[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 107 (Thursday, June 4, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30509-30510]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14864]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4374-N-02]


Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards: Notice 
Announcing the Selection of a Private Consensus Standards Development 
Organization

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing 
Commissioner, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of selection of a private consensus standards 
development organization.

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SUMMARY: By a Federal Register Notice published on August 6, 1997 (62 
FR 42382), HUD requested statements of interest from organizations 
interested in coordinating and developing suggestions for changes to 
the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards 
(FMHCSS). HUD would consider these suggestions for adoption into the 
FMHCSS, through HUD's regular notice-and-comment rulemaking process. 
Through a similar process completed 10 years ago, HUD had selected the 
Council of American Building Officials to help develop and maintain 
recommended standards. Based upon the statements of interest received 
in response to the August 7, 1997, Notice, HUD is announcing the 
selection of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for this 
purpose. HUD will, however, continue to consider standards developed by 
organizations and persons other than NFPA for incorporation into the 
FMHCSS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David R. Williamson, Director, Office 
of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Room 9156, 451 7th Street SW, Washington DC 20410-0500; 
telephone (202) 708 6401, or on e-mail through Internet at 
David__R.__W[email protected]. For hearing and speech impaired persons, 
the telephone number may be accessed by calling the Federal Information 
Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. (Other than the ``800'' number, these 
telephone numbers are not toll free.)

Background

    The National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards 
Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5401-5426), initiated a program that, in part, 
provides for the establishment by the Department of standards by which 
all Manufactured Homes are constructed. It further provides for 
preemption by these standards of all standards of a State or political 
subdivision applicable to the same aspect of performance of a 
Manufactured Home that are not identical to the Federal Manufactured 
Home construction and safety standard.
    In the August 6, 1997 Federal Register Notice, the Department 
requested statements of interest from private organizations to 
administer a voluntary process for the development of suggested 
Manufactured Housing standards. The Department was seeking to use a 
private consensus standards development organization to speed up the 
process of developing new standards to the benefit of both the consumer 
and the industry. Among other requirements, the Department wanted 
assurances that the submitting organization would seek to ensure that 
its suggestions for changes to the FMCHSS reflect a balance of 
interests and that the submitting organization would be willing to give 
priority consideration to developing suggestions for standards 
identified by the Department as requiring prompt attention. The 
Department further stated that by use of this standards development 
process it would not relinquish its responsibility and authority under 
the Act to establish and enforce the FMHCSS. The Department hopes, 
however, that under most circumstances, standards developed by this 
voluntary standards body would be accepted as submitted for publication 
as a proposed rule and it would go through the full notice-and-comment 
rulemaking set out in the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553). 
Finally, the Department listed what it wished to see in the statements 
of interest and the criteria to be used in reviewing them. A similar 
process had been used by the Department when it announced the first 
selection of a voluntary standards development organization (CABO).

Selection

    In response to the August 6, 1997 Federal Register Notice, the 
Department received several sets of comments and two entities responded 
with proposals for selection as HUD's consensus standards development 
organization. These were the Council of American Building Officials and 
the National Fire

[[Page 30510]]

Protection Association. The Department carefully evaluated these 
proposals in relation to the criteria for reviewing statements of 
interest. Subsequent to that it invited each organization to come to 
HUD and meet with program officials, both to respond to identical 
questions posed to each organization and to permit each organization to 
present any matter to HUD officials that it deemed appropriate and ask 
any questions. Following these meetings the Department gave further 
consideration to which entity should be selected.
    Based upon the foregoing, the Department announces the selection of 
the National Fire Protection Association to be a consensus standards 
development organization to develop and maintain recommended standards 
for the Manufactured Housing program. NFPA will thus replace the 
selection of CABO made in 1988. There is no agreement between the 
Department and the NFPA that obligates the NFPA to develop recommended 
standards or that obligates the Department to use or pay for the 
development of recommended standards. This selection in no way 
precludes any other individual or entity from making recommendations to 
the Department regarding program standards; such recommendations will 
also be reviewed and considered by the Department for incorporation 
into the FMHCSS, as required by law.

    Dated: May 29, 1998.
Art Agnos,
Acting General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing-Deputy Federal 
Housing Commissioner.
[FR Doc. 98-14864 Filed 6-3-98; 8:45 am]
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