Waivers and Alternative Requirements for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Grantees, 58816-58818 [2022-21044]
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58816
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 187 / Wednesday, September 28, 2022 / Notices
Information collection
Number of
respondents
Frequency of
response
Burden hour
per response
Annual
burden hours
Hourly cost
per response
Annual cost
HUD–5879 ...................
40
200
8,000
.2
1,600
$36
$57,600
Total ......................
40
200
8,000
.2
1,600
36
57,600
B. Solicitation of Public Comment
This notice is soliciting comments
from members of the public and affected
parties concerning the collection of
information described in Section A on
the following:
(1) Whether the proposed collection
of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of the agency’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Ways to minimize the burden of
the collection of information on those
who are to respond; including through
the use of appropriate automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of responses.
HUD encourages interested parties to
submit comment in response to these
questions.
C. Authority
Section 3507 of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C.
chapter 35.
I. Authority to Grant Waivers
II. Public Law 115–56 and 115–123 Waivers
and Alternative Requirements
[FR Doc. 2022–20961 Filed 9–27–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR–6349–N–01]
Waivers and Alternative Requirements
for Community Development Block
Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG–DR)
Grantees
Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Community Planning and
Development, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
This notice governs
Community Development Block Grant
disaster recovery (CDBG–DR) funds
awarded under the appropriations acts
identified in the Table of Contents.
Specifically, this notice provides
waivers and establishes alternative
SUMMARY:
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requirements for certain CDBG–DR
grantees that have submitted waiver
requests for grants provided under the
public laws cited in this notice.
DATES: Applicability Date: October 3,
2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jessie Handforth Kome, Director, Office
of Block Grant Assistance, U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room
7282, Washington, DC 20410, telephone
number 202–708–3587. Individuals can
dial 7–1–1 to access the
Telecommunications Relay Service
(TRS), which permits users to make
text-based calls, including Text
Telephone (TTY) and Speech to Speech
(STS) calls. Individuals who require an
alternative aid or service to
communicate effectively with HUD
should email the point of contact listed
below and provide a brief description of
their preferred method of
communication. Facsimile inquiries
may be sent to Ms. Kome at 202–708–
0033. (Except for the ‘‘800’’ number,
these telephone numbers are not tollfree.) Email inquiries may be sent to
disaster_recovery@hud.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
Laura Miller-Pittman,
Chief, Office of Policy, Program and
Legislative Initiatives.
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Responses
per annum
I. Authority To Grant Waivers
Each of the appropriations acts cited
in the Table of Contents authorize 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 use by the
recipient of grant funds, except for
requirements related to fair housing,
nondiscrimination, labor standards, and
the environment. HUD may also
exercise its regulatory waiver authority
under 24 CFR 5.110, 91.600, and 570.5.
All waivers and alternative
requirements authorized in this notice
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.) (HCDA).
The good cause for each waiver and
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alternative requirement is summarized
in this notice.
II. Public Law 115–56 and 115–123
Waivers and Alternative Requirements
II.A. Waiver and Alternative
Requirements Related to Tourism
Marketing (U.S. Virgin Islands Only)
On August 14, 2018, HUD published
a Federal Register notice (the ‘‘August
2018 Notice’’) that granted the U.S.
Virgin Islands (‘‘USVI’’) a waiver and
alternative requirements related to
tourism and marketing activities (83 FR
40314, 40322). USVI submitted a
request to continue the tourism and
marketing activities described in these
previously granted waiver and
alternative requirements until December
15, 2022. The previously granted waiver
and alternative requirements expired
May 19, 2022. Based on the good cause
summarized below, HUD is granting the
waiver and alternative requirements
described in this section of this notice
until December 15, 2022.
The cap on the activity costs remains
unchanged. The grantee can expend no
more than $25,000,000 total on tourism
and marketing activities authorized by
this and previous waivers and
alternative requirements.
In section IV.D.16. of the August 2018
Notice, the Department granted the
USVI a waiver of 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) to
the extent necessary to create a new
eligible activity and use up to
$5,000,000 of CDBG–DR funds to
promote travel to disaster-impacted
areas, which at the time was the amount
included in the USVI’s action plan and
substantial amendments submitted to
and approved by HUD. In section IV.5.
of the Federal Register notice published
on February 19, 2019 (84 FR 4836, 4845)
(the ‘‘February 2019 Notice’’), the
Department amended this waiver and
alternative requirement to authorize the
use of an additional $20,000,000 of the
USVI’s CDBG–DR funds for tourism and
marketing activities. HUD required the
waiver and alternative requirements to
expire two years after the USVI’s first
draw of its CDBG–DR funds allocated in
the Federal Register notice published
on February 9, 2018. In section IV.C. of
the Federal Register notice published
on January 6, 2021 (86 FR 569, 575),
HUD extended the waiver and
alternative requirements, in accordance
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 187 / Wednesday, September 28, 2022 / Notices
with the August 2018 Notice and
February 2019 Notice, as referenced
above, for one year due to issues related
to the Coronavirus Disease 2019
(COVID–19) pandemic. This one-year
extension expired on May 19, 2022.
Tourism is a significant part of the
USVI’s economy and was severely
impacted by Hurricanes Irma and Maria
and further impacted by the COVID–19
pandemic. The expiration of the waiver
and alternative requirements for tourism
and marketing activities limits the
ability of the USVI to use the CDBG–DR
funds during its peak tourism season,
interrupting economic development
gains made by the USVI in its use of
CDBG–DR funds for disaster recovery.
As a result, the Secretary has
determined that good cause exists to
provide a replacement waiver and
alternative requirements as requested.
Accordingly, HUD hereby grants an
additional waiver of 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) to
the extent necessary to make eligible use
of no more than $25,000,000 for
assistance to promote the USVI in
general and specific components of the
islands, which amount shall include
any funds expended in accordance with
the waiver and alternative requirement
in paragraph IV.D.16. of the August
2018 Notice, as amended, that expired
May 19, 2022.
This additional waiver is subject to
the following alternative requirements.
The funding expended under this
waiver and alternative requirement
must be for assistance for tourism
marketing, provided the assisted
activities are designed to support
tourism to the disaster-impacted areas
related to the effects of Hurricanes Irma
and Maria. Any CDBG–DR tourism
expenditures may not supplant USVI or
local government funds for tourism
marketing. The USVI shall coordinate
its tourism promotion and marketing
activities with its designated
Opportunity Zones. The grantee must
use existing contracts already procured
to carry out the activities allowed
through this waiver and alternative
requirement unless HUD approves the
use of additional contracts in writing.
Any additional procurement actions
related to carrying out activities
authorized by this waiver and
alternative requirement must be
submitted to HUD for approval to check
for compliance with the waiver and
alternative requirements provided
herein. Additionally, no elected officials
shall appear in tourism marketing
materials financed with CDBG–DR
funds. Given the importance of tourism
to the overall economy, HUD is
authorizing this use of funds without
regard to unmet housing need. The
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waiver that expired May 19, 2022,
required the grantee to develop metrics
to demonstrate the impact of CDBG–DR
expenditures on the tourism sector of
the economy and to identify those
metrics in the initial substantial
amendment submitted. The metrics
developed by the grantee also shall
apply to the use of grant funds under
this waiver and alternative requirement.
HUD may further extend the waiver and
alternative requirements
administratively, if requested by the
USVI and good cause for such an
extension exists at that time.
In addition, although the grantee has
not been authorized to draw grant funds
for its tourism marketing activity since
May 20, 2022, as of the applicability
date of this notice, HUD is adopting a
waiver and alternative requirement to
modify 24 CFR 570.489(b) to the extent
necessary to permit the grantee to
reimburse its costs and the costs of its
subrecipients from May 22, 2022
through the applicability date of this
notice to the extent that they comply
with the tourism and marketing waiver
and alternative requirement authorized
by this section II.A.
II.B. Extension of Waiver and
Alternative Requirement Related to
Rental Assistance to Tenants
(Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Only)
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
(Commonwealth) has submitted a
request for an extension of HUD’s
previously granted waiver and
alternative requirement authorizing the
expansion of the definition of public
service at 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(8) to
include the ‘‘provision of rental
assistance to disaster-impacted
households for up to 24 months,’’
subject to the 15 percent cap on public
services and to revise the expiration
date for the waiver and alternative
requirement by one year. The previously
granted waiver and alternative
requirement expires September 30,
2022. While the Commonwealth
requested an extension for 36 months,
HUD has reviewed the good cause
justification and consulted with the
Office of Community Planning and
Development’s (CPD) partners in Public
and Indian Housing (PIH) and
determined that extending this waiver
for 12 months would allow enough time
for any chosen projects to transition to
Project-based Vouchers (PBVs), as
described below. Accordingly, HUD
hereby grants an extension of the waiver
and alternative requirement described
in this notice and establishes a revised
expiration date of September 30, 2023.
In section VI.4. of the Federal
Register notice published on February
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58817
19, 2019 (84 FR 4836, 4845), the
Department granted the Commonwealth
a waiver of 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(8) to
include the following activity: provision
of rental assistance to disaster-impacted
households for up to 24 months, subject
to the 15 percent cap on public services.
The Department granted the original
waiver for several reasons, including: to
support the goal of preventing
homelessness and minimizing the time
that disaster-impacted households are
experiencing homelessness by providing
rental assistance and re-housing
services, by linking disaster-impacted
households with services that can help
them become stable and self-sufficient,
and to provide rental assistance to many
elderly citizens that were at immediate
risk of experiencing homelessness
because they could not afford to pay
rent without assistance. The one-year
extension provided in this notice
continues to advance these and other
policies that were supported by the
original waiver.
In addition, declining economic
conditions in the Commonwealth and
the sustained decrease of Puerto Rico
Department of Housing’s (PRDOH) Law
173 funding, both exacerbated by
Hurricanes Irma and Maria, leave
CDBG–DR as the only available funding
source to provide interim rental
assistance to these low- and moderateincome (LMI) elderly households.
PRDOH’s Law 173 Program subsidizes
the rent of thousands of low-income
elderly tenants in 49 housing facilities
for people over the age of 60 throughout
the Commonwealth. The Puerto Rico
Public Housing Administration
(PRPHA) has been in negotiations with
PRDOH to provide PBVs to address the
existing need for rental assistance. A
one-year extension of the waiver and
alternative requirements would meet
this need temporarily to permit PRPHA
and PRDOH to confirm and conclude
the transaction for PBVs without
displacing applicants or program
participants.
Based on the good cause summarized
above, the Secretary hereby extends the
waiver and alternative requirements in
the February 2019 Notice for tenantbased rental assistance until September
30, 2023, subject to the following
additional alternative requirements. The
Commonwealth shall limit the
application intake to properties and
applicants of existing cases under
PRDOH’s Law 173. All existing and new
contracts or award agreements granted
under the tenant-based rental assistance
must provide the benefit for no more
than the overall period of 36 months
(including the 24 months granted in the
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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 187 / Wednesday, September 28, 2022 / Notices
original waiver and the additional 12month extension granted herein).
In no case shall the tenant-based
rental assistance under this waiver and
alternative requirements extend beyond
the expiration date of the waiver, even
if a beneficiary has not yet received 36
months of assistance. This waiver and
the alternative requirements shall
remain in effect until September 30,
2023, after which the Commonwealth
will no longer be able to use CDBG–DR
funds for any tenant-based rental
assistance.
Adrianne Todman,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022–21044 Filed 9–27–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210–67–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
[2231A2100DD/AAKC001030/
A0A501010.999900; OMB Control Number
1076–0141]
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Submission to the Office of
Management and Budget for Review
and Approval; Water Request
Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of information collection;
request for comment.
AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we,
the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), are
proposing renew an information
collection with revisions.
DATES: Interested persons are invited to
submit comments on or before October
28, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/
PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection by selecting
‘‘Currently under Review—Open for
Public Comments’’ or by using the
search function. Please provide a copy
of your comments to Steven Mullen,
Information Collection Clearance
Officer, Office of Regulatory Affairs and
Collaborative Action—Indian Affairs,
U.S. Department of the Interior, 1001
Indian School Road NW, Suite 229,
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104; or by
email to comments@bia.gov. Please
reference OMB Control Number 1076–
0141 in the subject line of your
comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Steven Mullen, Information Collection
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SUMMARY:
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Clearance Officer, comments@bia.gov,
(202) 924–2650. Individuals in the
United States who are deaf, deafblind,
hard of hearing, or have a speech
disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or
TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services. You
may also view the ICR at https://
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, we provide the
general public and other Federal
agencies with an opportunity to
comment on new, proposed, revised,
and continuing collections of
information. This helps us assess the
impact of our information collection
requirements and minimize the public’s
reporting burden. It also helps the
public understand our information
collection requirements and provide the
requested data in the desired format.
A Federal Register notice with a 60day public comment period soliciting
comments on this collection of
information was published on
September 10, 2021 (86 FR 50737). No
comments were received.
As part of our continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burdens, we are again soliciting
comments from the public and other
Federal agencies on the proposed ICR
that is described below. We are
especially interested in public comment
addressing the following:
(1) Whether or not the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether or not the
information will have practical utility;
(2) The accuracy of our estimate of the
burden for this collection of
information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) How might the agency minimize
the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to
respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submission of response.
Comments that you submit in
response to this notice are a matter of
public record. Before including your
address, phone number, email address,
or other personal identifying
information in your comment, you
should be aware that your entire
comment—including your personal
identifying information—may be made
publicly available at any time. While
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you can ask us in your comment to
withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Abstract: The BIA owns, operates, and
maintains irrigation projects that
provide a service to the end user. To
properly bill for the services provided,
the BIA must collect customer
information to identify the individual
responsible for repaying the government
the costs of delivering the service;
determine eligibility for waiver of fees;
and determine designation of irrigable
lands as assessable or non-assessable.
Additional information necessary for
providing the service is the location of
the service delivery and the number of
serviced acres. The Debt Collection
Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA)
requires that certain information be
collected from individuals and
businesses doing business with the
government. This information includes
the taxpayer identification number for
possible future use to recover
delinquent debt. To implement the
DCIA requirement to collect customer
information, the BIA has included a
section concerning the collection of
information in its regulations governing
its irrigation projects (25 CFR 171).
Proposed Revisions
The proposed ‘‘Agreement for the
Carriage of Water’’ (form number BIA–
DWP–Irr–106) would allow BIA to
determine whether BIA irrigation
facility can support the third-party
carriage or whether it is in the best
interest of the BIA facility to convey our
water through third-party facilities,
under 25 CFR 171. 605.
Title of Collection: Water Request.
OMB Control Number: 1076–0141.
Form Number: BIA–DWP–Irr–101;
BIA–DWP–Irr–102; BIA–DWP–Irr–103;
BIA–DWP–Irr–104; BIA–DWP–Irr–105;
BIA–DWP–Irr–106.
Type of Review: Revision of a
currently approved collection.
Respondents/Affected Public:
Individuals.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Respondents: 13,438.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Responses: 35,941.
Estimated Completion Time per
Response: Varies from .2 to 6 hours.
Total Estimated Number of Annual
Burden Hours: 17,981.
Respondent’s Obligation: Required to
Obtain or Retain a Benefit.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Total Estimated Annual Non-hour
Burden Cost: $0.
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor and a person is not required to
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58816-58818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21044]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-6349-N-01]
Waivers and Alternative Requirements for Community Development
Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Grantees
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and
Development, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice governs Community Development Block Grant disaster
recovery (CDBG-DR) funds awarded under the appropriations acts
identified in the Table of Contents. Specifically, this notice provides
waivers and establishes alternative requirements for certain CDBG-DR
grantees that have submitted waiver requests for grants provided under
the public laws cited in this notice.
DATES: Applicability Date: October 3, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessie Handforth Kome, Director,
Office of Block Grant Assistance, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 7282, Washington, DC 20410,
telephone number 202-708-3587. Individuals can dial 7-1-1 to access the
Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS), which permits users to make
text-based calls, including Text Telephone (TTY) and Speech to Speech
(STS) calls. Individuals who require an alternative aid or service to
communicate effectively with HUD should email the point of contact
listed below and provide a brief description of their preferred method
of communication. Facsimile inquiries may be sent to Ms. Kome at 202-
708-0033. (Except for the ``800'' number, these telephone numbers are
not toll-free.) Email inquiries may be sent to
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Authority to Grant Waivers
II. Public Law 115-56 and 115-123 Waivers and Alternative
Requirements
I. Authority To Grant Waivers
Each of the appropriations acts cited in the Table of Contents
authorize 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 use
by the recipient of grant funds, except for requirements related to
fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards, and the environment.
HUD may also exercise its regulatory waiver authority under 24 CFR
5.110, 91.600, and 570.5.
All waivers and alternative requirements authorized in this notice
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.) (HCDA). The good cause
for each waiver and alternative requirement is summarized in this
notice.
II. Public Law 115-56 and 115-123 Waivers and Alternative Requirements
II.A. Waiver and Alternative Requirements Related to Tourism Marketing
(U.S. Virgin Islands Only)
On August 14, 2018, HUD published a Federal Register notice (the
``August 2018 Notice'') that granted the U.S. Virgin Islands (``USVI'')
a waiver and alternative requirements related to tourism and marketing
activities (83 FR 40314, 40322). USVI submitted a request to continue
the tourism and marketing activities described in these previously
granted waiver and alternative requirements until December 15, 2022.
The previously granted waiver and alternative requirements expired May
19, 2022. Based on the good cause summarized below, HUD is granting the
waiver and alternative requirements described in this section of this
notice until December 15, 2022.
The cap on the activity costs remains unchanged. The grantee can
expend no more than $25,000,000 total on tourism and marketing
activities authorized by this and previous waivers and alternative
requirements.
In section IV.D.16. of the August 2018 Notice, the Department
granted the USVI a waiver of 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) to the extent necessary
to create a new eligible activity and use up to $5,000,000 of CDBG-DR
funds to promote travel to disaster-impacted areas, which at the time
was the amount included in the USVI's action plan and substantial
amendments submitted to and approved by HUD. In section IV.5. of the
Federal Register notice published on February 19, 2019 (84 FR 4836,
4845) (the ``February 2019 Notice''), the Department amended this
waiver and alternative requirement to authorize the use of an
additional $20,000,000 of the USVI's CDBG-DR funds for tourism and
marketing activities. HUD required the waiver and alternative
requirements to expire two years after the USVI's first draw of its
CDBG-DR funds allocated in the Federal Register notice published on
February 9, 2018. In section IV.C. of the Federal Register notice
published on January 6, 2021 (86 FR 569, 575), HUD extended the waiver
and alternative requirements, in accordance
[[Page 58817]]
with the August 2018 Notice and February 2019 Notice, as referenced
above, for one year due to issues related to the Coronavirus Disease
2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This one-year extension expired on May 19,
2022.
Tourism is a significant part of the USVI's economy and was
severely impacted by Hurricanes Irma and Maria and further impacted by
the COVID-19 pandemic. The expiration of the waiver and alternative
requirements for tourism and marketing activities limits the ability of
the USVI to use the CDBG-DR funds during its peak tourism season,
interrupting economic development gains made by the USVI in its use of
CDBG-DR funds for disaster recovery. As a result, the Secretary has
determined that good cause exists to provide a replacement waiver and
alternative requirements as requested. Accordingly, HUD hereby grants
an additional waiver of 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) to the extent necessary to
make eligible use of no more than $25,000,000 for assistance to promote
the USVI in general and specific components of the islands, which
amount shall include any funds expended in accordance with the waiver
and alternative requirement in paragraph IV.D.16. of the August 2018
Notice, as amended, that expired May 19, 2022.
This additional waiver is subject to the following alternative
requirements. The funding expended under this waiver and alternative
requirement must be for assistance for tourism marketing, provided the
assisted activities are designed to support tourism to the disaster-
impacted areas related to the effects of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Any
CDBG-DR tourism expenditures may not supplant USVI or local government
funds for tourism marketing. The USVI shall coordinate its tourism
promotion and marketing activities with its designated Opportunity
Zones. The grantee must use existing contracts already procured to
carry out the activities allowed through this waiver and alternative
requirement unless HUD approves the use of additional contracts in
writing. Any additional procurement actions related to carrying out
activities authorized by this waiver and alternative requirement must
be submitted to HUD for approval to check for compliance with the
waiver and alternative requirements provided herein. Additionally, no
elected officials shall appear in tourism marketing materials financed
with CDBG-DR funds. Given the importance of tourism to the overall
economy, HUD is authorizing this use of funds without regard to unmet
housing need. The waiver that expired May 19, 2022, required the
grantee to develop metrics to demonstrate the impact of CDBG-DR
expenditures on the tourism sector of the economy and to identify those
metrics in the initial substantial amendment submitted. The metrics
developed by the grantee also shall apply to the use of grant funds
under this waiver and alternative requirement. HUD may further extend
the waiver and alternative requirements administratively, if requested
by the USVI and good cause for such an extension exists at that time.
In addition, although the grantee has not been authorized to draw
grant funds for its tourism marketing activity since May 20, 2022, as
of the applicability date of this notice, HUD is adopting a waiver and
alternative requirement to modify 24 CFR 570.489(b) to the extent
necessary to permit the grantee to reimburse its costs and the costs of
its subrecipients from May 22, 2022 through the applicability date of
this notice to the extent that they comply with the tourism and
marketing waiver and alternative requirement authorized by this section
II.A.
II.B. Extension of Waiver and Alternative Requirement Related to Rental
Assistance to Tenants (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Only)
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Commonwealth) has submitted a
request for an extension of HUD's previously granted waiver and
alternative requirement authorizing the expansion of the definition of
public service at 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(8) to include the ``provision of
rental assistance to disaster-impacted households for up to 24
months,'' subject to the 15 percent cap on public services and to
revise the expiration date for the waiver and alternative requirement
by one year. The previously granted waiver and alternative requirement
expires September 30, 2022. While the Commonwealth requested an
extension for 36 months, HUD has reviewed the good cause justification
and consulted with the Office of Community Planning and Development's
(CPD) partners in Public and Indian Housing (PIH) and determined that
extending this waiver for 12 months would allow enough time for any
chosen projects to transition to Project-based Vouchers (PBVs), as
described below. Accordingly, HUD hereby grants an extension of the
waiver and alternative requirement described in this notice and
establishes a revised expiration date of September 30, 2023.
In section VI.4. of the Federal Register notice published on
February 19, 2019 (84 FR 4836, 4845), the Department granted the
Commonwealth a waiver of 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(8) to include the following
activity: provision of rental assistance to disaster-impacted
households for up to 24 months, subject to the 15 percent cap on public
services. The Department granted the original waiver for several
reasons, including: to support the goal of preventing homelessness and
minimizing the time that disaster-impacted households are experiencing
homelessness by providing rental assistance and re-housing services, by
linking disaster-impacted households with services that can help them
become stable and self-sufficient, and to provide rental assistance to
many elderly citizens that were at immediate risk of experiencing
homelessness because they could not afford to pay rent without
assistance. The one-year extension provided in this notice continues to
advance these and other policies that were supported by the original
waiver.
In addition, declining economic conditions in the Commonwealth and
the sustained decrease of Puerto Rico Department of Housing's (PRDOH)
Law 173 funding, both exacerbated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, leave
CDBG-DR as the only available funding source to provide interim rental
assistance to these low- and moderate-income (LMI) elderly households.
PRDOH's Law 173 Program subsidizes the rent of thousands of low-income
elderly tenants in 49 housing facilities for people over the age of 60
throughout the Commonwealth. The Puerto Rico Public Housing
Administration (PRPHA) has been in negotiations with PRDOH to provide
PBVs to address the existing need for rental assistance. A one-year
extension of the waiver and alternative requirements would meet this
need temporarily to permit PRPHA and PRDOH to confirm and conclude the
transaction for PBVs without displacing applicants or program
participants.
Based on the good cause summarized above, the Secretary hereby
extends the waiver and alternative requirements in the February 2019
Notice for tenant-based rental assistance until September 30, 2023,
subject to the following additional alternative requirements. The
Commonwealth shall limit the application intake to properties and
applicants of existing cases under PRDOH's Law 173. All existing and
new contracts or award agreements granted under the tenant-based rental
assistance must provide the benefit for no more than the overall period
of 36 months (including the 24 months granted in the
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original waiver and the additional 12-month extension granted herein).
In no case shall the tenant-based rental assistance under this
waiver and alternative requirements extend beyond the expiration date
of the waiver, even if a beneficiary has not yet received 36 months of
assistance. This waiver and the alternative requirements shall remain
in effect until September 30, 2023, after which the Commonwealth will
no longer be able to use CDBG-DR funds for any tenant-based rental
assistance.
Adrianne Todman,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-21044 Filed 9-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P
