On August 19, 2026, USDA Rural Development (RD) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register (Vol. 91, No. 159) to rescind 7 CFR Part 1924, its regulation governing construction and repair standards for RD housing programs. The proposed rule can be found here.
As many CARH members are aware, Part 1924 establishes procedures for construction, site development, and defect resolution across RD programs. It also imposes prescriptive energy-efficiency, thermal-performance, and environmental site-planning standards that often go beyond what state and local jurisdictions require. RD determined that existing state and local building codes and permitting systems already ensure structural integrity, safety, and compliance, making the additional federal standards unnecessary.
The proposed rescission is welcome news for rural housing developers and contractors. It would eliminate the duplicative federal compliance layer so that developers and contractors need to only meet state and local standards, rather than navigating a separate set of prescriptive federal energy and design requirements on top of them. This should reduce construction costs and shorten timelines by cutting the additional paperwork and processing steps Part 1924 imposes on RD property owners. In the proposed rule, RD acknowledged that burdensome regulations can impact participation in RD programs, with costs and delays passed directly to developers and contractors through higher compliance costs.
The rescission supports the Administration’s deregulatory agenda, including Executive Order 14219 (directing agencies to rescind unlawful or unnecessary regulations), Executive Order 14394 (directing reform of burdensome energy-efficiency requirements that increase construction costs), and Executive Order 14192 (directing agencies to repeal outdated or ineffective regulations).
CARH encourages all members to review the proposed rule and provide the national office with any feedback on the proposed changes. Comments to the published rule are due by October 19, 2026.
Please contact the CARH National Office at carh@carh.org or 703-837-9001 should you have questions or concerns.
For other news and information affecting the affordable rural housing industry, please visit the Newsroom on CARH’s website, www.carh.org.