Notice of Continuation of Demonstration To Test Proposed New Method of Assessing the Physical Conditions of Voucher-Assisted Housing

Published date28 May 2019
Citation84 FR 24416
Record Number2019-11059
SectionProposed rules
CourtHousing And Urban Development Department
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 102 (Tuesday, May 28, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 102 (Tuesday, May 28, 2019)]
                [Proposed Rules]
                [Pages 24416-24418]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2019-11059]
                =======================================================================
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
                24 CFR Part 982
                [Docket No. FR-5928-N-02]
                Notice of Continuation of Demonstration To Test Proposed New
                Method of Assessing the Physical Conditions of Voucher-Assisted Housing
                AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian
                Housing, HUD.
                ACTION: Demonstration continuation.
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                SUMMARY: Through this document, HUD solicits comment on the
                continuation of a demonstration designed to test the new method of
                assessing the physical condition of housing assisted by HUD vouchers
                (voucher-assisted housing). The original announcement of the
                Demonstration was published in the Federal Register on May 4, 2016. In
                the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the act appropriating
                funds for HUD in Fiscal Year (FY 2016), Congress directed HUD to
                implement a single inspection protocol for public housing and voucher
                units. The continuation of this demonstration is necessary to meet that
                requirement. The demonstration commenced the process for implementing
                that single inspection protocol.
                DATES: Comments Due Date: July 29, 2019.
                ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments to the
                Office of the General Counsel, Regulations Division, Department of
                Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 10276,
                Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communications should refer to the above
                docket number. There are two methods for submitting public comments.
                 1. Submission of Comments by Mail. Comments may be submitted by
                mail to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department
                of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 10276,
                Washington, DC 20410-0500. Due to security measures at all federal
                agencies, however, submission of comments by mail often results in
                delayed delivery. To ensure timely receipt of comments, HUD recommends
                that comments submitted by mail be submitted at least two weeks in
                advance of the public comment deadline.
                 2. Electronic Submission of Comments. Interested persons may submit
                comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
                http://www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly encourages commenters to
                submit comments electronically. Electronic submission of comments
                allows the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment,
                ensures timely receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make comments
                immediately available to the public. Comments submitted electronically
                through the http://www.regulations.gov website can be viewed by other
                commenters and interested members of the public. Commenters should
                follow instructions provided on that site to submit comments
                electronically.
                 Note: To receive consideration as public comments, comments
                must be submitted using one of the two methods specified above.
                Again, all submissions must refer to the docket number and title of
                the notice.
                 No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile (fax) comments are not acceptable.
                 Public Inspection of Comments. All comments and communications
                submitted to HUD will be available, for public inspection and copying
                between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at the above address. Due to
                security measures at the HUD Headquarters building, an advance
                appointment to review the public comments must be scheduled by calling
                the Regulations Division at (202) 708-3055 (this is not a toll-free
                number). Copies of all comments submitted are available for inspection
                and downloading at http://www.regulations.gov.
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George Forbes, Inspection Standards
                and Data--Vouchers Division, Real Estate Assessment Center, Office of
                Public and Indian Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development,
                550 12th Street SW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20410-4000; telephone
                number (202) 475-8735 (this is not a toll-free number). Persons with
                hearing or speech impairments may contact this number via TTY by
                calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                I. Structure of the Notice
                 This document discusses the background, goals, and comments
                received during the demonstration and the reasons for continuing the
                demonstration. Section II provides background on the origins of the
                Uniform Physical Condition Standards for Vouchers (UPCS-V) and progress
                of the demonstration. Section III discusses the impact of comments on
                the test plan for the demonstration and reframed goals based on those
                comments. Section IV describes what HUD is looking to accomplish in the
                next phase of the demonstration.
                II. Background
                 Information on the Housing Choice Voucher program and the current
                Housing Quality Standards (HQS), codified at 24 CFR 982.401, was
                presented in the May 4, 2016 Demonstration Notice.\1\ The HUD Office of
                Inspector General (OIG) released several audit reports and evaluations
                identifying weakness in the current HCV inspection program.\2\
                Additionally, the Senate Committee on Appropriations issued Report 113-
                045, accompanying the Senate bill for HUD's
                [[Page 24417]]
                2014 appropriations, directing HUD to ``. . . move to a consistent
                inspection standard across housing assistance programs, as well as
                [for] oversight of Section 8 units.'' \3\ In the Joint Explanatory
                Statement accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016,
                Public Law 114-113, approved December 18, 2015, Congress again directed
                HUD to implement a single inspection protocol for public housing and
                voucher units.\4\ Based on these findings and directives, HUD commenced
                the development of the UPCS-V inspection standard. Congress provided
                HUD with funding to improve its oversight of the HCV inspection program
                and to move the inspection standard for the HCV program to a standard
                consistent with other affordable housing programs, incorporating modern
                health and safety practices.\5\
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \1\ Notice of Demonstration to Test Proposed New Method of
                Assessing the Physical Conditions of Voucher-Assisted Housing, 81 FR
                26759 (May 4, 2016).
                 \2\ See e.g., HUD OIG Reports: 2018-PH-1002; 2017-PH-1007; 2016-
                AT-1005; 2015-CH-1007; 2014-NY-1003; 2012-BO-1005.
                 \3\ See page 100 of https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-113srpt45/pdf/CRPT-113srpt45.pdf.
                 \4\ See page 41 of Division L of the FY2016 Joint Explanatory
                Statement. See https://rules.house.gov/bill/114/hr-2029-sa.
                 \5\ See Title II of Division K of the FY2015 Joint Explanatory
                Statement. See https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2014/12/11/house-section/article/H9307-1.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 HUD is developing a single inspection standard for all units under
                the Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) and Multifamily
                programs, called National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real
                Estate (NSPIRE). NSPIRE will leverage the infrastructure of UPCS-V to
                demonstrate, test, and validate NSPIRE protocols. HUD envisions NSPIRE
                being used for all housing inspections.
                Demonstration Progress
                 Under the demonstration, HUD trained numerous public housing
                agencies (PHAs) and continues to train PHAs on a regular basis.
                Currently over 200 PHAs are actively participating in the program. This
                participation has been critical to the development of a viable
                inspection protocol. Active PHA participation in the demonstration
                allows HUD to conduct analysis on a statistically valid number of
                inspections using the UPCS-V Protocol version 2.5.\6\ In addition to
                training on the protocol and inspection process, HUD provided devices
                to some demonstration participants to mitigate the potential cost of
                off-the-shelf devices.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \6\ See https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/UPCSV-PROTOCOLREV.PDF.
                _____________________________________-
                 UPCS-V Protocol version 2.5 is currently active in the field. The
                much improved, streamlined, and alphabetized Defect Dictionary of UPCS-
                V Beta was drafted while version 2.5 was active in the field. In order
                to validate the changes made to the inspection protocol, HUD must field
                test UPCS-V Beta over the next two years. Further, HUD hopes to
                increase demonstration participation to gather more representative and
                informative data. HUD continues to recruit PHAs to participate. Contact
                [email protected] for more information on becoming a demonstration
                participant. HUD welcomes additional PHA participation.
                III. Impact of Comments and Demonstration Goals
                A. Impact of Comments
                 The initial demonstration was tailored to allow a variety of PHAs
                to participate. Many PHAs commented they wanted to participate but did
                not meet the initial selection criteria of the original demonstration
                notice, including PHA size, geographical spread, and/or number of
                inspections per week. HUD considered these comments and deemed it
                beneficial to allow some PHAs to participate in the demonstration that
                did not meet the initial criteria because it allowed stress testing in
                diverse environments and provided a more representative sample of
                inspections and issues. HUD also agreed with commenters with respect to
                allowing the participation of PHAs who use contract inspectors to
                conduct their inspections. Public comments supported the expansion of
                the selection criteria.
                 As a result of the ongoing demonstration, HUD developed, tested,
                and fielded a mobile inspection application that has received
                increasingly positive feedback from PHAs. PHA feedback has been
                critical throughout the demonstration, resulting in a significantly
                improved user experience for PHAs and increased data flow to HUD.
                 HUD's published list of Life-Threatening Conditions was an area of
                concern for several commenters.\7\ As many commenters noted, the
                expansion of UPCS-V will be easier to adopt by PHAs if the existing
                management applications is an integrated UPCS-V Protocol; to that end,
                HUD formatted the system to allow stakeholders to familiarize
                themselves with the progress of HUD's software development.\8\
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \7\ Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016
                (HOTMA)--Housing Quality Standard (HQS) Implementation Guidance
                [Notice PIH 2017-20 (HA)], HUD.GOV (Oct. 27, 2017). See also,
                Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016:
                Implementation of Various Section 8 Voucher Provisions, 82 FR 5458
                (Jan. 18, 2017).
                 \8\ See https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/reac/isdv/it/vedga.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                B. Demonstration Goals
                 Decent, safe, and sanitary housing is the objective of National
                Housing Policy, 42 U.S.C. 12702, and the primary goal of UPCS-V. HUD
                seeks to provide PHAs with an inspection protocol that gives them
                insight into the housing quality of subsidized units so they can use
                data-driven decisions to guide their program administration. The
                protocol itself is objective, accurate, and consistent in order to
                realize the goals of insightful data, which ensures PHAs provide
                decent, safe, and sanitary housing.
                 The three components of the demonstration, (1) evaluation of the
                revised inspection model (UPCS-V), (2) data standardization and
                information exchange, and (3) insight for improvement have made
                significant progress during the demonstration.\9\ UPCS-V Beta is
                awaiting validation in the field. By standardizing inspection
                procedures with participating PHAs, HUD seeks to provide access to
                incisive inspection data unavailable before. HUD's work with software
                vendors represents the first step in honing data standardization and
                information exchange to facilitate PHA access to meaningful data
                metrics. The third component of the demonstration provides insight for
                improvement. HUD's increasing capacity to analyze data provides PHAs
                with insight needed to improve their detailed understanding of the
                condition of voucher-assisted housing available through their program.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \9\ 81 FR 26760 (May 4, 2016) (the three components of the
                Demonstration were originally identified as: Evaluation of Revised
                Inspection Model (UPCS-V); Data Standardization and Information
                Exchange; and Oversight and Performance Improvement).
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                IV. The Next Phase of the Demonstration
                 To gather additional data and allow increased PHA participation,
                while avoiding the burden of defaulting to their original inspection
                models by current participants, HUD recognized the need to continue the
                UPCS-V Demonstration.
                 HUD welcomes input from every sector of the stakeholder population
                including tenants, landlords, and 3rd party software developers. HUD
                received positive feedback with respect to the streamlined and
                alphabetized defect dictionary of UPCS-V Beta. The current inspection
                application has significant improvements based on user feedback. HUD's
                software development team continues to communicate with stakeholders.
                These achievements are
                [[Page 24418]]
                the groundwork for successfully modernizing the voucher-assisted
                housing inspection standard.
                 HUD must consider several factors of significance in evaluating
                UPCS-V for successful completion. Does the protocol meet PHA needs? Is
                UPCS-V clear, accurate, objective, and consistent? Is it practical for
                all inspectors, from entry level to experienced? Does it provide
                valuable insight to PHAs, and is it cost effective for them to use?
                Inspection application development, training, and user acceptance
                testing are all critical components of providing stakeholders a quality
                product. The demonstration must encompass all these necessary
                components to provide stakeholders with a tool that meets their needs.
                To meet PHA needs and thoroughly address the above questions, a two-
                year continuation of the UPCS-V demonstration is necessary.
                 Dated: May 8, 2019.
                R. Hunter Kurtz,
                Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.
                [FR Doc. 2019-11059 Filed 5-24-19; 8:45 am]
                 BILLING CODE 4210-67-P
                

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT