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

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

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.

The proposed information collection requirement described below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for emergency review and approval, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

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. The Rental Assistance Demonstration allows Public Housing and Moderate Rehabilitation (Mod Rehab) properties to convert to long-term Section 8 rental assistance contracts; and Rent Supplement (Rent Supp), Rental Assistance Payment (RAP), and Mod Rehab properties, upon contract expiration or termination, to convert tenant protection vouchers (TPVs) to project-based vouchers (PBVs). Participation in the initiative will be voluntary. Public Housing Agencies, Mod Rehab owners interested in participating in the Demonstration are required to submit supplementary documentation through these processing requirements to HUD so that HUD can determine throughout the conversion process the physical and financial sustainability of properties. As such, the processing requirements will demonstrate to HUD that the applicant will be able to leverage private financing to address immediate and long- term capital needs, improve operations, and implement energy efficiency improvements. The processing information request will be in a Webbased portal and will be pre-populated with data HUD is collecting from the RAD Application, which is currently undergoing its 30 day review under cover of a separate PRA. Overall, supplementary documentation and information requested will allow the Department to determine which applicants continue to meet the eligibility requirements and have the capacity to successfully meet RAD's mission delineated in PIH Notice PIH-2012-32: Rental Assistance DemonstrationFinal Implementation Notice. Finally, all applicants will be required to sign the appropriate contractual documents to complete conversion and bind both the applicant and HUD, as well as set forth the rights and duties of the applicant and HUD, with respect to the converted project and any payments under that project. This requirement is for all applicants in the Public Housing, Mod Rehab, Rent Supp and RAP programs. To review draft versions of the processing requirements and the contractual documentation please visit the RAD Web site: www.hud.gov/rad/.

In this notice, the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management, Department of Housing and Urban Development, designates the Order of Succession for the Seattle Regional Office and its Field Offices (Region X). This Order of Succession supersedes all previous Orders of Succession for HUD Region X.

In this notice, the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management, Department of Housing and Urban Development, designates the Order of Succession for the Denver Regional Office and its Field Offices (Region VIII). This Order of Succession supersedes all previous Orders of Succession for HUD Region VIII.

In this notice, the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management, Department of Housing and Urban Development, designates the Order of Succession for the Fort Worth Regional Office and its Field Offices (Region VI). This Order of Succession supersedes all previous Orders of Succession for HUD Region VI.

In this notice, the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management, Department of Housing and Urban Development, designates the Order of Succession for the Atlanta Regional Office and its Field Offices (Region IV). This Order of Succession supersedes all previous Orders of Succession for HUD Region IV.

In this notice, the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management, Department of Housing and Urban Development, designates the Order of Succession for the New York Regional Office and its Field Offices (Region II). This Order of Succession supersedes all previous Orders of Succession for Region II.

Through this notice, the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management redelegates certain operational management authority to the HUD Regional Administrators located in Region I (Boston, MA); Region II (New York, NY); Region III (Philadelphia, PA); Region IV (Atlanta, GA); Region V (Chicago, IL), Region VI (Fort Worth, TX), Region VII (Kansas City, KS); Region VIII (Denver, CO); Region IX (San Francisco, CA); and Region X (Seattle, WA).

Through this notice, the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development delegates to the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management authority for the management and oversight of the Department's field operations.

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.

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. Leaded paint in housing remains as the last major source of lead exposure to young children. Efforts to reduce childhood lead poisoning have focused on controlling lead paint hazards, specifically lead dust and deteriorated lead-based paint. Lead hazard control programs are looking for ways to make this housing safer without placing an undue financial burden on the property owners or tenants. On August 10, 2009, a petition was submitted to EPA www.regulations.gov; search for EPA-HQ- OPPT-2009-0655) to lower the definition of lead-based paint in pre-1978 ``target'' housing to some value below the current value of 1 mg/cm 2 or 0.5% by weight (42 U.S.C. 4822(c)), and to lower the lead hazard control standards and clearance standards for lead in dust on floors and window sills in such housing and in pre-1978 child-occupied facilities below the current values of 40 and 250 mg/ft 2 (micrograms per square foot), respectively (40 CFR 745.65(b) and 745.227(e)(8)(viii), and 24 CFR 35.1320(b)(2)(i)), and below the current clearance standard for window troughs of 400 mg/ft2 (40 CFR 45.227(e)(8)(viii), and 24 CFR 35.1320(b)(2)(i)). The HUD Secretary may reduce the level that defines lead-based paint in target housing (42 U.S.C. 4822(c)), and the EPA Administrator identifies the leadbased paint hazard standards (15 U.S.C. 2683), and the lead-based paint standard (15 U.S.C.2683), and the lead-based paint standard in child- occupied facilities. In a response dated October 22, 2009, EPA, writing on behalf of itself and HUD, agreed to study the issues and decide whether the lead hazard standards and/or the lead-based paint standard should be changed, and to collaborate with HUD on this effort. www.epa.gov/oppt/chemtest/pubs/ eparesponse. pdf). The Agency and the Department intend to have identical standards for the sake of maximizing their effectiveness in this matter. One of the issues to be considered is the ability to actually determine ``clearance'' (a work area is sufficiently clean of lead dust) before allowing reoccupancy. The clearance levels for floors and window sills are the same as the lead hazard standards. This survey will question HUD grantees as to their ability to achieve clearance at the current level for floors and windowsills, and whether it would be technically feasible to achieve clearance at potentially lower levels.

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

On September 17, 2012, at 77 FR 57103, HUD published Housing Counseling Program and reference to the NOFA charts were excluded. Nonprofit Housing Counseling organizations submit information to HUD through Grants.gov when applying for grant funds to provide housing counseling assistance to eligible homebuyers to find and purchase affordable housing; Housing Counseling organizations also assist eligible homeowners to avoid foreclosures; The Housing Counseling organizations also use grant funds to assist renters to avoid evictions; help the homeless find temporary or permanent shelter; report fair housing and discrimination. HUD uses the information collected to evaluate applicants competitively and then select qualified organizations to receive funding that supplement their housing counseling program. Post-award collection, such as quarterly reports, will allow HUD to evaluate grantees' performance. This collection of information includes renewal of various HUD forms, including the HUD-9900 which is the Housing Counseling Approval Application, and form HUD-9902, Housing Counseling Agency Activity Report. Additionally, it covers the collection of client level activities, client financial leverage data, and agency profile information.

Section 8(c)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (USHA) requires the Secretary to publish FMRs periodically, but not less than annually, adjusted to be effective on October 1 of each year. This notice publishes the FMRs for the Housing Choice Voucher, the Moderate Rehabilitation, the project-based voucher, and any other programs requiring their use. Today's notice provides final FY 2013 FMRs for all areas that reflect the estimated 40th and 50th percentile rent levels trended to April 1, 2013. The FY 2013 FMRs are based on using 5-year, 2006-2010 data collected by the American Community Survey (ACS). These data are updated by one-year recent-mover 2010 ACS data using areas where statistically valid one-year ACS data are available. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rent and utility indexes are used to further update the data from 2010 to the end of 2011. HUD continues to use ACS data in different ways depending on the availability of two- bedroom standard-quality and recent-mover sample data for its FMR area or a larger geographic area such as the Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA) or state nonmetropolitan area. The final FY 2013 FMR areas are based on current Office of Management and Budget (OMB) metropolitan area definitions and include HUD modifications that were first used in the determination of FY 2006 FMR areas. Changes to the OMB metropolitan area definitions through December 2009 are incorporated; there have been no further changes to metropolitan area definitions. OMB has announced that new metropolitan area definitions will be released in 2013. HUD will incorporate these changes during the process to calculate proposed FMRs following the release of the new definitions. The final FY 2013 FMRs in this notice reflect two changes in the methodology used to calculate FMRs. First, HUD has updated the bedroom ratios used to calculate 0, 1, 3 and 4 bedroom FMRs based on the two- bedroom FMR. Bedroom ratios were last updated using the decennial 2000 Census. Because the 2010 Census did not collect rents, the new bedroom ratios are constructed using 2006-2010 5 year ACS data. The methodology for calculating the bedroom ratios is very similar to the method used when the bedroom ratios were based on 2000 decennial Census long-form data. Second, a new trend factor calculation methodology has been used for the FY 2013 FMRs, which HUD stated would be implemented in its proposed FY 2012 FMR publication on August 19, 2011 (76 FR 52058). This trend factor is based on national gross rent data and will change annually.

This notice seeks information and invites public comment regarding how HUD can best continue to support the implementation of smoke-free policies for both public housing and multifamily housing. In this regard, HUD is seeking information from the general public and stakeholders, including resident councils, advocacy groups, and housing providers, directly impacted by or involved with the implementation of smoke-free policies in both public housing and multifamily programs. Specifically, HUD is seeking information on best practices and practical strategies from housing providers who have implemented smoke- free policies, ideas for overcoming potential obstacles to implementing a smoke-free policy and methods for supporting residents, and housing providers in transitioning to smoke-free housing. Additionally, this notice requests input from housing providers that have decided not to implement a smoke-free policy and those impacted by that decision. This information will assist HUD to develop and disseminate additional guidance and resources to support public housing agencies (PHAs) and owners and management agents (O/As) who wish to implement smoke-free policies.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda for a meeting of the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC). The meeting is open to the public and the site is accessible to individuals with disabilities. The agenda provides an opportunity for citizens to comment on the business before the MHCC.

This notice designates ``Difficult Development Areas'' (DDAs) for purposes of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) under Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (IRC). The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) makes DDA designations annually. In addition to announcing the 2013 DDA designations, this notice responds to public comment received in response to the proposed use of Small Area Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for designating DDAs as published in the notice ``Statutorily Mandated Designation of Difficult Development Areas and Qualified Census Tracts for 2012'', published in the Federal Register on October 27, 2011. After considering the public comments, HUD has decided to delay by one year the adoption of small area DDAs. The 2014 DDAs will be published in a separate notice at a later date after further consideration of the Small DDA concept. Qualified Census Tracts (QCTs) for 2013 were previously designated in a notice published in the Federal Register on April 20, 2012.

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

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. The information and collection requirements consist of PHA screening requirements to obtain criminal conviction records from law enforcement agencies to prevent admission of criminals into the public housing and Section 8 programs and to assist in lease enforcement and eviction of those individuals in the public housing and Section 8 programs who engage in criminal activity. The reason for the current revision is that the 2009 submission only included the burden hours for Public Housing participants. Because the screening is done for residents in the Public Housing and Section 8 program, the calculations were updated to reflect this reality. The current calculations use the existing formula for burden hours but include voucher residents.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announces the appointments of, Maurice A. Jones, Michael A. Anderson, Mary K. Kinney, Jean Lin Pao, and Susan J. Shuback as members of the Departmental Performance Review Board. The address is: Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC 20410-0050.

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.

On July 3, 2012, HUD published a Federal Register notice announcing its intent to initiate negotiated rulemaking for the purpose of developing regulatory changes to the funding formula for the Indian Housing Block Grant program authorized by the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996. This document explains how persons may be nominated to serve as members on the negotiated rulemaking committee.

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. The information is required by section 184 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1994, as amended by section 701 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self- Determination Act of 1996 and implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 1005. HUD has the authority to guarantee loans for the construction, acquisition, rehabilitation or refinance of 1- to 4-family homes to be owned by Native Americans in restricted Indian lands or service areas. Mortgage lenders approved by HUD provide borrower and lender information to HUD for guarantee of the loan. If the information was not provided then HUD would be unable to guarantee loans and as a result lenders would be unable to provide financing to Native Americans.