[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 144 (Friday, July 26, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48933-48934]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-18898]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4734-N-29]


Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB; 
Emergency Comment Request Applying to HUD for Designation of State or 
Locally Developed Housing in the State of New York as ``Covered Units'' 
Eligible for Inclusion in the Federal Public Housing Program; Notice of 
Proposed Information Collection for Public Comment

AGENCY: Office of The Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian 
Housing.

ACTION: Notice of proposed information collection.

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SUMMARY: The proposed information collection requirement described 
below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for emergency review and approval, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 3507(j)). The Department is 
soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

DATES: Comments Due Date: August 2, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposal. Comments must be received within fourteen (14) days from 
the date of this Notice. Comments should refer to the proposal by name 
and should be sent to: Lauren Wittenberg, HUD Desk Officer, Office of 
Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW., Room 10235, New Executive 
Office Building, Washington, DC 20503; e-mail: Lauren 
[email protected]; fax: 202-395-6974.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wayne Eddins, Reports Management 
Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410; e-mail [email protected]; 
telephone (202) 708-2374. This is not a toll-free number. Copies of 
available documents submitted to OMB may be obtained from Mr. Eddins.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Notice informs the public that the U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has submitted to OMB, 
for emergency processing, an information collection package for Public 
Housing Agencies (PHAs) eligible under court orders regarding 
federalization language contained within section 519(n) of the Quality 
Housing and Work Responsibility Act (QHWRA) of 1998 to request that 
State and Locally Developed public housing units in the State of New 
York be included in the Federal public housing program and receive 
Federal operating and capital funds.
    This Notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and 
affecting agencies concerning the proposed collection of information 
to: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) 
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (3) Enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) Minimize the 
burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond; 
including through the use of appropriate automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    This Notice also lists the following information:
    Title of Proposal: Applying to HUD for Designation of State or 
Locally Developed Housing in the State of New York as ``Covered Units'' 
Eligible for Inclusion in the Federal Public Housing Program.
    Description of Proposed Information Collection: Notice to Public 
Housing Agencies (PHAs) in the State of New York they may apply for 
designation of public housing units developed and funded in accordance 
with New York law as ``covered units,'' up to 7,000 of which will be 
eligible to receive Federal public housing operating and capital funds 
allocated according to statutory and regulatory formulas; provide 
information about all developments and units that could be ``covered 
units''; and communicate PHAs' preferences as to which of their 
developments and units they would want included in the Federal housing 
program. Specifically, PHAs will be asked to submit information on: (1) 
Name of developments; (2) Number of units; (3) Location (census tract); 
(4) Age and general condition; (5) Composition of units by bedroom 
size, and family, elderly, or disabled designation; (6) Current vacancy 
rate and vacancy rate for past two years; (7) If readily available, 
actual operating expenses for the last two fiscal years; if not readily 
available, any unusually large recent, current or projected operating 
costs (e.g. extraordinarily high utilities costs); (8) Summary of large 
capital improvements made over preceding five-year period; (9) 
Projected capital need for next five years; (10) Debt service amounts 
(if any); (11) Extraordinary liabilities the Federal government may 
need to assume (e.g. litigation); (12) Most recent Public Housing 
Assessment System (PHAS) rating and designation for the PHA from HUD, 
or copy of any recent performance assessment from applicable State or 
local government or other independent entity; and (13) Other 
information requested by HUD as necessary to complete its review. This 
information will be used to aid HUD in determining which units shall 
receive the ``covered'' designation.
    OMB Control Number: Pending OMB approval.
    Agency Form Numbers: None.
    Members of Affected Public: State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Estimation of the total numbers of hours needed to prepare the 
information collection including number of respondents, frequency of 
responses, and hours of responses: Of the 24 PHAs with State or Locally 
developed public housing units, 22 PHAs have total unit counts ranging 
from 50 to 300 units. The remaining 2 PHAs each have over 1,000 such 
units. It is anticipated the information requested shall be readily 
available from existing planning and reporting documents, with the 
possible exception of on-site capital assessments as mentioned above. 
The overall estimate of average hours per response includes the time to 
research available data sources, extract relevant data, conduct on-site 
property inspections, complete five-year capital improvement 
assessments, and compile and assemble information in the required 
format. An estimation of the total number of hours needed to prepare 
the information collection is 960, number of respondents is 24, 
frequency response is annually, and the hours of response is 40.

    Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 
Chapters 35, as amended.


[[Page 48934]]


    Dated: July 18, 2002.
Wayne Eddins,
Departmental Reports Management Officer, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 02-18898 Filed 7-25-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-72-M