[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3422 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3422
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 14, 2005
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 to exempt small public
housing agencies from the requirement of preparing an annual public
housing agency plan.
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 ``Small Public Housing Authority
Act''.
SEC. 2. PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY PLANS FOR CERTAIN SMALL PUBLIC HOUSING
AGENCIES.
(a) In General.--Section 5A(b) of the United States Housing Act of
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c-1(b)) is amended by adding at the end the
following new paragraph:
``(3) Exemption of certain small phas from filing
requirement.--
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or
any other provision of this Act--
``(i) the requirement under paragraph (1)
shall not apply to any qualified small public
housing agency; and
``(ii) except as provided in subsection
(e)(4)(B), any reference in this section or any
other provision of law to a `public housing
agency' shall not be considered to refer to any
qualified small public housing agency, to the
extent such reference applies to the
requirement to submit an annual public housing
agency plan under this subsection.
``(B) Civil rights certification.--Notwithstanding
that qualified small public housing agencies are exempt
pursuant to subparagraph (A) from the requirement under
this section to prepare and submit an annual public
housing plan, each qualified small public housing
agency shall, on an annual basis, make the
certification described in paragraph (15) of subsection
(d) of this section, except that for purposes of such
small public housing agencies, such paragraph shall be
applied by substituting `the public housing program of
the agency' for `the public housing agency plan'.
``(C) Definition.--For purposes of this section,
the term `qualified small public housing agency' means
a public housing agency that meets all of the following
requirements:
``(i) The sum of (I) the number of public
housing dwelling units administered by the
agency, and (II) the number of vouchers under
section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act
of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) administered by
the agency, is 250 or fewer.
``(ii) The agency is not designated
pursuant to section 6(j)(2) as a troubled
public housing agency.''.
(b) Resident Participation.--Section 5A of the United States
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c-1) is amended--
(1) in subsection (e), by inserting after paragraph (3) the
following:
``(4) Qualified small public housing agencies.--
``(A) In general.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), nothing in this section may be
construed to exempt a qualified small public housing
agency from the requirement under paragraph (1) to
establish one or more resident advisory boards.
Notwithstanding that qualified small public housing
agencies are exempt pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(A)
from the requirement under this section to prepare and
submit an annual public housing plan, each qualified
small public housing agency shall consult with, and
consider the recommendations of the resident advisory
boards for the agency, in any determinations and
actions of the agency regarding establishing goals,
objectives, and policies of the agency.
``(B) Applicability of waiver authority.--Paragraph
(3) shall apply to qualified small public housing
agencies, except that for purposes of such small public
housing agencies, subparagraph (B) of such paragraph
shall be applied by substituting `the functions
described in the second sentence of paragraph (4)(A)'
for `the functions described in paragraph (2)'.
``(f) Public Hearings.--''; and
(2) in subsection (f) (as so designated by the amendment
made by paragraph (1) of this subsection), by adding at the end
the following new paragraph:
``(5) Qualified small public housing agencies.--
``(A) Requirement.--Notwithstanding that qualified
small public housing agencies are exempt pursuant to
subsection (b)(3)(A) from the requirement under this
section to conduct a public hearing regarding the
annual public housing plan of the agency, each
qualified small public housing agency shall, not less
than annually, conduct a public hearing to discuss the
goals, objectives, and policies of the agency, and any
changes to such goals, objectives, and policies, and to
invite public comment regarding such issues.
``(B) Availability of information and notice.--Not
later than 45 days before the date of such a hearing,
the qualified small public housing agency shall--
``(i) make all information relevant to the
hearing and any determinations of the agency
regarding the goals, objectives, and policies
of the agency to be considered at the hearing
available for inspection by the public at the
principal office of the public housing agency
during normal business hours; and
``(ii) publish a notice informing the
public that (I) the information is available as
required under clause (i), and (II) a
public hearing under subparagraph (A) will be
conducted.''.
Passed the House of Representatives December 13, 2005.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.