[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 7, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24968-24969]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-11812]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR4221-D-01]
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.
ACTION: Delegation of authority.
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SUMMARY: In this notice, the Secretary of the Department of Housing and
Urban Development delegates all power and authority to administer the
Portfolio Reengineering Demonstration Programs to the Assistant
Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner.
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 28, 1997.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
George C. Dipman, Demonstration Program Coordinator, Office of
Multifamily Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451
Seventh Street, SW., Room 6106, Washington, DC 20410-4000; Telephone
(202) 708-3321. (This is not a toll-free number.) Hearing or speech-
impaired individuals may call 1-800-877-8399 (Federal Information Relay
Service TTY).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Over 800,000 housing units in approximately
8,500 projects are currently financed with FHA-insured loans and
supported by project-based Section 8 housing assistance payment
(``HAP'') contracts. In many cases, these HAP contracts currently
provide for rents which substantially exceed the rents received by
comparable unassisted units in the local market. Starting in Fiscal
Year (``FY'') 1996, those Section 8 contracts began to expire, and
Congress and the Administration provided one-year extensions of
expiring contracts at a cost of over $200 million. While annual HAP
contract extensions for these projects maintain an important housing
resource, they come at great expense. Every year more contracts expire,
compounding the cost of annual extensions. In ten years, the annual
cost of renewing Section 8 contracts is projected to rise to
approximately $7 billion, about one-third of HUD's current budget. If,
however, the Section 8 assistance is reduced or eliminated, there is an
increased likelihood that these projects will be unable to continue to
meet their financial obligations including operating expenses, debt
service payments, and current and future capital needs.
In seeking a solution to this serious problem, Congress enacted
Section 210 of Departments of Veteran Affairs and Housing and Urban
Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 (110
Stat. 1321) (``HUD's FY 1996 Appropriations Act''), authorizing HUD to
conduct a demonstration program designed to explore various approaches
for restructuring the financing of projects that have FHA-insured
mortgages and that receive Section 8 rental assistance, and taking
other related action in order to reduce the risk to the FHA insurance
fund and lower subsidy costs while preserving housing affordability and
availability.
Sections 211 and 212 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and
Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations
Act, 1997 (Pub. L. No. 104-204, 110 Stat. 2874, approved September 26,
1996) (``HUD's FY 1997 Appropriations Act'') respectively, grant
Section 8 Contract Renewal Authority, repeal the Portfolio
Reengineering Demonstration Program authorized by Section 210 of HUD's
FY 1996 Appropriations Act, and authorize the conduct of a new
Portfolio Reengineering Demonstration Program, modelled in large part
after the FY 1996 Portfolio Reengineering Demonstration Program.
Although Section 212 of HUD's FY 1997 Appropriations Act repealed
the Portfolio Reengineering Demonstration Program authorized under
Section 210 of HUD's 1996 Appropriations Act, funds made available
under Section 210 remain available through FY 1997, and the FY 1997
Portfolio Reengineering Demonstration Program does not nullify any
agreements or proposals that have been submitted under the FY 1996
Portfolio Reengineering Demonstration Program. Proposals submitted
under the FY 1996 Portfolio Reengineering Demonstration Program which
were received by the Department prior to September 25, 1996 will
continue to be
[[Page 24969]]
processed by HUD, pursuant to the FY 1996 legislation.
The Portfolio Reengineering Demonstration Program, authorized by
the FY 1996 Appropriations Act, as implemented by a notice published at
61 FR 34664, July 2, 1996, and the Portfolio Reengineering
Demonstration Program, authorized by the FY 1997 Appropriations Act, as
implemented by a notice published at 62 FR 3566, January 23, 1997,
grant the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
all power and authority to administer these demonstration programs.
Accordingly, the Secretary delegates authority as follows:
Section A. Authority Delegated
The Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development
delegates to the Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing
Commissioner all power and authority to administer the Portfolio
Reengineering Demonstration Programs, as granted by Section 210 of the
Departments of Veteran Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and
Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 (110 Stat. 1321), and
Sections 211 and 212 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing
and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act,
1997 (Pub. L. No. 104-204, 110 Stat. 2874, approved September 26,
1996).
Section B. Authority Excepted
The authority delegated under Section A does not include the power
to sue or be sued.
Authority: Section 7(d), Department of Housing and Urban
Development Act, 42 U.S.C. 3535(d).
Dated: March 28, 1997.
Andrew Cuomo,
Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
[FR Doc. 97-11812 Filed 5-6-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-32-M