[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 17, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13229-13230]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6399]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Notice of Fund Availability and Distribution Process of the FY 
1999 Housing Improvement Program Appropriation

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Fiscal Year (FY) 1999 Department of the Interior, Bureau 
of Indian Affairs (Bureau), Housing Improvement Program (HIP) 
appropriation is $18,780,383. This Notice of Fund Availability 
describes the process by which this appropriation will be distributed 
to Bureau Area Offices and subsequently for individual eligible 
grantees through Indian tribal governments for FY 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: June Henkel, Office of Tribal 
Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, 1849 C 
Street, NW, MS-4603-MIB, Washington, D.C. 20240. Telephone 202-208-
3667, Fax 202-208-2648.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of this notice is to identify 
the methodology that will be used to distribute the Housing Improvement 
Program FY 1999 Appropriation.

Background

    The HIP provides housing services to individuals, in the form of a 
grant, and is available to the neediest of the needy Indian applicants 
residing on Indian reservations or within ``approved service areas.'' 
An Indian reservation means any federally recognized Indian tribe's 
reservation, Pueblo, or Colony, including former reservations in 
Oklahoma, Alaska Native regions established pursuant to the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act, Pub. L. 92-203, and Indian allotments. 
Eligible individual Indian applicants are those with limited resources 
who do not qualify for or otherwise cannot receive assistance from 
other housing programs. The HIP provides a non-duplicative service and 
differs from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 
Indian housing programs specifically because the recipients of HIP 
grants are unable to meet HUD's minimum income requirements.
    Revised HIP regulations, published in the Federal Register on March 
2, 1998, and effective on April 1, 1998 (63 FR 10134), establish the 
Bureau's housing policy that every American Indian family should have 
the opportunity for a decent home and suitable living environment. To 
the extent possible, the program will serve the neediest of the needy 
Indian applicants. Accordingly, the Bureau defines the HIP as a 
secondary safety net program which provides assistance to Indian 
applicants who have no other recourse for housing assistance.
    The limited availability of funds for this program require the 
continued use of a needs based distribution methodology. Funds are made 
available to tribal governments based upon the submission of: (1) 
viable, annual work plans, containing (a) the identification of 
eligible applicants; (b) identification

[[Page 13230]]

of the category of assistance needed; and, (c) the estimated project 
costs for each eligible applicant; and, (2) a report of prior year 
accomplishments.

Basis for Distribution of the FY 1999 HIP Appropriation

    Area Offices will distribute FY 1999 HIP funds to the tribes within 
their respective areas who: (1) Have eligible applicants as defined 
under the revised rule in 25 CFR 256, effective April 1, 1998; (2) have 
submitted their FY 1997 inventory of housing needs; (3) have viable 
work plans; (4) are in compliance with the intent of the program; (5) 
have an approved service area; and, (6) provide a report of prior year 
accomplishments.
    A viable work plan means that planned work projects fall within the 
scope and framework of the HIP and that the tribe has eligible HIP 
applicants. Funds will be distributed only to tribes with eligible HIP 
applicants.
    The HIP funds identified for the Office of Self-Governance (OSG) 
tribes with an annual funding agreement are provided under the same 
general guidance as for other tribes. HIP funding should only be made 
available to tribes with eligible HIP applicants and in accordance with 
the payment provision, Pub. L. 103-413, Sec. 403(g)(3), which requires 
the Secretary to ``* * * provide funds to the tribe under an agreement 
under this title for programs, services, functions, and activities, or 
portions thereof, in an amount equal to the amount that the tribe would 
have been eligible to receive under contracts and grants under the 
Act.''
    Area Offices are to ensure that distributed amounts are sufficient 
to fund at least one complete project. Therefore, Area Offices must 
devise or follow a previously established plan to rotate funds between 
tribes with projects requiring two or more years funding. (The 
intention is to fund as many HIP projects as possible, while curtailing 
the amount of unexpended funds, to enable the Bureau to attain 
performance goals as outlined in the FY 1998 strategic plan). 
Accordingly, Area Offices are authorized to redistribute funds from 
those tribes unable to expend some or all of their FY 1998 funding, to 
other tribes capable of expending the funds. Area Offices must notify 
Central Office of such actions. In addition, the areas and the OSG will 
be required to submit a report to Central Office in May 1999, 
identifying the funds obligated/expended and the funds available to be 
withdrawn for reallocation to other locations because of the lack of 
HIP eligible applicants.
    Reprogramming of HIP funds to other Tribal Priority Allocation 
(TPA) programs is prohibited; however, tribes may supplement their HIP 
funds from other funding within their TPA.
    This Notice of Fund Availability and the Distribution Process for 
the FY 1999 Housing Improvement Program Appropriation does not include 
FY 1998 TPA funds that were prioritized by tribes to be used for HIP.

    Dated: February 18, 1999.
Kevin Gover,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 99-6399 Filed 3-16-99; 8:45 am]
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