Clarifying Guidance, Waivers, and Alternative Requirements for Hurricane Sandy Grantees in Receipt of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Funds, 23578-23581 [2013-09228]
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practical utility; (2) evaluate the
accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of
information; (3) enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and (4) minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond, including
the use of appropriate automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.
This Notice also lists the following
information:
Title of Proposal: Rental Assistance
Demonstration Evaluation, Phase I.
OMB Control Number: Pending.
Description of the Need for the
Information and Proposed Use: HUD is
conducting an evaluation of the Rental
Assistance Demonstration (RAD),
focused on the conversion of public
housing developments to project-based
rental assistance and project-based
vouchers. The evaluation will study a
sample of RAD sites and a carefully
chosen group of comparison sites.
Identification of comparison sites will
rely heavily on analysis of existing
data—including internal HUD data on
public housing and public housing
tenants, and neighborhood data from the
American Community Survey. If there
are significant differences between RAD
sites and comparison sites that are not
reflected in the data, the resulting
evaluation will be biased. Therefore it is
necessary to conduct limited
information collection from local
experts to learn about any
‘‘unobservable’’ characteristics that
should influence the selection of
comparison sites. This information will
refine the comparison group and enable
HUD to produce more rigorous
estimates of program impacts.
Agency Form Numbers: None.
Members of the Affected Public: This
information collection request will
affect individuals involved with public
and assisted housing programs in the 24
sites selected to be part of the RAD
Evaluation. Up to five individuals per
site will be interviewed by telephone.
They will be asked to provide
information about a specific public
housing development undergoing
conversion through RAD—specifically,
they will be asked about the decision to
utilize RAD at that particular
development. They will also be asked to
comment on other public housing
properties identified by the research
team as potential comparison sites.
These interviews will be semistructured, guided by an interview
protocol comprising mostly open-ended
questions. Interviews will take no longer
than 30 minutes.
Estimate of the total number of hours
needed to prepare the information
collection including number of
respondents, frequency of response, and
hours of response: The following chart
details the respondent burden:
Number of
responses
Hours per
response
Total hours
Telephone interviews ...................................................................................................................
120
.5
60
Total ......................................................................................................................................
120
.5
60
Status of the proposed information
collection: Pending OMB approval.
Authority: Section 3506 of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35,
as amended.
Dated: April 12, 2013.
Jean Lin Pao,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy
Development and Research.
[FR Doc. 2013–09237 Filed 4–18–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR–5710–N–01]
Clarifying Guidance, Waivers, and
Alternative Requirements for Hurricane
Sandy Grantees in Receipt of
Community Development Block Grant
Disaster Recovery Funds
Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Community Planning and
Development, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
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AGENCY:
Previously, the Department
allocated $5,400,000,000 of Community
Development Block Grant disaster
recovery (CDBG–DR) funds
appropriated by the Disaster Relief
Appropriations Act, 2013 (Pub. L. 113–
2) for the purpose of assisting recovery
SUMMARY:
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in the most impacted and distressed
areas declared a major disaster due to
Hurricane Sandy (see 78 FR 14329,
published in the Federal Register on
March 5, 2013). This Notice provides
clarifying guidance, waivers, and
alternative requirements.
DATES: With the exception of waivers
included in this Notice, this Notice is
effective on April 19, 2013. The
effective date for waivers in this Notice
is April 24, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stan
Gimont, Director, Office of Block Grant
Assistance, Office of Community
Planning and Development, Department
of Housing and Urban Development,
451 7th Street SW., Room 7286,
Washington, DC 20410, telephone
number 202–708–3587. Persons with
hearing or speech impairments may
access this number via TTY by calling
the Federal Relay Service at 800–877–
8339. Facsimile inquiries may be sent to
Mr. Gimont at 202–401–2044. (Except
for the ‘‘800’’ number, these telephone
numbers are not toll-free.) Email
inquiries may be sent to
disaster_recovery@hud.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Background
II. Applicable Rules, Statutes, Waivers, and
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Alternative Requirements
III. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
IV. Finding of No Significant Impact
I. Background
The Disaster Relief Appropriations
Act, 2013 (Pub. L. 113–2, approved
January 29, 2013) (Appropriations Act)
makes available $16,000,000,000 in
Community Development Block Grant
(CDBG) funds for necessary expenses
related to disaster relief, long-term
recovery, restoration of infrastructure
and housing, and economic
revitalization in the most impacted and
distressed areas resulting from a major
disaster declared pursuant to the Robert
T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act of 1974 (42
U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) (Stafford Act), due
to Hurricane Sandy and other eligible
events in calendar years 2011, 2012, and
2013.
On March 1, 2013, the President
issued a sequestration order in
accordance with section 251A of the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act. This provision of law and
the order implementing sequestration
reduces funding for disaster recovery
grants from $15,980,000,000 to
$15,181,000,000. The $10 million
provided to CPD for administrative costs
and the $10 million provided to the
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Office of the Inspector General are also
each reduced to $9.5 million.
In a Federal Register Notice
published March 5, 2013 (78 FR 14329),
the Department allocated
$5,400,000,000 after analyzing the
impacts of Hurricane Sandy and
identifying unmet needs. This Notice
provides clarifying guidance, waivers,
and alternative requirements to grantees
in receipt of an allocation under the
Appropriations Act.
II. Applicable Rules, Statutes, Waivers,
and Alternative Requirements
The Appropriations Act authorizes
the Secretary to waive, or specify
alternative requirements for any
provision of any statute or regulation
that the Secretary administers in
connection with the obligation by the
Secretary or the use by the recipient of
these funds (except for requirements
related to fair housing,
nondiscrimination, labor standards, and
the environment). Waivers and
alternative requirements are based upon
a determination by the Secretary that
good cause exists and that the waiver or
alternative requirement is not
inconsistent with the overall purposes
of title I of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.
5301 et seq.) (HCD Act). Regulatory
waiver authority is also provided by 24
CFR 5.110, 91.600, and 570.5.
This section provides additional
waivers and alternative requirements to
Hurricane Sandy grantees, and clarifies
or modifies guidance provided at 78 FR
14329. For each waiver and alternative
requirement described in this Notice,
the Secretary has determined that good
cause exists and the action is not
inconsistent with the overall purpose of
the HCD Act. Grantees may request
additional waivers and alternative
requirements from the Department as
needed to address specific needs related
to their recovery activities. Under the
requirements of the Appropriations Act,
regulatory waivers must be published in
the Federal Register no later than five
days before the effective date of such
waiver.
1. Action Plan for Disaster Recovery
criterion for approval—Elevation
Requirements. Paragraph 1(a)(3) at 78
FR 14333 is hereby amended by deleting
that paragraph and replacing it in its
entirety with the following:
A description of how the grantee will
promote: (a) Sound, sustainable longterm recovery planning informed by a
post-disaster evaluation of hazard risk,
especially land-use decisions that reflect
responsible flood plain management
and take into account possible sea level
rise; and (b) how it will coordinate with
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other local and regional planning efforts
to ensure consistency.
In addition, grantees must adopt and
meet the following minimum
requirements for approval: In order to
better ensure a sustainable long-term
recovery, grantees must elevate (or may,
for certain non-residential structures as
described below, floodproof) new
construction and substantially improved
structures one foot higher than the latest
Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) issued base flood elevation.
This standard and criterion for approval
of an Action Plan was made after
considering the history of FEMA flood
mitigation efforts. This higher elevation
also takes into account projected sea
level rise, which is not considered in
current FEMA maps and National Flood
Insurance Program premiums, which
will potentially rise as FEMA Flood
Insurance Rate Maps that take Hurricane
Sandy into account are issued.
Each grantee must include in its
Action Plan a description of how it will
ensure compliance with the requirement
that it will not use grant funds for any
activity in an area delineated as a
special flood hazard area or equivalent
in FEMA’s most recent and current data
source unless it also ensures that the
action is designed or modified to
minimize harm to or within the
floodplain. At a minimum, actions to
minimize harm must include elevating
or floodproofing new construction and
substantial improvements to one foot
above the base flood elevation and
otherwise acting in accordance with
Executive Order 11988 and 24 CFR part
55. The relevant data source and best
available data under Executive Order
11988 is the latest issued FEMA data or
guidance, which includes advisory data
(such as Advisory Base Flood
Elevations) or preliminary and final
Flood Insurance Rate Maps.
Executive Order 11988 on floodplain
management requires that federal
agencies use the best available flood
data to determine the location of
projects and activities. In addition, best
available flood risk data must be used to
determine requirements for
reconstruction, and the elevation of
structures for grants funding (in whole
or part) new construction and
substantial-improvements as defined at
24 CFR 55.2(b)(8). If a new construction
or substantial improvement project or
activity is located in a floodplain, the
lowest floor must be designed using the
base flood elevation, determined in
accordance with the best available data,
plus one foot as the baseline standard
for elevation. If higher elevations are
required by locally adopted code or
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standards, those higher standards would
apply.
Instead of elevating non-residential
structures that are not critical actions as
defined at 24 CFR 55.2(b)(2), grantees
may design and construct the project
such that below the flood level, the
structure is floodproofed using the best
available flood data plus one foot.
Floodproofing requires structures to be
water tight with walls substantially
impermeable to the passage of water and
with structural components having the
capability of resisting hydrostatic loads,
hydrodynamic loads, the effects of
buoyancy or higher standards required
by the FEMA National Flood Insurance
Program as well as state and locally
adopted codes. All mixed-use structures
must be floodproofed consistent with
the latest FEMA guidance.
Each grantee that submitted an Action
Plan prior to the publication of this
Notice must amend its Plan to address
this modified requirement. This revision
will be treated as a non-substantial
amendment and does not require a
public comment period. Revised plans
must be submitted to the Department
within thirty (30) days of the effective
date of this Notice.
2. State of New York—counties
eligible for CDBG–DR assistance. HUD is
amending 78 FR 14330 to define ‘‘most
impacted and distressed counties’’ to
include counties that meet the revised
threshold that will be used for nonSandy allocations under Public Law
113–2. The new threshold identifies
‘‘most impacted counties’’ as counties
with at least $10 million in damages. Of
counties eligible for CDBG–DR
assistance from the devastation of
Hurricane Sandy, Westchester County,
New York, meets this new threshold in
addition to the ‘‘most impacted
counties’’ already identified in FR
14330. As such, Table 2 at 78 FR 14330
is amended to identify the following
counties as the most impacted and
distressed: Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland,
and Westchester. In addition, to provide
consistency among CDBG disaster
recovery appropriations, HUD has
determined that any county within the
State of New York that received a
Presidential declaration under FEMA–
4020–DR (Hurricane Irene) or FEMA–
4031–DR (Tropical Storm Lee) is eligible
to receive assistance under the
Appropriations Act. However, the State
must expend at least 80 percent of its
CDBG–DR allocation in its most
impacted and distressed counties.
3. Waiver to permit some activities in
support of the tourism industry (State of
New York only). The State of New York
has requested a waiver to allow the
State to use CDBG–DR funds to support
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its $53.9 billion tourism industry and
promote travel to communities in the
disaster-impacted areas. Tourism in
Sandy-impacted counties generates
approximately $32.5 billion, $1.7 billion
of which is created by disaster-affected
businesses. In the surge area alone (nine
of the 14 impacted counties), Hurricane
Sandy affected 32,282 businesses; the
Long Island tourism industry lost
approximately 6,000 jobs due to Sandy’s
impact. Without this waiver, the State
estimates a $500 million loss in
revenue.
Tourism industry support, such as a
national consumer awareness
advertising campaign for an area in
general, is ineligible for CDBG
assistance. However, HUD understands
that such support can be a useful
recovery tool in a damaged regional
economy that depends on tourism for
many of its jobs and tax revenues and
has granted similar waivers for several
CDBG–DR disaster recovery efforts. As
the State of New York is proposing
advertising and marketing activities for
this specific program, rather than direct
assistance to tourism-dependent
businesses, and because the measures of
long-term benefit from the proposed
activities must be derived using indirect
means, 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) and 24 CFR
570.489(f) are waived only to the extent
necessary to make eligible use of no
more than $30 million for assistance for
the tourism industry. CDBG–DR funds
may be used to promote a community or
communities in general, provided the
assisted activities are designed to
support tourism to the most impacted
and distressed areas related to the
effects of Hurricane Sandy. This waiver
will expire at the end of the State’s twoyear expenditure period.
4. Tenant-based rental assistance
(New York City only). The City of New
York has found that low-income
households were disproportionately
impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Of the
renters that registered for FEMA
assistance, almost 65 percent had
annual incomes less than $30,000. As of
March 2013, nearly 1,200 households
(almost 3,000 people) remain in hotels
or interim facilities as a result of
Hurricane Sandy, while an unknown
number are living in unsafe conditions
or ‘‘doubled-up.’’
To assess the permanent housing
needs of displaced persons and families,
and to match those households with
available housing units, the city’s
Department of Housing Preservation and
Development (HPD) created a ‘‘housing
portal.’’ To date, more than 1,600
households have registered for
assistance; 84 percent of these have
incomes at or below 50 percent of the
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area median income. Meanwhile, HUD
and FEMA are activating the Disaster
Housing Assistance Program (DHAP),
which could potentially address some
households’ need for rental assistance.
However, DHAP is limited to one year,
and the program requirements include
evidence of sufficient financial assets to
support a post-DHAP housing plan,
which will exclude most extremely lowincome households. Many of these
households require a longer subsidy
period so that they can develop a
permanent housing plan. Thus, the
Department is waiving 42 U.S.C.
5305(a), to the extent necessary to make
eligible rental assistance payments on
behalf of low-income households (at or
below 50 percent of the area median
income) displaced by Hurricane Sandy.
Displaced households that have rejected
public housing assistance, or declined a
Section 8 voucher, will not be eligible.
This waiver will expire at the end of the
State’s two year expenditure period.
5. Program income alternative
requirement. The following changes and
additions are made to Paragraph 17 at
78 FR 14341. Paragraphs a.(1)(h)
through (j) are replaced, paragraph
a.(1)(k) is added, and paragraph (2) is
replaced with the following:
(h) Interest earned on funds held in a
revolving fund account;
(i) Interest earned on program income
pending disposition of the income;
(j) Funds collected through special
assessments made against
nonresidential properties and properties
owned and occupied by households not
of low and moderate income, if the
special assessments are used to recover
all or part of the CDBG–DR portion of
a public improvement; and
(k) Gross income paid to a unit of
general local government or subgrantee
of the unit of general local government
from the ownership interest in a forprofit entity acquired in return for the
provision of CDBG–DR assistance.
(2) ‘‘Program income’’ does not
include the following:
(a) The total amount of funds, which
does not exceed $35,000 received in a
single year from activities, other than
revolving loan funds that is retained by
a unit of general local government and
its subgrantees (all funds received from
revolving loan funds are considered
program income, regardless of amount);
(b) Amounts generated by activities
eligible under section 105(a)(15) of the
Act and carried out by an entity under
the authority of section 105(a)(15) of the
Act;
(c) Payments of principal and interest
made by a subgrantee carrying out a
CDBG–DR activity for a unit of general
local government, toward a loan from
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the local government to the subgrantee,
to the extent that program income
received by the subgrantee is used for
such payments;
(d) The following classes of interest,
which must be remitted to HUD for
transmittal to the Department of the
Treasury, and will not be reallocated
under section 106(c) or (d) of the Act:
(i) Interest income from loans or other
forms of assistance provided with
CDBG–DR funds that are used for
activities determined by HUD to be not
eligible under § 570.482 or section
105(a) of the Act, to fail to meet a
national objective in accordance with
the requirements of § 570.483, or to fail
substantially to meet any other
requirement of this subpart or the Act;
(ii) Interest income from deposits of
amounts reimbursed to a state’s CDBG–
DR program account prior to the state’s
disbursement of the reimbursed funds
for eligible purposes; and
(iii) Interest income received by units
of general local government on deposits
of grant funds before disbursement of
the funds for activities, except that the
unit of general local government may
keep interest payments of up to $100
per year for administrative expenses
otherwise permitted to be paid with
CDBG–DR funds.
(e) Proceeds from the sale of real
property purchased or improved with
CDBG–DR funds, if the proceeds are
received more than 5 years after
expiration of the grant agreement
between the state and the unit of general
local government.
*
*
*
*
*
6. Assistance to businesses, including
privately-owned utilities. Paragraph
1(d)(3) at 78 FR 14335 is hereby
amended to be consistent with the
alternative requirement as stated in
paragraph 41 at 78 FR 14347. While
Paragraph 41 discussed both small
businesses and private utilities, the
paragraph at 1(d)(3) only discussed
small busineses. Thus, grantees in
receipt of an allocation under the
Appropriations Act are subject to the
following: when CDBG–DR funds are
provided to for-profit businesses, such
funds may only be provided to a small
business, as defined by the SBA under
13 CFR part 121. CDBG–DR funds may
not be used to assist a privately-owned
utility for any purpose.
7. Modification of certification.
Paragraph 42(n) at 78 FR 14348 is
replaced with the following: The grantee
will not use grant funds for any activity
in an area delineated as a special flood
hazard area or equivalent in FEMA’s
most recent and current data source
unless it also ensures that the action is
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designed or modified to minimize harm
to or within the floodplain. The grantee
further certifies that at a minimum,
actions to minimize harm will include
elevating or floodproofing new
construction and substantial
improvements to one foot above the
base flood elevation and otherwise
acting in accordance with Executive
Order 11988 and 24 CFR part 55. The
relevant data source for this provision is
the latest issued FEMA data or
guidance, which includes advisory data
(such as Advisory Base Flood
Elevations) or preliminary and final
Flood Insurance Rate Maps.
Grantees that have provided this
certification in compliance with the
previous Notice must resubmit the
revised language to the Department
within thirty (30) days of the effective
date of this Notice.
III. Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance
The Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance number for the disaster
recovery grants under this Notice are as
follows: 14.269.
IV. Finding of No Significant Impact
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A Finding of No Significant Impact
(FONSI) with respect to the
environment has been made in
accordance with HUD regulations at 24
CFR part 50, which implement section
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.
4332(2)(C)). The FONSI is available for
public inspection between 8 a.m. and 5
p.m. weekdays in the Regulations
Division, Office of General Counsel,
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room
10276, Washington, DC 20410–0500.
Due to security measures at the HUD
Headquarters building, an advance
appointment to review the docket file
must be scheduled by calling the
Regulations Division at 202–708–3055
(this is not a toll-free number). Hearing
or speech-impaired individuals may
access this number through TTY by
calling the toll-free Federal Relay
Service at 800–877–8339.
Dated: April 15, 2013.
Mark Johnston,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2013–09228 Filed 4–18–13; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR–5681–N–16]
Federal Property Suitable as Facilities
To Assist the Homeless
Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Community Planning and
Development, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
This Notice identifies
unutilized, underutilized, excess, and
surplus Federal property reviewed by
HUD for suitability for use to assist the
homeless.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Juanita Perry, Department of Housing
and Urban Development, 451 Seventh
Street SW., Room 7266, Washington, DC
20410; telephone (202) 402–3970; TTY
number for the hearing- and speechimpaired (202) 708–2565 (these
telephone numbers are not toll-free), or
call the toll-free Title V information line
at 800–927–7588.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with 24 CFR part 581 and
section 501 of the Stewart B. McKinney
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
11411), as amended, HUD is publishing
this Notice to identify Federal buildings
and other real property that HUD has
reviewed for suitability for use to assist
the homeless. The properties were
reviewed using information provided to
HUD by Federal landholding agencies
regarding unutilized and underutilized
buildings and real property controlled
by such agencies or by GSA regarding
its inventory of excess or surplus
Federal property. This Notice is also
published in order to comply with the
December 12, 1988 Court Order in
National Coalition for the Homeless v.
Veterans Administration, No. 88–2503–
OG (D.D.C.).
Properties reviewed are listed in this
Notice according to the following
categories: Suitable/available, suitable/
unavailable, and suitable/to be excess,
and unsuitable. The properties listed in
the three suitable categories have been
reviewed by the landholding agencies,
and each agency has transmitted to
HUD: (1) Its intention to make the
property available for use to assist the
homeless, (2) its intention to declare the
property excess to the agency’s needs, or
(3) a statement of the reasons that the
property cannot be declared excess or
made available for use as facilities to
assist the homeless.
Properties listed as suitable/available
will be available exclusively for
homeless use for a period of 60 days
from the date of this Notice. Where
SUMMARY:
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property is described as for ‘‘off-site use
only’’ recipients of the property will be
required to relocate the building to their
own site at their own expense.
Homeless assistance providers
interested in any such property should
send a written expression of interest to
HHS, addressed to Theresa Ritta,
Division of Property Management,
Program Support Center, HHS, room
5B–17, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville,
MD 20857; (301) 443–2265. (This is not
a toll-free number.) HHS will mail to the
interested provider an application
packet, which will include instructions
for completing the application. In order
to maximize the opportunity to utilize a
suitable property, providers should
submit their written expressions of
interest as soon as possible. For
complete details concerning the
processing of applications, the reader is
encouraged to refer to the interim rule
governing this program, 24 CFR part
581.
For properties listed as suitable/to be
excess, that property may, if
subsequently accepted as excess by
GSA, be made available for use by the
homeless in accordance with applicable
law, subject to screening for other
Federal use. At the appropriate time,
HUD will publish the property in a
Notice showing it as either suitable/
available or suitable/unavailable.
For properties listed as suitable/
unavailable, the landholding agency has
decided that the property cannot be
declared excess or made available for
use to assist the homeless, and the
property will not be available.
Properties listed as unsuitable will
not be made available for any other
purpose for 20 days from the date of this
Notice. Homeless assistance providers
interested in a review by HUD of the
determination of unsuitability should
call the toll free information line at 1–
800–927–7588 for detailed instructions
or write a letter to Ann Marie Oliva at
the address listed at the beginning of
this Notice. Included in the request for
review should be the property address
(including zip code), the date of
publication in the Federal Register, the
landholding agency, and the property
number.
For more information regarding
particular properties identified in this
Notice (i.e., acreage, floor plan, existing
sanitary facilities, exact street address),
providers should contact the
appropriate landholding agencies at the
following addresses: GSA: Mr. Flavio
Peres, General Services Administration,
Office of Real Property Utilization and
Disposal, 1800 F Street NW. Room 7040
Washington, DC 20405, (202) 501–0084;
(This is not toll-free numbers).
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 76 (Friday, April 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23578-23581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-09228]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-5710-N-01]
Clarifying Guidance, Waivers, and Alternative Requirements for
Hurricane Sandy Grantees in Receipt of Community Development Block
Grant Disaster Recovery Funds
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and
Development, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Previously, the Department allocated $5,400,000,000 of
Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery (CDBG-DR) funds
appropriated by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 (Pub. L.
113-2) for the purpose of assisting recovery in the most impacted and
distressed areas declared a major disaster due to Hurricane Sandy (see
78 FR 14329, published in the Federal Register on March 5, 2013). This
Notice provides clarifying guidance, waivers, and alternative
requirements.
DATES: With the exception of waivers included in this Notice, this
Notice is effective on April 19, 2013. The effective date for waivers
in this Notice is April 24, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stan Gimont, Director, Office of Block
Grant Assistance, Office of Community Planning and Development,
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room
7286, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number 202-708-3587. Persons with
hearing or speech impairments may access this number via TTY by calling
the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339. Facsimile inquiries may be
sent to Mr. Gimont at 202-401-2044. (Except for the ``800'' number,
these telephone numbers are not toll-free.) Email inquiries may be sent
to disaster_recovery@hud.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Background
II. Applicable Rules, Statutes, Waivers, and Alternative
Requirements
III. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
IV. Finding of No Significant Impact
I. Background
The Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 (Pub. L. 113-2,
approved January 29, 2013) (Appropriations Act) makes available
$16,000,000,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for
necessary expenses related to disaster relief, long-term recovery,
restoration of infrastructure and housing, and economic revitalization
in the most impacted and distressed areas resulting from a major
disaster declared pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) (Stafford
Act), due to Hurricane Sandy and other eligible events in calendar
years 2011, 2012, and 2013.
On March 1, 2013, the President issued a sequestration order in
accordance with section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act. This provision of law and the order implementing
sequestration reduces funding for disaster recovery grants from
$15,980,000,000 to $15,181,000,000. The $10 million provided to CPD for
administrative costs and the $10 million provided to the
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Office of the Inspector General are also each reduced to $9.5 million.
In a Federal Register Notice published March 5, 2013 (78 FR 14329),
the Department allocated $5,400,000,000 after analyzing the impacts of
Hurricane Sandy and identifying unmet needs. This Notice provides
clarifying guidance, waivers, and alternative requirements to grantees
in receipt of an allocation under the Appropriations Act.
II. Applicable Rules, Statutes, Waivers, and Alternative Requirements
The Appropriations Act authorizes the Secretary to waive, or
specify alternative requirements for any provision of any statute or
regulation that the Secretary administers in connection with the
obligation by the Secretary or the use by the recipient of these funds
(except for requirements related to fair housing, nondiscrimination,
labor standards, and the environment). Waivers and alternative
requirements are based upon a determination by the Secretary that good
cause exists and that the waiver or alternative requirement is not
inconsistent with the overall purposes of title I of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) (HCD Act).
Regulatory waiver authority is also provided by 24 CFR 5.110, 91.600,
and 570.5.
This section provides additional waivers and alternative
requirements to Hurricane Sandy grantees, and clarifies or modifies
guidance provided at 78 FR 14329. For each waiver and alternative
requirement described in this Notice, the Secretary has determined that
good cause exists and the action is not inconsistent with the overall
purpose of the HCD Act. Grantees may request additional waivers and
alternative requirements from the Department as needed to address
specific needs related to their recovery activities. Under the
requirements of the Appropriations Act, regulatory waivers must be
published in the Federal Register no later than five days before the
effective date of such waiver.
1. Action Plan for Disaster Recovery criterion for approval--
Elevation Requirements. Paragraph 1(a)(3) at 78 FR 14333 is hereby
amended by deleting that paragraph and replacing it in its entirety
with the following:
A description of how the grantee will promote: (a) Sound,
sustainable long-term recovery planning informed by a post-disaster
evaluation of hazard risk, especially land-use decisions that reflect
responsible flood plain management and take into account possible sea
level rise; and (b) how it will coordinate with other local and
regional planning efforts to ensure consistency.
In addition, grantees must adopt and meet the following minimum
requirements for approval: In order to better ensure a sustainable
long-term recovery, grantees must elevate (or may, for certain non-
residential structures as described below, floodproof) new construction
and substantially improved structures one foot higher than the latest
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued base flood elevation.
This standard and criterion for approval of an Action Plan was made
after considering the history of FEMA flood mitigation efforts. This
higher elevation also takes into account projected sea level rise,
which is not considered in current FEMA maps and National Flood
Insurance Program premiums, which will potentially rise as FEMA Flood
Insurance Rate Maps that take Hurricane Sandy into account are issued.
Each grantee must include in its Action Plan a description of how
it will ensure compliance with the requirement that it will not use
grant funds for any activity in an area delineated as a special flood
hazard area or equivalent in FEMA's most recent and current data source
unless it also ensures that the action is designed or modified to
minimize harm to or within the floodplain. At a minimum, actions to
minimize harm must include elevating or floodproofing new construction
and substantial improvements to one foot above the base flood elevation
and otherwise acting in accordance with Executive Order 11988 and 24
CFR part 55. The relevant data source and best available data under
Executive Order 11988 is the latest issued FEMA data or guidance, which
includes advisory data (such as Advisory Base Flood Elevations) or
preliminary and final Flood Insurance Rate Maps.
Executive Order 11988 on floodplain management requires that
federal agencies use the best available flood data to determine the
location of projects and activities. In addition, best available flood
risk data must be used to determine requirements for reconstruction,
and the elevation of structures for grants funding (in whole or part)
new construction and substantial-improvements as defined at 24 CFR
55.2(b)(8). If a new construction or substantial improvement project or
activity is located in a floodplain, the lowest floor must be designed
using the base flood elevation, determined in accordance with the best
available data, plus one foot as the baseline standard for elevation.
If higher elevations are required by locally adopted code or standards,
those higher standards would apply.
Instead of elevating non-residential structures that are not
critical actions as defined at 24 CFR 55.2(b)(2), grantees may design
and construct the project such that below the flood level, the
structure is floodproofed using the best available flood data plus one
foot. Floodproofing requires structures to be water tight with walls
substantially impermeable to the passage of water and with structural
components having the capability of resisting hydrostatic loads,
hydrodynamic loads, the effects of buoyancy or higher standards
required by the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program as well as state
and locally adopted codes. All mixed-use structures must be
floodproofed consistent with the latest FEMA guidance.
Each grantee that submitted an Action Plan prior to the publication
of this Notice must amend its Plan to address this modified
requirement. This revision will be treated as a non-substantial
amendment and does not require a public comment period. Revised plans
must be submitted to the Department within thirty (30) days of the
effective date of this Notice.
2. State of New York--counties eligible for CDBG-DR assistance. HUD
is amending 78 FR 14330 to define ``most impacted and distressed
counties'' to include counties that meet the revised threshold that
will be used for non-Sandy allocations under Public Law 113-2. The new
threshold identifies ``most impacted counties'' as counties with at
least $10 million in damages. Of counties eligible for CDBG-DR
assistance from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, Westchester County,
New York, meets this new threshold in addition to the ``most impacted
counties'' already identified in FR 14330. As such, Table 2 at 78 FR
14330 is amended to identify the following counties as the most
impacted and distressed: Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, and Westchester. In
addition, to provide consistency among CDBG disaster recovery
appropriations, HUD has determined that any county within the State of
New York that received a Presidential declaration under FEMA-4020-DR
(Hurricane Irene) or FEMA-4031-DR (Tropical Storm Lee) is eligible to
receive assistance under the Appropriations Act. However, the State
must expend at least 80 percent of its CDBG-DR allocation in its most
impacted and distressed counties.
3. Waiver to permit some activities in support of the tourism
industry (State of New York only). The State of New York has requested
a waiver to allow the State to use CDBG-DR funds to support
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its $53.9 billion tourism industry and promote travel to communities in
the disaster-impacted areas. Tourism in Sandy-impacted counties
generates approximately $32.5 billion, $1.7 billion of which is created
by disaster-affected businesses. In the surge area alone (nine of the
14 impacted counties), Hurricane Sandy affected 32,282 businesses; the
Long Island tourism industry lost approximately 6,000 jobs due to
Sandy's impact. Without this waiver, the State estimates a $500 million
loss in revenue.
Tourism industry support, such as a national consumer awareness
advertising campaign for an area in general, is ineligible for CDBG
assistance. However, HUD understands that such support can be a useful
recovery tool in a damaged regional economy that depends on tourism for
many of its jobs and tax revenues and has granted similar waivers for
several CDBG-DR disaster recovery efforts. As the State of New York is
proposing advertising and marketing activities for this specific
program, rather than direct assistance to tourism-dependent businesses,
and because the measures of long-term benefit from the proposed
activities must be derived using indirect means, 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) and
24 CFR 570.489(f) are waived only to the extent necessary to make
eligible use of no more than $30 million for assistance for the tourism
industry. CDBG-DR funds may be used to promote a community or
communities in general, provided the assisted activities are designed
to support tourism to the most impacted and distressed areas related to
the effects of Hurricane Sandy. This waiver will expire at the end of
the State's two-year expenditure period.
4. Tenant-based rental assistance (New York City only). The City of
New York has found that low-income households were disproportionately
impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Of the renters that registered for FEMA
assistance, almost 65 percent had annual incomes less than $30,000. As
of March 2013, nearly 1,200 households (almost 3,000 people) remain in
hotels or interim facilities as a result of Hurricane Sandy, while an
unknown number are living in unsafe conditions or ``doubled-up.''
To assess the permanent housing needs of displaced persons and
families, and to match those households with available housing units,
the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD)
created a ``housing portal.'' To date, more than 1,600 households have
registered for assistance; 84 percent of these have incomes at or below
50 percent of the area median income. Meanwhile, HUD and FEMA are
activating the Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP), which could
potentially address some households' need for rental assistance.
However, DHAP is limited to one year, and the program requirements
include evidence of sufficient financial assets to support a post-DHAP
housing plan, which will exclude most extremely low-income households.
Many of these households require a longer subsidy period so that they
can develop a permanent housing plan. Thus, the Department is waiving
42 U.S.C. 5305(a), to the extent necessary to make eligible rental
assistance payments on behalf of low-income households (at or below 50
percent of the area median income) displaced by Hurricane Sandy.
Displaced households that have rejected public housing assistance, or
declined a Section 8 voucher, will not be eligible. This waiver will
expire at the end of the State's two year expenditure period.
5. Program income alternative requirement. The following changes
and additions are made to Paragraph 17 at 78 FR 14341. Paragraphs
a.(1)(h) through (j) are replaced, paragraph a.(1)(k) is added, and
paragraph (2) is replaced with the following:
(h) Interest earned on funds held in a revolving fund account;
(i) Interest earned on program income pending disposition of the
income;
(j) Funds collected through special assessments made against
nonresidential properties and properties owned and occupied by
households not of low and moderate income, if the special assessments
are used to recover all or part of the CDBG-DR portion of a public
improvement; and
(k) Gross income paid to a unit of general local government or
subgrantee of the unit of general local government from the ownership
interest in a for-profit entity acquired in return for the provision of
CDBG-DR assistance.
(2) ``Program income'' does not include the following:
(a) The total amount of funds, which does not exceed $35,000
received in a single year from activities, other than revolving loan
funds that is retained by a unit of general local government and its
subgrantees (all funds received from revolving loan funds are
considered program income, regardless of amount);
(b) Amounts generated by activities eligible under section
105(a)(15) of the Act and carried out by an entity under the authority
of section 105(a)(15) of the Act;
(c) Payments of principal and interest made by a subgrantee
carrying out a CDBG-DR activity for a unit of general local government,
toward a loan from the local government to the subgrantee, to the
extent that program income received by the subgrantee is used for such
payments;
(d) The following classes of interest, which must be remitted to
HUD for transmittal to the Department of the Treasury, and will not be
reallocated under section 106(c) or (d) of the Act:
(i) Interest income from loans or other forms of assistance
provided with CDBG-DR funds that are used for activities determined by
HUD to be not eligible under Sec. 570.482 or section 105(a) of the
Act, to fail to meet a national objective in accordance with the
requirements of Sec. 570.483, or to fail substantially to meet any
other requirement of this subpart or the Act;
(ii) Interest income from deposits of amounts reimbursed to a
state's CDBG-DR program account prior to the state's disbursement of
the reimbursed funds for eligible purposes; and
(iii) Interest income received by units of general local government
on deposits of grant funds before disbursement of the funds for
activities, except that the unit of general local government may keep
interest payments of up to $100 per year for administrative expenses
otherwise permitted to be paid with CDBG-DR funds.
(e) Proceeds from the sale of real property purchased or improved
with CDBG-DR funds, if the proceeds are received more than 5 years
after expiration of the grant agreement between the state and the unit
of general local government.
* * * * *
6. Assistance to businesses, including privately-owned utilities.
Paragraph 1(d)(3) at 78 FR 14335 is hereby amended to be consistent
with the alternative requirement as stated in paragraph 41 at 78 FR
14347. While Paragraph 41 discussed both small businesses and private
utilities, the paragraph at 1(d)(3) only discussed small busineses.
Thus, grantees in receipt of an allocation under the Appropriations Act
are subject to the following: when CDBG-DR funds are provided to for-
profit businesses, such funds may only be provided to a small business,
as defined by the SBA under 13 CFR part 121. CDBG-DR funds may not be
used to assist a privately-owned utility for any purpose.
7. Modification of certification. Paragraph 42(n) at 78 FR 14348 is
replaced with the following: The grantee will not use grant funds for
any activity in an area delineated as a special flood hazard area or
equivalent in FEMA's most recent and current data source unless it also
ensures that the action is
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designed or modified to minimize harm to or within the floodplain. The
grantee further certifies that at a minimum, actions to minimize harm
will include elevating or floodproofing new construction and
substantial improvements to one foot above the base flood elevation and
otherwise acting in accordance with Executive Order 11988 and 24 CFR
part 55. The relevant data source for this provision is the latest
issued FEMA data or guidance, which includes advisory data (such as
Advisory Base Flood Elevations) or preliminary and final Flood
Insurance Rate Maps.
Grantees that have provided this certification in compliance with
the previous Notice must resubmit the revised language to the
Department within thirty (30) days of the effective date of this
Notice.
III. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number for the disaster
recovery grants under this Notice are as follows: 14.269.
IV. Finding of No Significant Impact
A Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) with respect to the
environment has been made in accordance with HUD regulations at 24 CFR
part 50, which implement section 102(2)(C) of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). The FONSI is
available for public inspection between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays in
the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of
Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room 10276,
Washington, DC 20410-0500. Due to security measures at the HUD
Headquarters building, an advance appointment to review the docket file
must be scheduled by calling the Regulations Division at 202-708-3055
(this is not a toll-free number). Hearing or speech-impaired
individuals may access this number through TTY by calling the toll-free
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
Dated: April 15, 2013.
Mark Johnston,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs Programs.
[FR Doc. 2013-09228 Filed 4-18-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P
