[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 27 (Friday, February 18, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E262]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 16, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other 
     departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes:

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to language in H.R. 1 
that would prevent the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 
spending money on the Sustainable Communities Initiative. The language 
in the bill is short-sighted and represents a missed opportunity for 
communities around the country. Not only will it end a very successful 
HUD program that has helped communities large and small plan for growth 
and coordinate economic development investments, but it could halt a 
very successful partnership between HUD, the Department of 
Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency that promotes 
interagency coordination.
  Despite the obvious connections between housing, transportation, and 
land use, these three agencies have not always worked well together in 
the past. But Secretaries Donovan, LaHood, and Administrator Jackson 
and their agencies have spent the last year cutting down red tape and 
coordinating investments to meet multiple economic, environmental, and 
community objectives.
  These efforts not only save money, but they make government more 
efficient and ensure that the federal government is a better partner to 
local communities. As we reduce federal investments and watch our 
communities struggle, this seems like something all members of the 
House can get behind.
  The Sustainable Communities Initiative at HUD provides resources to 
help communities realize their own visions for more economically 
competitive communities that generate more jobs, lower housing and 
transportation costs, and use limited public funds more wisely. Another 
important function of the Sustainable Communities Initiative at HUD is 
to provide competitive grant funding. Working with the DOT and EPA, the 
Initiative offers grants to communities to integrate transportation, 
housing, land use and energy planning using state of the art data and 
tools.
  These grants go to communities all around the country, large and 
small, urban and rural. The interest in these has been extraordinary. 
In 2010, when HUD announced the challenge grants, a total of 630 
communities requested $1.2 billion in funding. HUD was only able to 
award 61 grants worth $69 million. HUD's sustainable communities 
regional planning grants were as popular: 225 regions applied for $450 
million, and HUD was able to award 45 regions a total of $98 million. 
This funding is helping to create jobs, drive economic development, 
provide housing and transportation choices, increase walkability, and 
improve quality of life.
  Eliminating the Sustainable Communities Initiative will deprive the 
communities who weren't awarded funding in the last round from the 
opportunity to have their projects funded next time. Because the bill 
also rescinds unobligated funds, projects that were awarded grants and 
are already in the pipeline could be cancelled. Even though the grants 
have been awarded, many of the final contracts have not been signed.
  I'd like to highlight a number of the 2010 Community Challenge 
Planning Grant projects that could be threatened as a result of the 
bill we have on the Floor today.
  The City of Augusta, GA, Augusta State University, and other partners 
will be awarded $1.8 million for the Augusta Sustainable Development 
Implementation Program, which will help plan the redevelopment of the 
Priority Development Corridor, a 4.5 mile north-south ``spine'' in the 
core of Augusta. The project will include a multi-modal transportation 
corridor; a revision of current codes to facilitate a vibrant, mixed-
use, mixed-income development; and a plan for green, affordable housing 
in Georgia's second-largest city.
  The City of Covington, KY, will be awarded $359,000 to create a 
Downtown Action Plan with the active involvement of citizens and 
stakeholders. Among other things, the plan will increase the number of 
workers who live downtown near jobs, decreasing traffic and pollution. 
Partners in the project include the National Development Council, 
Northern Kentucky University Center for Economic Analysis and 
Development, Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky, Ohio Kentucky 
Indiana Regional Council of Governments, Northern Kentucky Area 
Planning Council and the Covington Business Council.
  The City of Flint, MI will be awarded $1.5 million to replace its 
existing city master plan with an integrated plan for sustainable 
development. The outreach process will include neighborhood-level 
discussion about residents' vision for the plan. Among others, project 
partners include the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, University of 
Michigan-Flint, Hurley Medical Center, and the Community Foundation of 
Greater Flint.
  If this language passes, Grand Traverse County, MI could lose a 
$400,000 grant to create a Housing Inventory and Assessment, a County 
Master Plan, neighborhood revitalization, and affordable housing. The 
City of Hattiesburg, MS could lose $150,000 for a plan to lay the 
foundation for a commercial and residential mixed-use, mixed-income 
housing district. The City of Claremont, NH could lose $58,000 to 
undertake a comprehensive zoning analysis that will identify tools to 
maintain its historic cityscape, encourage development to maximize use 
of existing infrastructure, drive private investment and economic 
development to downtown, and improve the quantity and quality of 
housing. Oklahoma City could lose $500,000 to develop a plan that 
provides an inventory and analysis of existing land availability, 
identify additional lands that may be designated for industrial use, 
assess infrastructure needs of that land, set priorities to help guide 
investment, and facilitate new industrial development.
  Many more communities, which I don't have time to list now, have 
received funding and assistance from the Sustainable Communities 
Initiatives.
  Keep in mind that this is a voluntary grant program. These 
communities have approached HUD to seek funding to support their own 
visions for economic revitalization. The grant applications are created 
from the ground up by local governments in partnership with community 
and business organizations. An important aspect of each of these 
projects is citizen outreach and public engagement.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in rejecting this short-sighted 
proposal.

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