Department of Housing and Urban Development March 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On January 28, 2016, HUD published a notice announcing proposed changes to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Mortgage Insurance Premiums (MIPs) for certain FHA Multifamily Housing Insurance programs, for commitments issued or reissued beginning April 1, 2016, and solicited public comments on the announced changes. This document announces that the FY 2016 MIP changes for certain FHA Multifamily Housing Insurance programs, including the 542(b) and 542(c) Risk- Sharing programs, proposed on January 28, 2016, are being implemented for commitments issued or reissued beginning April 1, 2016. These new MIP changes reflect the health of the FHA Multifamily portfolio, simplify the rate structure, and demonstrate HUD's commitment to promote its mission initiatives. The MIP rates for mortgage insurance programs under FHA's Office of Healthcare Programs, including health care facilities and hospital insurance programs, are not changed. This document also addresses the public comments received in response to the proposed MIP changes. Lastly, this MIP document also provides a regulatory waiver for the 542(c) Risk-Sharing program to participate in the FY 2016 MIP changes for commitments issued or reissued beginning April 1, 2016, for the remainder of FY 2016 and for FY 2017.

HUD is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is requesting comment from all interested parties on the proposed collection of information. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment.

HUD has submitted the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days of public comment.

HUD is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is requesting comment from all interested parties on the proposed collection of information. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment.

HUD has submitted the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days of public comment.

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

HUD has submitted the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days of public comment.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HUD has requested from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) emergency approval of the information collection described in this notice.

On July 16, 2015, HUD published the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) final rule that provides HUD program participants with a new process for planning for fair housing outcomes that will assist them in meeting their statutory obligation to affirmatively further fair housing. This process includes an assessment tool that program participants must use to evaluate fair housing choice and access to opportunity in their jurisdictions, to identify barriers to fair housing choice and opportunity at the local and regional levels, and to set fair housing goals to overcome such barriers and advance fair housing choice. HUD committed to issue three assessment tools for its program participants covered by the AFFH final rule. One assessment tool is for use by local governments (Local Government Assessment Tool) that receive assistance under certain grant programs administered by HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD), as well as by joint and regional collaborations between: (i) Local governments; (ii) one or more local governments and one or more public housing agency (PHA) partners; and (iii) other collaborations in which such a local government is designated as the lead for the collaboration. The second tool is for States and Insular Areas (State and Insular Area Assessment Tool), including joint collaborations (with local governments and/or PHAs, both of which would require HUD approval) where the State is designated as the lead entity. The third assessment tool, which is the subject of this Notice, is for PHAs (including for joint collaborations among multiple PHAs) (PHA Assessment Tool). On December 31, 2015, following 60-day and 30-day public comment periods under the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD issued the Local Government Assessment Tool. On March 11, 2016, at 81 FR 12921, HUD issued for public comment the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool for a 60-day period of public comment. This Notice solicits public comment for a period of 60 days on the proposed PHA Assessment Tool. In seeking comment for a period of 60 days, this notice commences the process for compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The PRA requires two public comment periodsa public comment period of 60 days and a second comment period of 30 days. After consideration of the public comments submitted in response to this notice, HUD will solicit a second round of public comments for a period of 30 days on the proposed PHA Assessment Tool.

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, 2015, and ending on December 31, 2015.

HUD has submitted the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days of public comment.

HUD is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is requesting comment from all interested parties on the proposed collection of information. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment.

On July 16, 2015, HUD published the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) final rule that provides HUD program participants with a new process for planning for fair housing outcomes that will assist them in meeting their statutory obligation to affirmatively further fair housing. This process includes an assessment tool that must be used by program participants to evaluate fair housing choice and access to opportunity in their jurisdictions, to identify barriers to fair housing choice and opportunity at the local and regional levels, and to set fair housing goals to overcome such barriers and advance fair housing choice. HUD committed to issue three assessment tools for its program participants covered by the AFFH final rule. One assessment tool is for use by local governments (Local Government Assessment Tool) that receive assistance under certain grant programs administered by HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD), as well as by joint and regional collaborations between: (i) Local governments; (ii) one or more local governments and one or more public housing agency (PHA) partners; and (iii) other collaborations in which such a local government is designated as the lead for the collaboration. The second tool (the subject of this Notice) is to be used by States and Insular Areas (State and Insular Area Assessment Tool), including joint or regional collaborations (with local governments and/or PHAs) where the State is designated as the lead entity. The third assessment tool is for PHAs (including for joint collaborations among multiple PHAs) (PHA Assessment Tool). On December 31, 2015, HUD issued the Local Government Assessment. This notice solicits public comment for a period of 60 days on the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool. In seeking comment for a period of 60 days, this notice commences the process for compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The PRA requires two public comment periodsa public comment period of 60 days and a second comment period of 30 days. After consideration of the public comments submitted in response to this notice, HUD will solicit a second round of public comments for a period of 30 days. To further facilitate public input on the State and Insular Areas Assessment Tool, HUD will post sample maps and tables that are intended to provide options for presenting relevant data. Sample data will be posted on https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/affh/ and https:// www.huduser.gov/portal/affht_pt.html no later than March 18, 2016.

HUD is extending the comment period for the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The original comment period ended on March 4, 2016, but HUD is reopening that period for 30 days to allow interested parties to prepare and submit their comments.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2014 (2014 Appropriations Act), made several changes to the United States Housing Act of 1937 (1937 Act). Section 243 of the 2014 Appropriations Act authorized HUD to implement these changes through notice, followed by notice-and-comment rulemaking. Notices implementing the changes were published on May 19, 2014, and June 25, 2014. HUD issued a proposed rule on January 6, 2015, to codify these changes in regulation. In addition, the January 2015 rule proposed changes to streamline regulatory requirements pertaining to certain elements of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), Public Housing (PH), and various multifamily housing (MFH) rental assistance programs; to reduce the administrative burden on public housing agencies (PHAs) and MFH owners; and to align, where feasible, requirements across programs, including the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) and HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), which are administered by HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD). HUD also issued an interim rule on September 8, 2015, implementing changes to flat rents in the Public Housing program made by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2015 (2015 Appropriations Act). This final rule makes changes to the regulatory text as presented in the January 2015 proposed rule, including additional changes in response to public comment as well as further consideration by HUD of changes proposed in January 2015, and finalizes the regulatory changes contained in the September 2015 interim rule.

HUD is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is requesting comment from all interested parties on the proposed collection of information. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment.

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

In accordance with section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989, this announcement notifies the public of funding decisions made by the Department in a competition for funding under the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the HUD Community Compass Technical Assistance and Capacity Building program for Fiscal Year 2015. This announcement contains the names of the awardees and amounts of the awards made available by HUD.

HUD is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is requesting comment from all interested parties on the proposed collection of information. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment.

HUD has submitted the proposed information collection requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days of public comment.