[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 10, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11943-11945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-5859]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-4398-N-03]
1998 HUD Disaster Recovery Initiative Amendments
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and
Development, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice amends a notice published October 22, 1998,
governing the allocation and use of HUD Disaster Recovery Initiative
grant funds. The amendments add Indian tribes and Guam, the Northern
Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa (Insular Areas)
as eligible grant recipients and make technical corrections to the
Allocation and Expenditure of Funds section of the original notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jan C. Opper, Senior Program Officer,
Office of Block Grant Assistance, Department of Housing and Urban
Development, Room 7286, 451 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20410,
telephone number (202) 708-3587. Persons with hearing or speech
impairments may access this number via TTY by calling the Federal
Information Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. FAX inquiries may be sent
to Mr. Opper at (202) 401-2044. (Except for the ``800'' number, these
telephone numbers are not toll-free.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 1998 Supplemental Appropriations and
Rescissions Act (Pub. L. 105-174, 112 Stat. 58, approved May 1, 1998),
required the publication of a notice governing the allocation and use
of 1998 HUD Disaster Recovery Initiative grant funds. On October 22,
1998, at 63 FR 56764, HUD published a notice to address this
requirement. The notice of October 22, 1998 is amended by this notice
to make technical corrections and incorporate changes made by section
215 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban
Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (Pub. L.
105-276, 112 Stat. 2461, approved October 21, 1998), which added Indian
tribes and Insular Areas (Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the
Virgin Islands, and American Samoa) as eligible grant recipients. The
changes made by the amendments in this notice include amending the
definition of ``State'' and ``State grant recipient'' for the purposes
of these grants, adjusting specific elements required in the grant
application and specifying certifications for Indian tribes. Technical
corrections are to the Allocation and Expenditure of Funds section.
Accordingly, FR Doc. 98-28436, the 1998 HUD Disaster Recovery
Initiative Notice, published in the Federal Register October 22, 1998,
63 FR 56764, is amended as follows:
1. On page 56765, in column 2, the definitions of State and State
grant recipient in section I.D. are revised to read as follows:
State means any State of the United States, and the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, or an instrumentality thereof approved by the Governor.
Additionally, except as pertains to environmental review
responsibilities under 24 CFR part 58, for these 1998 Supplemental
Appropriations Act funds only, the term ``States'' also includes Indian
tribes and Insular Areas (Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the
Virgin Islands, and American Samoa).
State grant recipient means a unit of general local government that
receives a DRI grant through a State. Additionally, for these 1998
Supplemental Appropriations Act funds only, the term ``State grant
recipient'' also includes
[[Page 11944]]
Indian tribes and Insular Areas (Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands,
the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa).
2. On page 56765, in column 3, paragraph c. of section I.E.2. is
removed, and paragraphs d. and e. are redesignated as c. and d.,
paragraph e. is added as follows, and the redesignated paragraphs c.
and d. are revised to read as follows:
c. HUD has set minimum grant amounts for the allocation of funds
per disaster at the lesser of $1.5 million or the amount of unmet need
identified by FEMA from State sources, and maximum grant amounts per
disaster at $20 million.
d. HUD may calculate the allocations of funds to States for an
individual declared disaster or in one or more groupings of declared
disasters, as it deems appropriate.
e. If a State certifies that it has determined that the unmet needs
data previously submitted to FEMA are inaccurate or significantly
incomplete, within 45 days of publication of this notice, the Governor
may request HUD, in consultation with FEMA, to accept, review, and
identify as unmet needs, a revised State submission of such needs.
Those needs must be related to a disaster declared during fiscal year
1998 or declared prior to the date of this notice during fiscal year
1999. Such request must be accompanied by the revised unmet needs data
in the same format as previously prescribed by FEMA and by a
justification for reconsideration.
3. On page 56765, in column 3, in section I.E.3., the date October
1, 2005, is corrected to read October 1, 2006.
4. On page 56766, in column 1, sections I.F.2. and 3. are revised
to read as follows:
2. Match contributions must be made to DRI-funded recovery projects
related to covered disasters.
3. Match may be provided by any public entity from non-Federal
cash, real estate, or revenue resources owned or controlled by the
public entity or the value of public improvements and public facilities
activities, or force account work undertaken.
5. On page 56766, in column 3, a new section I.G.2A. is added to
read as follows:
2A. Indian tribes and the Insular Areas (Guam, the Northern Mariana
Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa), only, may omit from
their Action Plans the items listed in paragraphs d. and e. of section
I.G.2. of this notice, above.
6. On page 56766, in column 3, section I.G.3. is revised to read as
follows:
3. A State must only distribute DRI funds to units of general local
government and to Indian tribes that have the capability to carry out
disaster recovery activities. Indian tribes, and Guam, the Northern
Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, may carry out
activities directly.
7. On page 56766, in column 3, the introductory text of section
I.G.4. is revised to read as follows:
4. Each State must describe monitoring standards and procedures
pursuant to Sec. 91.330 and include certifications pursuant to:
8. On page 56766, in column 3, a new section I.G.4A. is added to
read as follows:
4A. Instead of following section I.G.4. of this notice, above, each
Indian tribe must describe monitoring standards and procedures and
certify that:
a. It will comply with the requirements of Title II of Public Law
90-284 (25 U.S.C. 1301) (the Indian Civil Rights Act) and any
applicable anti-discrimination laws;
b. It will provide the drug-free workplace required by 24 CFR part
24, subpart F;
c. It will comply with restrictions on lobbying required by 24 CFR
part 87, together with disclosure forms, if required by that part;
d. It will comply with all applicable laws;
e. It possesses the legal authority to apply for the DRI grant and
execute the proposed program;
f. Except as waived, it will comply with the acquisition and
relocation requirements of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real
Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, as amended, implementing
regulations at 49 CFR part 24;
g. Prior to submission of its application to HUD, it has met the
citizen participation requirements of section I.G.5.b. of this notice;
h. The Action Plan for Disaster Recovery has been developed so that
more than 50 percent of the funds received under this grant will be
used for activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons (as
the term ``activities benefiting low- and moderate-income persons'' is
used at Sec. 570.483(b)).
9. On page 56766, in column 3, paragraph I.G.5.ii. is corrected to
read as follows:
ii. Publish a proposed Action Plan for Disaster Recovery in such
manner to afford affected citizens and units of general local
government an opportunity to examine its content and to submit comments
on the proposed disaster recovery activities and on the community
development performance of the grantee; and
10. On page 56768, in column 3, section I.H.9., the first sentence
of the introductory text is corrected to read as follows:
9. Reimbursement for pre-award costs. The effective date of the
grant agreement is the date HUD obligates the appropriated funds by
executing the grant agreement.
11. On page 56770, in column 2, the first paragraph of the
introductory text of section I.M.2. is revised to read as follows:
2. Labor standards. In part because Davis-Bacon requirements are
not applicable to FEMA disaster grants, it is necessary to clarify the
applicability of Davis-Bacon requirements in relationship to the use of
DRI funds in disaster recovery efforts. This section of this Notice
addresses Davis-Bacon applicability to use of DRI funds to reimburse
property owners for construction work either completed or in process at
the time use of those funds is contemplated. In accordance with the
authority under section 107(e)(2) of the Act, the Secretary has waived
the labor standards requirements for Indian tribes under this program.
12. On page 56772, in column 3, a new section II.C.3. is added to
read as follows:
3. Sections II.C.1. and II.C.2. of this notice, above, do not apply
to Indian tribes, which are governed instead by the requirements of
Indian Civil Rights Act (25 U.S.C. 1301-1303 Title II of the Civil
Rights Act of 1968).
13. On page 56773, in column 2, a new section II.D.4. is added to
read as follows:
4. Sections II.D.1. and II.D.2. of this notice, above, do not apply
to Indian tribes, which are governed by the Indian Civil Rights Act.
14. On page 56773, in column 2, section II.E.1. is revised to read
as follows:
1. Prior to the commitment of any DRI funds, grantees must comply
with the regulations in 24 CFR part 58. These regulations require: the
analysis of potential environmental impacts; consultation with
interested parties; and public notification of the results of the
analysis and intent to request release of funds from HUD. State grant
recipients must assume the responsibility for environmental reviews
under the Disaster Recovery Initiative. States administering DRI funds
must assume the responsibilities set forth in section 58.18 for
overseeing the State grant recipients' compliance with environmental
review requirements, including receiving requests for release
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of funds (RROF) and environmental certifications from State grant
recipients and objections from government agencies and the public in
accordance with subpart H of 24 CFR part 58. Indian tribes, Guam, the
Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa must
forward to the responsible HUD field office the environmental
certification, the RROF and any objections received, and must recommend
to HUD whether to approve or disapprove the certification and RROF.
Authority
1998 Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions Act (Pub. L. 105-
174, 112 Stat. 58, at 76-77, approved May 1, 1998); Departments of
Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent
Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (Pub. L. 105-276, 112 Stat. 2461,
section 215, approved October 21, 1998).
Dated: March 4, 1999.
Cardell Cooper,
Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development.
[FR Doc. 99-5859 Filed 3-9-99; 8:45 am]
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