S. 1596 (112th): Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012

Introduced:
Sep 21, 2011 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Sponsor:
Sen. Patty Murray [D-WA]
Status:
Died (Reported by Committee)

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced on September 21, 2011, in a previous session of Congress, but was not enacted.

Progress
Introduced Sep 21, 2011
Reported by Committee Sep 21, 2011
Cosponsors
none
Committees

Senate Appropriations

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

An original bill making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and for other purposes.

Summary

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Text

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Last updated Sep 21, 2011.
364 pages

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

9/21/2011--Reported to Senate without amendment. (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.) Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012 -
Title I - Department of Transportation
Department of Transportation Appropriations Act, 2012 - Makes appropriations for FY2012 to the Department of Transportation (DOT), including:
(1) the Office of the Secretary;
(2) the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA);
(3) the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA);
(4) the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA);
(5) the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA);
(6) the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA);
(7) the Federal Transit Administration (FTA);
(8) the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation;
(9) the Maritime Administration;
(10) the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA);
(11) the Research and Innovative Technology Administration;
(12) the Office of Inspector General; and
(13) the Surface Transportation Board (STB).
Section 102 -
Prohibits any funds made available under this Act from being obligated or expended to establish or implement a program under which essential air service (EAS) communities are required to assume subsidy costs commonly referred to as the EAS local participation program.
Section 103 -
Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary in this title) or designee to lobby states and state legislators to consider proposals for the reduction of motorcycle fatalities.
Section 104 -
Rescinds unobligated balances made available under the Department of Transportation Appropriations Act, 2006, for necessary expenses, including an independent verification regime, to reimburse fixed-based general aviation operators and the providers of general aviation ground support services at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, College Park Airport in College Park, Maryland, Potomac Airpark in Fort Washington, Maryland, Washington Executive/Hyde Field in Clinton, Maryland, and Washington South Capitol Street Heliport in Washington, DC, for direct and incremental financial losses incurred while such airports were closed to general aviation operations by these operators and service providers solely due to the federal government action following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
Section 105 -
Authorizes the DOT's Working Capital fund to provide advanced payments to vendors to carry out the federal transit pass transportation fringe benefit program for federal employees.
Section 106 -
Directs the Secretary to: (1) post on the DOT website a schedule of all Credit Council meetings, including the agenda for each meeting; and (2) require the Council to record the minutes of the meetings.
Section 110 -
Prohibits the use of funds to compensate more than 600 technical staff-years under the federally funded research and development center contract between the FAA and the Center for Advanced Aviation Systems Development during FY2012.
Section 111 -
Prohibits the use of funds to pursue or adopt guidelines or regulations requiring airport sponsors to provide to the FAA without cost building construction, maintenance, utilities and expenses, or space in airport sponsor-owned buildings for services relating to air traffic control, air navigation, or weather reporting.
Exempts from this prohibition any negotiations between the agency and airport sponsors to:
(1) achieve agreement on "below-market" rates for these items; or
(2) grant assurances that require airport sponsors to provide land without cost to the FAA for air traffic control facilities.
Section 112 -
Authorizes the FAA Administrator to reimburse amounts made available from certain fees to carry out the EAS program.
Section 113 -
Requires that amounts collected for safety-related training and operational services to foreign aviation authorities be credited to the appropriation current at the time of collection, to be merged with and available for the same purposes of such appropriation.
Section 114 -
Prohibits Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grant funds from being made available to a sponsor of a commercial service airport that fails to agree to a request from the Secretary for cost-free space in a nonrevenue producing, public use area of the airport to carry out a public service air passenger rights and consumer out-reach campaign.
Section 116 -
Prohibits the obligation of funds for an FAA employee to purchase a store gift card or gift certificate through use of a government-issued credit card.
Section 117 -
Requires the Secretary to make the minimum apportionment for primary and cargo airports to sponsors of airports that: (1) received scheduled or unscheduled air service from large certified air carriers; and (2) had more than 10,000 passenger boardings in the preceding calendar year.
Section 118 -
Prohibits the obligation of funds for retention bonuses for a FAA employee without the prior written approval of the DOT Deputy Assistant Secretary for Administration.
Section 119 -
Caps at 20% the maximum allowable local share of costs of an airport sponsor or state or local government with jurisdiction over an airport in cases where the operating costs of an air traffic tower under the Contract Air Traffic Control Tower Program exceed the benefits.
(Sec. 119A) Prohibits the use of funds to implement, or to continue to implement, any limitation on the ability of a private aircraft owner or operator, upon a request to the FAA Administrator, to block, with respect to its noncommercial flights, the display of the owner's or operator's registration number in the Aircraft Situational Display to Industry data provided by the FAA to the public, unless the data has been made available to a government agency.
(Sec. 119B) Allows federal employees furloughed as a result of the lapse in expenditure authority from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund after 11:59 p.m.
on July 22, 2011, through August 5, 2011, to be compensated for such lapse at their standard rates of compensation.
Ratifies and approves all actions taken by federal employees, contractors, and grantees to maintain the essential level of government operations, services, and activities to protect life and property and to bring about orderly termination of government functions during such lapse.
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make amounts in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund available to meet U.S. obligations incurred under the Department of Transportation Appropriations Act, 2012.
Section 120 -
Prescribes requirements, including a formula, for certain FY2012 distributions from the obligation limitation for federal-aid highways.
Section 121 -
Allows crediting to the federal-aid highways account of funds received by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics from the sale of data products to reimburse the Bureau for necessary expenses.
Section 122 -
Requires the Secretary to make an informal public notice and comment opportunity on the intent of the waiver before waiving any Buy America requirement for federal-aid highway projects.
Section 123 -
Prohibits the use of funds to approve or authorize the imposition of a toll on any segment of a federal highway in the state of Texas that:
(1) is not already tolled,
(2) is constructed with federal assistance, and
(3) is in actual operation.
States that this prohibition does not apply to:
(1) any federal-aid system highway segment that will have the same number of nontoll lanes as existed before a toll is imposed, or
(2) any high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane converted to a toll lane if an HOV may use the toll lane without paying a toll or the HOV lane was constructed as a temporary lane to be replaced by a toll lane.
Section 124 -
Directs the Secretary to transfer to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics $5 million, from funds made available in FY2012 for the Surface Transportation Research, Development, and Deployment Program.
Section 125 -
Prohibits the Secretary from approving any federal-aid highway project that includes beam rail elements and terminal sections (guardrails) that are not galvanized in accordance with AASHTO M-180, Class A, Type II standards.
Section 126 -
Extends to all portions of the Interstate Highway System in the states of Maine and Vermont the application of their respective state vehicle weight limit laws and regulations in lieu of federal vehicle weight limits.
Section 127 -
Amends the Surface and Air Transportation Programs Extension Act of 2011 to reduce by a certain amount the authorized appropriation from the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for administrative expenses of the federal-aid highway program for the period from October 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012.
Section 128 -
Authorizes the reconstruction, in the same location with the same capacity, dimensions, and design, of any federal road, highway, or bridge that is in operation for less than 30 years or under construction that is damaged by a state- or federally-declared emergency. Exempts such a road, highway, or bridge from any environmental review, approval, licensing, and permit requirements under named federal environmental laws.
Section 130 -
Subjects funds appropriated or limited in this Act to certain safety examination and other requirements of the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 and the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 relating to Mexico-domiciled motor carriers involved in cross-border trucking between the United States and Mexico.
Section 131 -
Declares that states need not repay any grant funds received: (1) for core or expanded deployment activities under the Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks program, even though the state did not meet certain award eligibility requirements; or (2) in excess of the maximum allowed; or (3) for grants awarded either before or after the expiration of the performance period specified in a grant agreement.
Section 132 -
Prohibits any recipient of funds made available in this Act from disseminating personal information obtained by a state department of motor vehicles in connection with a motor vehicle record, except as permitted under specified federal criminal law. Prohibits the Secretary, however, from withholding funds provided in this Act for any grantee if a state fails to comply with this prohibition.
Section 140 -
Makes certain additional funds available to NHTSA to pay for: (1) travel and related expenses for state management reviews; and (2) core competency development training and related expenses for highway safety staff.
Section 141 -
Declares that certain limitations on obligations for NHTSA programs shall not apply to any obligational authority made available in previous public laws for multiple years, except to the extent that the obligational authority has not lapsed or been used.
Section 142 -
Prohibits the use of funds to implement establishment in the DOT of a National Highway Safety Advisory Committee.
Section 150 -
Declares that funds provided in this Act for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) shall immediately cease to be available to Amtrak in the event that it contracts to have provided at or from any location outside the United States any service that was, as of July 1, 2006, performed by a full-time or part-time Amtrak employee whose base of employment is located within the United States.
Section 151 -
Authorizes the Secretary to receive cash or spare parts from non-federal sources to repair damages to or replace federally-owned automated track inspection cars and equipment as a result of third party liability for such damages.
Section 152 -
Authorizes the Secretary to allow the issuer of any preferred stock heretofore sold to DOT to redeem or repurchase it upon the payment to DOT of an amount the Secretary determines.
Section 160 -
Declares that the limitations on obligations for FTA programs shall not apply to any grant authority previously made available for obligation, or to any other authority previously made available for obligation.
Section 161 -
Declares that funds appropriated by this Act for specified FTA discretionary program projects which are not obligated by September 30, 2014, and other recoveries, shall be directed to projects eligible to use the funds for the purposes for which they were originally provided.
Section 162 -
Authorizes certain transfers of any public transportation funds appropriated before October 1, 2011, that remain available for expenditure.
Section 163 -
Authorizes the use of unobligated FTA capital investment grants funds for new fixed guideway systems projects.
Section 164 -
Authorizes the Secretary to use 1% of amounts available for job access and reverse commute formula grants for specified major capital project program management activities.
Section 165 -
Requires unobligated funds or recoveries under the capital investment grants program for new fixed guideway capital projects that are available to the Secretary of Transportation for reallocation to be directed to projects eligible to use the funds for the purposes for which they were originally provided.
Section 166 -
Authorizes the use of FTA funds made available for Alaska or Hawaii ferry boats or ferry terminal facilities to construct new or improve existing vessels and facilities, including both passenger and vehicle-related elements, and for repair facilities.
Section 167 -
Prohibits the Secretary from enforcing federal charter bus service regulations against any transit agency that during FY2008 was both initially granted a 60-day period to comply with such regulations, and then subsequently granted an exception from them.
Section 168 -
Authorizes the Secretary, when applying project justification and local commitment criteria to a New Starts project, to consider the costs and ridership of any connected project where private parties are making significant financial contributions to the construction of the connected project.
Authorizes the Secretary also to consider the significant financial contributions of such parties to the connected project when calculating the non-federal share of net capital project costs for the New Start project.
Section 169 -
Requires all bus new fixed guideway capital projects recommended in the President's FY2012 budget request for capital investment grant funds appropriated under this Act or any other Act to be funded instead from amounts allocated for capital projects for buses and bus-related equipment and facilities.
Section 170 -
Authorizes the Maritime Administration to furnish utilities and services and make necessary repairs in connection with any lease, contract, or occupancy of property under its control.
Section 171 -
Prohibits the use of funds by the Secretary to make a determination of the nonavailability of qualified U.S.-flag vessel capacity for the transportation of crude oil distributed from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve unless the Secretary provides to the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) a list of U.S.-flag vessels with single or collective capacity that are capable of providing the requested transportation services and a written justification for not using them .
Section 180 -
Revises requirements for cost recovery for pipeline facility design reviews.
Authorizes the Secretary to require a person or entity proposing a project to construct, expand, or operate a gas or hazardous liquid pipeline or (as under current law) a liquefied natural gas pipeline facility, including construction inspections and oversight, to pay all the costs for the design safety reviews for such projects, not just the associated DOT staff costs.
Requires deposit of any such payments into the Pipeline Safety Design Review Fund.
Section 192 -
Prohibits the availability of the funds in this Act for salaries and expenses of more than 110 political and Presidential appointees in DOT. Prohibits assignment of any of such appointees on temporary detail outside the Department.
Section 194 -
Requires the Secretary to notify the congressional appropriations committees at least three full business days before announcing any project competitively selected to receive a discretionary grant award, letter of intent, or full funding grant agreement totaling $1 million or more from certain grant programs, including the federal highway emergency relief program, the FAA AIP, any FRA program, any FTA program other than the formula grants and fixed guideway modernization programs, or any funding for national infrastructure investments and assistance to small shipyards.
Section 196 -
Makes available for reimbursement of recovery costs any recovered funds that the Secretary has determined represent improper DOT payments to a third party contractor under a financial assistance award.
Section 198 -
Prohibits the use of funds by the STB to charge or collect any filing fee for rate or practice complaints filed with it in an amount in excess of that authorized for district court civil suit filing fees under the federal judicial code.
Title II - Department of Housing and Urban Development
Makes appropriations for FY2012 to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for:
(1) administration, operations, and management;
(2) the Office of Public and Indian Housing;
(3) the Office of Community Planning and Development;
(4) the Office of Housing and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA);
(5) the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae);
(6) Office of Policy Development and Research;
(7) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity;
(8) the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control; and
(9) the Office of Inspector General. General Provisions: Department of Housing and Urban Development -
Section 201 -
Requires rescission of 50% of the amounts of budget authority (or, in the alternative, remittance to the Treasury of 50% of the associated cash amounts) that are recaptured from certain state-, local government-, or local housing agency-financed projects under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1988.
Requires such recaptured budget authority or funds, as well as any budget authority or cash recaptured and not rescinded or remitted to the Treasury, to be used by state housing finance agencies or local governments or local housing agencies with HUD-approved projects for which settlement occurred after January 1, 1992.
Authorizes the Secretary of HUD (Secretary in this title), all the same, to award up to 15% of the budget authority or cash recaptured and not rescinded or remitted to the Treasury to provide project owners with incentives to refinance their projects at a lower interest rate.
Section 202 -
Prohibits the use of funds during FY2012 to investigate or prosecute under the Fair Housing Act any otherwise lawful activity engaged in by one or more persons, including the filing or maintaining of a non-frivolous legal action, that is engaged in solely to achieve or prevent action by a government official or entity, or a court of competent jurisdiction.
Section 203 -
Directs the Secretary to make a grant under certain authority of the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act for any state that received an allocation in a prior fiscal year, but is not otherwise eligible for an FY2012 allocation because the areas in the state outside of qualifying metropolitan statistical areas do not have the number of cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) otherwise required. Prescribes a formula for the allocation of such grants to Jersey City and Paterson, New Jersey.
Section 204 -
Requires any grant, cooperative agreement, or other assistance made pursuant to this title to be made on a competitive basis and in accordance with the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989.
Section 205 -
Makes certain funds available, without regard to limitations on administrative expenses, for: (1) legal services on a contract or fee basis; and (2) payment for services and facilities of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), Ginnie Mae, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), the Federal Financing Bank, Federal Reserve banks, Federal Home Loan banks, and any bank insured under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Act.
Section 207 -
Authorizes any HUD corporations and agencies subject to the Government Corporation Control Act to make expenditures, contracts, and commitments without regard to fiscal year limitations as necessary to carry out their FY2012 budgets.
Section 208 -
Directs the Secretary to report quarterly to the congressional appropriations committees regarding all uncommitted, unobligated, recaptured, and excess funds in each program and activity within HUD jurisdiction, along with additional, updated budget information upon request.
Section 209 -
Requires the Secretary to:
(1) adjust the funds allocated for FY2012 under the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act to Wilmington, Delaware, on behalf of the Wilmington, Delaware-Maryland-New Jersey Metropolitan Division; and
(2) allocate a portion to the state of New Jersey according to a specified formula.
Directs the Secretary to allocate to Wake County, North Carolina, certain funds that otherwise would be allocated for FY2012 under such Act to Raleigh, North Carolina, on behalf of the Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. Authorizes the Secretary to:
(1) adjust FY2012 allocations under such Act upon the written request of a grant applicant for a formula allocation on behalf of a metropolitan statistical area; and
(2) designate the state or states in which the metropolitan statistical area is located as the eligible grantee(s) of the allocation.
Section 210 -
Requires the President's formal budget request for FY2013 and HUD's congressional budget justifications to use the identical account and subaccount structure provided under this Act.
Section 211 -
Declares that a public housing agency (PHA), or other entity, that administers federal housing assistance for the Housing Authority of the county of Los Angeles, California, or the states of Alaska, Iowa, or Mississippi shall not be required to include a resident of public housing or a recipient of section 8 rental assistance (under the United States Housing Act of 1937) on the agency or entity governing board.
Requires each such PHA (or other entity) that chooses not to include such individuals on its governing board to establish an advisory board, which shall meet at least quarterly, consisting of at least six residents of public housing or section 8 rental assistance recipients.
Section 212 -
Authorizes the Secretary for FY2012-FY2013, subject to specified conditions, to authorize the transfer of some or all project-based assistance, debt, and statutorily required low-income and very low-income use restrictions, associated with one or more multifamily housing project, to another multifamily housing project or projects.
Section 213 -
Requires that the funds made available for Native American Housing Block Grants in title III of this Act be allocated to the same recipients that received funds in FY2005.
Section 214 -
Prohibits the use of funds provided under this title for an audit of Ginnie Mae that applies certain requirements of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990.
Section 215 -
Prohibits any section 8 rental assistance to any individual who:
(1) is enrolled as a student at an institution of higher education;
(2) is under age 24;
(3) is not a veteran;
(4) is unmarried;
(5) does not have a dependent child;
(6) is not a person with disabilities, and was not receiving section 8 assistance as of November 30, 2005; and
(7) is not otherwise individually eligible, or has parents who, individually or jointly, are not eligible, to receive such assistance.
Declares that, for section 8 rental assistance eligibility purposes, any financial assistance (in excess of amounts received for tuition) that an individual receives under the Higher Education Act of 1965, from private sources, or an institution of higher education shall be considered income to that individual, except for a person over age 23 with dependent children.
Section 216 -
Authorizes the Secretary through FY2012 to insure, and enter into commitments to insure, home equity conversion mortgages (HECMs, or reverse mortgages) for elderly homeowners.
Section 217 -
Requires the Secretary during FY2011 [sic], in managing and disposing of any multifamily property that is owned or has a mortgage held by HUD, and during the process of foreclosure on any property with a contract for section 8 rental assistance payments or other federal programs, to maintain any rental assistance payments attached to any dwelling units in the property.
Authorizes the Secretary, however, to the extent that such a multifamily property is not feasible for continued payments, based on specified cost, operation, or environmental considerations, to:
(1) contract, in consultation with the property's tenants, for project-based rental assistance payments with an owner or owners of other existing housing properties; or
(2) provide other rental assistance.
Section 218 -
States that, during FY2012, a family residing in an assisted living facility in any county of Michigan with a section 8 rental assistance demonstration program, and on behalf of which a PHA provides such assistance, may be required, when the family initially receives the assistance, to pay rent in an amount exceeding 40% of the family's monthly adjusted income by any percentage or amount the Secretary determines appropriate.
Section 219 -
Requires the Secretary to report quarterly to congressional appropriations committees on HUD use of all sole source contracts.
Section 220 -
Authorizes any recipient after December 26, 2000, of a grant for conversion of elderly housing to assisted living facilities to: (1) establish a single-asset nonprofit entity to own the project; and (2) lend the grant funds to such entity, which may be a for-profit limited partnership the sole general partner of which is a private nonprofit organization meeting specified requirements, or a corporation wholly owned and controlled by such a private nonprofit organization.
Section 221 -
Authorizes the use of Community Development Loan Guarantee funds in FY2012 and thereafter to guarantee, or make commitments to guarantee, notes or other obligations issued by any state on behalf of its non-entitlement communities.
Section 222 -
Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to extend through FY2012 the authorization of appropriations for demolition, site revitalization, replacement housing, and tenant-based assistance project grants to PHAs.
Section 223 -
Authorizes PHAs that own and operate 400 or fewer public housing units to elect to be exempt from any asset management requirements imposed by the Secretary in connection with the operating fund rule. Prohibits exemption from such requirements, however, for an agency seeking a discontinuance of a reduction of subsidy under the operating fund formula.
Section 224 -
Prohibits the Secretary, with respect to the use of funds for the operation, capital improvement, and management of public housing authorized by the United States Housing Act of 1937, from imposing any asset management requirement or guideline that restricts or limits in any way the use of capital funds for central office costs.
Prohibits a PHA, however, from using capital funds authorized for eligible operation and management activities with operating funds in excess of specified permitted amounts.
Section 225 -
Prohibits designation of a HUD official or employee as an allotment holder unless he or she has: (1) implemented an adequate system of funds control, and (2) received training in funds control procedures and directives.
Section 226 -
Requires the Secretary to report quarterly to congressional appropriations committees on the status of all section 8 project-based housing, including the number of all project-based units by region as well as an analysis of all federally subsidized housing being refinanced under the Mark-to-Market program.
Section 227 -
Requires payment of attorney fees in program-related litigation from individual program office personnel benefits and compensation funding.
Section 228 -
Requires the Secretary for FY2012 and thereafter to notify the public through the Federal Register and other appropriate means of the issuance of a notice of the availability of assistance or notice of funding availability (NOFA) for any program or discretionary fund that is to be awarded competitively. Authorizes the Secretary for such period to make the NOFA available only on the Internet at the appropriate government website or through other electronic media.
Section 229 -
Prohibits the availability to any homeless group of designated surplus federal property unless the group is a member in good standing under any of HUD's homeless assistance programs or is in good standing with any other program receiving federal or state funds. Allows an exception to this requirement for an entity not involved with federal homeless programs if it meets specified financial, track record, and property management requirements.
Section 231 -
Considers the HUD-administered Disaster Housing Assistance Programs as a HUD program under the McKinney Act for income verification and matching purposes.
Section 232 -
Allows up to $10 million out of funds appropriated for salaries and expenses under all accounts under this title (except for the Office of Inspector General account) to be transferred to and merged with amounts appropriated for the Working Capital Fund account.
Section 233 -
Amends the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 and the Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 to repeal the required transfer to the Flexible Subsidy Fund of all uncommitted balances of certain excess rental charges in the Rental Housing Assistance Fund and any collections made during FY2005, FY2006, or subsequent fiscal years.
Section 234 -
Authorizes the Secretary to increase the number of Moving-to-Work agencies authorized under the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 by adding to the program up to three PHAs that are High Performing Agencies under the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) or the Section Eight Management Assessment Program (SEMAP). Prohibits designation, however, of any PHA that administers more than 10,000 aggregate housing vouchers and public housing units.
States that no PHA granted this designation shall receive more funding under sections 8 or 9 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 than they otherwise would have received without this designation.
Section 235 -
Rescinds specified unobligated balances remaining from funds appropriated for tenant-based rental assistance under the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011.
Section 236 -
Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 with respect to the rental assistance programs.
States that, after the initial review of a family with a fixed income, the PHA or owner shall not be required to conduct a review of the family's income for any year for which such family certifies that:
(1) 90% or more of its income is fixed, and
(2) the sources of such income have not changed since the previous year.
Requires the PHA or owner to conduct such family's income at least once every three years.
(Thus exempting such family's fixed income from the annual review requirement under the Act.) Defines "extremely low-income families" as very low-income families whose incomes do not exceed the higher of:
(1) specified poverty guidelines updated periodically by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or
(2) 30% of the median family income for the area, with adjustments for smaller and larger families.
Authorizes the Secretary to establish income ceilings higher or lower than 30% if necessary because of unusually high or low family incomes.
Makes such authority inapplicable in the case of PHAs located in Puerto Rico or any other U.S. territory or possession.
Requires the Secretary to periodically, but at least annually, determine or establish area median incomes and income ceilings and limits.
Increases the mandatory family income exclusion from:
(1) $400 to $675 for the elderly or disabled allowance in a family's annual income, and
(2) 3% to 10% for the threshold for medical expenses.
Revises procedures under the section 8 rental assistance program for publishing fair market rentals for an area with respect to the amount and scope of monthly assistance payments.
Requires the Secretary to publish such rentals at least annually on HUD's website and in any other manner specified by the Secretary. Repeals the Secretary's requirement to establish separate fair market rentals for:
(1) Westchester County, New York; and
(2) Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Repeals the requirement that if units receiving rental assistance payments are exempt from local rent control while being assisted or otherwise, the maximum monthly rent for such units shall be reasonable in comparison with other units in the market area that are exempt from local rent control.
Declares that no PHA shall be required, as a result of a reduction in the fair market rental, to reduce the payment standard applied to a family continuing to reside in a unit for which the family was receiving section 8 voucher assistance at the time the fair market rental was reduced.
Requires the Secretary to allow PHAs to request exception payment standards within fair market rental areas subject to criteria and procedures established by the Secretary. Authorizes a PHA to:
(1) establish a payment standard of up to 120% of the fair market rent, where necessary, as a reasonable accommodation for a person with a disability, without the Secretary's approval; and
(2) seek approval to use a payment standard greater than 120% of the fair market rent as a reasonable accommodation for a disabled family or other family with a person with a disability.
Prohibits the Secretary, in connection with the use of any increased payment standard, from establishing additional requirements regarding the amount of adjusted income paid by such person for rent.
Revises income eligibility requirements for public housing, for tenant-based section 8 assistance, and for project-based section 8 assistance to substitute "extremely low-income families" for the respective eligibility formula (all of which formulae are identical with the definition of "extremely low-income families" added by this section).
(Sec. 236 [sic]) Amends the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 to extend the Mark-to-Market program through October 1, 2015.
Title III - Related Agencies
Makes appropriations for FY2012 to: (1) the Access Board, (2) the Federal Maritime Commission, (3) the Office of Inspector General for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), (4) the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), (5) the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, and (6) the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
Title IV - General Provisions (This Act)
Specifies certain uses and limits on or prohibitions against the use of funds appropriated by this Act.
Section 401 -
Requires any sums necessary for FY2012 pay raises for programs funded in this Act to be absorbed within the levels appropriated in this or previous appropriations Acts.
Section 402 -
Prohibits the use of funds for the planning or execution of any program to pay the expenses of, or otherwise compensate, nonfederal parties intervening in regulatory or adjudicatory proceedings funded in this Act.
Section 407 -
Requires all federal agencies and departments funded by this Act to report by July 30, 2012, to the congressional appropriations committees on all sole source contracts.
Section 409 -
Prohibits the use of funds to support any federal, state, or local projects that seek to use the power of eminent domain, unless eminent domain is employed only for a public use.
Section 411 -
Prohibits payment of the salary from any appropriation under this Act for any person filling a position (other than temporary) formerly held by an employee who has:
(1) left to enter the U.S. Armed Forces;
(2) satisfactorily completed his or her period of active military or naval service;
(3) within 90 days after release from such service, or from hospitalization continuing after discharge for up to one year, applied for restoration to his former position; and
(4) been certified by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) as still qualified to perform the duties of his or her former position, but not been restored to it.
Section 412 -
Prohibits the expenditure of funds appropriated under this Act by an entity unless the entity agrees to comply with the Buy American Act.
Section 413 -
Prohibits the availability of funds to any person or entity that has been convicted of violating the Buy American Act.
Section 414 -
Prohibits the use of funds under this Act for first-class airline accommodations in contravention of specified federal regulations.
Section 415 -
Prohibits the use of funds under this Act to purchase a light bulb for an office building unless it has, to the extent practicable, an Energy Star or Federal Energy Management Program designation.
Section 416 -
Bars the use of funds under this Act to prohibit or restrict the establishment or effectiveness of an occupancy preference for veterans in supportive housing for the elderly that: (1) is provided HUD assistance; and (2) is or would be located on Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) property, or is subject to an enhanced use lease with the VA.
Section 417 -
Prohibits the provision of any funds made available under this or prior Acts to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or its affiliates, subsidiaries, or allied organizations.
Section 418 -
Prescribes requirements for the posting on DOT or HUD websites of certain information regarding any competitive grant or credit assistance program.
Requires the DOT and HUD Secretaries, concurrent with the issuance of any NOFA or other notice designed to solicit applications for funding issued for such a program, to post on their websites certain information, including:
(1) the goals of the program,
(2) the criteria that will be used in awarding such grants or credit assistance, and
(3) the process by which applications will be selected.
Requires the posting on such websites, concurrent with the public announcement of the grants or credit assistance to be awarded, of additional specified information on each selectee.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.

The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

Slip Laws

Slip laws refer to enacted bills and joint resolutions in their original form as enacted by Congress, that is, before other laws amend them. Slip laws are cited as “Public Law XXX-YYY”, where XXX is the number of the Congress in which the bill or resolution was introduced.

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)

Statutes at Large

The United States Statutes at Large is the compilation of all laws enacted by Congress.

  • 73 Stat. 667
  • 110 Stat. 1321

Other Citations

  • 23 U.S.C. Chapter 5
  • 40 U.S.C. Chapter 31
  • 49 U.S.C. Chapter 303
  • 49 U.S.C. Chapter 475
  • 49 U.S.C. Chapter 53