[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1751 Reported in House (RH)]
Union Calendar No. 124
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1751
[Report No. 112-191]
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 5, 2011
Mr. Bachus (for himself, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Rogers of Alabama, Mr. Al
Green of Texas, and Mr. Clay) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Financial Services
August 1, 2011
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union
and ordered to be printed
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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.
This Act may be cited as the ``CJ's Home Protection Act of 2011''.
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; and
(5) 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 sections 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.
Union Calendar No. 124
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1751
[Report No. 112-191]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
August 1, 2011
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union
and ordered to be printed