[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 13, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-8896]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 13, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing
[Docket No. N-94-3748; FR-3685-N-01]

 

HOPE for Public and Indian Housing Homeownership Program (HOPE 
1); Award Based on Procedural Error

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

action: Notice of award based on procedural error.

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summary: This notice announces an award of a HOPE 1 grant of 
$24,882,854 to the New Community Corporation in Newark, New Jersey. 
This award is made after a determination by the Department that a 
procedural error was made in processing applications under a HOPE 1 
Notice of Fund Availability (NOFA) published on October 6, 1992.

for further information contact: Gary Van Buskirk, Office of Resident 
Initiatives, Department of Housing and Urban Development, room 4112, 
451 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410; telephone (202) 708-
4233. To provide service for persons who are hearing- or speech-
impaired, this number may be reached via TDD by dialing the Federal 
Information Relay Service on 1-800-877-TDDY, 1-800-877-8339, or 202-
708-9300. (Telephone numbers, other than ``800'' TDD numbers, are not 
toll free.)

supplementary information: After re-examining the procedures used to 
process applications submitted in response to a NOFA for the HOPE 1 
program published on October 6, 1992, the Department has concluded that 
it made a ``procedural error'' with respect to one applicant. Section 
415(b)(5) of the HOPE 1 Program Guidelines states: ``Procedural errors 
discovered after notification of approved applicants which, if 
corrected, would result in approval of an application which was not 
approved will be corrected by funding the application from any unused 
amounts or `off the top' from amounts available for implementation 
grants in the next funding round.'' HUD has determined that it made a 
procedural error in reviewing the HOPE 1 implementation grant 
application submitted by the New Community Corporation for a portion of 
the Hayes Homes public housing development in Newark, New Jersey. The 
Department established a minimum score in that competition by using the 
lowest score awarded to a funded application in the previous funding 
round. This minimum score disqualified the New Community Corporation 
from being funded in the competitive round.
    Upon further examination, HUD concluded that it made an error in 
its method of establishing the minimum score, since New Community 
Corporation was rated on only eight selection criteria and the minimum 
score used was based upon applications rated under nine criteria. (New 
Community Corporation was only rated under eight criteria because it 
was the only eligible applicant in the funding round and the ninth 
criterion, which was intended to compare the cost-per-unit among 
multiple applicants, could not be applied in the case of a sole 
applicant competition.) Accordingly, HUD determined that in 
establishing the minimum score, it should have pro-rated the score 
awarded to the lowest funded application from the previous competitive 
round. Since New Community Corporation would have been eligible for 
funding but for HUD's failure to pro-rate the minimum score, it is 
funding New Community Corporation's application.
    The Department will utilize unused amounts from appropriations for 
fiscal years 1992 through 1994 to fund the $24,882,854 awarded to the 
New Community Corporation as outlined below. The Department will 
allocate $9,592,854 from unused funds appropriated in fiscal years 
1992-93 to fund a portion of the $24,882,854 that is being awarded to 
the New Community Corporation under this notice. The remaining 
$15,190,000 of the grant will be funded using amounts appropriated for 
the HOPE program in 1994.
    On August 2, 1993, the Department published a NOFA announcing the 
availability of $182,047,160 in funding for implementation grants for 
the HOPE 1 program (58 FR 41126). On September 1, 1993, the Department 
published an amendment to the NOFA increasing the funding being made 
available by $24,000,000 from $182,047,160 to $206,047,160 due to the 
conclusion of the processing of a reprogramming request (58 FR 46209). 
The funds were appropriated by the Departments of Veterans Affairs and 
Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriation 
Acts for fiscal year 1992 (Pub. L. 102-139, approved October 28, 1991) 
and fiscal year 1993 (Pub. L. 102-389, approved October 6, 1992). In 
its fiscal year 1994 appropriations bill for HUD, Congress rescinded 
$45,000,000 from the amounts remaining available for the HOPE 1 program 
under the Department's fiscal year 1992 appropriation (Pub. L. 102-139) 
and $130,000,000 from the amounts remaining available under the 
Department's fiscal year 1993 appropriation (Pub. L. 102-389) for a 
total recision of $175,000,000 in the amount of funds made available 
under the previously published NOFA and amendment. On January 13, 1994, 
the Department published a second amendment to the August 2, 1993 NOFA 
decreasing the amount available by $175,000,000 from $206,047,160 to 
$31,047,160 (59 FR 1968). Of the $31,047,160 available under the NOFA, 
$9,692,854 will be used to fund a portion of the $24,882,854 that is 
being awarded to the New Community Corporation pursuant to this notice. 
The remainder of the grant will be funded using amounts appropriated 
for the HOPE program in 1994.
    In the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban 
Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriation Acts for fiscal 
year 1994 (Pub. L. 103-124, approved October 28, 1993), Congress 
appropriated a combined total of $109,190,000 for the following 
programs: The HOPE for Public and Indian Housing Homeownership program 
(HOPE 1), the HOPE for Homeownership of Multifamily Units program (HOPE 
2), the HOPE for Homeownership of Single Family Homes program (HOPE 3), 
and the HOPE for Youthbuild Program. In the Emergency Supplemental 
Appropriations Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103-211, approved February 12, 
1994), $66,000,000 was rescinded from the $109,190,000 appropriated for 
fiscal year 1994, leaving $43,190,000. Of the $43,190,000 remaining 
subsequent to the rescission, the Department is allocating $15,190,000 
to the HOPE 1 program. The entire HOPE 1 allocation of $15,190,000 will 
be utilized to fund the portion of the grant awarded to the New 
Community Corporation not funded using amounts available under the 
Fiscal Year 1992-93 appropriations.

    Dated: March 29, 1994.
Joseph Shuldiner,
Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.
[FR Doc. 94-8896 Filed 4-12-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-33-M