To combat toxic indoor mold, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill creates a comprehensive federal framework to combat toxic indoor mold in housing, particularly federally-assisted housing. It requires interagency health studies on mold, establishes model health and safety standards, mandates annual inspections with tenant notification, and creates funding for property improvements. The bill addresses the health hazards of mold exposure especially for vulnerable populations like children and low-income residents.
Who Benefits and How
Tenants in federally-assisted housing benefit from stronger protections including annual inspections, direct notification of inspection results, and mechanisms to request follow-up inspections. Low-income residents gain access to $250 million in preservation grants and $80 million in healthy homes incentives for property improvements. Public health advocates and housing advocates benefit from new standards and public education campaigns about indoor air quality hazards.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Property owners of federally-assisted housing face significant new compliance requirements including annual inspections, mandatory disclosure of results, and strict remediation timelines. Landlords who fail NSPIRE inspections lose their depreciation tax deductions, creating a substantial financial penalty. For-profit property owners are limited to low-interest loans rather than grants for improvements. Federal agencies including HUD, EPA, and CDC must conduct new studies, develop standards, and administer new programs with authorized appropriations of $70 million for implementation.
Key Provisions
- Requires comprehensive interagency health study on mold exposure within 3 years
- Establishes model health, safety, and habitability standards for preventing and remediating indoor mold
- Mandates annual physical inspections of HUD housing with tenant notification requirements
- Denies depreciation tax deductions to property owners who fail NSPIRE inspections
- Authorizes $250 million for preservation grants and $80 million for healthy homes incentives
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Establishes comprehensive federal standards for preventing, detecting, and remediating indoor residential mold in federally-assisted housing while creating incentives for compliance and penalties for non-compliance.
Key Policy Areas
Housing, Public Health, Environmental Quality, Taxation
Primary Purpose
Establishes comprehensive federal standards for preventing, detecting, and remediating indoor residential mold in federally-assisted housing while creating incentives for compliance and penalties for non-compliance.
Policy Domains
Agency Coordination (Sections 16-19)
Identified Gains
- Tenants in USDA-assisted rural housing
- Housing program administrators
Identified Costs
- USDA
- HUD
- Federal appropriators
Voucher Administration (Sections 14-15)
Identified Gains
- Landlords accepting housing vouchers
- Voucher tenants seeking housing
- Public housing agencies
Identified Costs
- Landlords who fail inspections after receiving payment
- Project-based contract administrators
Tax Provisions (Section 13)
Identified Gains
- Tenants in substandard housing
- Federal tax revenue
Identified Costs
- Property owners who fail NSPIRE inspections
- Landlords of HUD-assisted multifamily housing
Research and Standards (Sections 3-4)
Identified Gains
- Tenants in federally-assisted housing
- Low-income populations
- Children and vulnerable populations
- Public health researchers
Identified Costs
- Federal agencies (EPA, HUD, CDC, NIH)
- National Institute of Building Sciences
Housing Quality and Enforcement (Sections 5-12)
Identified Gains
- Tenants in HUD-assisted housing
- Tenant organizations
- Low-income households
- Nonprofit housing providers
- Housing advocates
Identified Costs
- Property owners of federally-assisted housing
- For-profit landlords
- Property management companies
- HUD and Real Estate Assessment Center
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Blumenthal introduced the following bill; which was read twice …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Department of Agriculture (USDA Rural Housing), Department of Housing and Urban Development, EPA and HUD
Department of Housing and Urban Development faces effects in multiple directions
Low-income households in covered jurisdictions, Tenants and tenant organizations, Tenants in HUD housing
For-profit owners of Section 8 housing, HUD housing property owners, Nonprofit owners of Section 8 housing
Positive-direction: For-profit owners of Section 8 housing, Nonprofit owners of Section 8 housing
Negative-direction: HUD housing property owners, Owners of HUD multifamily residential rental properties, Owners of Section 8 project-based housing, Owners of USDA-assisted rural housing, Property owners who fail NSPIRE inspections, Rental Assistance Demonstration program participants, Residential property sellers (1-4 units)
Housing advocates and researchers, Housing advocates and tenant organizations, Tenant associations and organizations
Municipalities administering Section 8 repairs, Public housing agencies, State, tribal, and local governments implementing hazard disclosure requirements
Positive-direction: Municipalities administering Section 8 repairs, State, tribal, and local governments implementing hazard disclosure requirements
Negative-direction: Public housing agencies
Building rehabilitation and remediation contractors, Public housing construction contractors, Residential building construction industry
Positive-direction: Building rehabilitation and remediation contractors
Negative-direction: Public housing construction contractors, Residential building construction industry
Project-based contract administrators, Property management companies, Property owners and managers of covered properties
Housing inspection service providers, Mold inspection and remediation companies
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_director"
- → Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- "the_administrator"
- → Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture (Sec 16), Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Sec 19)
Note: 'The Secretary' refers to Secretary of HUD in most sections but refers to Secretary of the Treasury in Section 13 (tax provisions) and Secretary of Agriculture in Section 16
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Properties with housing assistance payment contracts under Section 8 or similar project-based assistance from HUD
Any housing inspection required under the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate of the Real Estate Assessment Center of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
Mold growth occurring in residential indoor environments, including harmful or toxigenic mold and any toxin or toxic compound such mold can produce
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology