[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 10, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 13645-13647]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05010]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

24 CFR Parts 3280, 3282 and 3285

[Docket No. FR-6149-F-04]
RIN 2502-AJ49


Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards; Delay of 
Effective Date

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

ACTION: Final rule; delay of effective date.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Housing and Urban Development is delaying 
the effective date of its final rule published on January 12, 2021, 
that amends the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety 
Standards (the Construction and Safety Standards) that were based upon 
the third group of recommendations made to HUD by the Manufactured 
Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC), as modified by HUD. The March 15, 
2021, effective date does not provide adequate time for affected 
manufacturers and stakeholders to implement the new requirements. By 
extending the effective date from March 15, 2021, to July 12, 2021, 
manufacturers and other stakeholders will have sufficient time to 
implement the new or amended requirements.

DATES: As of March 10, 2021 the effective date of the final rule 
amending 24 CFR parts 3280, 3282, and 3285, published January 12, 2021 
at 86 FR 2496, is delayed until July 12, 2021. As of March 10, 2021 the 
March 15, 2021 incorporation by reference approval published in the 
January 12, 2021 rule at 86 FR 2496 is delayed to July 12, 2021.

[[Page 13646]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Teresa B. Payne, Administrator, Office 
of Manufactured Housing Programs, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 9166, Washington, DC 20410-8000; 
telephone number 202-402-2698 (this is not a toll-free number). For 
hearing and speech-impaired persons, this number may be accessed via 
TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 
(this is a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards 
Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5401-5426) (the Act), authorizes HUD to 
establish and amend the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and 
Safety Standards (the Construction and Safety Standards) codified at 24 
CFR part 3280. The Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (Pub. 
L. 106-569, approved December 27, 2000), established the Manufactured 
Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC) to provide HUD recommendations to 
adopt, revise, and interpret the Construction and Safety Standards. 
HUD's Construction and Safety Standards apply to the design, 
construction, and installation of new manufactured homes.
    Following MHCC's third set of recommendations made to HUD, and 
HUD's review of, editorial revisions to, and addition of proposals to 
the MHCC's recommendations, HUD published a proposed rule on January 
31, 2020 (85 FR 5589). Most commenters on the proposed rule expressed 
general support for the proposed revisions as part of HUD's effort to 
update the Construction and Safety Standards, and several commenters 
provided technical and substantive recommendations. Following HUD's 
consideration of public comments on the proposed rule, and 
consideration of HUD's experience with the program, HUD published a 
final rule on January 12, 2021 (86 FR 2496). The final rule revises 
certain sections of the Construction and Safety Standards, incorporates 
six reference standards, and makes minor technical edits to the 
Construction and Safety Standards. The amendments to the codified 
regulations reinforce the Act's purposes, namely to provide benefits to 
consumers, homeowners, and the broader community; promote and improve 
consumer and home safety, such as by improving smoke and carbon 
monoxide alarm requirements; reduce regulatory barriers and expand 
consumer options; and allow the use of the latest building technologies 
and materials while creating more consistency with State-adopted 
residential building codes.

II. This Final Rule

    HUD's January 12, 2021, final rule has a March 15, 2021, effective 
date. This final rule delays the March 15, 2021, effective date by 120 
days to July 12, 2021, to provide sufficient time for affected 
stakeholders and manufacturers to implement the new and amended 
requirements.
    HUD recognizes that, as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many 
manufacturers are experiencing backlogs and supply chain challenges 
that make it difficult for manufacturers to obtain products that the 
new regulations require in a timely manner.\1\ Industry stakeholders 
stated that these shortages have made it difficult for manufactures to 
obtain carbon monoxide alarms, combination carbon monoxide and smoke 
alarms, doors, railings, and other products required to meet the 
January 12, 2021 regulation. Industry stakeholders have also expressed 
to HUD a desire for additional time to implement and modify processes 
to ensure compliance with the new regulation. For example, stakeholders 
have pointed out that the changes will require consultation with Design 
Approval Primary Inspection Agencies (DAPIAs) and drafting teams which 
take additional time.
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    \1\ Manufactured Housing Landscape 2020, Fannie Mae (May 21, 
2020) https://multifamily.fanniemae.com/news-insights/multifamily-market-commentary/manufactured-housing-landscape-2020.
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    In response to these concerns, HUD is publishing this final rule to 
delay the March 15, 2021 effective date to July 12, 2021, to provide 
additional time for affected stakeholders and manufacturers to 
implement the new and amended requirements.

III. Justification for Final Rulemaking for the Delay of Effective Date

    Section 553(b)(B) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 
U.S.C. 553(b)(B)) permits agencies to omit prior notice and comment 
procedure when an agency for ``good cause'' finds such procedure to be 
``impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.'' 
HUD's regulation on rulemaking at 24 CFR 10.1 implements the APA's 
requirements for HUD, including the ``good cause'' exception.
    HUD finds that prior public notice and comment for this final rule 
is contrary to the public interest. This final rule extends the 
effective date for the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety 
Standards final rule for 120 days, from March 15, 2021, to July 12, 
2021. It does not signal any revision of the requirements included in 
the January 12, 2021, final rule. All revisions to the Manufactured 
Home Construction and Safety Standards codified by the January 12, 
2021, final rule will still be implemented without change.
    Without this extension, manufacturers would be hard pressed to 
implement and meet new requirements that were scheduled to take effect 
on March 15, 2021. The inability to meet the March 15, 2021, effective 
date is largely a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its disruption of 
economic activity in the United States, including backlogs and supply 
chain disruptions within the manufactured housing industry, making 
compliance by March 15, 2021 unlikely if not impossible. Manufacturers 
and stakeholders expressed this concern to HUD and asked for additional 
time to implement and modify processes to ensure compliance with new 
regulations. Delaying the effective date of the final rule will allow 
manufacturers and program stakeholders the additional time needed to 
obtain the products and implement the procedures required to comply 
with new or amended requirements. For these reasons, HUD finds that 
there is good cause to issue this final rule without additional public 
comment.

IV. Findings and Certifications

Regulatory Review--Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

    Under Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review), a 
determination must be made whether a regulatory action is significant 
and, therefore, subject to review by the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) in accordance with the requirements of the order. 
Executive Order 13563 (Improving Regulations and Regulatory Review) 
directs executive agencies to analyze regulations that are ``outmoded, 
ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and to modify, 
streamline, expand, or repeal them in accordance with what has been 
learned.'' Executive Order 13563 also directs that, where relevant, 
feasible, and consistent with regulatory objectives, and to the extent 
permitted by law, agencies are to identify and consider regulatory 
approaches that reduce burdens and maintain flexibility and freedom of 
choice for the public. This rule has been determined not to be a 
``significant regulatory action'' as defined in section 3(f) of the 
Executive order and therefore

[[Page 13647]]

was not reviewed by OMB. The Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs (OIRA) has designated this rule not as a major rule under the 
Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801 et seq.).

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(PRA), an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a respondent is not 
required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a 
currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. 
The information collection requirements contained in this final rule 
have been approved by the OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB control number 2502-0253.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 
1531-1538) establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the 
effects of their regulatory actions on state, local, and tribal 
governments, and the private sector. This rule will not impose any 
Federal mandates on any state, local, or tribal government or the 
private sector within the meaning of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
of 1995.

Environmental Review

    A Finding of No Significant Impact with respect to the environment 
was made prior to publication of the proposed rule, in accordance with 
HUD regulations at 24 CFR part 50, which implement section 102(2)(C) of 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 
The Finding of No Significant Impact remains applicable, and is 
available for public inspection between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. 
weekdays in the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Room 
10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street 
SW, Washington, DC 20410-0500. The Finding of No Significant Impact 
will also be available for review in the docket for this rule on 
Regulations.gov.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) 
generally requires an agency to conduct a regulatory flexibility 
analysis of any rule subject to notice and comment rulemaking 
requirements, unless the agency certifies that the rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
HUD has determined that this final rule imposes no additional 
requirements, and does not have a significant economic impact, on a 
substantial number of small entities. Of the 222 firms primarily 
engaged in manufacturing manufactured homes, under the NAICS definition 
(NAICS 32991), approximately 35 produce manufactured homes subject to 
HUD's Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards. Of these 
firms, 31 are considered to be small businesses based on the U.S. Small 
Business Administration's threshold of 1,250 employees or less. The 
final rule applies to all the manufacturers and thus would affect a 
substantial number of small entities. However, this final rule provides 
all manufacturers, including small manufacturers, more time to 
implement revisions to the Construction and Safety Standards contained 
in HUD's January 12, 2021 final rule, but does not itself update or 
amend the Standards. As a result, this rule does not place any 
additional costs on any manufactured home manufacturers subject to the 
January 12, 2021, final rule. Accordingly, the undersigned certifies 
that this rule would not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.

Executive Order 13132, Federalism

    Executive Order 13132 (entitled ``Federalism'') prohibits, to the 
extent practicable and permitted by law, an agency from promulgating a 
regulation that has federalism implications and either imposes 
substantial direct compliance costs on state and local governments and 
is not required by statute, or preempts state law, unless the relevant 
requirements of section 6 of the Executive order are met. This rule 
does not have federalism implications and does not impose substantial 
direct compliance costs on state and local governments or preempt state 
law within the meaning of the Executive order.

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 2697, 28 U.S.C. 2461 note, 42 U.S.C. 
3535(d), 5403, 5404, 5424.

Susan A. Betts,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Finance and Budget, Office of Housing--
Federal Housing Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-05010 Filed 3-9-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P