“To incentivize States not to enact costly, burdensome, and unreasonable energy code housing policies, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section amends Section 104 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304), which sets forth citizen participation and planning requirements for recipients of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, by adding a new subsection (n). To remain eligible for CDBG funds on or after 90 days following enactment, states must reimburse each builder of a covered dwelling unit (i.e., residential building, as defined in 42 C.F.R. § 6832) in an opportunity zone (i.e., economically distressed area designated under 26 U.S.C. § 1400Z-2) for the difference between (A) the cost of complying with the state's energy housing code and (B) the cost of complying with HUD's Minimum Energy Standard, with payment due no later than 30 days after inspection and occupancy certification (unless the state code costs less). Builders must disclose such cost differences and any reimbursements received (including amounts passed to buyers via price reductions) to the unit's first purchaser using a HUD-prescribed form. This section further requires the GAO to submit annual reports to Congress through the sunset date—listing states providing payments, payment amounts and totals by recipient type (metropolitan city, urban county, state, unit of general local government, insular area), and cost differences by recipient type—after which the new subsection (n) is repealed seven years after enactment.