REMOVING REGULATORY BARRIERS TO AFFORDABLE HOME CONSTRUCTION

This Executive Order, signed by President Donald J. Trump on March 13, 2026, establishes a federal policy to increase housing affordability by eliminating regulatory barriers, streamlining permitting, and reducing government mandates that delay construction.Key components of the Executive Order include:Environmental and Water Reform: The EPA and the Department of the Army are directed to revise requirements for stormwater, wetlands, and water-body permitting (including Section 404 of the Clean Water Act). The goal is to reduce construction and ownership costs and decrease property tax burdens.Targeting "Burdensome" Programs: Agencies including HUD, DOT, and the FHFA must review and potentially eliminate rules that constrain development. Specific targets include guidelines on development density, the "Reconnecting Communities" pilot program, and regulations regarding chattel lending for manufactured housing.Energy and Utility Deregulation: The order mandates the reform or elimination of "unduly burdensome" energy-efficiency, water-use, and alternative-energy requirements for residential buildings and manufactured homes. This includes a review of building energy codes overseen by the Department of Energy.Accelerated Permitting:NEPA: The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is directed to maximize "categorical exclusions" to exempt housing and related infrastructure (roads, sewers) from lengthy environmental reviews.Historic Preservation: The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation must simplify Section 106 reviews to reduce reporting burdens on builders.State and Local Best Practices: HUD will promulgate "best practices" to encourage state and local governments to:Cap permitting fees and timelines.Allow "by-right" development for single-family homes.Curtail mandates such as "green-energy" building requirements and restrictive building codes.Remove arbitrary growth limits like urban growth boundaries and growth moratoria.Investment Incentives: The Treasury and HUD are directed to align Opportunity Zone and New Markets Tax Credit incentives specifically to expand investment in the construction and sale of single-family homes.The administration characterizes this order as a "whole-of-government" effort to treat government regulation as a primary driver of housing costs, seeking to empower homebuilders to increase supply and lower prices for American families.