I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3406
To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to establish
a consensus committee for development, revision, and interpretation of
manufactured housing construction standards.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 7, 1996
Mr. ROEMER (for himself, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr.
HEINEMAN, Mr. VENTO, Mr. BAKER of California, Mr. KING, Mr. LEWIS
of California, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr.
STEARNS, Mr. BONO, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr.
LARGENT, Mr. MINGE, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. BILIRAKIS, and
Mr. LINDER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To amend the Housing and Community Development Act
of 1974 to establish a consensus committee for develop-
ment, revision, and interpretation of manufactured hous-
ing construction standards.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safe-
ty Standards Act of 1996’’.
(b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend-
ment is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal
of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be con-
sidered to be made to that section or other provision of
the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.
Section 602 (42 U.S.C. 5401) is amended by striking
the first sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘The Con-
gress declares that the purposes of this title are to reduce
the number of personal injuries and deaths and property
damage resulting from manufactured home accidents and
to establish a balanced consensus process for the develop-
ment, revision, and interpretation of Federal construction
and safety standards for manufactured homes.’’.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 603 (42 U.S.C. 5402) is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘dealer’’ and
inserting ‘‘retailer’’;
(2) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the
end;
(3) in paragraph (13), by striking the period at
the end and inserting a semicolon; and
(4) by adding at the end the following new
paragraphs:
‘‘(14) ‘consensus committee’ means the commit-
tee established under section 604(a)(7); and
‘‘(15) ‘consensus standards development proc-
ess’ means the process by which additions and revi-
sions to the Federal manufactured home construc-
tion and safety standards shall be developed and rec-
ommended to the Secretary by the consensus com-
mittee.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) OCCURRENCES
OF ‘‘DEALER’’.—The Act
(42 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.) is amended by striking
‘‘dealer’’ and inserting ‘‘retailer’’ in each of the fol-
lowing provisions:
(A) In section 613, each place such term
appears.
(B) In section 614(f), each place such term
appears.
(C) In section 615(b)(1).
(D) In section 616.
(2) 
OTHER
AMENDMENTS.—The 
Act 
(42
U.S.C. 5401 et seq.) is amended—
(A) in section 615(b)(3), by striking ‘‘deal-
er or dealers’’ and inserting ‘‘retailer or retail-
ers’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘dealers’’ and inserting
‘‘retailers’’ each place such term appears—
(i) in section 615(d);
(ii) in section 615(f); and
(iii) in section 623(c)(9).
SEC. 4. FEDERAL MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION
AND SAFETY STANDARDS.
Section 604 (42 U.S.C. 5403) is amended—
(1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in-
serting the following new subsections:
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish, by order, appropriate Federal manufactured
home construction and safety standards. Each such
Federal manufactured home standard shall be rea-
sonable and shall meet the highest standards of pro-
tection, taking into account existing State and local
laws relating to manufactured home safety and con-
struction. The Secretary shall issue all such orders
pursuant to the consensus standards development
process under this subsection. The Secretary may
issue orders which are not part of the consensus
standards development process only in accordance
with subsection (b).
‘‘(2) CONSENSUS
STANDARDS
DEVELOPMENT
PROCESS.—Not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of the National Manufactured Housing
Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1996, the
Secretary shall enter into a cooperative agreement or
establish a relationship with a qualified technical or
building code organization to administer the consen-
sus standards development process and establish a
consensus committee under paragraph (7). Periodi-
cally, the Secretary shall review such organization’s
performance and may replace the organization upon
a finding of need.
‘‘(3) REVISIONS.—The consensus committee es-
tablished under paragraph (7) shall consider revi-
sions to the Federal manufactured home construc-
tion and safety standards and shall submit revised
standards to the Secretary at least once during every
2-year period, the first such 2-year period beginning
upon the appointment of the consensus committee
under paragraph (7). Before submitting proposed re-
vised standards to the Secretary, the consensus com-
mittee shall cause the proposed revised standards to
be published in the Federal Register, together with
a description of the consensus committee’s consider-
ations and decisions under subsection (e), and shall
‘‘(B) determines that any portion of the
standards should be rejected because it would
jeopardize health or safety or is inconsistent
with the purposes of this title, a notice to that
effect, together with this reason for rejecting
the proposed standard, shall be published in the
Federal Register no later than 12 months after
the date the standards are submitted to the
Secretary by the consensus committee;
‘‘(C) determines that any portion of the
standard should be modified because it would
jeopardize health or safety or is inconsistent
with the purposes of this title—
‘‘(i) such determination shall be made
no later that 12 months after the date the
standards are submitted to the Secretary
by the consensus committee;
‘‘(ii) within such 12-month period, the
Secretary shall cause the proposed modi-
fied standard to be published in the Fed-
eral Register, together with an explanation
of the reason for the Secretary’s deter-
mination that the consensus committee
recommendation needs to be modified, and
shall provide an opportunity for public
comment in accordance with the provisions
of section 553 of title 5, United States
Code; and
‘‘(iii) the final standard shall become
effective pursuant to subsection (c).
‘‘(5) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Secretary fails
to take final action under paragraph (4) and publish
notice of the action in the Federal Register within
the 12-month period under such paragraph, the rec-
ommendations of the consensus committee shall be
considered to have been adopted by the Secretary
and shall take effect upon the expiration of the 180-
day period that begins upon the conclusion of the
12-month period. Within 10 days after the expira-
tion of the 12-month period, the Secretary shall
cause to be published in the Federal Register notice
of the Secretary’s failure to act, the revised stand-
ards, and the effective date of the revised standards.
Such notice shall be deemed an order of the Sec-
retary approving the revised standards proposed by
the consensus committee.
‘‘(6) INTERPRETIVE
BULLETINS.—The Sec-
retary may issue interpretive bulletins to clarify the
meaning of any Federal manufactured home con-
struction and safety standards, subject to the follow-
ing requirements:
‘‘(A) REVIEW
BY
CONSENSUS
COMMIT-
TEE.—Before issuing an interpretive bulletin,
the Secretary shall submit the proposed bulletin
to the consensus committee and the consensus
committee shall have 90 days to provide written
comments thereon to the Secretary. If the con-
sensus committee fails to act or if the Secretary
rejects any significant views recommended by
the consensus committee, the Secretary shall
explain in writing to the consensus committee,
before the bulletin becomes effective, the rea-
sons for such rejection.
‘‘(B) PROPOSALS.—The consensus commit-
tee may, from time to time, submit to the Sec-
retary proposals for interpretive bulletins under
this subsection. If the Secretary fails to issue or
rejects a proposed bulletin within 90 days of its
receipt, the Secretary shall be considered to
have approved the proposed bulletin and shall
immediately issue the bulletin.
‘‘(C) EFFECT.—Interpretative bulletins is-
sued under this paragraph shall become binding
without rulemaking.
‘‘(7) CONSENSUS COMMITTEE.—
‘‘(A) PURPOSE.—The consensus committee
referred to in paragraph (2) shall have as its
purpose providing periodic recommendations to
the Secretary to revise and interpret the Fed-
eral manufactured home construction and safe-
ty standards and carrying out such other func-
tions assigned to the committee under this title.
The committee shall be organized and carry out
its business in a manner that guarantees a fair
opportunity for the expression and consider-
ation of various positions.
‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—The consensus com-
mittee shall be composed of 25 members who
shall be appointed as follows:
‘‘(i) APPOINTMENT BY PROCESS AD-
MINISTRATOR.—Members 
shall 
be 
ap-
pointed by the qualified technical or build-
ing code organization that administers the
consensus standards development process
pursuant to paragraph (2), subject to the
approval of the Secretary.
‘‘(ii) 
BALANCED
MEMBERSHIP.—
Members shall be appointed in a manner
designed to include all interested parties
without domination by any single interest
category.
‘‘(iii) SELECTION
PROCEDURES
AND
REQUIREMENTS.—Members shall be ap-
pointed in accordance with selection proce-
dures for consensus committees promul-
gated by the American National Standards
Institute, except that the American Na-
tional Standards Institute interest cat-
egories shall be modified to ensure rep-
resentation on the committee by individ-
uals representing the following fields, in
equal numbers under each of the following
subclauses:
‘‘(I) Manufacturers.
‘‘(II) Retailers, insurers, suppli-
ers, lenders, community owners and
private inspection agencies which have
a financial interest in the industry.
‘‘(III) 
Homeowners 
and
consumer representatives.
‘‘(IV) Public officials, such as
those from State or local building
code enforcement and inspection agen-
cies.
‘‘(V) General interest, including
academicians, researchers, architects,
engineers, private inspection agencies,
and others.
Members of the consensus committee shall
be qualified by background and experience
to participate in the work of the commit-
tee, but members by reason of subclauses
(III), (IV), and (V), except the private in-
spection agencies, may not have a financial
interest in the manufactured home indus-
try, unless such bar to participation is
waived by the Secretary. The number of
members by reason of subclause (V) who
represent private inspection agencies may
not constitute more than 20 percent of the
total number of members by reason of sub-
clause (V). Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of this paragraph, the Secretary
shall appoint a member of the consensus
committee, who shall not have voting privi-
leges.
‘‘(C) MEETINGS.—The consensus commit-
tee shall cause advance notice of all meetings to
be published in the Federal Register and all
meetings of the committee shall be open to the
public.
‘‘(D) AUTHORITY.—Sections 203, 205,
207, and 208 of title 18, United States Code,
shall not apply to the members of the consensus
committee. Members shall not be considered to
be special government employees for purposes
of part 2634 of title 5, Code of Federal Regula-
tions. The consensus committee shall not be
considered an advisory committee for purposes
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
‘‘(E) ADMINISTRATION.—The consensus
committee and the administering organization
shall operate in conformance with American
National Standards Institute procedures for the
development and coordination of American Na-
tional Standards and shall apply to such Insti-
tute to obtain accreditation.
‘‘(F) STAFF.—The consensus committee
shall be provided reasonable staff resources by
the administering organization. Upon a showing
of need and subject to the approval of the Sec-
retary, the administering organization shall fur-
nish technical support to any of the various in-
terest categories on the consensus committee.
‘‘(b) OTHER ORDERS.—The Secretary may issue or-
ders that are not developed under the procedures set forth
in subsection (a) in order to respond to an emergency
health or safety issue, or to address issues on which the
Secretary determines the consensus committee will not
make timely recommendations, but only if the proposed
order is first submitted by the Secretary to the consensus
committee for review and the committee is afforded 90
days to provide its views on the proposed order to the Sec-
retary. If the consensus committee fails to act within such
period or if the Secretary rejects any significant change
recommended by the consensus committee, the public no-
tice of the order shall include an explanation of the rea-
sons for the Secretary’s action. The Secretary may issue
such orders only in accordance with the provisions of sec-
tion 553 of title 5, United States Code.’’;
(2) by striking subsection (e);
(3) in subsection (f), by striking the matter pre-
ceding paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
‘‘(e) CONSIDERATIONS IN ESTABLISHING AND IN-
TERPRETING STANDARDS.—The consensus committee, in
recommending standards and interpretations, and the Sec-
retary, in establishing standards or issuing interpretations
under this section, shall—’’;
(4) by striking subsection (g);
(5) in the first sentence of subsection (j), by
striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection
(e)’’; and
(6) by redesignating subsections (h), (i), and (j)
as subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively.
SEC. 5. ABOLISHMENT OF NATIONAL MANUFACTURED
HOME ADVISORY COUNCIL.
Section 605 (42 U.S.C. 5404) is hereby repealed.
SEC. 6. PUBLIC INFORMATION.
Section 607 (42 U.S.C. 5406) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) by inserting ‘‘to the Secretary’’ after
‘‘submit’’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
sentence: ‘‘Such cost and other information
shall be submitted to the consensus committee
by the Secretary for its evaluation.’’;
(2) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘, the con-
sensus committee,’’ after ‘‘public,’’; and
(3) by striking subsection (c) and redesignating
subsections (d) and (e) as subsections (c) and (d),
respectively.
SEC. 7. INSPECTION FEES.
Section 620 (42 U.S.C. 5419) is amended to read as
follows:
‘‘SEC. 620. (a) AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH FEES.—
In carrying out the inspections required under this title
and in developing standards pursuant to section 604, the
Secretary may establish and impose on manufactured
home manufacturers, distributors, and retailers such rea-
sonable fees as may be necessary to offset the expenses
incurred by the Secretary in conducting such inspections
and administering the consensus standards development
process and for developing standards pursuant to section
604(b), and the Secretary may use any fees so collected
to pay expenses incurred in connection therewith. Such
fees shall only be modified pursuant to rulemaking in ac-
cordance with the provisions of section 553 of title 5, Unit-
ed States Code.
‘‘(b) DEPOSIT OF FEES.—Fees collected pursuant to
this title shall be deposited in a fund, which is hereby es-
tablished in the Treasury for deposit of such fees.
Amounts in the fund are hereby available for use by the
Secretary pursuant to subsection (a). The use of these fees
by the Secretary shall not be subject to general or specific
limitations on appropriated funds unless use of these fees
is specifically addressed in any future appropriations legis-
lation. The Secretary shall provide an annual report to
Congress indicating expenditures under this section. The
Secretary shall also make available to the public, in ac-
cordance with all applicable disclosure laws, regulations,
orders, and directives, information pertaining to such
funds, including information pertaining to amounts col-
lected, amounts disbursed, and the fund balance.’’.
SEC. 8. ELIMINATION OF ANNUAL REPORT REQUIREMENT.
Section 626 (42 U.S.C. 5425) is hereby repealed.
SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect
on the date of enactment, except that the amendments
shall have no effect on any order or interpretative bulletin
that is published as a proposed rule pursuant to the provi-
sions of section 553 of title 5, United States Code, on or
before that date.
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