[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 52 (Wednesday, March 18, 2026)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 13207-13210]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-05388]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 52 / Wednesday, March 18, 2026 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 13207]]
Executive Order 14394 of March 13, 2026
Removing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Home
Construction
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. The American dream of homeownership
depends on a dynamic housing market in which a varied
inventory of new homes is built and renovated each
year. Layers of unnecessary regulatory barriers, slow
permitting processes, and onerous mandates at all
levels of government have delayed construction,
restricted development, and driven up the costs of new
housing. These constraints have made housing less
affordable for many Americans.
It is the policy of my Administration to reduce
regulatory barriers to building homes and to steward
taxpayer dollars in a manner that promotes housing
affordability.
Sec. 2. Targeting Federal Regulatory Barriers to
Residential Development. (a) The Secretary of the Army,
acting through the Assistant Secretary of the Army for
Civil Works, and the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency shall review and revise requirements
related to stormwater, wetlands, lakes, rivers, and
other bodies of water to reduce housing construction
and ownership costs, streamline regulatory and agency
decision-making processes, reduce property tax burdens,
and increase insurability, as appropriate and
consistent with applicable law. Such requirements shall
include:
(i) the Construction General Permit for stormwater discharges from
construction activity;
(ii) federally issued Total Maximum Daily Loads;
(iii) construction site and post-construction requirements for Municipal
Separate Stormwater System permits;
(iv) Federal standards for permits under section 404 of the Clean Water Act
(CWA), 33 U.S.C. 1344, for the discharge of dredged and fill material into
waters of the United States; and
(v) Federal standards for assumption of dredge and fill permitting by
States and tribes under section 404(g) of CWA.
(b) The Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of
Transportation, and the Director of the Federal Housing
Finance Agency (FHFA) shall, within their respective
authorities, consider eliminating unduly burdensome
rules and reforming programs that constrain residential
development and impede housing affordability,
especially the construction of affordable single-family
homes as well as suburban and exurban neighborhoods,
including, as needed:
(i) the Economic Development Administration's guidelines and investment
priorities concerning development density;
(ii) the Department of Transportation's Reconnecting Communities Pilot
Program;
(iii) the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Pathways to
Removing Obstacles to Housing Program; and
(iv) the FHFA's guidelines and regulations regarding chattel lending for
manufactured housing and incentivizing low-balance home mortgages.
[[Page 13208]]
(c) The Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Energy,
and the Director of FHFA shall, within their respective
authorities, take appropriate action to reform and,
where appropriate, eliminate unduly burdensome or
costly energy-efficiency, water-use, or alternative-
energy requirements regarding housing, including
manufactured housing, to the maximum extent practicable
and consistent with applicable law. Such action shall
include reviewing and revising, as needed:
(i) the Energy Conservation Program's Energy Conservation Standards for
Manufactured Housing;
(ii) the Adoption of Energy Efficiency Standards for New Construction of
HUD- and USDA-Financed Housing;
(iii) residential building energy codes subject to review by the Secretary
of Energy; and
(iv) water and energy efficiency improvement standards for FHFA's duty to
serve underserved market properties.
Sec. 3. Streamlining Federal Permitting Requirements
for Residential Development. (a) The Chairman of the
Council on Environmental Quality shall provide guidance
to executive departments and agencies (agencies) on
implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, including through the establishment, adoption, or
application of categorical exclusions, in a manner that
maximally exempts or reduces burdens on housing
construction, preservation, adaptive re-use, and
infrastructure that facilitates housing construction,
such as roads, water, sewer, and other projects.
(b) The Chairman of the Advisory Council on
Historic Preservation shall develop guidance on
maximally exempting, or reducing burdens on, housing
construction and infrastructure that facilitates
housing construction, such as roads, water, sewer, and
other projects under section 106 of the National
Historic Preservation Act so that reporting
requirements are no more burdensome than necessary.
Sec. 4. Boosting Housing Affordability Through State
and Local Regulatory Best Practices. (a) Within 60 days
of the date of this order, the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development, in coordination with the Assistant
to the President for Domestic Policy, shall develop and
promulgate a series of regulatory best practices for
State and local governments to promote housing
construction and affordability, including:
(i) streamlining permitting processes for housing developments by, for
example, capping permitting timelines and fees; allowing by-right
development for single-family homes; limiting retroactive application of
new or changed building codes; allowing third-party inspections and
appropriate builder choice on certified entities for inspections and
studies; and ensuring swift dispute resolution with government agencies and
private parties regarding construction matters;
(ii) curtailing mandates that increase housing construction costs, such as
green-energy building requirements or other energy-choice restrictions,
non-evidence-based building codes, and unreasonable building-code-adoption
timelines;
(iii) re-examining restrictions on the use of manufactured or modular
housing on the basis of the construction method rather than objective
standards for building and safety, aesthetic requirements, or prohibitions
on construction when comparable site-built housing is permitted; and
(iv) removing arbitrary limitations on residential housing development
beyond urban centers, such as urban growth boundaries, growth moratoria,
and commuting penalties.
(b) The Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of
Transportation, and the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency shall, within their
respective authorities, take steps to revise, as
appropriate and consistent with applicable law,
[[Page 13209]]
regulations, guidance, grant applications and
requirements, technical assistance, and other relevant
agency documents or practices to advance the best
practices issued pursuant to subsection (a) of this
section.
Sec. 5. Facilitating New Residential Construction in
Opportunity Zones. (a) The Secretary of the Treasury
and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
shall jointly evaluate Administration actions to better
align programs and incentives with the Opportunity Zone
tax incentives to expand investment in single-family
home construction, including considering lawful
mechanisms to link grants, financing tools, or other
incentives with new or increased investment in
Qualified Opportunity Funds engaged in the development
and sale of single-family homes.
(b) The Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development shall also assess
opportunities to coordinate the Opportunity Zone
incentives described in subsection (a) of this section
with the New Markets Tax Credit under 26 U.S.C. 45D to
promote single-family home construction in census
tracts that qualify both as Qualified Opportunity Zones
and as low-income communities for the purposes of the
New Markets Tax Credit.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
(d) If any provision of this order, or the
application of any provision or circumstance, is held
to be invalid, the remainder of this order and the
application of its provisions to any other persons or
circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
[[Page 13210]]
(e) The costs for publication of this order shall
be borne by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
March 13, 2026.
[FR Doc. 2026-05388
Filed 3-17-26; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4210-67-P