How does this …
… Become this???
With the caveats that:
– Picking and choosing lines from an amendment is probably not fair,
– I have not read the entire bill nor amendment (nor have any of our elected “representatives”),
– Compromises and selling constituents’ best interests are accepted best practices and that,
– I’m no politician …
What in the world was Congress thinking?
Would you have your clients sign a contract that you never read? Or that you had been “advised of the changes” (as was my Representative) without ever actually reading this?
This is business as usual, but it’s not OK. Just because “that’s the way it is” doesn’t mean “that’s the way it should be.” We try to demand more of our Association – are we demanding more of our politicians?
Have a look at just a few of the snippets from H.R. 2998 (the former H.R. 2454)
Regarding retrofitting houses to make them more energy efficient:
such retrofits not shall not be used to justify any increase in rents charged to residents of such housing; and
But … what if said retrofits warrant increasing rents?
The scale of bureaucracy that may be created is nearly unfathomable (at least by someone who works for a living) :
(c) USE OF FUNDS; MATCHING FUNDs.
(1) AUTHORIZED USES.- Amounts from grants awarded under subsection (a) may be used by the grant recipient to supplement existing State or local funding for administration of building code enforcement, or to supplement allowance value received pursuant to this Act for implementation and enforcement of energy efficiency building codes. Such amounts may be used to increase staffing, provide staff training, increase staff competence and professional qualifications, or support individual certification or departmental accreditation, or for capital expenditures specifically dedicated to the administration of the building code enforcement department.
(2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.-Each building code enforcement department receiving a grant under subsection (a) shall empanel a code administration and enforcement team consisting of at least 1 full-time building code enforcement officer, a city planner, and a health planner or similar officer.
This is fun –
SEC. 209. PROHIBITION OF RESTRICTIONS ON RESIDENTIAL INSTALLATION OF SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM.
(a) REGULATIONS.- Within 180 days after the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall issue regulations
(1) to prohibit any private covenant, contract provision, lease provision, homeowners’ association rule or bylaw, or similar restriction, that impairs the ability of the owner or lessee of any residential structure designed for occupancy by 1 family to install, construct, maintain, or use a solar energy system on such residential property; and(2) to require that whenever any such covenant, provision, rule or bylaw, or restriction requires approval for the installation or use of a solar energy system, the application for approval shall be processed and approved by the appropriate approving entity in the same manner as an application for approval of an architectural modification to the property, and shall not be willfully avoided or delayed.
Frankly, I’m not sure I want the Federal government determining what green building means – building codes by necessity vary regionally. (page 96)
(4) GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS.- The green building standards under this paragraph are as follows:
(A) The national Green Communities Criteria checklist for residential construction that provides criteria for the design, development, and operation of affordable housing, as such checklist or successor checklist is in effect for purposes of this section pursuant to paragraph (7).
(B) The gold certification level for the LEED for New Construction rating system, the LEED for Homes rating system, the LEED for Core and Shell rating system, as applicable, as such systems or successor systems are in effect for purposes of this section pursuant to paragraph (7).
Lastly, lest I copy and paste all day – from page 296 of H.R. 2454 (bolding mine) … read this entire section at least – it will impact Realtors’ businesses.
(a) ENERGY EFFICIENCY TARGETS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.— Except as provided in paragraph (2) or (3), the national building code energy efficiency target for the national average percentage improvement of a building’s energy performance when built to a code meeting the target shall be —
As an aside, I heard at least two Representatives say during the debate that the National Association of Realtors supports this bill! (exclamation point theirs, not mine) One wonders … why?
Photos courtesy of:
