Affordable HOMES Act
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The bill would rescind a 2022 Department of Energy rule setting energy efficiency standards for manufactured housing and would replace DOE's rulemaking authority with a narrower power to merely recommend standard revisions to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Supporters frame it as reducing upfront construction costs for manufactured homes, since any future efficiency recommendations would have to be justified by cost-effectiveness and impact on purchase price rather than imposed directly by DOE.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would void the Department of Energy's May 2022 final rule setting energy conservation standards for manufactured housing, declaring it to have no force or effect. It would also amend Section 413 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to eliminate DOE's authority to directly issue preemptive energy conservation standards for manufactured homes, replacing it with authority only to transmit recommendations for such standards to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which retains standard-setting authority under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. Any DOE recommendations would have to meet specific criteria: they must be based on cost-effectiveness determinations considering life-cycle construction and operating costs, include estimates of impact on manufactured homes' initial purchase price, and account for factory construction limitations, HUD climate zones, alternative methods achieving equivalent energy performance, and payback periods for added costs.
Key provisions
- 1Would nullify the Department of Energy's May 31, 2022 final rule on energy conservation standards for manufactured housing, giving it no force or effect
- 2Would eliminate DOE's authority to directly set preemptive energy conservation standards for manufactured homes
- 3Would authorize DOE only to transmit recommendations for standard revisions to the Department of Housing and Urban Development
- 4Would require any DOE recommendations to be based on cost-effectiveness, purchase-price impact, and construction/climate considerations
Who would be affected
Manufactured home builders and buyers, the Department of Energy, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and households seeking affordable manufactured housing that would otherwise be subject to the rescinded 2022 efficiency standards.
Why it matters
Manufacturers would no longer have to comply with the 2022 DOE efficiency standards, potentially lowering upfront construction costs, while HUD would remain the primary standard-setter subject to new cost-effectiveness criteria before any future revisions. Advocates for the change argue it prevents efficiency mandates from raising manufactured home prices; the standards themselves would not be replaced by equivalent DOE-issued rules.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17071) (Sec. 2(a))
Replaces DOE's authority to issue manufactured housing energy standards with authority only to recommend revisions to HUD, and adds new cost-based criteria for those recommendations.
Repeals Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Manufactured Housing (DOE final rule, May 31, 2022, 87 Fed. Reg. 32728) (Sec. 2(b))
Declares this DOE rule to have no force or effect.
Agencies directed to act
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates the Affordable HOMES Act would reduce revenues by an insignificant amount (less than $500,000) over the 2026–2035 period, with no meaningful effect on the federal deficit.
H.R. 5184 would repeal DOE's authority to set energy conservation standards for manufactured housing and prohibit implementation of a May 2022 rule on those standards. CBO estimates the bill would reduce federal revenues by less than $500,000 over 2026–2035, because fewer civil penalties would be collected from manufacturers who would otherwise have been non-compliant. It would also reduce discretionary spending (spending subject to annual congressional appropriations) by less than $500,000 due to reduced DOE workload, though any actual savings would depend on future appropriations. CBO found no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How implementation would work
The bill is largely self-executing: it directly nullifies the named DOE rule and rewrites DOE's statutory authority. Going forward, if DOE wishes to see manufactured housing energy standards changed, it would prepare recommendations meeting the bill's cost-effectiveness and impact-analysis criteria and transmit them to HUD, which retains sole authority to actually issue preemptive standards under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. No new agency reporting, grant program, or enforcement mechanism is created.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Official CRS summary
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This bill rescinds Department of Energy (DOE) energy efficiency regulations applicable to manufactured housing and eliminates DOE’s authority to issue similar regulations. Specifically, the bill rescinds the DOE final rule titled Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Manufactured Housing and published on May 31, 2022.
Under the bill, DOE may provide recommendations to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for revisions to energy conservation standards applicable to manufactured housing. These recommendations must comply with criteria established by the bill, including by being based on the determination of the cost-effectiveness of such revision.
Legislative subjects
Energy; Energy efficiency and conservation; Housing industry and standards; Housing supply and affordability
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-419