[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 241 (Thursday, December 16, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 70274]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-32665]



[[Page 70274]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4497-N-04]


Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS): Transition Assistance on 
Compliance With Management Indicator #5; PHA Annual Inspection of Units

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian 
Housing, and Office of the Director of the Real Estate Assessment 
Center, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice is a follow-up to the PHAS notice published on 
October 21, 1999, which advised of transition assistance in connection 
with implementation of the PHAS for public housing agencies (PHAs) with 
fiscal years ending September 30, 1999, and December 31, 1999. The 
October 21, 1999, notice advised that these PHAs would not be issued a 
PHAS score for their 1999 fiscal years, but would be issued a 
management assessment score based on HUD's assessment of the PHA's 
management operations in accordance with 24 CFR part 902, subpart D. 
This notice provides information to PHAs on how to meet the 
requirements of Management Indicator #5 (PHA annual inspection of units 
and systems) of this subpart.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wanda Funk, Real Estate Assessment 
Center, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1280 Maryland 
Avenue, SW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20024; telephone REAC's Customer 
Service Center at (888) 245-4860 (this is a toll free number). Persons 
with hearing or speech impairments may access this number via TTY by 
calling the Federal Information Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. 
Additional information is available from the REAC web site at <http://
www.hud.gov/reac/>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose of the Notice

    On September 1, 1998, HUD issued two final rules: (1) the Uniform 
Physical Condition Standards (UPCS) and Physical Inspection 
Requirements for Certain HUD Housing (63 FR 35650), with regulations 
codified at 24 CFR part 5; and (2) the Public Housing Assessment System 
(PHAS) (63 FR 46596), with regulations codified at 24 CFR part 902. The 
UPCS are incorporated in subpart B of the final PHAS rule. Subpart D of 
the PHAS rule, titled Management Operations, requires PHAs to inspect 
their units and systems using the UPCS (see Sec. 902.43(a)(5)).
    The PHAS rule (Sec. 902.60) requires PHAs with fiscal years ending 
(FYE) on and after September 30, 1999, to submit an electronic 
certification regarding their performance relative to each management 
indicator. Section 902.43(a)(5) of the rule which addresses Management 
Indicator #5 titled ``PHA annual inspection of units and systems'' 
requires a PHA's inspection to utilize the HUD uniform physical 
condition standards set forth in subpart of part 902. Therefore, a 
PHA's certification under Sec. 902.60 must include a statement that the 
units were inspected using the UPCS.
    In October 1998, HUD made available to the public through its web 
site a demonstration version of the UPCS inspection software that the 
REAC uses to conduct inspections (see http://www.hud.gov/reac/). HUD 
also made available through its web site the training guidebook that 
the REAC uses to train HUD inspectors. Additionally, the REAC just 
recently made available a public use version of its inspection software 
through its Customer Service Center.
    In the next few months, HUD plans to make available a list of 
training vendors that have been approved to provide training to the 
PHAs and other HUD program participants on the UPCS. Given that these 
products were only recently made available by HUD, HUD recognizes that 
PHAs with fiscal years ending September 30, 1999, and December 31, 
1999, will not be able to certify that inspections of units were made 
in accordance with the UPCS.
    This notice therefore advises PHAs with fiscal years ending 
September 30, 1999, and December 31, 1999 that they may meet the 
requirements of Management Indicator #5 by certifying that their 
occupied units were inspected in accordance with HUD's Section 8 
Certificate Program Housing Quality Standards (HQS).
    Since 1992, PHAs have been required to conduct inspections under 
the regulations of the Public Housing Management Assessment Program (24 
CFR part 901) using local code or the Section 8 Certificate Program 
Housing Quality Standards (HQS), whichever is more stringent. The 
standards and the items to be inspected under the HQS and the UPCS are 
substantially equivalent.
    Consistent with HUD's October 21, 1999, notice to provide 
transition assistance in connection with implementation of the PHAS to 
PHAs with FYs ending September 30, 1999, and December 31, 1999, and 
given that HUD only recently released its UPCS inspection software and 
training guidebook, PHAs with FYEs of September 30, 1999, and December 
31, 1999, that conducted annual unit and system inspections using the 
HQS and HQS form will be deemed to have inspected using the UPCS for 
the purpose of the Management Operations certification under the PHAS 
rule.

    Dated: December 13, 1999.
Harold Lucas,
Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.
Donald J. LaVoy,
Acting Director of the Real Estate Assessment Center.
[FR Doc. 99-32665 Filed 12-15-99; 8:45 am]
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