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104th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 104-384
_______________________________________________________________________
MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENTS OF VETERANS AFFAIRS AND
HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND FOR SUNDRY INDEPENDENT AGENCIES,
BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, CORPORATIONS, AND OFFICES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 1996, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
December 6, 1995.--Ordered to be printed
_______________________________________________________________________
Mr. Lewis of California, from the committee of conference, submitted
the following
CONFERENCE REPORT
[To accompany H.R. 2099]
The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of
the two Houses on the amendments of the Senate to the bill
(H.R. 2099) ``making appropriations for the Departments of
Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and for
sundry independent agencies, boards, commissions, corporations,
and offices for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1996, and
for other purposes,'' having met, after full and free
conference, have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their
respective Houses as follows:
That the Senate recede from its amendments numbered 1, 2,
3, 5, 12, 14, 20, 24, 43, 62, 67, 75, 82, 86, 87, 89, 90, 91,
92, 98, 111, 112, and 116.
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendments of the Senate numbered, 6, 7, 10, 11, 17, 19, 21,
22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47,
49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61, 64, 69, 73, 78,
79, 84, 85, 88, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99, 100, 101, 103, 106, 107,
108, 113, and 115, and agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 4:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 4, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$16,564,000,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 8:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 8, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter stricken and inserted by said
amendment, insert: $848,143,000: Provided, That of the amount
appropriated and any other funds made available from any other
source for activities funded under this heading, except
reimbursements, not to exceed $214,109,000 shall be available
for General Administration; including not to exceed (1)
$2,450,000 for personnel compensation and benefits and $50,000
for travel in the Office of the Secretary, (2) $4,392,000 for
personnel compensation and benefits and $75,000 for travel in
the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning,
(3) $1,980,000 for personnel compensation and benefits and
$33,000 for travel in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Congressional Affairs, and (4) $3,500,000 for personnel
compensation and benefits and $100,000 for travel in the Office
of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental
Affairs: Provided further, That during fiscal year 1996,
notwithstanding any other provision of law, the number of
individuals employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (1)
in other than ``career appointee'' positions in the Senior
Executive Service shall not exceed 6, and (2) in schedule C
positions shall not exceed 11: Provided further, That not to
exceed $6,000,000 of the amount appropriated shall be available
for administrative expenses to carry out the direct and
guaranteed loan programs under the Loan Guaranty Program
Account; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 9:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 9, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$136,155,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 13:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 13, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
Delete the matter proposed by said amendment and on page
16 of the House engrossed bill, H.R. 2099, delete the language
on lines 9-18.
And the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 15:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 15, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum named in said amendment, insert:
$4,500,000; and the Senate agreed to the same.
Amendment numbered 16:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 16, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter stricken and inserted by said
amendment, insert:
For assistance under the United States Housing Act of
1937, as amended (``the Act'' herein) (42 U.S.C. 1437), not
otherwise provided for, $10,155,795,000, to remain available
until expended: Provided, That of the total amount provided
under this head, $160,000,000 shall be for the development or
acquisition cost of public housing for Indian families,
including amounts for housing under the mutual help
homeownership opportunity program under section 202 of the Act
(42 U.S.C. 1437bb): Provided further, That of the total amount
provided under this head, $2,500,000,000 shall be for
modernization of existing public housing projects pursuant to
section 14 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 1437l), including up to
$20,000,000 for the inspection of public housing units,
contract expertise, and training and technical assistance,
directly or indirectly, under grants, contracts, or cooperative
agreements, to assist in the oversight and management of public
and Indian housing (whether or not the housing is being
modernized with assistance under this proviso) or tenant-based
assistance, including, but not limited to, an annual resident
survey, data collection and analysis, training and technical
assistance by or to officials and employees of the Department
and of public housing agencies and to residents in connection
with the public and Indian housing program: Provided further,
That of the total amount provided under this head, $400,000,000
shall be for rental subsidy contracts under the section 8
existing housing certificate program and the housing voucher
program under section 8 of the Act, except that such amounts
shall be used only for units necessary to provide housing
assistance for residents to be relocated from existing
federally subsidized or assisted housing, for replacement
housing for units demolished or disposed of (including units to
be disposed of pursuant to a homeownership program under
section 5(h) or title III of the United States Housing Act of
1937) from the public housing inventory, for funds related to
litigation settlements, for the conversion of section 23
projects to assistance under section 8, for public housing
agencies to implement allocation plans approved by the
Secretary for designated housing, for funds to carry out the
family unification program, and for the relocation of witnesses
in connection with efforts to combat crime in public and
assisted housing pursuant to a request from a law enforcement
or prosecution agency: Provided further, That of the total
amount provided under this head, $4,350,862,000 shall be for
assistance under the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42
U.S.C. 1437) for use in connection with expiring or terminating
section 8 subsidy contracts, such amount shall be merged with
all remaining obligated and unobligated balances heretofore
appropriated under the heading ``Renewal of expiring section 8
subsidy contracts'': Provided further, That notwithstanding any
other provision of law, assistance reserved under the two
preceding provisos may be used in connection with any provision
of Federal law enacted in this Act or after the enactment of
this Act that authorizes the use of rental assistance amounts
in connection with such terminated or expired contracts:
Provided further, That the Secretary may determine not to apply
section 8(o)(6)(B) of the Act to housing vouchers during fiscal
year 1996: Provided further, That of the total amount provided
under this head, $610,575,000 shall be for amendments to
section 8 contracts other than contracts for projects developed
under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, as amended; and
$261,000,000 shall be for section 8 assistance and
rehabilitation grants for property disposition: Provided
further, That during fiscal year 1996, the Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development may manage and dispose of multifamily
properties owned by the Secretary, including the provision for
grants from the General Insurance Fund (12 U.S.C. 1735c) for
the necessary costs of rehabilitation and other related
development costs, and multifamily mortgages held by the
Secretary without regard to any other provision of law:
Provided further, That 50 per centum of the amounts of budget
authority, or in lieu thereof 50 per centum of the cash amounts
associated with such budget authority, that are recaptured from
projects described in section 1012(a) of the Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1988 (Public Law
100-628, 102 Stat 3224, 3268) shall be rescinded, or in the
case of cash, shall be remitted to the Treasury, and such
amounts of budget authority or cash recaptured and not
rescinded or remitted to the Treasury shall be used by State
housing finance agencies or local governments or local housing
agencies with projects approved by the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development for which settlement occurred after January
1, 1992, in accordance with such section: Provided further,
That of the total amount provided under this head, $171,000,000
shall be for housing opportunities for persons with AIDS under
title VIII, subtitle D of the Cranston-Gonzalez National
Affordable Housing Act; and $65,000,000 shall be for the lead-
based paint hazard reduction program as authorized under
sections 1011 and 1053 of the Residential Lead-Based Hazard
Reduction Act of 1992: Provided further, That the Secretary may
make up to $5,000,000 of any amount recaptured in this account
available for the development of performance and financial
systems.
Of the total amount provided under this head,
$624,000,000, plus amounts recaptured from interest reduction
payment contracts for section 236 projects whose owners prepay
their mortgages during fiscal year 1996 (which amounts shall be
transferred and merged with this account), shall be for use in
conjunction with properties that are eligible for assistance
under the Low Income Housing Preservation and Resident
Homeownership Act of 1990 (LIHPRHA) or the Emergency Low-Income
Housing Preservation Act of 1987 (ELIHPA): Provided, That prior
to July 1, 1996, funding to carry out plans of action shall be
limited to sales of projects to non-profit organizations,
tenant-sponsored organizations, and other priority purchasers:
Provided further, That of the amount made available by this
paragraph, up to $10,000,000 shall be available for
preservation technical assistance grants pursuant to section
253 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, as
amended: Provided further, That with respect to amounts made
available by this paragraph, after July 1, 1996, if the
Secretary determines that the demand for funding may exceed
amounts available for such funding, the Secretary (1) may
determine priorities for distributing available funds,
including giving priority funding to tenants displaced due to
mortgage prepayment and to projects that have not yet been
funded but which have approved plans of action; and (2) may
impose a temporary moratorium on applications by potential
recipients of such funding: Provided further, That an owner of
eligible low-income housing may prepay the mortgage or request
voluntary termination of a mortgage insurance contract, so long
as said owner agrees not to raise rents for sixty days after
such prepayment: Provided further, That an owner of eligible
low-income housing who has not timely filed a second notice
under section 216(d) prior to the effective date of this Act
may file such notice by March 1, 1996: Provided further, That
such developments have been determined to have preservation
equity at least equal to the lesser of $5,000 per unit or
$500,000 per project or the equivalent of eight times the most
recently published fair market rent for the area in which the
project is located as the appropriate unit size for all of the
units in the eligible project: Provided further, That the
Secretary may modify the regulatory agreement to permit owners
and priority purchasers to retain rental income in excess of
the basic rental charge in projects assisted under section 236
of the National Housing Act, for the purpose of preserving the
low and moderate income character of the housing: Provided
further, That the Secretary may give priority to funding and
processing the following projects provided that the funding is
obligated not later than August 1, 1996: (1) projects with
approved plans of action to retain the housing that file a
modified plan of action no later than July 1, 1996 to transfer
the housing; (2) projects with approved plans of action that
are subject to a repayment or settlement agreement that was
executed between the owner and the Secretary prior to September
1, 1995; (3) projects for which submissions were delayed as a
result of their location in areas that were designated as a
federal disaster area in a Presidential Disaster Declaration;
and (4) projects whose processing was, in fact or in practical
effect, suspended, deferred, or interrupted for a period of
twelve months or more because of differing interpretations, by
the Secretary and an owner or by the Secretary and a state or
local rent regulatory agency, concerning the timing of filing
eligibility or the effect of a presumptively applicable state
or local rent control law or regulation on the determination of
preservation value under section 213 of LIHPRHA, as amended, if
the owner of such project filed notice of intent to extend the
low-income affordability restrictions of the housing, or
transfer to a qualified purchaser who would extend such
restrictions, on or before November 1, 1993: Provided further,
That eligible low-income housing shall include properties
meeting the requirements of this paragraph with mortgages that
are held by a State agency as a result of a sale by the
Secretary without insurance, which immediately before the sale
would have been eligible low-income housing under LIHPRHA:
Provided further, That notwithstanding any other provision of
law, subject to the availability of appropriated funds, each
unassisted low-income family residing in the housing on the
date of prepayment or voluntary termination, and whose rent, as
a result of a rent increase occurring no later than one year
after the date of the prepayment, exceeds 30 percent of
adjusted income, shall be offered tenant-based assistance in
accordance with section 8 or any successor program, under which
the family shall pay no less for rent than it paid on such
date: Provided further, That any family receiving tenant-based
assistance under the preceding proviso may elect (1) to remain
in the unit of the housing and if the rent exceeds the fair
market rent or payment standard, as applicable, the rent shall
be deemed to be the applicable standard, so long as the
administering public housing agency finds that the rent is
reasonable in comparison with rents charged for comparable
unassisted housing units in the market or (2) to move from the
housing and the rent will be subject to the fair market rent of
the payment standard, as applicable, under existing program
rules and procedures: Provided further, That up to $10,000,000
of the amount made available by this paragraph may be used at
the discretion of the Secretary to reimburse owners of eligible
properties for which plans of action were submitted prior to
the effective date of this Act, but were not executed for lack
of available funds, with such reimbursement available only for
documented costs directly applicable to the preparation of the
plan of action as determined by the Secretary, and shall be
made available on terms and conditions to be established by the
Secretary: Provided further, That, notwithstanding any other
provision of law, effective October 1, 1996, the Secretary
shall suspend further processing of preservation applications
which do not have approved plans of action.
Of the total amount provided under this head,
$780,190,000 shall be for capital advances, including
amendments to capital advance contracts, for housing for the
elderly, as authorized by section 202 of the Housing Act of
1959, as amended, and for project rental assistance, and
amendments to contracts for project rental assistance, for
supportive housing for the elderly under section 202(c)(2) of
the Housing Act of 1959; and $233,168,000 shall be for capital
advances, including amendments to capital advance contracts,
for supportive housing for persons with disabilities, as
authorized by section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National
Affordable Housing Act; and for project rental assistance, and
amendments to contracts for project rental assistance, for
supportive housing for persons with disabilities as authorized
by section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable
Housing Act: Provided, That the Secretary may designate up to
25 percent of the amounts earmarked under this paragraph for
section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable
Housing Act for tenant-based assistance, as authorized under
that section, which assistance is five years in duration:
Provided further, That the Secretary may waive any provision of
section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 and section 811 of the
National Affordable Housing Act (including the provisions
governing the terms and conditions of project rental
assistance) that the Secretary determines is not necessary to
achieve the objectives of these programs, or that otherwise
impedes the ability to develop, operate or administer projects
assisted under these programs, and may make provision for
alternative conditions or terms where appropriate.
public housing demolition, site revitalization, and replacement housing
grants
For grants to public housing agencies for the purposes of
enabling the demolition of obsolete public housing projects or
portions thereof, the revitalization (where appropriate) of
sites (including remaining public housing units) on which such
projects are located, replacement housing which will avoid or
lessen concentrations of very low-income families, and tenant-
based assistance in accordance with section 8 of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 for the purpose of providing
replacement housing and assisting tenants to be displaced by
the demolition, $280,000,000, to remain available until
expended: Provided, That the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development shall award such funds to public housing agencies
by a competition which includes among other relevant criteria
the local and national impact of the proposed demolition and
revitalization activities and the extent to which the public
housing agency could undertake such activities without the
additional assistance to be provided hereunder: Provided
further, That eligible expenditures hereunder shall be those
expenditures eligible under section 8 and section 14 of the
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f and l):
Provided further, That the Secretary may impose such conditions
and requirements as the Secretary deems appropriate to
effectuate the purposes of this paragraph: Provided further,
That the Secretary may require an agency selected to receive
funding to make arrangements satisfactory to the Secretary for
use of an entity other than the agency to carry out this
program where the Secretary determines that such action will
help to effectuate the purpose of this paragraph: Provided
further, That in the event an agency selected to receive
funding does not proceed expeditiously as determined by the
Secretary, the Secretary shall withdraw any funding made
available pursuant to this paragraph that has not been
obligated by the agency and distribute such funds to one or
more other eligible agencies, or to other entities capable of
proceeding expeditiously in the same locality with the original
program: Provided further, That of the foregoing $280,000,000,
the Secretary may use up to .67 per centum for technical
assistance, to be provided directly or indirectly by grants,
contracts or cooperative agreements, including training and
cost of necessary travel for participants in such training, by
or to officials and employees of the Department and of public
housing agencies and to residents: Provided further, That any
replacement housing provided with assistance under this head
shall be subject to section 18(f) of the United States Housing
Act of 1937, as amended by section 201(b)(2) of this Act.
And the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 18:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 18, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter proposed by said amendment, insert:
drug elimination grants for low-income housing
For grants to public and Indian housing agencies for use
in eliminating crime in public housing projects authorized by
42 U.S.C. 11901-11908, for grants for federally assisted low-
income housing authorized by 42 U.S.C. 11909, and for drug
information clearinghouse services authorized by 42 U.S.C.
11921-11925, $290,000,000, to remain available until expended,
of which $10,000,000 shall be for grants, technical assistance,
contracts and other assistance training, program assessment,
and execution for or on behalf of public housing agencies and
resident organizations (including the cost of necessary travel
for participants in such training) and of which $2,500,000
shall be used in connection with efforts to combat violent
crime in public and assisted housing under the Operation Safe
Home program administered by the Inspector General of the
Department of Housing and Urban Development: Provided, That the
term ``drug-related crime'', as defined in 42 U.S.C. 11905(2),
shall also include other types of crime as determined by the
Secretary.
And the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 23:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 23, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$823,000,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 25:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 25, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$50,000,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 31:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 31, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter proposed by said amendment, insert:
Of the amount provided under this heading, the Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development may use up to $53,000,000 for
grants to public housing agencies (including Indian housing
authorities), nonprofit corporations, and other appropriate
entities for a supportive services program to assist residents
of public and assisted housing, former residents of such
housing receiving tenant-based assistance under section 8 of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 1437f), and other low-income families and
individuals to become self-sufficient: Provided, That the
program shall provide supportive services, principally for the
benefit of public housing residents, to the elderly and the
disabled, and to families with children where the head of
household would benefit from the receipt of supportive services
and is working, seeking work, or is preparing for work by
participating in job training or educational programs: Provided
further, That the supportive services shall include congregate
services for the elderly and disabled, service coordinators,
and coordinated educational, training, and other supportive
services, including academic skills training, job search
assistance, assistance related to retaining employment,
vocational and entrepreneurship development and support
programs, transportation, and child care: Provided further,
That the Secretary shall require applicants to demonstrate firm
commitments of funding or services from other sources: Provided
further, That the Secretary shall select public and Indian
housing agencies to receive assistance under this head on a
competitive basis, taking into account the quality of the
proposed program (including any innovative approaches), the
extent of the proposed coordination of supportive services, the
extent of commitments of funding or services from other
sources, the extent to which the proposed program includes
reasonably achievable, quantifiable goals for measuring
performance under the program over a three-year period, the
extent of success an agency has had in carrying out other
comparable initiatives, and other appropriate criteria
established by the Secretary.
Of the amount made available under this heading,
notwithstanding any other provision of law, $12,000,000 shall
be available for contracts, grants, and other assistance, other
than loans, not otherwise provided for, for providing
counseling and advice to tenants and homeowners both current
and prospective, with respect to property maintenance,
financial management, and such other matters as may be
appropriate to assist them in improving their housing
conditions and meeting the responsibilities of tenancy or
homeownership, including provisions for training and for
support of voluntary agencies and services as authorized by
section 106 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968,
as amended, notwithstanding section 106(c)(9) and section
106(d)(13) of such Act.
Of the amount made available under this heading,
notwithstanding any other provision of law, $15,000,000 shall
be available for the tenant opportunity program.
Of the amount made available under this heading,
notwithstanding any other provision of law, $20,000,000 shall
be available for youthbuild program activities authorized by
subtitle D of title IV of the Cranston-Gonzalez National
Affordable Housing Act, as amended, and such activities shall
be an eligible activity with respect to any funds made
available under this heading.
And the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 32:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 32, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$31,750,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 33:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 33, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter stricken and inserted by said
amendment, insert:
$1,500,000,000: Provided further, That the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development may make guarantees not to exceed
the immediately foregoing amount notwithstanding the aggregate
limitation on guarantees set forth in section 108(k) of the
Housing and Community Development Act of 1974; and the Senate
agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 36:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 36, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
Restore the matter stricken by said amendment, amended to
read as follows:
fair housing and equal opportunity
fair housing activities
For contracts, grants, and other assistance, not
otherwise provided for, as authorized by title VIII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended by the Fair Housing
Amendments Act of 1988, and for contracts with qualified fair
housing enforcement organizations, as authorized by section 561
of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, as
amended by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992,
$30,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 1997.
And the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 37:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 37, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$962,558,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 41:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 41, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$47,850,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 48:
That the House receded from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 48, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter stricken and inserted by said
amendment, insert:
For the cost of guaranteed loans, as authorized by
sections 238 and 519 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C.
1715z-3 and 1735c), including the cost of modifying such loans,
$85,000,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That
such costs shall be as defined in section 502 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended: Provided further,
That these funds are available to subsidize total; and the
Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 58:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 58, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter stricken and inserted by said
amendment, insert:
SEC. 201. EXTEND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS FROM THE RESCISSION ACT.
(a) Public and Indian Housing Modernization.--
(1) Expansion of use of modernization funding.--
Subsection 14(q) of the United States Housing Act of
1937 is amended to read as follows:
``(q)(1) In addition to the purposes enumerated in
subsections (a) and (b), a public housing agency may use
modernization assistance provided under section 14, and
development assistance provided under section 5(a) that was not
allocated, as determined by the secretary, for priority
replacement housing, for any eligible activity authorized by
this section, by section 5, or by applicable Appropriations
Acts for a public housing agency, including the demolition,
rehabilitation, revitalization, and replacement of existing
units and projects and, for up to 10 percent of its allocation
of such funds in any fiscal year, for any operating subsidy
purpose authorized in section 9. Except for assistance used for
operating subsidy purposes under the preceding sentence,
assistance provided to a public housing agency under this
section shall principally be used for the physical improvement
or replacement of public housing and for associated management
improvements, except as otherwise approved by the Secretary.
Public housing units assisted under this paragraph shall be
eligible for operating subsidies, unless the Secretary
determines that such units or projects have not received
sufficient assistance under this Act or do not meet other
requirements of this Act.
``(2) A public housing agency may provide assistance to
developments that include units for other than very low-income
families (`mixed income developments'), in the form of a grant,
loan, operating assistance, or other form of investment which
may be made to--
(A) a partnership, a limited liability company, or
other legal entity in which the public housing agency
or its affiliate is a general partner, managing member,
or otherwise participates in the activities of such
entity; or
(B) any entity which grants to the public housing
agency the option to purchase the development within 20
years after initial occupancy in accordance with
section 42(i)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
as amended. Units shall be made available in such
developments for periods of not less than 20 years, by
master contract or by individual lease, for occupancy
by low-income families referred from time to time by
the public housing agency. The number of such units
shall be:
(i) in the same proportion to the total
number of units in such development that the
total financial commitment provided by the
public housing agency bears to the value of the
total financial commitment in the development,
or
(ii) not be less than the number of units
that could have been developed under the
conventional public housing program with the
assistance involved, or
(iii) as may otherwise be approved by the
Secretary.
``(3) A mixed income development may elect to have all
units subject only to the applicable local real estate taxes,
notwithstanding that the low-income units assisted by public
housing funds would otherwise be subject to section 6(d) of the
Housing Act of 1937.
``(4) If an entity that owns or operates a mixed-income
project under this subsection enters into a contract with a
public housing agency, the terms of which obligate the entity
to operate and maintain a specified number of units in the
project as public housing units in accordance with the
requirements of this Act for the period required by law, such
contractual terms may provide that, if, as a result of a
reduction in appropriations under section 9, or any other
change in applicable law, the public housing agency is unable
to fulfill its contractual obligations with respect to those
public housing units, that entity may deviate, under procedures
and requirements developed through regulations by the
Secretary, from otherwise applicable restrictions under this
Act regarding rents, income eligibility, and other areas of
public housing management with respect to a portion or all of
those public housing units, to the extent necessary to preserve
the viability of those units while maintaining the low-income
character of the units, to the maximum extent practicable.''.
(2) Applicability.--Section 14(q) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937, as amended by subsection
(a) of this section, shall be effective only with
respect to assistance provided from funds made
available for fiscal year 1996 or any preceding fiscal
year.
(3) Applicability to IHAs.--In accordance with
section 201(b)(2) of the United States Housing Act of
1937, the amendment made by this subsection shall apply
to public housing developed or operated pursuant to a
contract between the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development and an Indian housing authority.
(b) One-for-One Replacement of Public and Indian
Housing.--
(1) Extended authority.--Section 1002(d) of Public
Law 104-19 is amended to read as follows:
``(d) Subsections (a), (b), and (c) shall be effective
for applications for the demolition, disposition, or conversion
of homeownership of public housing approved by the Secretary,
and other consolidation and relocation activities of public
housing agencies undertaken, on, before, or after September 30,
1995 and before September 30, 1996.''.
(2) Section 18(f) of the United States Housing Act
of 1937 is amended by adding at the end the following
new sentence:
``No one may rely on the preceding sentence as the basis for
reconsidering a final order of a court issued, or a settlement
approved by, a court.''.
(3) Applicability.--In accordance with section
201(b)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, the
amendments made by this subsection and by sections 1002
(a), (b), and (c) of Public Law 104-19 shall apply to
public housing developed or operated pursuant to a
contract between the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development and an Indian housing authority.
SEC. 202. PUBLIC AND ASSISTED HOUSING RENTS, INCOME ADJUSTMENTS, AND
PREFERENCES.
(a) Minimum Rents.--Notwithstanding sections 3(a) and
8(o)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended,
effective for fiscal year 1996 and no later than October 30,
1995--
(1) public housing agencies shall require each
family who is assisted under the certificate or
moderate rehabilitation program under section 8 of such
Act to pay a minimum monthly rent of not less than $25,
and may require a minimum monthly rent of up to $50;
(2) public housing agencies shall reduce the
monthly assistance payment on behalf of each family who
is assisted under the voucher program under section 8
of such Act so that the family pays a minimum monthly
rent of not less than $25, and may require a minimum
monthly rent of up to $50;
(3) with respect to housing assisted under other
programs for rental assistance under section 8 of such
Act, the Secretary shall require each family who is
assisted under such program to pay a minimum monthly
rent of not less than $25 for the unit, and may require
a minimum monthly rent of up to $50; and
(4) public housing agencies shall require each
family who is assisted under the public housing program
(including public housing for Indian families) of such
Act to pay a minimum monthly rent of not less than $25,
and may require a minimum monthly rent of up to $50.
(b) Establishment of Ceiling Rents.--
(1) Section 3(a)(2) of the United States Housing
Act of 1937 is amended to read as follows:
``(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a public
housing agency may--
``(A) adopt ceiling rents that reflect the
reasonable market value of the housing, but
that are not less than the monthly costs--
``(i) to operate the housing of the
agency; and
``(ii) to make a deposit to a
replacement reserve (in the sole
discretion of the public housing
agency); and
``(B) allow families to pay ceiling rents
referred to in subparagraph (A), unless, with
respect to any family, the ceiling rent
established under this paragraph would exceed
the amount payable as rent by that family under
paragraph (1).''.
(2) Regulations.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall, by
regulation, after notice and an opportunity for
public comment, establish such requirements as
may be necessary to carry out section
3(a)(2)(A) of the United States Housing Act of
1937, as amended by paragraph (1).
(B) Transition rule.--Prior to the issuance
of final regulations under paragraph (1), a
public housing agency may implement ceiling
rents, which shall be not less than the monthly
costs to operate the housing of the agency
and--
(i) determined in accordance with
section 3(a)(2)(A) of the United States
Housing Act of 1937, as that section
existed on the day before enactment of
this Act;
(ii) equal to the 95th percentile
of the rent paid for a unit of
comparable size by tenants in the same
public housing project or a group of
comparable projects totaling 50 units
or more; or
(iii) equal to the fair market rent
for the area in which the unit is
located.
(c) Definition of Adjusted Income.--Section 3(b)(5) of
the United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended--
(1) at the end of subparagraph (F), by striking
``and'';
(2) at the end of subparagraph (G), by striking the
period and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (G) the
following:
``(H) for public housing, any other
adjustments to earned income established by the
public housing agency. If a public housing
agency adopts other adjustments to income
pursuant to subparagraph (H), the Secretary
shall not take into account any reduction of or
increase in the public housing agency's per
unit dwelling rental income resulting from
those adjustments when calculating the
contributions under section 9 for the public
housing agency for the operation of the public
housing.''.
(d) Repeal of Federal Preferences.--
(1) Public housing.--Section 6(c)(4)(A) of the
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
1437d(c)(4)(A)) is amended to read as follows:
``(A) the establishment, after public
notice and an opportunity for public comment,
of a written system of preferences for
admission to public housing, if any, that is
not inconsistent with the comprehensive housing
affordability strategy under title I of the
Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing
Act;''.
(2) Section 8 existing and moderate
rehabilitation.--Section 8(d)(1)(A) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(d)(1)(A))
is amended to read as follows:
``(A) the selection of tenants shall be the
function of the owner, subject to the
provisions of the annual contributions contract
between the Secretary and the agency, except
that for the certificate and moderate
rehabilitation programs only, for the purpose
of selecting families to be assisted, the
public housing agency may establish, after
public notice and an opportunity for public
comment, a written system of preferences for
selection that is not inconsistent with the
comprehensive housing affordability strategy
under title I of the Cranston-Gonzalez National
Affordable Housing Act;''.
(3) Section 8 voucher program.--Section 8(o)(3)(B)
of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
1437f(o)(3)(B)) is amended to read as follows:
``(B) For the purpose of selecting families
to be assisted under this subsection, the
public housing agency may establish, after
public notice and an opportunity for public
comment, a written system of preferences for
selection that is not inconsistent with the
comprehensive housing affordability strategy
under title I of the Cranston-Gonzalez National
Affordable Housing Act.''.
(4) Section 8 new construction and substantial
rehabilitation.--
(A) Repeal.--Section 545(c) of the
Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing
Act (42 U.S.C. 1437f note) is amended to read
as follows:
``(c) [Reserved.]''.
(B) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, no Federal tenant selection
preferences under the United States Housing Act
of 1937 shall apply with respect to--
(i) housing constructed or
substantially rehabilitated pursuant to
assistance provided under section
8(b)(2) of the United States Housing
Act of 1937 (as such section existed on
the day before October 1, 1983); or
(ii) projects financed under
section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959
(as such section existed on the day
before the date of enactment of the
Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable
Housing Act).
(5) Rent supplements.--Section 101(k) of the
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 (12 U.S.C.
1701s(k)) is amended to read as follows:
``(k) [Reserved.]''.
(6) Conforming amendments.--
(A) United states housing act of 1937.--The
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
1437 et seq.) is amended--
(i) in section 6(o), by striking
``preference rules specified in'' and
inserting ``written system of
preferences for selection established
pursuant to'';
(ii) in the second sentence of
section 7(a)(2), by striking
``according to the preferences for
occupancy under'' and inserting ``in
accordance with the written system of
preferences for selection established
pursuant to'';
(iii) in section 8(d)(2)(A), by
striking the last sentence;
(iv) in section 8(d)(2)(H), by
striking ``Notwithstanding subsection
(d)(1)(A)(i), an'' and inserting
``An'';
(v) in section 16(c), in the second
sentence, by striking ``the system of
preferences established by the agency
pursuant to section 6(c)(4)(A)(ii)''
and inserting ``the written system of
preferences for selection established
by the public housing agency pursuant
to section 6(c)(4)(A)''; and
(vi) in section 24(e)--
(I) by striking ``(e)
EXCEPTIONS'' and all that
follows through ``The Secretary
may'' and inserting the
following:
``(e) Exception to General Program Requirements.--The
Secretary may''; and
(II) by striking paragraph
(2).
(B) Cranston-gonzalez national affordable
housing act.--Section 522(f)(6)(B) of the
Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing
Act (42 U.S.C. 12704 et seq.) is amended by
striking ``any preferences for such assistance
under section 8(d)(1)(A)(i)'' and inserting
``the written system of preferences for
selection established pursuant to section
8(d)(1)(A)''.
(C) Housing and community development act
of 1992.--Section 655 of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C.
13615) is amended by striking ``the
preferences'' and all that follows up to the
period at the end and inserting ``any
preferences''.
(D) References in other law.--Any reference
in any Federal law other than any provision of
any law amended by paragraphs (1) through (5)
of this subsection to the preferences for
assistance under section 6(c)(4)(A)(i),
8(d)(1)(A)(i), or 8(o)(3)(B) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 (as such sections
existed on the day before the date of enactment
of this Act) shall be considered to refer to
the written system of preferences for selection
established pursuant to section 6(c)(4)(A),
8(d)(1)(A), or 8(o)(3)(B), respectively, of the
United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended
by this section.
(e) Applicability.--In accordance with section 201(b)(2)
of the United States Housing Act of 1937, the amendments made
by subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (f) of this section
shall also apply to public housing developed or operated
pursuant to a contract between the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development and an Indian housing authority.
(f) This section shall be effective upon the enactment of
this Act and only for fiscal year 1996.
SEC. 203. CONVERSION OF CERTAIN PUBLIC HOUSING TO VOUCHERS.
(a) Identification of Units.--Each public housing agency
shall identify any public housing developments--
(1) that are on the same or contiguous sites;
(2) that total more than--
(A) 300 dwelling units; or
(B) in the case of high-rise family
buildings or substantially vacant buildings,
300 dwelling units;
(3) that have a vacancy rate of at least 10 percent
for dwelling units not in funded, on-schedule
modernization programs;
(4) identified as distressed housing that the
public housing agency cannot assure the long-term
viability as public housing through reasonable
revitalization, density reduction, or achievement of a
broader range of household income; and
(5) for which the estimated cost of continued
operation and modernization of the developments as
public housing exceeds the cost of providing tenant-
based assistance under section 8 of the United States
Housing Act of 1937 for all families in occupancy,
based on appropriate indicators of cost (such as the
percentage of total development cost required for
modernization).
(b) Implementation and Enforcement.--
(1) Standards for implementation.--The Secretary
shall establish standards to permit implementation of
this section in fiscal year 1996.
(2) Consultation.--Each public housing agency shall
consult with the applicable public housing tenants and
the unit of general local government in identifying any
public housing developments under subsection (a).
(3) Failure of phas to comply with subsection
(a).--Where the Secretary determines that--
(A) a public housing agency has failed
under subsection (a) to identify public housing
developments for removal from the inventory of
the agency in a timely manner;
(B) a public housing agency has failed to
identify one or more public housing
developments which the Secretary determines
should have been identified under subsection
(a); or
(C) one or more of the developments
identified by the public housing agency
pursuant to subsection (a) should not, in the
determination of the Secretary, have been
identified under that subsection;
the Secretary may designate the developments to be
removed from the inventory of the public housing agency
pursuant to this section.
(c) Removal of Units From the Inventories of Public
Housing Agencies.--
(1) Each public housing agency shall develop and
carry out a plan in conjunction with the Secretary for
the removal of public housing units identified under
subsection (a) or subsection (b)(3), over a period of
up to five years, from the inventory of the public
housing agency and the annual contributions contract.
The plan shall be approved by the relevant local
official as not inconsistent with the Comprehensive
Housing Affordability Strategy under title I of the
Housing and Community Development Act of 1992,
including a description of any disposition and
demolition plan for the public housing units.
(2) The Secretary may extend the deadline in
paragraph (1) for up to an additional five years where
the Secretary makes a determination that the deadline
is impracticable.
(3) The Secretary shall take appropriate actions to
ensure removal of developments identified under
subsection (a) or subsection (b)(3) from the inventory
of a public housing agency, if the public housing
agency fails to adequately develop a plan under
paragraph (1), or fails to adequately implement such
plan in accordance with the terms of the plan.
(4) To the extent approved in appropriations Acts,
the Secretary may establish requirements and provide
funding under the Urban Revitalization Demonstration
program for demolition and disposition of public
housing under this section.
(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if
a development is removed from the inventory of a public
housing agency and the annual contributions contract
pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary may authorize
or direct the transfer of--
(A) in the case of an agency receiving
assistance under the comprehensive improvement
assistance program, any amounts obligated by
the Secretary for the modernization of such
development pursuant to section 14 of the
United States Housing Act of 1937;
(B) in the case of an agency receiving
public and Indian housing modernization
assistance by formula pursuant to section 14 of
the United States Housing Act of 1937, any
amounts provided to the agency which are
attributable pursuant to the formula for
allocating such assistance to the development
removed from the inventory of that agency; and
(C) in the case of an agency receiving
assistance for the major reconstruction of
obsolete projects, any amounts obligated by the
Secretary for the major reconstruction of the
development pursuant to section 5 of such Act,
to the tenant-based assistance program or appropriate
site revitalization of such agency.
(6) Cessation of unnecessary spending.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if, in the
determination of the Secretary, a development meets or
is likely to meet the criteria set forth in subsection
(a), the Secretary may direct the public housing agency
to cease additional spending in connection with the
development, except to the extent that additional
spending is necessary to ensure decent, safe, and
sanitary housing until the Secretary determines or
approves an appropriate course of action with respect
to such development under this section.
(d) Conversion to Tenant-Based Assistance.--
(1) The Secretary shall make authority available to
a public housing agency to provide tenant-based
assistance pursuant to section 8 to families residing
in any development that is removed from the inventory
of the public housing agency and the annual
contributions contract pursuant to subsection (b).
(2) Each conversion plan under subsection (c)
shall--
(A) require the agency to notify families
residing in the development, consistent with
any guidelines issued by the Secretary
governing such notifications, that the
development shall be removed from the inventory
of the public housing agency and the families
shall receive tenant-based or project-based
assistance, and to provide any necessary
counseling for families; and
(B) ensure that all tenants affected by a
determination under this section that a
development shall be removed from the inventory
of a public housing agency shall be offered
tenant-based or project-based assistance and
shall be relocated, as necessary, to other
decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable housing
which is, to the maximum extent practicable,
housing of their choice.
(e) In General.--
(1) The Secretary may require a public housing
agency to provide such information as the Secretary
considers necessary for the administration of this
section.
(2) As used in this section, the term
``development'' shall refer to a project or projects,
or to portions of a project or projects, as
appropriate.
(3) Section 18 of the United States Housing Act of
1937 shall not apply to the demolition of developments
removed from the inventory of the public housing agency
under this section.
SEC. 204. STREAMLINING SECTION 8 TENANT-BASED ASSISTANCE.
(a) ``Take-One, Take-All''.--Section 8(t) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 is hereby repealed.
(b) Exemption From Notice Requirements for the
Certificate and Voucher Programs.--Section 8(c) of such Act is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (8), by inserting after
``section'' the following: ``(other than a contract for
assistance under the certificate or voucher program)'';
and
(2) in the first sentence of paragraph (9), by
striking ``(but not less than 90 days in the case of
housing certificates or vouchers under subsection (b)
or (o))'' and inserting ``, other than a contract under
the certificate or voucher program''.
(c) Endless Lease.--Section 8(d)(1)(B) of such Act is
amended--
(1) in clause (ii), by inserting ``during the term
of the lease,'' after ``(ii)''; and
(2) in clause (iii), by striking ``provide that''
and inserting ``during the term of the lease,''.
(d) Applicability.--The provisions of this section shall
be effective for fiscal year 1996 only.
Sec. 205. SECTION 8 FAIR MARKET RENTALS, ADMINISTRATIVE FEES, AND DELAY
IN REISSUANCE.
(a) Fair Market Rentals.--The Secretary shall establish
fair market rentals for purposes of section 8(c)(1) of the
United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, that shall be
effective for fiscal year 1996 and shall be based on the 40th
percentile rent of rental distributions of standard quality
rental housing units. In establishing such fair market rentals,
the Secretary shall consider only the rents for dwelling units
occupied by recent movers and may not consider the rents for
public housing dwelling units or newly constructed rental
dwelling units.
(b) Administrative Fees.--Notwithstanding sections 8(q)
(1) and (4) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, for
fiscal year 1996, the fee for each month for which a dwelling
unit is covered by an assistance contract under the
certificate, voucher, or moderate rehabilitation program under
section 8 of such Act shall be equal to the monthly fee payable
for fiscal year 1995: Provided, That this subsection shall be
applicable to all amounts made available for such fees during
fiscal year 1996, as if in effect on October 1, 1995.
(c) Delay Reissuance of Vouchers and Certificates.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a public housing
agency administering certificate or voucher assistance provided
under subsection (b) or (o) of section 8 of the United States
Housing Act of 1937, as amended, shall delay for 3 months, the
use of any amounts of such assistance (or the certificate or
voucher representing assistance amounts) made available by the
termination during fiscal year 1996 of such assistance on
behalf of any family for any reason, but not later than October
1, 1996; with the exception of any certificates assigned or
committed to project based assistance as permitted otherwise by
the Act, accomplished prior to the effective date of this Act.
SEC. 206. PUBLIC HOUSING/SECTION 8 MOVING TO WORK DEMONSTRATION.
(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this demonstration is to
give public housing agencies and the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development the flexibility to design and test various
approaches for providing and administering housing assistance
that: reduce cost and achieve greater cost effectiveness in
Federal expenditures; give incentives to families with children
where the head of household is working, seeking work, or is
preparing for work by participating in job training,
educational programs, or programs that assist people to obtain
employment and become economically self-sufficient; and
increase housing choices for low-income families.
(b) Program Authority.--The Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development shall conduct a demonstration program under
this section beginning in fiscal year 1996 under which up to 30
public housing agencies (including Indian housing authorities)
administering the public or Indian housing program and the
section 8 housing assistance payments program, administering a
total number of public housing units not in excess of 25,000,
may be selected by the Secretary to participate. The Secretary
shall provide training and technical assistance during the
demonstration and conduct detailed evaluations of up to 15 such
agencies in an effort to identify replicable program models
promoting the purpose of the demonstration. Under the
demonstration, notwithstanding any provision of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 except as provided in subsection
(e), an agency may combine operating assistance provided under
section 9 of the United States Housing Act of 1937,
modernization assistance provided under section 14 of such Act,
and assistance provided under section 8 of such Act for the
certificate and voucher programs, to provide housing assistance
for low-income families, as defined in section 3(b)(2) of the
United States Housing Act of 1937, and services to facilitate
the transition to work on such terms and conditions as the
agency may propose and the Secretary may approve.
(c) Application.--An application to participate in the
demonstration--
(1) shall request authority to combine assistance
under sections 8, 9, and 14 of the United States
Housing Act of 1937;
(2) shall be submitted only after the public
housing agency provides for citizen participation
through a public hearing and, if appropriate, other
means;
(3) shall include a plan developed by the agency
that takes into account comments from the public
hearing and any other public comments on the proposed
program, and comments from current and prospective
residents who would be affected, and that includes
criteria for--
(A) families to be assisted, which shall require
that at least 75 percent of the families assisted by
participating demonstration public housing authorities
shall be very low-income families, as defined in
section 3(b)(2) of the United States Housing Act of
1937, and at least 50 percent of the families selected
shall have incomes that do not exceed 30 percent of the
median family income for the area, as determined by the
Secretary with adjustments for smaller and larger
families, except that the Secretary may establish
income ceilings higher or lower than 30 percent of the
median for the area on the basis of the Secretary's
findings that such variations are necessary because of
unusually high or low family income;
(B) establishing a reasonable rent policy, which
shall be designed to encourage employment and self-
sufficiency by participating families, consistent with
the purpose of this demonstration, such as by excluding
some or all of a family's earned income for purposes of
determining rent;
(C) continuing to assist substantially the same
total number of eligible low-income families as would
have been served had the amounts not been combined;
(D) maintaining a comparable mix of families (by
family size) as would have been provided had the
amounts not been used under the demonstration; and
(E) assuring that housing assisted under the
demonstration program meets housing quality standards
established or approved by the Secretary; and
(4) may request assistance for training and
technical assistance to assist with design of the
demonstration and to participate in a detailed
evaluation.
(d) Selection.--In selecting among applications, the
Secretary shall take into account the potential of each agency
to plan and carry out a program under the demonstration, the
relative performance by an agency under the public housing
management assessment program under section 6(j) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937, and other appropriate factors as
determined by the Secretary.
(e) Applicability of 1937 Act Provisions.--
(1) Section 18 of the United States Housing Act of
1937 shall continue to apply to public housing
notwithstanding any use of the housing under this
demonstration.
(2) Section 12 of such Act shall apply to housing
assisted under the demonstration, other than housing
assisted solely due to occupancy by families receiving
tenant-based assistance.
(f) Effect on Section 8, Operating Subsidies, and
Comprehensive Grant Program Allocations.--The amount of
assistance received under section 8, section 9, or pursuant to
section 14 by a public housing agency participating in the
demonstration under this part shall not be diminished by its
participation.
(g) Records, Reports, and Audits.--
(1) Keeping of records.--Each agency shall keep
such records as the Secretary may prescribe as
reasonably necessary to disclose the amounts and the
disposition of amounts under this demonstration, to
ensure compliance with the requirements of this
section, and to measure performance.
(2) Reports.--Each agency shall submit to the
Secretary a report, or series of reports, in a form and
at a time specified by the Secretary. Each report
shall--
(A) document the use of funds made
available under this section;
(B) provide such data as the Secretary may
request to assist the Secretary in assessing
the demonstration; and
(C) describe and analyze the effect of
assisted activities in addressing the
objectives of this part.
(3) Access to Documents by the Secretary.--The
Secretary shall have access for the purpose of audit
and examination to any books, documents, papers, and
records that are pertinent to assistance in connection
with, and the requirements of, this section.
(4) Access to Documents by the Comptroller
General.--The Comptroller General of the United States,
or any of the duly authorized representatives of the
Comptroller General, shall have access for the purpose
of audit and examination of any books, documents,
papers, and records that are pertinent to assistance in
connection with, and the requirements of, this section.
(h) Evaluation and Report.--
(1) Consultation with pha and family
representatives.--In making assessments throughout the
demonstration, the Secretary shall consult with
representatives of public housing agencies and
residents.
(2) Report to congress.--Not later than 180 days
after the end of the third year of the demonstration,
the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report
evaluating the programs carried out under the
demonstration. The report shall also include findings
and recommendations for any appropriate legislative
action.
(i) Funding for Technical Assistance and Evaluation.--
From amounts appropriated for assistance under section 14 of
the United States Housing Act of 1937 for fiscal years 1996,
1997, and 1998, the Secretary may use up to a total of
$5,000,000--
(1) to provide, directly or by contract, training
and technical assistance--
(A) to public housing agencies that express
an interest to apply for training and technical
assistance pursuant to subsection (c)(4), to
assist them in designing programs to be
proposed for the demonstration; and
(B) to up to 10 agencies selected to
receive training and technical assistance
pursuant to subsection (c)(4), to assist them
in implementing the approved program; and
(2) to conduct detailed evaluations of the
activities of the public housing agencies under
paragraph (1)(B), directly or by contract.
SEC. 207. REPEAL OF PROVISIONS REGARDING INCOME DISREGARDS.
(a) Maximum Annual Limitation on Rent Increases Resulting
From Employment.--Section 957 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National
Affordable Housing Act is hereby repealed, retroactive to
November 28, 1990, and shall be of no effect.
(b) Economic Independence.--Section 923 of the Housing
and Community Development Act of 1992 is hereby repealed,
retroactive to October 28, 1992, and shall be of no effect.
SEC. 208. EXTENSION OF MULTIFAMILY HOUSING FINANCE PROGRAMS.
(a) The first sentence of section 542(b)(5) of the
Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 1707
note) is amended by striking ``on not more than 15,000 units
over fiscal years 1993 and 1994'' and inserting ``on not more
than 7,500 units during fiscal year 1996''.
(b) The first sentence of section 542(c)(4) of the
Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 1707
note) is amended by striking ``on not to exceed 30,000 units
over fiscal years 1993, 1994, and 1995'' and inserting ``on not
more than 10,000 units during fiscal year 1996''.
SEC. 209. FORECLOSURE OF HUD-HELD MORTGAGES THROUGH THIRD PARTIES.
During fiscal year 1996, the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development may delegate to one or more entities the
authority to carry out some or all of the functions and
responsibilities of the Secretary in connection with the
foreclosure of mortgages held by the Secretary under the
National Housing Act.
SEC. 210. RESTRUCTURING OF THE HUD MULTIFAMILY MORTGAGE PORTFOLIO
THROUGH STATE HOUSING FINANCE AGENCIES.
During fiscal year 1996, the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development may sell or otherwise transfer multifamily
mortgages held by the Secretary under the National Housing Act
to a State housing finance agency in connection with a program
authorized under section 542 (b) or (c) of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1992 without regard to the unit
limitations in section 542(b)(5) or 542(c)(4) of such Act.
SEC. 211. TRANSFER OF SECTION 8 AUTHORITY.
(a) Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 is
amended by adding the following new subsection at the end:
``(bb) Transfer of Budget Authority.--If an assistance
contract under this section, other than a contract for tenant-
based assistance, is terminated or is not renewed, or if the
contract expires, the Secretary shall, in order to provide
continued assistance to eligible families, including eligible
families receiving the benefit of the project-based assistance
at the time of the termination, transfer any budget authority
remaining in the contract to another contract. The transfer
shall be under such terms as the Secretary may prescribe.''.
SEC. 212. DOCUMENTATION OF MULTIFAMILY REFINANCINGS.
Notwithstanding the 16th paragraph under the item
relating to ``administrative provisions'' in title II of the
Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban
Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1995
(Public Law 103-327; 108 Stat. 2316), the amendments to section
223(a)(7) of the National Housing Act made by the 15th
paragraph of such Act shall be effective during fiscal year
1996 and thereafter.
SEC. 213. FHA MULTIFAMILY DEMONSTRATION AUTHORITY.
(a) On and after October 1, 1995, and before October 1,
1997, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall
initiate a demonstration program with respect to multifamily
projects whose owners agree to participate and whose mortgages
are insured under the National Housing Act and that are
assisted under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of
1937 and whose present section 8 rents are, in the aggregate,
in excess of the fair market rent of the locality in which the
project is located. These programs shall be designed to test
the feasibility and desirability of the goal of ensuring, to
the maximum extent practicable, that the debt service and
operating expenses, including adequate reserves, attributable
to such multifamily projects can be supported with or without
mortgage insurance under the National Housing Act and with or
without above-market rents and utilizing project-based
assistance or, with the consent of the property owner, tenant
based assistance, while taking into account the need for
assistance of low and very low income families in such
projects. In carrying out this demonstration, the Secretary may
use arrangements with third parties, under which the Secretary
may provide for the assumption by the third parties (by
delegation, contract, or otherwise) of some or all of the
functions, obligations, and benefits of the Secretary.
(1) Goals.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development shall carry out the demonstration programs
under this section in a manner that--
(A) will protect the financial interests of
the Federal Government;
(B) will result in significant
discretionary cost savings through debt
restructuring and subsidy reduction; and
(C) will, in the least costly fashion,
address the goals of--
(i) maintaining existing housing
stock in a decent, safe, and sanitary
condition;
(ii) minimizing the involuntary
displacement of tenants;
(iii) restructuring the mortgages
of such projects in a manner that is
consistent with local housing market
conditions;
(iv) supporting fair housing
strategies;
(v) minimizing any adverse income
tax impact on property owners; and
(vi) minimizing any adverse impact
on residential neighborhoods.
In determining the manner in which a mortgage is to be
restructured or the subsidy reduced, the Secretary may
balance competing goals relating to individual projects
in a manner that will further the purposes of this
section.
(2) Demonstration approaches.--In carrying out the
demonstration programs, subject to the appropriation in
subsection (f), the Secretary may use one or more of
the following approaches:
(A) Joint venture arrangements with third
parties, under which the Secretary may provide
for the assumption by the third parties (by
delegation, contract, or otherwise) of some or
all of the functions, obligations, and benefits
of the Secretary.
(B) Subsidization of the debt service of
the project to a level that can be paid by an
owner receiving an unsubsidized market rent.
(C) Renewal of existing project-based
assistance contracts where the Secretary shall
approve proposed initial rent levels that do
not exceed the greater of 120 percent of fair
market rents or comparable market rents for the
relevant metropolitan market area or at rent
levels under a budget-based approach.
((D) Nonrenewal of expiring existing
project-based assistance contracts and
providing tenant-based assistance to previously
assisted households.
(b) For purposes of carrying out demonstration programs
under subsection (a)--
(1) the Secretary may manage and dispose of
multifamily properties owned by the Secretary as of
October 1, 1995 and multifamily mortgages held by the
Secretary as of October 1, 1995 for properties assisted
under section 8 with rents above 110 percent of fair
market rents without regard to any other provision of
law; and
(2) the Secretary may delegate to one or more
entities the authority to carry out some or all of the
functions and responsibilities of the Secretary in
connection with the foreclosure of mortgages held by
the Secretary under the National Housing Act.
(c) For purposes of carrying out demonstration programs
under subsection (a), subject to such third party consents (if
any) as are necessary including but not limited to (i) consent
by the Government National Mortgage Association where it owns a
mortgage insured by the Secretary; (ii) consent by an issuer
under the mortgage-backed securities program of the
Association, subject to the responsibilities of the issuer to
its security holders and the Association under such program;
and (iii) parties to any contractual agreement which the
Secretary proposes to modify or discontinue, and subject to the
appropriation in subsection (c), the Secretary or one or more
third parties designated by the Secretary may take the
following actions:
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and
subject to the agreement of the project owner, the
Secretary or third party may remove, relinquish,
extinguish, modify, or agree to the removal of any
mortgage, regulatory agreement, project-based
assistance contract, use agreement, or restriction that
had been imposed or required by the Secretary,
including restrictions on distributions of income which
the Secretary or third party determines would interfere
with the ability of the project to operate without
above market rents. The Secretary or third party may
require an owner of a property assisted under the
section 8 new construction/substantial rehabilitation
program to apply any accumulated residual receipts
toward effecting the purposes of this section.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may enter
into contracts to purchase reinsurance, or enter into
participations or otherwise transfer economic interest
in contracts of insurance or in the premiums paid, or
due to be paid, on such insurance to third parties, on
such terms and conditions as the Secretary may
determine.
(3) The Secretary may offer project-based
assistance with rents at or below fair market rents for
the locality in which the project is located and may
negotiate such other terms as are acceptable to the
Secretary and the project owner.
(4) The Secretary may offer to pay all or a portion
of the project's debt service, including payments
monthly from the appropriate Insurance Fund, for the
full remaining term of the insured mortgage.
(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Secretary may forgive and cancel any FHA-insured
mortgage debt that a demonstration program property
cannot carry at market rents while bearing full
operating costs.
(6) For demonstration program properties that
cannot carry full operating costs (excluding debt
service) at market rents, the Secretary may approve
project-based rents sufficient to carry such full
operating costs and may offer to pay the full debt
service in the manner provided in paragraph (4).
(d) Community and Tenant Input.--In carrying out this
section, the Secretary shall develop procedures to provide
appropriate and timely notice to officials of the unit of
general local government affected, the community in which the
project is situated, and the tenants of the project.
(e) Limitation on Demonstration Authority.--The Secretary
may carry out demonstration programs under this section with
respect to mortgages not to exceed 15,000 units. The
demonstration authorized under this section shall not be
expanded until the reports required under subsection (f) are
submitted to the Congress.
(f) Appropriation.--For the cost of modifying loans held
or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, as
authorized by this subsection (a)(2) and subsection (c),
$30,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 1997:
Provided, That such costs shall be as defined in section 502 of
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended.
(g) Report to Congress.--The Secretary shall submit to
the Congress every six months after the date of enactment of
this Act a report describing and assessing the programs carried
out under the demonstrations. The Secretary shall also submit a
final report to the Congress not later than six months after
the end of the demonstrations. The reports shall include
findings and recommendations for any legislative action
appropriate. The reports shall also include a description of
the status of each multifamily housing project selected for the
demonstrations under this section. The final report may
include--
(1) the size of the projects;
(2) the geographic locations of the projects, by
State and region;
(3) the physical and financial condition of the
projects;
(4) the occupancy profile of the projects,
including the income, family size, race, and ethnic
origin of current tenants, and the rents paid by such
tenants;
(5) a description of actions undertaken pursuant to
this section, including a description of the
effectiveness of such actions and any impediments to
the transfer or sale of mulifamily housing projects;
(6) a description of the extent to which the
demonstrations under this section have displaced
tenants of multifamily housing projects;
(7) a description of any of the functions performed
in connection with this section that are transferred or
contracted out to public or private entities or to
States;
(8) a description of the impact to which the
demonstrations under this section have affected the
localities and communities where the selected
multifamily housing projects are located; and
(9) a description of the extent to which the
demonstrations under this section have affected the
owners of multifamily housing projects.
SEC. 214. SECTION 8 CONTRACT RENEWALS.
(a) For fiscal year 1996 and henceforth, the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development may use amounts available for the
renewal of assistance under section 8 of the United States
Housing Act of 1937, upon termination or expiration of a
contract for assistance under section 8 of such Act of 1937
(other than a contract for tenant-based assistance and
notwithstanding section 8(v) of such Act for loan management
assistance), to provide assistance under section 8 of such Act,
subject to the Section 8 Existing Fair Market Rents, for the
eligible families assisted under the contracts at expiration or
temination, which assistance shall be in accordance with terms
and conditions prescribed by the Secretary.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) and except for
projects assisted under section 8(e)(2) of the United States
Housing Act of 1937 (as it existed immediately prior to October
1, 1991), at the request of the owner, the Secretary shall
renew for a period of one year contracts for assistance under
section 8 that expire or terminate during fiscal year 1996 at
the current rent levels.
(c) Section 8(v) of the United States Housing Act of 1937
is amended to read as follows:
``The Secretary may extend expiring contracts entered
into under this section for project-based loan management
assistance to the extent necessary to prevent displacement of
low-income families receiving such assistance as of September
30, 1996.''.
(d) Section 236(f) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C.
1715z-l(f)) is amended:
(1) by striking the second sentence in paragraph
(1) and inserting in lieu thereof the following: ``The
rental charge for each dwelling unit shall be at the
basic rental charge or such greater amount, not
exceeding the lower of (i) the fair market rental
charge determined pursuant to this paragraph, or (ii)
the fair market rental established under section 8(v)
of the United States Housing Act of 1937 for the market
area in which the housing is located, as represents 30
per centum of the tenant's adjusted income.''; and
(2) by striking paragraph (6).''.
SEC. 215. EXTENSION OF HOME EQUITY CONVERSION MORTGAGE PROGRAM.
Section 255(g) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C.
1715z-20(g)) is amended--
(1) in the first sentence, by striking ``September
30, 1995'' and inserting ``September 30, 1996''; and
(2) in the second sentence, by striking ``25,000''
and inserting ``30,000''.
SEC. 216. ASSESSMENT COLLECTION DATES FOR OFFICE OF FEDERAL HOUSING
ENTERPRISE OVERSIGHT.
Section 1316(b) of the Housing and Community Development
Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4516(b)) is amended by striking
paragraph (2) and inserting the following new paragraph:
``(2) Timing of payment.--The annual assessment
shall be payable semiannually for each fiscal year, on
October 1st and April 1st.''.
SEC. 217. MERGER LANGUAGE FOR ASSISTANCE FOR THE RENEWAL OF EXPIRING
SECTION 8 SUBSIDY CONTRACTS AND ANNUAL
CONTRIBUTIONS FOR ASSISTED HOUSING.
All remaining obligated and unobligated balances in the
Renewal of Expiring Section 8 Subsidy Contracts account on
September 30, 1995, shall immediately thereafter be transferred
to and merged with the obligated and unobligated balances,
respectively, of the Annual Contributions for Assisted Housing
account.
SEC. 218. DEBT FORGIVENESS.
(a) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall
cancel the indebtedness of the Hubbard Hospital Authority of
Hubbard, Texas, relating to the public facilities loan for
Project Number PFL-TEX-215, issued under title II of the
Housing Amendments of 1955. Such hospital authority is relieved
of all liability to the Government for the outstanding
principal balance on such loan, for the amount of accrued
interest on such loan, and for any fees and charges payable in
connection with such loan.
(b) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall
cancel the indebtedness of the Groveton Texas Hospital
Authority relating to the public facilities loan for Project
Number TEX-41-PFL0162, issued under title II of the Housing
Amendments of 1955. Such hospital authority is relieved of all
liability to the Government for the outstanding principal
balance on such loan, for the amount of accrued interest on
such loan, and for any fees and charges payable in connection
with such loan.
(c) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall
cancel the indebtedness of the Hepzibah Public Service District
of Hepzibah, West Virginia, relating to the public facilities
loan for Project Number WV-46-PFL0031, issued under title II of
the Housing Amendments of 1955. Such public service district is
relieved of all liability to the Government for the outstanding
principal balance on such loan, for the amount of accrued
interest on such loan, and for any fees and charges payable in
connection with such loan.
SEC. 219. CLARIFICATIONS.
For purposes of Federal law, the Paul Mirabile Center in
San Diego, California, including areas within such Center that
are devoted to the delivery of supportive services, has been
determined to satisfy the ``continuum of care'' requirements of
the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and shall be
treated as:
(a) consisting solely of residential units that (i)
contain sleeping accommodations and kitchen and bathroom
facilities, (ii) are located in a building that is used
exclusively to facilitate the transition of homeless
individuals (within the meaning of section 103 of the Stewart
B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302), as in
effect on December 19, 1989) to independent living within 24
months, (iii) are suitable for occupancy, with each cubicle
constituting a separate bedroom and residential unit, (iv) are
used on other than a transient basis, and (v) shall be
originally placed in service on November 1, 1995; and
(b) property that is entirely residential rental
property, namely, a project for residential rental property.
SEC. 220. EMPLOYMENT LIMITATIONS.
(a) By the end of fiscal year 1996 the Department of
Housing and Urban Development shall employ no more than seven
Assistant Secretaries, notwithstanding section 4(a) of the
Department of Housing and Urban Development Act.
(b) By the end of fiscal year 1996 the Department of
Housing and urban Development shall employ no more than 77
schedule C and 20 non-career senior executive service
employees.
SEC. 221. USE OF FUNDS.
(a) Of the $93,400,000 earmarked in Public Law 101-144
(103 Stat 850), as amended by Public Law 101-302 (104 Stat
237), for special projects and purposes, any amounts remaining
of the $500,000 made available to Bethlehem House in Highland,
California, for site planning and land acquisition shall
instead be made available to the County of San Bernardino in
California to assist with the expansion of the Los Padrinos
Gang Intervention Program and the Unity Home Domestic Violence
Shelter.
(b) The amount made available for fiscal year 1995 for
the removal of asbestos from an abandoned public school
building in Toledo, Ohio shall be made available for the
renovation and rehabilitation of an industrial building at the
University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio.
SEC. 222. LEAD-BASED PAINT ABATEMENT.
(a) Section 1011 of Title X--Residential lead-Based Paint
Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 is amended as follows: Strike
``priority housing'' wherever it appears in said section and
insert ``housing''.
(b) Section 1011(a) shall be amended as follows: At the
end of the subsection after the period, insert:
``Grants shall only be made under this section to provide
assistance for housing which meets the following criteria--
``(1) for grants made to assist rental housing, at
least 50 percent of the units must be occupied by or
made available to families with incomes at or below 50
percent of the area median income level and the
remaining units shall be occupied or made available to
families with incomes at or below 80 percent of the
area median income level, and in all cases the landlord
shall give priority in renting units assisted under
this section, for no less than 3 years following the
completion of lead abatement activities, to families
with a child under the age of six years--
``(A) except that buildings with five or
more units may have 20 percent of the units
occupied by families with incomes above 80
percent of area median income level;
``(2) for grants made to assist housing owned by
owner-occupants, all units assisted with grants under
this section shall be the principal residence of
families with incomes at or below 80 percent of the
area median income level, and not less than 90 percent
of the units assisted with grants under this section
shall be occupied by a child under age of six years or
shall be units where a child under the age of six years
spends a significant amount of time visiting; and
``(3) notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), round
II grantees who receive assistance under this section
may use such assistance for priority housing.''.
SEC. 223. EXTENSION PERIOD FOR SHARING UTILITY COST SAVINGS WITH PHAS.
Section 9(a)(3)(B)(i) of the United States Housing Act of
1937 is amended by striking ``for a period not to exceed 6
years''.
SEC. 223A. MORTGAGE NOTE SALES.
The first sentence of section 221(g)(4)(C)(viii) of the
National Housing Act is amended by striking ``September 30,
1995'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``September 30, 1996''.
SEC. 223B. REPEAL OF FROST-LELAND.
Section 415 of the Department of Housing and Urban
Development--Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1988
(Public Law 100-202; 101 Stat. 1329-213) is repealed.
SEC. 223C. FHA SINGLE-FAMILY ASSIGNMENT PROGRAM REFORM.
(a) Foreclosure Avoidance.--The last sentence of section
204(a) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1710(a)) is
amended by inserting before the period the following: ``: And
provided further, That the Secretary may pay insurance benefits
to the mortgagee to recompense the mortgagee for its actions to
provide an alternative to the foreclosure of a mortgage that is
in default, which actions may include special foreclosure, loan
modification, and deeds in lieu of foreclosure, all upon terms
and conditions as the mortgagee shall determine in the
mortgagee's sole discretion, within guidelines provided by the
Secretary, but which may not include assignment of a mortgage
to the Secretary: And provided further, That for purposes of
the preceding proviso, no action authorized by the Secretary
and no action taken, nor any failure to act, by the Secretary
or the mortgagee shall be subject to judicial review.''.
(b) Authority To Assist Mortgagors in Default.--Section
230 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715u) is amended to
read as follows:
``authority to assist mortgagors in default
``Sec. 230. (a) Payment of Partial Claim.--The Secretary
may establish a program for payment of a partial claim to a
mortgagee that agrees to apply the claim amount to payment of a
mortgage on a 1- to 4-family residence that is in default. Any
such payment under such program to the mortgagee shall be made
in the sole discretion of the Secretary and on terms and
conditions acceptable to the Secretary, except that--
``(1) the amount of the payment shall be in an
amount determined by the Secretary, not to exceed an
amount equivalent to 12 of the monthly mortgage
payments and any costs related to the default that are
approved by the Secretary; and
``(2) the mortgagor shall agree to repay the amount
of the insurance claim to the Secretary upon terms and
conditions acceptable to the Secretary.
The Secretary may pay the mortgagee, from the appropriate
insurance fund, in connection with any activities that the
mortgagee is required to undertake concerning repayment by the
mortgagor of the amount owed to the Secretary.
``(b) Assignment.--
``(1) Program authority.--The Secretary may
establish a program for assignment to the Secretary,
upon request of the mortgagee, of a mortgage on a 1- to
4-family residence insured under this Act.
``(2) Program requirements.--The Secretary may
accept assignment of a mortgage under a program under
this subsection only if--
``(A) the mortgage was in default;
``(B) the mortgagee has modified the
mortgage to cure the default and provide for
mortgage payments within the reasonable ability
of the mortgagor to pay, at interest rates not
to exceed current market interest rates; and
``(C) the Secretary arranges for servicing
of the assigned mortgage by a mortgagee (which
may include the assigning mortgagee) through
procedures that the Secretary has determined to
be in the best interests of the appropriate
insurance fund.
``(3) Payment of insurance benefits.--Upon
accepting assignment of a mortgage under a program
established under this subsection, the Secretary may
pay insurance benefits to the mortgagee from the
appropriate insurance fund, in an amount that the
Secretary determines to be appropriate, not to exceed
the amount necessary to compensate the mortgagee for
the assignment and any losses and expenses resulting
from the mortgage modification.
``(c) Prohibition of Judicial Review.--No decision by the
Secretary to exercise or forego exercising any authority under
this section shall be subject to judicial review.''.
(c) Savings Provision.--Any mortgage for which the
mortgagee has applied to the Secretary, before the date of
enactment of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing
and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations
Act, 1996, for assignment pursuant to subsection (b) of this
section as in effect before such date of enactment shall
continue to be governed by the provisions of such section, as
in effect immediately before such date of enactment.
(d) Applicability of Other Laws.--No provision of this
Act, or any other law, shall be construed to require the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide an
alternative to foreclosure for mortgagees with mortgages on 1-
to 4-family residences insured by the Secretary under the
National Housing Act, or to accept assignments of such
mortgages.
(e) Applicability of Amendments.--Except as provided in
subsection (d), the amendments made by subsections (a) and (b)
shall apply with respect to mortgages originated before fiscal
year 1996.
(f) Regulations.--Not later than 60 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development shall issue interim regulations to implement this
section and amendments made by this section.
(g) Effectiveness and Applicability.--If this Act is
enacted after the date of enactment of the Balanced Budget Act
of 1995--
(1) subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this
section shall not take effect; and
(2) section 2052(c) of the Balanced Budget Act of
1995 is amended by striking ``that are originated on or
after October 1, 1995'' and inserting in lieu thereof
``to mortgages originated before, during, and after
fiscal year 1996.''.
SEC. 223D. SPENDING LIMITATIONS.
(a) None of the funds in this Act may be used by the
Secretary to impose any sanction, or penalty because of the
enactment of any State or local law or regulation declaring
English as the official language.
(b) No part of any appropriation contained in this Act
shall be used for lobbying activities as prohibited by law.
SEC. 223E. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
All functions, activities and responsibilities of the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development relating to title
VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended by the Fair
Housing Amendments Act of 1988, and the Fair Housing Act,
including any rights guaranteed under the Fair Housing Act
(including any functions relating to the Fair Housing
Initiatives program under section 561 of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1987), are hereby transferred to
the Attorney General of the United States effective April 1,
1997: Provided, That none of the aforementioned authority or
responsibility for enforcement of the Fair Housing Act shall be
transferred to the Attorney General until adequate personnel
and resources allocated to such activity at the Department of
Housing and Urban Development are transferred to the Department
of Justice.
And the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 65:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 65, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter stricken and inserted by said
amendment, insert:
science and technology
For science and technology, including research and
development activities, which shall include research and
development activities under the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as
amended; necessary expenses for personnel and related costs and
travel expenses, including uniforms, or allowances therefore,
as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5901-5902; services as authorized by
5 U.S.C. 3109, but at rates for individuals not to exceed the
per diem rate equivalent to the rate for GS-18; procurement of
laboratory equipment and supplies; other operating expenses in
support of research and development; construction, alteration,
repair, rehabilitation and renovation of facilities, not to
exceed $75,000 per project; $525,000,000, which shall remain
available until September 30, 1997.
And the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 66:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 66, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter stricken and inserted by said
amendment, insert:
environmental programs and management
For environmental programs and management, including
necessary expenses, not otherwise provided for, for personnel
and related costs and travel expenses, including uniforms, or
allowances therefore, as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5901-5902;
services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109, but at rates for
individuals not to exceed the per diem rate equivalent to the
rate for GS-18; hire of passenger motor vehicles; hire,
maintenance, and operation of aircraft; purchase of reprints;
library memberships in societies or associations which issue
publications to members only or at a price to members lower
than to subscribers who are not members; construction,
alteration, repair, rehabilitation, and renovation of
facilities, not to exceed $75,000 per project; and not to
exceed $6,000 for official reception and representation
expenses; $1,550,300,000, which shall remain available until
September 30, 1997: Provided, That, notwithstanding any other
provision of law, for this fiscal year and hereafter, an
industrial discharger that is a pharmaceutical manufacturing
facility and discharged to the Kalamazoo Water Reclamation
Plant (an advanced wastewater treatment plant with activated
carbon) prior to the date of enactment of this Act may be
exempted from categorical pretreatment standards under section
307(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended,
if the following conditions are met: (1) the owner or operator
of the Kalamazoo Water Reclamation Plant applies to the State
of Michigan for an exemption for such industrial discharger,
(2) the State or Administrator, as applicable, approves such
exemption request based upon a determination that the Kalamazoo
Water Reclamation Plant will provide treatment and pollution
removal equivalent to or better than that which would be
required through a combination of pretreatment by such
industrial discharger and treatment by the Kalamazoo Water
Reclamation Plant in the absence of the exemption, and (3)
compliance with paragraph (2) is addressed by the provisions
and conditions of a permit issued to the Kalamazoo Water
Reclamation Plant under section 402 of such Act, and there
exists an operative financial contract between the City of
Kalamazoo and the industrial user and an approved local
pretreatment program, including a joint monitoring program and
local controls to prevent against interference and pass
through.
And the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 68:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 68, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$28,500,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 70:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 70, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter stricken and inserted by said
amendment, insert: consisting of $913,400,000 as authorized by
section 517(a) of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization
Act of 1986 (SARA), as amended by Public Law 101-508, and
$250,000,000 as a payment from general revenues to the
Hazardous Substance Superfund as authorized by section 517(b)
of SARA, as amended by Public Law 101-508
On page 61, line 1, of the House engrossed bill, H.R.
2099, delete ``$1,003,400,000'' and insert ``$1,163,400,000'';
and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 71:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 71, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$11,000,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 72:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 72, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$59,000,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 74:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 74, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter proposed by said amendment, insert:
: Provided further, That none of the funds made available under
this heading may be used by the Environmental Protection Agency
to propose for listing or to list any additional facilities on
the National Priorities List established by section 105 of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and
Liability Act (CERCLA), as amended (42 U.S.C. 9605), unless the
Administrator receives a written request to propose for listing
or to list a facility from the Governor of the State in which
the facility is located, or unless legislation to reauthorize
CERCLA is enacted; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 76:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 76, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$7,000,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 77:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 77, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$500,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 80:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 80, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter stricken and inserted by said
amendment, insert:
state and tribal assistance grants
For environmental programs and infrastructure assistance,
including capitalization grants for state revolving funds and
performance partnership grants, $2,323,000,000, to remain
available unit expended, of which $1,400,000,000 shall be for
making capitalization grants for State revolving funds to
support water infrastructure financing; $100,000,000 for
architectural, engineering, design, construction and related
activities in connection with the construction of high priority
water and wastewater facilities in the area of the United
States-Mexico Border, after consultation with the appropriate
border commission; $50,000,000 for grants to the State of
Texas, which shall be matched by an equal amount of State funds
from State resources, for the purpose of improving wastewater
treatment for colonias; $15,000,000 for grants to the State of
Alaska, subject to an appropriate cost share as determined by
the Administrator, to address wastewater infrastructure needs
of rural and Alaska Native villages; and $100,000,000 for
making grants for the construction of wastewater treatment
facilities and the development of groundwater in accordance
with the terms and conditions specified for such grants in the
conference report accompanying the Act (H.R. 2099): Provided,
That beginning in fiscal year 1996 and each fiscal year
thereafter, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Administrator is authorized to make grants annually from funds
appropriated under this heading, subject to such terms and
conditions as the Administrator shall establish, to any State
or federally recognized Indian tribe for multimedia or single
media pollution prevention, control and abatement and related
environmental activities at the request of the Governor or
other appropriate State official or the tribe: Provided
further, That from funds appropriated under this heading, the
Administrator may make grants to federally recognized Indian
governments for the development of multimedia environmental
programs: Provided further, That of the $1,400,000,000 for
capitalization grants for State revolving funds to support
water infrastructure financing, $275,000,000 shall be for
drinking water State revolving funds, but if no drinking water
State revolving fund legislation is enacted by June 1, 1996,
these funds shall immediately be available for making
capitalization grants under title VI of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act, as amended: Provided further, That of
the funds made available in Public Law 103-327 and in Public
Law 103-124 for capitalization grants for State revolving funds
to support water infrastructure financing, $225,000,000 shall
be made available for capitalization grants for State revolving
funds under title VI of the Federal Water Pollution Control
Act, as amended, if no drinking water State revolving fund
legislation is enacted by June 1, 1996: Provided further, That
of the funds made available under this heading for
capitalization grants for State Revolving Funds under title VI
of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended,
$50,000,000 shall be for wastewater treatment in impoverished
communities pursuant to section 102(d) of H.R. 961 as approved
by the United States House of Representatives on May 16, 1995:
Provided further, That of the funds appropriated in the
Construction Grants and Water Infrastructure/State Revolving
Funds accounts since the appropriation for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 1992, and hereafter, for making grants for
wastewater treatment works construction projects, portions may
be provided by the recipients to States for managing
construction grant activities, on condition that the States
agree to reimburse the recipients from State funding sources:
Provided further, That the funds made available in Public Law
103-327 for a grant to the City of Mt. Arlington, New Jersey,
in accordance with House Report 103-715, shall be available for
a grant to that city for water and sewer improvements.
And the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 81:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 81, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter proposed by said amendment, insert:
Administrative Provisions
And the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 83:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 83, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter proposed by said amendment, insert:
Sec. 301. None of the funds provided in this Act may be
used within the Environmental Protection Agency for any final
action by the Administrator or her delegate for signing and
publishing for promulgation of a rule concerning any new
standard for radon in drinking water.
And the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 94:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 94, and agree to the same with
an amendment, as follows:
Restore the matter stricken by said amendment, amended as
follows:
In lieu of the sum named in the matter restored, insert:
$222,000,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 102:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 102, and agree to the same
with an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$5,456,600,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 104:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 104, and agree to the same
with an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$5,845,900,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 105:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 105; and agree to the same
with an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$2,502,200,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 109:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 109, and agree to the same
with an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the matter proposed by said amendment, insert:
Upon the determination by the Administrator that such
action is necessary, the Administrator may, with the approval
of the Office of Management and Budget, transfer not to exceed
$50,000,000 of funds made available in this Act to the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration between such
appropriations or any subdivision thereof, to be merged with
and to be available for the same purposes, and for the same
time period, as the appropriation to which transferred:
Provided, That such authority to transfer may not be used
unless for higher priority items, based on unforeseen
requirements, than those for which originally appropriated:
Provided further, That the Administrator of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration shall notify the Congress
promptly of all transfers made pursuant to this authority.
And the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 110:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 110, and agree to the same
with an amendment, as follows:
In lieu of the sum proposed by said amendment, insert:
$2,274,000,000; and the Senate agree to the same.
Amendment numbered 114:
That the House recede from its disagreement to the
amendment of the Senate numbered 114, and agree to the same
with an amendment, as follows:
Restore the matter stricken by said amendment, amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 519. In fiscal year 1996, the Director of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency shall sell the disaster
housing inventory of mobile homes and trailers, and the
proceeds thereof shall be deposited in the Treasury.
And the Senate agree to the same.
The committee of conference report in disagreement
amendment numbered 63.
Jerry Lewis,
Tom DeLay,
Barbara F. Vucanovich,
James T. Walsh,
Dave Hobson,
Joe Knollenberg,
Ron Frelinghuysen,
Mark W. Neumann,
Bob Livingston,
Managers on the Part of the House.
Christopher S. Bond,
Conrad Burns,
Ted Stevens,
Richard Shelby,
Robert F. Bennett,
Ben Nighthorse Campbell,
Mark O. Hatfield,
Barbara A. Mikulski,
Patrick Leahy,
J. Bennett Johnston,
Bob Kerrey,
Robert C. Byrd,
Managers on the Part of the Senate.
JOINT EXPLANATORY STATEMENT OF THE COMMITTEE OF CONFERENCE
The managers on the part of the House and the Senate at
the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on
the amendments of the Senate to the bill (H.R. 2099) making
appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs and
Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry independent
agencies, commissions, corporations, and offices for the fiscal
year ending September 30, 1996, and for other purposes, submit
the following joint statement to the House and the Senate in
explanation of the effect of the action agreed upon by the
managers and recommended in the accompanying conference report:
TITLE I--DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
veterans benefits administration
Amendment No. 1: Earmarks not to exceed $25,180,000 of
compensation and pensions funds for payments to the general
operating expenses and medical care appropriations to implement
savings provisions of authorizing legislation as proposed by
the House, instead of $27,431,000 as proposed by the Senate.
The additional administrative funds are not required as the
limitation on compensation payments to certain incompetent
veterans is deleted.
Amendment No. 2: Appropriates $1,345,300,000 for
readjustment benefits as proposed by the House, instead of
$1,352,180,000 as proposed by the Senate.
Amendment No. 3: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
earmarking $6,880,000 of the readjustment benefits
appropriation for funding costs of the Service Members
Occupational Conservation and Training Program. The conferees
note that language is included under the general operating
expenses appropriation permitting the payment of administrative
costs for the Service Members Occupational Conversion and
Training Act in fiscal year 1996.
veterans health administration
Amendment No. 4: Appropriates $16,564,000,000 for medical
care, instead of $16,777,474,000 as proposed by the House and
$16,450,000,000 as proposed by the Senate.
The conferees note that the amount provided for medical
care represents an increase of approximately $400,000,000 above
the fiscal year 1995 level--and is the only appropriation in
the bill with such a significant increase. While not the full
amount requested, the increase provided will enable the
Department to provide quality care to all veterans currently
being served by the VA medical system. The conferees continue
to be concerned about the Secretary's refusal to adopt systemic
reforms and administrative improvements which would result in
significant budgetary savings, without in any way compromising
patient care. The Inspector General, the General Accounting
Office, the Congressional Budget Office, and the service
organizations have suggested changes which, if implemented,
would yield hundreds of millions of dollars in administrative
savings. As part of the operating plan,the Secretary is to
submit a plan to implement the improvements identified by these
organizations and any other reforms which would result in
administrative savings totaling a minimum of $400,000,000 for
fiscal year 1996.
The conference agreement includes funding for the
following:
+$500,000 for a Low Vision Center in Ophthalmology at the
East Orange VA Medical Center.
+$500,000 for a geriatric patient care program at the
Lyons VA Medical Center.
+$396,000 to provide outpatient care at the Grafton
Development Center in Grafton, North Dakota.
+$300,000 to provide outpatient care in Williamsport,
Pennsylvania.
+$1,500,000 to expand existing community-based outpatient
clinics in Wood County and Tucker County, West Virginia.
+$1,600,000 to establish a primary care clinic in
Liberal, Kansas.
The conference committee is aware of the difficulty in
staffing several VA facilities in the southwest, particularly
in El Paso, Texas. This situation is compounded by budgetary
constraints the VA faces in allocating FTEE's among its
facilities. The conferees urge that the VA, through the
veterans integrated service networks, engage in intra-VISN FTEE
transfers during the fiscal year for purposes of staffing as
warranted by changing circumstances in VA medical facilities.
The conferees also urge the Department to review the staffing
situation in El Paso and to move personnel as necessary to meet
the new service demands that will exist if veterans are not
required to travel to other VA facilities for treatment.
The conferees commend the Department for its
participation in an advanced coal technology project at the
Lebanon, Pennsylvania VA Medical Center in which a fluidized
bed boiler will co-fire coal and medical wastes to provide
steam for the hospital. Given the potential cost savings for
energy and hospital waste disposal, the conferees direct the
Department to study the potential for using this technology at
other VA facilities.
The conference committee strongly urges VA to develop a
center to coordinate academic training programs for physical
therapists at the Brooklyn VA hospital. The conferees are aware
there is a shortage of physical therapists nationwide. A
training center would provide the opportunity for students to
complete research projects in physical therapy and
rehabilitation. In view of the critical shortage of clinical
training sites in the New York City area, the Brooklyn VA would
provide an excellent location for such a training program.
The conferees note with considerable interest that the VA
has used laser-imaging, non-silver, dry-medium technology to
provide high resolution hard copy images for X-ray examinations
in various hospitals around the country. This type of system
produces faster diagnosis, with attendant cost savings, and is
environmentally safe. Accordingly, the conferees strongly
encourage the VA to expand the use of this type of technology
in all of its facilities.
The VA plans to expand access to outpatient care. These
access points are being considered in more than 180 locations.
The conferees are concerned with associated policy, legal, and
budgetary issues and expect the VA to address these matters
before proceeding with such expansion plans.
The conferees understand that the Department expends
approximately $212,000,000 annually on utility costs.
Opportunities for creative private sector funding of energy
efficiency programs exist through procurements sanctioned by
the Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program.
The VA is encouraged to explore such opportunities, and, where
appropriate, to take advantage of them.
Questions have been raised concerning the expansion of
the Los Angeles National Cemetery by utilizing open space at
the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. The conferees direct
that no property disposal, leasing action or capital
improvements be taken that would jeopardize the Government's
title to any land at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center
until all options have been reviewed by the VA and the
Congress.
The VA is encouraged to create outpatient clinics,
especially to help veterans in rural areas. Specifically, the
conferees encourage the establishment of outpatient clinics in
Lynn, Massachusetts and Gainesville, Georgia. The VA also is
strongly encouraged to establish an orthopedic clinic at the
Muskogee VA Medical Center. Such a clinic should be staffed by
an orthopedist at least three days a week.
Amendent No. 5: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
enabling the VA to treat veterans eligible for hospital care or
medical services in the most efficient manner. In deleting this
language, the conferees wish to make clear that they support
budget neutral eligibility reform. Current eligibility
requirements for VA medical care are in need of simplification
and reform. Such legislation will, within any given dollar
amount, permit the medical treatment of a greater number of
veterans on an outpatient basis, as compared to the current
approach which emphasizes inpatient treatment.
Amendment No. 6: Appropriates $257,000,000 for medical
and prosthetic research as proposed by the Senate, instead of
$251,743,000 as proposed by the House. The conferees agree that
the recommended amount includes $1,250,000 to establish an
Office of Veterans Affairs Technology Transfer Center.
Amendment No. 7: Deletes language proposed by the House
and stricken by the Senate appropriating $10,386,000 for the
health professional scholarship program.
departmental administration
Amendment No. 8: Appropriates $848,143,000 for general
operating expenses, instead of $821,487,000 as proposed by the
House and $872,000,000 as proposed by the Senate. Language has
been inserted to limit funding for General Administration
activities, and the number of schedule C and non-career senior
executive service positions. Language is also inserted to
permit up to $6,000,000 of the appropriation to be used for
administrative expenses of the housing loan guaranty programs.
The conference agreement includes the following changes
from the budget estimate:
-$32,000,000 in the Veterans Benefits
Administration as an offset to legislation carried in
the VA administrative provisions which permits excess
revenues in three insurance funds to be used for
administrative expenses.
-$25,500,000 in the Veterans Benefits
Administration as an offset to the provision carried
under this heading permitting the $25,500,000 earmarked
in the 1995 Appropriations Act for VBA's modernization
program to be available for the general purposes of the
account.
-$7,423,000 (as a minimum) to be taken from the
$221,532,000 appropriation requested for General
Administration activities. This will permit not to
exceed $214,109,000, the 1995 level, for such
activities. The conferees intend that to the maximum
extent possible all reductions in General
Administration and Veterans Benefits Administration be
taken from central office activities.
-$2,577,000 as a general reduction in Veterans
Benefits Administration activities, subject to normal
reprogramming procedures. To continue improving the
timeliness of claims, the conferees do not intend that
any reduction in funding be applied to the
compensation, pensions, and education program. The
conferees further intend that VBA will utilize
$1,000,000 for a study by the National Academy of
Public Administration of the claims processing system.
The conferees agree that the NAPA report should build
upon and not duplicate any previous or ongoing
evaluations of the Veterans Benefits Administration.
NAPA is to coordinate with those entities which have
conducted evaluations in the past and provide to the
Department and the appropriate Committees of Congress a
detailed and specific implementation plan for the
recommendations it makes.
Language is included to limit to not to exceed
$214,109,000 for General Administration costs, including not to
exceed $2,450,000 for salaries and $50,000 for travel costs of
the Office of the Secretary; $4,392,000 for salaries and
$75,000 for travel costs of the Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Policy and Planning; $1,980,000 for salaries and
$33,000 for travel costs of the Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Congressional Affairs; and $3,500,000 for
salaries and $100,000 for travel costs of the Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs.
The balance of the savings is to be taken at the discretion of
the VA, subject to normal reprogramming procedures, from funds
requested for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Human
Resources and Administration, the Office of General Counsel,
and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and
Facilities.
Language has also been included that would limit the
number of schedule C employees to 11 and the number of non-
career senior executive service positions to 6 in fiscal year
1996.
Language has also been included to permit up to
$6,000,000 of general operating expenses funds to be used for
administrative expenses of the loan guaranty and insured loans
programs. The VA has requested this provision so as to avoid
furloughs.
Amendment No. 9: Appropriates $136,155,000 for
construction, major projects, instead of $183,455,000 as
proposed by the House and $35,785,000 as proposed by the
Senate.
The conference agreement includes the following changes
from the budget estimate:
-$146,900,000 from the $154,700,000 requested for
the new medical center and nursing home project in
Brevard County, Florida. The balance of the request,
$7,800,000, together with $17,200,000 appropriated in
1995, will provide $25,000,000 for the design and
construction of a comprehensive medical outpatient
clinic in Brevard County, Florida. The conferees expect
the VA to commence construction of this project as soon
as possible.
-$163,500,000 from the $188,500,000 requested for
the VA/Air Force joint venture at Travis Air Force Base
in Fairfield, California. The balance of the request,
$25,000,000, is for the design and construction of an
outpatient clinic project at Travis Air Force Base. The
conferees recognize that the VA's preliminary cost
estimate for this project is $39,500,000. The VA should
evaluate the needs of the veterans in the area for
outpatient services and report such findings to the
Committees on Appropriations.
+$1,000,000 for design of a new national cemetery
in the Albany, New York area.
+$5,000,000 for design of an ambulatory care
addition, patient privacy and environmental
improvements project at the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
VA Medical Center.
+$4,000,000 for the relocation of medical school
functions at the Mountain Home, Tennessee VA Medical
Center.
+$1,500,000 for design of an ambulatory care
addition project at the Asheville, North Carolina VA
Medical Center.
+$1,400,000 for design of a new national cemetery
in the Joliet, Illinois area.
-$9,000,000 for renovation of nursing units at the
Lebanon, Pennsylvania VA Medical Center.
-$11,500,000 for environmental improvements at the
Marion, Illinois VA Medical Center.
-$17,300,000 for replacement of psychiatric beds at
the Marion, Indiana VA Medical Center.
-$15,100,000 for renovation of psychiatric wards at
the Perry Point, Maryland VA Medical Center.
-$17,200,000 for environmental enhancements at the
Salisbury, North Carolina VA Medical Center.
-$10,000,000 from the $17,500,000 requested for the
advance planning fund.
The conferees have approved major construction funding
only for those projects which do not require further
authorization. While many of the projects requested in the
budget are meritorious, without an authorization no funding can
be obligated. The Department should utilize minor construction
funds to meet life safety or code deficiencies and to ensure
compliance with Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations criteria.
The conferees believe that the Department must assemble a
long-term plan for its infrastructure and construction needs,
taking into consideration an increasingly constrained budgetary
environment, a decline in the veteran population, shifting
demographics, the need to provide more equitable access to
veterans medical care systemwide, changes in health care
delivery methods, and any policy changes the VA adopts with
respect to access points. It is expected that the fiscal year
1997 budget request for major construction funding will be
predicated on an analysis incorporating all such variables.
Amendment No. 10: Appropriates $190,000,000 for
construction, minor projects, as proposed by the Senate,
instead of $152,934,000 as proposed by the House. The conferees
agree that this appropriation account should be used to meet
any critical requirements, such as safety and fire code
deficiencies, at facilities which were denied major
construction funding in 1996.
administrative provisions
Amendment No. 11: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
authorizing the VA to convey property to the Federal Highway
Administration which is necessary for the modernization of U.S.
Highway 54 in Wichita, Kansas.
Amendment No. 12: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
authorizing the VA to use supply fund resources for an
acquisition computer network.
Amendment No. 13: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
regarding access to VA medical care for veterans in Hawaii, and
deletes language in the administrative provisions which would
limit compensation payments to certain incompetent veterans.
In deleting the Senate language, the conferees wish to
make clear their concern that veterans in the State of Hawaii
do not have access to veterans medical care comparable to that
of veterans in the forty-eight contiguous states. Through
sharing arrangements with the Tripler Army hospital and
community facilities, and existing VA outpatient clinics, the
Department is to ensure adequate and equitable access to care
for Hawaii's veterans. Furthermore, VA should provide care
within the State whenever possible rather than transferring
patients to the West Coast for acute care services, which is
extremely inconvenient for veterans and their families.
The conferees have agreed to delete language carried in
sec. 107 of the VA's administrative provisions limiting
compensation payments to certain incompetent veterans.
Amendment No. 14: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
requiring the Secretary to develop a plan for the allocation of
VA health care resources to remedy discrepancies in the
allocation of funds to VA facilities across the country.
The conferees are concerned that VA's allocation of
resources has not resulted in equal access to health care
services for veterans nationally. Despite implementation of the
resource planning and management system several years ago, VA
has not shifted resources sufficiently to meet changing demand.
The conferees recognize the Veterans Health
Administration recently reorganized into veterans integrated
service networks and expect that the reorganization will result
in a more equitable allocation of resources nationally. To
ensure that this occurs, the conferees direct the Department to
develop a plan to allocate resources in a manner that will
result in equal access to medical care for veterans and will
take into account projected changes in the workload of each
facility. The plan should reflect the RPM system to account for
forecasts in expected workload and should recognize facilities
that provide cost-effective health care. The plan shall include
procedures to identify reasons for variations in operating
costs among similar facilities and ways to improve the
allocation of resources so as to promote efficient use of
resources and provision of high quality care.
Amendment No. 15: Inserts language permitting the
transfer of not to exceed $4,500,000 of 1996 medical care funds
to the medical and administration and miscellaneous operating
expenses account, instead of $5,700,00 as proposed by the
Senate.
The conference agreement includes permissive transfer
authority of up to $4,500,000 from the medical care account to
the MAMOE account to help alleviate possible furloughs. The
conferees wish to make clear, however, that any transfer is to
occur only through the normal reprogramming procedures. It is
expected that the central office medical staffing funded
through this account will reduced to 600 by the end of the
fiscal year 1996.
TITLE II--DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
housing programs
Amendment No. 16: Appropriates $10,155,795,000 for annual
contributions for assisted housing, instead of $10,182,359,000
as proposed by the House and $5,594,358,000 as proposed by the
Senate. The conferees expect the Department and the Office of
Management and Budget to adhere to the 1996 program detailed in
the following table:
ANNUAL CONTRIBUTIONS FOR ASSISTED HOUSING FISCAL YEAR 1996--GROSS RESERVATIONS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Units Cost Term Budget authority
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New authority.............................................. NA NA NA $10,155,795,000
New spending:
Public housing modernization........................... NA NA NA 2,500,000,000
Indian housing......................................... 1,603 $99,800 NA 160,000,000
Section 202 elderly.................................... 9,654 [NA] [NA] 780,190,000
Section 811 disabled................................... 2,915 [NA] [NA] 233,168,000
HOPWA.................................................. 6,400 [NA] [NA] 171,000,000
Section 8 replacement assistance....................... 35,398 $5,650 2 400,000,000
[Witness relocation]................................... NA NA NA [2,500,000]
Preservation........................................... NA NA NA 624,000,000
Property disposition................................... NA NA NA 261,000,000
Lead-based paint....................................... NA NA NA 65,000,000
Family self-sufficiency................................ NA NA NA ..................
Section 8 contract renewals............................ 435,028 $5,680 \1\ 2 4,350,862,000
Section 8 amendments................................... NA NA NA 610,575,000
----------------------------------------------------
Total................................................ 490,998 NA NA 10,155,795,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Loan management set-asides are renewed for one year.
Including these funding levels, the House and Senate
agree to the resolution of the following issues:
Deletes language proposed by the House and stricken
by the Senate to establish an outlay cap of
$19,939,311,000 for the annual contributions for
assisted housing account.
Provides $160,000,000 for Indian housing
development, instead of $100,000,000 as proposed by the
House and $200,000,000 as proposed by the Senate.
Provides $2,500,000,000 for public housing
modernization as proposed by the House, instead of
$2,510,000,000 as proposed by the Senate.
Deletes language proposed by the House and stricken
by the Senate to provide the Secretary authority to
direct any housing authority that receives
modernization funds under this Act, or has yet to
obligate rehabilitation funds from prior year
appropriations Acts, to demolish, reconfigure, or
reduce the density of any public housing project owned
by the housing authority.
Deletes language proposed by the House and stricken
by the Senate to provide $15,000,000 for the tenant
opportunity program as a setaside from the public
housing modernization program. Funding for this
activity is provided as a separate setaside under the
community development block grant program.
Inserts language proposed by the Senate to set
aside funds from the public housing modernization
program for technical assistance, but at a modified
funding level of $20,000,000, instead of $30,000,000 as
proposed.
Provides $400,000,000 for section 8 rental
assistance, instead of $862,000,000 as proposed by the
House and $240,000,000 as proposed by the Senate.
Inserts language proposed by the Senate to provide
such section 8 rental assistance under only certain
circumstances, including new language to allow funds to
be used for witness relocation assistance in
conjunction with the safe home initiative.
Restores language proposed by the House and
stricken by the Senate to allow such section 8 rental
assistance to be used in connection with subsequent
authorizing legislation.
Deletes appropriations language establishing a
special needs housing fund for multiple purposes as
proposed by the House.
Provides $780,190,000 for section 202 elderly
housing as proposed by the Senate, instead of an
unspecified earmark as proposed by the House under the
special needs housing appropriation. Such funding will
assist 9,654 elderly households, the same number as
provided for in fiscal year 1995.
Provides $233,168,000 for section 811 disabled
housing as proposed by the Senate, instead of an
unspecified earmark as proposed by the House under the
special needs housing appropriation. Such funding will
assist at least 2,915 disabled households, the number
as provided for in fiscal year 1995. This figure is
likely to be higher because language is added
permitting the Secretary to use up to 25 percent of the
funds provided to be used for section 8 vouchers to
serve the same population. Such assistance must have a
contract term of five years.
Provides $171,000,000 for the housing opportunities
for persons with AIDS program, instead of an
unspecified earmark as proposed by the House under the
special needs housing appropriation. Such funding will
assist 6,400 households and matches the amount of
funding provided for in fiscal year 1995.
Inserts language proposed by the House and agreed
to by the Senate to allow the Secretary to waive any
provision of the section 202 and 811 programs,
including the terms and conditions of project rental
assistance.
Deletes language proposed by the House and stricken
by the Senate to allow the Secretary to use up to
$200,000,000 of unobligated carryover balances of the
annual contributions for assisted housing account to
implement preservation legislation enacted subsequent
to this Act.
Provides $624,000,000 for the Emergency Low Income
Preservation Act of 1987, as amended, and the Low
Income Housing Preservation and Resident Homeownership
Act of 1990, as amended. Until July 1, 1996, such
funding will be limited to sales of projects to non-
profit organizations, tenant-sponsored organizations,
and other priority purchasers. Up to $10,000,000 of
this amount will be available for preservation
technical assistance grants pursuant to section 253 of
the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, as
amended. With respect to funds remaining available
after July 1, 1996, the Secretary may determine
priorities for distributing such funds, including
giving priority to tenants displaced due to mortgage
prepayment and to projects that have not yet been
funded but which have approved plans of action, if the
Secretary determines that demand for funding exceeds
amounts remaining. In addition, the Secretary may
impose a temporary moratorium on applications by
potential recipients of such funding.
The legislation also provides owners the opportunity to
prepay their mortgages or request voluntary termination of a
mortgage insurance contract, as long as the owner agrees not to
increase rents for 60 days after such prepayment. This
condition is necessary in order to allow HUD time to make
available rental assistance for eligible families who desire to
stay or move.
As a condition of eligibility for preservation funds
under this Act, the legislation establishes a threshold of the
lesser of $5,000 per unit, $500,000 per project, or eight times
the local fair market rent for each unit in preservation
equity. This is intended to direct federal resources at those
projects with the greatest likelihood of prepayment.
The Secretary also may modify the regulatory agreement to
permit owners and priority purchasers to retain rental income
in excess of the basic rental charge in projects assisted under
section 236. In addition, the Secretary may give priority to
funding obligated not later than August 1, 1996 for the
following purposes: (1) projects with approved plans of action
to retain the housing that file a modified plan of action not
later than July 1, 1996 to transfer the housing; (2) projects
with approved plans of action that are subject to a repayment
or settlement agreement that was executed between the owner and
the Secretary prior to September 1, 1995; (3) projects for
which submissions were delayed as a result of their location in
areas that were designated as a federal disaster area in a
Presidential Disaster Declaration; and (4) projects that have
submitted an appraisal to the New York State office.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, subject to
the availability of appropriated funds, each unassisted low-
income family residing in the housing on the date of
prepayment, and whose rent, as a result of prepayment exceeds
30 percent of adjusted income, shall be offered tenant-based
assistance in accordance with section 8 or any successor
program, under which the family shall pay rent not less than
that rent paid on such date. Any eligible family receiving such
tenant-based assistance may elect to remain in the housing and
if the rent is in excess of the fair market rent or payment
standard, as applicable, the rent shall be deemed the
applicable standard, so long as the administering public
housing agency deems that the rent is reasonable in comparison
to rents charged for comparable unassisted housing units in the
market. In instances where eligible families move with such
assistance to other private rental housing, the rent will be
subject to the fair market rent or the payment standard, as
applicable, under existing rules and procedures.
The resources provided by conferees under this Act for
the preservation program ought not to be considered another
payment in a long list of federal preservation program
payments, but as the last payment for addressing preservation
in this manner. Included in this section is a provision to
effectively terminate the preservation program after October 1,
1996. Unless this program is substantially reformed, Congress
will appropriate only rental assistance for eligible residents
of projects where owners have decided to prepay. Such
assistance will allow residents to stay in the same housing at
the same cost or move to other private housing.
Provides $65,000,000 for lead-based paint
activities, including abatement grants, instead of
$10,000,000 as proposed by the House and $75,000,000 as
proposed by the Senate.
Deletes $17,300,000 for family self-sufficiency
coordinators as proposed by the House and stricken by
the Senate. Such activities are eligible under the
public and assisted housing services setaside under the
community development block grant program.
Provides $4,350,862,000 for the renewal of expiring
section 8 contracts, instead of $4,641,589,000 as
proposed by the House. The Senate had proposed
$4,350,862,000 for section 8 contract renewals under a
separate appropriations heading.
Restores language proposed by the House and
stricken by the Senate to merge funds provided for
section 8 contract renewals with annual contributions
for assisted housing.
The following table identifies expected section 8
contract renewal costs for fiscal year 1996:
SECTION 8--RENEWAL OF EXPIRING CONTRACTS
[Dollars in thousands]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1996 Budget
Units authority
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Certificates.................................. 241,206 $2,993,597
Vouchers...................................... 58,798 729,739
LMSA.......................................... 120,587 475,354
Property Disposition.......................... 4,464 35,194
Moderate Rehabilitation....................... 8,016 99,486
New Construction/Substantial Rehabilitation... 1,957 17,492
-------------------------
Total................................... 435,028 4,350,862
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Totals may not add due to rounding.
Restores language proposed by the House and
stricken by the Senate to allow the use of section 8
contract renewal funds with subsequently enacted
legislation.
Inserts language to allow the Secretary to renew
housing vouchers without regard to section 8(o)(6)(B)
of the Housing Act of 1937, a provision requiring HUD
to budget an additional 10 percent to cover long-term
inflation adjustments for housing vouchers. The Senate
had proposed identical language under its separate
heading for section 8 contract renewals.
Provides $610,575,000 for section 8 contract
amendments as proposed by the House, instead of
$500,000,000 as proposed by the Senate.
Provides $261,000,000 for property disposition as
proposed by the Senate, instead of no funding as
proposed by the House.
Inserts language proposed by the Senate to allow
the Secretary to manage and dispose of multifamily
properties owned by HUD and multifamily mortgages held
by HUD without regard to any other provision of law.
Inserts language proposed by the Senate to allow
state housing finance agencies, local governments, or
local housing agencies to keep 50 percent of the
savings from refinancing housing projects, as specified
under section 1012(a) of the Stewart B. McKinney
Homeless Assistance Act of 1988. The other 50 percent
of budget authority savings shall be rescinded, or in
the case of cash, remitted to the U.S. Treasury.
Provides $280,000,000 for the public housing
demolition, site revitalization, and replacement
housing grants program. The Senate proposed
$500,000,000 for this activity and the House nothing.
Inserts language identifying eligible uses of these
funds, as proposed by the Senate. Conferees agree funds
are needed to assist housing authorities in the
demolition of obsolete public housing. However, the
conferees are concerned about the Department's use of
waiver authority under the Department's total
development cost (TDC) controls. Upon waiving such
controls, the conferees direct the Department to notify
the appropriate committees of Congress.
Deletes separate appropriation for the assistance
for the renewal of expiring section 8 subsidy contracts
as proposed by the Senate and all other language under
this heading.
Amendment No. 17: Appropriates $2,800,000,000 for
payments for the operation of public housing projects as
proposed by the Senate, instead of $2,500,000,000 as proposed
by the House.
The conferees are concerned that the funding formula
applied to Puerto Rico, which has always been excluded from the
Performance Funding System (PFS) under the operating expense
subsidy program of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, may have led
to the inequitable treatment for Puerto Rico as compared to the
states, and even other non-PFS territories. Consistent with
overall objectives of streamlining programs and funding,
allowable expense levels (AELs) should be fairly and
effectively allocated among all jurisdictions, both inside and
outside the PFS system. The conferees encourage HUD to study
the AEL formula for Puerto Rico to determine if it accurately
reflects the actual costs to operate decent and affordable
assisted housing in Puerto Rico.
Amendment No. 18: Appropriates $290,000,000 for Drug
Elimination Grants for Low-Income Housing as proposed by the
Senate, instead of the proposed consolidation of these
functions into the public housing modernization program as
proposed by the House. Of this amount, the conferees earmark
$10,000,000 for technical assistance grants and $2,500,000 for
the Safe Home initiative. In addition, the conferees agree to
language in the Senate bill that would redefine ``drug-related
crime'' as determined by the HUD Secretary.
In order to defer to the committees of jurisdiction, the
conferees delete language proposed by the Senate to allow the
Secretary to distribute Drug Elimination Grants funds through a
formula allocation.
Amendment No. 19: Deletes language proposed by the House
and stricken by the Senate to provide $12,000,000 for housing
counseling under a separate appropriations heading. Instead,
$12,000,000 is provided for identical housing counseling
activities as an earmark under the Community Development Block
Grants program.
Amendment No. 20: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
on describing how homeless assistance funds will be
distributed, including language permitting the Secretary to
distribute homeless funds under a formula allocation.
Amendment No. 21: Inserts technical correction to the
language as proposed by the Senate.
Amendment No. 22: Deletes language proposed by the House
and stricken by the Senate to make eligible the Innovative
Homeless Initiatives Demonstration program under Homeless
Assistance Grants. The authorization for this initiative
terminated the demonstration as of September 30, 1995.
Amendment No. 23: Appropriates $823,000,000 for Homeless
Assistance Grants, instead of $676,000,000 as proposed by the
House and $760,000,000 as proposed by the Senate. This amount
is equivalent to a funding freeze for homeless programs instead
of a reduction. In fiscal year 1994, the appropriations for HUD
homeless programs totaled $823,000,000. In fiscal year 1995,
Public Law 104-19 deferred the availability of $297,000,000 of
the original appropriations of $1,120,000,000 until September
30, 1995, effectively reducing the fiscal year 1995 program
level to $823,000,000.
The conferees remain concerned that HUD homeless programs
put too much emphasis on short-term solutions instead of long-
term comprehensive strategies. To the maximum extent
practicable, the conferees direct the Department to allocate
homeless assistance grants under the Shelter Plus Care program
which requires a dollar-for-dollar match of services for HUD
housing assistance. Homeless assistance of nearly
$1,000,000,000 is small compared to the $12,000,000,000 of
federal service dollars that serve much of this same
population. Homeless studies, such as the 1990 Annual Report of
the Interagency Council on the Homeless, show that housing in
combination with appropriate services is the most effective way
of permanently reducing homelessness. The conferees recognize
that a one-size-fits-all approach does not recognize the
diversity among communities and the diverse needs of the
homeless population.
Amendment No. 24: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
to allow Homeless Assistance Grants to be distributed by
formula in fiscal year 1996. The conferees defer to the
authorizing committees to determine an adequate program formula
over the coming months. Language is also deleted requiring the
Secretary to complete a study on how to merge homeless
assistance programs under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless
Assistance Act with the HOME program.
Amendment No. 25: Appropriates $50,000,000 for grants to
Indian tribes instead of $46,000,000 as proposed by the House
and $60,000,000 as proposed by the Senate.
Amendment No. 26: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
to provide $2,000,000 for the Housing Assistance Council and
$1,000,000 for the National American Indian Housing Council as
setasides under the Community Development Block Grants program.
The House had proposed funding these two councils at the same
level as setasides under the HUD salaries and expenses account.
Amendment No. 27: Appropriates $27,000,000 for Section
107 grants as proposed by the Senate instead of $19,500,000 as
proposed by the House. The conferees are in agreement that
Section 107 funding includes $7,000,000 for insular areas,
$6,000,000 for work study (including $3,000,000 for Hispanic-
serving institutions), $6,500,000 for historically black
colleges and universities (HBCUs), and $7,500,000 for the
community outreach partnership program.
The conferees urge HUD to use community outreach
partnership funds to support new and existing planning grants
to universities located in and around urban areas with high
minority populations, low standards of living and large numbers
of empty or abandoned dwellings. Priority ought to be given to
proposals that seek to address community problems
comprehensively and in partnership with local government, and
consideration should be made for projects which include HBCUs
as local partners.
The conferees are aware of an innovative business
development center proposal of Hofstra University which will
coordinate and target educational and technical assistance
activities designed to foster economic development and job
creation on Long Island. This proposal mirrors the goals of the
Community Outreach Partnership program and therefore the
Department is urged to carefully review this proposal in
connection with the funding recommended for this activity.
Amendment No. 28: Inserts technical correction to the
language as proposed by the Senate.
Amendment No. 29: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
to permanently extend homeownership activities as an eligible
use of CDBG funds.
Amendment No. 30: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
to extend for one year a set-aside for Colonias of up to 10% of
state CDBG allocations for the U.S. border states of Arizona,
California, New Mexico, and Texas.
Amendment No. 31: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
and amended by the House to provide $53,000,000 as a set-aside
from the CDBG program for public and assisted housing
supportive services. The amended language also earmarks
$15,000,000 for the Tenant Opportunity Program, $12,000,000 for
Housing Counseling activities, and $20,000,000 for the
Youthbuild program. With regard to the Tenant Opportunity
Program, this set-aside represents a 40 percent reduction from
last year's funded level of $25,000,000. The conferees have
been made aware of recent abuses in this program and direct the
Department to eliminate such abuses if the program is to
receive additional funding. Conferees agree this is the last
year of appropriations funding for Youthbuild as a separate
earmark and anticipate that Youthbuild will become an eligible
activity under CDBG or another block grant in the coming year,
to be determined by the appropriate authorizing committees. The
conferees delete funding proposed by the Senate for Economic
Development Initiatives at $80,000,000.
Amendment No. 32: Appropriates $31,750,000 for credit
subsidies for the Section 108 loan guarantee program instead of
$15,750,000 as proposed by the Senate, and $10,500,000 as
proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 33: Establishes a loan limitation of
$1,500,000,000 for the Section 108 loan guarantee program as
proposed by the Senate, instead of $1,000,000,000 as proposed
by the House, and inserts language to waive the aggregate loan
limitation.
Amendment No. 34: Appropriates $675,000 for
administrative expenses of the Section 108 loan guarantee
program as proposed by the Senate, instead of $225,000 as
proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 35: Inserts language for the reuse of a
grant for Buffalo, New York for the central terminal and other
public facilities in Buffalo, New York.
Amendment No. 36: Appropriates $30,000,000 for fair
housing activities to be operated by HUD, instead of providing
$30,000,000 for these activities to be funded under the
Department of Justice, as proposed by the Senate. Language is
added to limit eligibility under the fair housing initiatives
program (FHIP) to only qualified fair housing enforcement
organizations, as proposed by the Senate. The House and Senate
conferees strongly support the enforcement of fair housing
laws, but are concerned that FHIP funds have been used by non-
traditional fair housing groups in a manner that is
inconsistent with the program's intent to enforce fair housing
laws. The conferees direct the Department to provide the
Committees on Appropriations an opportunity to review the new
standard of qualified fair housing organizations prior to
awarding fiscal year 1996 FHIP funds. The House had proposed
$30,000,000 for fair housing activities, but only for the fair
housing assistance program (FHAP).
Amendment No. 37: Appropriates $962,558,000 for salaries
and expenses, instead of $951,988,000 as proposed by the House
and $980,777,000 as proposed by the Senate. The Department is
to distribute the general reduction, subject to normal
reprogramming guidelines. In addition, the conferees direct the
Department to outline when and how future staffing reductions
will occur to meet the Administration's goal of 7,500 HUD
employees by fiscal year 2000. To the extent reductions are
needed to take place in fiscal year 1996 to meet fiscal year
2000 staffing goals, the conferees urge the Department to
utilize early in the fiscal year any resources needed to
achieve such purpose.
Amendment No. 38: Authorizes the use of $532,782,000 for
salaries and expenses from the various funds of the Federal
Housing Administration as proposed by the Senate, instead of
$505,745,000 as proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 39: Authorizes the use of $9,101,000 for
salaries and expenses from the funds of the Government National
Mortgage Association as proposed by the Senate, instead of
$8,824,000 as proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 40: Authorizes the use of $675,000 for
salaries and expenses from the Community Development Grants
program account as proposed by the Senate, instead of $225,000
as proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 41: Appropriates $47,850,000 for salaries
and expenses of the Office of Inspector General, instead of
$47,388,000 as proposed by the House and $48,251,000 as
proposed by the Senate.
Amendment No. 42: Authorizes the use of $11,283,000 for
salaries and expenses of the Office of Inspector General from
the various funds of the Federal Housing Administration as
proposed by the Senate, instead of $10,961,000 as proposed by
the House.
Amendment No. 43: Restores language proposed by the House
and deleted by the Senate to appropriate $14,895,000 for the
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO).
Amendment No. 44: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
to allow the Secretary to sell up to $4,000,000,000 of assigned
mortgage notes under the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance (FHA-
MMI) program account and use any negative credit subsidy
amounts from such sales during fiscal year 1996 for the
disposition of properties or notes under the FHA-MMI program.
Amendment No. 45: Appropriates $341,595,000 for
administrative expenses of the guaranteed and direct loan
programs of the FHA-MMI program account as proposed by the
Senate, instead of $308,846,000 as proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 46: Authorizes the transfer of $334,483,000
for departmental salaries and expenses from the FHA-MMI program
account as proposed by the Senate, instead of $308,290,000 as
proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 47: Authorizes the transfer of $7,112,000
for the Office of Inspector General from the FHA-MMI program
account as proposed by the Senate, instead of $6,790,000 as
proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 48: Appropriates $85,000,000 for credit
subsidies under the FHA-General and Special Risk Insurance
(FHA-GI/SRI) program account, as authorized by Sections 238 and
519 of the National Housing Act, instead of $100,000,000 as
proposed by Senate. It is the understanding of the conferees
that when these funds are combined with new statutory authority
to use net asset sales proceeds for additional credit
subsidies, the combined program level will exceed $100,000,000.
Under a different proviso stricken by the Senate, the House
proposed $69,620,000 for these activities.
Amendment No. 49: Inserts technical correction to the
language as proposed by the Senate.
Amendment No. 50: Establishes guarantee loan limitation
of $17,400,000,000 as proposed by the Senate, instead of
$15,000,000,000 as proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 51: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
to authorize the sale of up to $4,000,000,000 of assigned notes
under the FHA-GI/SRI program account. Under a separate proviso
stricken by the Senate, the House had proposed the sale of
$2,400,000,000 of such notes. Also inserts language proposed by
the Senate to allow the use of any negative credit subsidy from
such sales to offset new FHA-GI/SRI guarantee activity. A
separate House provision stricken by the Senate contained
similar language on the reuse of negative credit subsidies.
Amendment No. 52: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
to allow funds previously appropriated to remain available
until expended if such funds have not been obligated. The House
language stricken by the Senate extended the availability of
such funds if they had not been previously made available for
obligation.
Amendment No. 53: Deletes language proposed by the House
and stricken by the Senate to reuse negative credit subsidies
from the sale of FHA-MI/SRI assigned notes for new loan
guarantee credit subsidies under the same account. Also deletes
House language establishing a cap of $2,600,000,000 on the
amount of such sales, a limitation on the availability of
$52,000,000 of excess proceeds from such sales, and an
appropriation of $69,620,000 for credit subsidies.
Amendment No. 54: Appropriates $202,470,000 for
administrative expenses of the guaranteed and direct loan
programs of the FHA-GI/SRI program account as proposed by the
Senate, instead of $197,470,000 as proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 55: Authorizes the transfer of $198,299,000
for departmental salaries and expenses from the FHA-GI/SRI
program account as proposed by the Senate, instead of
$197,455,000 as proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 56: Appropriates $9,101,000 for
administrative expenses of the Government National Mortgage
Association (GNMA) guaranteed mortgage-backed securities
program as proposed by the Senate, instead of $8,824,000 as
proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 57: Authorizes the transfer of $9,101,000
for departmental salaries and expenses from the GNMA mortgage-
backed securities guaranteed loan receipt account as proposed
by the Senate, instead of $8,824,000 as proposed by the House.
Administrative Provisions
Amendment No. 58: Inserts administrative provisions
agreed to by the conferees. These provisions, identified by
section number, are as follows:
Sec. 201. Extend Administrative Provisions from the
Rescission Act. Inserts language proposed by the Senate to
modify and extend the applicability of language affecting the
public housing modernization program and the public housing
one-for-one replacement requirement first enacted in Public Law
104-19. The House proposed similar language to suspend the one-
for-one replacement requirement for fiscal year 1996.
Sec. 202. Public and Assisted Housing Rents, Income
Adjustments, and Preferences. (a) Minimum Rent. Inserts
language to establish minimum rents at $25 per month per
household and up to $50 per month at the discretion of the
public housing authority (PHA). (b) Ceiling Rents. Also
establishes a second calculation of ceiling rents that reflect
reasonable market value of the housing but are not less than
the monthly operating costs and, at the discretion of the PHA,
contribution to a replacement reserve. (c) Definition of
Adjusted Income. Allows PHAs to adopt separate income
adjustments from those currently established under the Housing
Act of 1937. However, the Secretary shall not take into account
any reduction of the per unit dwelling rental income when
calculating federal subsidies under the public housing
operating subsidies program. (d) Preferences. Suspends federal
preferences for the public and assisted housing programs. (e)
Applicability. Extends the applicability of subsections (a),
(b), (c), and (d) to Indian housing programs. (f) Limits the
application of this section to fiscal year 1996 only.
Sec. 203. Conversion of Certain Public Housing to
Vouchers. Establishes criteria for identifying public housing
to be converted to voucher assistance, rules for implementation
and enforcement, and a process for removing units from the
public housing inventory and converting federal assistance to
vouchers. Section 18 of the Housing Act of 1937 shall not apply
to the demolition of developments under this section.
Sec. 204. Streamlining Section 8 Tenant-Based Assistance.
(a) Suspends for fiscal year 1996 the ``take one, take all''
requirement, section 8(t) of the Housing Act of 1937. (b)
Suspends for fiscal year 1996 certain notice requirements for
owners participating in the certificate and voucher programs.
(c) In addition, this provision suspends for fiscal year 1996
the ``endless lease'' requirement under section 8(d)(1)(B).
Sec. 205. Section 8 Fair Market Rentals, Administrative
Fees, and Delay in Reissuance. (a) Establishes fair market
rentals at the 40th percentile of modest cost existing housing
instead of the current 45th percentile calculation. (b)
Modifies provision to freeze administrative fees for tenant-
based assistance administered by a public housing agency. (c)
Delays the reissuance of section 8 vouchers and certificates by
three months. The Administration originally proposed similar
proposals in its fiscal year 1996 budget. Both the House and
Senate are in agreement on these new policy directions.
Sec. 206. Public Housing/Section 8 Moving to Work
Demonstration. Establishes a demonstration of no more than 30
public housing authorities to reduce cost and achieve greater
cost-effectiveness in federal expenditures, to provide
incentives for heads of households to become economically self-
sufficient, and to increase housing choices for lower-income
families. The demonstration may include no more than 25,000
public housing units.
Sec. 207. Repeal of Provisions Regarding Income
Disregards. Repeals section 957 of the Cranston-Gonzalez
National Affordable Housing Act and section 923 of the Housing
and Community Development Act of 1992.
Sec. 208. Extension of Multifamily Housing Finance
Programs. Extends sections 542(b)(5) and 542(c)(4) as proposed
by the House and Senate.
Sec. 209. Foreclosure of HUD-held Mortgages Through Third
Parties. During fiscal year 1996, allows the Secretary to
delegate some or all of the functions and responsibilities in
connection with the foreclosure of mortgages held by HUD under
the National Housing Act.
Sec. 210. Restructuring of the HUD Multifamily Mortgage
Portfolio Through State Housing Finance Agencies. During fiscal
year 1996, allows the Secretary to sell or transfer multifamily
mortgages held by the Secretary under the National Housing Act
to a State housing finance agency.
Sec. 211. Transfer of Section 8 Authority. Allows the
Secretary to use section 8 budget authority that becomes
available because of the termination of a project-based
assistance contract to provide continued assistance to eligible
families. Section 8 renewal assistance may be used for the same
purpose at the time of contract expiration.
Sec. 212. Documentation of Multifamily Refinancings.
Extends through fiscal year 1996 and thereafter, the amendments
to section 223(a)(7) of the National Housing Act included in
Public Law 103-327.
Sec. 213. FHA Multifamily Demonstration. Establishes a
demonstration to review the feasibility and desirability of
``marking-to-market'' the debt service and operating expenses
attributable to HUD multifamily projects which can be supported
with or without mortgage insurance under the National Housing
Act and with or without above-market rents utilizing project-
based or tenant-based assistance. Such demonstration is limited
to 15,000 units over fiscal years 1996 and 1997. The provision
also appropriates $30,000,000 as a credit subsidy for such
activities.
Sec. 214. Section 8 Contract Renewals. Inserts language
to limit the cost of section 8 contract renewals to the fair
market rent (FMR) for the area, similar to language proposed by
the House. In addition, language is added to make clear that
the Secretary shall, at the request of the owner, renew
expiring section 8 contracts for one year under the same terms
and conditions as the expiring contract during fiscal year
1996. On October 1, 1996, additional expiring contracts will be
subject to the local FMR. This language clarifies existing law
with respect to renewal of these project-based subsidy
contracts, and highlights the urgency of affirmative action by
the authorizing committees in enacting legislation necessary to
avoid loss of affordable housing and potential displacement of
residents next fiscal year.
This section also amends the provisions of law requiring
renewal of loan management setaside contracts to provide the
Secretary the discretion to renew only that portion of expiring
contracts necessary to avoid displacement of residents who have
been previously assisted. Budgetary constraints will make
continuing these rental subsidy contracts very difficult over
the next several years and it is highly advisable that project
owners reduce dependence on such project-based subsidies as
such assisted residents voluntarily leave these developments.
Finally, this section amends the rental payment standards
applicable to housing projects under section 236 of the
National Housing Act to encourage the retention of working
families in these developments by preventing rental charges in
these projects which may exceed actual market rates in certain
localities.
Sec. 215. Extension of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage
Program. Extends demonstration through fiscal year 1996,
increasing the maximum number of units insured from 25,000 to
30,000.
Sec. 216. Assessment Collection Dates for Office of
Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). Modifies OFHEO
assessment collection dates to allow revenues to match the
timing of expenditures.
Sec. 217. Merger Language for Assistance for the Renewal
of Expiring Section 8 Subsidy Contracts and Annual
Contributions for Assisted Housing. Merges the section 8
renewal account with annual contributions for assisted housing,
as proposed by the House. This will allow a more accurate
assessment of the ongoing commitment to affordable housing by
the 104th Congress. More than 400,000 families will be assisted
with funds provided under the Annual Contributions for Assisted
Housing account in fiscal year 1996. Altogether, 4.5 million
households will receive HUD assistance in fiscal year 1996.
Sec. 218. Debt Forgiveness. Inserts language to forgive
public facilities loans in Hubbard and Groveton, Texas and
Hepzibah, West Virginia. These loans were previously written
off as uncollectible and will not increase the federal debt. In
addition, the conferees direct the Department of Housing and
Urban Development to work with the Rend Lake Conservacy
District, Illinois, to resolve its indebtedness under the
Public Facilities Loan program.
Sec. 219. Clarifications. Inserts language to clarify
``continuum of care'' requirements as applied to the Paul
Mirabile Center in San Diego, California.
Sec. 220. Employment Limitations. Limits the number of
Assistant Secretaries at the Department to 7, the number of
schedule C employees to 77, and the number of non-career Senior
Executive Service positions to 20. Such limitations are to be
met by the end of fiscal year 1996.
Sec. 221. Use of Funds. Allows previously appropriated
funds for Highland, California, and Toledo, Ohio, to be used in
their respective communities for other purposes.
Sec. 222. Lead-based Paint Abatement. Amends eligible
housing criteria under section 1011 of the Residential Lead-
Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992.
Sec. 223. Extension Period for Sharing Utility Cost
Savings with PHAs. Eliminates time restriction for sharing
utility cost savings under section 9(a)(3)(B)(i) of the Housing
Act of 1937.
Sec. 223A. Mortgage Note Sales. Extends for fiscal year
1996 mortgage sales under section 221(g)(4)(C)(viii) of the
National Housing Act.
Sec. 223B. Repeal of Frost-Leland. This provision repeals
section 415 of the VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies
Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1988. The Dallas Housing
Authority and the Housing Authority of the City of Houston may
proceed with demolitions and revitalization of George Loving
Place and Allen Parkway Village, respectively. In addition, the
conferees have learned that the demolition of Allen Parkway
Village, a large densely organized public housing project in
Houston, Texas, which has been substantially vacant for over a
decade, is being delayed by the section 106 process under the
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The conferees
believe that preservation of historic buildings is an admirable
goal. However, the conferees do not believe that it is good
policy to require the preservation of buildings unsuitable for
modern family life at the expense of low income families in
dire need of safe, decent, and affordable housing.
Sec. 223C. FHA Single-Family Assignment Program Reform.
Reforms the assignment process of the Federal Housing
Administration to reflect cost-savings achieved in the private
sector for working out delinquent loans to avoid foreclosure
and minimizing losses to the mortgage insurer.
Sec. 223D. Spending Limitations. (i) Property Insurance.
The Department is in the process of promulgating regulations
under the Fair Housing Act regarding discriminatory practices
in property insurance activities. Certain courts have ruled
upholding the application of the Fair Housing Act to property
insurance. However, significant questions have been raised
relative to HUD's jurisdiction in this regard, especially in
light of the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which reserves to the
States authority to regulate insurance matters, and the Fair
Housing Act, which makes no mention of discriminating in
providing property insurance.
Given the uncertainty and controversy over this issue, it
is the consensus that this important issue should be promptly
addressed by the legislative committees of jurisdiction.
(2) Prohibition on Penalties or Sanctions Against
Communities That Adopt English as the Official Language. The
conferees are concerned that communities across the United
States feel it necessary to adopt State or local law or
regulations to declare English the official language. While
English ought to be an essential part of the American
experience, the conferees do not oppose bilingual education and
recognize the importance of such education efforts in order to
meet the needs of an increasing population of immigrants and
others, who in too many cases, are economically disadvantaged.
The real need for Americans is to communicate fully with one
another. To the extent English is chosen in individual
communities as the main language, HUD ought not to punish or
impose sanctions because of this action.
(3) Lobbying Prohibition. Prohibits funds provided under
this Act from being used for purposes not authorized by the
Congress.
(4) RESPA. The conference agreement does not include
language prohibiting the expenditure of funds to promulgate
regulations based upon the July 21, 1994 proposed rule on the
Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). However, the
conferees are concerned that HUD has been interpreting RESPA in
a manner that may stifle competition and the development of
innovative services in the settlement services industry. Before
proceeding to finalize such rulemaking, the conferees urge the
Department to seek additional guidance on this important issue
from the appropriate authorizing committees.
(5) Land Use Regulations for Residential Care.
Communities across the country have expressed serious concerns
with fair housing law as it relates to their ability to review
and implement land use regulations for residential care
facilities. The conferees encourage the Department to work with
the relevant authorizing committees to develop legislative
remedies for these concerns as soon as possible.
Sec. 223E. Transfer of Functions to the Department of
Justice. Language is inserted to transfer fair housing
activities to the Department of Justice effective April 1,
1997. A similar provision was proposed by the Senate in
amendment numbered 116. This transfer would include all
responsibilities for fair housing issues, including
administering the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) and
the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP). This 18-month
transition would give the Department of Justice adequate time
to ensure a smooth transfer of all functions. Congress would
also have an opportunity to review key implementation issues.
The conferees emphasize that the intent of this provision
is not to minimize the importance of addressing housing
discrimination in this nation; instead, the Department of
Justice with its own significant (and primary) responsibilities
to address all forms of discrimination represents the
appropriate place to consolidate and to provide consistency in
policy direction for the federal government to combat
discrimination, including discrimination with regard to housing
issues.
While many members of Congress are advocating the
elimination of HUD, the transfer of HUD's fair housing programs
to the Department of Justice will allow HUD to refocus on its
primary responsibilities of providing housing and community
development assistance. The larger issue of determining the
fate of HUD is better suited for the authorizing committees of
the House and Senate.
Amendment No. 59: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
to prohibit the expenditure of funds under this Act for the
investigation or prosecution under the Fair Housing Act of any
otherwise lawful activity, including the filing or maintaining
of non-frivolous legal action, that is engaged in solely for
the purposes of achieving or preventing action by a Government
official, entity, or court of competent jurisdiction.
Amendment No. 60: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
to prohibit the use of funds under this Act to take enforcement
action under the Fair Housing Act on the basis of familial
status and which involves an occupancy standard except under
the occupancy standards established by the March 20, 1991
Memorandum from the General Counsel of HUD to all Regional
Counsel, or until such time as HUD issues a final rule on
occupancy standards in accordance with standard rulemaking.
Amendment No. 61: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
to allow reconstruction or rehabilitation costs as eligible
activities for the expenditure of Community Development Block
Grant funds, not just reconstruction and rehabilitation costs
in conjunction with acquisition costs.
Amendment No. 62: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
requiring HUD to submit a report to Congress on the extent
federal funds are used to facilitate the closing or substantial
reduction of operations of a plant that result in the
relocation or expansion of a plant from one state to another.
Instead, conferees direct HUD to review available data on this
issue and report to Congress the costs and benefits of
establishing such a database.
TITLE III--INDEPENDENT AGENCIES
Consumer Product Safety Commission
The conferees agree to provide $40,000,000 for the
Consumer Product Safety Commission, a reduction of $4,000,000
from the budget request. The conferees direct the Commission to
make the necessary reduction in expenditures from among
operating expenses, including contract services, overhead
accounts such as space, rent, telephone and travel and by delay
in filling vacant positions.
corporation for national and community service
Amendment No. 63: Reported in technical disagreement. The
managers on the part of the House will offer a motion to recede
and concur in the amendment of the Senate to the amendment of
the House with an amendment as follows:
In lieu of the matter stricken and inserted by said
amendment, insert the following:
For necessary expenses for the Corporation for National
and Community Service in carrying out the orderly termination
of programs, activities, and initiatives under the National and
Community Service Act of 1990, as amended (Public Law 103-82),
$15,000,000; Provided, That such amount shall be utilized to
resolve all responsibilities and obligations in connection with
said Corporation and the Corporation's Office of Inspector
General.
The managers on the part of the Senate will move to
concur in the amendment of the House to the amendment of the
Senate.
court of veterans appeals
The bill provides $9,000,000 for the Court of Veterans
Appeals. The funding levels for this agency is not in
conference because the recommended amount in the bill was
identical as it passed both the House and the Senate. Because
of concerns expressed with this level of funding, the conferees
intend that the Committees on Appropriations review the
benefits of the Court and how it can best operate in a
constrained budget environment. It may be that the authorizing
committees will also want to review these matters.
Department of Defense--Civil
cemeterial expenses, army
Amendment No. 64: Appropriates $11,946,000 for salaries
and expenses as proposed by the Senate, instead of $11,296,000
as proposed by the House.
Environmental Protection Agency
science and technology
Amendment No. 65: Appropriates $525,000,000 for science
and technology activities instead of $500,000,000 as proposed
by the Senate and $384,052,000 under research and development
as proposed by the House. The research and development account
as proposed by the House and stricken by the Senate is deleted
and a new science and technology account is adopted in lieu
thereof.
The new science and technology account has been created
to begin the consolidation of all research related activities
at EPA, including appropriate personnel and laboratory costs.
The conferees note that Environmental Service Division (ESD)
labs have not been brought under this account at this time,
however, the Agency is expected to provide an analysis of
whether ESD labs, as well as other research related activities,
should be included in this account in the fiscal year 1997
budget.
The conferees recognize that with the new account
structure, EPA has additional flexibility to manage its
resources. The conferees wish to make clear, however, that EPA
is not to apply budgetary reductions disproportionately to
contracts relative to the workforce. The agency must plan for
further budgetary reductions anticipated in the outyears by
gradually reducing its workforce, and the account structure is
intended in part to ease the difficulties and disruption
associated with downsizing the workforce. Any reprogramming of
funds that become necessary throughout the fiscal year is to be
made upon the notification and approval of the Committees on
Appropriations.
The conferees are in agreement with the following changes
to the budget request:
+$150,000,000 for research and development
personnel costs transferred from the former program and
research operations account.
+$35,000,000 for laboratory and facilities costs
transferred from the former abatement, control, and
compliance account.
+$500,000 for the National Urban Air Toxics
Research Center.
+$2,500,000 for the Gulf Coast Hazardous Substance
Research Center.
+$1,500,000 for the Water Environment Research
Foundation.
+$2,500,000 for the American Water Works
Association Research Foundation (AWWARF).
+$730,000 for continued study of livestock and
agricultural pollution abatement.
+$1,000,000 for continuation of the San Joaquin
Valley PM-10 study.
+$2,000,000 to continue research on urban waste
management at the University of New Orleans.
+$1,500,000 for the Resource and Agricultural
Policy Systems program at Iowa State University.
+$500,000 for oil spill remediation research at the
Spill Remediation Research Center.
+$1,000,000 for research on the health effects of
arsenic. In conducting this research, the Agency is
strongly encouraged to contract with groups such as the
AWWARF so that funds can be leveraged to maximize
available research dollars.
+$1,000,000 for the Center for Air Toxics Metals.
+$1,000,000 for the EPSCoR program.
+$18,000,000 for research and development
transferred from the hazardous substance superfund
account, including $5,000,000 for the hazardous
substance research center program. The conferees agree
that most research being conducted under the Superfund
account has application across media lines and thus
should be carried forward in a manner consistent with
all other Agency research and development activities.
With this transfer, the conferees have included a total
of $20,500,000 for Superfund research in the new
science and technology account, including $2,500,000
for the Gulf Coast Hazardous Substance Research Center.
This represents a further step in consolidating all
agency research within this account. Should the amount
provided for Superfund research be insufficient, the
Committees on Appropriations would entertain an
appropriate reprogramming request from the agency. The
conferees expect EPA to conform its fiscal year 1997
budget submission to this account restructuring,
including Superfund research.
-$69,200,000 from the Environmental Technology
Initiative. Remaining funds in this program are to be
used for technology verification activities, and the
agency is expected to submit a spending plan for this
activity as part of its annual operating plan.
-$31,645,700 from the Working Capital Fund included
in the budget request. This new fund has not been
approved for fiscal year 1996, however, the conferees
are generally receptive to the philosophy behind the
adoption of such a fund and expect to work closely with
the agency throughout the fiscal year to develop a
proposal for consideration for fiscal year 1997.
-$19,545,300 as a general reduction, subject to
normal reprogramming guidelines.
The conferees have deleted Senate bill language contained
in amendment number 92 related to EPA research and development
activities and staffing. However, the conferees agree that EPA
has not provided adequate information to the Congress regarding
its new Science to Achieve Results (STAR) initiative including
its purpose; the effects it might have on applied research
needed to support the agency's regulatory activities; the
impact on current staffing, cooperative agreements, grants, and
support contracts; whether STAR will duplicate the work of
other entities such as the National Science Foundation; and how
STAR relates to the strategic plan of the Office of Research
and Development. Therefore, the agency is directed to submit by
January 1, 1996 a report to address these issues. The report
also should identify the amount of funds to be spent on STAR,
and a listing of any resource reductions below fiscal year 1995
funding levels, by laboratory, from federal staffing,
cooperative agreements, grants, or support contracts as a
result of funding for the STAR program. No funds should be
obligated for the STAR program until the Committees are in
receipt of the report.
The conferees direct EPA to discontinue any additional
hiring under the contractor conversion program in the Office of
Research and Development (ORD) and provide to the Committees by
January 1, 1996, a staffing plan for ORD indicating the use of
federal and contract employees.
As part of the peer review process of research
activities, the conferees expect ORD to place more reliance on
oversight and review of its ongoing research by the Science
Advisory Board. The conferees agree that better use of the
Board in such an oversight and review role will greatly enhance
the credibility of the ``science'' conducted by EPA in support
of program activities.
Finally, the conferees note that funds deleted by the
House for the Gulf of Mexico Program (GMP) have been fully
restored. While the conferees thus support its continuation for
fiscal year 1996, there nevertheless remain concerns regarding
the current scope, cost, and long-term direction the agency has
planned for this program. Precious little information is
presented through budget justifications in support of the GMP,
yet it has enjoyed financial support through the EPA, as well
as significant contributions from numerous other federal and
state sources. The conferees expect the agency to perform a
thorough study and evaluation of this program and its total
expenditures, from all sources, and include such information in
the fiscal year 1997 budget support documents.
environmental programs and management
Amendment No. 66: Appropriates $1,550,300,000 for
environmental programs and management instead of $1,670,000,000
under program administration and management as proposed by the
Senate and $1,881,614,000 under environmental programs and
compliance as proposed by the House. The environmental programs
and compliance account as proposed by the House and stricken by
the Senate is deleted and a new account is adopted in lieu
thereof.
The new account combines most of what were formerly the
abatement, control, and compliance and program and research
operations accounts, thus providing the Agency with increased
flexibility to meet personnel and program requirements within
the framework of reduced financial resources. As noted under
the science and technology account, personnel and laboratory
costs associated with research activities have been reduced
from the budget request under the aforementioned two accounts.
Additionally, state categorical grants proposed in the budget
request under abatement, control, and compliance have been
moved to the new state and tribal assistance grant account.
In addition to providing flexibility across program
lines, the actions of the conferees in approving such
structural changes also are due to the necessity of the agency
to make substantial changes in the manner in which it carries
out its mission. It must be recognized that there simply are
not enough financial resources available to remedy every
environmental problem that can be identified. Rather, EPA must
develop serious priorities, using cost-benefit-risk analysis if
appropriate, so that it can go about the task of accomplishing
meaningful environmental goals in an orderly and systematic
way. To this end, the old ``command and control'' approach must
be discarded--in the Regions as well as in headquarters--and
replaced with new methods that promote facilitation, compliance
assistance, and federal-state-business partnerships coupled
with financial leveraging. The agency's Common Sense Initiative
and Project XL are excellent examples of such new methods, and
the conferees strongly urge the agency to be more deliberate
and aggressive in its move to foster these new, flexible
partnerships and relationships with the states and with
business without compromising the environmental goals set by
the Congress and carried out by the agency. The conferees stand
ready to assist the agency in its move in this new direction.
The conferees strongly support the recommendations made
by the National Academy of Public Administration in ``Setting
Priorities, Getting Results: A New Direction for EPA'' as
outlined in both the House and Senate committee reports
accompanying this bill. The conferees believe that monitoring
the progress in implementing NAPA's recommendations, and
evaluating the effectiveness of such initiatives as Project XL,
performance partnerships, and the Common Sense Initiative to
determine if these programs offer the country a significant
improvement over traditional regulatory approaches is very
important. The conferees direct EPA to propose to the
Committees by February 15, 1996, how to evaluate these
initiatives, the agency's progress in implementing NAPA's
recommendations, and how changes in EPA's management systems
and organizational structure encourage or inhibit these
innovations. EPA should consider as part of its proposal a
further involvement by NAPA or other outside parties in this
evaluation.
The conferees are in agreement on the following changes
to the budget request:
+$2,000,000 for the Southwest Center for
Environmental Research and Policy.
+$1,600,000 for Clean Water Act sec. 104(g)
wastewater operator training grants.
+$350,000 for the Long Island Sound office.
+$1,000,000 for the Sacramento River Toxic
Pollutant Control program, to be cost shared.
+$1,000,000 for continuing work on the water
quality management plan for the Skaneatles, Owasco, and
Otisco Lake watersheds.
+$300,000 for the Cortland County, New York aquifer
protection plan.
+$8,500,000 for rural water technical assistance
activities.
+$500,000 for continuation of the Small Public
Water Systems Technical Assistance Center at Montana
State University.
+$300,000 for a feasibility study for the delivery
of water from the Tiber Reservoir to Rocky Boy
Reservation.
+$2,000,000 for the small grants program to
communities disproportionately impacted by pollution.
+$1,000,000 for community/university partnership
grants.
+$300,000 for the National Environmental Justice
Advisory Council.
+$1,000,000 for ongoing Earthvision educational
programs.
+$500,000 for ongoing programs of the Canaan Valley
Institute.
+$900,000 for remediation of former and abandoned
lead and zinc mining in Missouri.
+$250,000 for an evaluation of groundwater quality
in Missouri where evidence exists of contamination
associated with anthropological activities.
+$75,000 for the Rocky Mountain Regional Water
Center's model watershed planning effort.
+$150,000 for the National Groundwater Foundation
to continue ongoing programs.
+$500,000 to continue the methane energy and
agricultural development demonstration project.
+$185,000 for the Columbia River Gorge Commission
for monitoring activities.
+$1,000,000 for environmental review and basin
planning for a sewer separation demonstration project
for Tanner Creek.
+$300,000 to continue the Small Business Pollution
Prevention Center managed by the Iowa Waste Reduction
Center.
+$1,500,000 for the final year of the Alternative
Fuels Vehicle Training program.
+$2,000,000 for the Adirondack Destruction program
to assess the effects of acid deposition.
+$750,000 for the Lake Pontchartrain management
conference.
+$750,000 to continue the solar aquatic waste water
demonstration program in Vermont.
+$1,000,000 to continue the onsite waste water
treatment demonstration through the small flows
clearinghouse.
+$235,000 for a model program in the Cheney
Reservoir to assess water quality improvement practices
related to agricultural runoff.
+$500,000 to continue the coordinated model tribal
water quality initiative in Washington State.
+$250,000 for the Ala Wai Canal watershed
improvement project.
+$200,000 for the Sokaogon Cheppewa Community to
continue to assess the environmental impacts of a
proposed sulfide mine project.
+$2,000,000 for a demonstration program to
remediate leaking above ground storage tanks in Alaska.
+$1,000,000 for the National Environmental Training
Center for Small Communities.
+$500,000 for the Lake Champlain basin plan
available for Vermont and New York.
+$31,645,700 for the Working Capital Fund
transferred from the former research and development
account. This fund has not been approved.
-$11,900,000 from low priority activities in the
Office of Air and Radiation, except that no funds are
to be reduced from the budget request for the WIPP
compliance criteria or from the program activities
associated with work at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.
-$2,600,000 from the Environmental Justice program,
including the Partners in Protection Program.
-$47,000,000 from the Environmental Technology
Initiative.
-$55,000,000 from Climate Change Action Plan
programs. The conferees note that over $80,000,000
remains available for this program, an amount double
that provided in fiscal year 1994. The agency is
directed to terminate funding for programs which
compete directly or indirectly with commercial
business, including the Energy Star Homes Program.
-$12,000,000 from the Montreal Protocol
Facilitation Fund.
-$405,000 from the Building Air Quality Alliance.
-$48,000,000 from low priority enforcement
activities.
-$1,800,000 from low priority environmental
education activities. The conferees urge the agency to
ensure that other resources will be provided for the
third and final year to carry out the environmental
education grants program to minority institutions. In
addition, the conferees expect the National
Environmental Education and Training Foundation will be
funded at the fiscal year 1995 level.
-$3,000,000 from low priority activities in the
Office of International Activities.
-$350,000 from activities related to unauthorized
research related to electromagnetic fields.
-$2,000,000 from the national service initiative.
-$1,000,000 from the GLOBE program.
-$25,000,000 from regional and state oversight
activities.
-$81,474,300 from program office laboratory costs
requested under the former abatement, control, and
compliance and program and research operations
accounts. As noted in the science and technology
account, funds have been made available to continue
funding these facilities under the new account
structure agreed to by the conferees.
-$140,080,200 from Office of Research and
Development personnel costs requested under the former
program and research operations account. As noted in
the science and technology account, funds have been
made available to meet personnel requirements under the
new account structure agreed to by the conferees.
-$683,466,200 from state and tribal categorical
grants which have been transferred by the conferees
from the former abatement, control, and compliance
account to the new state and tribal assistance grants
account.
-$166,786,000 as an undistributed general reduction
throughout this restructured account, subject to the
modified reprogramming procedures.
No legislative provisions as proposed by the House and
stricken by the Senate have been included in this new account.
To provide the EPA with enhanced spending flexibility,
the conferees have included language in the bill which makes
funds available for expenditure for two years until September
30, 1997, and have agreed on reprogramming procedures for this
account only, which permit reprogrammings below $500,000
without notice to the Committees, reprogrammings between
$500,000 and $1,000,000 with notice to the Committees, and
reprogrammings over $1,000,000 with approval of the Committees.
The conferees agree on the importance of the
Environmental Finance Centers and expect that they be
adequately supported. Similarly, the conferees direct that a
grant for Sarasota County, Florida be provided from within
funding for the National Estuary Program to support the
implementation of the Sarasota Bay NEP Conservation and
Management Plan. Finally, the conferees note that the
Chesapeake Bay Program has been fully funded and expect that
appropriate resources will be devoted to oyster reef
construction in the Chesapeake.
The conferees urge EPA to work in a cooperative manner
with the Commonwealth of Virginia to resolve issues concerning
the state's proposed state implementation plan relative to
title V of the Clean Air Act, and to receive the court's
guidance before implementing section 502(b)(6) of the Act.
The conferees are in agreement that EPA should consider
holding in abeyance the development of a proposed rule
concerning a Sole Source Aquifer Designation for the Eastern
Columbia Plateau Aquifer System in eastern Washington State,
until all issues raised by the State are fully explored and
resolved in a manner which meets the needs of all parties.
The conferees also remain concerned about reports filed
earlier this year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and other locations
regarding illness alleged to be caused by the use of
reformulated gasoline (RFG). While the conferees note that the
scientific community has yet to make a direct link between such
illness and the use of RFG, the conferees nevertheless expect
the agency to continue its review of all available literature
and data developed in response to this situation--including
such information that may be developed during the winter of
1995-1996--and provide a determination of what additional
studies or actions may be necessary to adequately monitor and
address the situation.
The conferees are concerned about the interim policy
statement on voluntary environmental self policing and self
disclosure by the agency. The conferees believe that these
state initiatives may prove to be valuable tools to increase
compliance with environmental laws in their states. Therefore,
the conferees urge EPA to work with the appropriate Committees
of Congress to develop an appropriate policy concerning state
environmental audit or self evaluation privilege or immunity
laws.
As expressed in both House and Senate Committee reports
accompanying H.R. 2099, there continues to be concern with
EPA's proposed ``cluster rule'' for pulp and paper. The
conferees urge EPA to appropriately address pollutants emitted
at only de minimus levels, such as metals from pulping
combustion sources, by using its existing authority to
establish a de minimus exemption for such pollutants, or by
establishing an emission threshold or level of applicability
which would achieve a similar result.
Similarly, the conferees remain concerned about the
direction taken by the agency with regard to the promulgation
of a rule under TSCA to ban or regulate the use of acrylamide
and n-methylolacrylamide (NMA) grouts. Such grouts are an
important tool in the repair of sewer systems, and the loss of
this tool would substantially impair the ability of
municipalities to effect repairs of sewer systems without major
and costly construction. The conferees strongly urge the agency
to review its risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis and
provide the appropriate committees of the Congress with all
relevant updated information developed through this review,
prior to moving forward in this matter.
The conferees agree that concerns raised by the House
regarding the joint EPA/DOE Life Cycle Assessment program have
been addressed adequately by the agency. Provided that the
agency continues to coordinate the scope, application, and
direction of the program with the private sector, the conferees
do not object to the use of appropriations in the furtherance
of this program.
The conferees are concerned with EPA's plans to expand
the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) to include toxics use data,
despite the lack of specific authorization under the Emergency
Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. The conferees note
that while the legislation establishing the TRI (42 U.S.C.
11023) directs EPA to publish a uniform toxics chemical release
form providing for the submission of data on ``the general
category or category of use'' of a chemical, and the Pollution
Prevention Act (42 U.S.C. 13101-13109) expanded the TRI by
requiring that facilities filing such a release form include a
source reduction and recycling report, Congress has not granted
EPA the specific authority to expand the TRI to require the
reporting of any mass balance, materials accounting, or other
data on amounts of chemicals used by a reporting facility. The
conferees urge EPA not to take final action to create a Toxics
Use Inventory until it seeks specific legislative authority to
do so.
The conferees have agreed to delete a provision proposed
by the House which prohibited the expenditure of funds to
impose or enforce proposed rules under section 112(r) of the
Clean Air Act and instead note their pleasure that EPA is
considering amendments to the risk management plan list rule
which address some of the concerns underlying the House
amendment. The conferees remain concerned, however, that the
status of natural gas processors may not be adequately
addressed in these amendments. Arguments advanced to exempt
exploration and production facilities from section 112(r) are
equally applicable in the case of natural gas processing
facilities, which are also remotely-located, uncomplicated, and
often unmanned. Therefore, the conferees urge EPA to consider
extending any clarification regarding exploration and
production facilities to natural gas processors.
The conferees have also deleted language proposed by the
House regarding the recently published maximum achievable
control technology (MACT) rule for the petroleum refining
industry. At both the House and Senate fiscal year 1996 budget
hearings for the agency, held this spring, considerable
testimony was taken on the issue of this refinery MACT.
Although all parties agree that portions of this rule are
acceptable and workable, testimony received at these hearings
indicated that the agency drafted much of the rule relying on
data that was as much as 15 years old, even when agency-
acceptable three year old data was available. As the testimony
itself revealed, drafting of MACT rules in this manner may not
be consistent with the intent of the Congress in the passage of
the Clean Air Act. In this regard, the conferees urge the
agency to consider proposing appropriate amendments, using the
latest data, to this rule so that the strongest, and fairest,
MACT rule can be instituted.
Similarly, based on testimony received during the fiscal
year 1996 budget hearings, the House had included bill language
prohibiting the expenditure of funds to proceed with the so-
called ``combustion strategy'' unless the agency followed its
own regulatory guidelines. While the conferees have deleted
this language they nevertheless remain concerned with the
expenditure of funds by any agency in pursuit of a rulemaking
which is in conflict with their own rules and procedures. In
this instance, EPA has stated publicly that its use of
applicable statutory authority must be accompanied by site-
specific findings of risk in the administrative record
supporting a permit and that any conditions are necessary to
ensure protection of human health and the environment (56
Federal Register 7145). The conferees strongly urge the agency
to fully comply with its own regulations in any invocation of
omnibus permitting authority, and, in furtherance of their
hearing records in this matter, direct EPA to report to the
House and Senate Appropriations Committees as to how the agency
intends to implement these requirements in connection with its
``Combustion Strategy.'' In this regard, it should be noted
that the National Academy of Sciences is conducting currently a
study on the health effects of waste combustion scheduled for
completion in September 1996. To ensure that policies are based
on the best up-to-date science and to incorporate appropriate
Academy findings, the conferees believe the sensible approach
would be to await the results of the study before finalizing a
rule addressing the combustion of hazardous waste.
Given the importance of maintaining an adequate and
wholesome food supply to ensure good public health, the Office
of Pesticide Programs (OPP) is encouraged to take steps to
retain the same level of funding and FTEs as has been provided
in fiscal year 1995.
It is the intention of the conferees that the EPA avoid
unnecessary or redundant regulation and minimize burdens on
beneficial research and development of genetically engineered
plants. The conferees note that both the National Research
Council of the National Academy of Sciences and the World
Health Organization have concluded that the application of
recombinant DNA technology does not pose any unique risk to
food safety or the environment. While the conferees acknowledge
the basic regulatory requirements set forth under the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, the agency is urged
to minimize the regulatory burden on the developers of products
of such technology. Moreover, the agency should adopt risk
based regulations or exemptions from regulations for small
scale field testing of genetically engineered plants that are
not dissimilar from those regulations set forth for the testing
of other pesticides. The conferees expect EPA to report to the
appropriate committees of the Congress by May 1, 1996 on any
regulatory or trade burdens imposed by the agency through
registration under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and
Rodenticide Act on developers of genetically modified plants
(including such burdens as have been identified by academic
scientists performing research in the field, companies using
biotechnology techniques, and others), as well as the agency's
actions to reduce those burdens to levels commensurate with the
risks.
Language with regard to an exemption from section 307(b)
of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, for the
Kalamazoo Water Reclamation Plant, has been included. The
conferees slightly modified the language as proposed by the
Senate to require that treatment and pollution removal is
equivalent to or better than that which would be required
through a combination of pretreatment by an industrial
discharger and treatment by the Kalamazoo Water Reclamation
Plant in the absence of the exemption.
The conferees expect the agency to promptly implement its
partial response to a Citizen Petition filed September 11, 1992
regarding pesticide regulatory policies. Further, the conferees
expect the agency promptly to complete its response to that
Petition and another Citizen Petition filed July 10, 1995 in
such a way as to minimize the unnecessary loss of pesticides
that pose no more than a negligible risk to health or the
environment.
Further, based on the possible risk to public health, EPA
is strongly urged not to take action on the tolerance for
ethylene oxide without first referring the results of the
Ethylene Oxide Scientific Review Panel to the EPA Scientific
Advisory Board. EPA shall then report to the Committees on the
SAB's report and EPA's evaluation of that report.
Amendment No. 67: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
making a technical change.
Amendment No. 68: Appropriates $28,500,000 for the Office
of Inspector General instead of $28,542,000 as proposed by the
House and $27,700,000 as proposed by the Senate. The conferees
agree that the program level for the OIG will be $40,000,000,
which includes transfers of $500,000 from the LUST trust fund
and $11,000,000 from the hazardous substance superfund account.
Amendment No. 69: Appropriates $60,000,000 for buildings
and facilities as proposed by the Senate instead of $28,820,000
as proposed by the House. Up to $33,000,000 of the amount made
available is for completion of the Ft. Meade, Maryland/Region
III lab facility. Remaining funds are for facility repair,
maintenance and improvements, and for renovation of the new
headquarters facility.
The conferees note that the lack of financial resources
made it impossible to fund the first phase of new construction
at Research Triangle Park. Nevertheless, the conferees
acknowledge the demonstrated need for new or updated facilities
consistent with the mission conducted at this important
research facility. Prior to the submission of the fiscal year
1997 budget request, the agency is directed to provide a report
to the Committees on Appropriations which includes realistic,
cost-effective alternatives in addition to construction of a
new facility.
hazardous substance superfund
Amendment No. 70: Deletes language proposed by the House
and stricken by the Senate which provides that all
appropriations for the hazardous substance superfund be derived
from general revenues, and inserts language proposed by the
Senate in lieu thereof which provides that a specific portion
of the appropriation for the hazardous substance superfund be
derived from the superfund trust fund as authorized by section
517(a) of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of
1986, as amended by P.L. 101-508, and the remainder be derived
from general revenues as authorized by section 517(b) of the
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, as
amended by P.L. 101-508. For the hazardous substance superfund,
$913,400,000 shall be derived from the trust fund, instead of
$753,400,000 as proposed by the Senate, and $250,000,000 shall
be derived from general revenues, as proposed by the Senate.
In addition, language is inserted providing a total of
$1,163,400,000 for Superfund.
Amendment No. 71: Provides $11,000,000 for transfer to
the Office of Inspector General instead of $5,000,000 as
proposed by the House and $11,700,000 as proposed by the
Senate.
Amendment No. 72: Provides $59,000,000 for the Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry instead of $62,000,000 as
proposed by the House and $55,000,000 as proposed by the
Senate.
Amendment No. 73: Deletes language proposed by the House
and stricken by the Senate which makes no funds appropriated
under this account available for expenditure after December 31,
1995 unless the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 is reauthorized.
Amendment No. 74: Inserts language proposed by the
Senate, with a modification, which prohibits the expenditure of
funds for the proposing for listing or the listing of sites on
the National Priorities List (NPL) established by section 105
of CERCLA, as amended, unless the Administrator of the EPA
receives a written request to place the site on the NPL from
the governor of the state in which the site is located, unless
CERCLA, as amended, is reauthorized. The conferees note that
this provision is consistent with the reduction in spending for
Superfund pending reauthorization. Also, it reflects
Congressional efforts to turn more responsibility for Superfund
over to the States.
Amendment No. 75: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
directing the funding of the Brownfields Economic Redevelopment
Initiative at a level sufficient to complete the award of 50
cumulative Brownfields Pilots by the end of fiscal year 1996
and to carry out other elements of the Brownfields Action
Agenda. The conferees are in agreement as to the importance of
the Brownfields programs and direct the agency to provide
financial assistance to local communities to expedite the
assessment of Brownfields sites in order to ensure early
remediation of these properties in conjunction with local
economic development goals. The Brownfields initiative is to be
funded at no less than the current level.
For the hazardous substance superfund program, the
conferees have provided $1,163,400,000, and direct that the
agency prioritize resources, to the greatest extent possible,
on NPL sites posing the greatest risk. The conferees note that,
based on figures supplied by EPA, this appropriation is more
than sufficient to continue all scheduled work (including the
completion of one work phase and the movement to the next) on
all sites currently on the NPL, as well as deal adequately and
appropriately with all emergency response needs. While the
authorizing committees proceed with the reauthorization and
reform of the Superfund program, something that literally all
stakeholders endorse, the conferees felt it was inappropriate
to place new sites on the NPL. However, EPA is directed to move
forward with real clean-up actions in an improved, aggressive
manner while minimizing overhead, personnel and other
administrative costs. Additionally, the agency is directed to
submit a detailed report to the Committees on Appropriations,
prior to their respective fiscal year 1997 budget hearings, on
the demonstrated improvements, if any, on reducing such
overhead, personnel and other administrative costs.
Included in the appropriated level are the following
amounts:
$800,379,000 for hazardous substance superfund response
actions.
$125,076,000 for management and support, including
$11,000,000 transferred to the Office of Inspector General and
$3,076,000 for the Office of Air and Radiation.
$127,000,000 for enforcement.
$140,945,000 for interagency activities including
$59,000,000 for ATSDR; $48,500,000 for NIEHS, of which
$32,000,000 is for research and $16,500,000 is for worker
training; $25,000,000 for the Department of Justice; $4,350,000
for the U.S. Coast Guard; $2,000,000 for NOAA; $1,100,000 for
FEMA; $680,000 for the Department of the Interior; and $315,000
for OSHA.
The conferees have also agreed to an undistributed
reduction of $30,000,000 from administrative costs and to a
limit on administrative expenses of $275,000,000, subject to
normal reprogramming procedures.
The conferees fully support the continuation of the ATSDR
minority health professions cooperative agreement at the
$4,000,000 funding level, as well as the continuation of
adequate funding for the ATSDR health effects study on the
consumption of Great Lakes fish. Similarly, the conferees note
continued support for the Mine Waste Technology Program from
within available funds at an FY 1996 level of $3,000,000.
As noted earlier, the authorizing committees are
currently undertaking the reauthorization and reform of the
Superfund program. While the conferees acknowledge that honest
disagreements exist as to the shape such reform should take,
there nevertheless are many things the agency can and should be
doing now within the context of reform that amount to nothing
more than good government.
One such area of concern to the conferees is that of
proper notification by the agency of persons of potential
liability for facilities on the NPL. Potentially responsible
parties (PRPs) have a reasonable expectation to be notified by
the EPA in a timely manner and within a time frame that permits
participation in remedy selection and execution. In particular,
it is inequitable and unconscionable for the agency to identify
a PRP without the means to effectively participate in remedy
selections and execution and then, after the remedy has been
substantially completed, to attempt to identify other parties
to pay for the remedial activity. PRP's should be identified as
soon as practicable to allow all potentially interested parties
to bring their individual expertise and resources to bear on a
commonly identified remedy and to fully participate in the
remediation of an NPL site if they are expected to bear the
expense of the activity. The conferees expect the agency to
review all of its activities to determine the extent to which
such situations have occurred and, in conjunction with the
Department of Justice, make every effort to remedy such actions
in a non-confrontational, non-litigious manner.
Amendment No. 76: Limits administrative expenses for the
leaking underground storage tank trust fund to $7,000,000,
instead of $5,285,000 as proposed by the House and $8,000,000
as proposed by the Senate.
Amendment No. 77: Provides $500,000 for transfer to the
Office of Inspector General instead of $426,000 as proposed by
the House and $600,000 as proposed by the Senate.
Amendment No. 78: Appropriates $15,000,000 for oil spill
response as proposed by the Senate instead of $20,000,000 as
proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 79: Limits administrative expenses for oil
spill response to $8,000,000 as proposed by the Senate instead
of $8,420,000 as proposed by the House.
state and tribal assistance grants
Amendment No. 80: Appropriates $2,323,000,000 for state
and tribal assistance grants, instead of $2,340,000,000 as
proposed under program and infrastructure assistance by the
Senate, and instead of $1,500,175,000 as proposed under water
infrastructure/state revolving funds by the House. The water
infrastructure/state revolving fund account proposed by the
House and stricken by the Senate and the program and
infrastructure assistance account proposed by the Senate are
deleted, and the new state and tribal assistance grant account
is adopted in lieu thereof.
The conferees have agreed to the creation of this new
account, within the structure proposed by the Senate, so as to
enhance the Agency's ability to provide performance
partnerships, or block grants, to the states and tribal
governments. Language creating the performance partnership
program and language permitting the Administrator to make
multi-media environmental grants to recognized tribal
governments, has been included. Language which clarifies that
the funds for a grant to the City of Mt. Arlington, New Jersey,
appropriated in P.L. 103-327 in accordance with House Report
103-715, were intended for water and sewer improvements, has
also been included. Finally, the conferees have included
language proposed by the Senate which would allow a portion of
the funds appropriated for the construction grants program in
fiscal year 1992 and thereafter, under the Clean Water Act for
construction grants and special projects, to be used by States
for the purposes of administering the completion or closeout of
any remaining such projects. States will be required to
reimburse the grant recipient from other State funds available
to the State to support construction activities.
From within the appropriated level, the conferees agree
to the following amounts:
$1,125,000,000 for wastewater capitalization grants.
$275,000,000 for safe drinking water capitalization
grants, available only upon authorization and only if such
authorization occurs by June 1, 1996. If no such legislation
becomes law prior to June 1, 1996, appropriated funds
immediately become available for wastewater capitalization
grants to the states and tribal governments.
$225,000,000 for safe drinking water capitalization
grants, made available from funds provided in P.L. 103-327 and
P.L. 103-124, subject to authorization prior to June 1, 1996.
If no such authorization for safe drinking water capitalization
grants occurs prior to this date, such funds are to be
available for wastewater capitalization grants.
$100,000,000 for architectural, engineering, design and
construction related activities for high priority water and
wastewater facilities near the United States-Mexico border.
$50,000,000 for cost shared grants to the State of Texas
(Colonias).
$15,000,000 for grants to Alaska, subject to cost share
requirements, for rural and Alaska Native Villages.
$658,000,000 for state and tribal categorical grants
through traditional grants procedures as well as through the
performance partnership program. The conferees note this is
virtually identical to the fiscal year 1995 level. The
conferees agree that such funds are available in unspecified
amounts for the following specific programs:
Non-point source pollution grants under section 319 of
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA), including
appropriate activities under the Clean Lakes program; water
quality cooperative agreements under section 104(b)(3) of
FWPCA; public water system supervision grants under section
1443(a) of the Public Health Service Act; air resource
assistance to State, local and tribal governments under section
105 of the Clean Air Act; radon state grants; control agency
resource supplementation under section 106 of FWPCA; wetlands
program implementation; underground injection control;
pesticide program implementation; lead grants; hazardous waste
financial assistance; pesticides enforcement grants; pollution
prevention; toxic substances enforcement grants; Indians
general assistance grants; and, underground storage tanks. The
conferees expect the agency to consult with the Committees on
Appropriations and with the states prior to the determination
and reporting of the amounts allocated for each of these areas.
The conferees agree that Performance Partnership Grants
are an important step to reducing the burden and increasing the
flexibility that state and tribal governments need to manage
and implement their environmental protection programs. This is
an opportunity to use limited resources in the most effective
manner, yet at the same time, produce the results-oriented
environmental performance necessary to address the most
pressing concerns while still achieving a clean environment. As
part of the implementation of this program, the conferees agree
that no reprogramming requests associated with States and
Tribes applying for Performance Partnership Grants need to be
submitted to the Committees on Appropriations for approval
should the reprogrammings exceed the normal reprogramming
limitations.
From within the amount appropriated for wastewater
capitalization grants, $50,000,000 is to be made available for
wastewater grants to impoverished communities pursuant to
section 102(d) of H.R. 961 as approved by the House of
Representatives on May 16, 1995. The conferees expect the
Agency to closely monitor state compliance with this provision
to assure that funds are obligated appropriately and in a
timely manner. Unused funds allocated for this purpose are to
be made available for other wastewater capitalization grants.
$100,000,000 for the following special assistance grants
in the following amounts:
$39,500,000 for special projects as requested in the
budget submission, including $25,000,000 for Boston Harbor,
$10,000,000 for the city of New Orleans, $3,000,000 for Fall
River and $1,500,000 for New Bedford.
$5,000,000 for alternative water source projects in West
Central Florida.
$1,750,000 for wastewater infrastructure improvements
including $1,500,000 for Manns Choice, Bedford County,
Pennsylvania, and $250,000 for Taylor Township, Blair County,
Pennsylvania.
$11,625,000 for continuing clean water improvements at
Onondaga Lake.
$11,625,000 for continuation of the Rouge River National
Wet Weather project.
$22,000,000 for continuation of the Mojave Water Agency
groundwater research project.
$2,500,000 for the refurbishment and construction of
sanitary and storm sewer systems in Ogden, Utah.
$6,000,000 for wastewater facility improvements in the
vicinities of Peter Creek ($3,000,000), East Bernstadt/
Pittsburg ($2,500,000), and Vicco ($500,000), Kentucky.
Amendment No. 81: Inserts a heading as proposed by the
Senate and deletes language proposed by the Senate regarding
the adoption or implementation of an inspection and maintenance
program pursuant to section 182 of the Clean Air Act. The
conferees note that this issue has recently been considered in
a conference of authorization committees and therefore has
become unnecessary to pursue in the context of this
legislation.
Amendment No. 82: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
regarding the limitation of funds available to impose or
enforce trip reduction measures pursuant to the Clean Air Act.
The conferees note that this issue recently has been considered
in a conference of authorization committees and therefore has
become unnecessary to pursue in the context of this
legislation.
Amendment No. 83: Inserts language similar to that
proposed by the Senate which prohibits the expenditure of funds
for the signing or publishing for promulgation of a rule
concerning new drinking water standards for radon only. The
conferees note that this language is identical to that
contained in this Act for each of the last two fiscal years.
Amendment No. 84: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
which prohibits the expenditure of funds to sign, promulgate,
implement, or enforce certain requirements regarding the
regulation for a foreign refinery baseline for reformulated
gasoline.
Amendment No. 85: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
which prohibits the expenditure of funds to implement section
404(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended,
and which stipulates that no pending actions to implement
section 404 (c) with respect to individual permits shall remain
in effect after the date of enactment of this Act.
Amendment No. 86: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
regarding an exemption of section 307(b) of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act, as amended, for the Kalamazoo Water
Reclamation Plant. Similar language has been included under the
environmental programs and management account in Amendment No.
66.
Amendment No. 87: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
prohibiting the expenditure of funds to enforce section
211(m)(2) of the Clean Air Act in a nonattainment area in
Alaska. Similar language is included in amendment number 88.
Amendment No. 88: Inserts language proposed by the Senate
which prohibits the expenditure of funds to implement the
requirements of section 186(b)(2), or sections 187(b) or 211(m)
of the Clean Air Act for any moderate nonattainment area for
which the average daily winter temperature is below 0 degrees
Fahrenheit.
Amendment No. 89: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
which directs EPA to give priority assistance to small business
concerns under section 3(a) of the Small Business Act in its
Energy Efficiency and Supply programs, study the feasibility of
establishing fees to recover the costs of such assistance, and
provide a certain level of funding to support participation in
the Montreal Protocol and climate change action plan programs.
The conferees note that the budget for EPA's ``green
programs'' has grown substantially over the past several years.
Such growth cannot be sustained within the confines of an
increasingly constrained budget. There is no disagreement that
the green programs have enabled many companies to improve their
profitability by installing energy efficient technologies.
While it may be appropriate for the federal government to
provide technical assistance to organizations which would not
otherwise have the resources to make appropriate investment
decisions on energy efficient technologies, such as small
businesses, large corporations can and should make such
investment decisions without federal assistance. The conferees
agree that EPA is to undertake a study to determine the
feasibility of establishing fees to recover all reasonable
costs incurred by EPA for assistance rendered businesses in its
Energy Efficiency and Energy Supply program, as described in
the Senate amendment.
Amendment No. 90: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
which would prohibit final regulatory action under the Toxic
Substances Control Act restricting the manufacturing,
processing, distributing or use of lead, zinc, or brass fishing
sinkers or lures, unless the risk to waterfowl cannot be
addressed through alternative means. The conferees are
extremely concerned that EPA continues to ignore the importance
of allocating its budget to those activities which provide for
the greatest reduction in risk. EPA has pursued activities
which may have exceeded the agency's legal authority in the
regulation of lead by seeking to regulate lead uses that pose
no significant risks to human health or the environment, such
as EPA's proposal to ban the manufacture and distribution of
lead fishing sinkers. The agency's proposal presented little
credible evidence to suggest that lead fishing sinkers are
threatening to human health or waterfowl populations. The
conferees expect EPA to engage in activities which maximize the
use of its resources to achieve public health and environmental
benefits, and therefore believe EPA should not pursue this
rulemaking.
Amendment No. 91: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
which directs the investigation and report on the scientific
basis for EPA's public recommendations with respect to indoor
radon and other naturally occurring radioactive materials. The
conferees direct EPA to enter into an arrangement with the
National Academy of Sciences to investigate and report on the
scientific basis for EPA's recommendations relative to indoor
radon and other naturally occurring radioactive materials
(NORM). The Academy is to examine EPA's guidelines in light of
the recommendations of the National Council on Radiation
Protection and Measurements and other peer-reviewed research by
the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control,
and others. The Academy shall summarize the principal areas of
agreement and disagreement among these bodies and shall
evaluate the scientific and technical basis for any differences
that exist. EPA is to submit this report to the appropriate
committees of Congress within 18 months of the date of
enactment of this Act, and state its views on the need to
revise the guidelines for radon and NORM in light of the
Academy's evaluation. The agency also shall explain the
technical and policy basis for such views.
Amendment No. 92: Deletes language proposed by the Senate
regarding implementation of the Science to Achieve Results
(STAR) program and restricting the hire of new staff positions
under the contractor conversion program. The STAR and
contractor conversion issues have been addressed under
amendment number 65.
Amendment No. 93: Inserts language which provides
necessary expenses to continue the functions of the Council on
Environmental Quality and Office of Environmental Quality as
proposed by the Senate, instead of language proposed by the
House and stricken by the Senate to carry out the orderly
termination of the CEQ.
federal emergency management agency
Amendment No. 94: Appropriates $222,000,000 for disaster
relief instead of $235,500,000 as proposed by the House and no
funds as proposed by the Senate. The conferees note that the
1995 supplemental appropriation for disaster relief, totaling
over $6,500,000,000 coupled with available unobligated
appropriations, should be more than adequate to meet all
current and expected disaster requirements. Should an FY 1996
supplemental be necessary, the conferees would expect to
respond and make such appropriations available in a timely
manner.
The conferees note that with the passing of the 1995
hurricane seasons, there is confusion surrounding FEMA's
determination of whether beach erosion under different
conditions is eligible for assistance under the Stafford Act.
While the Code of Federal Regulations certainly provides clear
understanding of the rules by which FEMA operates, there
nevertheless exists questions as to the legal underpinnings of
this regulation. To help clarify the issue and avoid future
controversy, the agency is directed to report within 45 days of
enactment of this Act on the legal basis for this regulation
and on the possible alternatives that exist to maximize
mitigation and assistance efforts within the constraints of
available financial resources.
The conferees have been made aware of an unfortunate
situation following the Northridge Earthquake whereby, based on
assurances made by FEMA field agents, significant financial
resources were spent or obligated to make appropriate repairs
of buildings deemed eligible for assistance. Over a year
following those assurances, a determination that such expenses
were not eligible was received from FEMA headquarters,
including a request for reimbursement of spent funds. As FEMA
fully acknowledges that their erroneous assurance of assistance
is the genesis of this problem, the conferees direct FEMA to
make every effort to remedy this situation through appropriate
administrative procedures.
Amendment No. 95: Appropriates $168,900,000 for salaries
and expenses as proposed by the Senate instead of $162,000,000
as proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 96: Appropriates $4,673,000 for the Office
of the Inspector General as proposed by the Senate instead of
$4,400,000 as proposed by the House.
Amendment No. 97: Deletes reference to the Federal Civil
Defense Act, as amended, with respect to activities under the
emergency management planning and assistance account. This is a
technical deletion as activities under this Act have been
superseded by other Acts. The conferees have included language
under amendment number 114 requested by FEMA in a budget
amendment that would direct FEMA to sell its costly inventory
of trailer/mobile homes which in the past have been used to
meet temporary housing needs of some disaster victims. The
costs of transporting these trailers to a disaster site, as
well as the costs of necessary refurbishment upon return to
inventory, far exceed the benefits provided by the trailers.
More important, FEMA believes the important needs of emergency
housing can be met in less expensive yet more appropriate ways.
In making these sales, FEMA is directed to maximize receipts
and minimize expenses to the greatest extent possible.
Within the overall appropriation, the conferees have
included $950,000 for earthquake hazard research and mitigation
activities at Metro and DOGAMI; $1,000,000 for a statewide and
regional hurricane proof evacuation shelter directory for the
states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida,
Arkansas, and Georgia; and $4,000,000 in additional funds for
state emergency management assistance (EMA) grants. FEMA is
expected to reduce its underground storage tank program to
offset these additional EMA grants. The remaining funds
necessary to meet these additional expenses should be proposed
through normal reprogramming procedures.
The conferees note that FEMA has funded certain planning
positions in State emergency management agencies at 100 percent
during fiscal year 1995. The conferees direct the agency to
continue funding these positions at this same level during
1996, but also expect the agency to make appropriate plans
during the fiscal year, including notifying the States if
necessary, to reduce the federal share to no more than 50
percent for fiscal year 1997 and beyond.
Amendment No. 98: Appropriates $100,000,000 for emergency
food and shelter as proposed by the House instead of
$114,173,000 as proposed by the Senate.
Amendment No. 99: Deletes language proposed by the House
and stricken by the Senate which prohibits the expenditure of
funds for any further work on effective Flood Insurance Rate
Maps for certain areas in and around the City of Stockton and
San Joaquin County, California. The conferees are aware that
the City of Stockton and San Joaquin County, California are
restoring existing levee systems that a FEMA flood hazard
restudy has determined no longer meet FEMA's minimum flood
protection standard. The conferees are also aware that the City
and County have recently filed an appeal regarding the
determination by that study and were thus satisfied that, just
as with bill language, the duration of the appeal would provide
the opportunity to fully and properly deal with this important
matter. The conferees therefore direct FEMA to thoroughly
analyze the appeal and develop alternatives that will lead to a
resolution of this situation prior to the conclusion of the
appeal process.
The Members of Congress, local officials, and private
citizens who have addressed this issue all wish to achieve a
result that will not hinder the economic development of the
area while, at the same time, ensuring the safety and health of
all residents. The conferees share this goal. The National
Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a community-participation
program, has a history of cooperation with local governments
that spans more than two decades. During this time, a great
deal of development has taken place in mapped areas in
thousands of communities across the country. Therefore, to
assist the City and County in guiding new development, the
conferees direct FEMA to first assist by approximating the
study flood hazard areas identified on the preliminary Flood
Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM's) based on FEMA's restudy. FEMA also
is directed to consult with the City and County to ensure that
the design and construction for the restored levees will
satisfy the criteria for accrediting those structures on FIRMs
that will become effective six months after all appeals are
fully resolved. Further, the conferees direct FEMA to revise
the FIRMs at the earliest date possible to reflect accredited
improvements to the levee systems as they are completed.
The conferees note that no funds have been included to
produce Flood Rate Insurance Directories (FRIDs) or to sell
flood insurance directly to the public. While the conferees
support FEMA's effort to increase the use of federal flood
insurance, such sales should continue through normal private
commercial activity. The conferees are also in agreement that
FEMA should make no effort to suspend, revoke, or limit the
participation of St. Charles County, Missouri in the National
Flood Insurance program because of the permitting of levee
improvements to publicly sponsored levee districts.
Finally, the conferees agree the FEMA should conduct a
pilot project of a working capital fund during fiscal year
1996, and report on the outcome of the pilot periodically
throughout the course of the fiscal year.
General Services Administration
consumer information center
Amendment No. 100: Provides for a change in the
administrative expenses limitation to $2,602,000 as proposed by
the Senate instead of $2,502,000 as proposed by the House.
The conferees agree to an increase in the administrative
expenses limitation for the Consumer Information Center to
reflect the increased responsibilities of the Center as it
takes on efforts previously assigned to the Office of Consumer
Affairs.
Department of Health and Human Services
office of consumer affairs
Amendment No. 101: Appropriates no funding for the Office
of Consumer Affairs, as proposed by the Senate instead of
$1,811,000 as proposed by the House.
The conferees agree to the Senate position to delete all
funding for the Office of Consumer Affairs. The conferees agree
that the functions of producing the Consumer Resources Handbook
and organizing the Constituent Resource Exposition are to be
transferred to the Consumer Information Center. Language is
included in the bill to facilitate the transfer of personnel
and responsibilities associated with closure of this office.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
human space flight
Amendment No. 102: Appropriates $5,456,600,000 for Human
Space Flight, instead of $5,449,600,000 as proposed by the
House and $5,337,600,000 as proposed by the Senate.
The conference agreement reflects the following change
from the budget request:
A reduction of $53,000,000 to reflect savings which
accrue from the closure of the Yellow Creek Facility at Iuka,
Mississippi.
The conferees believe that savings are achievable in
shuttle operations when the recommendations called for in the
Kraft report on shuttle operations are implemented. The
conferees are encouraged that NASA has begun to aggressively
implement the recommendations and look forward to seeing the
financial savings materialize while maintaining safe shuttle
operations.
nasa industrial plant, downey
The conferees are aware of ongoing discussions between
NASA, Rockwell International, and officials of the City of
Downey, California, regarding possible disposition of NASA real
property at the NASA Industrial Plant, Downey. The conferees
understand that this planning effort could culminate in a
proposal for disposition of NASA real property at the Downey
site which may: consolidate Space Shuttle engineering
activities, thereby reducing annual Government operations
costs; possibly produce proceeds to the U.S. Treasury from
transfer of portions of the NASA real property; and make
available portions of the real property for commercial/
industrial use. The conferees direct that NASA report to the
Committees on Appropriations on progress in this disposition
planning effort, including any potential economic benefits to
the Government, by February 1, 1996.
termination liability
The conferees fully support deployment of the space
station but recognize the funds appropriated by this Act for
the development of the space station may not be adequate to
cover all potential contractual commitments should the program
be terminated for the convenience of the Government.
Accordingly, if the space station is terminated for the
convenience of the Government, additional appropriated funds
may be necessary to cover such contractual commitments. In the
event of such termination, it would be the intent of the
conferees to provide such additional appropriations as may be
necessary to provide fully for termination payments in a manner
which avoids impacting the conduct of other ongoing NASA
programs.
Amendment No. 103: Deletes House language delaying the
availability of $390,000,000 for Space Station until August 1,
1996.
science, aeronautics and technology
Amendment No. 104: Appropriates $5,845,900,000 for
Science, Aeronautics and Technology, instead of $5,588,000,000
as proposed by the House and $5,960,700,000 as proposed by the
Senate.
The conference agreement reflects the following changes
from the budget request:
A general reduction of $33,000,000 to be distributed in
accordance with normal reprogramming procedures.
A reduction of $13,700,000 from the budget request for
the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).
The reduction will leave $35,000,000 in fiscal year 1996 to
begin this program to replace the Kuiper Airborne Observatory.
An increase of $51,500,000 for the Gravity Probe-B
program which was not included in the budget request.
A decrease of $5,000,000 for the Space Infrared Telescope
Facility, leaving $10,000,000 to begin this effort. NASA is
directed to provide no additional funding for this effort
unless specifically approved by the House and Senate Committees
on Appropriations.
The conferees agree to provide $20,000,000 for initiation
of the Solar-Terrestrial Probes program. The funding includes
$15,000,000 to begin the TIMED mission and $5,000,000 for
design studies of the inner magnetospheric imager.
The conference agreement includes an additional
$3,000,000 for the university explorer program to develop
small, inexpensive spacecraft for astronomy and space physics
missions.
A general reduction of $20,000,000 for Life and
Microgravity Science. The reduction is not to be taken against
any space station programs. NASA should develop a plan that
accommodates the budget decrease while minimizing its impact on
the early scientific return from space station operations. This
plan should emphasize how NASA will ensure the quality of the
science it will conduct and maximize the value of the results
it obtains from the early utilization of space station.
An increase of $4,500,000 is provided for space radiation
research in accordance with direction contained in House report
104-201.
Within Mission to Planet Earth, the conference agreement
contains a reduction of $6,000,000 for the Consortium for
International Earth Sciences Information Network. The conferees
agree that the Consortium and NASA are free to pursue
programmatic options under existing contracts between CIESIN
and NASA and the Consortium is not precluded from competing for
future contracts with NASA. A further reduction of $75,000,000
is to be distributed in accordance with normal reprogramming
guidelines. The conferees are in agreement on the following:
NASA should work with the Department of Agriculture
to ensure that remote sensing data collected through
this program will be better used for agriculture and
resource management;
From within the funds for Mission to Planet Earth, NASA
is urged to provide for continued development and refinement of
visualization techniques and capabilities currently underway
through the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to incorporate remotely
sensed data and information into formal informational and
educational programs;
From within the available funding, $5,000,000
should be used toward full development of a windsat
mission;
Any restructuring of the Earth Observing System
Data Information System which may result from the
recently issued National Academy of Sciences report
should be implemented in such a manner as to minimize
counterproductive disruptions at the Marshall Space
Flight Center.
A general reduction of $30,000,000 to the Aeronautical
Research and Technology portion of the budget to be distributed
in accordance with normal reprogramming guidelines. The
conferees note that NASA and the FAA have recently established
a mechanism to coordinate their efforts toward an advanced air
traffic management system. While the House reduced the budget
request by $20,000,000 because such an agreement had not yet
been reached, the conferees believe some reduction in funding
is still achievable and the program is not exempt from the
general reduction. Likewise, the conferees do not intend that
the entire reduction be applied against the High Performance
Computing and Communications (HPCC) program, nor is the program
exempt from reduction. The conferees recognize the national
interest served by providing the public access to earth and
space images and data through a national information
infrastructure and strongly support funding to carry out such
NASA educational and public outreach activities funded in the
HPCC account.
Within the Space Access and Technology portion of the
account, a reduction of $7,000,000 from the Clean Car program,
a reduction of $21,300,000 for the Earth Applications systems
to return the program to the fiscal year 1995 funding level, an
increase of $3,000,000 for commercial space activities to be
used only as provided for in authorizing legislation, an
increase of $4,500,000 for a rural state technology transfer
center as provided for in authorizing legislation. The
conference agreement deletes without prejudice the increase of
$20,000,000 proposed by the Senate for development of the
reusable launch vehicle (X-33). Nonetheless, the conferees have
significant concerns over the current funding profile for this
ambitious developmental effort in that amounts proposed for the
initial years may not be adequate to resolve technical design
and engineering issues necessary to support scheduled
investment decisions by private industry. The conferees are
very supportive of this innovative public-private partnership
in developing a more efficient and commercially viable launch
system and direct NASA to conduct a re-examination of the
current funding profile, including amounts recommended for the
remainder of fiscal year 1996. The conferees expect NASA to
submit its findings and recommendations in this regard in a
report to accompany its justifications for the fiscal year 1997
budget, and to request a reprogramming, if necessary, to
optimize initial developmental efforts during the balance of
the current year.
A general reduction of $20,000,000 for the mission
communications program, to be distributed in accordance with
established reprogramming procedures.
A general reduction of $16,500,000 for Academic Programs,
leaving funding at the fiscal year 1995 level. The conferees
urge NASA to consider funding the Discovery Center project and
the Rural Teacher Resource Center. These projects are aimed at
significantly enhancing science, educational, and outreach
services for an underserved region of the country. The Oregon
State System for Higher Education is developing a network
infrastructure for advanced technology research and education
utilizing high speed and high capacity communications systems
with a prior year grant of funds from NASA under its academic
programs activity. The conferees understand that this project
has received substantial industry contributions, however, some
additional federal support may be necessary to facilitate the
acquisition of equipment and for space modifications. NASA is
urged to give priority consideration to assisting in the prompt
completion of this important initiative.
mission support
Amendment No. 105: Appropriates $2,502,200,000 for
Mission Support, instead of $2,618,200,000 as proposed by the
House and $2,484,200,000 as proposed by the Senate.
The conference agreement reflects the following changes
from the budget request:
A decrease of $125,000,000 in salaries and related
expenses resulting from the voluntary retirement of individuals
during fiscal year 1995 which had not been anticipated when the
fiscal year 1996 budget was submitted.
A general reduction of $25,000,000 from research and
operations support, subject to reprogramming guidelines.
A reduction of $50,000,000 from space communications, to
be applied at the agency's discretion to reprogramming
guidelines.
A reduction of $24,000,000 from construction of
facilities. The conferees agree that NASA may use excess fiscal
year 1994 funding, particularly identified excess planning and
design funds, to satisfy fiscal year 1996 requirements.
Amendment No. 106: Deletes House administrative provision
regarding leasing of contractor funded facilities where such
lease would amortize the contractor investment unless
specifically approved in appropriations Act.
Amendment No. 107: Adds Senate language to the House
administrative provision regarding transfer of facilities at
Iuka, Mississippi. The new language will direct that any
Federal entity having previous contact with the site will have
responsibility for environmental remediation.
Amendment No. 108: Deletes House administrative provision
directing a study of closing or re-structuring NASA flight
operations and research centers. The conferees agree to the
Senate report language requesting periodic progress reports on
the implementation of recommendations contained in the NASA
zero-based review.
Amendment No. 109: Deletes Senate administrative
provision delaying the availability of $390,000,000 for Space
Station until August 1, 1996. Adds an administrative provision
providing up to $50,000,000 of transfer authority for use at
the discretion of the Administrator.
The conferees have agreed to include an administrative
provision providing transfer authority to the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration to deal with unforeseen
emergencies. To ensure that there is no adverse effect on any
NASA program, the conferees have included general transfer
authority of up to $50,000,000 to be used at the discretion of
the Administrator subject to the case-by-case approval by the
House and Senate Appropriations Committees.
National Science Foundation
Amendment No. 110: Appropriates $2,274,000,000 for
Research and Related Activities, instead of $2,254,000,000 as
proposed by the House and $2,294,000,000 as proposed by the
Senate.
The conferees agree that the reduction within the
Research and Related Activities account should be allocated by
the National Science Foundation in accordance with its internal
procedures for resource allocation, subject to approval by the
House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.
U.S. ANTARCTIC PROGRAM
The conferees agree with the Senate report language
calling for a government-wide policy review of the U.S.
presence in the Antarctic to be conducted by the National
Science and Technology Council and reiterate that such a review
must include all program participants, including the Department
of Defense. The review should be completed and submitted to the
Congress no later than March 31, 1996.
OPTICAL AND INFRARED ASTRONOMY
The conferees recognize the need for the National Science
Foundation to support modernizing the research infrastructure
in astronomy and other disciplines. The conferees are equally
supportive of the flexible matching requirements employed by
the Foundation in its Academic Research Infrastructure program
and expect they will be continued in fiscal year 1996.
Amendment No. 111: Deletes language proposed by the
Senate to fund fair housing activities under the Department of
Justice. Language transferring such functions, with delayed
implementation of April 1, 1997 is included under fair housing
activities under title II of this Act.
Amendment No. 112: The Senate bill contained a provision
moving the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
(OFHEO), which is the financial safety and soundness regulator
of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (collectively, ``GSEs''), from
the Department of Housing and Urban Development of the
Department of the Treasury. The conference agreement does not
contain this provision. Nevertheless, the conferees want to
emphasize the seriousness with which they view the underlying
Senate provision.
In particular, the primary function of OFHEO is to issue
risk-based capital standards to ensure the safety and soundness
of the GSEs, and that these standards, as yet unissued, were to
be finalized by November 28, 1994. The conferees urge OFHEO to
refocus its emphasis from lower priority activities, such as
participation in conferences and political forums, to financial
examinations and the development of final risk-based capital
standards.
TITLE V--GENERAL PROVISIONS
Amendment No. 113: Makes technical language change.
Amendment No. 114: Deletes language proposed by the House
and stricken by the Senate regarding contractor conversions at
the Environmental Protection Agency. Additional language
relative to this matter is included in amendment numbered 65.
Inserts language directing FEMA to sell surplus mobile
homes/trailers from its inventory. Additional information on
this matter is discussed under amendment numbered 97.
Amendment No. 115: Inserts language proposed by the
Senate which allows the use of other funds available to the
Department of Health and Human Services to facilitate
termination of the Office of Consumer Affairs. This matter is
also mentioned in amendment numbered 101.
Amendment No. 116: Deletes language proposed by the
Senate regarding energy savings at Federal facilities.
Conference Total--With Comparisons
The total new budget (obligational) authority for the
fiscal year 1996 recommended by the Committee of Conference,
with comparisons to the fiscal year 1995 amount, the 1996
budget estimates, and the House and Senate bills for 1996
follow:
New budget (obligational) authority, fiscal year 1995... $89,920,161,061
Budget estimates of new (obligational) authority, fiscal
year 1996........................................... 89,869,762,093
House bill, fiscal year 1996............................ 79,697,360,000
Senate bill, fiscal year 1996........................... 81,009,212,000
Conference agreement, fiscal year 1996.................. 80,606,927,000
Conference agreement compared with:
New budget (obligational) authority, fiscal year
1995.............................................. -9,313,234,061
Budget estimates of new (obligational) authority,
fiscal year 1996.................................. -9,262,835,093
House bill, fiscal year 1996............................ +909,567,000
Senate bill, fiscal year 1996........................... -402,285,000
Jerry Lewis,
Tom DeLay,
Barbara F. Vucanovich,
James T. Walsh,
Dave Hobson,
Joe Knollenberg,
Ron P. Frelinghuysen,
Mark W. Neumann,
Bob Livingston,
Managers on the Part of the House.
Christopher S. Bond,
Conrad Burns,
Ted Stevens,
Richard Shelby,
Robert F. Bennett,
Ben Nighthorse Campbell,
Mark O. Hatfield,
Barbara A. Mikulski,
Patrick Leahy,
J. Bennett Johnston,
Bob Kerrey,
Robert C. Byrd,
Managers on the Part of the Senate.
