I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1995 

To prohibit the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 

implementing certain regulations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 23, 2015 

Mr. GOSAR (for himself, Mr. BABIN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BRIDENSTINE, 

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

Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. LAMALFA, Mrs. LUMMIS, Mr. 

MASSIE, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. 

WEBER of Texas, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mr. YOHO, and Mr. FINCHER) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit the Department of Housing and Urban Development from implementing certain regulations, 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 and 

5 Property Rights Protection Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL OF RULES AND NOTICES. 

2 (a) PROPOSED RULE.—Not later than 30 days after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Hous4 ing and Urban Development shall withdraw the proposed 

5 rule of the Department of Housing and Urban Develop6 ment described in the notice of proposed rule entitled ‘‘Af7 firmatively Furthering Fair Housing’’, published in the 

8 Federal Register on July 19, 2013 (78 Fed. Reg. 43710; 

9 Docket No. FR–5173–P–01), any final rule based on such 

10 proposed rule (including the rule having the Regulation 

11 Identifier Number RIN 2501–AD33), and any successor 

12 rule that is substantially similar to such proposed or final 

13 rule. 

14 (b) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and 

16 Urban Development shall withdraw the notice of the De17 partment of Housing and Urban Development relating to 

18 the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Assessment 

19 Tool, published in the Federal Register on September 26, 

20 2014 (79 Fed. Reg. 57949; Docket No. FR–5173–N–02), 

21 any proposed or final rule issued pursuant to such notice, 

22 and any successor notice or rule substantially similar to 

23 such notice or proposed or final rule. 

24 SEC. 3. FEDERALISM CONSULTATION AND REPORT. 

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

26 Urban Development shall jointly consult with State offiVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:18 May 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1995.IH H1995

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1 cials, local government officials, and officials of public 

2 housing agencies to develop recommendations, consistent 

3 with applicable rulings of the Supreme Court of the 

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

5 Fair Housing Act. 

6 (b) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS.—In developing 

7 the recommendations required under subsection (a), the 

8 Secretary shall— 

9 (1) provide State officials, local government of10 ficials, and officials of public housing agencies with 

11 notice and an opportunity to participate in the con12 sultation process required under subsection (a); 

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

14 government officials, and officials of public housing 

15 agencies that represent a broad cross-section of re16 gional, economic, and geographic perspectives in the 

17 United States; 

18 (3) emphasize the importance of collaboration 

19 with and among the State officials, local government 

20 officials, and officials of public housing agencies; 

21 (4) allow for meaningful and timely input by 

22 State officials, local government officials, and offi23 cials of public housing agencies; 

24 (5) promote transparency in the consultation 

25 process required under subsection (a); and 


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1 (6) explore with State officials, local govern2 ment officials, and officials of public housing agen3 cies whether Federal objectives under the Fair 

4 Housing Act can be attained by means other than 

5 through new regulations. 

6 (c) REPORTS.— 

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

8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec9 retary shall publish in the Federal Register a draft 

10 report describing the recommendations developed 

11 pursuant to subsection (a). 

12 (2) CONSENSUS REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary 

13 may include a recommendation in the draft report 

14 only if consensus has been reached with regard to 

15 the recommendation among the Secretary, the State 

16 officials, local government officials, and officials of 

17 public housing agencies consulted pursuant to sub18 section (a). 

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

20 Secretary, State officials, local government officials, 

21 and officials of public housing agencies consulted 

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

23 regulatory proposal, the draft report shall identify 

24 that consensus was not reached and shall describe— 


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1 (A) the areas and issues with regard to 

2 which consensus was reached; 

3 (B) the areas and issues of continuing dis4 agreement that resulted in the failure to reach 

5 consensus; and 

6 (C) the reasons for the continuing dis7 agreements. 

8 (4) PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT PERIOD.— 

9 The Secretary shall make the draft report available 

10 for public review and comment for a period of not 

11 fewer than 180 days. 

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

13 consultation with the State officials, local govern14 ment officials, and officials of public housing agen15 cies, address any comments received pursuant to 

16 paragraph (4) and shall prepare a final report de17 scribing the final results of the consultation process 

18 under subsection (a). 

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

20 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

21 Secretary shall make publicly available online the final re22 port prepared pursuant to subsection (c)(5). 

23 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the following defini24 tions apply: 


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

2 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

3 (2) LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL.—The term 

4 ‘‘local government official’’ means an elected or pro5 fessional official of a local government or an official 

6 of a regional or national organization representing 

7 local governments or officials. 

8 (3) STATE OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘State offi9 cial’’ means an elected or professional official of a 

10 State government or an official of a regional or na11 tional organization representing State governments 

12 or officials. 

13 (4) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY.—The term 

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

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

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

Æ 


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