_____ Act of 2022

Bill: 117-hr-6529
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Torres, Ritchie [D-NY-15]
Introduced: 2022-01-28
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Latest action: action_date: 2022-01-28
text: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Summaries:
action_date: 2022-01-28
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>_____ Act of 2022 </b><strong>[<em>sic</em>]</strong></p> <p>This bill requires each owner of a covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit to ensure that all interior corridor and stairwell access doors in the building containing the unit are self-closing doors. The owner is required to maintain these self-closing doors and any inspection by the Department of Housing and Urban Development must include inspection of the self-closing doors.</p>

tv_txt: I 117th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 6529 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 a covered federally assisted rental dwelling units to install self-closing doors in such units, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the _____ Act of 2022 . 2. Self-closing doors (a) Plan Each owner of a covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit shall, not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, ensure that all doors, in the building that contains the covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit, that provide access to interior corridors and stairwells are self-closing doors and that such self-closing doors are maintained. (b) Certification Each owner of a covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit shall certify under penalty of perjury each month to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in such manner as the Secretary may require that all doors in the building that contains the covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit owned by the owner, that provide access to stairwells are self-closing doors and that such self-closing doors are maintained. (c) Inspection The proper installation, maintenance, and functioning of self-closing doors in a building containing a covered federally assisted dwelling unit shall be included in all inspections required by the Secretary. (d) Guidance The Secretary shall provide guidance to public housing agencies (as defined in section 3(b)(6) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(6) )) with respect to how to educate tenants about self-closing doors, and other health and safety measures, to help advance primary prevention and prevent future deaths and other harms in covered federally assisted dwelling units. (e) Report Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress that— (1) describes the status of the implementation of subsection (a), and includes— (A) the number of covered federally assisted dwelling units without a self-closing door; (B) the number of self-closing doors that have been installed by owners of covered federally assisted dwelling units; (C) the number of fatalities that occurred due to fire in the 1-year period preceding the date on which the report is submitted in buildings containing a covered federally assisted dwelling unit and what fire safety features such buildings had installed, including whether the buildings had self-closing doors installed; (D) a list of any owners of covered federally assisted housing that have not complied with the certification required described in subsection (b) in the 1-year period preceding the date on which the report is submitted; and (E) the results of any inspections of covered federally assisted dwelling units conducted by the Secretary that included an inspection of self-closing doors; and (2) discloses the results of data collection instituted by the Secretary before the date of the enactment of this Act to determine the prevalence of self-closing doors in covered federally assisted dwelling units. (f) Relation to State and local law This section does not annul, alter, or affect, or exempt any person subject to the provisions of this section from complying with, the laws of any State or unit of local government with respect to installing or maintaining self-closing doors, except to the extent that those laws are more stringent than any provision of this section, and then only to the extent of the inconsistency. The Secretary is authorized to determine whether such inconsistencies exist and may not determine that the law of any State or unit of local government is inconsistent with any provision of this section if the Secretary determines that such law provides for greater protection or safety. (g) Definitions For the purposes of this Act: (1) Assistance The term assistance means any grant, loan, subsidy, contract, cooperative agreement, or other form of financial assistance, but such term does not include the insurance or guarantee of a loan, mortgage, or pool of loans or mortgages. (2) Self-closing door The term self closing door means a door that— (A) when opened and released, returns to the closed position; and (B) complies with the accessible door standards most recently issued by the American National Standards Institute. (3) Covered federally assisted housing The term covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit means a residential dwelling unit that is made available for rental and for which assistance is provided, or that is part of a housing project for which assistance is provided, under— (A) the public housing program under the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq. ); (B) the programs for rental assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437f ), including— (i) the program for project-based rental assistance; and (ii) the program for tenant-based rental assistance; (C) the AIDS Housing Opportunities program under subtitle D of title VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act ( 42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq. ); (D) the program for supportive housing for the elderly under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 ( 12 U.S.C. 1701q ); (E) the program for supportive housing for persons with disabilities under section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 24 8013); or (F) the programs under sections 514, 515, and 516 of the Housing Act of 1949. (4) Owner The term owner means, with respect to a covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit, any private person or entity, including a cooperative, an agency of the Federal Government, or a public housing agency, having the legal right to lease or sublease dwelling units. (5) Secretary The term Secretary means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.