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Authorizes a 5-year pilot under the Stafford Act letting the President contract with manufacturers or producers of manufactured or modular homes to supply small, rapidly deployable housing after major disasters. Units must be small (no more than four units per structure), meet applicable safety/building standards (with limited waiver authority by HUD in coordination with FEMA), be delivered within 90 days (120 days if HUD extends), and may be converted to permanent housing or transferred into affordable housing programs after the disaster declaration ends.
Adds a new paragraph (5) "Pilot program" to section 408(c) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174(c)).
Defines distributor, manufactured home, manufacturer, and retailer by reference to their meanings in section 603 of the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5402).
Defines "eligible entity" as (I) a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer of a manufactured home or a modular home; and (II) a producer of modular housing.
Defines "Secretary" to mean the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in coordination with the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Requires the President to establish a pilot program under which the President enters into a contract with an eligible entity to construct temporary housing that serves as a type of housing available to individuals and households under subsection (b)(1).
Who is affected and how:
Disaster survivors and displaced households: The pilot provides an additional, faster option for temporary housing after major disasters. Eligible displaced households could receive modular or manufactured units more quickly than some traditional rebuild or rental options.
Modular and manufactured home developers and producers: Manufacturers and developers of modular and manufactured homes are directly eligible to contract with the federal government, creating new, time-limited market opportunities for disaster response production and delivery.
Federal agencies (HUD and FEMA): HUD takes a coordinating and waiver role and must work with FEMA and the President on program rules and transfer guidelines. Both agencies will need to set procurement, inspection, siting, and safety processes and to coordinate with state and local officials.
Local governments, public housing agencies, and community organizations: Local authorities will be involved in siting, permitting, utilities connections, and decisions about converting or integrating units into permanent or affordable housing programs after the disaster period.
Affordable housing programs and beneficiaries: The ability to transfer units into affordable housing programs could add housing stock for low-income households, but conversion will require compliance with local land use, financing, and management arrangements.
Potential benefits and challenges:
Benefits: Faster provision of shelter; potential to expand affordable housing stock via conversion; predictable contracting option for manufacturers; reduced time in emergency shelters.
Challenges: Supply chain capacity and cost to meet rapid timelines; zoning, permitting, and utility hookups at the local level; ensuring long-term durability and habitability if units become permanent; coordination among federal, state, and local entities; absent specified funding levels, implementation depends on appropriations or use of existing disaster authorities.
Overall, the pilot is a targeted, operational program that primarily affects disaster-impacted households, modular housing industry participants, and the federal and local agencies that implement disaster housing and housing-transition activities.
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Introduced January 16, 2025 by Bill Cassidy · Last progress January 16, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Introduced in Senate