I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 730

To require a housing impact analysis of any new rule of a Federal agency 

that has an economic impact of $100,000,000 or more. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2003

Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin (for himself, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. 

SOUDER, and Mr. TERRY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To require a housing impact analysis of any new rule of 

a Federal agency that has an economic impact of 

$100,000,000 or more.

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 Affordability 

5 Assurance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HOUSING IMPACT ANALYSIS. 

7 (a) APPLICABILITY.—Except as provided in sub8 section (b), the requirements of this section shall apply 

9 with respect to—
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1 (1) any proposed rule, unless the agency pro2 mulgating the rule—

3 (A) has certified that the proposed rule 

4 will not, if given force or effect as a final rule, 

5 have a significant deleterious impact on housing 

6 affordability; and 

7 (B) has caused such certification to be 

8 published in the Federal Register at the time of 

9 publication of general notice of proposed rule10 making for the rule, together with a statement 

11 providing the factual basis for the certification; 

12 and 

13 (2) any final rule, unless the agency promul14 gating the rule—

15 (A) has certified that the rule will not, if 

16 given force or effect, have a significant delete17 rious impact on housing affordability; and 

18 (B) has caused such certification to be 

19 published in the Federal Register at the time of 

20 publication of the final rule, together with a 

21 statement providing the factual basis for the 

22 certification. 

23 Any agency making a certification under this subsection 

24 shall provide a copy of such certification and the state-
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1 ment providing the factual basis for the certification to 

2 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

3 (b) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN BANKING RULES.—

4 The requirements of this section shall not apply to any 

5 proposed or final rule relating to—

6 (1) the operations, safety, or soundness of—

7 (A) federally insured depository institu8 tions or any affiliate of such an institution (as 

9 such term is defined in section 2(k) of the Bank 

10 Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 

11 1841(k)); 

12 (B) credit unions; 

13 (C) the Federal home loan banks; 

14 (D) the enterprises (as such term is de15 fined in section 1303 of the Housing and Com16 munity Development Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 

17 4502); 

18 (E) a Farm Credit System institution; or 

19 (F) foreign banks or their branches, agen20 cies, commercial lending companies, or rep21 resentative offices that operate in the United 

22 States, or any affiliate of a foreign bank (as 

23 such terms are defined in section 1 of the Inter24 national Banking Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 

25 3101); or 
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1 (2) the payments system or the protection of 

2 deposit insurance funds or the Farm Credit Insur3 ance Fund. 

4 (c) STATEMENT OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING.—

5 Whenever an agency publishes general notice of proposed 

6 rulemaking for any proposed rule, unless the agency has 

7 made a certification under subsection (a), the agency 

8 shall—

9 (1) in the notice of proposed rulemaking—

10 (A) state with particularity the text of the 

11 proposed rule; and 

12 (B) request any interested persons to sub13 mit to the agency any written analyses, data, 

14 views, and arguments, and any specific alter15 natives to the proposed rule; 

16 (2) provide an opportunity for interested per17 sons to take the actions specified under paragraph 

18 (1)(B) before promulgation of the final rule; and 

19 (3) prepare and make available for public com20 ment an initial housing impact analysis in accord21 ance with the requirements of subsection (d). 

22 (d) INITIAL HOUSING IMPACT ANALYSIS.—

23 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—Each initial housing im24 pact analysis shall describe the impact of the pro25 posed rule on housing affordability. The initial hous-
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1 ing impact analysis or a summary shall be published 

2 in the Federal Register at the same time as, and to3 gether with, the publication of general notice of pro4 posed rulemaking for the rule. The agency shall 

5 transmit a copy of the initial housing impact anal6 ysis to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel7 opment. 

8 (2) CONTENTS.—Each initial housing impact 

9 analysis required under this subsection shall con10 tain—

11 (A) a description of the reasons why action 

12 by the agency is being considered; 

13 (B) a succinct statement of the objectives 

14 of, and legal basis for, the proposed rule; 

15 (C) a description of and, where feasible, an 

16 estimate of the extent to which the proposed 

17 rule would increase the cost or reduce the sup18 ply of housing or land for residential develop19 ment; and 

20 (D) an identification, to the extent prac21 ticable, of all relevant Federal rules which may 

22 duplicate, overlap, or conflict with the proposed 

23 rule. 

24 (e) FINAL HOUSING IMPACT ANALYSIS.—
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1 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Whenever an agency pro2 mulgates a final rule after publication of a general 

3 notice of proposed rulemaking, unless the agency has 

4 made the certification under subsection (a), the 

5 agency shall prepare a final housing impact analysis. 

6 (2) CONTENTS.—Each final housing impact 

7 analysis shall contain—

8 (A) a succinct statement of the need for, 

9 and objectives of, the rule; 

10 (B) a summary of the significant issues, 

11 analyses, and alternatives to the proposed rule 

12 raised during the public comment period in re13 sponse to the proposed rule and initial housing 

14 impact analysis, a summary of the assessment 

15 of the agency of such issues, analyses, and al16 ternatives, and a statement of any changes 

17 made in the proposed rule as a result of such 

18 comments; and 

19 (C) a description of and an estimate of the 

20 extent to which the rule will impact housing af21 fordability or an explanation of why no such es22 timate is available. 

23 (3) AVAILABILITY.—The agency shall make 

24 copies of the final housing impact analysis available 

25 to members of the public and shall publish in the 
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1 Federal Register such analysis or a summary there2 of. 

3 (f) AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATIVE OR UNNECESSARY

4 ANALYSES.—

5 (1) DUPLICATION.—Any Federal agency may 

6 perform the analyses required by subsections (d) and 

7 (e) in conjunction with or as a part of any other 

8 agenda or analysis required by any other law, execu9 tive order, directive, or rule if such other analysis 

10 satisfies the provisions of such subsections. 

11 (2) JOINDER.—In order to avoid duplicative ac12 tion, an agency may consider a series of closely re13 lated rules as one rule for the purposes of sub14 sections (d) and (e). 

15 (g) PREPARATION OF ANALYSES.—In complying with 

16 the provisions of subsections (d) and (e), an agency may 

17 provide either a quantifiable or numerical description of 

18 the effects of a proposed rule or alternatives to the pro19 posed rule, or more general descriptive statements if quan20 tification is not practicable or reliable. 

21 (h) EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.—The requirements of 

22 subsections (d) and (e) do not alter in any manner stand23 ards otherwise applicable by law to agency action. 

24 (i) PROCEDURE FOR WAIVER OR DELAY OF COMPLE25 TION.—
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1 (1) INITIAL HOUSING IMPACT ANALYSIS.—An 

2 agency head may waive or delay the completion of 

3 some or all of the requirements of subsection (d) by 

4 publishing in the Federal Register, not later than 

5 the date of publication of the final rule, a written 

6 finding, with reasons therefor, that the final rule is 

7 being promulgated in response to an emergency that 

8 makes compliance or timely compliance with the pro9 visions of subsection (a) impracticable. 

10 (2) FINAL HOUSING IMPACT ANALYSIS.—An 

11 agency head may not waive the requirements of sub12 section (e). An agency head may delay the comple13 tion of the requirements of subsection (e) for a pe14 riod of not more than 180 days after the date of 

15 publication in the Federal Register of a final rule by 

16 publishing in the Federal Register, not later than 

17 such date of publication, a written finding, with rea18 sons therefor, that the final rule is being promul19 gated in response to an emergency that makes time20 ly compliance with the provisions of subsection (e) 

21 impracticable. If the agency has not prepared a final 

22 housing impact analysis pursuant to subsection (e) 

23 within 180 days from the date of publication of the 

24 final rule, such rule shall lapse and have no force or 

25 effect. Such rule shall not be repromulgated until a 
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1 final housing impact analysis has been completed by 

2 the agency. 

3 (j) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

4 following definitions shall apply: 

5 (1) HOUSING AFFORDABILITY.—The term 

6 ‘‘housing affordability’’ means the quantity of hous7 ing that is affordable to families having incomes that 

8 do not exceed 150 percent of the median income of 

9 families in the area in which the housing is located, 

10 with adjustments for smaller and larger families. 

11 For purposes of this paragraph, area, median family 

12 income for an area, and adjustments for family size 

13 shall be determined in the same manner as such fac14 tors are determined for purposes of section 3(b)(2) 

15 of the United States Housing Act of 1937. 

16 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means each 

17 authority of the Government of the United States, 

18 whether or not it is within or subject to review by 

19 another agency, but does not include—

20 (A) the Congress; 

21 (B) the courts of the United States; 

22 (C) the governments of the territories or 

23 possessions of the United States; 

24 (D) the government of the District of Co25 lumbia; 
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1 (E) agencies composed of representatives 

2 of the parties or of representatives of organiza3 tions of the parties to the disputes determined 

4 by them; 

5 (F) courts-martial and military commis6 sions; 

7 (G) military authority exercised in the field 

8 in time of war or in occupied territory; or 

9 (H) functions conferred by—

10 (i) sections 1738, 1739, 1743, and 

11 1744 of title 12, United States Code; 

12 (ii) chapter 2 of title 41, United 

13 States Code; 

14 (iii) subchapter II of chapter 471 of 

15 title 49, United States Code; or 

16 (iv) sections 1884, 1891–1902, and 

17 former section 1641(b)(2), of title 50, ap18 pendix, United States Code. 

19 (3) FAMILIES.—The term ‘‘families’’ has the 

20 meaning given such term in section 3 of the United 

21 States Housing Act of 1937. 

22 (4) RULE.—The term ‘‘rule’’ means any rule 

23 for which the agency publishes a general notice of 

24 proposed rulemaking pursuant to section 553(b) of 

25 title 5, United States Code, or any other law, includ-
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1 ing any rule of general applicability governing grants 

2 by an agency to State and local governments for 

3 which the agency provides an opportunity for notice 

4 and public comment; except that such term does not 

5 include a rule of particular applicability relating to 

6 rates, wages, corporate or financial structures or re7 organizations thereof, prices, facilities, appliances, 

8 services, or allowances therefor or to valuations, 

9 costs or accounting, or practices relating to such 

10 rates, wages, structures, prices, appliances, services, 

11 or allowances. 

12 (5) SIGNIFICANT.—The term ‘‘significant’’ 

13 means increasing consumers’ cost of housing by 

14 more than $100,000,000 per year. 

15 (k) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Hous17 ing and Urban Development shall develop model initial 

18 and final housing impact analyses under this section and 

19 shall cause such model analyses to be published in the 

20 Federal Register. The model analyses shall define the pri21 mary elements of a housing impact analysis to instruct 

22 other agencies on how to carry out and develop the anal23 yses required under subsections (d) and (e). 

24 (l) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—
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1 (1) DETERMINATION BY AGENCY.—Except as 

2 otherwise provided in paragraph (2), any determina3 tion by an agency concerning the applicability of any 

4 of the provisions of this Act to any action of the 

5 agency shall not be subject to judicial review. 

6 (2) OTHER ACTIONS BY AGENCY.—Any housing 

7 impact analysis prepared under subsection (d) or (e) 

8 and the compliance or noncompliance of the agency 

9 with the provisions of this Act shall not be subject 

10 to judicial review. When an action for judicial review 

11 of a rule is instituted, any housing impact analysis 

12 for such rule shall constitute part of the whole 

13 record of agency action in connection with the re14 view. 

15 (3) EXCEPTION.—Nothing in this subsection 

16 bars judicial review of any other impact statement or 

17 similar analysis required by any other law if judicial 

18 review of such statement or analysis is otherwise 

19 provided by law.

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