Housing and Infrastructure Rebuild
Engine: Engine 5
Framing
The United States has a 20-million-unit housing shortage and $2.6 trillion in deferred infrastructure maintenance. The Accord addresses both through a unified architecture: ZRIG-conditioned federal funding for housing, Infrastructure Decay Fund for transportation and utilities, lead pipe replacement, PFAS remediation, broadband buildout, grid hardening against Black Sky events, and NFIP reform with FEMA no-rebuild zone designation in lieu of a managed-retreat spending program.
Housing rebuild
Target: 20 million new housing units over 15 years
Price/income ratio target: return to historic 3:1
ZRIG (Zoning Reform Incentive Grants): federal housing funding conditioned on local zoning reform
Federal Housing Standards Board (Federal Housing Standards Board): unified building code, factory-built housing pre-approval
Factory-built housing: 30-40% cost reduction over conventional construction
Federal Land-Value Surcharge (LVS): phased-in federal tax on unimproved land value, 0.1% Year 1 → 0.5% terminal by Year 9. Structured as an income-tax adjustment under the 16th Amendment (LAND Act model). Mortgage Interest Deduction and Section 121 capital-gains exclusion phase out on the same glide path; flat First-Time Stability Credit replaces them for middle- and low-income first-time buyers. Speculation Brake fires at regional price-surge thresholds (0.25% transaction tax + 60% LTV cap on non-primary residences). Projected scale at terminal rate: ~5.9% nominal land-price decline; $1.36T equity shift to future residents; $108-115B/yr federal revenue; 250K-400K units/yr liberated from speculative margins.
Rent stabilization bridge during supply ramp
ZRIG makes federal housing investment conditional on local zoning reform. The Federal Housing Standards Board pre-approves modular and factory-built housing designs (analogous to FAA aircraft type certification), bypassing local design review for approved types. The LVS shifts the federal tax burden from improvements onto unimproved land value, ending the demand-side subsidy regime (MID + Section 121) that capitalized into land prices on a structurally fixed supply.
Infrastructure Decay Fund
Annual allocation: approximately $0.39T
Transportation (roads, bridges, ports, rail): $0.14T
Water systems (treatment, distribution, lead/PFAS remediation): $0.06T
Grid hardening and energy infrastructure: $0.08T
Broadband (time-limited, declining after Year 8): $0.01T
Housing infrastructure (ZRIG, manufactured housing): $0.03T
Federal facilities and deferred maintenance: $0.04T
Third Places capital grants: $0.005T
Other (locks, dams, federal buildings): $0.035T
Allocations are indicative rather than statutory. Actual year-by-year spending responds to COMPASS infrastructure domain scores and LDD Corps project prioritization.
Lead and PFAS remediation (ROI-balanced)
Funded within the Infrastructure Decay Fund envelope, prioritized by ROI per district. The National Statistics Board computes district-level ROI combining (1) blood-lead levels and PFAS exposure from public-health data, (2) population affected, and (3) cost per parcel or water system. Highest-ROI districts receive first-year deployment. Completion horizon: 20–30 years per district, with national completion on the same schedule. PFAS costs are recovered from manufacturers under polluter-pays enforcement where litigation permits. EPA, restored to full enforcement capacity, administers both programs under National Statistics Board data oversight.
Grid hardening
Black Sky events — geomagnetic storms, cyberattack, EMP — could disable the electrical grid for weeks or months. Grid hardening is federal infrastructure investment at $0.08T/year within the Infrastructure Decay Fund. Specific projects prioritized by National Statistics Board-measured vulnerability and LDD Corps prioritization.
NFIP reform (replaces managed retreat as a spending category)
The Accord does not operate a managed-retreat program. No federal buyout program for flood-prone property. Retreat is produced by reforming the subsidy that currently creates moral hazard:
NFIP actuarial pricing on a 5-year glide path: Year 1 premiums rise 20% toward actuarial rates; full risk-reflective pricing by Year 5
No-rebuild zones: FEMA designates, using 100-year and 500-year flood maps updated annually by NOAA, with 5-year advance notice before designation takes effect
New NFIP policies not issued in designated retreat zones after designation
Existing policies honored through expiration but not renewed
No federal disaster rebuilding assistance for non-compliant structures in designated zones
Coastal protection infrastructure (seawalls, barrier islands, beach nourishment) reserved for dense urban nodes and strategic economic infrastructure — not individual residential properties in high-risk areas
Withdrawing a government subsidy is not a taking under the Fifth Amendment. Property values in designated retreat zones adjust to reflect the withdrawal of subsidized insurance. This is the market pricing risk honestly for the first time. The federal government stops being the insurer of last resort for high-risk coastal property. Savings to NFIP dwarf any buyout cost that would otherwise have been incurred.
Intelligent customer framework
The Accord's infrastructure spending uses 'intelligent customer' contracting: federal standards, federal payment, LDD Corps project management, competitive private delivery, fix-it-first priority, no tapering after backlog.