I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3295 

To study and facilitate the abatement and removal of environmental hazards 

in homes rehabilitated with community participation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 14, 2019 

Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York (for himself, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. 

RYAN, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. KATKO, Mr. HECK, and Ms. 

SCANLON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To study and facilitate the abatement and removal of environmental hazards in homes rehabilitated with community participation, 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 ‘‘Removing Environ5 mental Hazards And Building Safely Act of 2019’’ or the 

6 ‘‘REHABS Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STUDY AND REMOVAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL HAZ2 ARDS IN HOMES BEING REHABILITATED. 

3 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

4 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and 

5 Urban Development shall conduct a study on— 

6 (1) the best methods to assess the amount of 

7 mold in a single family home prior to such home 

8 being rehabilitated; 

9 (2) the danger posed by mold in a single family 

10 home prior to such home being rehabilitated; and 

11 (3) best practices for safely removing mold 

12 when rehabilitating a single family home. 

13 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the com14 pletion of the study pursuant to subsection (a), the Sec15 retary shall submit a report to Congress containing the 

16 results of such study, and make such report available on 

17 a public website of the Department. 

18 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE ABATEMENT AND RE19 MOVAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS FROM 

20 HOMES. 

21 (a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may, to the 

22 extent amounts are available to carry out this section and 

23 the requirements of this section are met, make grants to 

24 provide for or facilitate the abatement and removal of en25 vironmental hazards in homes being rehabilitated to na26 tional and regional organizations and consortia that have 


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1 experience in providing for or facilitating the abatement 

2 and removal of environmental hazards from homes. 

3 (b) GOALS AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—In making 

4 grants under this section, the Secretary shall take such 

5 actions as may be necessary to ensure that— 

6 (1) assistance provided under this section is 

7 used to provide for or facilitate the abatement and 

8 removal of environmental hazards in homes being re9 habilitated through the provision of self-help hous10 ing, under which the homeowner contributes a sig11 nificant amount of sweat equity toward the rehabili12 tation of the dwelling; 

13 (2) the dwellings for which abatement or re14 moval is performed in connection with assistance 

15 provided under this section are quality dwellings 

16 that comply with local building and safety codes and 

17 standards and are available at prices below the pre18 vailing market prices; 

19 (3) the provision of assistance under this sec20 tion establishes and fosters a partnership between 

21 the Federal Government and organizations and con22 sortia, resulting in efficient rehabilitation of afford23 able housing with minimal governmental interven24 tion, limited governmental regulation, and signifi25 cant involvement by private entities; 


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1 (4) activities to rehabilitate housing assisted 

2 pursuant to this section involve community partici3 pation in which volunteers assist in the rehabilita4 tion of dwellings; and 

5 (5) assistance under this section for the abate6 ment or removal of environmental hazards is pro7 vided for dwellings on a geographically diverse basis, 

8 which shall include areas having high housing costs, 

9 rural areas, and areas underserved by other home10 ownership opportunities that are populated by low11 income families unable to otherwise afford housing. 

12 If, at any time, the Secretary determines that the goals 

13 under this subsection cannot be met by providing assist14 ance in accordance with the terms of this section, the Sec15 retary shall immediately notify the applicable Committees 

16 in writing of such determination and any proposed 

17 changes for such goals or this section. 

18 (c) NATIONAL COMPETITION.—The Secretary shall 

19 select organizations and consortia referred to in subsection 

20 (a) to receive grants through a national competitive proc21 ess, which the Secretary shall establish. 

22 (d) USE.—Amounts from grants made under this 

23 section, including any recaptured amounts, shall be used 

24 only for the abatement and removal of environmental haz25 ards in connection with rehabilitating existing homes to 


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1 make them decent, safe, and sanitary nonluxury dwellings 

2 in the United States for families and persons who other3 wise would be unable to afford to purchase a dwelling. 

4 (e) ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT FUND.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any amounts from a grant 

6 made under this section shall be deposited by the 

7 grantee organization or consortium in a fund that is 

8 established by such organization or consortium for 

9 such amounts, administered by such organization or 

10 consortium, and available only for the uses described 

11 in subsection (d). Any interest, fees, or other earn12 ings of the fund shall be deposited in the fund and 

13 shall be considered grant amounts for purposes of 

14 this section. 

15 (2) ASSISTANCE TO AFFILIATES.—Any organi16 zation or consortia that receives a grant under this 

17 section may use amounts in the fund established for 

18 such organizations or consortia pursuant to para19 graph (1), for the uses described in subsection (d), 

20 by providing assistance from the fund to local affili21 ates of such organizations and consortia. 

22 (f) REQUIREMENTS FOR ASSISTANCE.—The Sec23 retary may make a grant to an organization or consortium 

24 under subsection (a) only pursuant to— 


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1 (1) an expression of interest by such organiza2 tion or consortia to the Secretary for a grant for 

3 such purposes; and 

4 (2) a grant agreement entered into under sub5 section (g). 

6 (g) GRANT AGREEMENT.—A grant under this section 

7 shall be made only pursuant to a grant agreement entered 

8 into by the Secretary and the organization or consortia 

9 receiving the grant, which shall— 

10 (1) require such organization or consortia to 

11 use grant amounts only as provided in this section; 

12 (2) require the organization or consortia to use 

13 the grant amounts in a manner that leverages other 

14 sources of funding other than grants under this sec15 tion, including private or public funds, in rehabili16 tating dwellings; 

17 (3) provide that the Secretary shall recapture 

18 any grant amounts provided to the organization or 

19 consortia that are not used within 24 months after 

20 such amounts are first disbursed to the organization 

21 or consortia; and 

22 (4) contain such other terms as the Secretary 

23 may require to provide for compliance with sub24 section (b) and the requirements of this section. 


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1 (h) FULFILLMENT OF GRANT AGREEMENT.—If the 

2 Secretary determines that an organization or consortia 

3 awarded a grant under this section has not, within 24 

4 months after grant amounts are first made available to 

5 the organization or consortia, substantially fulfilled the ob6 ligations under the grant agreement, the Secretary shall 

7 use any such undisbursed amounts remaining from such 

8 grants for other grants in accordance with this section. 

9 (i) RECORDS AND AUDITS.—During the period begin10 ning upon the making of a grant under this section and 

11 ending upon close-out of the grant under subsection (j)— 

12 (1) the organization awarded the grant shall 

13 keep such records and adopt such administrative 

14 practices as the Secretary may require to ensure 

15 compliance with the provisions of this section and 

16 the grant agreement; and 

17 (2) the Secretary and the Comptroller General 

18 of the United States, and any of their duly ap19 pointed representatives, shall have access for the 

20 purpose of audit and examination to any books, doc21 uments, papers, and records of the grantee organiza22 tion or consortia and its affiliates that are pertinent 

23 to the grant made under this section. 

24 (j) CLOSE-OUT.—The Secretary shall close out a 

25 grant made under this section upon determining that the 


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1 aggregate amount of any assistance provided from the 

2 fund established under subsection (e)(1) by the grantee 

3 organization or consortium exceeds the amount of the 

4 grant. For purposes of this subsection, any interest, fees, 

5 and other earnings of the fund shall be excluded from the 

6 amount of the grant. 

7 (k) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days 

8 after close-out of all grants under this section is com9 pleted, the Secretary shall submit a report to the applica10 ble Committees describing— 

11 (1) the grants made under this section; 

12 (2) the grantees; 

13 (3) the housing for which abatement or removal 

14 of environmental hazards was performed in connec15 tion with the grant amounts; and 

16 (4) the purposes for which the grant amounts 

17 were used. 

18 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

19 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

20 shall apply: 

21 (1) APPLICABLE COMMITTEES.—The term ‘‘ap22 plicable Committees’’ means the House Committee 

23 on Financial Services and the Senate Committee on 

24 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. 


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1 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD.—The term ‘‘en2 vironmental hazard’’ means any condition that 

3 causes exposure to lead, asbestos, mold, and other 

4 hazards as determined by the Secretary. 

5 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

6 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

7 (4) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 

8 States’’ includes the States of the United States, the 

9 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

10 Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

11 Islands, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 

12 and any other territory or possession of the United 

13 States. 

14 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

16 may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

17 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

18 The Secretary shall not enter into any grant agree19 ment, contract, or obligation under this Act after the con20 clusion of fiscal year 2022. 

Æ 


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