Housing preservation grants

The purpose of this section is to authorize the Secretary to make grants to eligible grantees including private nonprofit organizations, Indian tribes, general units of local government, counties, States, and consortia of other eligible grantees, in order to— Preservation programs assisted under this section shall— The Secretary shall allocate grant funds under this section for use in each State on the basis of a formula contained in a regulation prescribed by the Secretary using the average of the ratios between— The Secretary shall evaluate the merits of each statement on the basis of such criteria as the Secretary shall prescribe, including the extent— A grantee may use housing preservation grant funds under this section for replacement housing only after providing documentation to the Secretary that— Assistance under this section may be provided with respect to rental or cooperative housing only if— the owner agrees— The Secretary shall provide for such advance payments of assistance under this section as the Secretary determines is necessary to effectively carry out the provisions of this section. The Secretary shall, at least on an annual basis, make such review and audits as may be necessary or appropriate to determine whether the grantee has carried out its activities in a timely manner and in accordance with the requirements of this section, the degree to which the activities assisted benefitted low income families or persons and very low-income families or persons who lacked adequate housing, and whether the grantee has a continuing capacity to carry out the activities in a timely manner. The Secretary may adjust, reduce, or withdraw resources made available to grantees receiving assistance under this section, or take other action as appropriate in accordance with the findings of these reviews and audits. Any amounts which become available as a result of actions under this subsection shall be reallocated as housing preservation grants to such grantee or grantees as the Secretary may determine. The Secretary shall establish procedures which support national historic preservation objectives and which assure that, if any rehabilitation proposed to be assisted under this section would affect property that is included or is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, such activity shall not be undertaken unless (1) it will reasonably meet the standards for rehabilitation issued by the Secretary of the Interior and the appropriate State historic preservation officer is afforded the opportunity to comment on the specific rehabilitation plan, or (2) the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is afforded an opportunity to comment on cases for which the recipient of assistance, in consultation with the State historic preservation officer, determines that the proposed rehabilitation activity cannot reasonably meet such standards or would adversely affect historic property as defined therein.