Unlocking Housing Supply Through Streamlined and Modernized Reviews Act

This bill tells HUD to speed up environmental reviews for many housing actions, so projects can move faster and cost less. It directs HUD to treat certain activities as exempt or eligible for a simpler, faster review under federal rules, with a focus on helping affordable housing get built or improved sooner .

Examples of activities that would be exempt include rental assistance, supportive services, operating costs, help for homebuyers (like down payment aid), pre-development steps that don’t change a site, approvals of added support for already-approved projects, and emergency fixes like replacing a broken water heater or HVAC in existing homes. Small projects could get streamlined reviews, such as fixing 1–4 unit homes, replacing existing water or sewer lines with only minor changes, or work on up to four scattered housing units on existing sites. Some bigger but still limited projects would also get simpler reviews, like turning offices into housing (within set limits), building 5–15 homes on one site, adding homes on scattered sites with caps per site, rehabbing 5–15 unit buildings without changing land use, infill housing, and voluntary buyouts in flood‑prone or disaster‑hit areas.

• Who is affected: HUD housing programs and projects, including rental assistance, homebuyer help, small home repairs, office‑to‑housing conversions, and infill housing .
• What changes: HUD must reclassify many activities to be exempt or to use a faster review, aiming to cut wait times and administrative costs, especially for affordable housing .
• When: HUD must submit an annual report for five years, starting two years after enactment, on how much review times and costs were reduced and any recommended next steps.