I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8747 

To require disclosure of asbestos hazards in the sale and lease of residential 

dwellings, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 13, 2024 

Mrs. TORRES of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require disclosure of asbestos hazards in the sale and 

lease of residential dwellings, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Asbestos Exposure in 

5 Housing Reduction Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE IN SALE OR LEASE OF HOUSING. 

7 (a) REQUIRED DISCLOSURE.—The Secretary of 

8 Housing and Urban Development and the Administrator 

9 of the Environmental Protection Agency shall, not later 


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1 than the expiration of the 2-year period beginning on the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act, jointly issue regulations 

3 under this section requiring the disclosure of asbestos haz4 ards in dwellings that are offered for sale or lease. Such 

5 regulations shall require that, before the purchaser or les6 see is obligated under any contract to purchase or lease 

7 the dwelling, the seller or lessor shall— 

8 (1) disclose to the purchaser or lessee the pres9 ence of any known asbestos, and any known asbes10 tos-based hazards, in such dwelling and provide to 

11 the purchaser or lessee any asbestos hazard evalua12 tion report available to the seller or lessor; and 

13 (2) permit the purchaser a 10-day period (un14 less the parties mutually agree upon a different pe15 riod of time) to conduct a risk assessment or inspec16 tion for the presence of asbestos hazards. 

17 (b) ASBESTOS WARNING STATEMENT.—The regula18 tions issued under this section shall provide that every 

19 contract for the purchase and sale of any interest in a 

20 dwelling, and every contract for lease of a dwelling, shall 

21 contain an Asbestos Warning Statement and a statement 

22 signed by the purchaser or lessee that the purchaser has— 

23 (1) read the Asbestos Warning Statement and 

24 understands its contents; and 


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1 (2) had a 10-day opportunity (unless the par2 ties mutually agreed upon a different period of time) 

3 before becoming obligated under the contract to pur4 chase the dwelling to conduct a risk assessment or 

5 inspection for the presence of asbestos-based haz6 ards. 

7 (c) CONTENTS OF ASBESTOS WARNING STATE8 MENT.—The Asbestos Warning Statement shall contain 

9 the following text printed in large type on a separate sheet 

10 of paper attached to the contract: ‘‘Every purchaser of any 

11 interest in residential real property on which a dwelling 

12 is located, and every lessee of a dwelling, is notified that 

13 such property may present exposure to asbestos that may 

14 place occupants at risk of lung disease and mesothe15 lioma—a form of cancer. The seller of any interest in resi16 dential real property, and the lessor of a dwelling, is re17 quired to provide the buyer or lessee, respectively, with 

18 any information on asbestos-based hazards from risk as19 sessments or inspections in the seller’s or lessor’s posses20 sion and notify the buyer or lessee of any known asbestos21 based hazards. A risk assessment or inspection for pos22 sible asbestos-based hazards is recommended prior to pur23 chase or lease.’’. 

24 (d) COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE.—Whenever a seller or 

25 lessor has entered into a contract with an agent for the 


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1 purpose of selling or leasing a dwelling, the regulations 

2 issued under this section shall require the agent, on behalf 

3 of the seller or lessor, to ensure compliance with the re4 quirements of this section. 

5 (e) PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.— 

6 (1) MONETARY PENALTY.—Any person who 

7 knowingly violates any provision of this section shall 

8 be subject to civil money penalties in accordance 

9 with the provisions of section 102 of the Department 

10 of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 

11 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545). 

12 (2) INJUNCTION AUTHORITY.—The Secretary is 

13 authorized to take such lawful action as may be nec14 essary to enjoin any violation of this section. 

15 (3) CIVIL LIABILITY.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any person who know17 ingly violates the provisions of this section shall 

18 be jointly and severally liable to the purchaser 

19 or lessee in an amount equal to 3 times the 

20 amount of damages incurred by such individual. 

21 (B) COSTS.—In any civil action brought 

22 for damages pursuant to this paragraph, the 

23 appropriate court may award court costs to the 

24 party commencing such action, together with 


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1 reasonable attorney fees and any expert witness 

2 fees, if that party prevails. 

3 (4) PROHIBITED ACT.—It shall be a prohibited 

4 act under sections 15 and 409 of the Toxic Sub5 stances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2614, 2689) for any 

6 person to fail or refuse to comply with a provision 

7 of this section or with any rule or order issued under 

8 this section. For purposes of enforcing this section 

9 under the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 2601 et seq.), the penalty for each violation applica11 ble under section 16 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 2615) 

12 shall not be more than $10,000. 

13 (f) VALIDITY OF CONTRACTS AND LIENS.—Nothing 

14 in this section shall affect the validity or enforceability of 

15 any sale or contract for the purchase and sale or lease 

16 of any interest in residential real property or any loan, 

17 loan agreement, mortgage, or lien made or arising in con18 nection with a mortgage loan, nor shall anything in this 

19 section create a defect in title. 

20 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

21 following definitions shall apply: 

22 (1) ASBESTOS.—The term ‘‘asbestos’’ has the 

23 meaning given such term in section 202 of the Toxic 

24 Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2642). 


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1 (2) ASBESTOS-BASED HAZARD.—The term ‘‘as2 bestos-based hazard’’ means any condition that 

3 causes exposure to asbestos that would result in ad4 verse human health effects as established by the ap5 propriate Federal agency. 

6 (3) DWELLING.—The term ‘‘dwelling’’ means 

7 any dwelling, as such term is defined in section 802 

8 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3602) that was 

9 constructed prior to 2019. The exemptions under 

10 section 803(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3603) shall 

11 not apply for purposes of this Act. 

12 (4) INSPECTION.—The term ‘‘inspection’’ 

13 means an on-site investigation to determine the pres14 ence of asbestos and the provision of a report ex15 plaining the results of the investigation. 

16 (5) RISK ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘risk assess17 ment’’ means an on-site investigation to determine 

18 and report the existence, nature, severity and loca19 tion of asbestos-based hazards in dwellings, includ20 ing— 

21 (A) information gathering regarding the 

22 age and history of the housing; 

23 (B) visual inspection; 

24 (C) sampling or other environmental sam25 pling techniques; 


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1 (D) other activity as may be appropriate; 

2 and 

3 (E) provision of a report explaining the re4 sults of the investigation. 

5 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The regulations issued 

6 under this section shall take effect upon the expiration of 

7 the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act. 

9 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal year such 

11 sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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