Department of Housing and Urban Development April 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice advises the public of additional waivers of regulations and statutory provisions granted to CDBG disaster recovery grantees for the purpose of assisting in the recovery from the federally declared disasters that occurred between August 31, 2003, and October 1, 2004. As described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice, HUD is authorized by statute to waive statutory and regulatory requirements and specify alternative requirements for this purpose. This notice describes additional waivers requested by the State of Maryland to allow it to administer disaster recovery grant funds directly rather than by distributing funds to units of general local government or Indian tribes.

This final rule amends HUD's civil money penalty regulations to reflect HUD's authorization to impose treble damages on a mortgagee for any mortgage for which the mortgagee had a duty but failed to engage in appropriate loss mitigation actions. The final rule follows publication of a proposed rule, takes into consideration the public comments received on the proposed rule, but makes no changes at this final rule stage.

HUD will submit the proposal for collection of information described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department will request this previously approved information collection be extended, and is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

This notice advises of the cause and effect of termination of Origination Approval Agreements taken by HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) against HUD-approved mortgagees through the FHA Credit Watch Termination Initiative. This notice includes a list of mortgagees which have had their Origination Approval Agreements terminated.

The proposed information collection requirement described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting pubic comments on the subject proposal.

HUD gives notice to the public, agencies, and Indian tribes that the City of Yonkers, NY, intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the preparation of an Urban Renewal Area and Master Plan for approximately 44-acres in downtown Yonkers, Westchester County, NY. The EIS will cover the redevelopment of the Mulford Gardens public housing complex and eight sites on nearby blocks financed, in part, by a HOPE VI grant awarded to the Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers. The City of Yonkers, NY, acting as the lead agency will prepare the EIS acting under its authority as the responsible entity for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 1437x and HUD regulations at 24 CFR 58.4, and under its authority as lead agency in accordance with the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The EIS will be a joint NEPA and SEQRA document. The EIS will satisfy requirements of SEQRA 6NYCRR part 617, which requires that all State and local government agencies consider the environmental consequences of projects over which they have discretionary authority before acting on those projects. Because Federal HOPE VI funds would be used, the proposed action is also subject to NEPA. The EIS and NEPA process will also be used to address historic preservation and cultural resource issues under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, 16 U.S.C. 470f. This notice is given in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508. All interested Federal, State, and local agencies, Indian tribes, groups, and the public are invited to comment on the scope of the EIS. Federal agencies with jurisdiction by law, special expertise, or other special interest should report their willingness to participate in the EIS process as a Cooperating Agency.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, as amended, ((Pub. L. 100-503), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidelines on the Conduct of Matching Programs (June 19, 1989 at 54 FR 25818), and OMB Bulletin 89-22, ``Instructions on Reporting Computer Matching Programs to the Office of Management (OMB), Congress and the Public,'' the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is issuing a public notice of its intent to conduct a recurring computer matching program with the SBA to utilize a computer information system of HUD, the Credit Alert Interactive Voice Response System (CAIVRS), with SBA's debtor files. In addition to HUD's data, the CAIVRS database includes delinquent debt information from the Departments of Education, Veterans Affairs, Justice and the United States Department of Agriculture. This match will allow prescreening of applicants for debts owed or loans guaranteed by the Federal government to ascertain if the applicant is delinquent in paying a debt owed to or insured by the Federal government for HUD or SBA direct or guaranteed loans. Before rating a loan, the lending agency and/or the authorized lending institution will be able to interrogate the CAIVRS debtor file which contains the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of HUD's delinquent debtors and defaulters and defaulted debtor records of the SBA and verify that the loan applicant is not in default or delinquent on direct or guaranteed loans of participating Federal programs of either agency. As a result of the information produced by this match, the authorized users may not deny, terminate, or make a final decision of any loan assistance to an applicant or take other adverse action against such applicant, until an officer or employee of such agency has independently verified such information.

This proposed rule would revise the regulations for the Public Housing Operating Fund Program (Operating Fund Program). Through the Operating Fund Program, HUD determines the allocation of operating subsidies to public housing agencies (PHAs). HUD developed the proposed rule with the active participation of PHAs, public housing residents, and other relevant parties using the procedures of the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990. These regulatory changes reflect the recommendations made by the negotiated rulemaking committee, with some modifications, on ways to improve and clarify the current regulations governing the Operating Fund Program and take into consideration the recommendations of the congressionally-funded study by the Harvard University Graduate School of Design on the cost of operating well-run public housing.

This final rule revises the regulations to require all participants in HUD's Multifamily Housing Programs to file their Previous Participation Certificates by a specified date using the Active Partner Performance System on HUD's secure Internet site. This rule follows publication of a proposed rule and takes into consideration the public comments received on the proposed rule. This rule makes no substantive change to the proposed rule, but provides for a six-month delay in the effective date of the electronic submission requirement.

Section 106 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 (the HUD Reform Act) requires HUD to publish quarterly Federal Register notices of all regulatory waivers that HUD has approved. Each notice covers the quarterly period since the previous Federal Register notice. The purpose of this notice is to comply with the requirements of section 106 of the HUD Reform Act. This notice contains a list of regulatory waivers granted by HUD during the period beginning on October 1, 2004, and ending on December 31, 2004.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal. Section 4 of the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996 authorizes the Secretary to guarantee loans made to certain nonprofit organizations whose properties have been damaged by an act or acts of arson or terrorism.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) is issuing amendments to its corporate governance regulation establishing corporate governance standards applicable to the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation in order to further promote the safety and soundness of their operations.

HUD gives notice to the public, agencies, and Indian tribes that it has made a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Proposed Refinements to the World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment Plan (Proposed Refinements). This notice is given on behalf of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC). LMDC is a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corporation (a political subdivision and public benefit corporation of the State of New York). As the recipient of HUD Community Development Block Grant funds appropriated for the World Trade Center disaster recovery and rebuilding efforts, LMDC acts, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 5304(g), as the responsible entity for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in accordance with 24 CFR 58.4. LMDC also acts under its authority as lead agency in accordance with the New York State Environment Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The environmental assessment (EA) and FONSI have been prepared in cooperation with The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority). This notice is given in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508.

This Notice identifies unutilized, underutilized, excess, and surplus Federal property reviewed by HUD for suitability for possible use to assist the homeless.