HR 320 IHRFS
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 320
IN THE HOUSSENATE OF REPRESENTATIVESJanuary 8, 2009
Mr. ELLSWORTH (for himself, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, and Ms. GRANGER) introduced the following bill; which wasTHE UNITED STATES
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
To amend the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 to require that weather radios be installed in all manufactured homes manufactured or sold in the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) nearly 20,000,000 Americans live in manufactured homes, which often provide a more accessible and affordable way for many families to buy their own homes;
(2) manufactured housing plays a vital role in providing housing for low- and moderate-income families in the United States;
(3) NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from a nearby National Weather Service (NWS) office, and broadcasts NWS warnings, watches, forecasts, and other all-hazard information 24 hours a day;
(4) the operators of manufactured housing communities should be encouraged to provide a safe place of shelter for community residents or a plan for the evacuation of community residents to a safe place of shelter within a reasonable distance of the community for use by community residents in times of severe weather, including tornados and high winds, and local municipalities should be encouraged to require approval of these plans;
(5) the operators of manufactured housing communities should be encouraged to provide a written reminder semiannually to all owners of manufactured homes in the manufactured housing community to replace the batteries in their weather radios; and
(6) weather radio manufacturers should include, in the packaging of weather radios, a written reminder to replace the batteries twice each year and written instructions on how to do so.
SEC. 3. FEDERAL MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARD.
Section 604 of the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5403) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘(i) Weather Radios-
‘(1) CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARD- The Federal manufactured home construction and safety standards established by the Secretary under this section shall require that each manufactured home delivered for sale shall be supplied with a weather radio inside the manufactured home that--
‘(A) is capable of broadcasting emergency information relating to local weather conditions;
‘(B) is equipped with a tone alarm;
‘(C) is equipped with Specific Alert Message Encoding, or SAME technology; and
‘(D) complies with Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) Standard 2009-A (or current revision thereof) Performance Specification for Public Alert Receivers.
‘(2) LIABILITY PROTECTIONS- No aspect of the function, operation, performance, capabilities, or utilization of the weather radio required under this subsection, or any instructions related thereto, shall be subject to the requirements of section 613 or 615 or any regulations promulgated by the Secretary pursuant to the authority under such sections.’.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT.
Not later than the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the consensus committee established pursuant to section 604(a)(3) of the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304(a)(3)) shall develop and submit to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development a proposed Federal manufactured home construction and safety standard required under section 604(i) of such Act (as added by the amendment made by section 3 of this Act). Notwithstanding section 604(a)(5)(B) of such Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall issue a final order promulgating the standard required by such section 604(i) not later than the expiration of the 90-day period beginning upon receipt by the Secretary of the proposed standard developed and submitted by the consensus committee.
SEC. 5. STUDY.
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall conduct a study regarding conditioning the applicability of the requirement under the amendment made by section 3 of this Act (relating to supplying weather radios in manufactured homes) on the geographic location at which a manufactured home is placed, but only to the extent that such requirement applies to new manufactured homes and new site-built homes. In conducting such study and making determinations under the study, the Secretary shall take into consideration severe weather conditions, such as high winds and flooding, and wind zones and other severe weather data available from the National Weather Service. Not later than the expiration of the 18-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete the study and submit a report regarding the results of the study to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
Passed the House of Representatives December 2, 2009.
Attest:
LORRAINE C. MILLER,
Clerk.
U.S. Congress - Text of H.R.320 as Referred in Senate CJ's Home Protection Act of 2009
