[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7590 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7590
To reauthorize and improve the programs authorized by the Public Works
and Economic Development Act of 1965, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 26, 2022
Ms. Titus introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the
Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reauthorize and improve the programs authorized by the Public Works
and Economic Development Act of 1965, and for other purposes.
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 ``Economic Development Promotion and
Resiliency Act''.
SEC. 2. PREDEVELOPMENT GRANTS.
(a) Predevelopment Grants.--Title II of the Public Works and
Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141 et seq.) is amended by
inserting after section 207 the following:
``SEC. 208. PREDEVELOPMENT GRANTS.
``(a) Predevelopment Grants.--On the application of an eligible
recipient, the Secretary may make grants or cooperative agreements
for--
``(1) community asset mapping;
``(2) training;
``(3) technical assistance and organizational development;
``(4) feasibility, environmental, and market studies;
``(5) demonstration projects;
``(6) organizational capacity building;
``(7) organizing and facilitating convenings;
``(8) site preparation and infrastructure;
``(9) permitting, including professional services; and
``(10) other predevelopment activities determined by the
Secretary to be appropriate.
``(b) Application Assistance.--In the case of a project carried out
with a grant under this section that provides assistance to one or more
eligible entities with low organizational capacity, the Secretary may
waive section 213.''.
(b) Grant Rate for Predevelopment Grants.--Section 204(c)(3) of the
Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3144) is
amended--
(1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ``and technical
assistance'' and inserting ``technical assistance, and
predevelopment''; and
(2) by striking ``section 207'' and inserting ``sections
207 or 208''.
(c) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Direct expenditure or redistribution by recipient.--
Section 217(a) of the Public Works and Economic Development Act
of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3154c(a)) is amended by striking ``or 207''
and inserting ``207, or 208''.
(2) Powers of secretary.--Section 601(a)(12) of the Public
Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.
3211(a)(12)) is amended by striking ``section 207'' and
inserting ``sections 207 and 208''.
(d) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121
note) is amended by inserting after the item related to section 207 the
following:
``Sec. 208. Predevelopment grants.''.
SEC. 3. CAPACITY BUILDING PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Section 218 of the Public Works and Economic
Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3154d) is amended to read as
follows:
``SEC. 218. STRONG COMMUNITIES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY BUILDING
PILOT PROGRAM.
``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a program, to
be known as the `Strong Communities Economic Development Capacity
Building Pilot Program', under which the Secretary shall provide
grants, on a competitive basis, to an eligible recipient to hire 1 or
more qualified economic development professionals to assist the
eligible recipient in implementing certain projects and priorities.
``(b) Applications.--
``(1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, an eligible recipient shall submit to the
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may require.
``(2) Inclusions.--Each application under this subsection
shall include--
``(A) a demonstration of need for economic
development staffing, support, and technical
assistance; and
``(B) an explanation of the means for which the
eligible recipient would use the services of each
qualified economic development professional hired using
a grant under this section.
``(c) Use of Funds.--An eligible recipient shall use a grant
provided under this section to hire 1 or more qualified economic
development professionals to assist the eligible recipient in--
``(1) implementing projects and priorities, including--
``(A) a comprehensive economic development
strategy;
``(B) a locally-derived economic development
strategic plan other than a comprehensive economic
development strategy;
``(C) projects carried out with grants awarded
under this Act;
``(D) a predevelopment project;
``(E) a public-private partnership initiative;
``(F) business retention and expansion efforts;
``(G) entrepreneur and small business development
activities;
``(H) real estate development and reuse projects;
``(I) financial and credit analysis resources;
``(J) a workforce and economic development program;
and
``(K) other projects and priorities related to core
economic development practices;
``(2) identifying and using other Federal and State
economic development programs;
``(3) leveraging private and philanthropic investment; and
``(4) carrying out economic development activities in
accordance with professional economic development best
practices.
``(d) Requirements.--A grant provided under this section shall be--
``(1) in an amount equal to not more than $500,000; and
``(2) provided for a term of--
``(A) not less than 3 years; and
``(B) not more than 5 years.
``(e) Limitation.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2)--
``(A) a grant recipient may use a grant provided
under this section to pay an amount equal to 80 percent
of the salary of a qualified economic development
professional hired using the grant; and
``(B) the Secretary may permit such grant recipient
to pay an amount equal to 100 percent of the salary of
such professional if the Secretary determines that the
extent of distress in the community receiving such
grant warrants the payment in such amount.
``(2) Maximum amount.--A grant provided under this section
may not be used to pay more than $100,000 of the salary of a
qualified economic development professional hired using the
grant.
``(f) Definition.--In this section, the term `qualified economic
development professional' means an individual--
``(1) with not less than 4 consecutive years of economic
development experience; and
``(2) with relevant professional training obtained from an
accrediting organization, or who is committed to obtaining such
training from an accrediting organization.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121
note) is further amended by striking the item relating to section 218
and inserting the following:
``218. Strong communities economic development capacity building pilot
program.''.
SEC. 4. COVID-ERA FUNDING AVAILABILITY.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any amounts made
available to carry out the Public Works and Economic Development Act of
1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121 et seq.) during the period for which the public
health emergency declared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services
under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on
January 31, 2020, with respect to COVID-19 is in effect shall be
available until September 30, 2030.
SEC. 5. TRAVEL, TOURISM, AND OUTDOOR RECREATION STABILIZATION GRANTS.
(a) In General.--Title II of the Public Works and Economic
Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141 et seq.) is further amended by
adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 219. TRAVEL, TOURISM, AND OUTDOOR RECREATION STABILIZATION
GRANTS.
``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a program to
provide grants to eligible recipients to support outdoor recreation,
tourism, hospitality, or special event activities to spur economic
development.
``(b) Eligible Uses.--
``(1) In general.--A grant under this section may be used
to--
``(A) pay costs associated with obtaining State,
county, city, community, or regional tourism marketing
and promotion campaigns, including through nonprofit or
quasi-governmental destination marketing organizations;
``(B) carry out workforce training programs that
support the travel, tourism, hospitality, and outdoor
recreation industries to improve the skills of, and job
opportunities for, employees in such industries;
``(C) carry out projects to improve regional
economies in developing travel, tourism, hospitality,
and outdoor recreation industries, including projects
to assist small businesses, entrepreneurs, and small
and rural communities;
``(D) pay costs associated with upgrades and
retrofits to existing travel, tourism, hospitality, and
outdoor recreation infrastructure, such as convention
centers, to increase travel and tourism activity or to
make such infrastructure more functional under social
distancing conditions due to a public health emergency;
``(E) carry out construction activities at a
facility or property that is related to tourism and
owned by the eligible recipient;
``(F) pay costs associated with providing
information to visitors about the health and safety
protections, guidance, or requirements of Federal,
State, or local governments and businesses to reduce
the spread of a public health emergency;
``(G) pay the increased costs of filtration and
sanitation, including physical modifications to a
convention center, large event space, or community
attraction associated with precautions to provide for
safe work, travel, or event environments; and
``(H) establish local programs to provide
assistance to a small business operating in the travel,
tourism, hospitality, outdoor recreation, or special
events industries--
``(i) for development or expansion of such
small business; or
``(ii) to recover from the impacts of a
public health emergency.
``(2) Prohibition.--A grant provided under this section may
not be used--
``(A) for recruitment efforts to bring in or host a
particular event, such as a sporting competition; or
``(B) to pay costs associated with obtaining a
marketing and promotion campaign described in paragraph
(1)(A) if such campaign is carried out for the benefit
of a private company.
``(c) Priority.--In providing grants under this section, the
Secretary shall give priority to eligible recipients that seek to carry
out an activity that--
``(1) is based on long-term, regionally oriented,
coordinated, and collaborative economic development or
redevelopment strategies that foster economic growth and
resilience;
``(2) promotes workforce development;
``(3) involves a minority-owned, rural, or otherwise
underserved small business; or
``(4) implements strong labor standards, including project
labor agreements and community benefit agreements that include
local hire provisions to promote effective and efficient
delivery of high-quality infrastructure projects.
``(d) Regional Distribution.--
``(1) In general.--In providing grants under this section,
the Secretary shall select eligible recipients in each region
served by the Economic Development Administration.
``(2) Regional amounts.--
``(A) In general.--Of the amounts made available to
carry out this section, the Secretary shall allocate an
amount for each region served by the Economic
Development Administration in an amount equal to the
proportion that--
``(i) the average employment in the leisure
and hospitality sectors in a region for fiscal
years 2015 through 2019; bears to
``(ii) the total employment and gross
domestic product in such region for such fiscal
years.
``(B) Special rule.--
``(i) In general.--In cases in which the
data described in subparagraph (A) is not
available for a territory in a region, the
Secretary shall establish an allocation amount
for such region using any other data that the
Secretary determines reliably measures the
impact of tourism, hospitality, and special
events on the economy of such region.
``(ii) Limitation.--In establishing an
allocation amount under clause (i) to account
for unavailable data for a territory in a
region, the Secretary may establish an
allocation amount for such region that is not
more than 10 percent higher than the amount
that would be allocated for such region
pursuant to the formula described in
subparagraph (A).
``(3) Grant amount.--The Secretary shall determine the
amount of each grant provided to an eligible recipient in a
region served by the Economic Development Administration based
on the allocation for such region under paragraph (2).
``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--Of the amounts made
available pursuant to section 701(a) for each of fiscal years 2023
through 2027, $100,000,000 shall be made available to carry out this
section.
``(f) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Outdoor recreation.--The term `outdoor recreation'
means all recreational activities undertaken for pleasure
that--
``(A) involve some level of intentional physical
exertion; and
``(B) occur in outdoor nature-based environments.
``(2) Public health emergency.--The term `public health
emergency' means a public health emergency declared by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to section 319
of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d).
``(3) Tourism, hospitality, or special event activity.--The
term `tourism, hospitality, or special event activity' means
any economic activity that primarily serves to encourage
recreational or business travel within the United States or
from another country, including--
``(A) tourist attractions; and
``(B) venues that support conventions or
entertainment events.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121
note) is further amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 218 (as amended by this Act) the following:
``Sec. 219. Travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation stabilization
grants.''.
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