Housing Efficiency Standards Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7240 To update and expand the requirements for energy efficiency for federally assisted housing, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 18, 2020 Mr. CASTEN of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To update and expand the requirements for energy efficiency for federally assisted housing, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Housing Efficiency 4 Standards Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS. 6 Section 109 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Af- 7 fordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12709) is amended to 8 read as follows: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:33 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7240.IH H7240 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7240 IH ‘‘SEC. 109. ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS. 1 ‘‘(a) COVERED BUILDINGS.—The requirements in 2 this section shall apply to— 3 ‘‘(1) new construction of public and assisted 4 housing and single family and multifamily residen- 5 tial housing subject to mortgages insured under the 6 National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); 7 ‘‘(2) new construction of single family and mul- 8 tifamily housing subject to mortgages insured, guar- 9 anteed, or made by the Secretary of Agriculture 10 under title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 11 1471 et seq.); and 12 ‘‘(3) rehabilitation and new construction of pub- 13 lic and assisted housing funded under the United 14 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et 15 seq.). 16 ‘‘(b) INITIAL REQUIREMENT.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning 1 year after the 18 date of enactment of this section, all new construc- 19 tion and rehabilitation of housing specified in sub- 20 section (a), but not including any manufactured 21 home, shall meet the requirements of the 2018 22 International Energy Conservation Code (in this sec- 23 tion referred to as the ‘IECC’), or, in the case of 24 multifamily high rises, the requirements of ANSI/ 25 ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1–2019. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:33 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7240.IH H7240 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7240 IH ‘‘(2) MANUFACTURED HOMES.—Beginning 1 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, all 2 new construction of manufactured homes specified in 3 subsection (a) shall meet— 4 ‘‘(A) the requirements of Energy Star Cer- 5 tified Manufactured Homes; or 6 ‘‘(B) the standards issued by the Secretary 7 of Energy under section 413 of the Energy 8 Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 9 U.S.C. 17071) when such standards are issued. 10 ‘‘(c) REVISIONS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the requirements of the 12 IECC, or, in the case of multifamily high rises, 13 ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1, are revised, all 14 new construction and rehabilitation of housing sub- 15 ject to subsection (b)(1) shall meet the requirements 16 of the revised code or standard beginning 1 year 17 after— 18 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Energy makes a de- 19 termination under section 304 of the Energy 20 Conservation and Production Act (42 U.S.C. 21 6833) that the revised code or standard would 22 improve energy efficiency; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:33 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7240.IH H7240 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7240 IH ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Housing and Urban 1 Development makes a positive determination 2 under paragraph (3). 3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) of this sub- 4 section shall not apply to any category of housing 5 with respect to which the Secretary of Housing and 6 Urban Development or the Secretary of Agriculture 7 determines that compliance with such revised code 8 or standard would not be technologically feasible or 9 economically justified. 10 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION.—If the Secretary of En- 11 ergy fails to make a determination under section 12 304 of the Energy Conservation and Production Act 13 (42 U.S.C. 6833) by the deadline under such sec- 14 tion, within 1 year of such deadline the Secretary of 15 Housing and Urban Development shall determine 16 whether compliance with such revised code or stand- 17 ard will improve energy efficiency, be technologically 18 feasible, and be economically justified for housing 19 subject to subsection (b)(1). 20 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL OR DIFFERENT STANDARDS.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing 22 and Urban Development and the Secretary of Agri- 23 culture may jointly or separately establish additional 24 or different energy efficiency requirements for hous- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:33 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7240.IH H7240 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7240 IH ing specified in subsection (a) if they are at least as 1 stringent as the code or standard applicable under 2 this section. 3 ‘‘(2) CONTINUATION OF EXISTING REQUIRE- 4 MENTS.—Any energy efficiency requirements for new 5 construction and rehabilitation of housing specified 6 in subsection (a) established by the Secretary of 7 Housing and Urban Development or the Secretary of 8 Agriculture prior to the date of the enactment of the 9 Housing Efficiency Standards Act of 2020 shall re- 10 main in effect to the extent they are more stringent 11 than the code or standard applicable under this sec- 12 tion. 13 ‘‘(e) IMPLEMENTATION.— 14 ‘‘(1) GUIDANCE REGARDING STANDARDS.—The 15 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and 16 the Secretary of Agriculture shall revise guidance, 17 handbooks, builder certifications, and other relevant 18 documents to incorporate the requirements under 19 this section— 20 ‘‘(A) not later than the expiration of the 21 10-month period beginning on the date of the 22 enactment of the Housing Efficiency Standards 23 Act of 2020; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:33 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7240.IH H7240 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7240 IH ‘‘(B) in the case of a positive determina- 1 tion under subparagraph (A) or (B) of sub- 2 section (c)(1), not later than the expiration of 3 the 10-month period beginning on the date of 4 such determination. 5 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATES.—The Secretary of 6 Housing and Urban Development or the Secretary of 7 Agriculture may set an effective date for the applica- 8 ble code or standard for one or more category of 9 housing that is earlier than the effective date speci- 10 fied in subsection (b) or (c). 11 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE.—The Secretary of Housing 12 and Urban Development and the Secretary of Agri- 13 culture shall— 14 ‘‘(A) within 1 year after the date of the en- 15 actment of the Housing Efficiency Standards 16 Act of 2020, develop plans for increasing and 17 measuring compliance with the requirements of 18 this section, including builder and mortgage fi- 19 nance institution training; 20 ‘‘(B) within 1 year after the date of the 21 determinations specified in subsection (c) up- 22 date such plans; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:33 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7240.IH H7240 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7240 IH ‘‘(C) implement the plans in a timely man- 1 ner.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:33 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7240.IH H7240 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS