CHEYENNE (WNE) — U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., recently introduced legislation to eliminate Biden-era Green New Deal housing mandates.

If passed into law, the HOUSE Act would repeal the Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Department of Agriculture Final Determination on energy efficiency standards for new construction of HUD- and USDA-financed housing.

“Our nation is facing a housing affordability crisis,” Barrasso said in a news release. “Every day, American families are being priced out of the housing market. The Biden administration’s Green New Deal housing mandates make it even harder for young families to buy their first home. The HOUSE Act repeals these expensive mandates and gives Americans the tools they need to make their dream of owning a home a reality.”

U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., is among the HOUSE Act co-sponsors, all of whom are Republicans.

U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 2021, International Energy Conservation Code standards were released for new residential and commercial housing. These revised standards can add as much as $31,000 to the price of a new home, with the energy savings not being realized for 90 years, the news release said. 

The net benefit for this rule does not outweigh the significant costs that it will place on American households.

In 2023, HUD and USDA released a Regulatory Impact Analysis for these standards, stating that new construction for Federal Housing Authority borrowers would decline.

The Biden administration mandated these standards in 2024, requiring that all new single- family housing construction financed through federal housing agencies must meet the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code.