I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3404

To amend title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act of

1974 to establish a consensus committee for maintenance and revision

of the Federal manufactured home construction and safety standards,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 7, 1996

Mr. MCINTOSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To amend title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to establish a consensus committee

for maintenance and revision of the Federal manufactured home construction and safety standards, and for

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Safe and Affordable Manufactured Housing Improve6 ment Act of 1996.’’
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1 (b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend2 ment is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal

3 of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be con4 sidered to be made to that section or other provision of

5 the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 Section 603 (42 U.S.C. 5402) is amended—

8 (1) by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the

9 following new paragraph:

10 ‘‘(7) ‘Federal manufactured home construction

11 and safety standard’ means a reasonable perform12 ance standard for the construction, design, and

13 transportation of a manufactured home which meets

14 the needs of the public including the need for afford15 ability, quality, durability, and safety;’’;

16 (2) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

17 end;

18 (3) in paragraph (13), by striking the period at

19 the end and inserting a semicolon; and

20 (4) by adding at the end thereof the following

21 new paragraphs:

22 ‘‘(14) ‘consensus committee’ means the body es23 tablished to provide periodic recommendations to the

24 Secretary pursuant to the provisions of section 604;
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1 ‘‘(15) ‘consensus process’ means the process by

2 which the consensus committee, established pursuant

3 to section 604, recommends to the Secretary any ad4 ditions, revocations, and/or amendments to the Fed5 eral manufactured home construction and safety

6 standards and any related interpretations;

7 ‘‘(16) ‘transportation’ means the movement of a

8 manufactured home or manufactured home compo9 nents from the manufacturing facility to a retailer’s

10 place of business or a location selected by the pur11 chaser, and the movement of a manufactured home

12 or manufactured home components from the

13 retailers’s place of business to a site selected by the

14 home purchaser, where applicable; and

15 ‘‘(17) ‘Secretariat’ means the qualified technical

16 or building code maintenance organization selected

17 by the Secretary to administer the consensus proc18 ess, and to appoint the members of the consensus

19 committee established under section 604.’’.

20 SEC. 3. FEDERAL MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION

21 AND SAFETY STANDARDS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 604 (42 U.S.C. 5403) is

23 amended—

24 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the

25 following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

2 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—The Sec3 retary shall establish, by order, appropriate Federal

4 manufactured home design, construction, transpor5 tation, and safety performance standards that shall

6 be reasonable, practicable, objectively stated, and re7 flective of current developments in building stand8 ards and technology. The Secretary shall issue such

9 orders pursuant to the consensus process described

10 in this section.

11 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF CONSENSUS COMMIT12 TEE AND PROCEDURES.—Not later than 180 days

13 after the date of the enactment of the Manufactured

14 Housing Improvement Act of 1996, the Secretary, in

15 accordance with all relevant statutes, regulations, or16 ders, and directives pertaining to competitively bid

17 procurement, shall enter into a contract with a

18 qualified technical or building code organization to

19 administer a consensus process as its secretariat and

20 to establish a manufactured housing consensus com21 mittee and appoint the members of that committee.

22 The performance of such secretariat shall be re23 viewed by the Secretary on a periodic basis. The

24 consensus committee shall be exempt from the re25 quirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
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1 All meetings shall be open to the public, and ad2 vance notice of such meetings shall be provided in

3 the Federal Register. Any final action by the consen4 sus committee shall be taken only after notice to the

5 public and opportunity for public comment in ac6 cordance with the provisions of section 553 and sub7 chapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States

8 Code.

9 ‘‘(3) SELECTION AND QUALIFICATIONS.—The

10 consensus committee shall function, and its members

11 shall be selected, in accordance with the procedures

12 for consensus committees promulgated by the Amer13 ican National Standards Institute. Members of the

14 consensus committee shall be qualified to participate

15 in the work of the committee. The consensus com16 mittee and the secretariat organization shall be cer17 tified by the American National Standards Institute

18 and shall be provided reasonable staff resources by

19 the administering organization.

20 ‘‘(4) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The consensus com21 mittee established under this subsection shall be re22 sponsible for the maintenance and revision of the

23 Federal manufactured home construction and safety

24 standards, including the interpretation of such

25 standards.
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1 ‘‘(5) REVISIONS TO STANDARDS.—The consen2 sus committee shall consider additions, deletion, and

3 amendments to the Federal manufactured home con4 struction and safety standards, as needed, over a 2-

5 year cycle. The consensus committee, after notice

6 and an opportunity for public comment, shall pub7 lish any proposed standards or revisions and notice

8 of their submission to the Secretary, in the Federal

9 Register. This notice shall describe the cir10 cumstances under which the proposed standards

11 could become effective.

12 ‘‘(6) SECRETARY’S RESPONSE.—The Secretary

13 may either adopt or reject the standards submitted

14 by the consensus committee. A final order adopting

15 such a standard, or rejecting such a standard, shall

16 be issued by the Secretary no later than 180 days

17 after the date the proposed standard or regulation is

18 submitted to the Secretary by the consensus commit19 tee, and shall be published in the Federal Register.

20 In the event that the Secretary rejects, in whole or

21 in part, such a standard, such publication shall be

22 preceded by publication of the proposed standard

23 and the Secretary’s proposed final order for public

24 comment in accordance with section 553 and sub-
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1 chapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States

2 Code.

3 ‘‘(7) FAILURE TO TAKE ACTION.—If the Sec4 retary fails to take final action under paragraph (6)

5 and publish notice of the action in the Federal Reg6 ister within the required 180-day period, the rec7 ommendations of the consensus committee shall take

8 effect 60 days after the 180-day period. Within 10

9 days after the expiration of the 180-day period, the

10 consensus committee shall publish in the Federal

11 Register notice of the Secretary’s failure to act, the

12 revised standards, and the effective date of the re13 vised standards.

14 ‘‘(8) INTERIM EMERGENCY STANDARDS.—The

15 Secretary shall have the authority at any time to re16 quest that the consensus committee develop interim

17 emergency performance standards or amendments to

18 the standards, when necessary to respond to a

19 health or safety emergency, as determined by the

20 Secretary in writing. The consensus committee shall

21 have 60 days to submit such proposed interim stand22 ards or amendments following a request by the Sec23 retary.

24 ‘‘(9) WRITTEN INTERPRETATIONS.—Upon re25 quest from an interested party and after a finding
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1 that such an interpretation is reasonably necessary,

2 the consensus committee shall submit to the Sec3 retary written interpretations of the Federal manu4 factured home construction and safety standards.

5 These interpretations shall become binding upon the

6 completion of notice and comment rulemaking proce7 dures by the Secretary in accordance with section

8 553 and subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United

9 States Code, which shall be instituted within 180

10 days of the Secretary’s receipt of such an interpreta11 tion. The Secretary may reject, in whole or in part,

12 an interpretation only upon a written finding that

13 the interpretation is inconsistent with the purposes

14 of this title.’’;

15 (2) in subsection (b)—

16 (A) by striking ‘‘All’’ and inserting ‘‘Ex17 cept as expressly provided herein, all’’; and

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘and subchapter II of

19 chapter 5’’ after ‘‘section 553’’;

20 (3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘Each’’ and

21 all that follows through ‘‘effect,’’ and inserting the

22 following: ‘‘Each order establishing, amending, delet23 ing, or interpreting a Federal manufactured home

24 construction and safety standard shall specify the
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1 date such standard, amendment, or interpretation is

2 to take effect,’’;

3 (4) by striking subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g)

4 and inserting the following new subsections:

5 ‘‘(d) PREEMPTION.—Except as may otherwise be ex6 pressly authorized by the provisions of this title, a State

7 or local unit of government shall not establish, continue

8 in effect, or enforce any standard pertaining to the design,

9 construction, transportation, or safety of manufactured

10 homes after the effective date of the United States Hous11 ing Act of 1996. The standards mandated by this title are

12 deemed complete and exhaustive and shall supersede and

13 preempt State and local law and regulations.

14 ‘‘(e) CONSIDERATIONS.—The consensus committee,

15 in recommending performance standards and issuing in16 terpretations, and the Secretary, in establishing such

17 standards and standards interpretations under this title,

18 shall—

19 ‘‘(1) consider relevant, reliable manufactured

20 home construction and safety data, including the re21 sults of the research, development, testing, and eval22 uation activities conducted pursuant to this title,

23 and those activities conducted by private organiza24 tions and other governmental agencies to determine

25 how best to promote the purposes of this title;
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1 ‘‘(2) consult with such State or interstate agen2 cies (including legislative committees) as they deem

3 appropriate;

4 ‘‘(3) consider whether any such proposed per5 formance standard or standard interpretation is rea6 sonable for the particular type of manufactured

7 home or for the geographic region for which it is

8 adopted;

9 ‘‘(4) consider the probable effect of such stand10 ard or standard interpretation on the cost of the

11 manufactured homes to purchasers and potential

12 purchasers; and

13 ‘‘(5) consider the extent to which any such

14 standard or standard interpretation will contribute

15 to carrying out the purposes of this title.’’;

16 (5) by redesignating subsections (h), (i), and (j)

17 as subsections (f), (h), and (i), respectively;

18 (6) by inserting after subsection (f) (as so re19 designated by paragraph (5) of this subsection) the

20 following new subsection:

21 ‘‘(g) EVALUATION METHODOLOGIES.—Based on a

22 finding of need, as determined in writing by the Secretary,

23 the consensus committee may, in accordance with the pro24 visions of this section, establish reasonable, cost-effective,

25 uniform evaluation methodologies in order to determine
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1 compliance with existing standards, or may evaluate pro2 posed methodologies.’’; and

3 (7) by adding at the end the following new sub4 section:

5 ‘‘(j) REQUIRED USE OF CONSENSUS PROCESS.—

6 After the date of the enactment of the Manufactured

7 Housing Improvement Act of 1996, the Secretary shall not

8 adopt or amend any standards or standards interpreta9 tions other than through the consensus process set forth

10 in this section.’’.

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 610 (42

12 U.S.C. 5409(a)(6)) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection

13 (h)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’.

14 SEC. 4. INSPECTION FEES.

15 Section 620 (42 U.S.C. 5419) is amended to read as

16 follows:

17 ‘‘INSPECTION AND COLLECTION AND UTILIZATION OF

18 FEES

19 ‘‘SEC. 620. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary

20 may establish and impose, on manufactured home manu21 facturers, distributors, and dealers, a reasonable fee to off22 set the necessary expenses incurred in conducting the in23 spections required by this title and the expenses incurred

24 by the consensus committee in performing its duties under

25 this title. Such fees shall be established and/or modified

26 pursuant to notice and comment rulemaking in accordance
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1 with section 553 and subchapter II of chapter 5 of title

2 5, United States Code.

3 ‘‘(b) USE.—Fees collected pursuant to this title shall

4 be deposited in a dedicated fund and shall be expended

5 only for the functions specified in subsection (a), and shall

6 be subject for expenditure only to the extent approved in

7 an appropriations Act. The Secretary shall provide an an8 nual report to the Congress specifying expenditures of

9 these funds. The Secretary shall also make available to

10 the public, in accordance with all applicable disclosure

11 statutes, regulations, orders, or directives, information

12 pertaining to such funds, including but not limited to, in13 formation pertaining to amounts collected, amounts dis14 bursed, and the fund balance.’’.

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