I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 710

To modernize the requirements under the National Manufactured Housing

Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 and to establish a

balanced consensus process for the development, revision, and interpretation of Federal construction and safety standards for manufactured

homes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 11, 1999

Mr. LAZIO (for himself, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. NEY, Mr. JONES of

North Carolina, Mr. GOODE, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. CALVERT, and Mr. ETHERIDGE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To modernize the requirements under the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act

of 1974 and to establish a balanced consensus process

for the development, revision, and interpretation of Federal construction and safety standards for manufactured

homes.

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 AND REFERENCES.

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

5 ‘‘Manufactured Housing Improvement Act’’.
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1 (b) REFERENCES.—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 National Manufactured Housing Construction and

6 Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.).

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

8 Section 602 (42 U.S.C. 5401) is amended to read as

9 follows:

10 ‘‘FINDINGS AND PURPOSES

11 ‘‘SEC. 602. (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds

12 that—

13 ‘‘(1) manufactured housing plays a vital role in

14 meeting the housing needs of the Nation; and

15 ‘‘(2) manufactured homes provide a significant

16 resource for affordable homeownership and rental

17 housing accessible to all Americans.

18 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

19 ‘‘(1) to facilitate the acceptance of the quality,

20 durability, safety, and affordability of manufactured

21 housing within the Department of Housing and

22 Urban Development;

23 ‘‘(2) to facilitate the availability of affordable

24 manufactured homes and to increase homeownership

25 for all Americans;
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1 ‘‘(3) to provide for the establishment of prac2 tical, uniform, and, to the extent possible, perform3 ance-based Federal construction standards;

4 ‘‘(4) to encourage innovative and cost-effective

5 construction techniques;

6 ‘‘(5) to protect owners of manufactured homes

7 from unreasonable risk of personal injury and prop8 erty damage;

9 ‘‘(6) to establish a balanced consensus process

10 for the development, revision, and interpretation of

11 Federal construction and safety standards for manu12 factured homes and related regulations for the en13 forcement of such standards;

14 ‘‘(7) to ensure uniform and effective enforce15 ment of Federal construction and safety standards

16 for manufactured homes; and

17 ‘‘(8) to ensure that the public interest in, and

18 need for, affordable manufactured housing is duly

19 considered in all determinations relating to the Fed20 eral standards and their enforcement.’’.

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

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

23 amended—

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

25 inserting ‘‘retailer’’;
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1 (2) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

2 end;

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

4 the end and inserting a semicolon; and

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

6 paragraphs:

7 ‘‘(14) ‘administering organization’ means the

8 recognized, voluntary, private sector, consensus

9 standards body with specific experience in developing

10 model residential building codes and standards in11 volving all disciplines regarding construction and

12 safety that administers the consensus standards de13 velopment process;

14 ‘‘(15) ‘consensus committee’ means the commit15 tee established under section 604(a)(3);

16 ‘‘(16) ‘consensus standards development proc17 ess’ means the process by which additions, revisions,

18 and interpretations to the Federal manufactured

19 home construction and safety standards and enforce20 ment regulations shall be developed and rec21 ommended to the Secretary by the consensus com22 mittee;

23 ‘‘(17) ‘primary inspection agency’ means a

24 State agency or private organization that has been

25 approved by the Secretary to act as a design ap-
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1 proval primary inspection agency or a production in2 spection primary inspection agency, or both;

3 ‘‘(18) ‘design approval primary inspection agen4 cy’ means a State agency or private organization

5 that has been approved by the Secretary to evaluate

6 and either approve or disapprove manufactured

7 home designs and quality control procedures;

8 ‘‘(19) ‘production inspection primary inspection

9 agency’ means a State agency or private organiza10 tion that has been approved by the Secretary to

11 evaluate the ability of manufactured home manufac12 turing plants to comply with approved quality con13 trol procedures and with the Federal manufactured

14 home construction and safety standards promulgated

15 hereunder; and

16 ‘‘(20) ‘monitoring’—

17 ‘‘(A) means the process of periodic review

18 of the primary inspection agencies, by the Sec19 retary or by a State agency under an approved

20 State plan pursuant to section 623, in accord21 ance with regulations recommended by the con22 sensus committee and promulgated in accord23 ance with section 604(b), which process shall be

24 for the purpose of ensuring that the primary in-
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1 spection agencies are discharging their duties

2 under this title; and

3 ‘‘(B) may include the periodic inspection of

4 retail locations for transit damage, label tam5 pering, and retailer compliance with this title.’’.

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The National

7 Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Stand8 ards Act of 1974 is amended—

9 (1) in section 613 (42 U.S.C. 5412), by striking

10 ‘‘dealer’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘re11 tailer’’;

12 (2) in section 614(f) (42 U.S.C. 5413(f)), by

13 striking ‘‘dealer’’ each place it appears and inserting

14 ‘‘retailer’’;

15 (3) in section 615 (42 U.S.C. 5414)—

16 (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘deal17 er’’ and inserting ‘‘retailer’’;

18 (B) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘deal19 er or dealers’’ and inserting ‘‘retailer or retail20 ers’’; and

21 (C) in subsections (d) and (f), by striking

22 ‘‘dealers’’ each place it appears and inserting

23 ‘‘retailers’’;

24 (4) in section 616 (42 U.S.C. 5415), by striking

25 ‘‘dealer’’ and inserting ‘‘retailer’’; and
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1 (5) in section 623(c)(9), by striking ‘‘dealers’’

2 and inserting ‘‘retailers’’.

3 SEC. 4. FEDERAL MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION

4 AND SAFETY STANDARDS.

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

6 (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in7 serting the following new subsections:

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall estab10 lish, by order, appropriate Federal manufactured

11 home construction and safety standards, each of

12 which—

13 ‘‘(A) shall—

14 ‘‘(i) be reasonable and practical;

15 ‘‘(ii) meet high standards of protec16 tion consistent with the enumerated pur17 poses of this title; and

18 ‘‘(iii) where appropriate, be perform19 ance-based and objectively stated; and

20 ‘‘(B) except as provided in subsection (b),

21 shall be established in accordance with the con22 sensus standards development process.

23 ‘‘(2) CONSENSUS STANDARDS AND REGU24 LATORY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) INITIAL AGREEMENT.—Not later

2 than 180 days after the date of enactment of

3 the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act,

4 the Secretary shall enter into a contract with

5 an administering organization. The contractual

6 agreement shall—

7 ‘‘(i) terminate on the date on which a

8 contract is entered into under subpara9 graph (B); and

10 ‘‘(ii) require the administering organi11 zation to—

12 ‘‘(I) appoint the initial members

13 of the consensus committee under

14 paragraph (3);

15 ‘‘(II) administer the consensus

16 standards development process until

17 the termination of that agreement;

18 and

19 ‘‘(III) administer the consensus

20 development and interpretation proc21 ess for procedural and enforcement

22 regulations and regulations specifying

23 the permissible scope and conduct of

24 monitoring until the termination of

25 that agreement.
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1 ‘‘(B) COMPETITIVELY PROCURED CON2 TRACT.—Upon the expiration of the 4-year pe3 riod beginning on the date on which all mem4 bers of the consensus committee are appointed

5 under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall, using

6 competitive procedures (as such term is defined

7 in section 4 of the Office of Federal Procure8 ment Policy Act), enter into a competitively

9 awarded contract with an administering organi10 zation. The administering organization shall ad11 minister the consensus process for the develop12 ment and interpretation of the Federal stand13 ards, the procedural and enforcement regula14 tions, and regulations specifying the permissible

15 scope and conduct of monitoring in accordance

16 with this title.

17 ‘‘(C) PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—The

18 Secretary—

19 ‘‘(i) shall periodically review the per20 formance of the administering organiza21 tion; and

22 ‘‘(ii) may replace the administering

23 organization with another qualified tech24 nical or building code organization, pursu25 ant to competitive procedures, if the Sec-
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1 retary determines in writing that the ad2 ministering organization is not fulfilling

3 the terms of the agreement or contract to

4 which the administering organization is

5 subject or upon the expiration of the

6 agreement or contract.

7 ‘‘(3) CONSENSUS COMMITTEE.—

8 ‘‘(A) PURPOSE.—There is established a

9 committee to be known as the ‘consensus com10 mittee’, which shall, in accordance with this

11 title—

12 ‘‘(i) provide periodic recommendations

13 to the Secretary to adopt, revise, and inter14 pret the Federal manufactured housing

15 construction and safety standards in ac16 cordance with this subsection;

17 ‘‘(ii) provide periodic recommenda18 tions to the Secretary to adopt, revise, and

19 interpret the procedural and enforcement

20 regulations, including regulations specify21 ing the permissible scope and conduct of

22 monitoring in accordance with this sub23 section; and

24 ‘‘(iii) be organized and carry out its

25 business in a manner that guarantees a
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1 fair opportunity for the expression and

2 consideration of various positions and for

3 public participation.

4 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—The consensus com5 mittee shall be composed of—

6 ‘‘(i) 25 voting members appointed,

7 subject to approval by the Secretary, by

8 the administering organization from among

9 individuals who are qualified by back10 ground and experience to participate in the

11 work of the consensus committee; and

12 ‘‘(ii) 1 member appointed by the Sec13 retary to represent the Secretary on the

14 consensus committee, who shall be a non15 voting member.

16 ‘‘(C) DISAPPROVAL.—The Secretary may

17 disapprove, in writing with the reasons set

18 forth, the appointment of an individual under

19 subparagraph (B)(i).

20 ‘‘(D) SELECTION PROCEDURES AND RE21 QUIREMENTS.—Each member shall be ap22 pointed in accordance with the selection proce23 dures, which shall be established by the Sec24 retary and which shall be based on the proce25 dures for consensus committees promulgated by
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1 the American National Standards Institute (or

2 successor organization), except that the Amer3 ican National Standards Institute interest cat4 egories shall be modified for purposes of this

5 paragraph to ensure equal representation on

6 the consensus committee of the following inter7 est categories:

8 ‘‘(i) HOME PRODUCERS.—Five per9 sons representing manufacturers of manu10 factured homes.

11 ‘‘(ii) OTHER BUSINESS INTERESTS.—

12 Five persons representing other business

13 interests involved in the manufactured

14 housing industry such as retailers, install15 ers, lenders, insurers, suppliers of prod16 ucts, and community owners. The business

17 interests represented in this category shall

18 not be owned or controlled by manufactur19 ers represented under clause (i).

20 ‘‘(iii) CONSUMERS.—Five persons rep21 resenting homeowners and consumer inter22 ests, such as consumer organizations, com23 munity organizations, recognized consumer

24 leaders, and owners and occupants of man25 ufactured homes.
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1 ‘‘(iv) PUBLIC OFFICIALS.—Five per2 sons who are State or local officials such

3 as building code enforcement or inspection

4 officials, fire marshals, and including rep5 resentatives of State administrative agen6 cies.

7 ‘‘(v) GENERAL INTEREST.—Five per8 sons representing the public such as archi9 tects, engineers, homebuilders, academi10 cians, and developers.

11 ‘‘(E) ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS.—An

12 individual appointed under clause (iii), (iv), or

13 (v) of subparagraph (D) shall not have—

14 ‘‘(i) a significant financial interest in

15 any segment of the manufactured housing

16 industry; or

17 ‘‘(ii) a significant relationship to any

18 person engaged in the manufactured hous19 ing industry.

20 ‘‘(F) MEETINGS.—

21 ‘‘(i) NOTICE; OPEN TO PUBLIC.—The

22 consensus committee shall provide advance

23 notice of each meeting of the consensus

24 committee to the Secretary and publish ad25 vance notice of each such meeting in the
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1 Federal Register. All meetings of the con2 sensus committee shall be open to the pub3 lic.

4 ‘‘(ii) REIMBURSEMENT.—Members of

5 the consensus committee in attendance at

6 the meetings shall be reimbursed for their

7 actual expenses as authorized by section

8 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for

9 persons employed intermittently in Govern10 ment service.

11 ‘‘(G) INAPPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.—

12 ‘‘(i) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The

13 consensus committee shall not be consid14 ered to be an advisory committee for pur15 poses of the Federal Advisory Committee

16 Act.

17 ‘‘(ii) TITLE 18.—The members of the

18 consensus committee shall not be subject

19 to section 203, 205, 207, or 208 of title

20 18, United States Code, to the extent of

21 their proper participation as members of

22 the consensus committee.

23 ‘‘(iii) ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT

24 OF 1978.—The Ethics in Government Act

25 of 1978 shall not apply to members of the
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1 consensus committee to the extent of their

2 proper participation as members of the

3 consensus committee.

4 ‘‘(H) ADMINISTRATION.—The consensus

5 committee and the administering organization

6 shall—

7 ‘‘(i) operate in conformance with the

8 procedures established by the American

9 National Standards Institute for the devel10 opment and coordination of American Na11 tional Standards; and

12 ‘‘(ii) apply to the American National

13 Standards Institute and take such other

14 actions as may be necessary to obtain ac15 creditation from the American National

16 Standards Institute.

17 ‘‘(I) STAFF.—The administering organiza18 tion shall, upon the request of the consensus

19 committee, provide reasonable staff resources to

20 the consensus committee. Upon a showing of

21 need, the Secretary shall furnish technical sup22 port to any of the various interest categories on

23 the consensus committee.

24 ‘‘(J) DATE OF INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—

25 The initial appointments of all of the members
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1 of the consensus committee shall be completed

2 not later than 90 days after the date on which

3 an administration agreement under paragraph

4 (2)(A) is completed with the administering or5 ganization.

6 ‘‘(4) REVISIONS OF STANDARDS.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date

8 on which all members of the consensus commit9 tee are appointed under paragraph (3), the con10 sensus committee shall, not less than once dur11 ing each 2-year period—

12 ‘‘(i) consider revisions to the Federal

13 manufactured home construction and safe14 ty standards; and

15 ‘‘(ii) submit proposed revised stand16 ards and regulations to the Secretary in

17 the form of a proposed rule, including an

18 economic analysis.

19 ‘‘(B) PUBLICATION OF PROPOSED REVISED

20 STANDARDS.—

21 ‘‘(i) PUBLICATION BY SECRETARY.—

22 The consensus committee shall provide a

23 proposed revised standard under subpara24 graph (A)(ii) to the Secretary who shall,

25 not later than 30 days after receipt, pub-
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1 lish such proposed revised standard in the

2 Federal Register for notice and comment.

3 Unless clause (ii) applies, the Secretary

4 shall provide an opportunity for public

5 comment on such proposed revised stand6 ard and any such comments shall be sub7 mitted directly to the consensus committee

8 without delay.

9 ‘‘(ii) PUBLICATION OF REJECTED

10 PROPOSED REVISED STANDARD.—If the

11 Secretary rejects the proposed revised

12 standard, the Secretary shall publish the

13 rejected proposed revised standard in the

14 Federal Register with the reasons for re15 jection and any recommended modifica16 tions set forth.

17 ‘‘(C) PRESENTATION OF PUBLIC COM18 MENTS; PUBLICATION OF RECOMMENDED REVI19 SIONS.—

20 ‘‘(i) PRESENTATION.—Any public

21 comments, views, and objections to a pro22 posed revised standard published under

23 subparagraph (B) shall be presented by

24 the Secretary to the consensus committee

25 upon their receipt and in the manner re-
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1 ceived, in accordance with procedures es2 tablished by the American National Stand3 ards Institute.

4 ‘‘(ii) PUBLICATION BY THE SEC5 RETARY.—The consensus committee shall

6 provide to the Secretary any revisions pro7 posed by the consensus committee, which

8 the Secretary shall, not later than 7 cal9 endar days after receipt, cause to be pub10 lished in the Federal Register as a notice

11 of the recommended revisions of the con12 sensus committee to the standard, a notice

13 of the submission of the recommended re14 visions to the Secretary, and a description

15 of the circumstances under which the pro16 posed revised standards could become ef17 fective.

18 ‘‘(iii) PUBLICATION OF REJECTED

19 PROPOSED REVISED STANDARD.—If the

20 Secretary rejects the proposed revised

21 standard, the Secretary shall publish the

22 rejected proposed revised standard in the

23 Federal Register with the reasons for re24 jection and any recommended modifica25 tions set forth.
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1 ‘‘(5) REVIEW BY THE SECRETARY.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

3 either adopt, modify, or reject a standard, as

4 submitted by the consensus committee under

5 paragraph (4)(A).

6 ‘‘(B) TIMING.—Not later than 12 months

7 after the date on which a standard is submitted

8 to the Secretary by the consensus committee,

9 the Secretary shall take action regarding such

10 standard under subparagraph (C).

11 ‘‘(C) PROCEDURES.—If the Secretary—

12 ‘‘(i) adopts a standard recommended

13 by the consensus committee, the Secretary

14 shall—

15 ‘‘(I) issue a final order without

16 further rulemaking; and

17 ‘‘(II) cause the final order to be

18 published in the Federal Register;

19 ‘‘(ii) determines that any standard

20 should be rejected, the Secretary shall—

21 ‘‘(I) reject the standard; and

22 ‘‘(II) cause to be published in the

23 Federal Register a notice to that ef24 fect, together with the reason or rea-
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1 sons for rejecting the proposed stand2 ard; or

3 ‘‘(iii) determines that a standard rec4 ommended by the consensus committee

5 should be modified, the Secretary shall—

6 ‘‘(I) cause the proposed modified

7 standard to be published in the Fed8 eral Register, together with an expla9 nation of the reason or reasons for the

10 determination of the Secretary; and

11 ‘‘(II) provide an opportunity for

12 public comment in accordance with

13 section 553 of title 5, United States

14 Code.

15 ‘‘(D) FINAL ORDER.—Any final standard

16 under this paragraph shall become effective

17 pursuant to subsection (c).

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

19 to take final action under paragraph (5) and to pub20 lish notice of the action in the Federal Register be21 fore the expiration of the 12-month period beginning

22 on the date on which the proposed standard is sub23 mitted to the Secretary under paragraph (4)(A)—

24 ‘‘(A) the recommendations of the consen25 sus committee—
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1 ‘‘(i) shall be considered to have been

2 adopted by the Secretary; and

3 ‘‘(ii) shall take effect upon the expira4 tion of the 180-day period that begins

5 upon the conclusion of such 12-month pe6 riod; and

7 ‘‘(B) not later than 10 days after the expi8 ration of such 12-month period, the Secretary

9 shall cause to be published in the Federal Reg10 ister a notice of the failure of the Secretary to

11 act, the revised standard, and the effective date

12 of the revised standard, which notice shall be

13 deemed to be an order of the Secretary approv14 ing the revised standards proposed by the con15 sensus committee.

16 ‘‘(b) OTHER ORDERS.—

17 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may issue

18 procedural and enforcement regulations as necessary

19 to implement the provisions of this title. The consen20 sus committee may submit to the Secretary proposed

21 procedural and enforcement regulations and rec22 ommendations for the revision of such regulations.

23 ‘‘(2) INTERPRETATIVE BULLETINS.—The Sec24 retary may issue interpretative bulletins to clarify

25 the meaning of any Federal manufactured home
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1 construction and safety standard or procedural and

2 enforcement regulation. The consensus committee

3 may submit to the Secretary proposed interpretative

4 bulletins to clarify the meaning of any Federal man5 ufactured home construction and safety standard or

6 procedural and enforcement regulation.

7 ‘‘(3) REVIEW BY CONSENSUS COMMITTEE.—Be8 fore issuing a procedural or enforcement regulation

9 or an interpretative bulletin—

10 ‘‘(A) the Secretary shall—

11 ‘‘(i) submit the proposed procedural

12 or enforcement regulation or interpretative

13 bulletin to the consensus committee; and

14 ‘‘(ii) provide the consensus committee

15 with a period of 120 days to submit writ16 ten comments to the Secretary on the pro17 posed procedural or enforcement regulation

18 or the interpretative bulletin; and

19 ‘‘(B) if the Secretary rejects any signifi20 cant comment provided by the consensus com21 mittee under subparagraph (A), the Secretary

22 shall provide a written explanation of the rea23 sons for the rejection to the consensus commit24 tee; and
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1 ‘‘(C) following compliance with subpara2 graphs (A) and (B), the Secretary shall—

3 ‘‘(i) cause the proposed regulation or

4 interpretative bulletin and the consensus

5 committee’s written comments along with

6 the Secretary’s response thereto to be pub7 lished in the Federal Register; and

8 ‘‘(ii) provide an opportunity for public

9 comment in accordance with section 553 of

10 title 5, United States Code.

11 ‘‘(4) REQUIRED ACTION.—The Secretary shall

12 act on any proposed regulation or interpretative bul13 letin submitted by the consensus committee by ap14 proving or rejecting the proposal within 120 days

15 from the date the proposal is received by the Sec16 retary. The Secretary shall either—

17 ‘‘(A) approve the proposal and cause the

18 proposed regulation or interpretative bulletin to

19 be published for public comment in accordance

20 with section 553 of title 5, United States Code;

21 or

22 ‘‘(B) reject the proposed regulation or in23 terpretative bulletin and—
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1 ‘‘(i) provide a written explanation of

2 the reasons for rejection to the consensus

3 committee; and

4 ‘‘(ii) cause the proposed regulation

5 and the written explanation for the rejec6 tion to be published in the Federal Reg7 ister.

8 ‘‘(5) EMERGENCY ORDERS.—If the Secretary

9 determines, in writing, that such action is necessary

10 in order to respond to an emergency which jeopard11 izes the public health or safety, or to address an

12 issue on which the Secretary determines that the

13 consensus committee has not made a timely rec14 ommendation, following a request by the Secretary,

15 the Secretary may issue an order that is not devel16 oped under the procedures set forth in subsection

17 (a) or in this subsection, if the Secretary—

18 ‘‘(A) provides to the consensus committee

19 a written description and sets forth the reasons

20 why emergency actions is necessary and all sup21 porting documentation; and

22 ‘‘(B) issues and publishes the order in the

23 Federal Register.

24 ‘‘(6) CHANGES.—Any statement of policies,

25 practices, or procedures relating to construction and
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1 safety standards, inspections, monitoring, or other

2 enforcement activities which constitutes a statement

3 of general or particular applicability and future off4 set and decisions to implement, interpret, or pre5 scribe law of policy by the Secretary is subject to the

6 provisions of subsection (a) or (b) of this subsection.

7 Any change adopted in violation of the provisions of

8 subsection (a) or (b) of this subsection is void.

9 ‘‘(7) TRANSITION.—Until the date that the con10 sensus committee is appointed pursuant to section

11 4(a)(3), the Secretary may issue proposed orders

12 that are not developed under the procedures set

13 forth in this section for new and revised standards.’’;

14 (2) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the

15 following: ‘‘Federal preemption under this subsection

16 shall be broadly and liberally construed to ensure

17 that disparate State or local requirements or stand18 ards do not affect the uniformity and comprehen19 siveness of the standards promulgated hereunder.’’;

20 (3) by striking subsection (e);

21 (4) in subsection (f), by striking the subsection

22 designation and all of the matter that precedes para23 graph (1) and inserting the following:

24 ‘‘(e) CONSIDERATIONS IN ESTABLISHING AND IN25 TERPRETING STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS.—The con-
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1 sensus committee, in recommending standards, regula2 tions, and interpretations, and the Secretary, in establish3 ing standards or regulations, or issuing interpretations

4 under this section, shall—’’;

5 (5) by striking subsection (g);

6 (6) in the first sentence of subsection (j), by

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

8 (e)’’; and

9 (7) by redesignating subsections (h), (i), and

10 (j), as subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively.

11 SEC. 5. ABOLISHMENT OF NATIONAL MANUFACTURED

12 HOME ADVISORY COUNCIL.

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

14 SEC. 6. PUBLIC INFORMATION.

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

16 (1) in subsection (a)—

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

18 ‘‘submit’’; and

19 (B) by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘The Secretary shall submit such cost and

21 other information to the consensus committee

22 for evaluation.’’;

23 (2) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘, the con24 sensus committee,’’ after ‘‘public’’; and
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1 (3) by striking subsection (c) and redesignating

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

3 respectively.

4 SEC. 7. RESEARCH, TESTING, DEVELOPMENT, AND TRAIN5 ING.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 608(a) (42 U.S.C.

7 5407(a)) is amended—

8 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

9 end;

10 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at

11 the end and inserting a semicolon; and

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new

13 paragraphs:

14 ‘‘(4) encouraging the government sponsored

15 housing entities to actively develop and implement

16 secondary market securitization programs for FHA

17 manufactured home loans and those of other loan

18 programs, as appropriate, thereby promoting the

19 availability of affordable manufactured homes to in20 crease homeownership for all people in the United

21 States; and

22 ‘‘(5) reviewing the programs for FHA manufac23 tured home loans and developing any changes to

24 such programs to promote the affordability of manu-
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1 factured homes, including changes in loan terms,

2 amortization periods, regulations, and procedures.’’.

3 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 608 (42 U.S.C. 5407) is

4 amended by adding at the end the following new sub5 section:

6 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

7 following definitions shall apply:

8 ‘‘(1) GOVERNMENT SPONSORED HOUSING ENTI9 TIES.—The term ‘government sponsored housing en10 tities’ means the Government National Mortgage As11 sociation of the Department of Housing and Urban

12 Development, the Federal National Mortgage Asso13 ciation, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Cor14 poration.

15 ‘‘(2) FHA MANUFACTURED HOME LOAN.—The

16 term ‘FHA manufactured home loan’ means a loan

17 that—

18 ‘‘(A) is insured under title I of the Na19 tional Housing Act and is made for the purpose

20 of financing alterations, repairs, or improve21 ments on or in connection with an existing

22 manufactured home, the purchase of a manu23 factured home, the purchase of a manufactured

24 home and a lot on which to place the home, or
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1 the purchase only of a lot on which to place a

2 manufactured home; or

3 ‘‘(B) otherwise insured under the National

4 Housing Act and made for or in connection

5 with a manufactured home.’’.

6 SEC. 8. FEES.

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

8 follows:

9 ‘‘AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH FEES

10 ‘‘SEC. 620. (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out in11 spections under this title, in developing standards and reg12 ulations pursuant to section 604, and in facilitating the

13 acceptance of the affordability and availability of manufac14 tured housing within the Department, the Secretary

15 may—

16 ‘‘(1) establish and collect from manufactured

17 home manufacturers such reasonable fees as may be

18 necessary to offset the expenses incurred by the Sec19 retary in connection with carrying out the respon20 sibilities of the Secretary under this title,

21 including—

22 ‘‘(A) conducting inspections and monitor23 ing;

24 ‘‘(B) providing funding to States for the

25 administration and implementation of approved

26 State plans under section 623, including rea-
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1 sonable funding for cooperative educational and

2 training programs designed to facilitate uniform

3 enforcement under this title; these funds may

4 be paid directly to the States or may be paid

5 or provided to any person or entity designated

6 to receive and disburse such funds by coopera7 tive agreements among participating States,

8 provided that such person or entity is not other9 wise an agent of the Secretary under this title;

10 ‘‘(C) providing the funding for a noncareer

11 administrator and Federal staff personnel for

12 the manufactured housing program;

13 ‘‘(D) administering the consensus commit14 tee as set forth in section 604; and

15 ‘‘(E) facilitating the acceptance of the

16 quality, durability, safety, and affordability of

17 manufactured housing within the Department;

18 and

19 ‘‘(2) use any fees collected under paragraph (1)

20 to pay expenses referred to in paragraph (1), which

21 shall be exempt and separate from any limitations

22 on the Department of Housing and Urban Develop23 ment regarding full-time equivalent positions and

24 travel.
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1 ‘‘(b) CONTRACTORS.—When using fees under this

2 section, the Secretary shall ensure that separate and inde3 pendent contractors are retained to carry out monitoring

4 and inspection work and any other work that may be dele5 gated to a contractor under this title.

6 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITED USE.—Fees collected under sub7 section (a) shall not be used for any purpose or activity

8 not specifically authorized by this title unless such activity

9 was already engaged in by the Secretary prior to the date

10 of enactment of this title.

11 ‘‘(d) MODIFICATION.—Any fee established by the

12 Secretary under this section shall only be modified pursu13 ant to rulemaking in accordance with section 553 of title

14 5, United States Code.

15 ‘‘(e) APPROPRIATION AND DEPOSIT OF FEES.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the

17 Treasury of the United States a fund to be known

18 as the ‘Manufactured Housing Fees Trust Fund’ for

19 deposit of all fees collected pursuant to subsection

20 (a). These fees shall be held in trust for use only as

21 provided in this title.

22 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATION.—Such fees shall be avail23 able for expenditure only to the extent approved in

24 an annual appropriation Act.’’.
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1 SEC. 9. ELIMINATION OF ANNUAL REPORT REQUIREMENT.

2 The National Manufactured Housing Construction

3 and Safety Standards Act of 1974 is amended—

4 (1) by striking section 626 (42 U.S.C. 5425);

5 and

6 (2) by redesignating sections 627 and 628 (42

7 U.S.C. 5426, 5401 note) as sections 626 and 627,

8 respectively.

9 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE.

10 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

11 on the date of enactment of this Act, except that the

12 amendments shall have no effect on any order or interpre13 tative bulletin that is published as a proposed rule pursu14 ant to section 553 of title 5, United States Code, on or

15 before such date.

16 SEC. 11. SAVINGS PROVISION.

17 (a) STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS.—The Federal

18 manufactured home construction and safety standards (as

19 such term is defined in section 603 of the National Manu20 factured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act

21 of 1974) and all regulations pertaining thereto in effect

22 immediately before the date of the enactment of this Act

23 shall apply until the effective date of a standard or regula24 tion modifying or superseding the existing standard or

25 regulation which is promulgated under subsection (a) or

26 (b) of section 604 of the National Manufactured Housing
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1 Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, as

2 amended by this Act.

3 (b) CONTRACTS.—Any contract awarded pursuant to

4 a Request for Proposal issued before the date of enact5 ment of this Act shall remain in effect for a period of 2

6 years from the date of enactment of this Act or for the

7 remainder of the contract term, whichever period is short8 er.

Æ