99–006 

112TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 112–191 

CJ’S HOME PROTECTION ACT OF 2011 

AUGUST 1, 2011.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. BACHUS, from the Committee on Financial Services, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1751] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Financial Services, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1751) to amend the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 to require that weather 

radios be installed in all manufactured homes manufactured or 

sold in the United States, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill 

do pass. 

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

H.R. 1751, the CJ’s Home Protection Act amends the Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 by 

requiring the installation of National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radios in all manufactured homes 

made or sold in the United States. The weather radios would 

broadcast severe weather warnings and civil emergency messages 

(including tornado and flood warnings), AMBER alerts for child abductions, and chemical spill notifications. 

The installation standard is to be established by the Secretary of 

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) upon recommendation of 

the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee, which is the federal advisory committee charged with providing recommendations 

to the HUD Secretary regarding manufactured home construction 

and safety standards. 

H.R. 1751 would require weather radios installed in manufactured housing to meet the following standards: 

• Capable of broadcasting emergency information relating to 

local weather conditions; 


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• Equipped with a tone alarm; 

• Equipped with Specific Alert Message Encoding (SAME) technology, which is the protocol used to encode the Emergency Alert 

System and NOAA Weather Radio’s Public Warning System in the 

U.S.; and 

• Compliance with Consumer Electronics Association Standard 

2009—A Performance Specification for Public Alert Receivers, 

which defines minimum performance criteria for consumer electronic products designed to receive SAME alert signals broadcast 

by NOAA’s Weather Radio network. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Every year, roughly 800 tornadoes sweep across the United 

States, resulting in approximately 80 deaths, more than 1,500 injuries, and millions of dollars in property damage. Large tornadoes 

can generate wind speeds greater than 250 miles per hour. Natural 

catastrophes often strike with little warning, inflicting property 

damage on communities, and, in some cases, resulting in loss of 

life. 

On November 6, 2005, a tornado destroyed the Eastbrook Mobile 

Home Park community in Evansville, Indiana. The tornado killed 

19 people, including two-year-old CJ Martine for whom this legislation is named, and wounding hundreds of other residents. The 

storm struck at 2 a.m. and the majority of Eastbrook residents 

were asleep and unable to respond to the tornado warnings issued 

in advance by NOAA’s National Weather Service. 

CJ’s family has worked closely with the manufactured housing 

industry to develop this legislation to provide early warning systems within homes with the hope of preventing future death and 

injury from such storms. His mother began a campaign that resulted in an Indiana law requiring that NOAA weather radios be 

installed in all new mobile and manufactured housing. The Indiana 

law prompted the federal initiative. 

Many families that reside in manufactured housing do not have 

access to a weather radio and as a result do not receive immediate 

alerts regarding storms and tornadoes. H.R. 1751 would provide 

families with an opportunity to receive a severe storm alert in 

order to seek shelter ahead of tornadoes or flooding. 

HEARINGS

No hearings were held on this legislation in the 112th Congress. 

COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

The Committee on Financial Services met in open session on 

July 20, 2011 and ordered H.R. 1751 favorably reported to the 

House by voice vote. 

COMMITTEE VOTES

Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes on the motion 

to report legislation and amendments thereto. There were no 

record votes taken on amendments or in connection with ordering 

H.R. 1751 reported to the House. A motion by Chairman Bachus 


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to report the bill to the House with a favorable recommendation 

was agreed to by voice vote. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee has held hearings and made 

findings that are reflected in this report. 

PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee establishes the following performance related goals and objectives for this legislation: 

The objectives of H.R. 1751 are to provide families with an opportunity to receive severe storm alerts or civil emergency messages 

and to receive the warnings early so that people who reside in 

manufactured housing communities can seek shelter and safety 

ahead of natural disasters or other emergency situations. H.R. 

1751 amends the Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety 

Standards Act of 1974 by requiring the installation of National 

Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration weather radios in all manufactured homes made or sold in the United States. The weather radios would broadcast severe weather warnings and civil emergency 

messages (including tornado and flood warnings), AMBER alerts 

for child abductions, and chemical spill notifications. 

NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX

EXPENDITURES

In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its own the estimate of new budget authority, entitlement authority, or tax expenditures or revenues contained in the cost estimate prepared by 

the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE

The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared by 

the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATES

Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate provided by 

the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the 

Congressional Budget Act of 1974: 

JULY 25, 2011. 

Hon. SPENCER BACHUS, Chairman, Committee on Financial Services, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1751, the CJ’s Home Protection Act of 2011. 


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If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Susan Willie. 

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 1751—CJ’s Home Protection Act of 2011 

H.R. 1751 would require the Department of Housing and Urban 

Development (HUD) to issue a new standard requiring that each 

manufactured home delivered for sale be supplied with a weather 

radio that meets certain performance specifications, including the 

capacity to receive broadcasts of emergency information related to 

local weather conditions. Under current law, a committee representing both producers and users of manufactured housing 

makes recommendations to HUD on regulations concerning such 

homes. H.R. 1751 would require the committee to develop a proposed construction and safety standard; HUD would be required to 

finalize the standard within 90 days of receiving the proposal from 

the committee. The bill also would require HUD to prepare a report 

to the Congress that examines whether the requirement to equip 

new manufactured homes with weather radios should be limited to 

homes located in specific geographic areas. 

Under current law, HUD monitors and enforces safety standards 

for manufactured homes through a joint federal and state program 

funded partially by inspection fees paid by builders of manufactured homes; the fees are recorded in the budget as discretionary 

offsetting collections and may be spent subject to provisions in appropriation acts. The program’s administrative costs as well as the 

balance of costs for monitoring and enforcement are funded 

through annual appropriation acts. Based on information from 

HUD, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1751 would increase 

spending subject to appropriation, though the effect would not be 

significant. Enacting H.R. 1751 would not affect direct spending or 

revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

The bill’s requirement that each manufactured home delivered 

for sale be equipped with a weather radio would extend an existing 

preemption of state and local authority that prohibits state and 

local governments from establishing or continuing laws regarding 

the safety of manufactured homes if those standards are not identical to the federal standards. CBO has identified safety standards 

for manufactured homes in at least one state that are similar but 

not identical to the requirements in H.R. 1751. Preempting such 

state laws is an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). Although the preemption 

would prohibit the application of state laws, CBO estimates that 

the cost of the mandate on state, local, or tribal governments would 

be insignificant and well below the threshold established by UMRA 

($71 million in 2011, adjusted annually for inflation). 

H.R. 1751 also would impose a private-sector mandate, as defined in UMRA, on builders of manufactured housing. The bill 

would require all manufactured homes delivered for sale to be supplied with weather radios that have a tone alarm and specific alert 

message encoding, and that comply with the Consumer Electronics 

Association’s performance standards for public alert receivers. 

Based on information from HUD and industry sources, the cost for 


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each radio could be about $75, including overhead costs such as 

storage, shipment fees, and taxes. According to information from 

HUD, approximately 50,000 manufactured homes were sold in both 

2009 and 2010. Consequently, CBO expects that the direct cost of 

the mandate would fall below the annual threshold established in 

UMRA for private-sector mandates ($142 million in 2011, adjusted 

annually for inflation). 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Susan Willie (for 

federal costs), Lisa Ramirez-Branum (for the state and local impact), and Paige Piper/Bach (for the private-sector impact). The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 

pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates reform Act. 

ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this legislation. 

APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to the 

terms and conditions of employment or access to public services or 

accommodations within the meaning of the section 102(b)(3) of the 

Congressional Accountability Act. 

EARMARK IDENTIFICATION

H.R. 1751 does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9 of rule 

XXI. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION

Section 1—Short title 

CJ’s Home Protection Act of 2011. 

Section 2—Congressional findings 

Section 2 outlines congressional findings regarding the positive 

role manufactured housing plays in providing affordable housing, 

and the congressional findings also encourage manufactured housing communities to provide storm shelters for its residents and 

states that manufactured housing manufacturers should include in 

the packaging of weather radios a reminder to replace its batteries 

twice a year. 

Section 3—Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety 

Standard 

This section amends the Manufactured Housing Construction 

and Safety Standards Act of 1974 by directing the Secretary of the 

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to require 

that each manufactured home delivered for sale be supplied with 


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a weather radio inside the manufactured home. These weather radios shall meet the following standards: 

• Capable of broadcasting emergency information relating to 

local weather conditions; 

• Equipped with a tone alarm; 

• Equipped with Specific Alert Message Encoding, or SAME 

technology; 

• Compliance with Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) 

Standard 2009–A Performance Specification for Public Alert Receivers. 

In addition, this section exempts manufacturers from Sections 

613 and 615 of the Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety 

Standards Act of 1974. Section 613 establishes procedures for handling a noncompliance or defect in the construction or installation 

standard after the sale of the manufactured home by the ‘‘manufacturer’’ to the ‘‘distributor’’ or ‘‘retailer’’ and prior to a sale of the 

home to the ‘‘purchaser.’’ Section 615 deals with noncompliance or 

defects by the ‘‘manufacturer’’ after the home is sold to the ultimate ‘‘purchaser’’. Section 615 governs the relationship between the 

‘‘manufacturer’’ and the ‘‘purchaser’’; such as how the manufacturer 

must provide notice of a noncompliance or defect; the manufacturer’s notice to HUD; HUD’s notice to the manufacturer if a defect 

or failure to comply is discovered; the manufacturer’s duty to maintain a list of purchasers; and correction by the manufacturer. 

Section 4—Establishment 

This section establishes that within 90 days of enactment of this 

act, the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee shall develop 

and submit to the Secretary of HUD a proposed manufactured 

housing construction and safety standard requiring that each manufactured home delivered for sale shall be supplied with a weather 

radio inside the manufactured home. The Secretary of HUD must 

issue the final order promulgating this standard within 90 days of 

receipt of the proposed standard from the Manufactured Housing 

Consensus Committee. 

Section 5—Study 

This section directs the Secretary of HUD to conduct a study of 

the applicability of the weather radio requirement to certain geographic locations at which manufactured homes are placed. The 

HUD Secretary should take into consideration severe weather conditions, such as high winds and flooding, and wind zones and other 

severe weather data available from the National Weather Service. 

This study is to be completed no later than 18 months after the enactment of this act and shall be submitted to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is printed in italic 

and existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in 

roman): 


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NATIONAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING CONSTRUCTION 

AND SAFETY STANDARDS ACT OF 1974 

TITLE VI—MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND 

SAFETY STANDARDS 

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 601. This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Manufactured 

Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974’’. 

* * * * * * * 

FEDERAL MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY

STANDARDS

SEC. 604. (a) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(i) WEATHER RADIOS.— 

(1) CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARD.—The Federal 

manufactured home construction and safety standards established by the Secretary under this section shall require that 

each manufactured home delivered for sale shall be supplied 

with a weather radio inside the manufactured home that— 

(A) is capable of broadcasting emergency information relating to local weather conditions; 

(B) is equipped with a tone alarm; 

(C) is equipped with Specific Alert Message Encoding, or 

SAME technology; and 

(D) complies with Consumer Electronics Association 

(CEA) Standard 2009–A (or current revision thereof) Performance Specification for Public Alert Receivers. 

(2) LIABILITY PROTECTIONS.—No aspect of the function, operation, performance, capabilities, or utilization of the weather 

radio required under this subsection, or any instructions related 

thereto, shall be subject to the requirements of sections 613 or 

615 or any regulations promulgated by the Secretary pursuant 

to the authority under such sections. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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