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

HUD is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for renewal of 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 solicits public comment for a period of 30 days, consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), on the State and Insular Area Assessment Tool. This Assessment Tool will be used by States, including for joint or regional collaborations where the State is the lead entity and they are joined by local governments and PHAs. The Assessment Tool issued for public comment under this Notice includes a streamlined analysis for ``small program participants,'' which are either QPHAs or local governments that received a CDBG grant of $500,000 or less in the most recent fiscal year prior to the due date for the joint or regional AFH or a HOME consortium whose members collectively received less than $500,000 in CDBG funds or received no CDBG funding in the most recent fiscal year prior to the due date for the joint or regional AFH. In addition, this Assessment Tool will be used by other local governments and public housing agencies when these entities collaborate with a State agency that is acting as the lead entity for a joint assessment of fair housing. HUD recognizes that questions within this Assessment Tool have been written primarily for States with inserts for QPHAs and small program participants. After this 30-day public comment period HUD commits to update the Assessment Tool to facilitate collaborations with local governments and PHAs which are not QPHAs or other small program participants. On March 11, 2016, HUD solicited public comment for a period of 60 days on the State and Insular Area Assessment Tool. The 60-day notice commenced the notice and comment process required by the PRA in order to obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information proposed to be collected by the State and Insular Area Assessment Tool. In this Notice, HUD is also announcing an extended two-stage process for soliciting public feedback on this Assessment Tool. This process is being implemented in response to the substantial public comments received during the 60-day comment period for this Assessment Tool. HUD is committed to providing the public with this opportunity. This 30-Day Notice is intended to solicit comment relating to the Assessment Tool, the instructions that accompany the Assessment Tool, and the descriptions of the contributing factors contained in the Appendix. The second stage is intended to elicit feedback on the beta Data and Mapping tool for States, allow for feedback on the interaction of the Assessment Tool and the supporting Data and Mapping Tool, and make any feasible improvements to the final Data and Mapping tool for States, as well as make any necessary conforming changes to the Assessment Tool. This process is described in more detail in the Notice below. To facilitate public input on the State and Insular Area Assessment Tool, HUD will post the revised Assessment Tool as well as a compare of this revised Assessment Tool to the proposed Assessment Tool from the 60-day public comment period at www.hudexchange.info/programs/affh.

This proposed rule would implement HUD's authority under the single-family mortgage insurance provisions of the National Housing Act to insure one-family units in a multifamily project, including a project in which the dwelling units are attached, or are manufactured housing units, semi-detached, or detached, and an undivided interest in the common areas and facilities which serve the project. The rule would codify requirements for Direct Endorsement lenders to meet in order to be approved for the Direct Endorsement Lender Review and Approval Process (DELRAP) authority for condominiums, and basic standards that projects must meet to be approved as condominiums in which individual units would be eligible for mortgage insurance, as well as particular cases such as Single-Unit Approvals and site condominiums. The rule provides a method by which certain approval standards could be varied efficiently to meet market needs while providing for public comment where appropriate. Currently, single-family condominium project approval is provided under HUD's Condominium Project Approval and Processing Guide and related Mortgagee Letters. Condominiums under this rule are distinct from condominiums in which the project has a blanket mortgage insured by HUD.

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 public comments on the subject proposal. This information collection is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. HUD is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

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 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 is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection 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 is a correction to the notice that is already published. Please disregard the notice that was published on August 19, 2016 at 81 FR 55475.

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

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.

Through this final rule, HUD ensures equal access for individuals in accordance with their gender identity in programs and shelter funded under programs administered by HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD). This rule builds upon HUD's February 2012 final rule entitled ``Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity'' (2012 Equal Access Rule), which aimed to ensure that HUD's housing programs would be open to all eligible individuals and families regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. The 2012 Equal Access Rule, however, did not address how transgender and gender non- conforming individuals should be accommodated in temporary, emergency shelters, and other buildings and facilities used for shelter, that have physical limitations or configurations that require and that are permitted to have shared sleeping quarters or shared bathing facilities. This final rule follows HUD's November 2015 proposed rule, which addressed this issue and solicited public comment on measures to ensure that recipients and subrecipients of CPD fundingas well as owners, operators, and managers of shelters and other buildings and facilities and providers of services funded by CPDgrant equal access to such facilities and services to individuals in accordance with an individual's gender identity. This rule amends HUD's definition of ``gender identity'' to more clearly reflect the difference between actual and perceived gender identity and eliminates the prohibition on inquiries related to sexual orientation or gender identity, so that service providers can ensure compliance with this rule. The removal of the prohibition on inquiries related to sexual orientation or gender identity does not alter the requirement to make housing assisted by HUD and housing insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) available without regard to actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Lastly, without changing the scope of the requirement to provide equal access without regard to sexual orientation, this rule makes a technical amendment to the definition of ``sexual orientation,'' which HUD adopted from the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) definition of the term in 2012, to conform to OPM's current definition. In order to ensure that individuals are aware of their rights to equal access, HUD is publishing elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register for public comment, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, a document entitled ``Equal Access Regardless of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, or Marital Status'' for owners or operators of CPD-funded shelters, housing, facilities, and other buildings to post on bulletin boards and in other public spaces where information is typically made available.

This notice solicits public comment for a period of 30 days, consistent with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), on the Public Housing Agencies (PHA) Assessment Tool. On March 23, 2016, HUD solicited public comment for a period of 60 days on the PHA Assessment Tool. The 60-day notice commenced the notice and comment process required by the PRA in order to obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information proposed to be collected by the PHA Assessment Tool. This 30-day notice takes into consideration the public comments received in response to the 60-day notice, and completes the public comment process required by the PRA. With the issuance of this notice, and following consideration of additional public comments received in response to this notice, HUD will seek approval from OMB of the PHA Assessment Tool and assignment of an OMB control number. In accordance with the PRA, the assessment tool will undergo this public comment process every 3 years to retain OMB approval. HUD is committed to issuing a separate Assessment Tool for Qualfied PHAs (QPHAs) that choose to conduct and submit an individual AFH or for use by Qualified PHAs that collaborate among multiple QPHAs to conduct and submit a joint AFH. For this reason, this Assessment Tool will be for use by non-Qualified PHAs, and for collaborations among non-Qualified PHAs and QPHAs.

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.

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.

In this notice, the Chief Human Capital Officer for the Department of Housing and Urban Development designates the Order of Succession for the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer. This Order of Succession supersedes all prior orders of succession for the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer, including the Order of Succession published on November 7, 2011.

This final rule amends HUD's fair housing regulations to formalize standards for use in investigations and adjudications involving allegations of harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, or disability. The rule specifies how HUD will evaluate complaints of quid pro quo (``this for that'') harassment and hostile environment harassment under the Fair Housing Act. It will also provide for uniform treatment of Fair Housing Act claims raising allegations of quid pro quo and hostile environment harassment in judicial and administrative forums. This rule defines ``quid pro quo'' and ``hostile environment harassment,'' as prohibited under the Fair Housing Act, and provides illustrations of discriminatory housing practices that constitute such harassment. In addition, this rule clarifies the operation of traditional principles of direct and vicarious liability in the Fair Housing Act context.

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

This notice announces HUD's intention to competitively sell certain unsubsidized single family mortgage loans, in a sealed bid sale offering called SFLS 2016-2, without Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance. This notice also generally describes the bidding process for the sale and certain persons who are ineligible to bid. This is the second sale offering of its type in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 and the sale will be held on September 14, 2016.

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 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 section 102(a)(4)(C) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545), this document notifies the public of Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 funding decisions made by the Department in competitions for funding under two Notices of Funding Availability (NOFA; the FY 2016 and 2017 Comprehensive Housing Counseling Grant Program NOFA and the FY 2016 and 2017 Housing Counseling Training Grant Program NOFA.

HUD is announcing that it received approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) of the information collection in the application to obtain funding under HUD's Youth Homeless Demonstration Program (YHDP) Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). In accordance with the implementing regulations of the PRA, HUD requested emergency review under 5 CFR 1320.13(a)(2)(i) because public harm was reasonably likely to occur if the regular clearance procedures were followed. OMB granted emergency approval in response to HUD's request. While HUD has PRA approval for the YHDP NOFA application, HUD needs to establish traditional approval of this application (i.e. 3-year approval). Therefore, this notice, which solicits public comment for a period of 60 days, commences the process to obtain traditional approval under the PRA

This proposed rule would amend HUD's lead-based paint regulations on reducing blood lead levels in children under age 6 who reside in federally-owned or -assisted pre-1978 housing and formally adopt the revised definition of ``elevated blood lead levels'' in children under the age of 6 in accordance with guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and establish more comprehensive testing and evaluation procedures for the housing where such children reside. In 2012, the CDC issued guidance revising its definition of elevated blood lead level in children under age 6 to be a blood lead level based on the distribution of blood lead levels in the national population. Since CDC's revision of its definition, HUD has applied the revised definition to funds awarded under its Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control grant program and its Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration grant program, and has updated its Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing to reflect this definition. CDC is continuing to consider, with respect to evolution of scientific and medical understanding, how best to identify childhood blood lead levels for which environmental interventions are recommended. Through this rule, HUD formally adopts through regulation the CDC's approach to the definition of ``elevated blood lead levels'' in children under the age of 6 and addresses the additional elements of the CDC guidance pertaining to assisted housing.