BUILD Housing Act

This bill sets a clear, faster path for environmental reviews on certain housing help run by the U.S. housing agency. It lets the agency treat some funding as a “special project” so the review can follow one known process under existing housing law, unless another law already sets a different review process. This is meant to keep projects moving while still meeting environmental rules under national law.

It also lets federally recognized Tribes take on these environmental review duties, just like states and local governments can. The bill adds “Indian Tribe” alongside “State” and “unit of general local government,” and it uses the standard federal definition for a federally recognized Tribe.

• Who is affected: HUD programs, state and local governments, and federally recognized Tribes involved in housing projects.
• What changes: HUD can use one established review path for certain assistance; Tribes can assume environmental review responsibilities.
• When: Applies to the covered assistance once enacted; exceptions remain where another law already sets the review process.