[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 53 (Friday, March 19, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13531-13533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6852]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

24 CFR Chapter IX

[Docket No. FR-4459-N-02]


Section 8 Housing Certificate Fund Rule; Notice of Intent To 
Establish a Negotiated Rulemaking Committee and Notice of First Meeting

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

ACTION: Notice of intent to establish a negotiated Rulemaking Advisory 
Committee and notice of first meeting.

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SUMMARY: HUD is establishing a Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee 
under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The establishment of the 
committee is required by the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility 
Act of 1998, which requires issuance of regulations under the 
Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990. The purpose of the Committee is to 
discuss and negotiate a rule that would change the current method of 
distributing funds to public housing agencies (PHAs) funds for purposes 
of renewing assistance contracts in the tenant-based Section 8 program. 
The committee will consist of

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persons representing stakeholder interests in the outcome of the rule. 
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 564 (section 564 of the Negotiated 
Rulemaking Act of 1990), this document advises the public of the 
establishment of the committee; provides the public with information 
regarding the committee; solicits public comment on the proposed 
membership of the committee; and explains how persons may be nominated 
for membership on the committee.

DATES: Comment due date: April 19, 1999. HUD's tentative plan is to 
hold the first meeting of the committee on April 27 and 28, 1999.

ADDRESSES: HUD has not yet selected a site for the first committee 
meeting.
    Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding the 
committee and its proposed members to the Regulations Division, Office 
of General Counsel, Room 10276, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410-0500. 
Comments should refer to the above docket number and title. Facsimile 
(FAX) comments are not acceptable. The docket will be available for 
public inspection and copying between 7:30 am and 5:30 pm weekdays at 
the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Dalzell, Senior Program 
Advisor, Office of Public and Assisted Housing Delivery, Office of 
Public and Indian Housing, Room 4204, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410-0500; 
telephone (202) 708-1380 (this telephone number is not toll-free). 
Hearing or speech-impaired individuals may access this number via TTY 
by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-
877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On October 21, 1998, the Congress enacted the Quality Housing and 
Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-276, 112 Stat. 2461) (the 
``Public Housing Reform Act''). The Public Housing Reform Act made 
significant changes to HUD's public and assisted housing programs. 
These changes include the addition of a new section 8(dd) to the United 
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.).
    The new section 8(dd) specifies the method to be used by HUD in 
calculating assistance provided to public housing agencies (PHAs) to 
renew Section 8 tenant-based rental and voucher contracts. 
Specifically, section 8(dd) directs HUD to establish an allocation 
baseline amount of assistance (budget authority) to cover the renewals, 
and to apply an inflation factor (based on local or regional factors) 
to the baseline. The new provision states as follows:

    (dd) Tenant-Based Contract Renewals.--Subject to amounts 
provided in appropriation Acts, starting in fiscal year 1999, the 
Secretary shall renew all expiring tenant-based annual contribution 
contracts under this section by applying an inflation factor based 
on local or regional factors to an allocation baseline. The 
allocation baseline shall be calculated by including, at a minimum, 
amounts sufficient to ensure continued assistance for the actual 
number of families assisted as of October 1, 1997, with appropriate 
upward adjustments for incremental assistance and additional 
families authorized subsequent to that date.

    Section 556(b) of the Public Housing Reform Act requires HUD to 
implement section 8(dd) through notice not later than December 31, 
1998, and to issue final regulations on this subject that are developed 
through the negotiated rulemaking process no later than October 21, 
1999. On December 30, 1998, HUD issued Public and Indian Housing (PIH) 
Notice 98-65, which advised PHAs on how HUD is calculating the amount 
of assistance available for purposes of Section 8 tenant-based rental 
certificate and voucher contract renewals. On February 18, 1999 (64 FR 
8188), HUD published a notice in the Federal Register providing, for 
the benefit of the public, the contents of PIH Notice 98-65.
    Under the allocation procedure described in PIH Notice 98-65, HUD 
has determined a baseline number of units for each PHA as of October 1, 
1997 based on information that each PHA provided to HUD. HUD adjusts 
the baseline number of units to reflect any changes to the number of 
units allocated to a PHA since October 1, 1997 (such as the award of 
additional units through Notices of Funding Availability for Section 8 
assistance). HUD then determines the actual per unit cost based on data 
provided by PHAs in their year end statements. HUD subsequently adjusts 
the per unit cost by applying an inflation factor. Ultimately, HUD 
multiplies the adjusted number of units by this adjusted cost per unit 
to determine a given PHA's allocation. While the amount varies among 
PHAs, the subsidies constitute a significant level of assistance to 
families served by a particular agency. For example, in 1999, HUD 
expects to distribute over $8 billion to PHAs to renew expiring tenant-
based contracts in the Section 8 program.

II. Regulatory Negotiation

    Negotiated rulemaking, or ``neg-reg,'' is a relatively new process 
for HUD. The basic concept of neg-reg is to have the agency that is 
considering drafting a rule bring together representatives of affected 
interests for face-to-face negotiations that are open to the public. 
The give-and-take of the negotiation process is expected to foster 
constructive, creative and acceptable solutions to difficult problems.
    In February 1999 HUD entered into a cooperative agreement with the 
Consensus Building Institute, Inc. (CBI) to obtain its assistance and 
expertise in convening and facilitating the negotiated rulemaking 
required by section 556 of the Public Housing Reform Act. CBI has begun 
the process of interviewing potential candidates that may be selected 
to serve on the negotiated rulemaking advisory committee. The current 
schedule calls for CBI to submit its convening report to HUD in early 
April of 1999.

III. Committee Membership

    The CBI conveners consulted and interviewed 29 officials of various 
organizations that would be affected by the Section 8 funding 
allocation rule. The goal is to develop a committee whose membership 
reflects a balanced representation of interested organizations and 
individuals in terms of size, location, level and type of housing 
agency and special circumstances. After reviewing the recommendations 
of the CBI conveners, HUD has tentatively identified the following list 
of possible interests and parties. This list should be considered 
tentative, and the final list of participants may not include all of 
these parties. HUD will decide on the final list of participants, based 
upon comments on this document, as well as its own efforts to identify 
other entities having an interest in the outcome of this rulemaking.

 Housing Agencies
    1. Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, 
Boston, MA
    2. New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Trenton, NJ
    3. Southeastern Minnesota Multi-County Housing and Redevelopment 
Authority, Wabasha, MN
    4. Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency, Oklahoma City, OK
    5. Fort Worth Housing Authority, Fort Worth, TX
    6. Minneapolis Metropolitan Council Housing and Redevelopment 
Agency, Saint Paul, MN

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    7. Santa Cruz County Housing Authority, Santa Cruz, CA
    8. Burlington Housing Authority, Burlington, VT
    9. Michigan State Housing Development Authority, Lansing, MI
    10. New York City Housing Authority, NYC, NY
    11. Atlanta Housing Authority, Atlanta, GA
    12. Panama City Housing Authority, Panama City, FL
    13. Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority, Cincinnati OH
    14. Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
 Public Interest Groups
    1. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, D.C.
    2. New Community Corporation, Newark, NJ
 National PHA Associations
    1. Public Housing Authority Directors Association (PHADA)
    2. National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials 
(NAHRO)
    3. Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA)
    4. National Leased Housing Association (NLHA)
 Federal Government
    1. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

    HUD invites you to provide comments and suggestions on this 
tentative list of committee members. HUD does not believe that each 
potentially affected organization or individual must necessarily have 
its own representative. However, HUD must be satisfied that the group 
as a whole reflects a proper balance and mix of interests. Accordingly, 
the composition of the final list will likely be different from this 
tentative list. Negotiation sessions will be open to members of the 
public, so individuals and organizations that are not members of the 
committee may attend all sessions and communicate informally with 
members of the committee.

IV. Neighborhood and Community Based Groups

    In particular, HUD welcomes and solicits expressions of interest or 
nominations from any groups or individuals that operate on behalf of 
the communities, neighborhoods, and special needs groups served by the 
tenant-based Section 8 program, and from organizations that represent 
local officials.

V. Requests for Representation

    If you are interested in serving as a member of the committee or in 
nominating another person to serve as a member of the committee, you 
must submit a written nomination to HUD at the address listed in the 
ADDRESSES section of this document. Your nomination for membership on 
the committee must include:
    (1) The name of your nominee and a description of the interests the 
nominee would represent;
    (2) Evidence that your nominee is authorized to represent parties 
with the interests the nominee would represent;
    (3) A written commitment that the nominee will actively participate 
in good faith in the development of the rule; and
    (4) The reasons that the parties listed in this document do not 
adequately represent your interests.
    HUD will determine, in consultation with the CBI conveners, whether 
a proposed member should be included in the makeup of the committee. 
HUD will make that decision based on whether a proposed member would be 
significantly affected by the proposed rule and whether the interest of 
the proposed member could be represented adequately by other members.

VI. Substantive Issues for Negotiation

    The subject and scope of the rule to be considered is the 
development of a methodology for allocating funding to renew assistance 
contracts under the tenant-based Section 8 program, in accordance with 
the criteria described in section 556 of the Public Housing Reform Act.

VII. Final Notice Regarding Committee Establishment

    After reviewing any comments on this Notice and any requests for 
representation, HUD will issue a final notice. That notice will 
announce the final composition of the Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory 
Committee and the firm date, time, and place of the initial meeting.

VIII. Tentative Schedule

    At this time, HUD's tentative plan is to hold the first meeting of 
the committee on April 27 and 28, 1999. On April 27, 1999, the meeting 
is expected to start at 9:00 am and run until completion; on April 28, 
1999, the meeting is expected to start at 9:00 am and run until 
approximately 3:00 pm. HUD has not yet selected a site for the 
meetings. The purpose of the meeting will be to orient members to the 
neg-reg process, to establish a basic set of understandings and ground 
rules (protocols) regarding the process that will be followed in 
seeking a consensus, and to begin to address the issues. This meeting 
will be open to the public. In the event that the date and times of 
these meetings are changed, HUD will advise the public through a 
Federal Register notice.
    Decisions with respect to future meetings will be made at the first 
meeting and from time to time thereafter. Notices of future meetings 
will be published in the Federal Register.

    Dated: March 16, 1999.
Harold Lucas,
Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing
[FR Doc. 99-6852 Filed 3-18-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-33-P