Sponsors (6)
The bill favors state control and short-term cost and schedule stability for federally financed housing projects, at the expense of long-term energy savings, emissions reductions, and benefits to low-income households.
Local governments and low-income households: preserves existing financing and project timelines for HUD-/USDA-/VA-financed affordable housing planned under prior standards, reducing near-term administrative disruption and the risk of project delays or cancellations.
Small developers, homeowners, and renters: avoids new compliance costs for builders of federally financed housing by maintaining prior (likely less stringent) standards, reducing near-term construction and financing expenses.
State governments: preserves state authority over building codes by keeping state-adopted standards in place rather than imposing a revised federal requirement.
Homeowners and renters: likely face higher long-term energy bills because newer, more efficient building standards are blocked, increasing ongoing utility costs.
Low-income households and veterans: delaying adoption of higher-efficiency standards postpones investments that would lower utility burdens and improve housing quality, disproportionately harming vulnerable populations over time.
Communities nationwide: reduces potential energy savings and emissions reductions from federally financed housing by preventing adoption of higher-efficiency codes, undermining climate and local air-quality benefits.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Blocks HUD/USDA/VA/FHFA from implementing new federal energy-efficiency standards for certain federally related housing and requires at least 26 states to adopt equal-or-stronger codes before a revised federal standard proceeds.
Official title: To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Agriculture to withdraw a final determination relating to energy efficiency standards for housing, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Andrew S. Biggs · Last progress January 3, 2025
Prohibits HUD, USDA, and VA from implementing or spending funds to enforce a recently issued federal energy-efficiency standard for new construction of HUD- and USDA-financed housing, bars the FHFA from finalizing or enforcing related energy-efficiency rules, and adds a statutory requirement that at least 26 states must have adopted an equal-or-stronger energy code before a revised federal standard may be adopted. It therefore freezes current agency standards, prevents new federal energy-efficiency mandates for certain federally related housing programs, and raises the bar for future federal action by creating a numeric state-adoption threshold.