HR 2787
10-30-07, House Agreed to Bill by Voice Vote
Referred to Senate Committee on
Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2787
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 1, 2007
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and
Urban Affairs
AN ACT
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `CJ's Home Protection Act of 2007'.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) nearly 20,000,000 Americans live in manufactured homes, which often
provide a more accessible and affordable way for many families to buy their
own homes;
(2) manufactured housing plays a vital role in providing housing for low-
and moderate-income families in the United States;
(3) NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting
continuous weather information directly from a nearby National Weather Service
(NWS) office, and broadcasts NWS warnings, watches, forecasts, and other
all-hazard information 24 hours a day;
(4) the operators of manufactured housing communities should be encouraged
to provide a safe place of shelter for community residents or a plan for
the evacuation of community residents to a safe place of shelter within
a reasonable distance of the community for use by community residents in
times of severe weather, including tornados and high winds, and local municipalities
should be encouraged to require approval of these plans;
(5) the operators of manufactured housing communities should be encouraged
to provide a written reminder semiannually to all owners of manufactured
homes in the manufactured housing community to replace the batteries in
their weather radios; and
(6) weather radio manufacturers should include, in the packaging of weather
radios, a written reminder to replace the batteries twice each year and
written instructions on how to do so.
SEC. 3. FEDERAL MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARD.
Section 604 of the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards
Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5403) is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
`(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 section 613 or 615 or any regulations promulgated by the Secretary pursuant
to the authority under such sections.'.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT.
Not later than the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the date of
the enactment of this Act, the consensus committee established pursuant to
section 604(a)(3) of the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety
Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304(a)(3)) shall develop and submit to the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development a proposed Federal manufactured
home construction and safety standard required under section 604(i) of such
Act (as added by the amendment made by section 3 of this Act). Notwithstanding
section 604(a)(5)(B) of such Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
shall issue a final order promulgating the standard required by such section
604(i) not later than the expiration of the 90-day period beginning upon receipt
by the Secretary of the proposed standard developed and submitted by the consensus
committee.
SEC. 5. STUDY.
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall conduct of study regarding
conditioning the applicability of the requirement under the amendment made
by section 3 of this Act (relating to supplying weather radios in manufactured
homes) on the geographic location at which a manufactured home is placed,
but only to the extent that such requirement applies to new manufactured homes
and new site-built homes. In conducting such study and making determinations
under to the study, the Secretary shall 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. Not later than the
expiration of the 18-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall complete the study and submit a report regarding
the results of the study to the Committee on Financial Services of the House
of Representatives and to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
of the Senate.
Passed the House of Representatives October 30, 2007.
Attest:
LORRAINE C. MILLER,
Clerk.
END
