[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 18 (Friday, January 26, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3635-3636]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01276]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

24 CFR Parts 3280, 3282, and 3285

[Docket No. FR-6075-N-01]


Regulatory Review of Manufactured Housing Rules

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing--Federal Housing 
Commissioner, Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD.

ACTION: Request for comments on regulatory review.

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SUMMARY: Consistent with Executive Order 13771 entitled ``Reducing 
Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,'' and Executive Order 
13777 entitled, ``Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda,'' and as part 
of the efforts of HUD's Regulatory Reform Task Force, this document 
informs the public that HUD is reviewing its existing and planned 
manufactured housing regulatory actions to assess their actual and 
potential compliance costs and reduce regulatory burden. HUD invites 
public comment to assist in identifying regulations that may be 
outmoded, ineffective or excessively burdensome and should be modified, 
streamlined, replaced or repealed.

DATES: Comment Due Date: February 26, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 
10276, Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communications must refer to the 
above docket number and title.
    Electronic Submission of Comments. Interested persons may submit 
comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly encourages commenters to submit 
comments electronically. Electronic submission of comments allows the 
commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, ensures timely 
receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make them immediately available to 
the public. Comments submitted electronically through the 
www.regulations.gov website can be viewed by other commenters and 
interested members of the public. Commenters should follow the 
instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.
    Note: To receive consideration as public comments, comments must be 
submitted through one of the two methods specified above. Again, all 
submissions must refer to the docket number and title of the notice.
    No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile (fax) comments are not acceptable.
    Public Inspection of Public Comments. All properly submitted 
comments and communications submitted to HUD will be available for 
public inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at the 
above address. Due to security measures at the HUD Headquarters 
building, an appointment to review the public comments must be 
scheduled in advance by calling the Regulations Division at 202-708-
3055 (this is not a toll-free number). Individuals with speech or 
hearing impairments may access this number via TTY by calling the 
Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 (this is a toll-free number). 
Copies of all comments submitted are available for inspection and 
downloading at www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ariel Pereira, Associate General 
Counsel for Legislation and Regulations, Office of General Counsel, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 
10282, Washington DC 20410; telephone number 202-402-5138 (this is not 
a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech impairments may 
access this number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay 
Service at 800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Executive Orders 13771 and 13777

    Under the leadership of Secretary Carson, HUD has undertaken an 
effort, consistent with Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339), entitled 
``Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,'' to identify 
and eliminate or streamline regulations that are wasteful, inefficient 
or unnecessary. Executive Order 13771 requires that agencies manage the 
costs associated with the governmental imposition of private 
expenditures required to comply with Federal regulations. Toward this 
end, Executive Order 13771 directs that for each new regulation issued, 
at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination and 
requires that the cost of planned regulations be prudently managed and 
controlled. In furtherance of this objective, the Secretary has also 
led HUD's implementation of Executive Order 13777 (82 FR 12285), 
entitled ``Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda.'' Executive Order 
13777 reaffirms the rulemaking principles of Executive Order 13771 by 
directing each agency to establish a Regulatory Reform Task Force to 
evaluate existing regulations to identify those that merit repeal, 
replacement, modification, are outdated, unnecessary, or are 
ineffective, eliminate or inhibit job creation, impose costs that 
exceed benefits, or derive from or implement Executive Orders that have 
been rescinded or significantly modified.

II. This Notice

    Manufactured housing plays a vital role in meeting the nation's 
affordable housing needs, providing 9.5 percent of the total single-
family housing stock.\1\ According to the Manufactured Housing 
Institute,\2\ more than 22 million Americans reside in manufactured 
housing. Manufactured homes are particularly important in rural states, 
where manufactured homes are approximately 16.2 percent of occupied 
housing units. The manufactured housing industry is also an important 
economic engine, accounting for approximately 35,000 jobs nationwide.
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    \1\ American Housing Survey, 2013. Available at:
    http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=AHS_2013_C01AH&prodType=table.
    \2\ http://www.manufacturedhousing.org/research-and-data/.
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    HUD regulation of manufactured housing fulfills a critical role of 
both protecting consumers and ensuring a fair and efficient market. HUD 
may adopt, revise, and interpret HUD's manufactured housing program 
regulations based on recommendations of the Manufactured Housing 
Consensus

[[Page 3636]]

Committee, a statutory Federal Advisory Committee body.\3\ Given the 
significant role that manufactured housing plays in providing 
affordable housing, HUD has determined that it should undertake a 
substantive review of all current and planned federal regulation of 
manufactured housing. This review is intended to ensure that HUD can 
more effectively meet its responsibilities to facilitate the 
availability of affordable manufactured homes and encourage innovation 
and cost-effective construction techniques for manufactured housing 
while continuing to protect consumers by ensuring quality, durable, 
safe and affordable manufactured homes.
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    \3\ See HUD, Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee, https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/rmra/mhs/cc1.
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    In conducting this review, HUD believes that it would benefit from 
information and perspectives among state, local and tribal officials, 
experts in relevant disciplines, affected stakeholders in the private 
sector and the public as a whole. HUD is, therefore, requesting comment 
on all current and planned regulatory actions affecting manufactured 
housing. HUD specifically seeks comment on:
     Rules listed in its Unified Agenda of Regulatory and 
Deregulatory Actions regulations, including rules to update its 
Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (FR-5739), and 
exempt Recreational Vehicles from its Manufactured Home Construction 
and Safety Standards and Procedural and Enforcement Regulations (FR-
5787).
     How HUD should proceed with its Interpretative Bulletin 
that provides guidance for designing and installing manufactured home 
foundations in areas subject to freezing temperatures with seasonal 
ground freezing.
     The effectiveness of HUD's on-site completion of 
construction regulations, its Subpart I notification and corrections 
procedures, and its Alternative Construction approval process, both 
overall and specifically in review of manufactured homes with a 
carport-ready design or any other similar design that would permit the 
construction of an add-on at the final home site, that is not 
structurally independent from the home's structure, support and 
anchoring systems.
    HUD does not anticipate moving forward with any manufactured 
housing program regulations pending completion of its review. HUD may 
make exceptions, however, on individual rules based on policy 
priorities or revised circumstances.
    To assist in the formulation of comments, HUD encourages commenters 
to consider how HUD's manufactured housing regulatory agenda may be 
streamlined to reduce or eliminate costs and overall burden while 
ensuring that HUD can continue to meet its statutory responsibilities 
under the Manufactured Home construction and Safety Standards Act of 
1974 (42 U.S.C. 5401 et seq.), as amended.

    Dated: January 8, 2018.
Dana T. Wade,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing.
[FR Doc. 2018-01276 Filed 1-25-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4210-67-P