I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 482 

To nullify certain regulations and notices of the Department of Housing 

and Urban Development, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 12, 2017 

Mr. GOSAR (for himself, Mr. BABIN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BLUM, Mr. BUCK, 

Mr. BURGESS, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. 

DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. 

KING of Iowa, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. 

ROHRABACHER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. WEBSTER of 

Florida, Mr. YOHO, and Mr. BRAT) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To nullify certain regulations and notices of the Department 

of Housing and Urban Development, 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 ‘‘Local Zoning Decisions 

5 Protection Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NULLIFICATION OF RULES AND NOTICES. 

7 (a) FINAL RULE.—The final rule of the Department 

8 of Housing and Urban Development entitled ‘‘AffirmaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jan 26, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H482.IH H482

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•HR 482 IH

1 tively Furthering Fair Housing’’, published in the Federal 

2 Register on July 16, 2015 (80 Fed. Reg. 42272; Docket 

3 No. FR–5173–F–04), and any successor rule that is sub4 stantially similar to such final rule shall have no force or 

5 effect. 

6 (b) NOTICE.—The notice of the Department of Hous7 ing and Urban Development relating to the Affirmatively 

8 Furthering Fair Housing Assessment Tool, published in 

9 the Federal Register on December 31, 2015 (80 Fed. Reg. 

10 81840; Docket No. FR–5173–N–07), and any successor 

11 notice or rule substantially similar to such notice shall 

12 have no force or effect. 

13 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS. 

14 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Fed15 eral funds may be used to design, build, maintain, utilize, 

16 or provide access to a Federal database of geospatial infor17 mation on community racial disparities or disparities in 

18 access to affordable housing. 

19 SEC. 4. FEDERALISM CONSULTATION AND REPORT. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 

21 Urban Development shall jointly consult with State offi22 cials, local government officials, and officials of public 

23 housing agencies to develop recommendations, consistent 

24 with applicable rulings of the Supreme Court of the 


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1 United States, to further the purposes and policies of the 

2 Fair Housing Act. 

3 (b) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS.—In developing 

4 the recommendations required under subsection (a), the 

5 Secretary shall— 

6 (1) provide State officials, local government of7 ficials, and officials of public housing agencies with 

8 notice and an opportunity to participate in the con9 sultation process required under subsection (a); 

10 (2) seek to consult with State officials, local 

11 government officials, and officials of public housing 

12 agencies that represent a broad cross-section of re13 gional, economic, and geographic perspectives in the 

14 United States; 

15 (3) emphasize the importance of collaboration 

16 with and among the State officials, local government 

17 officials, and officials of public housing agencies; 

18 (4) allow for meaningful and timely input by 

19 State officials, local government officials, and offi20 cials of public housing agencies; 

21 (5) promote transparency in the consultation 

22 process required under subsection (a); and 

23 (6) explore with State officials, local govern24 ment officials, and officials of public housing agen25 cies whether Federal objectives under the Fair 


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1 Housing Act can be attained by means other than 

2 through new regulations. 

3 (c) REPORTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec6 retary shall publish in the Federal Register a draft 

7 report describing the recommendations developed 

8 pursuant to subsection (a). 

9 (2) CONSENSUS REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary 

10 may include a recommendation in the draft report 

11 only if consensus has been reached with regard to 

12 the recommendation among the Secretary, the State 

13 officials, local government officials, and officials of 

14 public housing agencies consulted pursuant to sub15 section (a). 

16 (3) FAILURE TO REACH CONSENSUS.—If the 

17 Secretary, State officials, local government officials, 

18 and officials of public housing agencies consulted 

19 under subsection (a) fail to reach consensus on a 

20 regulatory proposal, the draft report shall identify 

21 that consensus was not reached and shall describe— 

22 (A) the areas and issues with regard to 

23 which consensus was reached; 


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1 (B) the areas and issues of continuing dis2 agreement that resulted in the failure to reach 

3 consensus; and 

4 (C) the reasons for the continuing dis5 agreements. 

6 (4) PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT PERIOD.— 

7 The Secretary shall make the draft report available 

8 for public review and comment for a period of not 

9 fewer than 180 days. 

10 (5) FINAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall, in 

11 consultation with the State officials, local govern12 ment officials, and officials of public housing agen13 cies, address any comments received pursuant to 

14 paragraph (4) and shall prepare a final report de15 scribing the final results of the consultation process 

16 under subsection (a). 

17 (d) SUBMISSION OF FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 

18 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

19 Secretary shall make publicly available online the final re20 port prepared pursuant to subsection (c)(5). 

21 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the following defini22 tions apply: 

23 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 


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1 (2) LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL.—The term 

2 ‘‘local government official’’ means an elected or pro3 fessional official of a local government or an official 

4 of a regional or national organization representing 

5 local governments or officials. 

6 (3) STATE OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘State offi7 cial’’ means an elected or professional official of a 

8 State government or an official of a regional or na9 tional organization representing State governments 

10 or officials. 

11 (4) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY.—The term 

12 ‘‘public housing agency’’ has the meaning given such 

13 term in section 3(b) of the United States Housing 

14 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 

Æ 


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