[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 227 (Tuesday, November 25, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66294-66295]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29325]



[[Page 66293]]

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Part V





Department of Housing and Urban Development





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America's Affordable Communities Initiative, HUD's Initiative on 
Removal of Regulatory Barriers: Identification of HUD Regulations That 
Present Barriers to Affordable Housing; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 68 , No. 227 / Tuesday, November 25, 2003 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4890-N-01]


America's Affordable Communities Initiative HUD's Initiative on 
Removal of Regulatory Barriers: Identification of HUD Regulations That 
Present Barriers to Affordable Housing

AGENCY: Office of General Counsel, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In June 2003, HUD announced a new initiative, America's 
Affordable Communities Initiative. America's Affordable Communities 
Initiative focuses on breaking down regulatory barriers that impede the 
production or rehabilitation of affordable housing. As part of this 
initiative, HUD will, among other things, examine federal, state, and 
local regulations to identify those regulations that present 
significant barriers to the production or rehabilitation of affordable 
housing. The goal of these activities is to determine the feasibility 
of removing the barriers or reducing the burden imposed by the 
barriers. The purpose of this notice is to solicit public comment from 
HUD's program partners and participants, as well as other interested 
members of the public, on HUD regulations that address the production 
and rehabilitation of affordable housing and present barriers to the 
production and rehabilitation of affordable housing throughout America.

DATES: Comment Due Date: January 26, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice 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. A copy of each communication submitted 
will be available for public inspection and copying during regular 
business hours (weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time) at the above 
address. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Camille E. Acevedo, Associate General 
Counsel for Legislation and Regulations, Office of General Counsel, 
Room 10282, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20410-0500, telephone (202) 708-1793 (this 
is not a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech impairments 
may access this number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal 
Information Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In an effort to break down regulatory 
barriers that impede the production of affordable housing across our 
nation, in June 2003, HUD announced America's Affordable Communities 
Initiative (the Initiative). This departmentwide initiative will 
harness existing HUD resources to develop tools to measure and 
ultimately mitigate the harmful effects of excessive barriers to 
affordable housing. The Initiative has its roots in the Department's 
renewed emphasis to increase the stock of housing to meet our nation's 
housing demands. For example, in calendar year 2001, HUD announced the 
creation of the Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse, a central, web-based 
repository of successful affordable housing endeavors. The Regulatory 
Barriers Clearinghouse offers state and local governments, nonprofits, 
builders, and developers alike the opportunity to share ideas and 
solutions for overcoming state and local regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing. The Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse, like the 
Initiative, presents a public forum to facilitate the identification 
and resolution of regulatory barriers to affordable housing. The 
Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse can be found at http://www.regbarriers.org.
    One of the tasks of the Initiative will be to examine federal, 
state, and local regulatory barriers to affordable housing and 
determine the feasibility of removing the barriers or, at a minimum, 
reducing the burden created by the barriers. HUD, as the federal agency 
with responsibility for promoting and facilitating the production and 
rehabilitation of affordable housing, will first examine its own 
regulations. HUD has commenced the process of reviewing its own 
regulations that address the production and rehabilitation of 
affordable housing to identify those that constitute unnecessary, 
excessive, cumbersome, or duplicative departmental regulatory 
requirements. HUD intends to target those regulations that raise costs 
substantially or significantly impede the development or rehabilitation 
of America's stock of affordable housing.
    For this task, HUD seeks the assistance of its current and former 
program participants and partners, which include states and local 
governments, public housing agencies, state finance agencies, nonprofit 
and for-profit organizations, and the general public. HUD's regulations 
may be found in title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations (24 CFR), 
or on the Internet at http://www.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/cfrassemble.cgi?title=200324.
    Many HUD regulations reflect statutory requirements for which HUD 
has no authority to change. Other HUD regulations reflect statutory 
requirements for which HUD was authorized to exercise discretion, but 
only in the manner of implementation of the statute. Consequently, HUD 
may be able to revise the manner of implementation but not the 
underlying requirement. Nonetheless, HUD welcomes the identification of 
HUD regulations that impose barriers to the production or 
rehabilitation of affordable housing. Where HUD has no authority to 
change a regulation due to statutory requirements, the identification 
of the regulation may nevertheless assist HUD in identifying statutes 
that present barriers to affordable housing and for which a statutory 
amendment may be both appropriate and feasible. In these cases, HUD 
will consult with the appropriate Congressional committees to discuss 
statutory changes.
    Although some regulations may impose or appear to impose barriers 
to the production or rehabilitation of affordable housing, they may 
nonetheless be necessary to protect the safety and security of certain 
housing residents or the surrounding communities. These regulations may 
establish requirements for housing that is decent, safe and sanitary 
(requirements that HUD has a statutory obligation to fulfill) or the 
regulations may establish accessibility standards for the elderly or 
persons with disabilities. Change to these types of regulations may not 
be possible. Even though HUD may be unable to change certain 
regulations, HUD nonetheless solicits comments on all regulations that 
present or appear to present barriers to affordable housing.
    With the identification of HUD regulations that impose barriers to 
affordable housing, HUD also welcomes proposals or suggestions for how 
these regulations may be changed in those cases where it may be 
apparent that total repeal of the regulation is not feasible. For 
example, where application and approval processes are a necessary part 
of the production or rehabilitation of affordable housing, HUD is 
interested in comments on whether these processes are too cumbersome or 
too complicated and is equally interested to receive proposals on how 
these processes can be streamlined and simplified.
    To submit comments in response to this notice, HUD requests that

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commenters clearly identify the HUD regulation by its section number in 
24 CFR (for example, 24 CFR 275.42). HUD also requests that the 
commenter identify the specific concerns or problems with the 
regulation. At the conclusion of the public comment period, HUD will 
review all regulations identified by commenters. HUD will then issue a 
second notice that advises the public of the regulations identified by 
commenters, as well as HUD's plans for next steps in the ongoing 
process of addressing its own regulatory barriers to affordable 
housing.
    Removal of regulatory barriers or reduction of the burden of 
regulatory barriers is a priority initiative for HUD, and HUD welcomes 
the public's participation in this process.

    Dated: October 28, 2003.
A. Bryant Applegate,
Senior Counsel and Director of America's Affordable Communities 
Initiative.
[FR Doc. 03-29325 Filed 11-24-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P