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Title III — Housing

H.R. 9021 · 119th Congress · May 22, 2026 · Lineage

III Housing

Sec. 301 Grants for providing cooling systems in public housing units

(a)
Authority— The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in this section referred to as the “Secretary”) shall carry out a program under this section to make grants to public housing agencies for the installation of air conditioners or heat pumps for public housing dwelling units.
(b)
Eligible activities— Amounts from a grant under the program under this section may be used only for costs of acquiring and installing air conditioners or heat pumps that meet such standards as the Secretary shall establish regarding cooling capacity, safety, reliability, and energy efficiency and that serve public housing dwelling units that were constructed before the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c)
Application— The Secretary shall provide for public housing agencies to apply for grants under the program under this section.
(d)
Selection—
(1)
In general— The Secretary shall select public housing agencies to receive grants under the program under this section based on a competition, in accordance with such criteria as the Secretary shall establish.
(2)
Preference— The criteria under paragraph (1) shall provide preference for selection of public housing agencies proposing to use the grant to serve communities with limited access to cooling centers.
(e)
Authorization of appropriations— There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2035.

Sec. 302 Guidance on air conditioning costs and utility allowances

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall revise the regulations under subpart E of part 965 of volume 24, Code of Federal Regulations (relating to resident allowances for utilities), to ensure that air conditioning costs are included when calculating utility allowance schedules and utility allowances for residents.

Sec. 303 Report to Congress on need for safe residential temperatures; regulations

(a)
Report— Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in this section referred to as the “Secretary”), in consultation with the National Integrated Heat Health Information System, shall submit to the Congress a report—
(1)
identifying and compiling data on the availability of air conditioning in covered federally assisted rental dwelling units (as such term is defined in section 304);
(2)
identifying and setting forth safe residential temperature standards for such dwelling units;
(3)
estimating the cost for bringing all covered federally assisted rental dwelling units into compliance with such safe residential temperature standards; and
(4)
setting forth a plan and mechanisms for bringing all covered federally assisted rental dwelling units into compliance with the safe residential temperature standards.
(b)
Safe residential temperature standards— Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations establishing safe residential temperature standards for covered federally assisted rental dwelling units based on the safe temperature standards identified in the report under subsection (a).

Sec. 304 Grants for providing safe residential temperatures in all federally assisted dwellings

(a)
Authority— The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in this section referred to as the “Secretary”), in consultation with the NIHHIS, shall carry out a program under this section to make grants to public housing agencies and owners of covered federally assisted rental dwelling units to enable covered federally assisted rental dwelling units to comply with the safe residential temperature standards established pursuant to section 303(b).
(b)
Eligible activities— Amounts from a grant under the program under this section may be used only for costs of acquiring and installing air conditioning or other means or mechanisms that meet such standards as the Secretary shall establish regarding cooling capacity, safety, reliability, and energy efficiency, for covered federally assisted rental dwelling units that were constructed before the date of the enactment of this Act, to enable such dwelling units to comply with the safe residential temperature standards established pursuant to section 303(b) in a manner provided for in the plan set forth in the report under section 303(a).
(c)
Applications— The Secretary shall provide for public housing agencies and owners of covered federally assisted rental dwelling units to apply for grants under the program under this section.
(d)
Selection—
(1)
In general— The Secretary shall select applicant public housing agencies and owners of covered federally assisted rental dwelling units to receive grants under the program under this section based on a competition, in accordance with such criteria as the Secretary shall establish.
(2)
Preference— The criteria under paragraph (1) shall provide preference for selection of applicants proposing to use the grant for covered federally assisted rental dwelling units located in communities with limited access to cooling centers.
(e)
Owner defined— For the purposes of this section the term owner means, with respect to a covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit, any private person or entity, including a cooperative, an agency of the Federal Government, or a public housing agency, having the legal right to lease or sublease dwelling units.
(f)
Authorization of appropriations— There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for assistance under this section sufficient for all covered federally assisted rental dwelling units to meet the safe residential temperature standards established pursuant to section 6(b).

Sec. 305 Cooling device expenses

(a)
In general— Section 223(d)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting “, box fans, or portable or window air conditioning units” before “shall be treated as paid for medical care”.
(b)
Effective date— The amendment made by this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred in taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Sec. 306 Report on revising State allotment payments under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act

The Secretary of Human and Health Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall submit to Congress a report on how the formula to allot amounts to States under section 2604 of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8623) could be revised to account for the energy needs of all low-income households in States, including low-income households that do not use, or under-use, a source of heating or cooling.