Part VII

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November 24, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 227)

Unified Agenda

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

DOCID: f:ua081106.wais

Page 71388-71389

Part VII

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Semiannual Regulatory Agenda

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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD)

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT 24 CFR Subtitles A and B

Docket No. FR-5205-N-02

Semiannual Regulatory Agenda

AGENCY: Department of Housing and Urban Development.

ACTION: Semiannual regulatory agenda.

SUMMARY: In accordance with section 4(b) of Executive Order 12866

``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' HUD is publishing its agenda of regulations already issued or that are expected to be issued during the next several months. The agenda also includes rules currently in effect that are under review and describes those regulations that may affect small entities, as required by section 602 of the Regulatory

Flexibility Act. The purpose of publication of the agenda is to encourage more effective public participation in the regulatory process by providing the public with advance information about pending regulatory activities.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aaron Santa Anna, Assistant General

Counsel for Regulations, Office of General Counsel, Department of

Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room 10276,

Washington, DC 20410-0500; telephone number 202-708-3055. (This is not a toll-free number.) A telecommunications device for hearing- and speech-impaired individuals (TTY) is available at 800-877-8339 (Federal

Information Relay Service).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Executive Order 12866 ``Regulatory Planning and Review'' (58

FR 51735) requires each department or agency to prepare semiannually an agenda of: (1) regulations that the department or agency has issued or expects to issue and (2) rules currently in effect that are under departmental or agency review. The Regulatory

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 to 612) requires each department or agency to publish semiannually a regulatory agenda of rules expected to be proposed or promulgated that are likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of ``small entities,'' meaning small businesses, small organizations, or small governmental jurisdictions. Executive Order 12866 and the

Regulatory Flexibility Act permit incorporation of the agenda required by these two authorities with any other prescribed agenda.

HUD's regulatory agenda combines the information required by

Executive Order 12866 and the Regulatory Flexibility Act. In addition, HUD's regulatory agenda contains certain information not required by either the Executive order or by the Regulatory

Flexibility Act that the Department considers useful, both to better inform the public and to enhance the Department's own inventory control over its body of regulations. As was the case with the fall 2007 edition of HUD's regulatory agenda, the Internet will be the basic means for disseminating the fall 2008 Unified

Agenda. The complete Unified Agenda will be available online at www.reginfo.gov, in a format that offers users a greatly enhanced ability to obtain information from the Agenda database. Because publication in the Federal Register is mandated for the regulatory flexibility agendas by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 602), the Department's published agenda entries include only:

(1) Rules that are in the Department's regulatory flexibility agenda, in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, because they are likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities; and

(2) Rules that the Department has identified for periodic review under section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

Publication of these entries is limited to fields that contain information required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act's Agenda requirements. Additional information on these entries is available in the Unified Agenda published online at www.reginfo.gov. In addition, for fall editions of the Unified Agenda, the entire

Regulatory Plan will continue to be printed in the Federal

Register, as in past years, including the Department's regulatory plan.

The Department is subject to certain rulemaking requirements set forth in the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act

(42 U.S.C. 3531 et seq.). Section 7(o) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3535(o)) requires that the

Secretary transmit to the congressional committees having jurisdictional oversight of HUD (the Senate Committee on Banking,

Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the House Committee on Financial

Services), a semiannual agenda of all rules or regulations that are under development or review by the Department. A rule appearing on the agenda cannot be published for comment before or during the first 15 calendar days after transmittal of the agenda. Section 7(o) provides that if, within that period, either committee notifies the Secretary that it intends to review any rule or regulation that appears on the agenda, the Secretary must submit to both committees a copy of the rule or regulation, in the form that it is intended to be proposed, at least 15 calendar days before it is to be published for comment. The semiannual agenda posted on www.reginfo.gov is the agenda transmitted to the committees in compliance with the above requirements.

HUD has attempted to list in this agenda all regulations and regulatory reviews pending at the time of publication, except for minor and routine or repetitive actions, but some may have been inadvertently omitted, or may have arisen too late to be included in the published agenda. There is no legal significance to the omission of an item from this agenda. Also, where a date is provided for the next rulemaking action, the date is an estimate and is not a commitment to act on or by the date shown.

In some cases, HUD has withdrawn rules that were placed on previous agendas for which there has been no publication activity.

Withdrawal of a rule does not necessarily mean that HUD will not proceed with the rulemaking. Withdrawal allows HUD to assess the subject matter further and determine whether rulemaking in that area is appropriate. Following such an assessment, the Department may determine that certain rules listed as withdrawn under this agenda are appropriate. If that determination is made, such rules will be included in a succeeding semiannual agenda.

In addition, for a few rules that have been published as proposed or interim rules and which, therefore, require further rulemaking, HUD has identified the timing of the next action stage as ``undetermined.'' These are rules that are still under review by

HUD for which

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a determination and timing of the next action stage have not yet been made.

Since the purpose of publication of the agenda is to encourage more effective public participation in the regulatory process by providing the public with early information about the Department's future regulatory actions, HUD invites all interested members of the public to comment on the rules listed in the agenda.

Dated: September 2, 2008.

Roy A. Bernardi,

Deputy Secretary.

Office of Housing--Final Rule Stage

Regulation

Sequence

Title

Identifier

Number

Number

365

24 CFR 3500 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA): Simplification and

2502-AI61

Improvement of the Process of Obtaining Home Mortgages and Reducing Consumer Costs (FR- 5180) (Reg Plan Seq No. 78)...........................................................

References in boldface appear in the Regulatory Plan in part II of this issue of the Federal Register.

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Final Rule Stage

Office of Housing (OH)

365. REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES ACT (RESPA): SIMPLIFICATION AND

IMPROVEMENT OF THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING HOME MORTGAGES AND REDUCING

CONSUMER COSTS (FR-5180)

Regulatory Plan: This entry is Seq. No. 78 in part II of this issue of the Federal Register.

RIN: 2502-AI61

FR Doc. E8-21250 Filed 11-21-08; 8:45 am

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