Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, made the following statement during today's hearing regarding the Federal Housing Administration’s guidelines for homes located near overhead high voltage transmission towers and lines:
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, made the following statement during today's hearing regarding the Federal Housing Administration’s guidelines for homes located near overhead high voltage transmission towers and lines:
I would like to welcome everyone here today. Your input and concerns are of vital interest to this Committee. Out in Washington, we hold hearings like this on a number of different topics impacting the economy several times a week. On rare occasions though, we get to get out here and discuss real-world problems that have real-world implications for families in Southern California.
The building of the Chino Hills transmission lines has been devastating for this community. Two hundred foot towers are located only 70 feet in some instances from existing homes. Roughly 1000 homes are within 500 feet of this project.
Property values, as a result, have suffered in the area. According to Mr. Goodwin on the first panel, property values throughout Chino Hills have dropped – down roughly 17% on average – since this project started to become a reality in May of 2011. For those homes closest to the towers, the impact is all the more devastating.
Today the government owns or guarantees 97 percent of all new mortgages throughout the country. With the government now playing such a large role in our mortgage market, it is critical that we understand the rules by which FHA and other government agencies underwrite mortgages in areas like Chino Hills – which are located near high voltage transmission towers.
These rules often vary from agency to agency. For instance, the FHA requires an underwriter to obtain a letter from the owner of the tower noting a given dwelling as not being within the engineered falls zone of a given tower.
What is the justification for the varying rules among the different agencies? How do these rules impact the loans being insured? What are the options for homeowners in communities such as Chino Hills? How would alternative routes such as Chino Hills State Park or burying the power lines impact property values?
I hope to raise this issue with Ms. Borland from the Department of Housing and Urban Development that will present on today’s second panel as well as the other witnesses here today.
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