II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2145

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 9, 1998

Mr. SHELBY (for himself, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, and Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

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; 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 ‘‘SEC. 602. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

11 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

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

13 meeting the housing needs of the Nation; and

14 ‘‘(2) manufactured homes provide a significant

15 resource for affordable home ownership and rental

16 housing accessible to all Americans.

17 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are—

18 ‘‘(1) to promote the quality, durability, safety,

19 and affordability of manufactured housing;

20 ‘‘(2) to promote the availability of affordable

21 manufactured homes and to increase homeownership

22 for all Americans;

23 ‘‘(3) to provide for the establishment of prac24 tical, uniform, and, to the extent possible, perform25 ance-based Federal construction standards;
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1 ‘‘(4) to encourage innovative and cost-effective

2 construction techniques;

3 ‘‘(5) to protect manufactured homeowners from

4 unreasonable risk of personal injury and property

5 damage;

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

7 for the development, revision, and interpretation of

8 Federal construction and safety standards for manu9 factured homes and related regulations for the en10 forcement of such standards;

11 ‘‘(7) to ensure uniform and effective enforce12 ment of Federal construction and safety standards

13 for manufactured homes; and

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

15 need for, affordable manufactured housing is duly

16 considered in all determinations relating to the Fed17 eral standards and their enforcement.’’.

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

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

20 amended—

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

22 inserting ‘‘retailer’’;

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

24 end;
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1 (3) in paragraph (13), by striking the period at

2 the end and inserting a semicolon; and

3 (4) by adding at the end the following:

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

5 qualified technical or building code organization that

6 administers the consensus development process,

7 which—

8 ‘‘(A) with respect to the period during

9 which the agreement under section

10 604(a)(2)(A) is in force, shall be the Council of

11 American Building Officials; and

12 ‘‘(B) with respect to the period during

13 which a competitively procured contract under

14 section 604(a)(2)(B) is in force, shall be the or15 ganization selected by the Secretary;

16 ‘‘(15) ‘consensus committee’ means the commit17 tee established under section 604(a)(3);

18 ‘‘(16) ‘consensus standards development proc19 ess’ means the process by which additions, revisions,

20 and interpretations to the Federal manufactured

21 home construction and safety standards and enforce22 ment regulations are developed and recommended to

23 the Secretary by the consensus committee;

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

25 State agency or private organization that has been
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1 approved by the Secretary to act as a design ap2 proval primary inspection agency or a production in3 spection primary inspection agency, or both;

4 ‘‘(18) ‘design approval primary inspection agen5 cy’ means a State agency or private organization

6 that has been approved by the Secretary to evaluate

7 and either approve or disapprove manufactured

8 home designs and quality control procedures;

9 ‘‘(19) ‘production inspection primary inspection

10 agency’ means a State agency or private organiza11 tion that has been approved by the Secretary to

12 evaluate the ability of manufactured home manufac13 turing plants to comply with approved quality con14 trol procedures and with the Federal manufactured

15 home construction and safety standards promulgated

16 hereunder; and

17 ‘‘(20) ‘monitoring’—

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

19 of the primary inspection agencies, by the Sec20 retary or by a State agency under an approved

21 State plan pursuant to section 623, in accord22 ance with regulations adopted by the consensus

23 committee and promulgated in accordance with

24 section 604(a)(4)(B), which process shall be for

25 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 and label

5 tampering.’’.

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 each of subsections (d) and (f), by

22 striking ‘‘dealers’’ each place it appears and in23 serting ‘‘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. 5304) is amended—

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

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) as appropriate, be performance19 based and stated objectively; 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.—

25 ‘‘(A) INITIAL AGREEMENT.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than

2 180 days after the date of enactment of

3 the Manufactured Housing Improvement

4 Act, the Secretary shall request the Coun5 cil of American Building Officials (or the

6 successor organization to such Council) to,

7 and if such organization consents, enter

8 into an agreement, which shall—

9 ‘‘(I) terminate on the date on

10 which a contract is entered into under

11 subparagraph (B); and

12 ‘‘(II) require the Council of

13 American Building Officials to—

14 ‘‘(aa) appoint the initial

15 members of the consensus com16 mittee under paragraph (3);

17 ‘‘(bb) administer the consen18 sus standards development proc19 ess until the termination of that

20 agreement; and

21 ‘‘(cc) administer the consen22 sus development and interpreta23 tion process for procedural and

24 enforcement regulations and reg25 ulations specifying the permis-
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1 sible scope and conduct of mon2 itoring until the termination of

3 that agreement.

4 ‘‘(ii) DUTY OF SECRETARY.—If the

5 Council of American Building Officials (or

6 the successor organization to such Council)

7 declines to enter into the agreement as

8 provided in clause (i), the Secretary shall

9 enter into the agreement under this sub10 paragraph with an organization described

11 in subparagraph (B).

12 ‘‘(B) COMPETITIVELY PROCURED CON13 TRACT.—Upon the expiration of the 4-year pe14 riod beginning on the date on which all mem15 bers of the consensus committee are appointed

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

17 competitive procedures (as defined in section 4

18 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy

19 Act), enter into a competitively awarded con20 tract with a qualified technical or building code

21 organization (which may be the Council of

22 American Building Officials) under which that

23 organization shall administer the consensus

24 process for the development and interpretation

25 of the Federal standards, the procedural and
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1 enforcement regulations and regulations speci2 fying the permissible scope and conduct of mon3 itoring in accordance with this title.

4 ‘‘(C) PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—The Sec5 retary—

6 ‘‘(i) shall periodically review the per7 formance of the administering organiza8 tion; and

9 ‘‘(ii) may replace the administering

10 organization with another qualified tech11 nical or building code organization, pursu12 ant to competitive procedures, if the Sec13 retary determines in writing that the ad14 ministering organization is not fulfilling

15 the terms of the agreement or contract to

16 which the administering organization is

17 subject or upon the expiration of the

18 agreement or contract.

19 ‘‘(3) CONSENSUS COMMITTEE.—

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

21 committee to be known as the ‘consensus com22 mittee’, which shall, in accordance with this

23 title—

24 ‘‘(i) provide periodic recommendations

25 to the Secretary to adopt, revise, and inter-
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1 pret the Federal manufactured housing

2 construction and safety standards in ac3 cordance with this subsection;

4 ‘‘(ii) provide periodic recommenda5 tions to the Secretary to adopt, revise, and

6 interpret the procedural and enforcement

7 regulations, including regulations specify8 ing the permissible scope and conduct of

9 monitoring in accordance with this sub10 section; and

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

12 business in a manner that guarantees a

13 fair opportunity for the expression and

14 consideration of various positions and for

15 public participation.

16 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—The consensus com17 mittee shall be composed of—

18 ‘‘(i) 25 voting members appointed,

19 subject to approval by the Secretary, by

20 the administering organization from among

21 individuals who are qualified by back22 ground and experience to participate in the

23 work of the consensus committee; and

24 ‘‘(ii) 1 member appointed by the Sec25 retary to represent the Secretary on the
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1 consensus committee, who shall be a non2 voting member.

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

4 disapprove the appointment of an individual

5 under subparagraph (B)(i) only if the Secretary

6 makes a finding, in writing, that—

7 ‘‘(i) the appointment was not made in

8 accordance with subparagraph (D); or

9 ‘‘(ii) either—

10 ‘‘(I) the individual is not quali11 fied to represent the interest category

12 referred to in subparagraph (D) for

13 which the individual has been ap14 pointed; or

15 ‘‘(II) a member appointed under

16 clause (iii), (iv), or (v) of subpara17 graph (D) fails to meet the require18 ments of subparagraph (E).

19 ‘‘(D) SELECTION PROCEDURES AND RE20 QUIREMENTS.—Each member of the consensus

21 committee shall be appointed in accordance

22 with the selection procedures, which shall be es23 tablished by the Secretary and which shall be

24 based on the procedures for consensus commit25 tees promulgated by the American National
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1 Standards Institute (or successor organization),

2 except that the American National Standards

3 Institute interest categories shall be modified

4 for purposes of this paragraph to ensure equal

5 representation on the consensus committee of

6 the following interest categories:

7 ‘‘(i) Manufacturers.

8 ‘‘(ii) Retailers, insurers, suppliers,

9 lenders, community owners, and private in10 spection agencies that have a financial in11 terest in the manufactured housing indus12 try.

13 ‘‘(iii) Homeowners and consumer rep14 resentatives.

15 ‘‘(iv) Public officials, including those

16 from State agencies or local building code

17 enforcement and inspection agencies.

18 ‘‘(v) General interest groups, includ19 ing academicians, researchers, architects,

20 engineers, private inspection agencies, and

21 others.

22 ‘‘(E) ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS.—

23 ‘‘(i) FINANCIAL INTEREST.—No mem24 ber appointed under clause (iii), (iv), or (v)

25 of subparagraph (D) may have a signifi-
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1 cant financial interest in the manufactured

2 housing industry, unless—

3 ‘‘(I) such member is a private in4 spection agency; or

5 ‘‘(II) such bar to participation is

6 waived by the Secretary in writing.

7 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON PRIVATE INSPEC8 TION AGENCIES.—The number of members

9 appointed under subparagraph (D)(v) who

10 represent private inspection agencies shall

11 not constitute more than 20 percent of the

12 total number of members appointed under

13 subparagraph (D)(v).

14 ‘‘(F) MEETINGS.—The consensus commit15 tee shall provide advance notice of each meeting

16 of the consensus committee to the Secretary

17 and publish advance notice of each such meet18 ing in the Federal Register. All meetings of the

19 consensus committee shall be open to the pub20 lic.

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

22 ‘‘(i) ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The

23 consensus committee shall not be consid24 ered to be an advisory committee for pur-
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1 poses of the Federal Advisory Committee

2 Act.

3 ‘‘(ii) TITLE 18.—The members of the

4 consensus committee shall not be subject

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

6 18, United States Code, to the extent of

7 their proper participation as members of

8 the consensus committee.

9 ‘‘(iii) ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT

10 OF 1978.—The Ethics in Government Act

11 of 1978 shall not apply to members of the

12 consensus committee to the extent of their

13 proper participation as members of the

14 consensus committee.

15 ‘‘(H) ADMINISTRATION.—The consensus

16 committee and the administering organization

17 shall—

18 ‘‘(i) operate in conformance with the

19 procedures established by the American

20 National Standards Institute for the devel21 opment and coordination of American Na22 tional Standards; and

23 ‘‘(ii) apply to the American National

24 Standards Institute and take such other

25 actions as may be necessary to obtain ac-
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1 creditation from the American National

2 Standards Institute.

3 ‘‘(I) STAFF.—The administering organiza4 tion shall, upon the request of the consensus

5 committee, provide reasonable staff resources to

6 the consensus committee.

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

8 The initial appointments of all of the members

9 of the consensus committee shall be completed

10 not later than 90 days after the date on which

11 an administration agreement under paragraph

12 (2)(A) is completed with the Council of Amer13 ican Building Officials.

14 ‘‘(4) REVISIONS.—

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

16 on which all initial members of the consensus

17 committee are appointed under paragraph (3),

18 the consensus committee shall, not less than

19 once during each 2-year period—

20 ‘‘(i) consider revisions to the Federal

21 manufactured home construction and safe22 ty standards and procedural and enforce23 ment regulations (including the adoption of

24 regulations specifying the permissible scope

25 and conduct of monitoring); and
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1 ‘‘(ii) submit proposed revised stand2 ards and regulations to the Secretary.

3 ‘‘(B) PUBLICATION OF PROPOSED REVISED

4 STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS.—Before sub5 mitting any proposed revised standard or regu6 lation under subparagraph (A)(ii), the consen7 sus committee shall—

8 ‘‘(i) publish in the Federal Register a

9 notice of the proposed revised standard or

10 regulation and a description of the consid11 erations and decisions of the consensus

12 committee under subsection (e); and

13 ‘‘(ii) provide an opportunity for public

14 comment on such proposed revised stand15 ard or regulation.

16 ‘‘(C) PRESENTATION OF PUBLIC COM17 MENTS.—Any public comments, views, and ob18 jections to a proposed revised standard or regu19 lation published under subparagraph (B) shall

20 be presented to the consensus committee in ac21 cordance with procedures established by the

22 American National Standards Institute. The

23 consensus committee shall publish in the Fed24 eral Register a notice of the recommended revi25 sions of the consensus committee to the stand-
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1 ard or regulation, a notice of the submission of

2 the recommended revisions to the Secretary,

3 and a description of the circumstances under

4 which the proposed revised standards or regula5 tions could become effective.

6 ‘‘(5) REVIEW BY THE SECRETARY.—

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

8 either adopt, modify, or reject a standard or

9 regulation, as submitted by the consensus com10 mittee under paragraph (4)(A).

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

12 after the date on which a standard or regula13 tion is submitted to the Secretary by the con14 sensus committee, the Secretary shall take ac15 tion regarding such standard or regulation

16 under subparagraph (C).

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

18 ‘‘(i) adopts a standard or regulation

19 recommended by the consensus committee,

20 the Secretary shall—

21 ‘‘(I) issue a final order without

22 further rulemaking; and

23 ‘‘(II) cause the final order to be

24 published in the Federal Register;
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1 ‘‘(ii) determines that any standard or

2 regulation should be rejected because the

3 implementation of such standard or regula4 tion would jeopardize public health or safe5 ty or is inconsistent with the purposes of

6 this title, the Secretary shall—

7 ‘‘(I) reject the standard or regu8 lation; and

9 ‘‘(II) publish in the Federal Reg10 ister a notice to that effect, together

11 with the reason or reasons for reject12 ing the proposed standard or regula13 tion; or

14 ‘‘(iii) determines that a standard or

15 regulation recommended by the consensus

16 committee should be modified because the

17 implementation of such standard or regula18 tion would jeopardize public health or safe19 ty or is inconsistent with the purposes of

20 this title, the Secretary shall—

21 ‘‘(I) cause the proposed modified

22 standard or regulation to be published

23 in the Federal Register, together with

24 an explanation of the reason or rea-
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1 sons for the determination of the Sec2 retary; and

3 ‘‘(II) provide an opportunity for

4 public comment in accordance with

5 section 553 of title 5, United States

6 Code.

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

8 or regulation under this paragraph shall become

9 effective pursuant to subsection (c).

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

11 to take final action under paragraph (5) and to pub12 lish notice of the action in the Federal Register be13 fore the expiration of the 12-month period beginning

14 on the date on which the proposed standard or regu15 lation is submitted to the Secretary under paragraph

16 (4)(A)—

17 ‘‘(A) the recommendations of the consen18 sus committee—

19 ‘‘(i) shall be considered to have been

20 adopted by the Secretary; and

21 ‘‘(ii) shall take effect upon the expira22 tion of the 180-day period that begins

23 upon the conclusion of such 12-month pe24 riod; and
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1 ‘‘(B) not later than 10 days after the expi2 ration of such 12-month period, the Secretary

3 shall publish in the Federal Register a notice of

4 the failure of the Secretary to act, the revised

5 standard or regulation, and the effective date of

6 the revised standard or regulation, which notice

7 shall be deemed to be an order of the Secretary

8 approving the revised standards or regulations

9 proposed by the consensus committee.

10 ‘‘(7) INTERPRETIVE BULLETINS.—The Sec11 retary may issue interpretive bulletins to clarify the

12 meaning of any Federal manufactured home con13 struction and safety standard or procedural and en14 forcement regulation, subject to the following re15 quirements:

16 ‘‘(A) REVIEW BY CONSENSUS COMMIT17 TEE.—Before issuing an interpretive bulletin—

18 ‘‘(i) the Secretary shall—

19 ‘‘(I) submit the proposed bulletin

20 to the consensus committee; and

21 ‘‘(II) provide the consensus com22 mittee with a period of 90 days to

23 provide written comments on the pro24 posed bulletin to the Secretary;
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1 ‘‘(ii) if the consensus committee fails

2 to provide written comments before the ex3 piration of the 90-day period described in

4 clause (i), or concurs with the interpretive

5 bulletin submitted under clause (i)(I), the

6 Secretary may issue the interpretive bul7 letin immediately; and

8 ‘‘(iii) if the Secretary rejects any sig9 nificant comment provided by the consen10 sus committee under clause (i), the Sec11 retary shall—

12 ‘‘(I) provide a written expla13 nation of the reasons for the rejection

14 to the consensus committee;

15 ‘‘(II) cause the proposed bulletin

16 and the consensus committee’s written

17 comments to be published in the Fed18 eral Register; and

19 ‘‘(III) provide an opportunity for

20 public comment in accordance with

21 section 553 of title 5, United States

22 Code.

23 ‘‘(B) PROPOSALS.—

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The consensus

25 committee may submit to the Secretary a
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1 proposed interpretive bulletin under this

2 paragraph.

3 ‘‘(ii) AUTOMATIC APPROVAL.—If the

4 Secretary fails to issue or reject a proposed

5 interpretive bulletin submitted under

6 clause (i) before the expiration of the 90-

7 day period beginning on the date on which

8 the bulletin is submitted to the Secretary

9 under clause (i), the Secretary shall—

10 ‘‘(I) be considered to have ap11 proved the bulletin; and

12 ‘‘(II) immediately issue the bul13 letin.

14 ‘‘(b) OTHER ORDERS.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary deter16 mines, in writing, that such action is necessary in

17 order to respond to a public health or safety emer18 gency, or to address an issue on which the Secretary

19 determines the consensus committee will not make a

20 timely recommendation, the Secretary may issue an

21 order that is not developed under the procedures set

22 forth in subsection (a), if the Secretary—

23 ‘‘(A) first submits the proposed order to

24 the consensus committee for review; and
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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of an order addressing an

2 issue on which the Secretary determines that

3 the consensus committee will not make a timely

4 recommendation, affords the consensus commit5 tee 90 days to provide the views of the consen6 sus committee on the proposed order to the

7 Secretary.

8 ‘‘(2) EXPLANATION REQUIRED.—If the consen9 sus committee fails to act before the expiration of

10 the 90-day period described in paragraph (1)(B) or

11 if the Secretary rejects any significant change rec12 ommended by the consensus committee under such

13 paragraph, the public notice of an order issued

14 under paragraph (1) shall include an explanation of

15 the reasons for such failure or rejection.

16 ‘‘(3) RULEMAKING PROCEDURES.—The Sec17 retary may issue an order under this subsection only

18 in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United

19 States Code.’’;

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

21 following: ‘‘Federal preemption under this subsection

22 shall be broadly and liberally construed. It shall be

23 the duty of the Secretary to ensure that disparate

24 State or local requirements or standards do not af25 fect the uniformity and comprehensiveness of the
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1 standards promulgated hereunder. Nothing in the

2 preceding sentence shall affect any person’s right to

3 enforce this subsection in any court of competent ju4 risdiction. There is reserved to each State the right

5 to establish standards for the installation of manu6 factured homes sited within that State and the right

7 to enforce compliance with such standards, except

8 that such standards shall be consistent with the pur9 poses of this title and with the applicable manufac10 turers’ installation instructions.’’;

11 (3) by striking subsection (e);

12 (4) in subsection (f), by striking the matter pre13 ceding paragraph (1) and inserting the following:

14 ‘‘(e) CONSIDERATIONS IN ESTABLISHING AND IN15 TERPRETING STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS.—The con16 sensus committee, in recommending standards, regula17 tions, and interpretations, and the Secretary, in establish18 ing standards or regulations, or issuing interpretations

19 under this section, shall—’’;

20 (5) by striking subsection (g);

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

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

23 (e)’’; and

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

25 (j), as subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively.
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1 SEC. 5. ABOLISHMENT OF NATIONAL MANUFACTURED

2 HOME ADVISORY COUNCIL.

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

4 SEC. 6. PUBLIC INFORMATION.

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

6 (1) in subsection (a)—

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

8 ‘‘submit’’; and

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

10 ‘‘The Secretary shall submit such cost and

11 other information to the consensus committee

12 for evaluation.’’;

13 (2) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘, the con14 sensus committee,’’ after ‘‘public’’; and

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

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

17 respectively.

18 SEC. 7. FEES.

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

20 follows:

21 ‘‘SEC. 620. AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH FEES.

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out inspections

23 under this title, in developing standards and regulations

24 pursuant to section 604, and in promoting the afford25 ability and availability of manufactured housing, the Sec26 retary may—
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1 ‘‘(1) establish and collect from manufactured

2 home manufacturers, distributors, and retailers such

3 reasonable fees as may be necessary to offset the ex4 penses incurred by the Secretary in connection

5 with—

6 ‘‘(A) conducting inspections, including in7 spections by States acting pursuant to an ap8 proved State plan under section 623;

9 ‘‘(B) administering the consensus commit10 tee as set forth in section 604;

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

12 administrator and Federal staff personnel for

13 the manufactured housing program; and

14 ‘‘(D) promoting the availability of afford15 able manufactured homes to increase home16 ownership for all Americans; and

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

18 to pay expenses referred to in subparagraphs (A),

19 (B), (C), and (D) of paragraph (1), which shall be

20 exempt and separate from any limitations on the

21 Department of Housing and Urban Development re22 garding full-time equivalent positions and travel.

23 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITED USE.—Neither the Secretary, an

24 agent of the Secretary, or the States under section 623

25 of this title may use any fees collected under subsection
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1 (a) for any purpose or activity not specifically authorized

2 by this title.

3 ‘‘(c) MODIFICATION.—Any fee established by the Sec4 retary under this section shall only be modified pursuant

5 to rulemaking in accordance with section 553 of title 5,

6 United States Code.

7 ‘‘(d) APPROPRIATION AND DEPOSIT OF FEES.—

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

9 Treasury of the United States a fund to be known

10 as the ‘Manufactured Housing Fees Fund’ for de11 posit of all fees collected pursuant to subsection (a).

12 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATION.—Fees deposited in the

13 fund established under subsection (a) shall be avail14 able for expenditure only to the extent as approved

15 in an annual appropriations Act.’’.

16 SEC. 8. ELIMINATION OF ANNUAL REPORT REQUIREMENT.

17 The National Manufactured Housing Construction

18 and Safety Standards Act of 1974 is amended—

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

20 and

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

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

23 respectively.
29

•S 2145 IS

1 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

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

4 amendments shall have no effect on any order or interpre5 tive bulletin that is published as a proposed rule pursuant

6 to section 553 of title 5, United States Code, on or before

7 such date.

8 SEC. 10. SAVINGS PROVISION.

9 The Federal manufactured home construction and

10 safety standards (as defined in section 603 of the National

11 Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Stand12 ards Act of 1974) in effect immediately before the date

13 of enactment of this Act shall apply until the effective date

14 of the Federal manufactured home construction and safety

15 standards promulgated under subsection (a) or (b) of sec16 tion 604 of the National Manufactured Housing Construc17 tion and Safety Standards Act of 1974, as amended by

18 this Act.

Æ