To increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes, section 208, Sec. 208.
Written by .
Nothing lets the Secretary override local zoning
The document says “may not be construed”Who acts: Secretary of Housing and Urban DevelopmentHow: statuteSec. 208 in the PDF
What the document says
“(1) to authorize the Secretary to mandate, supersede, or preempt any local zoning or land use policy; or (2) to affect the requirements of section 105(c)(1) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12705(c)(1)).”
The section states that nothing in it may be read as letting the Secretary order, override, or preempt any local zoning or land use policy, or as affecting the requirements of section 105(c)(1) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act.
What the document actually says
“(1) to authorize the Secretary to mandate, supersede, or preempt any local zoning or land use policy; or (2) to affect the requirements of section 105(c)(1) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12705(c)(1)).”
That sentence, in plain words
The housing agency may not order a town to change its zoning. It may not push that zoning aside. A rule in an older law is left as it was.
What this is about
To preempt is for a federal rule to override a local one. Congress says that does not happen here. Towns keep control of their own land use.
No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.
Increase the supply of housing in America, Public Law 119-101, sec. 208, 140 Stat. 875 (2026). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ101/html/PLAW-119publ101.htm
This page
“Nothing lets the Secretary override local zoning,” Increase the supply of housing in America, section 208, Sec. 208. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/pl-119-101/proposal/sec208-rules-of-construction/ (retrieved October 10, 2026).
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