Sec. 2. Definitions

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In this Act: The term affordable housing includes— public housing assisted under section 9 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437g ); assisted housing; housing assisted under an affordable housing program administered by the Secretary of Agriculture through Rural Housing Service; rental housing that utilizes tax credits under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; affordable rental housing owned, developed, or assisted through a State or local government or State housing finance agency, including State-assisted public housing, which is subject to a long-term affordability restriction requiring occupancy by low-income households; and private housing for low- and moderate-income households and for which the Secretary requires the owner or purchaser of the project to maintain affordability for not less than 30 years in accordance with use restrictions under regulations issued by the Secretary, which restrictions shall be— contained in a legally enforceable document recorded in the appropriate records; and consistent with the long-term viability of the project as rental or homeownership housing.

The term applicant means an eligible entity under section 4(a) that submits an application for a grant under this Act pursuant to section 7. The term assisted housing means rental housing assisted under— section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437f ); section 221(d)(3) or 236 of the National Housing Act ( 12 U.S.C. 1715l , 1715z–1); section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 ( 12 U.S.C. 1701q ); or section 811 of Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act ( 42 U.S.C. 8013 ).

The term community development corporation has the meaning given the term in section 204(b) of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 (12 U.S.C. 1715z–11a(b)). The term critical community improvements means— development or improvement of community facilities to promote upward mobility, self-sufficiency, or improved quality of life for residents of the neighborhood, such as construction or rehabilitation of parks and community gardens, environmental improvements, or site remediation at affected sites; or activities to promote economic development, such as development or improvement of transit, retail, community financial institutions, public services, facilities, assets, or other community resources.

The terms elementary school and secondary school have the meanings given those terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 7801 ). The term extreme poverty means, with respect to a neighborhood, that the neighborhood— has a high percentage of residents who are— estimated to be in poverty; or have extremely low incomes based on the most recent data collected by the Bureau of the Census; and is experiencing distress related to— per capita crime rates over 3 or more years that are significantly higher than the per capita crime rates of the city or county in which the neighborhood is located; high rates of vacant, abandoned, or substandard homes relative to the city or county as a whole; a low-performing public school; or other such factors as determined by the Secretary that further the purposes of this Act.

The terms families , public housing , and public housing agency have the meanings given those terms in section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437a(b) ). The term grantee means an eligible entity under section 4 that is awarded a grant under this Act, pursuant to selection under section 7. The term institution of higher education has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1002 ). The term local government has the meaning given the term unit of general local government in section 102(a)(1) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 ( 42 U.S.C. 5302(a)(1) ).

The term long-term viability means, with respect to a neighborhood, that the neighborhood is sustainable on an economic, education, and environmental basis. The term neighborhood means an area that— has distinguishing characteristics; represents the geographical distribution of targeted populations; and is not exclusive of areas that are integrally related to the composition of the community. The term Secretary means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The term severely distressed housing means a public or assisted housing project (or building in a project) that— has been certified, by an engineer or architect licensed by a State licensing board, as meeting criteria for physical distress that indicate that the project requires major redesign, reconstruction, or redevelopment, or partial or total demolition, to correct serious deficiencies in the original design (including inappropriately high-population density), deferred maintenance, physical deterioration or obsolescence of major systems, and other deficiencies in the physical plant of the project; and is a significant contributing factor to the physical decline of and disinvestment by public and private entities in the surrounding neighborhood, as documented by evidence of non-physical distress, such as extreme poverty, including census data and past surveys of neighborhood stability conducted by an applicant or co-applicant or their qualified designee; or was a project described in subparagraph

(A)that has been legally vacated or demolished, but for which the Secretary has not yet provided replacement housing assistance other than tenant-based assistance. The term significant means, with respect to an amendment or change to a transformation plan, that the amendment or change— changes the use of 20 percent or more of the total amount of the grant provided under this Act from use for 1 activity to use for another; eliminates an activity that is a required activity that, notwithstanding the change, would otherwise be carried out under the plan; or significantly changes the scope, location, or beneficiaries of the project carried out under the plan. The term supportive services includes all activities that will promote upward mobility, self-sufficiency, or improved quality of life, including— such activities as literacy training, remedial and continuing education, job training, financial literacy instruction, daycare, youth services, aging-in-place, physical and mental health services, and other programs for which such residents demonstrate need; case management and service coordination services, including providing coordinators for the Family Self-Sufficiency program under section 23 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437u ) and the Resident Opportunity and Supportive Services program under section 34 of such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1437z–6 ); and technical assistance to enable residents to access programs from other key agencies and local service providers in order to help residents be stably housed, improve outcomes for children, and enhance adults’ capacity for self-sufficiency and economic security, and services for the elderly and persons with disabilities to maintain independence.