Certain HOME housing aid would allow incomes up to the local median

Certain HOME housing assistance would use an income limit equal to the area's median family income. The limit would apply to the housing assistance and homebuyer provisions specifically amended in Section 2. HUD, the federal housing department, would adjust the income limit for family size. Meeting this income limit would not by itself guarantee assistance.

Specified HOME housing activities would be exempt from review under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Exemptions would cover qualifying infill construction, property purchases for affordable housing, covered rehabilitation, and new construction with 15 homes or fewer. Infill projects must be within a municipality on previously disturbed land of no more than five acres, with adequate utilities and services, and substantially surrounded by residential or commercial development. Limits on repeated reviews would require substantially unchanged project scope, scale, and location; limits tied to funding changes would apply where practicable and legally allowed.

Eligible governments could use HOME money for infrastructure directly related to supported housing. Eligible governments must receive no assistance under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. Improvements must directly relate to housing supported by HOME or the federal housing tax credit under Internal Revenue Code Section 42. The work would have to meet the labor standards named in the bill. Homes receiving no HOME assistance would not take on HOME requirements merely because they benefit from the improvements. HUD would have to issue rules within one year after enactment.

A rental home occupied by a tenant with a Section 8 voucher could qualify as affordable housing under HOME. This rule would cover homes occupied by tenants receiving Section 8 rental assistance that follows the tenant. The tenant's rent payment could not exceed the amount allowed under the voucher program. Total rent could not exceed the amount approved by the public housing agency managing the assistance.

Federal rules requiring American-made materials would apply only to specified infrastructure work within HOME-assisted activities. The limit would govern requirements under the Build America, Buy America Act and its related rules. The infrastructure work must receive HOME funds under the provision described in Section 4.