H.R. 9311

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9311 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9311

To exempt certain covered projects from the requirements of chapter 83 
of title 41, United States Code, or any regulation or guidance issued 
for such chapter.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 15, 2026

Mr. Flood (for himself and Ms. Goodlander) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To exempt certain covered projects from the requirements of chapter 83 
of title 41, United States Code, or any regulation or guidance issued 
for such chapter.

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 ``Build Housing Affordably Act''.

SEC. 2. BUY AMERICAN ACT STUDY AND REPORT.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
shall conduct a study of--
(1) the impacts of the Build America, Buy America Act 
(title IV of division G of Public Law 117-58; 42 U.S.C. 8301 
note) and its implementation on grantees, subgrantees, 
builders, developers, and contractors using covered programs to 
build affordable housing, including--
(A) the direct costs of procuring materials for 
federally assisted housing projects;
(B) the indirect costs associated with compliance, 
including any increased administrative costs, costs 
incurred while pursuing a waiver, and costs of 
consultants or other labor required to deal with 
increased administrative costs;
(C) the costs of delays associated with compliance; 
and
(D) the costs associated with any housing projects 
left incomplete as a result of compliance, and the 
number of units not built as a result of compliance; 
and
(2) the Build America, Buy America Act (title IV of 
division G of Public Law 117-58; 42 U.S.C. 8301 note) waiver 
process with respect to covered programs, including--
(A) the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development's processes and policies for reviewing 
waivers;
(B) the amount of time it takes the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development to process waivers;
(C) the number of waivers granted for housing 
projects;
(D) the extent to which general public interest 
waivers are utilized currently and whether issuing 
additional general public interest waivers could reduce 
costs;
(E) the effectiveness of the de minimis general 
waiver; and
(F) the materials or products most often subject to 
requests for waivers.
(b) Report.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall, 
not later than 90 days after completing the study required under 
subsection (a), submit a report to the Committee on Financial Services 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and contents of 
the study required under subsection (a).

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO PAUSE IMPLEMENTATION OF BUILD AMERICA, BUY 
AMERICA ACT REQUIREMENTS.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, regulation, guidance, 
or policy, any covered project assisted in any part by amounts provided 
under a covered program shall not be subject to any of the requirements 
of chapter 83 of title 41, United States Code, or any regulations 
issued for such chapter until the date that is 60 days after the report 
required under subsection (a) is delivered to the Committee on 
Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.

SEC. 4. TIMING FOR REVIEW OF WAIVER APPLICATIONS.

(a) In General.--If an entity that is undertaking a covered project 
assisted in any part by amounts provided under a covered program 
submits a request to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for 
a waiver from the requirements of Build America, Buy America Act (title 
IV of division G of Public Law 117-58; 42 U.S.C. 8301 note), 
notwithstanding any other provision of law, regulation, guidance, or 
policy, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall render a 
decision on such request for a waiver not later than 90 days after 
receiving such request.
(b) Failure To Render a Decision.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, regulation, guidance, or policy, if the Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development fails to render a decision on a request 
for a waiver under subsection (a) in the time period specified in 
subsection (a), the waiver shall be deemed to have been granted.
(c) Rule of Construction.--Any waiver deemed to have been granted 
under subsection (b) shall be final and irrevocable and may not be 
subjected to further review by any Federal official.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Covered program.--The term ``covered program'' means--
(A) the public housing program under the United 
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.);
(B) the program for rental assistance under section 
8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437f);
(C) the HOME Investment Partnerships program under 
title II of the Cranton-Gonzalez National Affordable 
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.);
(D) the program for supportive housing for the 
elderly under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 
(12 U.S.C. 1701q);
(E) the program for supportive housing for persons 
with disabilities under section 811 of the Cranston-
Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 
8013);
(F) the program for Native American housing under 
the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.);
(G) the program for housing assistance for Native 
Hawaiians under title VIII of the Native American 
Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 
(25 U.S.C. 4221 et seq.);
(H) the Housing Trust Fund program under section 
1338 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 
1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568);
(I) the programs under title IV of the McKinney-
Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et 
seq.);
(J) the AIDS Housing Opportunities program under 
subtitle D of title VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez 
National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et 
seq.);
(K) the programs for assistance for rural rental 
housing under title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 
U.S.C. 1471 et seq.);
(L) the Community Development Block Grant program 
under title I of the Housing and Community Development 
Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.);
(M) the Capacity Building for Affordable Housing 
and Community Development program under section 4 of 
the HUD Demonstration Act of 1993 (Pub. L. 103-120, 107 
Stat. 1148, 42 U.S.C. 9816 note); and
(N) the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, initially 
authorized under title I of division A of Public Law 
111-117 (123 Stat. 3093).
(2) Covered project.--The term ``covered project'' means a 
project assisted in any part by amounts provided under a 
covered program that--
(A) is subject to the requirements of Build 
America, Buy America Act (title IV of division G of 
Public Law 117-58; 42 U.S.C. 8301 note); and
(B) has as its primary purpose the purchase, 
construction, rehabilitation, preservation, or 
improvement of residential housing.
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