent of such amounts.
(c)Funds made available under this Act shall
remain available until expended.