(a) In general

The Secretary shall provide assistance directly to a jurisdiction only if—

(1) the jurisdiction submits to the Secretary a comprehensive housing affordability strategy (hereafter in this section referred to as the “housing strategy”);

(2) the jurisdiction submits annual updates of the housing strategy; and

(3) the housing strategy, and any annual update of such strategy, is approved by the Secretary.

The Secretary shall establish such dates and manner for the submission and approval of housing strategies under this section that the Secretary determines will facilitate orderly program management by jurisdictions and provide for timely investment or other use of funds made available under subchapter II of this chapter and other programs requiring submission of a housing strategy. If the Secretary finds there is good cause, the Secretary may provide reasonable extensions of any deadlines for submission of a jurisdiction’s housing strategy.

(b) Contents

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A housing strategy submitted under this section shall be in a form that the Secretary determines to be appropriate for the assistance the jurisdiction may be provided and shall—

(1) describe the jurisdiction’s estimated housing needs projected for the ensuing 5-year period, and the jurisdiction’s need for assistance for very low-income, low-income, and moderate-income families, specifying such needs for different types of tenure and for different categories of residents, such as very low-income, low-income, and moderate-income families, the elderly, persons with disabilities, single persons, large families, residents of nonmetropolitan areas, families who are participating in an organized program to achieve economic independence and self-sufficiency, persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking and other categories of persons residing in or expected to reside in the jurisdiction that the Secretary determines to be appropriate;

(2) describe the nature and extent of homelessness, including rural homelessness, within the jurisdiction, providing an estimate of the special needs of various categories of persons who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, including tabular representation of such information, and a description of the jurisdiction’s strategy for (A) helping low-income families avoid becoming homeless; (B) addressing the emergency shelter and transitional housing needs of homeless persons (including a brief inventory of facilities and services that meet such needs within that jurisdiction); and (C) helping homeless persons make the transition to permanent housing and independent living;

(3) describe the significant characteristics of the jurisdiction’s housing market, indicating how those characteristics will influence the use of funds made available for rental assistance, production of new units, rehabilitation of old units, or acquisition of existing units;

(4) explain whether the cost of housing or the incentives to develop, maintain, or improve affordable housing in the jurisdiction are affected by public policies, particularly by policies of the jurisdiction, including tax policies affecting land and other property, land use controls, zoning ordinances, building codes, fees and charges, growth limits, and policies that affect the return on residential investment, and describe the jurisdiction’s strategy to remove or ameliorate negative effects, if any, of such policies, except that, if a State requires a unit of general local government to submit a regulatory barrier assessment that is substantially equivalent to the information required under this paragraph, as determined by the Secretary, the unit of general local government may submit its assessment submitted to the State to the Secretary and shall be considered to have complied with this paragraph;

(5) explain the institutional structure, including private industry, nonprofit organizations, and public institutions, through which the jurisdiction will carry out its housing strategy, assessing the strengths and gaps in that delivery system and describing what the jurisdiction will do to overcome those gaps;

(6) indicate resources from private and non-Federal public sources that are reasonably expected to be made available to carry out the purposes of this Act, explaining how funds made available will leverage those additional resources and identifying, where the jurisdiction deems it appropriate, publicly owned land or property located within the jurisdiction that may be utilized to carry out the purposes of this Act;

(7) set forth the jurisdiction’s plan for investment or other use of housing funds made available under subchapter II of this chapter, the United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.], the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act [42 U.S.C. 11301 et seq.], during the ensuing year or such longer period as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, indicating the general priorities for allocating investment geographically within the jurisdiction and among different activities and housing needs;

(8) describe how the jurisdiction’s plan will address the housing needs identified pursuant to subparagraphs ¹ (1) and (2), describe the reasons for allocation priorities, and identify any obstacles to addressing underserved needs;

(9) describe the means of cooperation and coordination among the State and any units of general local government in the development, submission, and implementation of their housing strategies;

(10) in the case of a unit of local government, describe the number of public housing units in the jurisdiction, the physical condition of such units, the restoration and revitalization needs of public housing projects within the jurisdiction, the public housing agency‘s strategy for improving the management and operation of such public housing, and the public housing agency’s strategy for improving the living environment of low- and very-low-income families residing in public housing;

(11) describe the manner in which the plan of the jurisdiction will help address the needs of public housing;

(12) in the case of a State, describe the strategy to coordinate the Low-Income Tax Credit with development of housing, including public housing, that is affordable to very low-income and low-income families;

(13) describe the jurisdiction’s activities to encourage public housing residents to become more involved in management and participate in homeownership;

(14) describe the standards and procedures according to which the jurisdiction will monitor activities authorized under this Act and ensure long-term compliance with the provisions of this Act;

(15) include a certification that the jurisdiction will affirmatively further fair housing;

(16) include a certification that the jurisdiction has in effect and is following a residential antidisplacement and relocation assistance plan that, in any case of any such displacement in connection with any activity assisted with amounts provided under subchapter II, requires the same actions and provides the same rights as required and provided under a residential antidisplacement and relocation assistance plan under section 104(d) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 [42 U.S.C. 5304(d)] in the event of displacement in connection with a development project assisted under section 106 or 119 of such Act [42 U.S.C. 5306, 5318];

(17) estimate the number of housing units within the jurisdiction that are occupied by low-income families or very low-income families and that contain lead-based paint hazards, as defined in section 4851b of this title, outline the actions proposed or being taken to evaluate and reduce lead-based paint hazards, and describe how lead-based paint hazard reduction will be integrated into housing policies and programs;

(18) include the number of families to whom the jurisdiction will provide affordable housing as defined in section 12745 of this title using funds made available;

(19) for any housing strategy submitted for fiscal year 1994 or any fiscal year thereafter and taking into consideration factors over which the jurisdiction has control, describe the jurisdiction’s goals, programs, and policies for reducing the number of households with incomes below the poverty line (as defined by the Office of Management and Budget and revised annually), and, in consultation with other appropriate public and private agencies, state how the jurisdiction’s goals, programs, and policies for producing and preserving affordable housing set forth in the housing strategy will be coordinated with other programs and services for which the jurisdiction is responsible and the extent to which they will reduce (or assist in reducing) the number of households with incomes below the poverty line; and

(20) describe the jurisdictions activities to enhance coordination between public and assisted housing providers and private and governmental health, mental health, and service agencies.

The Secretary may provide for the submission of abbreviated housing strategies by jurisdictions that are not otherwise expected to be participating jurisdictions under subchapter II of this chapter. Such an abbreviated housing strategy shall be appropriate to the types and amounts of assistance the jurisdiction is to receive as determined by the Secretary.

(c) Approval

(1) In general

The Secretary shall review the housing strategy upon receipt. Not later than 60 days after receipt by the Secretary, the housing strategy shall be approved unless the Secretary determines before that date that (A) the housing strategy is inconsistent with the purposes of this Act, or (B) the information described in subsection (b) has not been provided in a substantially complete manner. For the purpose of the preceding sentence, the adoption or continuation of a public policy identified pursuant to subsection (b)(4) shall not be a basis for the Secretary’s disapproval of a housing strategy. During the 18-month period following November 28, 1990, the Secretary may extend the review period to not longer than 90 days.

(2) Actions in case of disapproval

If the Secretary disapproves the housing strategy, the Secretary shall immediately notify the jurisdiction of such disapproval. Not later than 15 days after the Secretary’s disapproval, the Secretary shall inform the jurisdiction in writing of (A) the reasons for disapproval, and (B) actions that the jurisdiction could take to meet the criteria for approval. If the Secretary fails to inform the jurisdiction of the reasons for disapproval within such 15-day period, the housing strategy shall be deemed to have been approved.

(3) Amendments and resubmission

The Secretary shall, for a period of not less than 45 days following the date of first disapproval, permit amendments to, or the resubmission of, any housing strategy that is disapproved. The Secretary shall approve or disapprove a housing strategy not less than 30 days after receipt of such amendments or resubmission.

(d) Coordination of State and local housing strategies

The Secretary may establish such requirements as the Secretary deems appropriate to encourage coordination between and among the housing strategies of a State and any participating jurisdictions within the State, except that a unit of general local government shall not be required to have elements of its housing strategy approved by the State.

(e) Consultation with social service agencies

(1) In general

When preparing a housing strategy for submission under this section, a jurisdiction shall make reasonable efforts to confer with appropriate social service agencies regarding the housing needs of children, elderly persons, persons with disabilities, homeless persons, and other persons served by such agencies.

(2) Lead-based paint hazards

When preparing that portion of a housing strategy required by subsection (b)(16), a jurisdiction shall consult with State or local health and child welfare agencies and examine existing data related to lead-based paint hazards and poisonings, including health department data on the addresses of housing units in which children have been identified as lead poisoned.

(f) Barrier removal

Not later than 4 months after completion of the final report of the Secretary’s Advisory Commission on Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a written report outlining the Secretary’s recommendations for legislative and administrative actions to facilitate the removal or modification of excessive, duplicative, or unnecessary regulations or other requirements of Federal, State, or local governments that (1) inflate the costs of or otherwise inhibit the construction, rehabilitation, or management of housing, particularly housing that otherwise could be affordable to low-income and moderate-income families, or (2) contribute to economic or racial discrimination.

(g) Treatment of troubled public housing agencies

(1) Effect of troubled status on CHAS

The comprehensive housing affordability strategy (or any consolidated plan incorporating such strategy) for the State or unit of general local government in which any troubled public housing agency is located shall not be considered to comply with the requirements under this section unless such plan includes a description of the manner in which the State or unit will provide financial or other assistance to such troubled agency in improving its operations to remove such designation.

(2) Definition

For purposes of this subsection, the term “troubled public housing agency” means a public housing agency that, upon the effective date of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998, is designated under section 6(j)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1437d(j)(2)] as a troubled public housing agency.