[House Report 112-191]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


112th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    112-191

======================================================================



 
                    CJ'S HOME PROTECTION ACT OF 2011

                                _______
                                

 August 1, 2011.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

         Mr. Bachus, from the Committee on Financial Services, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1751]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Financial Services, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 1751) 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, having considered 
the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and 
recommend that the bill do pass.

                          Purpose and Summary

    H.R. 1751, the CJ's Home Protection Act amends the 
Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 
1974 by requiring the installation of National Oceanic & 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radios in all 
manufactured homes made or sold in the United States. The 
weather radios would broadcast severe weather warnings and 
civil emergency messages (including tornado and flood 
warnings), AMBER alerts for child abductions, and chemical 
spill notifications.
    The installation standard is to be established by the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) upon 
recommendation of the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee, 
which is the federal advisory committee charged with providing 
recommendations to the HUD Secretary regarding manufactured 
home construction and safety standards.
    H.R. 1751 would require weather radios installed in 
manufactured housing to meet the following standards:
     Capable of broadcasting emergency information 
relating to local weather conditions;
     Equipped with a tone alarm;
     Equipped with Specific Alert Message Encoding 
(SAME) technology, which is the protocol used to encode the 
Emergency Alert System and NOAA Weather Radio's Public Warning 
System in the U.S.; and
     Compliance with Consumer Electronics Association 
Standard 2009--A Performance Specification for Public Alert 
Receivers, which defines minimum performance criteria for 
consumer electronic products designed to receive SAME alert 
signals broadcast by NOAA's Weather Radio network.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    Every year, roughly 800 tornadoes sweep across the United 
States, resulting in approximately 80 deaths, more than 1,500 
injuries, and millions of dollars in property damage. Large 
tornadoes can generate wind speeds greater than 250 miles per 
hour. Natural catastrophes often strike with little warning, 
inflicting property damage on communities, and, in some cases, 
resulting in loss of life.
    On November 6, 2005, a tornado destroyed the Eastbrook 
Mobile Home Park community in Evansville, Indiana. The tornado 
killed 19 people, including two-year-old CJ Martine for whom 
this legislation is named, and wounding hundreds of other 
residents. The storm struck at 2 a.m. and the majority of 
Eastbrook residents were asleep and unable to respond to the 
tornado warnings issued in advance by NOAA's National Weather 
Service.
    CJ's family has worked closely with the manufactured 
housing industry to develop this legislation to provide early 
warning systems within homes with the hope of preventing future 
death and injury from such storms. His mother began a campaign 
that resulted in an Indiana law requiring that NOAA weather 
radios be installed in all new mobile and manufactured housing. 
The Indiana law prompted the federal initiative.
    Many families that reside in manufactured housing do not 
have access to a weather radio and as a result do not receive 
immediate alerts regarding storms and tornadoes. H.R. 1751 
would provide families with an opportunity to receive a severe 
storm alert in order to seek shelter ahead of tornadoes or 
flooding.

                                Hearings

    No hearings were held on this legislation in the 112th 
Congress.

                        Committee Consideration

    The Committee on Financial Services met in open session on 
July 20, 2011 and ordered H.R. 1751 favorably reported to the 
House by voice vote.

                            Committee Votes

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes 
on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto. 
There were no record votes taken on amendments or in connection 
with ordering H.R. 1751 reported to the House. A motion by 
Chairman Bachus to report the bill to the House with a 
favorable recommendation was agreed to by voice vote.

                      Committee Oversight Findings

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee has held hearings and 
made findings that are reflected in this report.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee establishes the 
following performance related goals and objectives for this 
legislation:
    The objectives of H.R. 1751 are to provide families with an 
opportunity to receive severe storm alerts or civil emergency 
messages and to receive the warnings early so that people who 
reside in manufactured housing communities can seek shelter and 
safety ahead of natural disasters or other emergency 
situations. H.R. 1751 amends the Manufactured Housing 
Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 by requiring the 
installation of National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration 
weather radios in all manufactured homes made or sold in the 
United States. The weather radios would broadcast severe 
weather warnings and civil emergency messages (including 
tornado and flood warnings), AMBER alerts for child abductions, 
and chemical spill notifications.

   New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its 
own the estimate of new budget authority, entitlement 
authority, or tax expenditures or revenues contained in the 
cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional 
Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974.

                        Committee Cost Estimate

    The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared 
by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to 
section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

                 Congressional Budget Office Estimates

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:

                                                     July 25, 2011.
Hon. Spencer Bachus,
Chairman, Committee on Financial Services,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1751, the CJ's 
Home Protection Act of 2011.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Susan Willie.
            Sincerely,
                                              Douglas W. Elmendorf.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 1751--CJ's Home Protection Act of 2011

    H.R. 1751 would require the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development (HUD) to issue a new standard requiring that each 
manufactured home delivered for sale be supplied with a weather 
radio that meets certain performance specifications, including 
the capacity to receive broadcasts of emergency information 
related to local weather conditions. Under current law, a 
committee representing both producers and users of manufactured 
housing makes recommendations to HUD on regulations concerning 
such homes. H.R. 1751 would require the committee to develop a 
proposed construction and safety standard; HUD would be 
required to finalize the standard within 90 days of receiving 
the proposal from the committee. The bill also would require 
HUD to prepare a report to the Congress that examines whether 
the requirement to equip new manufactured homes with weather 
radios should be limited to homes located in specific 
geographic areas.
    Under current law, HUD monitors and enforces safety 
standards for manufactured homes through a joint federal and 
state program funded partially by inspection fees paid by 
builders of manufactured homes; the fees are recorded in the 
budget as discretionary offsetting collections and may be spent 
subject to provisions in appropriation acts. The program's 
administrative costs as well as the balance of costs for 
monitoring and enforcement are funded through annual 
appropriation acts. Based on information from HUD, CBO 
estimates that implementing H.R. 1751 would increase spending 
subject to appropriation, though the effect would not be 
significant. Enacting H.R. 1751 would not affect direct 
spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do 
not apply.
    The bill's requirement that each manufactured home 
delivered for sale be equipped with a weather radio would 
extend an existing preemption of state and local authority that 
prohibits state and local governments from establishing or 
continuing laws regarding the safety of manufactured homes if 
those standards are not identical to the federal standards. CBO 
has identified safety standards for manufactured homes in at 
least one state that are similar but not identical to the 
requirements in H.R. 1751. Preempting such state laws is an 
intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act (UMRA). Although the preemption would prohibit the 
application of state laws, CBO estimates that the cost of the 
mandate on state, local, or tribal governments would be 
insignificant and well below the threshold established by UMRA 
($71 million in 2011, adjusted annually for inflation).
    H.R. 1751 also would impose a private-sector mandate, as 
defined in UMRA, on builders of manufactured housing. The bill 
would require all manufactured homes delivered for sale to be 
supplied with weather radios that have a tone alarm and 
specific alert message encoding, and that comply with the 
Consumer Electronics Association's performance standards for 
public alert receivers. Based on information from HUD and 
industry sources, the cost for each radio could be about $75, 
including overhead costs such as storage, shipment fees, and 
taxes. According to information from HUD, approximately 50,000 
manufactured homes were sold in both 2009 and 2010. 
Consequently, CBO expects that the direct cost of the mandate 
would fall below the annual threshold established in UMRA for 
private-sector mandates ($142 million in 2011, adjusted 
annually for inflation).
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Susan Willie 
(for federal costs), Lisa Ramirez-Branum (for the state and 
local impact), and Paige Piper/Bach (for the private-sector 
impact). The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                       Federal Mandates Statement

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates reform 
Act.

                      Advisory Committee Statement

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this 
legislation.

                  Applicability to Legislative Branch

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of the section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

                         Earmark Identification

    H.R. 1751 does not contain any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9 of rule XXI.

             Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation


Section 1--Short title

    CJ's Home Protection Act of 2011.

Section 2--Congressional findings

    Section 2 outlines congressional findings regarding the 
positive role manufactured housing plays in providing 
affordable housing, and the congressional findings also 
encourage manufactured housing communities to provide storm 
shelters for its residents and states that manufactured housing 
manufacturers should include in the packaging of weather radios 
a reminder to replace its batteries twice a year.

Section 3--Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standard

    This section amends the Manufactured Housing Construction 
and Safety Standards Act of 1974 by directing the Secretary of 
the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to 
require that each manufactured home delivered for sale be 
supplied with a weather radio inside the manufactured home. 
These weather radios shall meet the following standards:
     Capable of broadcasting emergency information 
relating to local weather conditions;
     Equipped with a tone alarm;
     Equipped with Specific Alert Message Encoding, or 
SAME technology;
     Compliance with Consumer Electronics Association 
(CEA) Standard 2009-A Performance Specification for Public 
Alert Receivers.
    In addition, this section exempts manufacturers from 
Sections 613 and 615 of the Manufactured Housing Construction 
and Safety Standards Act of 1974. Section 613 establishes 
procedures for handling a noncompliance or defect in the 
construction or installation standard after the sale of the 
manufactured home by the ``manufacturer'' to the 
``distributor'' or ``retailer'' and prior to a sale of the home 
to the ``purchaser.'' Section 615 deals with noncompliance or 
defects by the ``manufacturer'' after the home is sold to the 
ultimate ``purchaser''. Section 615 governs the relationship 
between the ``manufacturer'' and the ``purchaser''; such as how 
the manufacturer must provide notice of a noncompliance or 
defect; the manufacturer's notice to HUD; HUD's notice to the 
manufacturer if a defect or failure to comply is discovered; 
the manufacturer's duty to maintain a list of purchasers; and 
correction by the manufacturer.

Section 4--Establishment

    This section establishes that within 90 days of enactment 
of this act, the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee shall 
develop and submit to the Secretary of HUD a proposed 
manufactured housing construction and safety standard requiring 
that each manufactured home delivered for sale shall be 
supplied with a weather radio inside the manufactured home. The 
Secretary of HUD must issue the final order promulgating this 
standard within 90 days of receipt of the proposed standard 
from the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee.

Section 5--Study

    This section directs the Secretary of HUD to conduct a 
study of the applicability of the weather radio requirement to 
certain geographic locations at which manufactured homes are 
placed. The HUD Secretary should 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. This study is to be completed no later than 18 
months after the enactment of this act and shall be submitted 
to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives and to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs of the Senate.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

NATIONAL MANUFACTURED HOUSING CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS ACT OF 
                                  1974


     TITLE VI--MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS


                              SHORT TITLE

  Sec. 601. This title may be cited as the ``National 
Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 
1974''.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


      FEDERAL MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS

  Sec. 604. (a) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (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.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  
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