OTHER HUD PROGRAMS.

SEC. 2835. OTHER HUD PROGRAMS.(a) Section 8 Assistance.—(1) PHA project-based assistance.—Section 8(o)(13) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)) is amended—(A) in subparagraph (D)(i)—(i) by striking “building” and inserting “project”; and(ii) by adding at the end the following: “For purposes of this subparagraph, the term”project“ means a single building, multiple contiguous buildings, or multiple buildings on contiguous parcels of land.”;(B) in the first sentence of subparagraph (F), by striking “10 years” and inserting “15 years”;(C) in subparagraph (G)—(i) by inserting after the period at the end of the first sentence the following: “Such contract may, at the election of the public housing agency and the owner of the structure, specify that such contract shall be extended for renewal terms of up to 15 years each, if the agency makes the determination required by this subparagraph and the owner is in compliance with the terms of the contract.”; and(ii) by adding at the end the following: “A public housing agency may agree to enter into such a contract at the time it enters into the initial agreement for a housing assistance payment contract or at any time thereafter that is before the expiration of the housing assistance payment contract.”;(D) in subparagraph (H), by inserting before the period at the end of the first sentence the following: “, except that in the case of a contract unit that has been allocated low-income housing tax credits and for which the rent limitation pursuant to such section 42 is less than the amount that would otherwise be permitted under this subparagraph, the rent for such unit may, in the sole discretion of a public housing agency, be established at the higher section 8 rent, subject only to paragraph (10)(A)”;122 STAT. 2872(E) in subparagraph (I)(i), by inserting before the semicolon the following: “, except that the contract may provide that the maximum rent permitted for a dwelling unit shall not be less than the initial rent for the dwelling unit under the initial housing assistance payments contract covering the unit”; and(F) by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:“(L) Use in cooperative housing and elevator buildings.—A public housing agency may enter into a housing assistance payments contract under this paragraph with respect to—“(i) dwelling units in cooperative housing; and“(ii) notwithstanding subsection (c), dwelling units in a high-rise elevator project, including such a project that is occupied by families with children, without review and approval of the contract by the Secretary.“(M) Reviews.—“(i) Subsidy layering.—A subsidy layering review in accordance with section 102(d) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545(d)) shall not be required for assistance under this paragraph in the case of a housing assistance payments contract for an existing structure, or if a subsidy layering review has been conducted by the applicable State or local agency.“(ii) Environmental review.—A public housing agency shall not be required to undertake any environmental review before entering into a housing assistance payments contract under this paragraph for an existing structure, except to the extent such a review is otherwise required by law or regulation.”.(2) Voucher program rent reasonableness.—Section 8(o)(10) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(10)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph;“(F) Tax credit projects.—In the case of a dwelling unit receiving tax credits pursuant to section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or for which assistance is provided under subtitle A of title II of the Cranston Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990, for which a housing assistance contract not subject to paragraph (13) of this subsection is established, rent reasonableness shall be determined as otherwise provided by this paragraph, except that—“(i) comparison with rent for units in the private, unassisted local market shall not be required if the rent is equal to or less than the rent for other comparable units receiving such tax credits or assistance in the project that are not occupied by families assisted with tenant-based assistance under this subsection; and“(ii) the rent shall not be considered reasonable for purposes of this paragraph if it exceeds the greater of—“(I) the rents charged for other comparable units receiving such tax credits or assistance in 122 STAT. 2873 the project that are not occupied by families assisted with tenant-based assistance under this subsection; and“(II) the payment standard established by the public housing agency for a unit of the size involved.”.(b) Section 202 Housing for Elderly Persons.—Subsection (f) of section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(f)) is amended—(1) by striking “Selection Criteria.—” and inserting “Initial Selection Criteria and Processing.— (1) Selection criteria.—”;(2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (7) as subparagraphs (A) through (G), respectively; and(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:“(2) Delegated processing.—“(A) In issuing a capital advance under this subsection for any project for which financing for the purposes described in the last two sentences of subsection (b) is provided by a combination of a capital advance under subsection (c)(1) and sources other than this section, within 30 days of award of the capital advance, the Secretary shall delegate review and processing of such projects to a State or local housing agency that—“(i) is in geographic proximity to the property;“(ii) has demonstrated experience in and capacity for underwriting multifamily housing loans that provide housing and supportive services;“(iii) may or may not be providing low-income housing tax credits in combination with the capital advance under this section, and“(iv) agrees to issue a firm commitment within 12 months of delegation.“(B) The Secretary shall retain the authority to process capital advances in cases in which no State or local housing agency has applied to provide delegated processing pursuant to this paragraph or no such agency has entered into an agreement with the Secretary to serve as a delegated processing agency.“(C) An agency to which review and processing is delegated pursuant to subparagraph (A) may assess a reasonable fee which shall be included in the capital advance amounts and may recommend project rental assistance amounts in excess of those initially awarded by the Secretary. The Secretary shall develop a schedule for reasonable fees under this subparagraph to be paid to delegated processing agencies, which shall take into consideration any other fees to be paid to the agency for other funding provided to the project by the agency, including bonds, tax credits, and other gap funding.“(D) Under such delegated system, the Secretary shall retain the authority to approve rents and development costs and to execute a capital advance within 60 days of receipt of the commitment from the State or local agency. The Secretary shall provide to such agency and the project sponsor, in writing, the reasons for any reduction in capital 122 STAT. 2874 advance amounts or project rental assistance and such reductions shall be subject to appeal.”.(c) McKinney-Vento Act Homeless Assistance Under Shelter Plus Care Program.—(1) Term of contracts with owner or lessor.—Part I of subtitle F of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is amended—(A) by redesignating sections 462 and 463 (42 U.S.C. 11403g, 11403h) as sections 463 and 464, respectively;(B) by striking “section 463” each place such term appears in sections 471, 476, 481, 486, and 488 (42 U.S.C. 11404, 11405, 11406, 11407, and 11407b) and inserting “section 464”; and(C) by inserting after section 461 (42 U.S.C. 11403f) the following new section:“SEC. 462. TERM OF CONTRACT WITH OWNER OR LESSOR. “An applicant under this subtitle may enter into a contract with the owner or lessor of a property that receives rental assistance under this subtitle having a term of not more than 15 years, subject to the availability of sufficient funds provided in appropriation Acts for the purpose of renewing expiring contracts for assistance payments. Such contract may, at the election of the applicant and owner or lessor, specify that such contract shall be extended for renewal terms of not more than 15 years each, subject to the availability of sufficient such appropriated funds.” .(2) Project-based rental assistance contracts.—Section 478(a) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11405a(a)) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: “; except that, in the case of any project for which equity is provided through any low-income housing tax credit pursuant to section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 42), if an expenditure of such amount for each unit (including the prorated share of such work) is required to make the structure decent, safe, and sanitary, and the owner agrees to reach initial closing on permanent financing from such other sources within two years and agrees to carry out the rehabilitation with resources other than assistance under this subtitle within 60 months of notification of grant approval, the contract shall be for a term of 10 years (except that such period may be extended by up to 1 year by the Secretary, which extension shall be granted unless the Secretary determines that the sponsor is primarily responsible for the failure to meet such deadline)”.(d) Data Collection on Tenants of Housing Tax Credit Projects.—Title I of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:“SEC. 36. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION ON TENANTS IN TAX CREDIT PROJECTS.“(a) In General.—Each State agency administering tax credits under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 42) shall furnish to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, not less than annually, information concerning the race, ethnicity, family composition, age, income, use of rental assistance under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 or 122 STAT. 2875 other similar assistance, disability status, and monthly rental payments of households residing in each property receiving such credits through such agency. Such State agencies shall, to the extent feasible, collect such information through existing reporting processes and in a manner that minimizes burdens on property owners. In the case of any household that continues to reside in the same dwelling unit, information provided by the household in a previous year may be used if the information is of a category that is not subject to change or if information for the current year is not readily available to the owner of the property.“(b) Standards.—The Secretary shall establish standards and definitions for the information collected under subsection (a), provide States with technical assistance in establishing systems to compile and submit such information, and, in coordination with other Federal agencies administering housing programs, establish procedures to minimize duplicative reporting requirements for properties assisted under multiple housing programs.“(c) Public Availability.—The Secretary shall, not less than annually, compile and make publicly available the information submitted to the Secretary pursuant to subsection (a).“(d) Authorization of Appropriations.—There is authorized to be appropriated for the cost of activities required under subsections (b) and (c) $2,500,000 for fiscal year 2009 and $900,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2013.” .