[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2832 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2832

  To require the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation to establish a 
          national land bank network, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 25, 2023

  Mr. Ferguson (for himself and Mr. Kildee) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation to establish a 
          national land bank network, 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 ``National Land Bank Network Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Vacant and abandoned properties destabilize rural, 
        suburban, and urban neighborhoods across the United States by 
        creating fire and other public safety hazards, driving down 
        property values, and draining local tax dollars.
            (2) The cost of repairs to maintain vacant and abandoned 
        properties, as well as the potential unpaid taxes and public 
        liens on vacant and abandoned properties, often exceed the 
        property values of vacant and abandoned properties, driving 
        away purchasers.
            (3) The lack of an insurable and marketable title 
        frequently prevents vacant and abandoned properties from 
        returning to productive use.
            (4) Low-income neighborhoods and communities of color 
        disproportionately bear the burden of living near vacant and 
        abandoned properties and the hazards associated with those 
        properties.
            (5) Existing property disposition practices frequently 
        prioritize the ease of disposition and maximizing sale prices 
        instead of the needs of communities and homeowners.
            (6) Land banks--
                    (A) have been developed to respond to the 
                challenges posed by vacant and abandoned properties; 
                and
                    (B) are primarily focused on the return of vacant, 
                abandoned, and tax delinquent properties to productive 
                use in accordance with locally determined goals and 
                priorities.
            (7) Land banks, regardless of the location, size of 
        inventory, or duration of existence of a particular land bank, 
        share challenges in accessing best practices, research, 
        technical assistance, and other resources.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that a national land bank network would 
provide the tools necessary to ensure that land banks--
            (1) use best practices;
            (2) operate transparently;
            (3) prioritize positive community outcomes;
            (4) develop partnerships and programming to drive community 
        redevelopment forward; and
            (5) access education, expertise, and research to strengthen 
        the critical work of land banks in supporting equitable 
        communities.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL LAND BANK NETWORK.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Corporation.--The term ``Corporation'' means the 
        Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation established under the 
        Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Act (42 U.S.C. 8101 et 
        seq.).
            (2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a 
        national nonprofit organization that has demonstrated and 
        established expertise--
                    (A) in supporting the creation, implementation, and 
                operation of land banks; and
                    (B) relating to the systems, laws, and policies 
                that impact vacant, abandoned, and other problem 
                properties.
            (3) Land bank.--The term ``land bank'' means a government 
        entity, agency, or program, or a special purpose nonprofit 
        entity formed by 1 or more units of government in accordance 
        with a State or local land bank enabling law, that has been 
        designated by 1 or more State or local governments to acquire, 
        steward, and dispose of vacant, abandoned, or other problem 
        properties in accordance with locally determined priorities and 
        goals.
            (4) Member land bank.--The term ``member land bank'' means 
        a rural, suburban, or urban land bank that is a member of the 
        national land bank network.
            (5) National land bank network.--The term ``national land 
        bank network'' means the membership-based national land bank 
        network established under subsection (b)(1).
    (b) National Land Bank Network.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Corporation shall enter into a 
contract with an eligible entity to establish and operate--
            (1) a membership-based national land bank network; and
            (2) the grant programs described in subsection (d).
    (c) Duties.--The duties of the national land bank network shall be 
to--
            (1) provide technical assistance to member land banks to 
        support skills training, staffing support, and other 
        operational capacity needs of member land banks;
            (2) work with rural, suburban, and urban communities that 
        are considering whether a land bank would be an appropriate 
        tool to address vacant, abandoned, and other problem properties 
        in those communities;
            (3) provide the communities described in paragraph (2) with 
        technical assistance in the formation of a land bank;
            (4) develop partnerships and programming to advance the 
        work of land banks;
            (5) support engagement between land banks and local 
        communities;
            (6) provide land banks with access to education, expertise, 
        and research that support the work of land banks, including 
        environmental hazard remediation, land reuse, and 
        rehabilitation of commercial and residential properties;
            (7) support the participation of land banks in local 
        community planning processes;
            (8) support the engagement of land banks with residents of 
        neighborhoods in which land banks operate;
            (9) work with rural communities and land banks to ensure 
        that the grant programs established under subsection (d) and 
        education initiatives, expertise, and research of the national 
        land bank network address the specific challenges of rural 
        areas;
            (10) support data collection by land banks to track and 
        evaluate the activities and outcomes of land banks; and
            (11) support the use of specialized technology by land 
        banks--
                    (A) to enable strategic and targeted property 
                acquisition and disposition; and
                    (B) to facilitate the data collection described in 
                paragraph (10) in a standardized manner that enables 
                data to be aggregated and compared.
    (d) Grant Programs.--
            (1) In general.--The eligible entity with which the 
        Corporation enters into a contract under subsection (b) shall 
        develop and administer grant programs to support--
                    (A) land banks; and
                    (B) communities in the creation of new land banks.
            (2) Authority.--The eligible entity described in paragraph 
        (1) may, with respect to the grant programs developed under 
        this subsection--
                    (A) design the grant programs;
                    (B) develop eligibility criteria for the grant 
                programs;
                    (C) disburse grant funds directly to--
                            (i) a land bank; or
                            (ii) a nonprofit organization, a community 
                        organization, or 1 or more units of government 
                        for the purpose of establishing a land bank; 
                        and
                    (D) establish reporting requirements for recipients 
                of the grants.
            (3) Applications.--A land bank or an entity described in 
        subparagraph (C)(ii) desiring a grant from a grant program 
        developed under this subsection shall submit to the eligible 
        entity described in paragraph (1) an application that includes 
        a plan for resident engagement in the use of any grant funds 
        that has a direct impact on the community.
            (4) Reports.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which 
        a land bank or an entity described in paragraph (2)(C)(ii) 
        receives a grant from a grant program developed under this 
        section, and annually thereafter until 1 year after the date on 
        which the land bank or entity fully expends the funds from the 
        grant, the land bank or entity shall submit to the national 
        land bank network a report that includes a summary of the steps 
        undertaken to engage neighborhood residents relating to 
        activities funded by the grant that have a direct impact on the 
        community.
    (e) Annual Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Corporation shall 
submit to Congress a report describing, with respect to the preceding 
fiscal year--
            (1) the services provided to land banks by the national 
        land bank network; and
            (2) the outcomes, qualitative impacts, and quantifiable 
        impacts that member land banks have had in the respective 
        communities of those member land banks.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Corporation to carry out this section--
            (1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2024, of which not less 
        than $7,000,000 shall be used for the grant programs developed 
        under subsection (d); and
            (2) $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2034.
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