I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6528 

To require owners of covered federally assisted rental dwelling units to install 

temperature sensors in such units, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2022 

Mr. TORRES of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require owners of covered federally assisted rental dwelling units to install temperature sensors in such units, 

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 ‘‘Housing Temperature 

5 Safety Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TEMPERATURE SENSORS. 

7 (a) INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each owner of a covered 

9 federally assisted rental dwelling unit shall, not later 

10 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 


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1 Act, ensure that, at all times pursuant to paragraph 

2 (2), such temperature sensors are installed and 

3 maintained in accordance with the rule issued by the 

4 Secretary under paragraph (3) on each level of such 

5 dwelling unit owned by such owner. 

6 (2) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary shall, not 

7 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act, issue a rule that establishes standards 

9 and requirements for the installation and mainte10 nance of temperature sensors in covered federally as11 sisted rental dwelling units. 

12 (b) DATA REPORTING.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each owner of a covered 

14 federally assisted rental dwelling unit shall, 6 times 

15 each day, collect data from temperature sensors in16 stalled pursuant to subsection (a) and such data 

17 shall include the temperature recorded during each 

18 temperature reading and the time and date of each 

19 temperature reading. 

20 (2) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall, not later 

21 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

22 this Act, publish guidance with respect to— 

23 (A) the collection of temperature sensor 

24 data by owners of covered federally assisted 


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1 rental dwelling units, including the protection of 

2 personally identifiable information; 

3 (B) the retention of such data by such 

4 owners for not less than 2 years; and 

5 (C) the reporting of such data to the Sec6 retary unless a tenant of the covered federally 

7 assisted dwelling unit has opted out of having 

8 such data reported by the owner to the Sec9 retary. 

10 (c) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, 

12 the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress that— 

13 (1) describes the status of the implementation 

14 of subsection (a), and includes— 

15 (A) the percentage of covered federally as16 sisted dwelling units without a temperature sen17 sor pursuant to subsection (b); 

18 (B) the percentage of temperature sensors 

19 that have been installed by owners of covered 

20 federally assisted dwelling units; and 

21 (C) the number of fatalities that occurred 

22 due to fire, hypothermia, heat exhaustion, and 

23 other temperature-related causes in covered 

24 dwelling units and whether a temperature sen25 sor was present in such dwelling unit; and 


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1 (2) discloses the results of data collection insti2 tuted by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel3 opment before the date of the enactment of this Act 

4 to determine the prevalence of temperature sensors 

5 in covered federally assisted dwelling units. 

6 (d) RELATION TO STATE LAW.—This section does 

7 not annul, alter, or affect, or exempt any person subject 

8 to the provisions of this section from complying with, the 

9 laws of any State with respect to installing or maintaining 

10 temperature sensors, except to the extent that those laws 

11 are inconsistent with any provision of this section, and 

12 then only to the extent of the inconsistency. The Secretary 

13 is authorized to determine whether such inconsistencies 

14 exist and may not determine that any State law is incon15 sistent with any provision of this section if the Secretary 

16 determines that such law provides for greater protection 

17 or safety. 

18 (e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this Act: 

19 (1) ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘assistance’’ 

20 means any grant, loan, subsidy, contract, cooperative 

21 agreement, or other form of financial assistance, but 

22 such term does not include the insurance or guar23 antee of a loan, mortgage, or pool of loans or mort24 gages. 


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1 (2) TEMPERATURE SENSOR.—The term ‘‘tem2 perature sensor’’ means an internet capable tem3 perature reporting device able to track the ambient 

4 air temperature to the tenth degree Fahrenheit and 

5 Celsius. 

6 (3) COVERED FEDERALLY ASSISTED HOUS7 ING.—The term ‘‘covered federally assisted rental 

8 dwelling unit’’ means a residential dwelling unit that 

9 is made available for rental and for which assistance 

10 is provided, or that is part of a housing project for 

11 which assistance is provided, under— 

12 (A) the public housing program under the 

13 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

14 1437 et seq.); 

15 (B) the programs for rental assistance 

16 under section 8 of the United States Housing 

17 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), including— 

18 (i) the program for project-based rent19 al assistance; and 

20 (ii) the program for tenant-based 

21 rental assistance; 

22 (C) the AIDS Housing Opportunities pro23 gram under subtitle D of title VIII of the Cran24 ston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act 

25 (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.); 


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1 (D) the program for supportive housing for 

2 the elderly under section 202 of the Housing 

3 Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q); or 

4 (E) the program for supportive housing for 

5 persons with disabilities under section 811 of 

6 the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 

7 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013); and 

8 (F) the programs under sections 514, 515, 

9 and 516 of the Housing Act of 1949. 

10 (4) OWNER.—The term ‘‘owner’’ means, with 

11 respect to a covered federally assisted rental dwelling 

12 unit, any private person or entity, including a coop13 erative, an agency of the Federal Government, or a 

14 public housing agency, having the legal right to lease 

15 or sublease dwelling units. 

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

17 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

18 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

19 authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 

20 to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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