Removing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Home Construction
Directs multiple federal agencies to review and revise regulations on stormwater, wetlands, energy efficiency, and housing permitting that the administration says raise residential construction costs.
Establishes a process for HUD to publish regulatory best practices for state and local governments within 60 days, but does not itself change any existing rule — all actual regulatory changes require future agency action or rulemaking.
What this order does
What it orders
The order directs several federal agencies to review and revise specific regulations affecting housing costs. The Army Corps of Engineers and EPA must review stormwater, wetlands, and Clean Water Act section 404 permitting requirements. HUD, Commerce, Transportation, and FHFA must consider eliminating burdensome program rules constraining residential development. Agriculture, HUD, Energy, and FHFA must reform energy-efficiency, water-use, and alternative-energy mandates for housing. The Council on Environmental Quality must issue NEPA guidance maximally exempting housing projects, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation must develop guidance reducing Section 106 review burdens on housing.
Within 60 days, HUD must publish regulatory best practices for state and local governments covering permitting timelines, building codes, manufactured housing rules, and growth restrictions. Agriculture, HUD, Transportation, and EPA must then align their grants and guidance with those best practices. Treasury and HUD must evaluate how to better connect Opportunity Zone incentives and the New Markets Tax Credit with single-family home construction. The order does not itself modify any regulation; every concrete change requires future agency rulemaking or guidance issuance.
Who it affects
Federal agencies overseeing environmental permitting, housing finance, energy standards, and transportation programs; state and local governments that receive federal housing grants or follow federal guidance; homebuilders and developers navigating federal permitting; and prospective homebuyers affected by construction costs.
Why it matters
If agencies act on the review directives, builders could face fewer environmental permitting steps, lower energy-compliance costs, and faster federal approvals. State and local governments will receive federally endorsed best practices for streamlining housing rules. Actual cost relief for homebuyers depends entirely on future rulemaking.
What must happen and when
How the order is supposed to work
Most agency directives carry no fixed deadline and depend on each agency's own rulemaking authority. The one hard deadline is 60 days for HUD to publish state and local best practices, after which Agriculture, HUD, Transportation, and EPA must align grants and guidance accordingly. Treasury and HUD must evaluate but are not required to implement Opportunity Zone changes. Standard severability and no-private-right-of-action clauses apply; all actions are conditioned on applicable law and available appropriations, giving agencies significant discretion on scope and pace.
Actions and deadlines
- Review and revise stormwater, wetlands, and Clean Water Act section 404 permitting requirements to reduce housing costs
- Consider eliminating burdensome rules constraining residential development (Commerce, HUD, Transportation, FHFA)
- Reform energy-efficiency, water-use, and alternative-energy housing requirements (Agriculture, HUD, Energy, FHFA)
- CEQ issue guidance on NEPA implementation to maximally exempt or reduce burdens on housing construction
- Advisory Council on Historic Preservation develop guidance reducing Section 106 review burdens on housing projects
- HUD develop and promulgate regulatory best practices for state and local governments on housing affordability
- Agriculture, HUD, Transportation, and EPA revise regulations and guidance to advance HUD best practices
- Treasury and HUD jointly evaluate aligning Opportunity Zone and New Markets Tax Credit incentives with single-family construction