Housing and Urban Development FY2001 Appropriations bill

Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001- Makes appropriations for FY 2001 for the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and for sundry independent agencies.

Title I: Department of Veterans Affairs - Makes appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs for: (1) veterans' compensation, pensions, and readjustment benefits; (2) veterans' insurance and indemnities; (3) veterans' housing, education, and vocational rehabilitation loan accounts; (4) veterans' medical care; (5) medical and prosthetic research; (6) medical administration; (7) departmental administration; (8) the National Cemetery Administration; (9) the Office of Inspector General; (10) construction; (11) the parking revolving fund; and (12) grants to States for construction of extended care facilities and cemeteries.

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds made available under this title.

(Sec. 114) Prohibits the obligation of funds appropriated for medical care for the Department of Veterans Affairs for the realignment of the health care delivery system in Veterans Integrated Service Network 12 until the Secretary of Veterans Affairs makes a specified certification regarding impacts on the accessibility of veterans health care services to affected veterans.

Title II: Department of Housing and Urban Development - Makes appropriations for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for: (1) public and Indian housing; (2) the Public Housing Capital and Operating Funds; (3) drug elimination grants for low-income housing; (4) revitalization of severely distressed public housing; (5) Native American housing block grants; (6) Indian housing loan guarantees; (7) housing opportunities for persons with AIDS; (8) the Office of Rural Housing and Economic Development; (9) empowerment zones and enterprise communities; (10) the community development fund; (11) brownfields redevelopment; (12) the HOME investment partnerships program; (13) homeless assistance grants; (14) Shelter Plus Care program renewals; (15) housing for special populations; (16) the Federal Housing Administration (FHA); (17) the Government National Mortgage Association; (18) housing policy development and research; (19) fair housing activities; (20) the Lead Hazard Reduction Program; (21) management and administration; (22) the Office of Inspector General; and (23) carrying out the Federal Housing Enterprise Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992.

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds made available under this title.

(Sec. 203) Requires the Secretary of HUD, from amounts made available under this title for FY 2001 for housing opportunities for persons with AIDS, to make a grant for any State that: (1) received an allocation in a prior fiscal year due to having a specified number of AIDS cases outside of a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) with a population exceeding 500,000; and (2) is not otherwise eligible for a FY 2001 allocation because the areas outside the MSAs that qualify for funding in FY 2001 do not have the number of AIDS cases required.

(Sec. 206) Bars the use of funds appropriated by any Act by the Secretary of HUD to prohibit any entity that is responsible for convening and managing a continuum of care process in a community for purposes of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act from participating in such capacity unless the Secretary has published in the Federal Register a description of all circumstances that would be grounds for, and the procedures for, such prohibition.

(Sec. 207) Requires any grant or assistance made pursuant to this title to be made in accordance with HUD accountability provisions of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 on a competitive basis.

(Sec. 210) Amends the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 to make housing assistance under such Act available for law enforcement officers on reservations or in other Indian areas if the presence of such officers may deter crime.

(Sec. 211) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated in any Act by the Secretary of HUD to provide any assistance to benefit a facility which sells predominantly cigarettes or other tobacco products (such sales representing more than 35 percent of the annual, total in-store, non-fuel sales).

(Sec. 212) Bars the use of funds to implement the June 2000 agreement between the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Public Housing Administration, and HUD related to the allocation of operating subsidies for such Housing Administration unless the Housing Administration and HUD submit by December 31, 2000, a schedule of benchmarks and measurable goals to the Appropriations Committees designed to address issues of mismanagement and safeguards against fraud and abuse.

(Sec. 214) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to provide for onsite computer access and training resources for public housing residents.

Authorizes computer centers in and around public housing, through a Neighborhood Networks initiative and related activities, to be established, operated, and assisted by the use of: (1) public housing capital and operating funds, and certain technical assistance; and (2) demolition, site revitalization, replacement housing, and tenant-based assistance grants for projects.

(Sec. 215) Considers the properties known as the Hawthornes in Independence, Missouri, as eligible multifamily housing for purposes of participating in a specified multifamily housing restructuring program.

(Sec. 216) Amends the National Housing Act to extend through FY 2001 the authority for all project owners to retain excess income under the rental and cooperative housing program.

(Sec. 217) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to modify the definition of "urban county" for purposes of the community development block grant program and to authorize an urban county that was so classified for FY 1999, at its option, to remain classified as such for purposes of such Act.

(Sec. 218) Exempts public housing agencies in Alaska and Mississippi from certain membership requirements for their boards of directors under the United States Housing Act of 1937.

(Sec. 221) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to make recipients under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 eligible for certain supportive services and empowerment activities currently offered to public housing residents.

(Sec. 222) Extends the availability of certain grants made available under an economic development initiative pursuant to the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 through FY 2001.

(Sec. 224) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to extend through FY 2001 the 25 percent public services cap for the City of Los Angeles, California, under the community development block grant program.

(Sec. 226) Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to permit the use of assistance for the costs of implementing management information systems for collecting unduplicated counts of homeless people and analyzing patterns of use of assistance under such Act.

(Sec. 227) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize loan guarantees for Indian housing to be used to refinance standard housing on Indian trust lands or in Alaska Native areas.

(Sec. 228) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to include within the definition of "eligibility event," for purposes of eligibility for enhanced Section 8 voucher assistance, any termination or expiration of a contract for rental assistance during fiscal years after 1996 prior to the effective date of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001.

(Sec. 229) Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to prohibit grants for housing assistance for any governmental entity unless such entity agrees to develop and implement policies for the discharge of persons from publicly funded institutions to prevent such discharge from immediately resulting in homelessness.

(Sec. 230) Amends the Preserving Affordable Housing for Senior Citizens and Families into the 21st Century Act to redesignate the Commission on Affordable Housing and Health Care Facility Needs in the 21st Century as the Commission on Affordable Housing and Health Care Facility Needs for Seniors in the 21st Century.

(Sec. 231) Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to terminate the Interagency Council on the Homeless on October 1, 2005 (currently, October 1, 1994).

(Sec. 232) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to revise provisions regarding Section 8 public housing agency (PHA) project-based assistance. Allows a PHA to use amounts provided under an annual contributions contract to enter into a housing assistance payment contract with respect to an existing, newly constructed, or rehabilitated structure subject to specified requirements, including those for: (1) income mixing; (2) resident choice; (3) contract terms and extensions; (4) rent calculations; and (5) tenant selection.

(Sec. 233) Requires the Secretary of HUD, in managing and disposing of any multifamily property that is held by the Secretary and occupied primarily by elderly or disabled families, to maintain any Section 8 rental assistance payments that are attached to any dwelling units in the property.

(Sec. 234) Makes section 8 family unification assistance available for up to 18 months for eligible youths between the ages of 18 and 21 who have left foster care at age 16 or older.

(Sec. 235) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to make permanent an FHA multifamily mortgage credit demonstration program.

Title III: Independent Agencies - Makes appropriations for: (1) the American Battle Monuments Commission; (2) the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board; (3) the Department of the Treasury for community development financial institutions; (4) the Consumer Product Safety Commission; (5) the Corporation for National and Community Service (with a rescission of amounts available in the National Service Trust); (6) the Office of Inspector General; (7) the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; (8) the Department of Defense for Army cemeterial expenses; (9) the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for carrying out specified activities under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA); and (10) the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for carrying out specified activities under CERCLA, the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, and the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Appropriates funds for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for: (1) science and technology activities; (2) environmental programs and management; (3) the Office of Inspector General; (4) buildings and facilities; (5) Superfund; (6) the leaking underground storage tank program; (7) oil spill response programs; and (8) assistance to States and Indian tribes for environmental programs and infrastructure.

Amends the Clean Air Act to make prohibitions on Federal assistance (including highway funds) for activities which do not comply with State implementation plans for air quality standards inapplicable to nonattainment areas until one year after the area is first designated nonattainment for a specific national ambient air quality standard. Applies this provision with respect to the standard for which an area is newly designated nonattainment and provides that it does not affect the area's requirements with respect to other standards for which it is designated nonattainment.

Appropriates funds for: (1) the Executive Office of the President for the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Office of Environmental Quality; and (2) the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General.

Makes appropriations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency for: (1) disaster relief; (2) disaster assistance direct loans; (3) salaries and expenses; (4) the Office of Inspector General; (5) emergency management planning and assistance; (6) a specified emergency food and shelter program; (7) the National Flood Insurance Fund; and (8) the National Flood Mitigation Fund.

Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to extend through December 31, 2001: (1) a certain ceiling on obligations issued under the national flood insurance program; and (2) the authorization of appropriations for certain studies.

Makes appropriations for: (1) the General Services Administration for the Federal Consumer Information Center; (2) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for human space flight, science, aeronautics, and technology research and development, mission support, and the Office of Inspector General; (3) the National Credit Union Administration's Central Liquidity Facility; (4) the National Science Foundation for research, major construction projects, science and engineering education and human resources programs, salaries and expenses, and the Office of Inspector General; (5) the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation; and (6) the Selective Service System.

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this title.

Title IV: General Provisions - Sets forth provisions regarding availability, and prohibitions on the use, of funds appropriated by this Act. Expresses the sense of Congress that equipment and products purchased with funds made available in this Act should be American-made.

(Sec. 426) Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of any of the funds provided in title II of this Act for technical assistance, training, or management improvements unless HUD provides a description of each proposed activity and a detailed budget estimate of costs as part of the budget justifications to the Appropriations Committees.

(Sec. 427) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act for the designation, or approval of the designation, of any area as an ozone nonattainment area under the Clean Air Act pursuant to the eight-hour national ambient air quality standard for ozone promulgated by the EPA on July 18, 1997, and remanded by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on May 14, 1999, in the case American Trucking Ass'ns. v. EPA prior to June 15, 2001, or final adjudication of such case by the Supreme Court, whichever occurs first.

(Sec. 428) Amends the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Federal Employment Reduction Assistance Act of 1996 to authorize the NASA Administrator to offer voluntary separation incentive payments in order to restructure and improve the efficiency of the workforce. Extends voluntary separation incentives under such Act for separations occurring before September 30, 2002 (currently, September 30, 2000).

Requires the NASA Administrator to report to the Appropriations Committees on restructuring activities.

(Sec. 429) Amends the Commercial Space Launch Act to extend, though December 31, 2001, its commercial space launch industry damage indemnification provisions.

Title V: Filipino Veterans' Benefits Improvements - Makes a certain payment rate for service-connected disability benefits paid to members of the Philippine Commonwealth Army who served with U.S. armed forces during World War II inapplicable to those members who are U.S. citizens or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Makes such individuals eligible for hospital and nursing home care and medical services in the same manner as a veteran.

Authorizes medical services to veterans with service-connected disabilities within the limits of an outpatient clinic in the Philippines under the Secretary of Veterans Affairs' direct jurisdiction.

Title VI: Debt Reduction - Provides for the deposit of an additional amount into the account to reduce the public debt.