Part C - Urban Community Service

20 USC 1139 - Findings

The Congress finds that
(1) the Nations urban centers are facing increasingly pressing problems and needs in the areas of economic development, community infrastructure and service, social policy, public health, housing, crime, education, environmental concerns, planning and work force preparation;
(2) there are, in the Nations urban institutions, people with underutilized skills, knowledge, and experience who are capable of providing a vast range of services toward the amelioration of the problems described in paragraph (1);
(3) the skills, knowledge and experience in these urban institutions, if applied in a systematic and sustained manner, can make a significant contribution to the solution of such problems; and
(4) the application of such skills, knowledge and experience is hindered by the limited funds available to redirect attention to solutions to such urban problems.

20 USC 1139a - Purpose; program authorized

(a) Purpose 
It is the purpose of this part to provide incentives to urban academic institutions to enable such institutions to work with private and civic organizations to devise and implement solutions to pressing and severe problems in their communities.
(b) Program authorized 
The Secretary is authorized to carry out a program of providing assistance to eligible institutions to enable such institutions to carry out the activities described in section 1139c of this title in accordance with the provisions of this part.

20 USC 1139b - Application for urban community service grants

(a) Application 

(1) In general 
An eligible institution seeking assistance under this part shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such form, and containing or accompanied by such information and assurances as the Secretary may require by regulation.
(2) Contents 
Each application submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall
(A) describe the activities and services for which assistance is sought; and
(B) include a plan that is agreed to by the members of a consortium that includes, in addition to the eligible institution, one or more of the following entities:
(i) A community college.
(ii) An urban school system.
(iii) A local government.
(iv) A business or other employer.
(v) A nonprofit">nonprofit institution.
(3) Waiver 
The Secretary may waive the consortium requirements described in paragraph (2) for any applicant who can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the applicant has devised an integrated and coordinated plan which meets the purpose of this part.
(b) Priority in selection of applications 
The Secretary shall give priority to applications that propose to conduct joint projects supported by other local, State, and Federal programs. In addition, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible institutions submitting applications that demonstrate the eligible institutions commitment to urban community service.
(c) Selection procedures 
The Secretary shall, by regulation, develop a formal procedure for the submission of applications under this part and shall publish in the Federal Register an announcement of that procedure and the availability of funds under this part.

20 USC 1139c - Allowable activities

Funds made available under this part shall be used to support planning, applied research, training, resource exchanges or technology transfers, the delivery of services, or other activities the purpose of which is to design and implement programs to assist urban communities to meet and address their pressing and severe problems, such as the following:
(1) Work force preparation.
(2) Urban poverty and the alleviation of such poverty.
(3) Health care, including delivery and access.
(4) Underperforming school systems and students.
(5) Problems faced by the elderly and individuals with disabilities in urban settings.
(6) Problems faced by families and children.
(7) Campus and community crime prevention, including enhanced security and safety awareness measures as well as coordinated programs addressing the root causes of crime.
(8) Urban housing.
(9) Urban infrastructure.
(10) Economic development.
(11) Urban environmental concerns.
(12) Other problem areas which participants in the consortium described in section 1139b (a)(2)(B) of this title concur are of high priority in the urban area.
(13) 
(A) Problems faced by individuals with disabilities regarding accessibility to institutions of higher education and other public and private community facilities.
(B) Amelioration of existing attitudinal barriers that prevent full inclusion by individuals with disabilities in their community.
(14) Improving access to technology in local communities.

20 USC 1139d - Peer review

The Secretary shall designate a peer review panel to review applications submitted under this part and make recommendations for funding to the Secretary. In selecting the peer review panel, the Secretary may consult with other appropriate Cabinet-level officials and with non-Federal organizations, to ensure that the panel will be geographically balanced and be composed of representatives from public and private institutions of higher education, labor, business, and State and local government, who have expertise in urban community service or in education.

20 USC 1139e - Disbursement of funds

(a) Multiyear availability 
Subject to the availability of appropriations, grants under this part may be made on a multiyear basis, except that no institution, individually or as a participant in a consortium of such institutions, may receive such a grant for more than 5 years.
(b) Equitable geographic distribution 
The Secretary shall award grants under this part in a manner that achieves an equitable geographic distribution of such grants.
(c) Matching requirement 
An applicant under this part and the local governments associated with the application shall contribute to the conduct of the program supported by the grant an amount from non-Federal funds equal to at least one-fourth of the amount of the grant, which contribution may be in cash or in kind.

20 USC 1139f - Designation of Urban Grant Institutions

The Secretary shall publish a list of eligible institutions under this part and shall designate these institutions of higher education as Urban Grant Institutions. The Secretary shall establish a national network of Urban Grant Institutions so that the results of individual projects achieved in one metropolitan area can then be generalized, disseminated, replicated, and applied throughout the Nation. The information developed as a result of this section shall be made available to Urban Grant Institutions and to any other interested institution of higher education by any appropriate means.

20 USC 1139g - Definitions

As used in this part:
(1) Urban area 
The term urban area means a metropolitan statistical area having a population of not less than 350,000, or two contiguous metropolitan statistical areas having a population of not less than 350,000, or, in any State which does not have a metropolitan statistical area which has such a population, the eligible entity in the State submitting an application under section 1139b of this title, or, if no such entity submits an application, the Secretary, shall designate one urban area for the purposes of this part.
(2) Eligible institution 
The term eligible institution means
(A) a nonprofit">nonprofit municipal university, established by the governing body of the city in which it is located, and operating as of July 23, 1992, under that authority; or
(B) an institution of higher education, or a consortium of such institutions any one of which meets all of the requirements of this paragraph, which
(i) is located in an urban area;
(ii) draws a substantial portion of its undergraduate students from the urban area in which such institution is located, or from contiguous areas;
(iii) carries out programs to make postsecondary educational opportunities more accessible to residents of such urban area, or contiguous areas;
(iv) has the present capacity to provide resources responsive to the needs and priorities of such urban area and contiguous areas;
(v) offers a range of professional, technical, or graduate programs sufficient to sustain the capacity of such institution to provide such resources; and
(vi) has demonstrated and sustained a sense of responsibility to such urban area and contiguous areas and the people of such areas.

20 USC 1139h - Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1999 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years to carry out this part.