(b) (1) Section 105 of such Act is amended by inserting after subsection (a) a new subsection as follows:

"(b) Before real property acquired or held by the local public agency in connection with the project is sold or leased for its ultimate use, the governing body of the locality in which the project is situated shall have approved the urban renewal plan for the urban renewal area, and such approval shall include findings by the governing body that (i) the urban renewal plan will afford maximum opportunity, consistent with the sound needs of the locality as a whole, for the rehabilitation or redevelopment of the urban renewal area by private enterprise, and (ii) the urban renewal plan conforms to the plan for the development of the locality as a whole;".

(2) Subsections (b), (c), and (d) of section 105 of such Act, as they existed prior to the amendment made by this subsection, are hereby redesignated as subsections (c), (d), and (e), respectively.

(c) Subsection (c) of section 105 of such Act, as redesignated by this section, is amended by inserting after "sold or leased" the following: "for its ultimate use".

(d) Section 110 (c) of such Act is amended by inserting before the period at the end of the first sentence a colon and the following: “Provided, That such plan need not be approved by the governing body of the locality in which the project is situated prior to acquistion of real property in the project area but shall be approved prior to the sale, lease, or other disposition of such real property for its ultimate use".

SEC. 103. Section 106 (e) of the Housing Act of 1949 is amended by striking out "$100,000,000" and inserting in lieu thereof "$200,000,000”.

SEC. 104. Section 107 of the Housing Act of 1949 is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 107. When it appears in the public interest that an urban renewal project area should be used in whole or in part as a site for a low-rent housing project assisted under the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, the site shall be made available to the local housing agency undertaking the housing project at a price equal to the amount, as determined by the Administrator, which would be charged if it were disposed of to private enterprise for lowest rental housing, and such amount shall be included as part of the development cost of the low-rent housing project: Provided, That the local contribution in the form of tax exemption or tax remission required by sections 10 (h) of the said Act with respect to the low-rent housing project into which such land is incorporated shall (if covered by a contract which, in the determination of the Public Housing Commissioner, and without regard to the requirements of the first proviso of said setcion 10 (h), will assure that such local contribution will be made during the entire period that the project is used as low-rent housing within the meaning of the said Act) be accepted as a local grant-in-aid equal in amount, as determined by the Administrator, to one-half (or one-third in the case of a project on a three-fourths capital grant basis) of the difference between the cost of such land (including costs of clearance if any) and its sales price, and shall be considered a local grant-in-aid furnished in a form other than cash within the meaning of section 110 (e) of this title."

SEC. 105. Section 110 (b) of the Housing Act of 1949 is amended by striking out clause (2) and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

"(2) shall be sufficiently complete to indicate, to the extent required by the Administrator, the general nature of such redevelopment, improvements, and rehabilitation as may be proposed to be carried out in the urban renewal areas, the general land uses, and general nature of building requirements and density standards."

SEC. 106. Section 110 (d) of the Housing Act of 1949 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph:

"Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, in any community for which there exists a general neighborhood renewal plan meeting the requirements of subsection (d) of section 102 hereof or a community renewal program meeting the requirements of the Administrator established pursuant to clause (2) of section 103 (c) hereof, no subsequent donation or provision of a public improvement or public facility of a type falling within the purview of this subsection shall be deemed to be ineligible as a local grat-in-aid for any project in conformity with such General Neighborhood Renewal Plan or such community renewal program solely on the basis that the construction of such improvement or facility was commenced without notification to the Administrator or prior to Federal recognition of such project, if such construction was com

menced not more than five years prior to the authorization by the Administrator of a contract for loan or capital grant for the project."

SEC. 107. Section 110 (c) of the Housing Act of 1949 is amended by striking out the second paragraph following the paragraph numbered (6) and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

"Financial assistance shall not be extended under this title with respect to any urban renewal area which is not predominantly residential in character and which, under the urban renewal plan therefor, is not to be redeveloped for predominantly residential uses: Provided, That, if the governing body of the local public agency determines that the redevelopment of such an area for predominantly nonresidential uses is necessary for the proper development of the community, the Administrator may extend financial assistance under this title for such a project: Provideed further, That the aggregate amount of capital grants contracted to be made pursuant to this title with respect to such projects shall not exceed 15 per centum of the aggregate amount of grants authorized by this title to be contracted for."

SEC. 108. The Housing Act of 1949 is amended

(1) by striking out the word "capital" in sections 100, 101 (c), the second sentence of section 103 (b) and in sections 106 (a) (3), 106 (b), 106 (c) (6), 106 (c) (8), and 106 (e) ;

(2) by inserting in section 101 (a) after the word "title" in the first place where it appears therein "or for grants pursuant to subsection (c) of section 103 heereof"; and

(3) by adding at the end of section 110 a new subsection as follows: "(k) 'Federal recognition' means execution of any contract for financial assistance under this title or concurrence by the Administrator in the commencement, without such assistance, of surveys and plans."

TITLE II-LOW-RENT HOUSING

SEC. 201. The first section of the United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "In the development of public housing it shall be the policy to promote projects planned as parts of appropriate and well protected neighborhoods, to avoid projects so large as to constitute communities of one economic class, to plan projects with the lowest feasible density and of architectural patterns in keeping with sound local practice, to arrange dwelling structures so as to facilitate transfer to families whose incomes increase beyond the limits for continued occupancy, to make adequate provision for larger families and for elderly families, and to acquire existing dwellings for public housing use when appropriate and economical. In the administration of public housing it shall be the policy to vest in local public agencies full responsibility for the establishment of rents and eligibility requirements (subject to income limit ceilings hereinafter provided), the preparation of budgets, the control of expenditures, and the provision of such social and recreational guidance as is necessary in assisting families to become good tenants and citizens of the larger community. It shall further be the policy to authorize local public agencies to permit families whose income increases beyond the limits for continued occupancy to remain in their homes either through group or individual purchase, or as tenants paying a nonsubsidized rent if private housing is not available to them."

SEC. 202. (a) Paragraph (1) of section 2 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended to read as follows:

"(1) The term 'low-rent housing' means decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings within the financial reach of families of low income, and developed and administered to promote serviceability, efficiency, economy, and stability, and embraces all necessary appurtenances thereto. The dwellings in low-rent housing shall be available solely for families of low income."

(b) Paragraph (7) (b) of section 15 of such Act is amended to read as follows:

"(b) The Authority shall not make any contract for loans (other than preliminary loans) or for annual contributions pursuant to this Act with respect to any low-rent housing project initiated after March 1, 1949, unless the governing body of the locality involved has entered into an agreement with the public housing agency providing for the local cooperation required by the Authority pursuant to this Act."

(c) Paragraph (8) (a) of section 15 of such Act is amended to read as follows:

"(a) the public housing agency shall fix maximum income limits for the admission and for the continued occupancy of families in such housing, and shall also fix the exemptions, if any, from net family income which shall be allowed in applying such income limits. In fixing income limits, the public housing agency shall determine (with the approval of the Authority), for dwellings of various sizes, the lowest annual rentals (or equivalent costs of owned homes), including the value or cost to the tenants of water, gas, other heating and cooking fuels, and other utilities, at which private enterprise unaided by public subsidy is providing (through new construction and available existing structures) a substantial supply of decent, safe, and sanitary housing toward meeting the need of an adequate volume thereof. The income limits fixed by the public housing agency for families of various sizes and compositions shall be such that (A) no family shall be eligible for admission whose net annual income, less exemptions, exceeds five times such lowest annual rental, less 20 per centum, of a dwelling of the size needed by such family, except that in the case of a family entitled to a first preference as provided in section 10 (g) 20 per centum need not be deducted from such lowest annual rental; and (B) no family shall be eligible for continued occupancy whose net income, less exemptions, exceeds five times such lowest annual rental of a dwelling of the size needed by such family. In determining eligibility for admission the public housing agency may exempt not more than $600 of the income of each member of the family other than the principal income recipient and not more than the payments made by the United States Government for disability or death occurring in connection with military service; and in determining eligibility for continued occupancy may exempt (i) not more than the total income of minor members of the family other than the principal income recipient and his spouse, (ii) not more than $600 of the income of any other member of the family other than the principal income recipenent, and (iii) not more than the payments made by the United States Government for disability or death occurring in connection with military service."

(d) Paragraph (8) (b) of section 15 of such Act is amended by striking out clause (i) and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "(i) had an income for eligibility not exceeding the maximum income limits fixed by the public housing agency;".

(e) Paragraph (8) (d) of section 15 of such Act is amended by striking out "(and approved by the Authority)".

(f) Section 502 (b) of the Housing Act of 1948 is amended by striking out the last sentence thereof.

SEC. 203. (a) Section 15 (8) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended by adding at the end thereof a new paragraph as follows:

"(e) notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (d) above, the public housing agency may permit any member of a family which would otherwise be required to move under said paragraph (d) to enter into a contract (either individually or as a member of a group) for the acquisition of its dwelling unit or another suitable dwelling unit in any project of the public housing agency on the following terms:

"(A) the purchaser shall pay at least (i) a pro rata share of the cost of any services furnished him by the public housing agency, including but not limited to, administration, maintenance, repairs, utilities, insurance, provision of reserves, and other operating expenses, (ii) local taxes on his dwelling unit, and (iii) monthly payments of interest and principal sufficient to amortize a sales price equal to the appraised value (at the time such purchase contract is entered into) of the dwelling unit in not more than 40 years;

"(B) the interest rate shall be fixed at not less than the average interest cost of loans outstanding on the project, except that in the case of a project on which bonds are not outstanding the interest rate shall be fixed at not less than the going Federal rate applicable to such project;

"C) the principal payments shall be not less than one-half per centum per annum of the sales price during the first five years after purchase, 1 per centum per annum during the next five years, 11⁄2 per centum per annum during the third five years, and thereafter not less than the principal payment resulting from a level debt service of interest and principal over the balance of the payment period;

"(D) if at any time a purchaser fails to carry out his contract with the public housing agency and if no member of his family who resides in the dwelling assumes such contract, the public housing agency shall have an option to acquire his interest under such contract upon payment to him or his estate of an amount equal to his aggregate principal payments plus the value to the public housing agency of any improvements made by him, less an amount equal to 21⁄2 per centum of the sales price:

If the public housing agency determines with respect to any project that it is not feasible to enter into such contracts, it may permit a tenant family in such project whose income has increased beyond the limit for continued occupancy to continue in occupancy so long as (i) the public housing agency, after investigation (made at least annually), finds that it is impossible for the family to obtain through rental or purchase a decent, safe, and sanitary private dwelling suitable for its use and at a cost within its financial means, and (ii) the family pays a rental equal to the amount which it would be required to pay (during the first five years after purchase) if it purchased its dwelling unit under the foregoing terms of this paragraph (e). Actions taken pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph (e) shall not be deemed to violate the low-rent character of the project, and any such actions shall not be taken into account in making the determination required in the first proviso of section 10 (h)."

(b) The United States Housing Act of 1937 is further amended

(1) by inserting before the period in paragraph (7) of section 2 the following: ", other than a project the title or possession of which is vested in the Authority pursuant to section 22";

(2) by inserting after the words "unless such project” in section 10 (h) the following: "(excluding any part thereof covered by a contract or conveyed pursuant to paragraph (8) (e) of section 15)";

(3) by inserting after "may be made" in section 10 (1) the following: ", subject to any outstanding contracts made pursuant to paragraph (8) (e) of section 15,":

(4) by inserting after "acquisition" in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 15 the following: "(except pursuant to paragraph (8) (e) of section 15)"; and

(5) by inserting before the semicolon at the end of paragraph (1) of section 22 (a) a colon and the following: “Provided, That such conveyance or delivery of title shall be subject to the rights of third parties vested pursuant to paragraph (8) (e) of section 15".

SEC. 204. (a) Section 10 (b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended to read as follows:

"(b) Annual contributions shall be strictly limited to the amounts necessary, in the determination of the Authority, to assure the repayment of all sums borrowed by the public housing agency to finance the development or acquisition cost of a project together with the interest, as contracted for from time to time, on the sums so borrowed; except that the fixed contribution payable annually under any contract shall in no event exceed a sum equal to the annual vield, at the applicable going Federal rate plus 2 per centum, upon the development or acquisition cost of the low-rent housing or slum clearance project involved. The contract for annual contributions shall provide for their payment over a fixed period of years, to be determined by the Authority, which shall in no event exceed 40 years from the date the first annual contribution for the project is paid. When payment of all sums borrowed (or provisions for such payment) has been made, annual contributions shall cease."

(b) Section 10 (c) of such Act is amended to read as follows: "(c) Every contract for annual contributions shall provide (1) that whenever in any year the receipts (excluding receipts of interest and principal on dwellings under purchase contracts pursuant to paragraph (8) (e) of section 15) of a public housing agency in connection with a low-rent housing project exceed its expenditures (including debt service, administration, maintenance, establishment of reserves, and other costs and charges), an amount equal to such excess shall be divided one-third to the public housing agency and twothirds for repayment of outstanding development or acquisition loans in connection with the project either through immediate repayment or establishment of a sinking fund, and (2) that all receipts of interest and principal on dwellings under purchase contracts pursuant to paragraph (8) (e) of section 15 shall be applied for repayment of outstanding development or acquisition loans in connection with the project either through immediate repayment or establish

ment of a sinking fund. Every contract for annual contributions shall require that the public housing agency and its chairman shall, after an independent audit by the State auditor or other appropriate State official or by a public accountant of recognized standing of the books and accounts of the public housing agency, certify annually to the Authority that the agency has complied with the provisions of this Act and that the financial statements are true and correct. Such certification shall, in the absence of fraud or of evidence of gross waste or extravagance, be accepted as final and conclusive by all officers of the Federal Government."

(c) Section 22 (b) of such Act is amended by striking out in the proviso thereto the following: ", or, where applicable the second proviso of subsection 10 (c)".

SEC. 205. (a) The United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended by inserting after section 29 a new section as follows:

"SEC. 30. Upon the request of any local public agency the Authority is authorized and directed to amend any or all of its contracts with said local public agency so as to bring such contracts into conformity with the provisions of this Act, as amended at the date of such request: Provided, That contracts may not be amended or superseded in a manner which would impair the rights of the holders of any outstanding obligations of the public housing agency involved secured by any of the provisions of such contracts."

(b) Sections 30 and 31 of such Act, as they existed prior to the amendment made in subsection (a) of this section, are redesignated as sections 31 and 32, respectively.

SEC. 206. (a) Section 10 (e) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended by striking out all that follows "such action is in the public interest" in the second sentence thereof down to and including the fifth proviso and inserting in lieu thereof a period.

(b) Section 10 (i) of such Act is hereby repealed.

(c) Section 10 (j) of such Act is hereby repealed.

(d) The First Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1954, is amended by striking out the third proviso and clause (2) of the eighth proviso in the second paragraph under the heading "Public Housing Administration".

[S. 3805, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend title 42 of the United States Code relating to disposal of war and veterans' housing

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 1587 of title 42 of the United States Code is hereby amended by adding to the end thereof a new subsection "(h)" reading as follows:

"(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Administrator may, whenever he deems it desirable, in the public interest, and in the fulfillment of the purposes of this chapter, consent to the modification, with respect to purchase price, repayment period, rate of interest, time of payment of any installment on principal or interest, security, or any other term, of any contract, sale, mortgage, or other agreement to which he is a party, or which has been transferred to him pursuant to this chapter: Provided, That, in any such modification of a contract, sale, mortgage, or other agreement relating to housing projects heretofore disposed of as a whole or in other portions, exceeding four family dwelling units per portion, under paragraph (c) of this section by sale to a group organized on a mutual or cooperative basis, the Administrator shall endeavor to make such modifications as may be necessary to enable such group to retain possession, wherever this result can be achieved without undue sacrifice of the interest of the Federal Government."

[S. 3813, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To amend title I of the Housing Act of 1949 to give business concerns which are displaced from certain urban renewal areas a priority of opportunity to purchase or lease commercial or industrial facilities provided in connection with the redevelopment of such

areas

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 106 of title I of the Housing Act of 1949 is amended by adding at the end thereof a new subsection as follows: