§ 11904 — Applications

(a) the housing administered or owned by the applicant for which the application is being submitted, which plan shall be coordinated with and may be included in the public housing agency plan submitted to the Secretary pursuant to section 1437c–1 of this title. (1) An eligible applicant that is a public housing agency may apply for a 1-year grant under this subchapter that, subject to the availability of appropriated amounts, shall be renewed annually for a period of not more than 4 additional years, except that such renewal shall be contingent upon the Secretary finding, upon an annual or more frequent review, that the grantee agency is performing under the terms of the grant and applicable laws in a satisfactory manner and meets such other requirements as the Secretary may prescribe. The Secretary may adjust the amount of any grant received or renewed under this paragraph to take into account increases or decreases in amounts appropriated for these purposes or such other factors as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. (2) The Secretary may not provide assistance under this subchapter to an applicant that is a public housing agency unless— (A) the agency will use the grants to continue or expand activities eligible for assistance under this subchapter, as in effect immediately before the effective date under section 503(a) of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998, in which case the Secretary shall provide preference to such applicant; except that preference under this subparagraph shall not preclude selection by the Secretary of other meritorious applications that address urgent or serious crime problems nor be construed to require continuation of activities determined by the Secretary to be unworthy of continuation; or (B) the agency is in the class established under paragraph (3). (3) The Secretary shall, by regulations issued after notice and opportunity for public comment, set forth criteria for establishing a class of public housing agencies that have urgent or serious crime problems. The Secretary may reserve a portion of the amount appropriated to carry out this subchapter in each fiscal year only for grants for public housing agencies in such class, except that any amounts from such portion reserved that are not obligated to agencies in the class shall be made available only for agencies that are subject to a preference under paragraph (2)(A). (4) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to federally assisted low-income housing. (c) The Secretary shall approve applications under subsection (b) that are not subject to a preference under subsection (b)(2)(A) on the basis of thresholds or criteria such as— (1) the extent of the drug-related or violent crime problem in and around the public or federally assisted low-income housing project or projects proposed for assistance; (2) the quality of the plan to address the crime problem in the public or federally assisted low-income housing project or projects proposed for assistance, including the extent to which the plan includes initiatives that can be sustained over a period of several years; (3) the capability of the applicant to carry out the plan; and (4) the extent to which tenants, the local government and the local community support and participate in the design and implementation of the activities proposed to be funded under the application. (d) In addition to the selection criteria specified in subsection (c), the Secretary may establish other criteria for the evaluation of applications submitted by owners of federally assisted low-income housing, except that such additional criteria shall be designed only to reflect— (1) relevant differences between the financial resources and other characteristics of public housing authorities and owners of federally assisted low-income housing, or (2) relevant differences between the problem of drug-related or violent crime in public housing and the problem of drug-related or violent crime in federally assisted low-income housing. (e) of title 21.