Pub. L. 83-560, tit. III, sec. 303

Sec. 303. Section 101 of said Act, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 101. “(a) In entering into any contract for advances for surveys, plans, and other preliminary work for projects under this title, the Administrator shall give consideration to the extent to which appropriate local public bodies have undertaken positive programs (through the adoption, modernization, administration, and enforcement of housing, zoning, building and other local laws, codes and regulations relating to land use and adequate standards of health, sanitation, and safety for buildings, including the use and occupancy of dwellings) for (1) preventing the spread or recurrence in the. community of slums and blighted areas, and (2) encouraging housing cost reductions through the use of appropriate new materials, techniques, and methods in land and residential planning, design, and construction, the increase of efficiency in residential construction, and the elimination of restrictive practices which unnecessarily increase housing costs. “(b) In the administration of this title, the Administrator shall encourage the operations of such local public agencies as are established on a State, or regional (within a State), or unified metropolitan basis or as are established on such other basis as permits such agencies to contribute effectively toward the solution of community development or redevelopment problems on a State, or regional (within a State), or unified metropolitan basis. “(c) No contract shall be entered into for any loan or capital grant under this title, or for annual contributions or capital grants pursuant to the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, for any project or projects not constructed or covered by a contract for annual contributions prior to the effective date of the Housing Act of 1954, and no mortgage shall be insured, and no commitment to insure a mortgage shall be issued, under section 220 or 221 of the National Housing Act, as amended, unless (1) there is presented to the Administrator by the locality a workable program (which shall include an official plan of action, as it exists from time to time, for effectively dealing with the problem of urban slums and blight within the community and for the establishment and preservation of a well-planned community with well-organized residential neighborhoods of decent homes and suitable living environment for adequate family life) for utilizing appropriate private and public resources to eliminate, and prevent the development or spread of, slums and urban blight, to encourage needed urban rehabilitation, to provide for the redevelopment of blighted, deteriorated, or slum areas, or to undertake such of the aforesaid activities or other feasible community activities as may be suitably employed to achieve the objectives of such a program, and (2) on the basis of his review of such program, the Administrator determines that such program meets the requirements of this subsection and certifies to the constituent agencies affected that the Federal assistance may be made available in such community: Provided, That this sentence shall not apply to the insurance of, or commitment to insure, a mortgage under section 220 of the National Housing Act, as amended, if the mortgaged property is in an area referred to in clause (A) (i) of paragraph (1) of section 220 (d), or under section 221 of the National Housing Act, as amended, if the mortgaged property is in a community referred to in clause (2) of section 221 (a) of said Act: And provided further, 68 Stat. 624 That, notwithstanding any other provisions of law which would authorize such delegation or transfer, there shall not be delegated or transferred to any other official (except an officer or employee of the Housing and Home Finance Agency serving as Acting Administrator during the absence or disability of the Administrator or in the event of a vacancy in that office) the final authority vested in the Administrator (i) to determine whether any such workable program meets the requirements of this subsection, (ii) to make the certification that Federal assistance of the types enumerated in this subsection may be made available in such community, (iii) to make the certifications as to the maximum number of dwelling units needed for the relocation of families to be displaced as a result of governmental action in a community and who would be eligible to rent or purchase dwelling accommodations in properties covered by mortgage insurance under section 221 of the National Housing Act, as amended, or (iv) to determine that the relocation requirements of section 105 (c) of this title have been met. “(d) The Administrator is authorized to establish facilities (1) for furnishing to communities, at their request, an urban renewal service to assist them in the preparation of a workable program as referred to in the preceding subsection and to provide them with technical and professional assistance for planning and developing local urban renewal programs, and (2) for the assembly, analysis and reporting of information pertaining to such programs.”