H.R. 4359 — Public Housing Fire Safety Act

This section defines terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) automatic sprinkler system, as defined in section 31(a) of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2227(a)); (2) Capital Fund, as established under section 9(d) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(d)); (3) exempted public housing project, as a public housing project that is neither a newly constructed multifamily property (per 15 U.S.C. 2227(c)(2)(A)(ii)) nor subject to requirements under 15 U.S.C. 2227(c); (4) public housing and public housing agency, as defined in section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)); and (5) Secretary, as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

This section directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in public housing inspections including those conducted through the Real Estate Assessment Center, to report on the presence or absence of automatic sprinkler systems. It further requires the Secretary to submit to Congress, not later than three years after enactment and based on inspections over the three-year period beginning on enactment, a report on sprinkler systems in public housing—particularly exempted projects (i.e., those exempt from certain HUD safety standards)—including recommendations to improve fire safety in exempted projects. This section specifies that it does not require public housing agencies to install sprinkler systems in exempted projects.

This section establishes a competitive grant program to award grants to public housing agencies for installing automatic sprinkler systems in exempted public housing projects (i.e., those exempt from sprinkler requirements under the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974). Grants may not be used for rebuilt multifamily properties, as defined in such Act (15 U.S.C. 2227(c)(2)(B)(iii)). The section authorizes $25 million for each of FY2025 through FY2034 to the Public Housing Capital Fund for this purpose, in addition to other appropriations to the fund.