[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 68 (Friday, April 9, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17301-17302]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-9004]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

24 CFR Part 990

[Docket No. FR-4425-N-03]


Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Operating Fund Allocation; 
Meetings

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

ACTION: Notice of Negotiated Rulemaking Committee Meetings.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the second and third meetings of the 
Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Operating Fund Allocation. These 
meetings are sponsored by HUD for the purpose of discussing and 
negotiating a proposed rule that would change the current method of 
determining the payment of operating subsidies to public housing 
agencies (PHAs).

DATES: The second committee meeting will be held on April 13 and April 
14, 1999. On April 13, 1999, the meeting will begin at approximately 
9:30 am and run until completion; on April 14, 1999, the meeting will 
begin at approximately 9:00 am and run until approximately 4:00 pm.
    The third committee meeting will be held on May 13 and may 14, 
1999. On May 13, 1999, the meeting will begin at approximately 9:30 am 
and run until completion; on May 14, 1999 the meeting will begin at 
approximately 9:00 am and run until approximately 4:00 pm.

ADDRESSES: The second and third committee meetings will take place at 
the Hyatt Dulles Hotel (Concorde Ballroom), 2300 Dulles Corner 
Boulevard, Herndon, VA 22071.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joan DeWitt, Director, Funding and 
Financial Management Division, Public and Indian Housing, Room 4216, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 431 Seventh Street, SW, 
Washington, DC 20410-0500; telephone (202) 708-1872 ext. 4035 (this 
telephone numbers 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: The Secretary of HUD has established the 
Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Operating Fund Allocation to 
negotiate and develop a proposed that would change the current method 
of determining the payment of operating subsidies to PHAs. The 
establishment of the committee is required by the Quality Housing and 
Work Responsibility Act of 1996 (Pub.L. 105-276, approved October 21, 
1998; 112 Stat. 2461) (the ``Public Housing Reform Act''). The Public 
Housing Reform Act makes extensive changes to HUD's public and assisted 
housing programs. These changes include the establishment of an 
Operating Fund for the purpose of making assistance available to PHAs 
for the operation and management of public housing. The Public Housing 
Reform Act requires that the assistance to be made available from the 
new Operating Fund be determined using a formula developed through 
negotiated rulemaking procedures.
    On March 16, 1999 (64 FR 12920), HUD published a notice in the 
Federal Register that announced: (1) The establishment of the 
negotiated rulemaking committee; (2) the names of the committee 
members; and (3) the dates, location, and agenda for the first 
committee meeting. The second and third meetings of the negotiated 
rulemaking committee will take place as described in the DATES and 
ADDRESSES section of this notice.
    The agenda planned for the committee meetings includes: (1) The 
adoption of committee protocols, as appropriate; (2) defining the goals 
for the operating fund formula; (3) discussing the various methods for 
translating these goals into a formula-based allocation system; and (4) 
the scheduling of future meetings.
    In accordance with the General Services Administration (GSA) 
regulations implementing the Federal Advisory Committee Act, HUD 
normally publishes a Federal Register meeting notice at least 15 
calendar days before the date of an advisory committee meeting. The GSA 
regulations, however, also provide that an agency may give less than 15 
days notice if the reasons for doing so are included in the Federal 
Register meeting notice. (See 41 CFR 10-6.1015(b).) Due to the 
difficulty in obtaining suitable hotel and conference room 
accommodations in the Washington, DC area during April, 1999, it has 
not been possible for HUD to announce the date and location of the 
second committee meeting before today. Given the strict statutory 
deadline for implementation of the Operating Fund formula, HUD believes 
it is imperative that the negotiations for development of the formula 
not be delayed. Failure to publish the Operating Fund final rule on a 
timely basis will delay the provision of operating subsidies to PHAs. 
Accordingly, rather than defer the negotiations, HUD has decided to 
proceed with the second committee meeting on April 13 and April 14, 
1999.

[[Page 17302]]

    The meetings will be open to the public without advance 
registration. Public attendance may be limited to the space available. 
Members of the public may make statements during the meeting, to the 
extent time permits, and file written statements with the committee for 
its consideration. Written statements should be submitted to the 
address listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION section of this notice. 
Summaries of committee meetings will be available for public inspection 
and copying at the address in the same section.

    Dated: April 7, 1999.
Harold Lucas,
Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.
[FR Doc. 99-9004 Filed 4-8-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-33-P