Sponsors (5)
Requires HUD to report on sprinkler presence in public housing and funds a competitive grant program with $25M/year (FY2025–2034) to install sprinklers in exempted projects.
The bill directs new, targeted federal funding and clearer rules to reduce fire risk in public housing and improves data and transparency, but exemptions, eligibility limits, competitive grant design, administrative burdens, and modest federal cost mean some vulnerable residents may remain unprotected and some PHAs may be left out.
Renters and low-income residents in covered public housing will gain improved fire safety because PHAs can install automatic sprinkler systems in eligible projects.
Public housing agencies (PHAs) and state/local governments receive dedicated federal funding ($25 million per year through 2034) to upgrade life-safety infrastructure, reducing the need to divert existing Capital Fund dollars.
Identification and reporting requirements (including a Congress-facing report within three years) will give federal and local policymakers data to prioritize future grants and target resources to buildings that lack sprinklers, enabling more evidence-based allocation of funds to reduce fire risk.
Renters in certain public housing projects may remain without sprinkler protection because some properties are designated as exempt, some property categories are ineligible for the grants, and the law does not mandate retrofits for exempted projects.
Competitive grant design may disproportionately benefit PHAs with stronger grant-writing capacity and resources, leaving smaller or under-resourced PHAs (and their residents) without funding despite high need.
Taxpayers will bear higher federal spending—about $250 million total over 10 years—to fund the sprinkler upgrade program.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Official title: To establish a grant program to provide amounts to public housing agencies to install automatic sprinkler systems in public housing, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 10, 2025 by Bonnie Watson Coleman · Last progress July 10, 2025
Requires HUD to record whether automatic sprinkler systems are present during public housing inspections and to deliver a report to Congress within three years summarizing sprinkler presence—especially in certain older or exempted public housing projects—and recommending ways to improve fire safety. Establishes a competitive grant program, funded by an annual $25 million set-aside in the Public Housing Capital Fund (FY2025–FY2034), to help public housing agencies install automatic sprinkler systems in those exempted projects.