RENTAL HOUSING LOANS.

SEC. 707. RENTAL HOUSING LOANS. (a) Development Costs.—Section 515(e)(4) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485(e)(4)) is amended— (1) by striking “and” before “initial”; (2) by inserting before the first period the following: “, impact fees, local charges for installation, provision, or use of infrastructure, and local assessments for public improvements and services imposed by State and local governments”; and (3) by inserting after the period at the end the following new sentence: “Notwithstanding the first sentence of this paragraph, the term ‘development cost’ shall not include any initial operating expenses in the case of any nonprofit corporation or consumer cooperative that is financing housing under this section and has been allocated a low-income housing tax credit by a housing credit agency pursuant to section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.”. (b) Coordination of Loans and Rental Assistance Payments.—Section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485) is amended— (1) in subsection (1), by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following new paragraph: “(1) in the case of any applicant who applies for rental assistance payments under section 521 in connection with such project, the Secretary shall consider the availability of such rental assistance payments with respect to the project and shall require such applicant to demonstrate that a market exists for persons and families eligible for such rental assistance payments; and”; and (2) in subsection (p)— (1) in paragraph (4), by striking “, except” in the first sentence and all that follows through the end of the paragraph and inserting a period; and (2) by inserting at the end the following new paragraph: “(5) The Secretary shall coordinate the processing of any application for a loan under this section for a project and the processing of any application for assistance under section 521(a)(2) 106 STAT. 3837with respect to housing units in the same project in an economical and efficient manner. At the time the Secretary enters into a commitment to make or insure a loan under this section the Secretary shall obligate amounts for assistance payments under section 521(a)(2) for the project, to the extent that such amounts are available and the Secretary determines such assistance is necessary for the market feasibility of the project.”. (c) Equity Contribution.—Section 515(r)(2) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485(r)(2)) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: “, except that the Secretary shall require a 5 percent contribution in the case of a project that is allocated a low-income housing tax credit pursuant to section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986”. (d) Uniform Project Costs and Coordination of Housing Resources and Tax Benefits.—Section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(x) Uniform Project Costs; Coordination of Housing Resources and Tax Benefits.—The Secretary shall— “(1) establish standard guidelines for State offices that describe allowable development costs which are required for development of all projects under this section, without regard to whether the project was allocated a low-income housing tax credit; “(2) require each State to establish a process for coordinating the selection of projects under this section with the housing needs and priorities as established in a State comprehensive housing affordability strategy under section 105 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act and a low- income housing tax credit allocation plan under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and “(3) develop, in consultation with housing credit agencies (as that term is defined under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986), uniform procedures for identifying and sharing information on project costs, builder profit, identity of interests relationships, and other factors, as appropriate, with the relevant housing credit agency for projects that are allocated a low-income housing tax credit pursuant to section 42(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for the purpose of achieving compliance with section 102(d) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545(d)).”. (e) Grants for Costs of Providing Service Coordinators.—Section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485), as amended by this section, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(y) Service Coordinators.— “(1) Grants.— The Secretary may make grants under this subsection, with respect to any project that the Secretary deter-mines has a sufficient number of frail elderly residents, for the cost of employing or otherwise retaining the services of one or more individuals to coordinate services provided to frail elderly residents of the project (in this subsection referred to as a ‘service coordinator’), who shall be responsible for— “(A) assessing the supportive service needs of frail elderly residents of the project, based on objective criteria and interviews with such residents; 106 STAT. 3838 “(B) working with service providers to design the provision of services to meet the needs of frail elderly residents of the project, taking into consideration the needs and desires of such residents and their ability and willingness to pay for such services, as expressed by the residents; “(C) mobilizing public and private resources to obtain funding for such services for such residents; “(D) monitoring and evaluating the impact and effectiveness of any supportive services provided for such residents; “(E) consulting and coordinating with any appropriate public and private agencies regarding the provision of supportive services; and “(F) performing such other duties that the Secretary deems appropriate to enable frail elderly persons residing in federally assisted housing to live with dignity and independence. “(2) Qualifications.—Individuals employed as service coordinators pursuant to this subsection shall meet the mini-mum qualifications and standards established under section 802(d)(4) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act for service coordinators under a congregate housing services program. “(3) Application and selection.—The Secretary shall provide for the form and manner of applications for grants under this subsection and for the selection of applicants to receive the grants. “(4) Definition of frail elderly.—For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘frail elderly” has the meaning given the term in section 802(k) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act.”. (f) Prohibitions Regarding Considerations in Making Loans.— (1) In general.—Section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485), as amended by this section, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(z) Prohibitions.— “(1) Remote rural areas.—The Secretary may not refuse to make a loan that otherwise complies with the requirements under this section solely because the housing and related facilities involved are located in an area that is excessively rural in character or excessively remote. “(2) Essential services.—In making loans under this section, the Secretary may not provide any preference for any project based on the availability of any particular essential service. For purposes of this paragraph, an essential service shall include post offices (and postal services), grocery stores, pharmacies, schools, and health service facilities (and health services). “(3) Geographic location.—In making loans under this section, the Secretary may not grant or deny approval based on the geographic location of the proposed project if the project is located in a rural area, as such term is defined in section 520, except that the Secretary shall give preference to any application for a project that will serve the needs of a rural community located 20 or more miles from an urban area.”. 106 STAT. 3839 (2) Regulations.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall issue any regulations necessary to carry out the amendment made by paragraph (1) not later than the expiration of the 45-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. Not later than the expiration of the 30-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a copy of any regulations to be issued under this sub-section to the Congress. The requirements of section 534(d) of the Housing Act of 1949 and subsections (b) and (c) of section 553 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to any such regulations. (g) Independent Coot Certifications.—Section 5170(3) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 14870)(3)) is amended by inserting after “industry,” the following: “independent audits of project expenses,”.