[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6529 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6529

To require owners of a covered federally assisted rental dwelling units 
  to install self-closing doors 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 a covered federally assisted rental dwelling units 
  to install self-closing doors 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 ``_____ Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. SELF-CLOSING DOORS.

    (a) Plan.--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 all doors, in the building that 
contains the covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit, that 
provide access to interior corridors and stairwells are self-closing 
doors and that such self-closing doors are maintained.
    (b) Certification.--Each owner of a covered federally assisted 
rental dwelling unit shall certify under penalty of perjury each month 
to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in such manner as the 
Secretary may require that all doors in the building that contains the 
covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit owned by the owner, 
that provide access to stairwells are self-closing doors and that such 
self-closing doors are maintained.
    (c) Inspection.--The proper installation, maintenance, and 
functioning of self-closing doors in a building containing a covered 
federally assisted dwelling unit shall be included in all inspections 
required by the Secretary.
    (d) Guidance.--The Secretary shall provide guidance to public 
housing agencies (as defined in section 3(b)(6) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(6))) with respect to how to 
educate tenants about self-closing doors, and other health and safety 
measures, to help advance primary prevention and prevent future deaths 
and other harms in covered federally assisted dwelling units.
    (e) Report.--Not later than 1 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 number of covered federally assisted 
                dwelling units without a self-closing door;
                    (B) the number of self-closing doors that have been 
                installed by owners of covered federally assisted 
                dwelling units;
                    (C) the number of fatalities that occurred due to 
                fire in the 1-year period preceding the date on which 
                the report is submitted in buildings containing a 
                covered federally assisted dwelling unit and what fire 
                safety features such buildings had installed, including 
                whether the buildings had self-closing doors installed;
                    (D) a list of any owners of covered federally 
                assisted housing that have not complied with the 
                certification required described in subsection (b) in 
                the 1-year period preceding the date on which the 
                report is submitted; and
                    (E) the results of any inspections of covered 
                federally assisted dwelling units conducted by the 
                Secretary that included an inspection of self-closing 
                doors; and
            (2) discloses the results of data collection instituted by 
        the Secretary before the date of the enactment of this Act to 
        determine the prevalence of self-closing doors in covered 
        federally assisted dwelling units.
    (f) Relation to State and Local 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 or unit of 
local government with respect to installing or maintaining self-closing 
doors, except to the extent that those laws are more stringent than 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 the law of any State 
or unit of local government is inconsistent with any provision of this 
section if the Secretary determines that such law provides for greater 
protection or safety.
    (g) 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) Self-closing door.--The term ``self closing door'' 
        means a door that--
                    (A) when opened and released, returns to the closed 
                position; and
                    (B) complies with the accessible door standards 
                most recently issued by the American National Standards 
                Institute.
            (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);
                    (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. 24 
                8013); or
                    (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.
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