[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6528 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6528

 To require owners of covered federally assisted rental dwelling units 
 to install temperature sensors in such units, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 28, 2022

    Mr. Torres of New York introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require owners of covered federally assisted rental dwelling units 
 to install temperature sensors in such units, 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 ``Housing Temperature Safety Act of 
2022''.

SEC. 2. TEMPERATURE SENSORS.

    (a) Installation and Maintenance.--
            (1) In general.--Each owner of a covered federally assisted 
        rental dwelling unit shall, not later than 1 year after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, ensure that, at all times 
        pursuant to paragraph (2), such temperature sensors are 
        installed and maintained in accordance with the rule issued by 
        the Secretary under paragraph (3) on each level of such 
        dwelling unit owned by such owner.
            (2) Rulemaking.--The Secretary shall, not later than 180 
        days after the date of the enactment of this Act, issue a rule 
        that establishes standards and requirements for the 
        installation and maintenance of temperature sensors in covered 
        federally assisted rental dwelling units.
    (b) Data Reporting.--
            (1) In general.--Each owner of a covered federally assisted 
        rental dwelling unit shall, 6 times each day, collect data from 
        temperature sensors installed pursuant to subsection (a) and 
        such data shall include the temperature recorded during each 
        temperature reading and the time and date of each temperature 
        reading.
            (2) Guidance.--The Secretary shall, not later than 180 days 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act, publish guidance 
        with respect to--
                    (A) the collection of temperature sensor data by 
                owners of covered federally assisted rental dwelling 
                units, including the protection of personally 
                identifiable information;
                    (B) the retention of such data by such owners for 
                not less than 2 years; and
                    (C) the reporting of such data to the Secretary 
                unless a tenant of the covered federally assisted 
                dwelling unit has opted out of having such data 
                reported by the owner to the Secretary.
    (c) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, the Secretary shall 
submit a report to the Congress that--
            (1) describes the status of the implementation of 
        subsection (a), and includes--
                    (A) the percentage of covered federally assisted 
                dwelling units without a temperature sensor pursuant to 
                subsection (b);
                    (B) the percentage of temperature sensors that have 
                been installed by owners of covered federally assisted 
                dwelling units; and
                    (C) the number of fatalities that occurred due to 
                fire, hypothermia, heat exhaustion, and other 
                temperature-related causes in covered dwelling units 
                and whether a temperature sensor was present in such 
                dwelling unit; and
            (2) discloses the results of data collection instituted by 
        the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development before the date 
        of the enactment of this Act to determine the prevalence of 
        temperature sensors in covered federally assisted dwelling 
        units.
    (d) Relation to State Law.--This section does not annul, alter, or 
affect, or exempt any person subject to the provisions of this section 
from complying with, the laws of any State with respect to installing 
or maintaining temperature sensors, except to the extent that those 
laws are inconsistent with any provision of this section, and then only 
to the extent of the inconsistency. The Secretary is authorized to 
determine whether such inconsistencies exist and may not determine that 
any State law is inconsistent with any provision of this section if the 
Secretary determines that such law provides for greater protection or 
safety.
    (e) Definitions.--For the purposes of this Act:
            (1) Assistance.--The term ``assistance'' means any grant, 
        loan, subsidy, contract, cooperative agreement, or other form 
        of financial assistance, but such term does not include the 
        insurance or guarantee of a loan, mortgage, or pool of loans or 
        mortgages.
            (2) Temperature sensor.--The term ``temperature sensor'' 
        means an internet capable temperature reporting device able to 
        track the ambient air temperature to the tenth degree 
        Fahrenheit and Celsius.
            (3) Covered federally assisted housing.--The term ``covered 
        federally assisted rental dwelling unit'' means a residential 
        dwelling unit that is made available for rental and for which 
        assistance is provided, or that is part of a housing project 
        for which assistance is provided, under--
                    (A) the public housing program under the United 
                States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.);
                    (B) the programs for rental assistance under 
                section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
                U.S.C. 1437f), including--
                            (i) the program for project-based rental 
                        assistance; and
                            (ii) the program for tenant-based rental 
                        assistance;
                    (C) the AIDS Housing Opportunities program under 
                subtitle D of title VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez 
                National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et 
                seq.);
                    (D) the program for supportive housing for the 
                elderly under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 
                (12 U.S.C. 1701q); or
                    (E) the program for supportive housing for persons 
                with disabilities under section 811 of the Cranston-
                Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 
                8013); and
                    (F) the programs under sections 514, 515, and 516 
                of the Housing Act of 1949.
            (4) Owner.--The term ``owner'' means, with respect to a 
        covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit, any private 
        person or entity, including a cooperative, an agency of the 
        Federal Government, or a public housing agency, having the 
        legal right to lease or sublease dwelling units.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Housing and Urban Development.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act.
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