I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3406

To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to establish

a consensus committee for development, revision, and interpretation of

manufactured housing construction standards.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 7, 1996

Mr. ROEMER (for himself, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr.

HEINEMAN, Mr. VENTO, Mr. BAKER of California, Mr. KING, Mr. LEWIS

of California, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr.

STEARNS, Mr. BONO, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr.

LARGENT, Mr. MINGE, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. BILIRAKIS, and

Mr. LINDER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Financial Services

A BILL

To amend the Housing and Community Development Act

of 1974 to establish a consensus committee for development, revision, and interpretation of manufactured housing construction standards.

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 ‘‘National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safe6 ty Standards Act of 1996’’.
2

•HR 3406 IH

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. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

7 Section 602 (42 U.S.C. 5401) is amended by striking

8 the first sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘The Con9 gress declares that the purposes of this title are to reduce

10 the number of personal injuries and deaths and property

11 damage resulting from manufactured home accidents and

12 to establish a balanced consensus process for the develop13 ment, revision, and interpretation of Federal construction

14 and safety standards for manufactured homes.’’.

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 603 (42 U.S.C. 5402) is

17 amended—

18 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘dealer’’ and

19 inserting ‘‘retailer’’;

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

21 end;

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

23 the end and inserting a semicolon; and

24 (4) by adding at the end the following new

25 paragraphs:
3

•HR 3406 IH

1 ‘‘(14) ‘consensus committee’ means the commit2 tee established under section 604(a)(7); and

3 ‘‘(15) ‘consensus standards development proc4 ess’ means the process by which additions and revi5 sions to the Federal manufactured home construc6 tion and safety standards shall be developed and rec7 ommended to the Secretary by the consensus com8 mittee.’’.

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

10 (1) OCCURRENCES OF ‘‘DEALER’’.—The Act

11 (42 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.) is amended by striking

12 ‘‘dealer’’ and inserting ‘‘retailer’’ in each of the fol13 lowing provisions:

14 (A) In section 613, each place such term

15 appears.

16 (B) In section 614(f), each place such term

17 appears.

18 (C) In section 615(b)(1).

19 (D) In section 616.

20 (2) OTHER AMENDMENTS.—The Act (42

21 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.) is amended—

22 (A) in section 615(b)(3), by striking ‘‘deal23 er or dealers’’ and inserting ‘‘retailer or retail24 ers’’; and
4

•HR 3406 IH

1 (B) by striking ‘‘dealers’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘retailers’’ each place such term appears—

3 (i) in section 615(d);

4 (ii) in section 615(f); and

5 (iii) in section 623(c)(9).

6 SEC. 4. FEDERAL MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION

7 AND SAFETY STANDARDS.

8 Section 604 (42 U.S.C. 5403) is amended—

9 (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in10 serting the following new subsections:

11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

12 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall estab13 lish, by order, appropriate Federal manufactured

14 home construction and safety standards. Each such

15 Federal manufactured home standard shall be rea16 sonable and shall meet the highest standards of pro17 tection, taking into account existing State and local

18 laws relating to manufactured home safety and con19 struction. The Secretary shall issue all such orders

20 pursuant to the consensus standards development

21 process under this subsection. The Secretary may

22 issue orders which are not part of the consensus

23 standards development process only in accordance

24 with subsection (b).
5

•HR 3406 IH

1 ‘‘(2) CONSENSUS STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT

2 PROCESS.—Not later than 180 days after the date

3 of enactment of the National Manufactured Housing

4 Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1996, the

5 Secretary shall enter into a cooperative agreement or

6 establish a relationship with a qualified technical or

7 building code organization to administer the consen8 sus standards development process and establish a

9 consensus committee under paragraph (7). Periodi10 cally, the Secretary shall review such organization’s

11 performance and may replace the organization upon

12 a finding of need.

13 ‘‘(3) REVISIONS.—The consensus committee es14 tablished under paragraph (7) shall consider revi15 sions to the Federal manufactured home construc16 tion and safety standards and shall submit revised

17 standards to the Secretary at least once during every

18 2-year period, the first such 2-year period beginning

19 upon the appointment of the consensus committee

20 under paragraph (7). Before submitting proposed re21 vised standards to the Secretary, the consensus com22 mittee shall cause the proposed revised standards to

23 be published in the Federal Register, together with

24 a description of the consensus committee’s consider25 ations and decisions under subsection (e), and shall
6

•HR 3406 IH

1 provide an opportunity for public comment. Public

2 views and objections shall be presented to the con3 sensus committee in accordance with American Na4 tional Standards Institute procedures. After such

5 notice and opportunity public comment, the consen6 sus committee shall cause the recommended revi7 sions to the standards and notice of its submission

8 to the Secretary to be published in the Federal Reg9 ister. Such notice shall describe the circumstances

10 under which the proposed revised standards could

11 become effective.

12 ‘‘(4) REVIEW BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary

13 shall either adopt, modify, or reject the standards

14 submitted by the consensus committee. A final order

15 adopting the standards shall be issued by the Sec16 retary not later than 12 months after the date the

17 standards are submitted to the Secretary by the con18 sensus committee, and shall be published in the Fed19 eral Register and become effective pursuant to sub20 section (c). If the Secretary—

21 ‘‘(A) adopts the standards recommended

22 by the consensus committee, the Secretary may

23 issue a final order directly without further rule24 making;
7

•HR 3406 IH

1 ‘‘(B) determines that any portion of the

2 standards should be rejected because it would

3 jeopardize health or safety or is inconsistent

4 with the purposes of this title, a notice to that

5 effect, together with this reason for rejecting

6 the proposed standard, shall be published in the

7 Federal Register no later than 12 months after

8 the date the standards are submitted to the

9 Secretary by the consensus committee;

10 ‘‘(C) determines that any portion of the

11 standard should be modified because it would

12 jeopardize health or safety or is inconsistent

13 with the purposes of this title—

14 ‘‘(i) such determination shall be made

15 no later that 12 months after the date the

16 standards are submitted to the Secretary

17 by the consensus committee;

18 ‘‘(ii) within such 12-month period, the

19 Secretary shall cause the proposed modi20 fied standard to be published in the Fed21 eral Register, together with an explanation

22 of the reason for the Secretary’s deter23 mination that the consensus committee

24 recommendation needs to be modified, and

25 shall provide an opportunity for public
8

•HR 3406 IH

1 comment in accordance with the provisions

2 of section 553 of title 5, United States

3 Code; and

4 ‘‘(iii) the final standard shall become

5 effective pursuant to subsection (c).

6 ‘‘(5) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Secretary fails

7 to take final action under paragraph (4) and publish

8 notice of the action in the Federal Register within

9 the 12-month period under such paragraph, the rec10 ommendations of the consensus committee shall be

11 considered to have been adopted by the Secretary

12 and shall take effect upon the expiration of the 180-

13 day period that begins upon the conclusion of the

14 12-month period. Within 10 days after the expira15 tion of the 12-month period, the Secretary shall

16 cause to be published in the Federal Register notice

17 of the Secretary’s failure to act, the revised stand18 ards, and the effective date of the revised standards.

19 Such notice shall be deemed an order of the Sec20 retary approving the revised standards proposed by

21 the consensus committee.

22 ‘‘(6) INTERPRETIVE BULLETINS.—The Sec23 retary may issue interpretive bulletins to clarify the

24 meaning of any Federal manufactured home con-
9

•HR 3406 IH

1 struction and safety standards, subject to the follow2 ing requirements:

3 ‘‘(A) REVIEW BY CONSENSUS COMMIT4 TEE.—Before issuing an interpretive bulletin,

5 the Secretary shall submit the proposed bulletin

6 to the consensus committee and the consensus

7 committee shall have 90 days to provide written

8 comments thereon to the Secretary. If the con9 sensus committee fails to act or if the Secretary

10 rejects any significant views recommended by

11 the consensus committee, the Secretary shall

12 explain in writing to the consensus committee,

13 before the bulletin becomes effective, the rea14 sons for such rejection.

15 ‘‘(B) PROPOSALS.—The consensus commit16 tee may, from time to time, submit to the Sec17 retary proposals for interpretive bulletins under

18 this subsection. If the Secretary fails to issue or

19 rejects a proposed bulletin within 90 days of its

20 receipt, the Secretary shall be considered to

21 have approved the proposed bulletin and shall

22 immediately issue the bulletin.

23 ‘‘(C) EFFECT.—Interpretative bulletins is24 sued under this paragraph shall become binding

25 without rulemaking.
10

•HR 3406 IH

1 ‘‘(7) CONSENSUS COMMITTEE.—

2 ‘‘(A) PURPOSE.—The consensus committee

3 referred to in paragraph (2) shall have as its

4 purpose providing periodic recommendations to

5 the Secretary to revise and interpret the Fed6 eral manufactured home construction and safe7 ty standards and carrying out such other func8 tions assigned to the committee under this title.

9 The committee shall be organized and carry out

10 its business in a manner that guarantees a fair

11 opportunity for the expression and consider12 ation of various positions.

13 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—The consensus com14 mittee shall be composed of 25 members who

15 shall be appointed as follows:

16 ‘‘(i) APPOINTMENT BY PROCESS AD17 MINISTRATOR.—Members shall be ap18 pointed by the qualified technical or build19 ing code organization that administers the

20 consensus standards development process

21 pursuant to paragraph (2), subject to the

22 approval of the Secretary.

23 ‘‘(ii) BALANCED MEMBERSHIP.—

24 Members shall be appointed in a manner

25 designed to include all interested parties
11

•HR 3406 IH

1 without domination by any single interest

2 category.

3 ‘‘(iii) SELECTION PROCEDURES AND

4 REQUIREMENTS.—Members shall be ap5 pointed in accordance with selection proce6 dures for consensus committees promul7 gated by the American National Standards

8 Institute, except that the American Na9 tional Standards Institute interest cat10 egories shall be modified to ensure rep11 resentation on the committee by individ12 uals representing the following fields, in

13 equal numbers under each of the following

14 subclauses:

15 ‘‘(I) Manufacturers.

16 ‘‘(II) Retailers, insurers, suppli17 ers, lenders, community owners and

18 private inspection agencies which have

19 a financial interest in the industry.

20 ‘‘(III) Homeowners and

21 consumer representatives.

22 ‘‘(IV) Public officials, such as

23 those from State or local building

24 code enforcement and inspection agen25 cies.
12

•HR 3406 IH

1 ‘‘(V) General interest, including

2 academicians, researchers, architects,

3 engineers, private inspection agencies,

4 and others.

5 Members of the consensus committee shall

6 be qualified by background and experience

7 to participate in the work of the commit8 tee, but members by reason of subclauses

9 (III), (IV), and (V), except the private in10 spection agencies, may not have a financial

11 interest in the manufactured home indus12 try, unless such bar to participation is

13 waived by the Secretary. The number of

14 members by reason of subclause (V) who

15 represent private inspection agencies may

16 not constitute more than 20 percent of the

17 total number of members by reason of sub18 clause (V). Notwithstanding any other pro19 vision of this paragraph, the Secretary

20 shall appoint a member of the consensus

21 committee, who shall not have voting privi22 leges.

23 ‘‘(C) MEETINGS.—The consensus commit24 tee shall cause advance notice of all meetings to

25 be published in the Federal Register and all
13

•HR 3406 IH

1 meetings of the committee shall be open to the

2 public.

3 ‘‘(D) AUTHORITY.—Sections 203, 205,

4 207, and 208 of title 18, United States Code,

5 shall not apply to the members of the consensus

6 committee. Members shall not be considered to

7 be special government employees for purposes

8 of part 2634 of title 5, Code of Federal Regula9 tions. The consensus committee shall not be

10 considered an advisory committee for purposes

11 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

12 ‘‘(E) ADMINISTRATION.—The consensus

13 committee and the administering organization

14 shall operate in conformance with American

15 National Standards Institute procedures for the

16 development and coordination of American Na17 tional Standards and shall apply to such Insti18 tute to obtain accreditation.

19 ‘‘(F) STAFF.—The consensus committee

20 shall be provided reasonable staff resources by

21 the administering organization. Upon a showing

22 of need and subject to the approval of the Sec23 retary, the administering organization shall fur24 nish technical support to any of the various in25 terest categories on the consensus committee.
14

•HR 3406 IH

1 ‘‘(b) OTHER ORDERS.—The Secretary may issue or2 ders that are not developed under the procedures set forth

3 in subsection (a) in order to respond to an emergency

4 health or safety issue, or to address issues on which the

5 Secretary determines the consensus committee will not

6 make timely recommendations, but only if the proposed

7 order is first submitted by the Secretary to the consensus

8 committee for review and the committee is afforded 90

9 days to provide its views on the proposed order to the Sec10 retary. If the consensus committee fails to act within such

11 period or if the Secretary rejects any significant change

12 recommended by the consensus committee, the public no13 tice of the order shall include an explanation of the rea14 sons for the Secretary’s action. The Secretary may issue

15 such orders only in accordance with the provisions of sec16 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code.’’;

17 (2) by striking subsection (e);

18 (3) in subsection (f), by striking the matter pre19 ceding paragraph (1) and inserting the following:

20 ‘‘(e) CONSIDERATIONS IN ESTABLISHING AND IN21 TERPRETING STANDARDS.—The consensus committee, in

22 recommending standards and interpretations, and the Sec23 retary, in establishing standards or issuing interpretations

24 under this section, shall—’’;

25 (4) by striking subsection (g);
15

•HR 3406 IH

1 (5) in the first sentence of subsection (j), by

2 striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection

3 (e)’’; and

4 (6) by redesignating subsections (h), (i), and (j)

5 as subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively.

6 SEC. 5. ABOLISHMENT OF NATIONAL MANUFACTURED

7 HOME ADVISORY COUNCIL.

8 Section 605 (42 U.S.C. 5404) is hereby repealed.

9 SEC. 6. PUBLIC INFORMATION.

10 Section 607 (42 U.S.C. 5406) is amended—

11 (1) in subsection (a)—

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘to the Secretary’’ after

13 ‘‘submit’’; and

14 (B) by adding at the end the following new

15 sentence: ‘‘Such cost and other information

16 shall be submitted to the consensus committee

17 by the Secretary for its evaluation.’’;

18 (2) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘, the con19 sensus committee,’’ after ‘‘public,’’; and

20 (3) by striking subsection (c) and redesignating

21 subsections (d) and (e) as subsections (c) and (d),

22 respectively.

23 SEC. 7. INSPECTION FEES.

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

25 follows:
16

•HR 3406 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 620. (a) AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH FEES.—

2 In carrying out the inspections required under this title

3 and in developing standards pursuant to section 604, the

4 Secretary may establish and impose on manufactured

5 home manufacturers, distributors, and retailers such rea6 sonable fees as may be necessary to offset the expenses

7 incurred by the Secretary in conducting such inspections

8 and administering the consensus standards development

9 process and for developing standards pursuant to section

10 604(b), and the Secretary may use any fees so collected

11 to pay expenses incurred in connection therewith. Such

12 fees shall only be modified pursuant to rulemaking in ac13 cordance with the provisions of section 553 of title 5, Unit14 ed States Code.

15 ‘‘(b) DEPOSIT OF FEES.—Fees collected pursuant to

16 this title shall be deposited in a fund, which is hereby es17 tablished in the Treasury for deposit of such fees.

18 Amounts in the fund are hereby available for use by the

19 Secretary pursuant to subsection (a). The use of these fees

20 by the Secretary shall not be subject to general or specific

21 limitations on appropriated funds unless use of these fees

22 is specifically addressed in any future appropriations legis23 lation. The Secretary shall provide an annual report to

24 Congress indicating expenditures under this section. The

25 Secretary shall also make available to the public, in ac-
17

•HR 3406 IH

1 cordance with all applicable disclosure laws, regulations,

2 orders, and directives, information pertaining to such

3 funds, including information pertaining to amounts col4 lected, amounts disbursed, and the fund balance.’’.

5 SEC. 8. ELIMINATION OF ANNUAL REPORT REQUIREMENT.

6 Section 626 (42 U.S.C. 5425) is hereby repealed.

7 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

8 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

9 on the date of enactment, except that the amendments

10 shall have no effect on any order or interpretative bulletin

11 that is published as a proposed rule pursuant to the provi12 sions of section 553 of title 5, United States Code, on or

13 before that date.

Æ