§ 557. State capital grants. 1. The commissioner may in the name of
the state, (a) in the case of agencies which have contracted with the
federal government for a capital grant (or for a loan and grant) make or
contract to make, within appropriations therefor, a state capital grant
to such agency to assist in carrying out one or more programs of urban
renewal;

(b) in the case of agencies which have not made application to or
entered into a contract with the federal government for advances, loans
or grants with respect to a specific urban renewal project, make or
contract to make a state capital grant, within appropriations therefor,
to such agency to assist in meeting the cost of surveys and plans for
such project and the administrative and other related expenditures to be
incurred in undertaking and completing such project.

All contracts for such state capital grants shall be subject to
approval by the state comptroller, and by the attorney general as to
form. The commissioner may make advances or progress payments on account
of any state capital grant contracted to be made pursuant to this
section and such advances or payments shall not constitute periodic
subsidies.

2. Any such state capital grant shall be in such amount, within
appropriations therefor, as the commissioner, in his discretion, may
deem necessary to assist the agency in discharging its obligations in
connection with the programs for which the grant shall be made;
provided, however, that no such grant shall exceed one-half of the net
cost of such program to the agency, exclusive of any federal aid or
assistance, as such net cost shall be certified by the agency and
approved by the commissioner. If the agency has not applied to or
entered into a contract with the federal government for advances, loans
or grants for a specific project, such grant shall not in any event
exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).

3. No agency shall receive any such state capital grant until (a) the
urban renewal plan has been approved by the governing body, (b) the
program set forth in such plan has been certified as eligible for
federal assistance by the appropriate federal agency, or the governing
body has found that such federal financial assistance is not necessary
for the undertaking and successful completion of the program set forth
in such plan, and (c) the governing body has attached its approval to
the grant contract. The commissioner may make temporary advances to such
agency in anticipation of any such grant.

4. Notwithstanding anything contained in this section to the contrary,
the commissioner may in the name of the state, within appropriations
heretofore or hereafter made for state capital grants to assist in
carrying out one or more local urban renewal programs, make or contract
to make advances of funds to agencies, in anticipation of any such state
capital grant, to assist such agencies in preparing preliminary economic
and physical plans for relocation housing, regulated by law or contract
as to rents, for persons and families to be displaced by the urban
renewal program whose housing needs cannot be met by the unaided
operations of private enterprise. Upon completion such plans shall be
filed with the commissioner.

No such contract or advance shall be made (a) before an urban renewal
area, to whose residents such relocation housing relates, has been
designated pursuant to section five hundred four of this article; (b)
unless the governing body has certified that the preparation of
preliminary plans for such relocation housing is necessary to the making
of a finding, pursuant to section five hundred five of this article, as
to the existence of a feasible method of relocation; and (c) in excess
of the lowest of the following amounts:

(i) the actual cost of preparation of such preliminary plans;

(ii) one-half of one per cent of the estimated construction cost of
the proposed relocation housing;

(iii) twenty-five thousand dollars;
and every such advance shall be repaid out of any state capital grant
which may become payable to the agency for the undertaking of the urban
renewal project involved.

5. Notwithstanding anything contained in this article or article
fifteen of this chapter to the contrary, the commissioner may in the
name of the state, within appropriations heretofore or hereafter made
for state capital grants to assist in carrying out one or more local
urban renewal programs make or contract to make state capital grants to
such agencies to assist in financing the cost of the preparation and
completion of one or more community renewal programs.

Any such state capital grant shall be in such amount, within
appropriations therefor, as the commissioner, in his discretion, may
deem necessary to assist the agency in discharging its obligations in
connection with the program for which the state grant shall be made;
provided, however, that no such state capital grant shall exceed
one-half of the cost to the agency of undertaking and completing such
program, exclusive of any federal or state aid or assistance therefor,
as such cost shall be certified by the agency and approved by the
commissioner.

No agency shall receive any such state grant until (a) the community
renewal program has been approved by the governing body, (b) the program
has been certified as eligible for federal assistance by the appropriate
federal agency, and (c) the governing body has attached its approval to
the state capital grant contract.

All contracts for such state capital grants shall be subject to
approval by the state comptroller, and by the attorney general as to
form. The commissioner may make advances or progress payments on account
of any such state capital grant contract to be made pursuant to this
section.

6. (a) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this
section or elsewhere in this chapter, or in any general, special or
local law, except as hereinafter provided, the commissioner may, in the
name of the state, include in determining the net cost of an urban
renewal project for the purpose of computing the amount of state
financial assistance to an agency, those expenditures made by a private
voluntary hospital and/or by a private college or private university,
within, adjacent to, or in the immediate vicinity of such project which
are recognized as non-cash grant-in-aid credits under the provisions of
section one hundred twelve of title one of the federal housing act of
nineteen hundred forty-nine, as amended and supplemented; provided,
however, that such computation shall not apply to any urban renewal
project for which a contract has been executed with the federal
government for a capital grant (or for a loan and grant) prior to the
first day of July, nineteen hundred sixty-six.

(b) Not more than fifteen per centum of the amount appropriated by the
state or otherwise available to the commissioner in any year for urban
renewal assistance to municipalities and agencies pursuant to this
section and section five hundred ten of this chapter shall be available
for the purposes of paragraph (a) of this subdivision.

(c) In no instance shall the amount of state assistance to an agency
under this subdivision exceed the net project cost, excluding the amount
of the non-cash grant-in-aid credits for expenditures made by a private
voluntary hospital and/or by a private college or private university
allowed in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred twelve
of title I of the federal housing act of nineteen hundred forty-nine as
amended and supplemented, less any federal capital grant, or loan and
grant, for such project; nor shall the aggregate amount of state
assistance for any such urban renewal project, including section one
hundred twelve grant-in-aid credits as provided by this subdivision,
exceed one-half of the total local grant-in-aid requirements necessary
to complete such project.

(d) No such section one hundred twelve non-cash grant-in-aid credits
shall be included in determining the net cost of an urban renewal
project for the purpose of computing the amount of state financial
assistance to an agency unless such expenditures were made in conformity
with a plan or undertaking for the clearance, replanning and
reconstruction or rehabilitation of a substandard or insanitary area or
areas.

(e) Such plan or undertaking, for the clearance, replanning and
reconstruction or rehabilitation of a substandard insanitary area
adjacent to or in the immediate vicinity of an urban renewal project
shall conform to the comprehensive community plan for the development of
the community as a whole. Every such plan or undertaking shall be
submitted to the commission, if any, for approval. The commission after
considering the plan or undertaking may: issue a report of unqualified
approval; or issue a report of conditional or qualified approval; or
issue a report disapproving same. The plan or undertaking shall be
submitted, together with the report of the commission, to the local
legislative body for its approval. If the commission shall have issued a
report of unqualified approval, the plan or undertaking may be approved
in accordance with the report of the commission by a majority vote of
the local legislative body. If the commission shall have issued a report
disapproving same, or shall have issued a report of conditional or
unqualified approval, or shall have failed to make its report within
four weeks of the submission of the plan or undertaking to the
commission, the local legislative body may, nevertheless, approve the
plan or undertaking but only by a three-fourths vote.