Public and Indian Housing: Section 8 Housing Certificate Fund Rule Negotiated Rulemaking Committee; intent to establish and meeting,

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Federal Register: March 19, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 53)Proposed RulesPage 13531-13533From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

DOCID:fr19mr99-20

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

24 CFR Chapter IX

Docket No. FR-4459-N-02Section 8 Housing Certificate Fund Rule; Notice of Intent To Establish a Negotiated Rulemaking Committee and Notice of First Meeting

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of intent to establish a negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee and notice of first meeting.

SUMMARY: HUD is establishing a Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The establishment of the committee is required by the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998, which requires issuance of regulations under the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990. The purpose of the Committee is to discuss and negotiate a rule that would change the current method of distributing funds to public housing agencies (PHAs) funds for purposes of renewing assistance contracts in the tenant-based Section 8 program. The committee will consist of

[Page 13532]persons representing stakeholder interests in the outcome of the rule. In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 564 (section 564 of the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990), this document advises the public of the establishment of the committee; provides the public with information regarding the committee; solicits public comment on the proposed membership of the committee; and explains how persons may be nominated for membership on the committee.

DATES: Comment due date: April 19, 1999. HUD's tentative plan is to hold the first meeting of the committee on April 27 and 28, 1999.

ADDRESSES: HUD has not yet selected a site for the first committee meeting.

Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding the committee and its proposed members to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Room 10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410-0500. Comments should refer to the above docket number and title. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable. The docket will be available for public inspection and copying between 7:30 am and 5:30 pm weekdays at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Dalzell, Senior Program Advisor, Office of Public and Assisted Housing Delivery, Office of Public and Indian Housing, Room 4204, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410-0500; telephone (202) 708-1380 (this telephone number is not toll-free). Hearing or speech-impaired individuals may access this number via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800- 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On October 21, 1998, the Congress enacted the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-276, 112 Stat. 2461) (the ``Public Housing Reform Act''). The Public Housing Reform Act made significant changes to HUD's public and assisted housing programs. These changes include the addition of a new section 8(dd) to the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.).

The new section 8(dd) specifies the method to be used by HUD in calculating assistance provided to public housing agencies (PHAs) to renew Section 8 tenant-based rental and voucher contracts. Specifically, section 8(dd) directs HUD to establish an allocation baseline amount of assistance (budget authority) to cover the renewals, and to apply an inflation factor (based on local or regional factors) to the baseline. The new provision states as follows:

  (dd) Tenant-Based Contract Renewals.--Subject to amounts provided in appropriation Acts, starting in fiscal year 1999, the Secretary shall renew all expiring tenant-based annual contribution contracts under this section by applying an inflation factor based on local or regional factors to an allocation baseline. The allocation baseline shall be calculated by including, at a minimum, amounts sufficient to ensure continued assistance for the actual number of families assisted as of October 1, 1997, with appropriate upward adjustments for incremental assistance and additional families authorized subsequent to that date.

Section 556(b) of the Public Housing Reform Act requires HUD to implement section 8(dd) through notice not later than December 31, 1998, and to issue final regulations on this subject that are developed through the negotiated rulemaking process no later than October 21, 1999. On December 30, 1998, HUD issued Public and Indian Housing (PIH) Notice 98-65, which advised PHAs on how HUD is calculating the amount of assistance available for purposes of Section 8 tenant-based rental certificate and voucher contract renewals. On February 18, 1999 (64 FR 8188), HUD published a notice in the Federal Register providing, for the benefit of the public, the contents of PIH Notice 98-65.

Under the allocation procedure described in PIH Notice 98-65, HUD has determined a baseline number of units for each PHA as of October 1, 1997 based on information that each PHA provided to HUD. HUD adjusts the baseline number of units to reflect any changes to the number of units allocated to a PHA since October 1, 1997 (such as the award of additional units through Notices of Funding Availability for Section 8 assistance). HUD then determines the actual per unit cost based on data provided by PHAs in their year end statements. HUD subsequently adjusts the per unit cost by applying an inflation factor. Ultimately, HUD multiplies the adjusted number of units by this adjusted cost per unit to determine a given PHA's allocation. While the amount varies among PHAs, the subsidies constitute a significant level of assistance to families served by a particular agency. For example, in 1999, HUD expects to distribute over $8 billion to PHAs to renew expiring tenant- based contracts in the Section 8 program.

II. Regulatory Negotiation

Negotiated rulemaking, or ``neg-reg,'' is a relatively new process for HUD. The basic concept of neg-reg is to have the agency that is considering drafting a rule bring together representatives of affected interests for face-to-face negotiations that are open to the public. The give-and-take of the negotiation process is expected to foster constructive, creative and acceptable solutions to difficult problems.

In February 1999 HUD entered into a cooperative agreement with the Consensus Building Institute, Inc. (CBI) to obtain its assistance and expertise in convening and facilitating the negotiated rulemaking required by section 556 of the Public Housing Reform Act. CBI has begun the process of interviewing potential candidates that may be selected to serve on the negotiated rulemaking advisory committee. The current schedule calls for CBI to submit its convening report to HUD in early April of 1999.

III. Committee Membership

The CBI conveners consulted and interviewed 29 officials of various organizations that would be affected by the Section 8 funding allocation rule. The goal is to develop a committee whose membership reflects a balanced representation of interested organizations and individuals in terms of size, location, level and type of housing agency and special circumstances. After reviewing the recommendations of the CBI conveners, HUD has tentatively identified the following list of possible interests and parties. This list should be considered tentative, and the final list of participants may not include all of these parties. HUD will decide on the final list of participants, based upon comments on this document, as well as its own efforts to identify other entities having an interest in the outcome of this rulemaking.

<bullet> Housing Agencies

1. Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, Boston, MA

2. New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Trenton, NJ

3. Southeastern Minnesota Multi-County Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Wabasha, MN

4. Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency, Oklahoma City, OK

5. Fort Worth Housing Authority, Fort Worth, TX

6. Minneapolis Metropolitan Council Housing and Redevelopment Agency, Saint Paul, MN

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7. Santa Cruz County Housing Authority, Santa Cruz, CA

8. Burlington Housing Authority, Burlington, VT

9. Michigan State Housing Development Authority, Lansing, MI

10. New York City Housing Authority, NYC, NY

11. Atlanta Housing Authority, Atlanta, GA

12. Panama City Housing Authority, Panama City, FL

13. Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority, Cincinnati OH

14. Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA <bullet> Public Interest Groups

1. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, D.C.

2. New Community Corporation, Newark, NJ <bullet> National PHA Associations

1. Public Housing Authority Directors Association (PHADA)

2. National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO)

3. Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA)

4. National Leased Housing Association (NLHA) <bullet> Federal Government

1. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

HUD invites you to provide comments and suggestions on this tentative list of committee members. HUD does not believe that each potentially affected organization or individual must necessarily have its own representative. However, HUD must be satisfied that the group as a whole reflects a proper balance and mix of interests. Accordingly, the composition of the final list will likely be different from this tentative list. Negotiation sessions will be open to members of the public, so individuals and organizations that are not members of the committee may attend all sessions and communicate informally with members of the committee.

IV. Neighborhood and Community Based Groups

In particular, HUD welcomes and solicits expressions of interest or nominations from any groups or individuals that operate on behalf of the communities, neighborhoods, and special needs groups served by the tenant-based Section 8 program, and from organizations that represent local officials.

V. Requests for Representation

If you are interested in serving as a member of the committee or in nominating another person to serve as a member of the committee, you must submit a written nomination to HUD at the address listed in the ADDRESSES section of this document. Your nomination for membership on the committee must include:

  (1) The name of your nominee and a description of the interests the nominee would represent;

  (2) Evidence that your nominee is authorized to represent parties with the interests the nominee would represent;

  (3) A written commitment that the nominee will actively participate in good faith in the development of the rule; and

  (4) The reasons that the parties listed in this document do not adequately represent your interests.

HUD will determine, in consultation with the CBI conveners, whether a proposed member should be included in the makeup of the committee. HUD will make that decision based on whether a proposed member would be significantly affected by the proposed rule and whether the interest of the proposed member could be represented adequately by other members.

VI. Substantive Issues for Negotiation

The subject and scope of the rule to be considered is the development of a methodology for allocating funding to renew assistance contracts under the tenant-based Section 8 program, in accordance with the criteria described in section 556 of the Public Housing Reform Act.

VII. Final Notice Regarding Committee Establishment

After reviewing any comments on this Notice and any requests for representation, HUD will issue a final notice. That notice will announce the final composition of the Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee and the firm date, time, and place of the initial meeting.

VIII. Tentative Schedule

At this time, HUD's tentative plan is to hold the first meeting of the committee on April 27 and 28, 1999. On April 27, 1999, the meeting is expected to start at 9:00 am and run until completion; on April 28, 1999, the meeting is expected to start at 9:00 am and run until approximately 3:00 pm. HUD has not yet selected a site for the meetings. The purpose of the meeting will be to orient members to the neg-reg process, to establish a basic set of understandings and ground rules (protocols) regarding the process that will be followed in seeking a consensus, and to begin to address the issues. This meeting will be open to the public. In the event that the date and times of these meetings are changed, HUD will advise the public through a Federal Register notice.

Decisions with respect to future meetings will be made at the first meeting and from time to time thereafter. Notices of future meetings will be published in the Federal Register.

Dated: March 16, 1999. Harold Lucas, Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing

FR Doc. 99-6852Filed3-18-99; 8:45 amBILLING CODE 4210-33-P

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