[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 131 (Monday, July 8, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35802-35803]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-17174]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development
[Docket No. FR-4096-D-01]


Redelegation of Authority; Waiver of Directives

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of redelegation of authority.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning 
and Development redelegates to the Secretary's Representatives for 
HUD's Field Offices the same waiver authority of directives and 
handbook provisions pertaining to Community Planning and Development 
(CPD) programs, as provided to the CPD Program Directors in the HUD 
Field Offices. The Secretary's Representatives may further redelegate 
the authority to waive directives and handbook provisions to State and 
Area Coordinators within their geographic area.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 28, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joseph F. Smith, Director, Office of Executive Services, Office of 
Community Planning and Development, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Room 7208, 451 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410, 
telephone numbers (202) 708-1283 (voice), (202) 708-1455 (TTY). These 
are not toll-free numbers.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purposes of this redelegation is to 
provide the Secretary's Representatives with the same authority to 
waive directives, including handbook provisions, redelegated to CPD 
Program Directors in the Field Offices, and with the authority to 
further redelegate to State and Area Coordinators. This redelegation 
does not supersede the Department's Statement of Policy published on 
April 22, 1991, at 56 FR 16337, entitled ``Waiver of Regulations and 
Directives Issued by HUD.''
    Department directives mandated by statute, executive order, or 
regulation, and those related to civil rights compliance and 
enforcement are not within this redelegation. The Secretary is the 
ultimate repository of the authority both to issue and to waive the 
regulations of the Department. Typically the authority to issue 
regulations is delegated to an Assistant Secretary or official or 
equivalent rank. Under section 7(q) of the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development Act, 42 U.S.C. 3535(q), the Secretary may not 
delegate the authority to waive a regulation below the Assistant 
Secretary rank. This prohibition even includes individuals who have 
been delegated authority concurrent with the Assistant Secretary. Under 
circumstances prescribed in the policy statement, the General Counsel 
must concur on proposed waivers of regulations subject to section 7(q) 
of the HUD Act.
    Under HUD's policy statement on waiver of regulations and 
directives, Directive means a Handbook (including a change or 
supplement), notice, interim

[[Page 35803]]

notice, special directive, and any other issuance that the Department 
may classify as a directive. Handbook means a directive that 
communicates information of a permanent nature (including clarification 
of policies, instructions, guidance, procedures, forms, and reports) 
for HUD staff or program participants. Its permanent nature 
distinguishes a Handbook from other temporary HUD directives such as 
notices.
    As part of the Department's continued commitment to empowering 
communities, the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development is redelegating in this document additional authority to 
HUD's Secretary's Representatives. Each Secretary's Representative is 
redelegated limited authority to issue waivers of Department 
directives, including handbook provisions, for CPD program for the 
geographic area for which the Secretary's Representatives is 
responsible. The Secretary's Representative is concurrently redelegated 
the same authority to waive Department directives concerning CPD 
programs as reside with the Directors of CPD for the Field Offices in 
the geographic area. The Program Director and the Secretary's 
Representative must jointly concur in all requests for waivers, whether 
the request is granted or denied. If the Secretary's Representative and 
the Program Director do not agree, the matter will be referred to the 
Assistant Secretary for CPD for resolution. If the Secretary's 
Representative further redelegates his or her authority to a State and 
Area Coordinator, and the Program Director and State and Area 
Coordinator disagree on a waiver request, the State and Area 
Coordinator will refer the matter to the Secretary's Representative.
    Accordingly, the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development redelegates as follows:

Section A. Authority redelegated

    The Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development 
concurrently redelegates to each Secretary's Representative the 
following authority to waive Department directors, including handbook 
provisions, concerning CPD programs for the geographic area for which 
the Secretary's Representative is responsible. This authority includes 
the same authority to waive CPD directives as is redelegated to Field 
Office Program Directors in the geographic area. The extent of this 
waiver authority is currently described in the CPD field reorganization 
redelegation at 59 FR 18280 (April 15, 1994), as amended by the 
redelegation at 60 FR 30312 (June 8, 1995.) Each waiver granted shall 
be in writing, specify the grounds for the waiver, and shall be 
transmitted in writing to the Assistant Secretary for CPD. The 
Assistant Secretary for CPD will publish any changes or further 
amendments to these redelegations.

Section B. Authority to further redelegate

    The authority redelegated pursuant to Section A., above, may be 
further redelegated to the State and Area Coordinators for the 
geographic region of the Secretary's Representative. If the Secretary's 
Representative redelegates this authority to a State and Area 
Coordinator, the redelegation shall include the requirement that each 
waiver granted shall be in writing, specify the grounds for the waiver, 
and shall be transmitted in writing simultaneously to the appropriate 
Secretary's Representative and to the Assistant Secretary for CPD.

    Authority: Sec. 7(d) of the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development (42 U.S.C. 3535(d).

    Dated: June 28, 1996.
Andrew M. Cuomo,
Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development.
[FR Doc. 96-17174 Filed 7-5-96; 8:45 am]
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