I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4099 
To establish incentives to increase the energy efficiency of federally assisted 
housing. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 18, 2009 
Ms. KILROY (for herself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. 
HIRONO, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. PERRIELLO, Mr. 
TONKO, Mr. WU, and Mr. SESTAK) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To establish incentives to increase the energy efficiency of 
federally assisted housing. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Efficiency 
Modernization Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
(1) federally assisted housing programs provide 
robust opportunities for energy efficiency improve-
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ments and up-front investments in such improve-
ments would provide significant long-term cost sav-
ings for taxpayers, provide stimulus to the economy 
through creation of capital projects and jobs, estab-
lish best practices for the industry and be consistent 
with the mandate of the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development (HUD); 
(2) the Government Accountability Office re-
ported in an October 2008 study that HUD pays an 
estimated $5 billion annually for energy costs for ap-
proximately 6 million dwelling units of assisted hous-
ing, representing almost 17 percent of the Nation’s 
housing stock; 
(3) according to the Harvard University Grad-
uate School of Design, more than 80 percent of fed-
erally assisted housing stock is between 15 years to 
30 years old; 
(4) existing rules and regulations do not ade-
quately incentivize owners of HUD-assisted property 
to maximize efforts to make energy efficiency im-
provements to such properties; and 
(5) increasing the energy efficiency of federally 
assisted housing by 25 percent to 40 percent would 
create near-term savings for HUD of roughly $1 bil-
lion to $1.5 billion annually, resulting in substantial 
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long-term cost savings for the Federal Government 
and for taxpayers. 
SEC. 3. GREEN DIVIDEND PROGRAM FOR FEDERALLY AS-
SISTED RENTAL HOUSING. 
(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall establish a 
program under this section to provide green dividends to 
owners of covered federally assisted housing projects who 
undertake utility cost-saving measures that result in util-
ity cost savings for such housing. 
(b) GREEN DIVIDENDS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A green dividend under this 
section with respect to a covered federally assisted 
housing project shall be an annual distribution, to 
the owner of the project, of an amount of the sur-
plus project funds that is equal to the sum of— 
(A) 50 percent of the annual utility cost 
savings resulting from the utility cost-saving 
measures conducted for the project; and 
(B) any reasonable costs, as determined by 
the Secretary pursuant to subsection (d)(4), in-
curred by the owner in carrying out the utility 
cost-saving measures, including financing costs 
incurred by the owner or a third party, in com-
pliance with guidelines established pursuant to 
subsection (d)(3). 
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(2) ADDITIONAL
TO
STANDARD
DISTRIBU-
TION.—Notwithstanding any other law or regulation 
relating to a limitation on distributions for a covered 
federally assisted housing project, a green dividend 
under this section shall be in addition to the stand-
ard distribution that the owner of the project is au-
thorized to receive from the project pursuant to the 
regulations of the Secretary. 
(c) STANDARDS
FOR MEASUREMENT
AND MONI-
TORING.—In carrying out the program under this section, 
the Secretary shall establish and utilize the following 
standardized methods: 
(1) Methods that an owner of a covered feder-
ally assisted housing project may use to accurately 
measure the baseline utility use of the project before 
undertaking the utility cost-saving measures for the 
project. 
(2) Methods that an owner of a covered feder-
ally assisted housing project may use to effectively 
monitor reductions in the utility use of the project 
resulting from the completed utility cost-saving 
measures for the project. 
(3) Methods that an owner of a covered feder-
ally assisted housing project may use to track, and 
that the Secretary may use to verify, utility cost sav-
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ings resulting from the utility cost-saving measures 
for the project that account for the effect of changes 
in utility costs and such other factors that the Sec-
retary considers necessary or appropriate. 
(d) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) APPLICATION AND SELECTION.—The Sec-
retary shall establish requirements for owners of 
covered federally assisted housing projects to apply 
for participation in the program under this section 
and shall select among such applications based upon 
selection criteria, which the Secretary shall establish. 
(2) 
COST-EFFECTIVENESS.—The 
Secretary 
shall establish guidelines to ensure that any utility 
cost-saving measures undertaken pursuant to the 
program under this section are cost-effective in rela-
tion to the utility cost savings resulting from the 
measures and the green dividend provided under this 
section to the owner. 
(3) ENERGY PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS.—The 
Secretary shall establish guidelines for the use of en-
ergy performance contracting in carrying out utility 
cost-saving measures pursuant to the program under 
this section. 
(4) FINANCING COSTS.—The Secretary shall es-
tablish guidelines for the financing of the reasonable 
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costs incurred by an owner of a covered federally as-
sisted housing project in carrying out utility cost- 
saving measures under the program under this sec-
tion, and whether such costs, whether financed by 
the limited dividend owner or a third party, shall be 
repayable from project funds. 
(5) REPORTING.— 
(A) TO SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall 
require each owner of a covered federally as-
sisted housing project for which a green divi-
dend is provided pursuant to the program 
under this section to submit to the Secretary 
such reports regarding the project, the utility 
cost-saving 
measures 
undertaken 
for 
the 
project, and the utility cost savings of the 
project in accordance with such requirements as 
the Secretary shall establish. 
(B) TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 
submit reports to the Congress describing the 
implementation and operation of the program 
under this section, as follows: 
(i) INITIAL REPORT.—The Secretary 
shall submit reports describing the initial 
implementation and operation of the pro-
gram not later than the expiration of the 
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180-day period beginning upon the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
(ii) ANNUAL
REPORTS.—Not later 
than the expiration of the 12-month period 
that begins upon the expiration of the pe-
riod specified clause (i), and upon the expi-
ration of each successive 12-month period 
thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a re-
port describing the ongoing operation of 
the program. 
(e) PREEMPTION
OF CONFLICTING STATE LAWS 
LIMITING DISTRIBUTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), no State or political subdivision of a 
State may establish, continue in effect, or enforce 
any law, regulation, or administrative requirement 
that limits or restricts, to an amount that is less 
than the sum of the amounts provided for under 
paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b), the 
amount of surplus project funds accruing after the 
date of the enactment of this section that may be 
distributed from any covered federally assisted hous-
ing project. 
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(2) EXCEPTION AND WAIVER.—Paragraph (1) 
shall not apply to any law or regulation to the extent 
such law or regulation applies to— 
(A) a State-financed covered federally as-
sisted housing project; or 
(B) a covered federally assisted housing 
project for which the owner has elected to waive 
the applicability of paragraph (1). 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 
following definitions shall apply: 
(1) COVERED FEDERALLY ASSISTED HOUSING 
PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered federally assisted 
housing project’’ means any multifamily rental hous-
ing project that— 
(A) is provided any rental assistance, 
mortgage insurance, subsidy, or other financial 
assistance by the Secretary; and 
(B) that is subject to a limitation on dis-
tributions, to the owner, of project funds under 
section 
200.106(a), 
236.1(c), 
880.205(b), 
881.205(b), or 883.306(b) of title 24 of the 
Code of Federal Regulations, or any other stat-
ute or regulation applicable to the project. 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 
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(3) SURPLUS
PROJECT
FUNDS.—The term 
‘‘surplus project funds’’ means, with respect to a 
covered federally assisted housing project, the net 
revenue of the project after all project expenses have 
been paid, or funds have been set aside for the pay-
ment thereof, and any reserve requirements applica-
ble to the project have been met. 
(4) UTILITY COST SAVINGS.—The term ‘‘utility 
cost savings’’ means, with respect to utility cost-sav-
ing measures undertaken for a covered federally as-
sisted housing project, the difference between— 
(A) the energy or water costs that would 
have been incurred for the project if such utility 
cost-saving measures were not completed; and 
(B) the actual energy or water costs for 
the project after completion of the utility cost- 
saving measures. 
(5) UTILITY
COST-SAVING
MEASURES.—The 
term ‘‘utility cost-saving measures’’ means, with re-
spect to a covered federally assisted housing project, 
any rehabilitation, renovation, retrofit, improvement, 
or alteration for the project that incorporates any 
technology, equipment, fixture, or material, or pro-
motes any practice, designed to reduce the energy or 
water consumption of the project. 
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