[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 48 (Monday, March 14, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12542-12556]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-4771]



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Part II





Department of Agriculture





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Rural Housing Service



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Notice of Funding Availability; Notices

  Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 48 / Monday, March 14, 2005 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Housing Service


Notice of Availability of Funds; Multi-Family Housing, Single 
Family Housing

AGENCY: Rural Housing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Rural Housing Service (RHS) announces the availability of 
housing funds for fiscal year 2005 (FY 2005). This action is taken to 
comply with 42 U.S.C. 1490p, which requires that RHS publish in the 
Federal Register notice of the availability of any housing assistance.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 14, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information regarding this notice 
contact Lou Paulson, Management Analyst, Single Family Housing Direct 
Loan Division, telephone 202-720-1478, for single family housing (SFH) 
issues and Tammy S. Daniels, Loan Specialist, Multi-Family Housing 
Processing Division, telephone 202-720-0021, for multi-family housing 
(MFH) issues, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave., 
SW., Washington, DC, 20250. (The telephone numbers listed are not toll 
free numbers). For information on applying for assistance, visit our 
Internet Web site at http://offices.usda.gov and select your State or 
check the blue pages in your local telephone directory under ``Rural 
Development'' for the office serving your area. Near the end of this 
Notice is a listing of Rural Development State Directors.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Programs Affected

    The following programs are subject to the provisions of Executive 
Order 12372 that requires intergovernmental consultation with State and 
local officials. These programs or activities are listed in the Catalog 
of Federal Domestic Assistance under Nos.:

10.405 Farm Labor Housing (LH) Loans and Grants
10.410 Very Low to Moderate Income Housing Loans
10.411 Rural Housing Site Loans and Self-Help Housing Land 
Development Loans
10.415 Rural Rental Housing Loans
10.417 Very Low Income Housing Repair Loans and Grants
10.420 Rural Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance
10.427 Rural Rental Assistance Payments
10.433 Rural Housing Preservation Grants
10.442 Housing Application Packaging Grants

Discussion of Notice

    7 CFR part 1940, subpart L contains the ``Methodology and Formulas 
for Allocation of Loan and Grant Program Funds.'' To apply for 
assistance under these programs or for more information, contact the 
Rural Development Office for your area.

Multi-Family Housing (MFH)

I. General

    A. This provides guidance on MFH funding for the Rural Rental 
Housing program (RRH) for FY 2005 (it does not include carryover 
funds). Allocation computations have been performed in accordance with 
7 CFR 1940.575 and 1940.578. For FY 2005, State Directors, under the 
Rural Housing Assistance Grants (RHAG), will have the flexibility to 
transfer their initial allocations of budget authority between the 
Single Family Housing (SFH) Section 504 Rural Housing Grants and 
Section 533 Housing Preservation Grant (HPG) programs.
    B. MFH loan and grant levels for FY 2005 are as follows:

 
 
 
MFH Loan Programs Credit Sales........................       $ 1,488,819
Section 514 Farm Labor Housing (LH) loans.............        38,191,789
Section 515 Rural Rental Housing (RRH) loans..........        99,200,000
Section 521 Rental Assistance (RA) and 502(c)(5)(C)          581,411,200
 Advance..............................................
Section 516 LH grants.................................        15,872,000
Sections 525 Technical and Supervisory Assistance
 grants:
    (TSA) and 509 Housing Application Packaging grants           992,000
    (HAPG) (Shared between single and multi-family
     housing)
Section 533 Housing Preservation grants (HPG).........         8,810,944
Section 538 Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing Program...        99,200,000
Preservation Revolving Loan Fund Demonstration Program         2,976,000
 

II. Funds Not Allocated to States

    A. Credit Sales Authority. For FY 2005, $1,488,819 will be set 
aside for credit sales to program and nonprogram buyers. Credit sale 
funding will not be allocated by State.
    B. Section 538 Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing Program. Guaranteed 
loan funds will be made available under a Notice of Funding 
Availability (NOFA) being published in this Federal Register. 
Additional guidance is provided in the NOFA.

III. Farm Labor Housing (LH) Loans and Grants

    The Administrator has the authority to transfer the allocation of 
budget authority between the two programs. Upon NOFA closing, the 
Administrator will evaluate the responses and determine proper 
distribution of funds between loans and grants.
A. Section 514 Farm LH Loans
    1. These loans are funded in accordance with 7 CFR 1940.579(a).

 
 
 
FY 2005 Appropriation.................................       $38,191,789
Available for Off-Farm Loans..........................        32,000,000
Available for On-Farm Loans...........................         2,000,000
National Office Reserve...............................         4,191,789
 

    2. Off-farm loan funds will be made available under a NOFA being 
published in this Federal Register. Additional guidance is provided in 
the NOFA.
B. Section 516 Farm LH Grants
    1. Grants are funded in accordance with 7 CFR 1940.579(b). 
Unobligated prior year balances and cancellations will be added to the 
amount shown.

 
 
 
FY 2005 Appropriation.................................       $15,872,000
Available for LH Grants for Off-Farm..................        12,000,000
National Office Reserve...............................         3,872,000
 

    2. Labor Housing grant funds for Off-Farm will be made available 
under a NOFA being published in this Federal Register. Additional 
guidance is provided in the NOFA.
    C. Labor Housing Rental Assistance (RA) will be held in the 
National Office for use with LH loan and grant applications. RA is only 
available with a LH loan of at least 5 percent of the total development 
cost. Projects without a LH loan cannot receive RA.

IV. Section 515 RRH Loan Funds

 
 
 
FY 2005 Section 515 Rural Rental Housing allocation          $99,200,000
 (Total)..............................................
    New Construction funds and set-asides.............        25,792,000
        New construction loans........................         5,904,000
        Set-aside for nonprofits......................         8,928,000
        Set-aside for underserved counties and                 4,960,000
         colonias.....................................
        Earmark for EZ, EC, or REAP Zones.............         5,000,000

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        State RA designated reserve...................         1,000,000
    Rehab and repair funds and equity.................        53,408,000
        Rehab and repair loans........................        48,408,000
        Designated equity loan reserve................         5,000,000
    General Reserve...................................        20,000,000
 

    A. New construction loan funds. New construction loan funds will be 
made available using a national NOFA being published in this Federal 
Register. Additional guidance is provided in the NOFA.
    B. National Office New Construction Set-asides. The following 
legislatively mandated set-asides of funds are part of the National 
office set-aside:
    1. Nonprofit Set-aside. An amount of $8,928,000 has been set aside 
for nonprofit applicants. All Nonprofit loan proposals must be located 
in designated places as defined in 7 CFR part 3560.
    2. Underserved Counties and Colonias Set-Aside. An amount of 
$4,960,000 has been set aside for loan requests to develop units in the 
underserved 100 most needy counties or colonias as defined in section 
509(f) of the Housing Act of 1949 as amended. Priority will be given to 
proposals to develop units in colonias or tribal lands.
    3. EZ, EC or REAP Zone Earmark. An amount of $5,000,000 has been 
earmarked for loan requests to develop units in EZ or EC communities or 
REAP Zones until June 30, 2005.
    C. Rental Assistance (RA). Limited new construction RA will be held 
in the National office for use with Section 515 Rural Rental Housing 
loans.
    D. Designated Reserves for State RA. An amount of $1 million of 
Section 515 loan funds has been set aside for matching with projects in 
which an active State sponsored RA program is available. The State RA 
program must be comparable to the RHS RA program.
    E. Repair and Rehabilitation Loans. Tenant health and safety 
continues to be the top priority. Repair and rehabilitation funds must 
be first targeted to RRH facilities that have physical conditions that 
affect the health and safety of tenants and subsequently made available 
to facilities that have deferred maintenance. All funds will be held in 
the National Office and will be distributed based upon indicated 
rehabilitation needs in the MFH survey conducted in November 2004.
    F. Designated Reserve for Equity Loans. An amount of $5 million has 
been designated for the equity loan preservation incentive described in 
7 CFR part 3560. The $5 million will be further divided into $4 million 
for equity loan requests currently on the pending funding list and $1 
million to facilitate the transfer of properties from for-profit owners 
to nonprofit corporations and public bodies. Funds for such transfers 
would be authorized only for for-profit owners who are currently on the 
pending funding list who agree to transfer to nonprofit corporations or 
public bodies rather than to remain on the pending list. If 
insufficient transfer requests are generated to utilize the full $1 
million set aside for nonprofit and public body transfers, the balance 
will revert to the existing pending equity loan funding list.
    G. General Reserve. There is one general reserve fund of 
$20,000,000. Some examples of immediate allowable uses include, but are 
not limited to, hardships and emergencies, RH cooperatives or group 
homes, or RRH preservation.

V. Section 533 Housing Preservation Grants (HPG)

 
 
 
 
Total Available.......................................        $8,810,944
Less General Reserve..................................         3,959,072
Less Earmark for EZ, EC or REAP Zones.................           892,800
Total Available for Distribution......................         3,959,072
 

    Amount available for allocation. (See end of this Notice for HPG 
State allocations.) Fund availability will be announced in a NOFA being 
published in the Federal Register.
    The amount of $892,800 is earmarked for EZ, EC or REAP Zones until 
June 30, 2005.

Single Family Housing (SFH)

    I. General. All SFH programs are administered through field 
offices. For more information or to make application, please contact 
the Rural Development office servicing your area. To locate these 
offices, contact the appropriate State Office from the attached State 
Office listing, visit our Web site at http://offices.usda.gov or check 
the blue pages in your local telephone directory under ``Rural 
Development'' for the office serving your area.
    A. This notice provides SFH allocations for FY 2005. Allocation 
computations have been made in accordance with 7 CFR 1940.563 through 
1940.568. Information on basic formula criteria, data source and 
weight, administrative allocation, pooling of funds, and availability 
of the allocation are located on a chart at the end of this notice.
    B. The SFH levels authorized for FY 2005 are as follows:

 
 
 
 
Section 502 Guaranteed Rural Housing (RH) loans:
    Nonsubsidized Guarantees--Purchase............      **$3,106,964,939
    Nonsubsidized Guarantees--Refinance...........         **262,535,130
Section 502 Direct RH loans:
    Very low-income subsidized loans..............          *570,400,000
    Low-income subsidized loans...................          *570,400,000
Credit sales (Nonprogram).........................            10,000,000
Section 504 housing repair loans..................           *34,720,000
Section 504 housing repair grants.................         ***30,944,836
Section 509 compensation for construction defects.             **143,926
Section 523 mutual and self-help housing grants...         ***41,555,175
Section 523 Self-Help Site Loans..................            10,000,000
Section 524 RH site loans.........................             5,045,000
Section 306C Water and waste disposal grants......           **1,345,728
Section 525 Supervisory and technical:
    Assistance and Section 509 Housing Application
    Packaging Grants Total Available for single
    And multi-family..............................           **1,061,966

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    Natural disaster funds (Section 502 loans)....           **1,771,977
    Natural disaster funds (Section 504 loans)....          **20,481,558
    Natural disaster funds (Section 504 grants)...          **8,194,212
 
*Includes funds for EZ/EC and REAP communities until June 30, 2005.
**Carryover funds are included in the balance.

    C. SFH Funding Not Allocated to States. The following funding is 
not allocated to States by formula. Funds are made available to each 
state on a case-by-case basis.
    1. Credit sale authority. Credit sale funds in the amount of 
$10,000,000 are available only for nonprogram sales of Real Estate 
Owned (REO) property.
    2. Section 509 Compensation for Construction Defects. $143,926 is 
available for compensation for construction defects.
    3. Section 523 Mutual and Self-Help Technical Assistance Grants. 
$41,555,175 is available for Section 523 Mutual and Self-Help Technical 
Assistance Grants. Of these funds, $992,000 is earmarked for EZ, EC or 
REAP Zones until June 30, 2005. A technical review and analysis must be 
completed by the Technical and Management Assistance (T&MA) contractor 
on all predevelopment, new, and existing (refunding) grant 
applications.
    4. Section 523 Mutual and Self-Help Site Loans and Section 524 RH 
Site Loans. $10,000,000 and $5,045,000 are available for Section 523 
Mutual Self-Help and Section 524 RH Site loans, respectively.
    5. Section 306C WWD Grants to Individuals in Colonias. The 
objective of the Section 306C WWD individual grant program is to 
facilitate the use of community water or waste disposal systems for the 
residents of the colonias along the U.S.-Mexico border.
    The total amount available to Arizona, California, New Mexico, and 
Texas will be $1,345,728 for FY 2005. This amount includes the 
carryover unobligated balance of $345,728 and the transferred amount of 
$1 million from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to RHS for processing 
individual grant applications.
    6. Section 525 Technical and Supervisory Assistance (TSA) and 
Section 509 Housing Application Packaging Grants (HAPG). $1,061,966 is 
available for the TSA and HAPG programs. Funds are available on a 
limited basis for TSA grants. In accordance with the provisions of 7 
CFR 1944.525, funding will be targeted nationally and then on an 
individual basis to States/areas with the highest degree of substandard 
housing and persons in poverty eligible to receive Agency housing 
assistance. States should submit proposals from potential applicants to 
the National Office for review and concurrence prior to authorizing an 
application.
    Requests should be submitted to the National Office for HAPG based 
on projected usage of these funds for the quarter or as needed. HAPG 
requests should be submitted by e-mail to Gloria Denson, Senior Loan 
Specialist, SFH Direct Loan Division, 202-720-1487. Reserve funds will 
be held at the National Office and requests from eligible States will 
be considered on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional guidance 
is provided in the NOFA.
    7. Natural Disaster Funds. Funds are available until exhausted to 
those States with active Presidential Declarations.
    8. Deferred Mortgage Payment Demonstration. There is no FY 2005 
funding provided for deferred mortgage authority or loans for deferred 
mortgage assumptions.

II. State Allocations

A. Section 502 Nonsubsidized Guaranteed RH (GRH) Loans
    1. Purchase--Amount Available for Allocation.

 
 
 
Total Available--Purchase...........................      $3,106,964,939
    Less National office General Reserve............       1,055,147,494
    Less Special Outreach Area Reserve..............         452,206,069
    Basic Formula--Administrative Allocation........       1,599,611,376
 

    a. National Office General Reserve. The Administrator may restrict 
access to this reserve for States not meeting their goals in special 
outreach areas.
    b. Special Outreach Areas. FY 2005 GRH funding is allocated to 
States in two funding streams. Seventy percent of GRH funds may be used 
in any eligible area. Thirty percent of GRH funds are to be used in 
special outreach areas. Special outreach areas for the GRH program are 
defined as those areas within a State that are not located within a 
metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
    c. National Office Special Area Outreach Reserve. A special 
outreach area reserve fund has been established at the National Office. 
Funds from this reserve may only be used in special outreach areas.
    2. Refinance--Amount available for allocation.

 
 
 
Total Available--Refinance............................      $262,535,130
  Less National Office general reserve................       262,535,130
Basic formula--Administrative Allocation..............                 0
 

    a. Refinance Funds. Refinance loan funds will be distributed from 
the National Office on a case-by-case basis.
    b. National Office general reserve. The Administrator may restrict 
access to this reserve for States not meeting their goals in special 
outreach areas.
B. Section 502 Direct RH Loans
    1. Amount Available for Allocation.

 
 
 
Total Available.....................................      $1,140,800,000
Less Required Set Aside for:
    Underserved Counties and Colonias...............          57,040,000
    EZ, EC and REAP Earmark.........................          36,976,339
Less General Reserve................................         168,003,000
    Administrator's Reserve.........................          30,000,000
    Hardships & Homelessness........................           2,000,000
    Rural Housing Demonstration Program.............           1,000,000
    Homeownership Partnership.......................         110,000,000
    Program funds for the sale of REO properties....          25,000,000

[[Page 12545]]

 
Less Designated Reserve for Self-Help...............         150,000,000
    Basic Formula Administrative Allocation.........         728,780,661
 

    2. Reserves.
    a. State Office Reserve. State Directors must maintain an adequate 
reserve to fund the following applications:
    (i) Hardship and homeless applicants including the direct Section 
502 loan and Section 504 loan and grant programs.
    (ii) Rural Home Loan Partnerships (RHLP) and Community Development 
Financial Institutions (CDFI) loans.
    (iii) States will leverage with funding from other sources.
    (iv) Areas targeted by the State according to its strategic plan.
    b. National Office Reserves.
    (i) General Reserve. The National Office has a general reserve of 
$168 million. Of this amount, the Administrator's reserve is 
$30,000,000. One of the purposes of the Administrator's reserve will be 
for loans in Indian Country. Indian Country is defined as land inside 
the boundaries of Indian reservations, communities made up mainly of 
Native Americans, Indian trust and restricted land, and tribal allotted 
lands.
    (ii) Hardship and Homelessness Reserve. $2 million has been set 
aside for hardships and homeless.
    (iii) Rural Housing Demonstration Program. $1 million has been set 
aside for innovative demonstration initiatives.
    (iv) Program Credit Sales. $25 million has been set aside for 
program sales of REO property.
    c. Homeownership Partnership. $110 million has been set aside for 
Homeownership Partnerships. These funds will be used to expand existing 
partnerships and create new partnerships, such as the following:
    (i) Department of the Treasury, Community Development Financial 
Institutions (CDFI). Funds will be available to fund leveraged loans 
made in partnership with the Department of the Treasury CDFI 
participants.
    (ii) Partnership initiatives established to carry out the 
objectives of the rural home loan partnership (RHLP).
    d. Designated Reserve for Self-Help. $150 million has been set 
aside to assist participating Self-Help applicants. The National Office 
will contribute 100 percent from the National Office reserve. States 
are not required to contribute from their allocated Section 502 RH 
funds.
    e. Underserved Counties and Colonias. An amount of $57,040,000 has 
been set aside for the 100 underserved counties and colonias.
    f. Empowerment Zone (EZ) and Enterprise Community (EC) or Rural 
Economic Area Partnership (REAP) earmark. An amount of $36,976,339 has 
been earmarked until June 30, 2005, for loans in EZ, EC or REAP Zones.
    g. State Office Pooling. If pooling is conducted within a State, it 
must not take place within the first 30 calendar days of the first, 
second, or third quarter. (There are no restrictions on pooling in the 
fourth quarter.)
    h. Suballocation by the State Director. The State Director may 
suballocate to each area office using the methodology and formulas 
required by 7 CFR part 1940, subpart L. If suballocated to the area 
level, the Rural Development Manager will make funds available on a 
first-come, first-served basis to all offices at the field or area 
level. No field office will have its access to funds restricted without 
the prior written approval of the Administrator.
    C. Section 504 Housing Loans and Grants. Section 504 grant funds 
are included in the Rural Housing Assistance Grant program (RHAG) in 
the FY 2005 appropriation.
    1. Amount available for allocation.

 
 
 
Section 504 Loans:
Total Available.......................................       $34,720,000
Less 5% for 100 Underserved Counties and Colonias.....         1,736,000
  EZ, EC or REAP Zone Earmark.........................         1,400,000
  Less General Reserve................................         1,501,000
Basic Formula--Administrative Allocation..............        30,083,000
Section 504 Grants:
Total Available.......................................       $30,944,836
  Less 5% for 100 Underserved Counties and Colonias...         1,543,056
  Less EZ, EC or REAP Earmark.........................           892,800
  Less General Reserve................................         1,682,916
Basic Formula-Administrative Allocation...............        26,826,064
 

    2. Reserves and Set-Asides.
    a. State Office Reserve. State Directors must maintain an adequate 
reserve to handle all anticipated hardship applicants based upon 
historical data and projected demand.
    b. Underserved Counties and Colonias. Approximately $1,736,000 and 
$1,543,056 have been set aside for the 100 underserved counties and 
colonias until June 30, 2005, for the Section 504 loan and grant 
programs, respectively.
    c. Empowerment Zone (EZ) and Enterprise Community (EC) or Rural 
Economic Area Partnership (REAP) Earmark (Loan Funds Only). $1,400,000 
and $892,800 have been earmarked through June 30, 2005, for EZ, EC or 
REAPs for the Section 504 loan and grant programs, respectively.
    d. General Reserve. $1,501,000 for Section 504 loan hardships and 
$1,682,916 for Section 504 grant extreme hardships have been set-aside 
in the general reserve. For Section 504 grants, an extreme hardship 
case is one requiring a significant priority in funding, ahead of other 
requests, due to severe health or safety hazards, or physical needs of 
the applicant.

 Information on Basic Formula Criteria, Data Source and Weight, Administrative Allocation, Pooling of Funds, and
                                         Availability of the Allocation
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                                                Section 502
       No.              Description            nonsubsidized       Section 502 direct RH   Section 504 loans and
                                            guaranteed RH loans            loans                  grants
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...............  Basic formula           See 7 CFR 1940.563(b).  See 7 CFR 1940.565(b).  See 7 CFR 1940.566(b)
                   criteria, data                                                          and 1940.567(b).
                   source, and weight.
2...............  Administrative
                   Allocation:
                  Western Pacific Area..  $4,000,000............  $2,000,000............  $1,000,000 loan,
                                                                                           $1,000,000 grant.
3...............  Pooling of funds:
                  a. Mid-year pooling...  If necessary..........  If necessary..........  If necessary.
                  b. Year-end pooling...  August 12, 2005.......  July 15, 2005.........  July 15, 2005.
                  c. Underserved          N/A...................  June 30, 2005.........  June 30, 2005.
                   counties & colonias.
                  d. EZ, EC or REAP.....  N/A...................  June 30, 2005.........  June 30, 2005.

[[Page 12546]]

 
                  e. Credit sales.......  N/A...................  June 30, 2005.........  N/A.
4...............  Availability of the
                   allocation:
                  a. first quarter......  40 percent............  50 percent............  50 percent.
                  b. second quarter.....  70 percent............  75 percent............  75 percent.
                  c. third quarter......  90 percent............  100 percent...........  100 percent.
                  d. fourth quarter.....  100 percent...........  100 percent...........  100 percent.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Data derived from the 2000 U.S. Census is available on the Web at http://census.sc.egov.usda.gov.
\2\ Due to the absence of Census data.
\3\ All dates are tentative and are for the close of business (COB). Pooled funds will be placed in the National
  office reserve and made available administratively. The Administrator reserves the right to redistribute funds
  based upon program performance.
\4\ Funds will be distributed cumulatively through each quarter listed until the National Office year-end
  pooling date.


    Dated: March 4, 2005.
David J. Villano,
Acting Administrator, Rural Housing Service.
BILLING CODE 3410-XV-P

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[FR Doc. 05-4771 Filed 3-11-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-XV-C