[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 236 (Thursday, December 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76660-76661]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31120]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4621-N-02]


Community Planning and Development Formula Programs: Assisting 
Persons With Disabilities--Recipients' Affirmatively Furthering Fair 
Housing Responsibilities and Involvement of Persons With Disabilities 
in Planning Actions

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development, and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and 
Equal Opportunity, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to reemphasize the 
responsibility of Community Planning and Development formula grant 
program recipients to: (1) Affirmatively further fair housing which 
includes analyzing compliance with the multifamily design and 
construction requirements of the Fair Housing Act (the Act); and (2) 
include individuals with disabilities in the citizen participation 
process for the development of Consolidated Plans and Annual Action 
Plans.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bryan Greene, Office of Fair Housing 
and Equal Opportunity, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 
Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410; telephone (202) 708-1145 
(this is not a toll-free number), or Terry Buss, Office of Community 
Planning and Development, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 
451 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410; telephone (202) 708-2504 
(this is not a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech 
impairments may access these numbers via TTY by calling the toll-free 
Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Every three to five years, each State and local government that is 
a recipient of HUD formula grant funds through the Community 
Development Block Grant Program, HOME Investment Partnerships Program, 
Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS Program or the Emergency 
Shelter Grant Program must submit a complete Consolidated Plan that 
assesses its priority housing and homeless needs, including the needs 
of persons with disabilities, and establishes a strategic plan for 
addressing these needs. (In this notice, the term ``jurisdictions'' (or 
``jurisdiction'') refers to States and local governments that are 
recipients of this funding.)
    Annually, jurisdictions must submit the Action Plan component of 
the Consolidated Plan which describes how these funds will be used. 
When preparing its Consolidated Plan and its Action Plans, the 
jurisdiction must include the participation of its citizens in 
accordance with its citizen participation plan. The citizen 
participation plan must provide for and encourage citizens to 
participate in the development of the Consolidated Plan, including any 
substantial amendments to the Consolidated Plan, and preparation of the 
Annual Performance Report. Jurisdictions are also expected to take 
whatever actions are appropriate to encourage the participation of all 
its citizens, including minorities and non-English speaking persons, as 
well as persons with disabilities.
    In its annual submission to HUD, each recipient jurisdiction must 
submit a certification required by the Community Development Block 
Grant regulations (24 CFR 570.601(a)(2)) and the Consolidated Plan 
regulations (24 CFR 91.225(a)(1), 91.325(a)(1) [States] and 
91.425(a)(1) [Consortia]) that it will affirmatively further fair 
housing. The jurisdiction's affirmatively furthering certification 
means that the jurisdiction will conduct an analysis to identify 
impediments to fair housing choice within the jurisdiction, take 
appropriate actions to overcome the effects of any impediments 
identified through that analysis, and maintain records reflecting the 
analysis and actions taken. If the jurisdiction is not undertaking 
these actions, the Department may reject the certification and 
disapprove the Consolidated Plan.
    The analysis of impediments (AI) to fair housing choice includes an 
assessment of conditions, both public and private, affecting fair 
housing choice. The amendments to the Act in 1988 made it unlawful to 
discriminate against persons because of disability, including the 
failure to make multifamily residential structures built for first 
occupancy after March 13, 1991 accessible to persons with disabilities. 
The Act requires that all units in an elevator building with four or 
more units be accessible to persons with disabilities. In a non-
elevator building with four or more units, all ground floor units must 
be accessible to such persons. These requirements apply whether the 
building is privately or publicly constructed and owned.

[[Page 76661]]

Recommended Actions To Meet These Responsibilities

    HUD encourages jurisdictions that are recipients of funds covered 
by the Consolidated Plan to make outreach efforts to ensure that 
persons with disabilities are consulted and have an equal opportunity 
to participate in developing the jurisdiction's analysis of needs and 
plans for the use of Federal and other resources. HUD staff in the 
State and Area Community Planning and Development and Fair Housing and 
Equal Opportunity Offices can be consulted in helping develop outreach 
efforts and a significant amount of information is found on HUD's 
homepage on the Internet at www.hud.gov.
    During the new five-year Consolidated Plan cycle that begins in 
Fiscal Year 2001, Consolidated Plan jurisdictions are strongly 
encouraged to periodically review and update their AIs, as appropriate, 
to give the same attention to impediments to fair housing choice for 
persons with disabilities as is provided for other bases of 
discrimination such as race that have been prohibited by the Act since 
its inception in 1968. HUD in its review of Annual Action Plan 
submissions and during on-site reviews, will consider whether 
jurisdictions are giving appropriate attention in their Action Plans to 
compliance with the accessibility requirements of the Act by both 
private and public housing providers.
    Jurisdictions are also encouraged to take other actions to advance 
fair housing choice for persons with disabilities in support of their 
certification to affirmatively further fair housing. Recent HUD House 
Appropriations report language would direct HUD, when reviewing 
Consolidated Plans, to take into consideration a community's adoption 
of a building code that satisfies the Act's accessibility requirements 
along with the community's other efforts to remove impediments to fair 
housing (see H. Rep. 106-674).
    With respect to building codes, HUD encourages elected officials 
and those engaged in housing and community development programs to 
determine whether the jurisdiction's building code is inconsistent in 
any respect with the Act's accessibility requirements. HUD's recently 
completed review of the four model building codes for consistency with 
the Act can assist with this determination because most local building 
codes are derived from one or more national model codes. HUD's final 
report reviewing the model building codes was published in the Federal 
Register on March 23, 2000 (65 FR 15740).
    In its March 23, 2000 final report, HUD identified those areas of 
the model building codes that were not consistent with the 
accessibility requirements of the Act, and included recommended 
language for addressing these variations. Since that time, HUD has been 
working with the model code organizations and other interested persons 
in developing proposed code language to address the findings in the 
Department's final report with respect to the International Building 
Code 2000.
    HUD also encourages jurisdictions to find ways to inform builders 
and architects as early as possible in the project design phase, but 
certainly no later than the issuance of a building permit, of the need 
to comply with the accessibility requirements of the Act.

    Dated: December 1, 2000.
Joseph A. D'Agosta,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development.
Eva M. Plaza,
Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
[FR Doc. 00-31120 Filed 12-6-00; 8:45 am]
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