[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 482 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 482

To nullify certain regulations and notices of the Department of Housing 
             and Urban Development, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 12, 2017

Mr. Gosar (for himself, Mr. Babin, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Blum, Mr. Buck, 
 Mr. Burgess, Mr. DesJarlais, Mr. Duncan of South Carolina, Mr. Duncan 
 of Tennessee, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Grothman, Mr. King of Iowa, 
  Mr. Massie, Mr. McClintock, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. 
Sessions, Mr. Smith of Missouri, Mr. Webster of Florida, Mr. Yoho, and 
  Mr. Brat) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To nullify certain regulations and notices of the Department of Housing 
             and Urban Development, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Local Zoning Decisions Protection 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. NULLIFICATION OF RULES AND NOTICES.

    (a) Final Rule.--The final rule of the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development entitled ``Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing'', 
published in the Federal Register on July 16, 2015 (80 Fed. Reg. 42272; 
Docket No. FR-5173-F-04), and any successor rule that is substantially 
similar to such final rule shall have no force or effect.
    (b) Notice.--The notice of the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development relating to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing 
Assessment Tool, published in the Federal Register on December 31, 2015 
(80 Fed. Reg. 81840; Docket No. FR-5173-N-07), and any successor notice 
or rule substantially similar to such notice shall have no force or 
effect.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal funds may be 
used to design, build, maintain, utilize, or provide access to a 
Federal database of geospatial information on community racial 
disparities or disparities in access to affordable housing.

SEC. 4. FEDERALISM CONSULTATION AND REPORT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
shall jointly consult with State officials, local government officials, 
and officials of public housing agencies to develop recommendations, 
consistent with applicable rulings of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, to further the purposes and policies of the Fair Housing Act.
    (b) Consultation Requirements.--In developing the recommendations 
required under subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
            (1) provide State officials, local government officials, 
        and officials of public housing agencies with notice and an 
        opportunity to participate in the consultation process required 
        under subsection (a);
            (2) seek to consult with State officials, local government 
        officials, and officials of public housing agencies that 
        represent a broad cross-section of regional, economic, and 
        geographic perspectives in the United States;
            (3) emphasize the importance of collaboration with and 
        among the State officials, local government officials, and 
        officials of public housing agencies;
            (4) allow for meaningful and timely input by State 
        officials, local government officials, and officials of public 
        housing agencies;
            (5) promote transparency in the consultation process 
        required under subsection (a); and
            (6) explore with State officials, local government 
        officials, and officials of public housing agencies whether 
        Federal objectives under the Fair Housing Act can be attained 
        by means other than through new regulations.
    (c) Reports.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 12 months after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish in the 
        Federal Register a draft report describing the recommendations 
        developed pursuant to subsection (a).
            (2) Consensus requirement.--The Secretary may include a 
        recommendation in the draft report only if consensus has been 
        reached with regard to the recommendation among the Secretary, 
        the State officials, local government officials, and officials 
        of public housing agencies consulted pursuant to subsection 
        (a).
            (3) Failure to reach consensus.--If the Secretary, State 
        officials, local government officials, and officials of public 
        housing agencies consulted under subsection (a) fail to reach 
        consensus on a regulatory proposal, the draft report shall 
        identify that consensus was not reached and shall describe--
                    (A) the areas and issues with regard to which 
                consensus was reached;
                    (B) the areas and issues of continuing disagreement 
                that resulted in the failure to reach consensus; and
                    (C) the reasons for the continuing disagreements.
            (4) Public review and comment period.--The Secretary shall 
        make the draft report available for public review and comment 
        for a period of not fewer than 180 days.
            (5) Final report.--The Secretary shall, in consultation 
        with the State officials, local government officials, and 
        officials of public housing agencies, address any comments 
        received pursuant to paragraph (4) and shall prepare a final 
        report describing the final results of the consultation process 
        under subsection (a).
    (d) Submission of Final Report.--Not later than 12 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall make publicly 
available online the final report prepared pursuant to subsection 
(c)(5).
    (e) Definitions.--In this Act, the following definitions apply:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Housing and Urban Development.
            (2) Local government official.--The term ``local government 
        official'' means an elected or professional official of a local 
        government or an official of a regional or national 
        organization representing local governments or officials.
            (3) State official.--The term ``State official'' means an 
        elected or professional official of a State government or an 
        official of a regional or national organization representing 
        State governments or officials.
            (4) Public housing agency.--The term ``public housing 
        agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 3(b) of the 
        United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)).
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