[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 53 (Monday, March 21, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13976-14383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-5041]



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Part II





Department of Housing and Urban Development





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Notice of HUD's Fiscal Year 2005 Notice of Funding Availability Policy 
Requirements and General Section to the SuperNOFA for HUD's 
Discretionary Programs; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 53 / Monday, March 21, 2005 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4950-N-01]


Notice of HUD's Fiscal Year 2005 Notice of Funding Availability 
Policy Requirements and General Section to the SuperNOFA for HUD's 
Discretionary Programs

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of HUD's fiscal year (FY) 2005 Notice of Funding 
Availability (NOFA) policy requirements and general section to the 
FY2005 SuperNOFA for HUD's discretionary programs (notice).

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Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban Development 
(HUD), Office of the Secretary.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Policy requirements applicable to all 
HUD Federal financial assistance programs issued through a NOFA during 
FY2005.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement of the general policy 
requirements that apply to all HUD federal financial assistance NOFAs 
for FY2005 issued simultaneously with or after the publication of this 
notice.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: FR 4950-N-01.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: A CFDA 
number is provided for each HUD federal financial assistance program. 
When using ``Apply Step 1'' on the Grants.gov Web site to download an 
application you will be asked for the CFDA number. Please refer to the 
program NOFA for the CFDA number assigned to the program(s) for which 
you wish to apply.
    F. Dates: The key dates that apply to all HUD federal financial 
assistance made available through HUD's FY2005 NOFAs are found in each 
individual program NOFA and Appendix A to this General Section.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information: Unless 
otherwise stated, HUD's general policy requirements set forth in this 
notice apply to all HUD federal financial assistance made available 
through HUD's FY2005 NOFAs. These policies cover those NOFAs issued 
through this SuperNOFA as well as those issued after publication of 
this SuperNOFA in the Federal Register.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    This notice provides information regarding HUD's FY2005 policy 
requirements applicable to all of HUD's Federal financial assistance 
programs announced through NOFAs published along with this notice and 
any subsequent NOFA published for FY2005. Each such NOFA will provide a 
description of the specific requirements for the program for which 
funding is made available and each will refer to applicable policies 
contained in this notice. Each program NOFA will also describe 
additional procedures and requirements that apply to the individual 
program NOFA, including a description of the eligible applicants, 
eligible activities, threshold requirements, factors for award, and any 
additional program requirement or limitation. To ensure that you are 
able to adequately address all of the application requirements for any 
program for which you intend to apply, please be sure you carefully 
read and respond to both this notice of HUD's NOFA policy requirements 
and the individual program NOFAs.
    Authority. HUD's authority for making funding available under its 
FY2005 programs is identified in each program NOFA under the section 
entitled ``Funding Opportunity Description.''

II. Award Information

    Funding Available. Each program NOFA will identify the estimated 
amount of funds available in FY2005, either as a result of the 
enactment of a HUD appropriations act or based upon available 
appropriations and any funds from previous years available for award in 
FY2005. The FY2005 SuperNOFA contains 53 funding opportunities composed 
of programs and program components totaling approximately $2.26 
billion. As a service to our customers, Appendix A of this notice 
contains a chart of the estimated amount of funds being made available 
in HUD's SuperNOFA for FY2005. If HUD recaptures funds in any program, 
HUD reserves the right to increase the available funding for the 
applicable program by those amounts. Note that additional NOFAs may be 
issued separately from the issuance of the FY2005 SuperNOFA.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    The individual program NOFAs describe the eligible applicants and 
eligible activities for each program.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    The individual program NOFAs describe the applicable cost sharing, 
matching requirements, or leveraging requirements related to each 
program, if any.

C. Other Requirements and Procedures Applicable to All Programs

    Except as may be modified in the individual program NOFAs in 
FY2005, the requirements, procedures, and principles listed below apply 
to all programs in FY2005 for which funding is announced via NOFA and 
published in the Federal Register. Please read the individual program 
NOFAs for additional requirements or information.
1. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements
    To be eligible for funding under HUD NOFAs issued during FY2005, 
you, the applicant, must meet all statutory and regulatory requirements 
applicable to the program or programs for which you seek funding. If 
you need copies of the program regulations, they are available from the 
NOFA Information Center or through HUD's Grants Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. See the individual 
program NOFAs for instructions on how HUD will respond to proposed 
activities that are ineligible.
2. Threshold Requirements
    a. Ineligible Applicants. HUD will not consider an application from 
an ineligible applicant.
    b. Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number 
Requirement. Any applicant seeking funding directly from HUD or other 
federal agencies must obtain a DUNS number and include the number in 
its Application for Federal Assistance submission. Failure to provide 
HUD a DUNS number will prevent you from obtaining an award, regardless 
of whether it is a new award or renewal of an existing award. 
Individuals who personally apply for Federal financial assistance, 
apart from any governmental, business, or nonprofit organization they 
may represent, are excluded from the requirement to obtain a DUNS 
number. This policy is pursuant to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) Policy issued in the Federal Register on June 27, 2003 (68 FR 
38402). HUD's regulation implementing the DUNS Number requirement for 
its programs was issued on an interim basis in the Federal Register on 
March 26, 2004 (69 FR 15671) and published as a final rule on November 
9, 2004 (69 FR 65024). A copy of the OMB Federal Register notice and 
HUD's regulation implementing the DUNS number can be found on HUD's Web 
site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/

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duns.cfm. Applications received electronically cannot be submitted 
without a DUNS number entry. For applicants that are provided a waiver 
to the requirement for electronic submission, failure to provide a DUNS 
number with the application submission will be treated as a technical 
deficiency to the application. If the DUNS number is not provided 
within the cure period (see Section V.B.4, ``Corrections to Deficient 
Applications''), the application will not be funded. Also, see Section 
IV.F, ``Other Submission Requirements,'' for additional information 
regarding the DUNS requirement. The Web site at http://www.grants.gov/
GetStarted provides step-by-step instructions for obtaining a DUNS 
number as well as procedures for registering in the Central Contractor 
Registry and receiving credentials from the Grants.gov E-Authentication 
provider. The registration in the Central Contractor Registry and the 
E-Authentication credentials are not necessary for submitting a paper 
copy application to HUD; only the DUNS number is required. Central 
Contractor Registration is required for submittal of electronic grant 
applications through the Grants.gov portal. For FY2005 electronic 
submission is mandatory unless the applicant receives a waiver of the 
requirement. Procedures for obtaining a waiver are contained in Section 
IV, Application and Submission Information, of this General Section.
    The Continuum of Care NOFA is the only program in the SuperNOFA 
that has retained the paper application process in 2005. Applicants for 
the Continuum of Care NOFA should follow the submission and timely 
receipt requirements in the Continuum of Care Program Section of the 
SuperNOFA.
    c. Compliance with Fair Housing and Civil Rights Laws. (1) With the 
exception of federally recognized Indian tribes and their 
instrumentalities, all applicants must comply with all applicable fair 
housing and civil rights requirements in 24 CFR 5.105(a), as 
applicable. If you are a federally recognized Indian tribe, you must 
comply with the nondiscrimination provisions enumerated at 24 CFR 
1000.12, as applicable. In addition to these requirements, there may be 
program-specific threshold requirements identified in the individual 
program NOFAs.
    (2) If you, the applicant:
    (a) Have been charged with an ongoing systemic violation of the 
Fair Housing Act; or
    (b) Are a defendant in a Fair Housing Act lawsuit filed by the 
Department of Justice alleging an ongoing pattern or practice of 
discrimination; or
    (c) Have received a letter of findings identifying ongoing systemic 
noncompliance under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or Section 109 of the Housing 
and Community Development Act of 1974, and the charge, lawsuit, or 
letter of findings referenced in subparagaph (a), (b), or (c) above has 
not been resolved to HUD's satisfaction before the application 
deadline, then you are ineligible and HUD will not rate and rank your 
application. HUD will determine if actions to resolve the charge, 
lawsuit, or letter of findings taken prior to the application deadline 
are sufficient to resolve the matter.
    Examples of actions that would normally be considered sufficient to 
resolve the matter include, but are not limited to:
    (i) A voluntary compliance agreement signed by all parties in 
response to a letter of findings;
    (ii) A HUD-approved conciliation agreement signed by all parties;
    (iii) A consent order or consent decree; or
    (iv) An issuance of a judicial ruling or a HUD Administrative Law 
Judge's decision.
    d. Conducting Business in Accordance with Core Values and Ethical 
Standards. Entities subject to 24 CFR parts 84 and 85 (most nonprofit 
organizations and state, local, and tribal governments or government 
agencies or instrumentalities that receive federal awards of financial 
assistance) are required to develop and maintain a written code of 
conduct (see 24 CFR 84.42 and 85.36(b)(3)). Consistent with regulations 
governing specific programs, your code of conduct must prohibit real 
and apparent conflicts of interest that may arise among officers, 
employees, or agents; prohibit the solicitation and acceptance of gifts 
or gratuities by your officers, employees, or agents for their personal 
benefit in excess of minimal value; and outline administrative and 
disciplinary actions available to remedy violations of such standards. 
If awarded assistance under a HUD program NOFA announced in FY2005, you 
will be required, prior to entering into an agreement with HUD, to 
submit a copy of your code of conduct and describe the methods you will 
use to ensure that all officers, employees, and agents of your 
organization are aware of your code of conduct. Failure to meet the 
requirement for a code of conduct will prohibit you from receiving an 
award of funds from HUD. If you submitted an application to HUD during 
FY2004 that included a code of conduct , and it has been identified by 
HUD on its Web site at http://www.hud.gov/grants/index.cfm, and if that 
information is still valid, you will not have to resubmit another copy. 
However, if your code of conduct is not listed as received on the HUD 
Web site, or if the information you submitted has changed (e.g., the 
person who submitted the previous application is no longer your 
authorized organization representative, the organization has changed 
its legal name or merged with another organization, or the address of 
the organization has changed, etc.), you must submit your current code 
of conduct with your 2005 application for assistance.
    e. Delinquent Federal Debts. Consistent with the purpose and intent 
of 31 U.S.C. 3720B and 28 U.S.C. 3201(e), no award of federal funds 
will be made to an applicant that has an outstanding delinquent federal 
debt unless (1) the delinquent account is paid in full, (2) a 
negotiated repayment schedule is established and the repayment schedule 
is not delinquent, or (3) other arrangements satisfactory to HUD are 
made prior to the deadline submission date.
    f. Pre-Award Accounting System Surveys. HUD may arrange for a pre-
award survey of the applicant's financial management system in cases 
where the recommended applicant has no prior federal support, HUD's 
program officials have reason to question whether the applicant's 
financial management system meets federal financial management 
standards, or the applicant is considered a high risk based upon past 
performance or financial management findings. HUD will not disburse 
funds to any applicant that does not have a financial management system 
that meets federal standards.
    g. Name Check Review. Recommended applicants are subject to a name 
check review process. Name checks are intended to reveal matters that 
significantly reflect on the applicant's management and financial 
integrity, or if any key individual has been convicted or is presently 
facing criminal charges. If the name check reveals significant adverse 
findings that reflect on the business integrity or responsibility of 
the applicant or any key individual, HUD reserves the right to (1) deny 
funding or consider suspension or termination of an award immediately 
for cause, (2) require the removal of any key individual from 
association with management or implementation of the award, and (3) 
make appropriate provisions or revisions with respect to the method of

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payment or financial reporting requirements.
    h. False Statements. A false statement in an application is ground 
for denial or termination of an award and grounds for possible 
punishment as provided in 18 U.S.C. 1001.
    i. Prohibition Against Lobbying Activities. You, the applicant, are 
subject to the provisions of Section 319 of Public Law 101-121 
(approved October 23, 1989) (31 U.S.C. 1352) (the Byrd Amendment), 
which prohibits recipients of federal contracts, grants or loans from 
using appropriated funds for lobbying the executive or legislative 
branches of the federal government in connection with a specific 
contract, grant, or loan. In addition, you must disclose, using 
Standard Form LLL, ``Disclosure of Lobbying Activities,'' any funds, 
other than federally appropriated funds, that will be or have been used 
to influence federal employees, members of Congress, or congressional 
staff regarding specific grants or contracts. Federally recognized 
Indian tribes and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs) 
established by federally recognized Indian tribes as a result of the 
exercise of the tribe's sovereign power are excluded from coverage of 
the Byrd Amendment, but state-recognized Indian tribes and TDHEs 
established only under state law must comply with this requirement. You 
must submit the SF-LLL if you have used or intend to use federal funds 
for lobbying activities.
    j. Debarment and Suspension. In accordance with 24 CFR part 24, no 
award of federal funds may be made to applicants that are presently 
debarred or suspended, or proposed to be debarred or suspended, from 
doing business with the federal government. This requirement applies to 
all lower-tier covered transactions and to all solicitations for lower-
tier covered transactions. The prohibition includes the following:
    (1) Having principals who, within the previous three years, have 
been convicted of or had a civil judgment rendered against them for 
commission of fraud or a criminal offense in connection with obtaining, 
attempting to obtain, or performing a public (federal, state, or local) 
transaction, violation of federal or state anti-trust statutes, or 
commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or 
destruction of records, making false statements, or receiving stolen 
property; and
    (2) Charges or indictments by a governmental entity (federal, 
state, or local) for commission of any of the above violations.
3. Other Threshold Requirements
    The individual program NOFAs for which you are applying may specify 
other threshold requirements. Additional threshold requirements may be 
identified in the discussion of ``eligibility'' requirements in the 
individual program NOFAs. If a program NOFA requires a certification of 
consistency with the Consolidated Plan and the applicant fails to 
provide a certification, and such failure is not cured as a technical 
deficiency, HUD will not fund the application. If HUD is provided a 
signed certification indicating consistency with the area's approved 
Consolidated Plan and HUD finds that the activities are not consistent 
with the Consolidated Plan, HUD will not fund the inconsistent 
activities or will deny funding the application if a majority of the 
activities are not consistent with the approved Consolidated Plan. The 
determination not to fund an activity or to deny funding may be 
determined by a number of factors including, the number of activities 
being proposed, the impact of the elimination of the activities on the 
proposal, or the percent of the budget allocated to the proposed 
activities.
4. Additional Nondiscrimination and Other Requirements
    You, the applicant, and your subrecipients must comply with:
    a. Civil Rights Laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act 
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.), the Age Discrimination Act of 1974 
(42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.), and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act 
of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.).
    b. Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. Under Section 808(e)(5) 
of the Fair Housing Act, HUD has a statutory duty to affirmatively 
further fair housing. HUD requires the same of its funding recipients. 
If you are a successful applicant, you will have a duty to 
affirmatively further fair housing opportunities for classes protected 
under the Fair Housing Act. Protected classes include race, color, 
national origin, religion, sex, disability, and familial status. Unless 
otherwise instructed in the individual program NOFA, your application 
must include specific steps to:
    (1) Overcome the effects of impediments to fair housing choice that 
were identified in the jurisdiction's Analysis of Impediments (AI) to 
Fair Housing Choice;
    (2) Remedy discrimination in housing; or
    (3) Promote fair housing rights and fair housing choice.
    Further, you, the applicant, have a duty to carry out the specific 
activities provided in your responses to the individual program NOFA 
rating factors that address affirmatively furthering fair housing. 
These requirements apply to all HUD programs announced via a NOFA, 
unless specifically excluded in the individual program NOFA.
    c. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons 
(Section 3). Certain programs to be issued during FY2005 require 
recipients of assistance to comply with Section 3 of the Housing and 
Urban Development Act of 1968 (Section 3), 12 U.S.C. 1701u (Economic 
Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons in Connection With 
Assisted Projects), and the HUD regulations at 24 CFR part 135, 
including the reporting requirements at subpart E. Section 3 requires 
recipients to ensure that, to the greatest extent feasible, training, 
employment, and other economic opportunities will be directed to low- 
and very-low-income persons, particularly those who are recipients of 
government assistance for housing, and business concerns that provide 
economic opportunities to low- and very low-income persons. Review the 
individual program NOFAs to determine if Section 3 applies to the 
program for which you are seeking funding.
    d. Ensuring the Participation of Small Businesses, Small 
Disadvantaged Businesses, and Women-Owned Businesses. HUD is committed 
to ensuring that small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, and 
women-owned businesses participate fully in HUD's direct contracting 
and in contracting opportunities generated by HUD financial assistance. 
Too often, these businesses still experience difficulty accessing 
information and successfully bidding on federal contracts. State, 
local, and tribal governments are required by 24 CFR 85.36(e) and 
nonprofit recipients of assistance (grantees and sub-grantees) by 24 
CFR 84.44(b) to take all necessary affirmative steps in contracting for 
the purchase of goods or services to assure that minority firms, 
women's business enterprises, and labor surplus area firms are used 
whenever possible or as specified in the individual program NOFAs.
    e. Relocation. The relocation requirements of the Uniform 
Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 
1970, as amended, and the implementing government-wide regulation at 49 
CFR part 24 cover any person who moves permanently from real property 
or moves personal property from real

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property directly because of acquisition, rehabilitation, or demolition 
for an activity undertaken with HUD assistance. Some HUD program 
regulations also cover persons who are temporarily relocated. For 
example, 24 CFR 570.606(b)(2)(i)(D)(1), (2), and (3) provide guidance 
on temporary relocation for the Community Development Block Grants 
(CDBG) program. Applicants should review the regulations for the 
programs for which they are applying when planning their project.
    f. Executive Order 13166, ``Improving Access to Services for 
Persons With Limited English Proficiency (LEP).'' Executive Order 13166 
seeks to improve access to federally assisted services, programs, and 
benefits for individuals with limited English proficiency. Applicants 
obtaining an award from HUD must seek to provide access to program 
benefits and information to LEP individuals through translation and 
interpretive services in accordance with LEP guidance published on 
December 19, 2003 (68 FR 70968). For assistance and information 
regarding your LEP obligation, go to http://www.lep.gov.
    g. Executive Order 13279, ``Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-
Based and Community Organizations.'' HUD is committed to full 
implementation of Executive Order 13279. The Executive Order 
established fundamental principles and policymaking criteria to guide 
federal agencies in formulating and developing policies that have 
implications for faith-based and community organizations to ensure the 
equal protection for these organizations in social services programs 
receiving federal financial assistance. Consistent with this order, HUD 
has undertaken a review of all policies and regulations that have 
implications for faith-based and community organizations and has 
established a policy priority to provide full and equal access to 
grassroots faith-based and other community-based organizations in HUD 
program implementation. On September 30, 2003 (68 FR 56396), HUD issued 
a final rule to remove barriers to the participation of faith-based 
organizations in eight HUD programs. On March 3, 2004 (69 FR 10126), 
HUD published a proposed rule clarifying that the requirements 
contained in the September 30, 2003, final rule regarding the equal 
participation of faith-based organizations in certain HUD programs also 
applied to the State Community Development Block Grant (State CDBG) 
Program. On July 9, 2004 (69 FR 41712), HUD issued a final rule that 
extended the provisions of the equal treatment of faith-based 
organizations to all HUD programs. Copies of the regulatory changes can 
be found at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    h. Accessible Technology. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act 
(Section 508) requires HUD and other federal departments and agencies 
to ensure, when developing, procuring, maintaining or using electronic 
and information technology (EIT), that the EIT allow, regardless of the 
type of medium of technology, persons with disabilities access to and 
use of information and data on a comparable basis as is made available 
to and used by persons without disabilities. Section 508's coverage 
includes, but is not limited to, computers (hardware, software, word-
processing, e-mail, and web pages), facsimile machines, copiers, and 
telephones. Among other things, Section 508 requires that unless an 
undue burden would result to the federal department or agency, 
electronic and information technology allow individuals with 
disabilities who are employees or members of the public seeking 
information or services, to have access to and use of information and 
data that is comparable to that of employees and members of the public 
who are not disabled. Where an undue burden exists to the federal 
department or agency, alternative means may be used to allow a disabled 
individual use of the information and data. Section 508 does not 
require that information services be provided at any location other 
than a location at which the information services are generally 
provided. HUD encourages its funding recipients to adopt the goals and 
objectives of the Section 508 by ensuring, whenever EIT is used, 
procured, or developed, that persons with disabilities have access to 
and use of the information and data made available through the EIT on a 
comparable basis as is made available to and used by persons without 
disabilities. This does not affect recipients required compliance with 
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and, where applicable, the 
American with Disabilities Act.
    i. Procurement of Recovered Materials. State agencies and agencies 
of a political subdivision of a state that are using assistance under a 
HUD program NOFA for procurement, and any person contracting with such 
an agency with respect to work performed under an assisted contract, 
must comply with the requirements of Section 6002 of the Solid Waste 
Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
    In accordance with Section 6002, these agencies and persons must 
procure items designated in guidelines of the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) at 40 CFR part 247 that contain the highest percentage of 
recovered materials practicable, consistent with maintaining a 
satisfactory level of competition, where the purchase price of the item 
exceeds $10,000 or the value of the quantity acquired in the preceding 
fiscal year exceeded $10,000; must procure solid waste management 
services in a manner that maximizes energy and resource recovery and 
must have established an affirmative procurement program for 
procurement of recovered materials identified in the EPA guidelines.
    j. Participation in HUD-Sponsored Program Evaluation. As a 
condition of the receipt of financial assistance under a HUD program 
NOFA, all successful applicants will be required to cooperate with all 
HUD staff or contractors performing HUD-funded research or evaluation 
studies.
    k. Executive Order 13202, ``Preservation of Open Competition and 
Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors' Labor Relations 
on Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects.'' Compliance 
with HUD regulations at 24 CFR 5.108 that implement Executive Order 
13202 is a condition of receipt of assistance under a HUD program NOFA.
    l. Salary Limitation for Consultants. FY2005 funds may not be used 
to pay or to provide reimbursement for payment of the salary of a 
consultant whether retained by the federal government or the grantee at 
more than the daily equivalent of the rate paid for level IV of the 
Executive Schedule, unless specifically authorized by law.
    m. OMB Circulars and Government-wide Regulations Applicable to 
Financial Assistance Programs. Certain OMB Circulars also apply to HUD 
programs in this SuperNOFA. The policies, guidance, and requirements of 
OMB Circulars A-87 (Cost Principles Applicable to Grants, Contracts and 
Other Agreements with State and Local Governments), A-21 (Cost 
Principles for Education Institutions), A-122 (Cost Principles for 
Nonprofit Organizations), A-133 (Audits of States, Local Governments, 
and Non-Profit Organizations), and the regulations at 24 CFR part 84 
(Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, 
Hospitals, and other Non-Profit Organizations), and 24 CFR part 85 
(Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to 
State, Local, and Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments), may 
apply

[[Page 13580]]

to the award, acceptance, and use of assistance under the individual 
program NOFAs of this SuperNOFA, and to the remedies for noncompliance, 
except when inconsistent with the provisions of HUD's appropriations 
act for 2005, other federal statutes or regulations, or the provisions 
of this SuperNOFA notice. Compliance with additional OMB Circulars or 
government-wide regulations may be specified for a particular program 
in the Program Section of the Super NOFA. Copies of the OMB Circulars 
may be obtained from EOP Publications, Room 2200, New Executive Office 
Building, Washington, DC 20503, telephone (202) 395-3080 (this is not a 
toll-free number) or (800) 877-8339 (toll-free TTY Federal Information 
Relay Service) or from the Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/
circulars/index.html.
    n. Environmental Requirements. If you become a recipient under one 
of HUD's programs that assist physical development activities or 
property acquisition, you are generally prohibited from acquiring, 
rehabilitating, converting, demolishing, leasing, repairing, or 
constructing property or committing or expending HUD or non-HUD funds 
for these types of program activities, until one of the following has 
occurred:
    (1) HUD has completed an environmental review in accordance with 24 
CFR part 50; or
    (2) For programs subject to 24 CFR part 58, HUD has approved a 
recipient's Request for Release of Funds (Form HUD-7015.15) following a 
Responsible Entity's completion of an environmental review.
    You, the applicant, should consult the individual program NOFA for 
any program for which you are interested in applying to determine the 
procedures for, timing of, and any exclusions from environmental review 
under a particular program. For applicants applying for funding under 
the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program or Section 
811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program, please 
note the environmental review requirements for these programs.
    o. Conflicts of Interest. If you are a consultant or expert who is 
assisting HUD in rating and ranking applicants for funding under this 
SuperNOFA or future NOFAs published in FY2005, you are subject to 18 
U.S.C. 208, the federal criminal conflict of interest statute, and the 
Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch 
regulation published at 5 CFR part 2635. As a result, if you have 
assisted or plan to assist applicants with preparing applications for 
programs in this SuperNOFA or NOFAs published in FY2005, you may not 
serve on a selection panel and you may not serve as a technical advisor 
to HUD. All individuals involved in rating and ranking HUD FY2005 NOFAs 
either published simultaneously with this notice or after the 
publication of this notice, including experts and consultants, must 
avoid conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflicts. Individuals 
involved in the rating and ranking of applications must disclose to 
HUD's General Counsel or HUD's Ethics Law Division the following 
information, if applicable: how the selection or non-selection of any 
applicant under this FY2005 Super NOFA will affect the individual's 
financial interests, as provided in 18 U.S.C. 208, or how the 
application process involves a party with whom the individual has a 
covered relationship under 5 CFR 2635.502. The individual must disclose 
this information prior to participating in any matter regarding a 
FY2005 NOFA. If you have questions regarding these provisions or if you 
have questions concerning a conflict of interest, you may call the 
Office of General Counsel, Ethics Law Division, at (202) 708-3815 (this 
is not a toll-free number).
    p. Drug-Free Workplace. If you receive an award of funds from HUD, 
you are required to provide a drug-free workplace. Compliance with this 
requirement means that you will:
    (1) Publish a statement notifying employees that it is unlawful to 
manufacture, distribute, dispense, possess, or use a controlled 
substance in the applicant's workplace and that such activities are 
prohibited. The statement must specify the actions that will be taken 
against employees for violation of this prohibition. The statement must 
also notify employees that as a condition of employment under the 
federal award that they are required to abide by the terms of the 
statement and that each employee must agree to notify the employer in 
writing of any violation of a criminal drug statute occurring in the 
workplace no later than five calendar days after such violation;
    (2) Establish an ongoing drug-free awareness program to inform 
employees about:
    (a) The dangers of drug abuse in the workplace;
    (b) The applicant's policy of maintaining a drug-free workplace;
    (c) Any available drug counseling, rehabilitation, or employee 
maintenance programs; and
    (d) The penalties that may be imposed upon employees for drug abuse 
violations occurring in the workplace;
    (3) Notify the federal agency in writing within 10 calendar days 
after receiving notice from an employee of a drug abuse conviction or 
otherwise receiving actual notice of a drug abuse conviction. The 
notification must be provided in writing to HUD's Office of 
Departmental Grants Management and Oversight, Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 3156, Washington DC 
20410-3000, along with the following information:
    (a) The program title and award number for each HUD award covered;
    (b) The HUD staff contact name, phone, and fax numbers; and
    (c) A grantee contact name, phone, and fax numbers; and
    (4) Require that each employee engaged in the performance of the 
federally funded award be given a copy of the drug-free workplace 
statement required in item (1) and notify the employee that one of the 
following actions will be taken against the employee within 30 calendar 
days of receiving notice of any drug abuse conviction:
    (a) Institution of a personnel action against the employee, up to 
and including termination consistent with requirements of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; or
    (b) Requiring that the employee participate satisfactorily in a 
drug abuse assistance or rehabilitation program approved for such 
purposes by a federal, state, or local health, law enforcement, or 
other appropriate agency.
    q. Safeguarding Resident/Client Files. In maintaining resident and 
client files, HUD funding recipients shall observe state and local laws 
concerning the disclosure of records that pertain to individuals. 
Further, recipients are required to adopt and take reasonable measures 
to ensure that resident and client files are safeguarded.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses To Request Application Package

    This section describes how you may obtain application forms, 
additional information about the HUD program NOFAs, and technical 
assistance. Copies of the published NOFAs and application forms for HUD 
programs announced through NOFA may be downloaded from the grants.gov 
Web site at http://www.grants.gov/FIND and choose from links provided 
under the topic ``Search Grant Opportunities'', which allows you to do 
a basic search or to browse by category or agency. If you have 
difficulty accessing the

[[Page 13581]]

information, you may receive customer support from Grants.gov by 
calling its help line at (800) 518-GRANTS or sending an e-mail to 
[email protected]. The operators will assist you in accessing the 
information. If you do not have Internet access and you need to obtain 
a copy of the NOFA, you can contact HUD's NOFA Information Center toll-
free at (800) HUD-8929. Persons with hearing or speech impairments may 
also call toll-free at (800) HUD-2209.
1. Application Kits
    There are no application kits for HUD programs. All the information 
you need to apply will be in the NOFA and available at http://
www.grants.gov/Apply. In response to concerns about the length of time 
it takes for the publication and dissemination of application kits, HUD 
has made an effort to improve the readability of its NOFAs and publish 
all required forms and formats for application submission in the 
Federal Register. The NOFAs and forms are available to be downloaded 
from http://www.grants.gov/Apply, click on Apply Step 1. Please pay 
attention to the submission requirements and format for submission 
specified in each program NOFA to ensure that you have submitted all 
required elements of your application.
    The published Federal Register document is the official document 
that HUD uses to solicit applications. Therefore, if there is a 
discrepancy between any materials published by HUD in its Federal 
Register publications and other information provided in paper copy, 
electronic copy, or at www.grants.gov, the Federal Register publication 
prevails. Please be sure to review your application submission against 
the requirements in the Federal Register file of the program NOFA or 
NOFAs to which you are responding by application. The instructions 
incorporated into the application found on Grants.gov/Apply contain the 
PDF files of the Federal Register publication. By accessing the 
information from the Internet at Grants.gov you will not have to wait 
for copies of the NOFAs or forms to begin to prepare your application 
for funding. HUD is continuing to streamline programs and application 
submission requirements and encourages the applicant community to offer 
additional suggestions.
2. Guidebook and Further Information
    A guidebook to HUD programs entitled, ``Connecting with 
Communities: A User's Guide to HUD Programs and the FY2005 NOFA 
Process,'' is available from the HUD NOFA Information Center and the 
HUD Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. 
The guidebook provides a brief description of all HUD programs, 
identifies eligible applicants for the programs, and provides examples 
of how programs can work in combination to serve local community needs. 
You can also get a copy from the NOFA Information Center at (800) HUD-
8929, or for the hearing impaired, (800) HUD-2209 (TTY) (these are 
toll-free numbers). The NOFA Information Center is open between the 
hours of 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, 
except on federal holidays.
3. For Technical Assistance
    Before the application submission date, HUD staff will be available 
to provide you with general guidance and technical assistance about 
this notice or about individual program NOFAs. However, HUD staff is 
not permitted to assist in preparing your application. Following 
selection of applicants, but before announcement of awards are made, 
HUD staff is available to assist in clarifying or confirming 
information that is a prerequisite to the offer of an award or Annual 
Contributions Contract (ACC) by HUD. For technical support for 
downloading an application or submitting an application, please call 
Grants.gov Customer Support at (800) 518-GRANTS (this is a toll-free 
number) or e-mail [email protected].
4. SuperNOFA Webcasts
    HUD provides technical assistance and training on its programs made 
available through a notice of funding availability. The NOFA broadcasts 
are interactive and allow potential applicants to obtain a better 
understanding of the threshold, program, and application submission 
requirements for FY2005 funding. Participation in this training 
opportunity is free of charge and can be accessed via HUD's Web site at 
http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. The SuperNOFA web 
cast schedule can also be found via HUD's Web site at http://
www.hud.gov/webcasts/index.cfm.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    Be sure to read and follow the application submission requirements 
published in each individual program NOFA to which you are responding 
by application.
1. Forms
    Each program NOFA will identify all the required forms for 
submission. HUD's standard forms are identified below:
    a. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424);
    b. Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants (SF-424 
Supplement);
    c. Grant Application Detailed Budget (HUD-424-CB);
    d. Grant Application Detailed Budget Worksheet (HUD-424-CBW);
    e. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL);
    f. Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880);
    g. Certification of Consistency with RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan 
(HUD-2990), if applicable;
    h. Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan (HUD-
2991), if applicable;
    i. Acknowledgment of Application Receipt (HUD-2993);
    j. Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD 2994) (Optional);
    k. Program Outcome Logic Model (HUD-96010);
    l. Race and Ethnic Data Reporting Form (HUD-27061);
    m. America's Affordable Communities Initiative (HUD-27300), if 
applicable; and
    n. Facsimile Transmittal (HUD-96011).
    Copies of these forms are included in Appendix B to this General 
Section. Any additional program form required to be submitted to meet 
specific program requirements is included with each program NOFA. The 
electronic version of each NOFA contains all forms required for 
submission.
2. Certifications and Assurances
    The form SF-424-B, Assurances and Certifications, is no longer 
required as a separate submission. However, applicants are placed on 
notice that by signing the SF-424 cover page:
    a. The governing body of the applicant's organization has duly 
authorized the application for federal assistance. In addition, by 
signing or electronically submitting the application, the Authorized 
Organization Representative (AOR) certifies that the applicant:
    (1) Has the legal authority to apply for federal assistance and the 
institutional, managerial, and financial capacity (including funds to 
pay for any non-federal share of program costs) to plan, manage, and 
complete the program as described in the application; will provide HUD 
any additional information it may require; and

[[Page 13582]]

    (2) Will administer the award in compliance with requirements 
identified and contained in the NOFA as applicable to the program for 
which funds are awarded and in accordance with requirements applicable 
to the program.
    b. No appropriated federal funds have been paid or will be paid, by 
or on behalf of the applicant, to any person for influencing or 
attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member 
of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress, in connection with 
this application for federal assistance or any award of funds resulting 
from the submission of this application for federal assistance or its 
extension, renewal, amendment, or modification. If funds other than 
federal appropriated funds have been or will be paid for influencing or 
attempting to influence the persons listed above, the applicant agrees 
to complete and submit Standard Form LLL, Disclosure Form to Report 
Lobbying, as part of its applications submission package. The applicant 
further agrees to and certifies that it will require all subawards at 
all tiers including subgrants and contracts to similarly certify and 
disclose accordingly.
    c. Federally recognized Indian tribes and tribally designated 
housing entities (TDHEs) established by a federally recognized Indian 
tribe as a result of the exercise of the tribe's sovereign power are 
excluded from coverage by item b. (also known as the Byrd Amendment). 
However, state-recognized Indian tribes and TDHEs established under 
state law are not excluded from the statute's coverage and therefore 
agree to, and must comply with item b. above.
    By submitting an application, the applicant affirms its awareness 
of these certifications and assurances. Applicants are also affirming 
that these Certifications and Assurances are material representations 
of the facts upon which HUD will rely when making an award to the 
applicant. If it is later determined that the applicant knowingly made 
a false certification or assurance, the applicant may be subject to 
criminal prosecution, and HUD may terminate the award or pursue other 
available remedies.

C. Submission Dates and Times

    Applications submitted through Grants.gov must be received by 
Grants.gov no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the application 
submission date. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic 
submission requirement must submit their application to the United 
States Postal Service no later than 11:59:59 p.m. on the application 
submission date. Appendix A also provides a funding chart that 
identifies the programs in HUD's SuperNOFA along with the application 
submission dates.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal 
Programs,'' was issued to foster intergovernmental partnership and 
strengthen federalism by relying on state and local processes for the 
coordination and review of federal financial assistance and direct 
federal development. HUD implementing regulations are published at 24 
CFR part 52. The order allows each state to designate an entity to 
perform a state review function. The official listing of State Points 
of Contact (SPOC) for this review process can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html. States not listed on the Web 
site have chosen not to participate in the intergovernmental review 
process and, therefore, do not have a SPOC. If your state has a SPOC, 
you should contact the SPOC to see if it is interested in reviewing 
your application prior to submission to HUD.
    Please make sure that you allow ample time for this review process 
when developing and submitting your applications. If your state does 
not have a SPOC, you can submit your application directly to HUD using 
Grants.gov for electronic applications or, if you receive a waiver of 
the electronic application submission requirement, you can submit your 
application to HUD following the directions for the number of copies 
and locations for submission found in Appendix C of this General 
Section.

E. Funding Restrictions

    The individual program NOFAs will describe any funding restrictions 
that apply to each program.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    Application Submission and Receipt Procedures. This section 
provides the application submission and receipt instructions for HUD 
program applications. Please read the following instructions carefully 
and completely, as failure to comply with these procedures may 
disqualify your application.
    1. Electronic Delivery. Beginning in FY2005, HUD requires 
applicants to submit their applications electronically through 
Grants.gov, unless a waiver is granted.
    2. The following describes what to expect when you go to apply 
online using Grants.gov:
    a. Get Started (http://www.grants.gov/GetStarted). Once on the 
site, you will find six ``Get Started'' step-by-step instructions that 
will enable you to apply for HUD funds. Applicants should read the Get 
Started steps carefully. The site also contains four checklists under 
the topic ``Registration Checklists'' to help you walk through the 
process. HUD recommends that you download the checklists and prepare 
the information requested before beginning the registration process. 
Reviewing information required and assembling it before beginning the 
registration process will save you time and make the process faster and 
smoother.
    b. DUNS Requirement. All applicants applying for funding, including 
renewal funding, must have a Dun and Bradstreet Universal Data 
Numbering System (DUNS) number. The DUNS number must be included in the 
data entry field labeled ``Organizational Duns'' on the form SF-424. 
Instructions for obtaining a DUNS number can be found at either of the 
following Web sites: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/duns.cfm or 
Step 3 at http://www.grants.gov/GetStarted.
    c. Central Contractor Registry and Credential Provider 
Registration. In addition to having a DUNS number, applicants applying 
electronically through Grants.gov must register with the Federal 
Central Contractor Registry and with the credential provider for E-
Authentication. The Grants.gov Web site at www.grants.gov/GetStarted, 
Step 3, provides instructions for registering in the Central Contractor 
Registry and, at Step 4, for registering with the credential provider. 
All applicants filing electronically must have a DUNS number before 
registering with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) and receive 
credentials from the Grants.gov credential provider in order to apply 
online. Failure to register with the CCR and credential provider will 
result in your application being rejected by the Grants.gov portal.
    The registration process is a separate process from submitting an 
application. Applicants are encouraged to register early. The 
registration process can take approximately two weeks to be completed. 
Therefore, registration should be done in sufficient time to ensure 
that it does not impair your ability to meet required submission 
deadlines. You will be able to submit your application online anytime 
after you receive your E-Authentication credentials.
    d. Electronic Signature. Applications submitted through Grants.gov 
constitute electronically signed applications. The registration and E-
Authentication

[[Page 13583]]

process establishes the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR). 
When you submit the application through Grants.gov, the name of your 
authorized organization representative on file will be inserted into 
the signature line of the application. Applicants must register the 
individual who is able to make legally binding commitments for the 
applicant organization as the Authorized Organization Representative 
(AOR).
3. Instructions on How To Submit an Electronic Application to HUD via 
www.grants.gov/Apply
     a. Applying using Grants.gov. Grants.gov has a full set of 
instructions on how to complete a grant application on its website at 
www.grants.gov/CompleteApplication. Applicants are encouraged to read 
through the ``Complete Application Package'' website. The site contains 
a multimedia demonstration that guides you through the process of 
completing an application package. The training demonstration is also 
available in text. Grants.gov allows applicants to download the 
application package, instructions, and forms that are incorporated in 
the instructions, and work offline. In addition to forms that are part 
of the application instructions, there will be a series of electronic 
forms that are provided utilizing a PureEdgeTM reader. The 
PureEdgeTM Reader is available free for download from Step 2 
of www.grants.gov/Get Started. The PureEdgeTM Reader allows 
applicants to read the electronic files in a form format so that they 
will look like any other Standard or HUD form. The 
PureEdgeTM forms have content-sensitive help. To use this 
feature, click on the icon that features an arrow with a question mark 
at the top of the page. This engages the content-sensitive help for 
each field on the electronic form. The PureEdgeTM forms can 
be downloaded and saved on your hard drive, network drive(s), or CDs. 
Because of the size of the application, HUD recommends downloading the 
application to your computer hard drive.
    The instructions include the General and Program sections of the 
Federal Register publication of the NOFA and any required form that has 
not been converted to a PureEdgeTM form. Each program NOFA 
also includes a checklist. Please review the checklist in the program 
section to ensure that your application contains all the required 
materials.
    MacIntosh users will need to use the Virtual PC emulator software, 
which allows PC software to run on MacIntosh platforms. More 
information on PureEdgeTM Support for MacIntosh Users is 
available at www.grants.gov/CompleteApplication#, located under the 
topic Tips and Tools.
    b. Mandatory Fields on PureEdgeTM Forms. In the 
PureEdgeTM forms you will find fields with a yellow 
background. These data fields are considered mandatory and must be 
completed.
    c. Completion of SF-424 Fields First. The PureEdgeTM 
forms are designed to fill in common data such as the applicant name 
and address, DUNS number, etc., on all PureEdgeTM electronic 
forms. In order to trigger this function, the Standard Form 424 (SF-
424) must be completed first. Once you complete the SF-424 the 
information will transfer to the other forms.
    d. Submission of Narrative Statements, Third Party Letters, and 
Certifications. In addition to forms, many of the NOFAs require the 
submission of other documentation such as third party letters, 
certifications, or program narrative statements. This section discusses 
how you should submit this additional information electronically as 
part of your application:
    (1) Narrative Statements to the Factors for Award. If you are 
required to submit narrative statements, you should submit them as an 
electronic file in Microsoft Word (version 9 or earlier) or in Portable 
Document Format (PDF) that is compatible with AdobeTM Reader 
version 6.0 or earlier. Each response to a Factor for Award should be 
developed as a separate file labeled with the appropriate factor name, 
e.g., Factor 1 Capacity, and submitted as part of your electronic 
application. Documents that you possess in electronic format, e.g., 
narratives you have written, or graphic images (such as Computer Aided 
Design (CAD)) files from an architect), should be attached using the 
``Attachments'' form included in the application package you downloaded 
from Grants.gov. In order to reduce the size of your attachments, all 
or several files can be compressed using a zip utility. The zipped file 
can then be attached as described above.
    (2) Third Party Letters, Certifications Requiring Signatures, and 
Other Documentation. The following two options apply to applicants 
required to submit documentation from organizations providing matching 
or leveraging funds; documentation of 501(c)(3) status or incorporation 
papers; documents that support the need for the program; memoranda of 
understanding (MOUs); or documentation to support your organization's 
claims regarding work that has been done to remove regulatory barriers 
to affordable housing:
    (a) Scanning Documents To Create Electronic Files. Third party 
documentation can be scanned and saved as separate electronic files. 
Electronic files must be labeled so that the reader will know what the 
file contains. All scanned files should be placed together in a zipped 
folder and attached to the application package following the directions 
in paragraph d.(1), above; or
    (b) Faxing Required Documentation. Applicants that do not have 
scanning equipment available may submit the required documentation to 
HUD via facsimile (fax). The fax method may be used only to submit 
attachments that are part of your electronic application. HUD will not 
accept entire applications via fax. Applications submitted entirely via 
fax will be disqualified. Facsimiles submitted in response to a NOFA 
must use the form HUD-96011 cover page downloaded as with the 
application found on Grants.gov. Facsimiles received that do not meet 
the facsimile requirements contained in this General Section will not 
be accepted for review.
    To submit documents using the facsimile method, applicants must use 
form HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal, which is a cover page for the 
faxed materials. The form HUD-96011 is an electronic form and is part 
of the downloaded application. Each downloaded application contains an 
embedded unique identifier that will be used to assist HUD in 
associating an item transmitted by facsimile to its electronic 
application submission. If you have downloaded an application package 
from Grants.gov, be sure to save it to your system, complete the SF-
424, and then provide copies of the facsimile transmittal cover page to 
all parties that need to use it to submit information pertaining to 
your application. Do not download the same application package from 
Grants.gov more than once. Each time the package is downloaded, the 
forms are given a unique ID number. To ensure that all the forms in 
your package contain the same unique ID number, after downloading your 
application complete the SF-424 save the forms to your hard drive, and 
use the saved forms to create your application. If you have to provide 
a copy of the form HUD-96011 to another party that will be responsible 
for faxing an item as part of your application, make a copy of the 
facsimile transmittal cover page from your downloaded application and 
provide that copy to the third party for use with the fax transmission. 
Please instruct other parties to use the HUD form you have

[[Page 13584]]

provided when submitting information related to your application using 
the facsimile method. Applicants must fax their information, using the 
HUD-96011 facsimile transmittal cover page, to the following fax 
number: (800) HUD-1010. Each document must be faxed as a separate 
submission to avoid fax transmission problems. When faxing several 
documents, applicants must use the Form HUD-96011 as the cover for each 
document (e.g., Letter of Matching or Leveraging funds, Memorandum of 
Understanding, Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan, 
etc.).
    Your facsimile machine should provide you with a record of whether 
your transmission was received by HUD. If you get a negative response 
or a transmission error, you should resubmit the document until you 
confirm that HUD has received your transmission. HUD will not 
acknowledge that a facsimile was received successfully. HUD will 
electronically receive the facsimile, read it with an optical character 
reader, and attach it to the application submitted through Grants.gov. 
The facsimile transmissions may be sent at any time before the 
application submission date. All faxed materials must be received no 
later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the application submission 
date. HUD will store the information and attach it to the electronic 
application when HUD receives it from Grants.gov.
    (c) Submissions Using Other File Formats. If you are required to 
submit files in other formats such as CAD files of architectural 
drawings and blueprints, or pictures, you should attach these as 
electronic files in PDF format that is compatible with 
AdobeTM Reader version 6.0 or earlier. The files should be 
part of the zipped folder that is attached and submitted with your 
application transmission.
    e. Customer Support. The grants.gov Web site provides customer 
support via (800) 518-GRANTS (this is a toll-free number) or through 
email at [email protected]. The customer support center is open from 7 
a.m. to 9 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, except federal 
holidays, to address grants.gov technology issues. For technical 
assistance to program related questions, contact the number listed in 
Section VII Agency Contact in the program NOFA you are applying for.
4. Waiver of Electronic Submission Requirement
    During FY2005, HUD will accept electronic applications only, and 
they must be submitted through the Grants.gov portal, unless the 
applicant has received a waiver from the Department. As already noted, 
the Continuum of Care NOFA is the only program excepted from this 
electronic submission requirement. Applications to the Continuum of 
Care may be submitted by hard copy, as discussed below. HUD regulations 
at 24 CFR 5.110 permit waivers of regulatory requirements to be granted 
for cause. If you are unable to submit your application electronically, 
you may request a waiver from this requirement. If you are seeking 
funding under several HUD programs, you must submit a separate waiver 
request for each program from which you are seeking funding. Your 
waiver request must be in writing and state the basis for the request 
and explain why electronic submission is not possible. The basis for 
waivers for cause may include but are not limited to (a) lack of 
available Internet access in the geographic location in which the 
applicant's business office is located or (b) physical disability of 
the applicant that prevents the applicant from accessing or responding 
to the application electronically.
    The waiver request should also include an email or name and mailing 
address where responses can be directed. You must submit waiver 
requests to the appropriate assistant secretary responsible for the 
program from which you are seeking funding. Waiver requests will be 
accepted beginning on the date of publication of the NOFA and no later 
than 30 days prior to the application submission date. HUD will not 
consider a waiver request that does not conform to the above 
requirement. A list of HUD assistant secretaries with waiver authority, 
and their related programs, can be found in Appendix C of this General 
Section. To avoid a delay in the process, waiver requests should be 
sent by United States Postal Service Express Mail. You, the applicant, 
should retain a receipt for the mailing showing the date submitted to 
the Postal Service. HUD will acknowledge receipt of the waiver request 
by e-mail, if an e-mail address is provided, or by United States Postal 
Service Express Mail or other available means. HUD will not make 
determinations or respond to waiver requests via the telephone. Each 
waiver request will be reviewed and a determination made. HUD will 
inform the applicant, whether or not the waiver has been granted. In 
the event a waiver is granted, the submission date for mailed 
applications will be the same as the electronic application submission 
receipt date. Applicants receiving a waiver will be expected to follow 
the submission instructions immediately following.
    a. Submission Instructions for Applicants Receiving a Waiver of 
Electronic Submission. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic 
submission requirements must submit their complete applications in 
paper copy as follows:
    (1) Submission Using the United States Postal Service. Beginning in 
FY2005, HUD will no longer accept hand deliveries of applications. 
Applicants who receive a waiver and are therefore allowed to submit 
paper applications must submit them via the United States Postal 
Service using either Express Mail or regular mailing services.
    (2) Submission Requirements for Specified Number of Copies of Paper 
Applications to HUD Headquarters and Field Offices.
    (a) When the program NOFA requires that an original and a specified 
number of copies be submitted to HUD Headquarters and field offices, 
and HUD receives at least one complete application at either location, 
HUD will utilize the complete application for its review purposes, 
provided it meets the deadline date and timely submission requirements.
    (b) Where the program NOFA requires that an application be 
submitted to only one HUD location, the paper copy application will be 
considered late if:
    (i) HUD does not receive the application at the office designated 
for receipt of the application; or
    (ii) HUD does not receive the application in accordance with the 
requirements for timely submission.
    (c) When the program NOFA requires that applications be submitted 
to more than one HUD office (Headquarters or field), and each 
application is unique to the designated location, HUD will consider the 
application late if:
    (i) HUD does not receiving the application at each office 
designated for receipt of the application as indicated in the program 
NOFA; or
    (ii) HUD does not receive the application in accordance with the 
requirements for timely submission.
    (d) When submitting a paper copy application, please be sure to 
submit the required number of copies to the locations specified in the 
program NOFA. For some programs, failure to submit the required number 
of copies will disqualify your application. Please be sure to include 
on the submittal envelope the title of the Program (and Component Name 
if applicable to the Program) under which you are seeking funding.

[[Page 13585]]

5. Timely Receipt Requirements and Proof of Timely Submission
    a. Electronic Submission. All applications must be received by 
Grants.gov by 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the application submission 
date established for each program NOFA.
    Proof of timely submission is automatically recorded by Grants.gov. 
An electronic time stamp is generated within the system when the 
application has been successfully received. The applicant will receive 
an acknowledgement of receipt and a tracking number from Grants.gov 
with the successful transmission of its application. Applicants should 
print this receipt and save it, along with facsimile receipts for 
information provided by facsimile, as proof of timely submission. When 
HUD successfully retrieves the application from Grants.gov, HUD will 
provide an electronic acknowledgment of receipt to the e- mail address 
provided on the SF-424. Your time of submission will be the date and 
time that Grants.gov receives your application submittal and the date 
HUD receives those portions of your application submitted by facsimile. 
All facsimile transmissions must be received by the application 
submission date and time.
    Applications received by Grants.gov after the established 
submission deadline for the program will be considered late and will 
not be considered for funding by HUD. Similarly, applications will be 
considered late if information submitted by facsimile as part of the 
application has not received by HUD by the established submission 
deadline. Please take into account the transmission time required for 
submitting your application via the Internet and the time required to 
fax any related documents. HUD suggests that applicants submit their 
applications during the operating hours of the Grants.gov Support Desk 
so that if there are questions concerning transmission, operators will 
be available to assist you through the process. Submitting your 
application during the Support Desk hours will also ensure that you 
have sufficient time for the application to complete its transmission 
prior to the application deadline.
    Applicants using dial-up connections should be aware that 
transmission takes extra time before Grants.gov receives it. Grants.gov 
will provide either an error or a successfully received transmission 
message. The Grants.gov Support Desk reports that some applicants abort 
the transmission because they think that nothing is occurring during 
the transmission process. Please be patient and give the system time to 
process the application. Uploading and transmitting a large file, 
particularly electronic forms with associated eXtensible mark-up 
language (XML) schema, will take considerable time to process and be 
received by Grants.gov.
    b. Applications Receiving Waivers To Submit a Paper Copy 
Application. Applicants granted a waiver to the electronic submission 
requirement must use the United States Postal Service (USPS) to submit 
their applications to HUD. Applicants must take their application to a 
post office to get a receipt of mailing that provides the date and time 
the package was submitted to the USPS. USPS rules now require that 
large packages must be brought to a postal facility for mailing. In 
many areas, the USPS has made a practice of returning to the sender, 
large packages that have been dropped in a mail collection box. Paper 
copy applications submitted to the USPS by the submission date and time 
and received by HUD no later than 15 days after the established 
submission date will receive funding consideration. If the USPS does 
not have a receipt with a digital time stamp, HUD will accept a receipt 
showing USPS Form 3817, Certificate of Mailing with a dated postmark. 
The proof of submission receipt provided by the Postal Service must 
show receipt no later than the application submission deadline. 
Applicants whose applications are determined to be late, who cannot 
furnish HUD with a receipt from the USPS that verifies the package was 
submitted to the USPS prior to the submission due date and time will 
not receive funding consideration. Applicants may use any type of mail 
service provided by the USPS to have their application package 
delivered to HUD in time to meet the submission requirements.
    c. Late applications, whether received electronically or in hard 
copy, will not receive funding consideration. HUD will not be 
responsible for directing or forwarding applications to the appropriate 
location. Applicants should pay close attention to these submission and 
timely receipt instructions, as they can make a difference in whether 
HUD will accept your application for funding consideration.
    d. HUD will not accept fax transmissions from applicants who 
receive a waiver to submit a paper copy application. Paper applications 
must be complete and submitted in their entirety, via the USPS. 
Applicants need to pay attention to providing the required number of 
copies to the appropriate HUD office(s).
6. Continuum of Care Application Submission
    For FY2005, Continuum of Care applications will continue to be 
received in paper format. Please see the Continuum of Care program 
section of the SuperNOFA for application submission and timely receipt 
requirements that apply only to the Continuum of Care applications.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

1. Factors for Award Used To Evaluate and Rate Applications
    For each program NOFA, the points awarded for the rating factors 
total 100. Depending upon the program for which you, the applicant, are 
seeking funding, the funding opportunity may provide up to four bonus 
points as provided below:
    a. RC/EZ/EC-II. HUD FY2005 NOFAs provide for the award of two bonus 
points for eligible activities/projects that the applicant proposes to 
locate in federally designated empowerment zones (EZs), renewal 
communities (RCs), or enterprise communities designated by the United 
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in round II (EC-IIs) that are 
intended to serve the residents of these areas and that are certified 
to be consistent with the area's strategic plan or RC Tax Incentive 
Utilization Plan. For ease of reference in this notice, all of the 
federally designated areas are collectively referred to as ``RC/EZ/EC-
IIs'' and residents of any of these federally designated areas as ``RC/
EZ/EC-II residents.'' The individual funding announcements will 
indicate if the bonus points are available under the program. This 
notice contains a certification that must be completed for the 
applicant to be considered for RC/EZ/EC-II bonus points. A list of RC/
EZ/EC-IIs can be obtained from HUD's grants Web page at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. Applicants can determine 
if their program or project activities are located in one of these 
designated areas by using the locator on HUD's Web site at http://
www.hud.gov/crlocator.
    b. Brownfields Showcase Communities. In the Brownfields Economic 
Development Initiative (BEDI) competition, two bonus points are 
available for federally designated Brownfields Showcase Communities. 
(Please see the FY2005 BEDI program NOFA for additional information.) 
The designation of Brownfields Showcase Communities is a federal agency 
initiative sponsored by 20 federal agencies, including HUD. A list of 
the

[[Page 13586]]

federally designated Brownfields Showcase Communities is available at 
http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/html-doc/showfact.htm.
    c. The Five Standard Rating Factors for FY2005. HUD has established 
the following five standard factors for awarding funds under the 
majority of its FY2005 program NOFAs. Additional details about the five 
rating factors and the maximum points for each factor are provided in 
the program NOFAs. For a specific funding opportunity, HUD may modify 
these factors to take into account explicit program needs or statutory 
or regulatory limitations. You, the applicant, should carefully read 
the factors for award as described in the program NOFA to which you are 
responding. The standard factors for award, except as modified in the 
program NOFAs, are listed below.
    Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational 
Staff.
    Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem.
    Factor 3: Soundness of Approach.
    Factor 4: Leveraging Resources.
    Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation.
    The Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance programs have only two 
factors that receive points: Need and Continuum of Care.

B. Reviews and Selection Process

1. HUD's Strategic Goals To Implement HUD's Strategic Framework and 
Demonstrate Results
    HUD is committed to ensuring that programs result in the 
achievement of HUD's strategic mission. To support this effort, grant 
applications submitted for HUD programs will be rated on how well they 
tie proposed outcomes to HUD's policy priorities and annual goals and 
objectives, as well as the quality of the applicant's proposed 
evaluation and monitoring plans. HUD's strategic framework establishes 
the following goals and objectives for the department:
    a. Increase Homeownership Opportunities.
    (1) Expand national homeownership opportunities.
    (2) Increase minority homeownership.
    (3) Make the home-buying process less complicated and less 
expensive.
    (4) Fight practices that permit predatory lending.
    (5) Help HUD-assisted renters become homeowners.
    (6) Keep existing homeowners from losing their homes.
    b. Promote Decent Affordable Housing.
    (1) Expand access to affordable rental housing.
    (2) Improve the physical quality and management accountability of 
public and assisted housing.
    (3) Increase housing opportunities for the elderly and persons with 
disabilities.
    (4) Help HUD-assisted renters make progress toward self-
sufficiency.
    c. Strengthen Communities.
    (1) Provide capital and resources to improve economic conditions in 
distressed communities.
    (2) Help organizations access the resources they need to make their 
communities more livable.
    (3) End chronic homelessness.
    (4) Mitigate housing conditions that threaten health.
    d. Ensure Equal Opportunity in Housing.
    (1) Resolve discrimination complaints on a timely basis.
    (2) Promote public awareness of fair housing laws.
    (3) Improve housing accessibility for persons with disabilities.
    e. Embrace High Standards of Ethics, Management, and 
Accountability.
    (1) Rebuild HUD's human capital and further diversify its 
workforce.
    (2) Improve HUD's management and its internal controls and systems, 
as well as resolve audit issues.
    (3) Improve accountability, service delivery, and customer service 
of HUD and its partners.
    (4) Ensure program compliance.
    f. Promote Participation of Grassroots Faith-Based and Other 
Community-Based Organizations.
    (1) Reduce regulatory barriers to participation by grassroots 
faith-based and other community-based organizations.
    (2) Conduct outreach to inform potential partners of HUD 
opportunities.
    (3) Expand technical assistance resources deployed to grassroots 
faith-based and other community-based organizations.
    (4) Encourage partnerships between grassroots faith-based and other 
community-based organizations and HUD's traditional grantees.
    You can find out about HUD's Strategic Plan FY2003-FY2008, and 
2002-2005 Annual Performance Plans at http://www.hud.gov/offices/cfo/reports/cforept.cfm.
2. Policy Priorities
    HUD encourages applicants to undertake specific activities that 
will assist the Department in implementing its policy priorities and 
achieving its goals for FY2005 and beyond, when the majority of funding 
recipients will be reporting programmatic results and achievements. 
Applicants that include work activities that specifically address one 
or more of these policy priorities will receive higher rating scores 
than applicants that do not address these HUD priorities. Each NOFA 
issued in FY2005 will specify which priorities relate to a particular 
program and how many points will be awarded for addressing those 
priorities.
    a. Providing Increased Homeownership and Rental Opportunities for 
Low- and Moderate-Income Persons, Persons with Disabilities, the 
Elderly, Minorities, and Persons with Limited English Proficiency. Too 
often, these individuals and families are shut out of the housing 
market through no fault of their own. Often developers of housing, 
housing counseling agencies, and other organizations engaged in the 
housing industry must work aggressively to open up the realm of 
homeownership and rental opportunities to low- and moderate-income 
persons, persons with disabilities, the elderly, minorities, and 
persons with limited English proficiency. Many of these families are 
anxious to have homes of their own, but are not aware of the programs 
and assistance that are available. Applicants are encouraged to address 
the housing, housing counseling, and other related supportive service 
needs of these individuals and coordinate their proposed activities 
with funding available through HUD's affordable housing programs and 
home loan programs.
    Proposed activities support strategic goals a, b, and d.
    b. Improving Our Nation's Communities. HUD wants to improve the 
quality of life for those living in distressed communities. Applicants 
are encouraged to include activities that:
    (1) Bring private capital into distressed communities;
    (a) Finance business investments to grow new businesses;
    (b) Maintain and expand existing businesses;
    (c) Create a pool of funds for new small and minority-owned 
businesses; and
    (d) Create decent jobs for low-income persons.
    (2) Improve the environmental health and safety of families living 
in public and privately owned housing by including activities that:
    (a) Coordinate lead hazard reduction programs with weatherization 
activities funded by state and local governments and the federal 
government; and
    (b) Reduce or eliminate health related hazards in the home caused 
by toxic agents such as molds and other

[[Page 13587]]

allergens, carbon monoxide, and other hazardous agents and conditions.
    (3) Make communities more livable by:
    (a) Providing public and social services; and
    (b) Improving infrastructure and community facilities.
    Activities support strategic goals b, c, and d.
    c. Encouraging Accessible Design Features. As described in Section 
III.C.2.c, applicants must comply with applicable civil rights laws 
including the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 
of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. These laws and the 
regulations implementing them provide for nondiscrimination based on 
disability and require housing and other facilities to incorporate 
certain features intended to provide for their use and enjoyment by 
persons with disabilities. HUD is encouraging applicants to add 
accessible design features beyond those required under civil rights 
laws and regulations. These features would eliminate many other 
barriers limiting the access of persons with disabilities to housing 
and other facilities. Copies of the Uniform Federal Accessibility 
Standards (UFAS) are available from the NOFA Information Center at 
(800) HUD-8929 or (800) HUD-2209 (TTY) (these are toll-free numbers) 
and also from the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Room 5230, 451 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410-2000, at (202) 755-5404 or toll-free 
at (800) 877-8339 (TTY) (these are toll-free numbers).
    Accessible design features are intended to promote visitability and 
incorporate features of universal design as described below.
    (1) Visitability in New Construction and Substantial 
Rehabilitation. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate visitability 
standards where feasible in new construction and substantial 
rehabilitation projects. Visitability standards allow a person with 
mobility impairments access into the home, but do not require that all 
features be made accessible. Visitability means that there is at least 
one entrance at grade (no steps), approached by an accessible route, 
such as a sidewalk, and that the entrance door and all interior passage 
doors are at least 2 feet, 10 inches wide, allowing 32 inches of clear 
passage space. A visitable home also serves persons without 
disabilities, such as a mother pushing a stroller or a person 
delivering a large appliance. More information about visitability is 
available at www.concretechange.org.
    Activities support strategic goals b, c, and d.
    (2) Universal Design. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate 
universal design in the construction or rehabilitation of housing, 
retail establishments, and community facilities funded with HUD 
assistance. Universal design is the design of products and environments 
to be usable by all people to the greatest extent possible, without the 
need for adaptation or specialized design. The intent of universal 
design is to simplify life for everyone by making products, 
communications, and the built environment more usable by as many people 
as possible at little or no extra cost to the user. Universal design 
benefits people of all ages and abilities. In addition to any 
applicable required accessibility feature under Section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or the design and construction requirements 
of the Fair Housing Act, the Department encourages applicants to 
incorporate the principles of universal design when developing housing, 
community facilities, and electronic communication mechanisms or when 
communicating with community residents at public meetings or events.
    HUD believes that by creating housing that is accessible to all, it 
can increase the supply of affordable housing for all, regardless of 
ability or age. Likewise, creating places where people work, train, and 
interact that are useable and open to all residents increases 
opportunities for economic and personal self-sufficiency. More 
information on Universal Design is available from the Center for 
Universal Design at www.design.ncsu.edu:8120/cud/ or the Resource 
Center on Accessible Housing and Universal Design at http://
www.abledata.com/abledata.cfm? pageid=113573⊤= 
16029&sectionid=19326.
    Activities support strategic goals a, b, c, and d.
    d. Providing Full and Equal Access to Grassroots Faith-Based and 
Other Community-Based Organizations in HUD Program Implementation.
    (1) HUD encourages nonprofit organizations, including grassroots 
faith-based and other community-based organizations, to participate in 
the vast array of programs for which funding is available through HUD's 
programs. HUD also encourages States, units of local government, 
universities, colleges, and other organizations to partner with 
grassroots organizations (e.g., civic organizations, faith communities, 
and grassroots faith-based and other community-based organizations) 
that have not been effectively utilized. These grassroots organizations 
have a strong history of providing vital community services, such as 
assisting the homeless and preventing homelessness, counseling 
individuals and families on fair housing rights, providing elderly 
housing opportunities, developing first-time homeownership programs, 
increasing homeownership and rental housing opportunities in 
neighborhoods of choice, developing affordable and accessible housing 
in neighborhoods across the country, creating economic development 
programs, and supporting the residents of public housing facilities. 
HUD seeks to make its programs more effective, efficient, and 
accessible by expanding opportunities for grassroots organizations to 
participate in developing solutions for their own neighborhoods. 
Additionally, HUD encourages applicants to include these grassroots 
faith-based and other community-based organizations in their workplans. 
Applicants, their partners, and participants must review the individual 
FY2005 HUD program announcements to determine whether they are eligible 
to apply for funding directly or whether they must establish a working 
relationship with an eligible applicant in order to participate in a 
HUD funding opportunity. Grassroots faith-based and other community-
based organizations, and applicants that currently or propose to 
partner, fund, subgrant, or subcontract with grassroots organizations 
(including grassroots faith-based or other community-based nonprofit 
organizations eligible under applicable program regulations) in 
conducting their work programs will receive higher rating points as 
specified in the individual FY2005 HUD program announcements.
    (2) Definitions of Grassroots Organizations.
    (a) HUD will consider an organization a ``grassroots organization'' 
if the organization is headquartered in the local community in which it 
provides services; and,
    (i) Has a social services budget of $300,000 or less, or
    (ii) Has six or fewer full-time equivalent employees.
    (b) Local affiliates of national organizations are not considered 
``grassroots.'' Local affiliates of national organizations are 
encouraged, however, to partner with grassroots organizations, but must 
demonstrate that they are currently working with a grassroots 
organization (e.g., having a grassroots faith-based or other community-
based organization provide volunteers).
    (c) The cap provided in paragraph (2)(a)(i) above includes only 
that portion of an organization's budget allocated to

[[Page 13588]]

providing social services. It does not include other portions of the 
budget, such as salaries and expenses, not directly expended in the 
provision of social services.
    Activities support strategic goal f.
    e. Participation of Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) in HUD 
Programs. Pursuant to Executive Orders 13256, ``President's Board of 
Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities,'' 13230, 
``President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for 
Hispanic Americans,'' 13216, ``Increasing Participation of Asian 
Americans and Pacific Islanders in Federal Programs,'' and 13270, 
``Tribal Colleges and Universities,'' HUD is strongly committed to 
broadening the participation of MSIs in its programs. HUD is interested 
in increasing the participation of MSIs in order to advance the 
development of human potential, strengthen the nation's capacity to 
provide high quality education, and increase opportunities for MSIs to 
participate and benefit from federal financial assistance programs. HUD 
encourages all applicants and recipients to include meaningful 
participation of MSIs in their work programs. A listing of MSIs can be 
found on the Department of Education Web site at http://www.ed.gov/
about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-minorityinst.html or HUD's Web site at 
http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    Activities support strategic goals c and d.
    f. Ending Chronic Homelessness. President Bush has set a national 
goal to end chronic homelessness. Secretary Alphonso Jackson has 
embraced this goal and has pledged that HUD's grant programs will be 
used to support the President's goal and better meet the needs of 
chronically homeless individuals. A person experiencing chronic 
homelessness is defined as an unaccompanied individual with a disabling 
condition who has been continuously homeless for a year or more or has 
experienced four or more episodes of homelessness over the last three 
years. A disabling condition is defined as a diagnosable substance 
abuse disorder, serious mental illness, developmental disability, or 
chronic physical illness or disability, including the co-occurrence of 
two or more of these conditions. Applicants are encouraged to target 
assistance to chronically homeless persons by undertaking activities 
that will result in:
    (1) Creation of affordable housing units, supportive housing and 
group homes;
    (2) Establishment of a set-aside of units of affordable housing for 
the chronically homeless;
    (3) Establishment of substance abuse treatment programs targeted to 
the homeless population;
    (4) Establishment of job training programs that will provide 
opportunities for economic self-sufficiency;
    (5) Establishment of counseling programs that assist homeless 
persons in finding housing, managing finances, managing anger, and 
building interpersonal relationships;
    (6) Provision of supportive services, such as health care 
assistance that will permit homeless individuals to become productive 
members of society; and
    (7) Provision of service coordinators or one-stop assistance 
centers that will ensure that chronically homeless persons have access 
to a variety of social services.
    Applicants that are developing programs to meet the goals set in 
this policy priority should be mindful of the requirements of the 
regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, in 
particular, 24 CFR 8.4(b)(1)(iv), 8.4(c)(1), and 8.4(d).
    Activities support strategic goals b and c.
    g. Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing. On March 
22, 2004, HUD published a final notice (69 FR 13450) announcing its 
intention to establish the Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable 
Housing policy priority in the majority of its FY2004 NOFAs. In that 
notice, HUD advised that applicants would be required to respond to a 
series of evaluative questions in order to receive the rating points 
associated with this priority. On April 21, 2004 (69 FR 21663), HUD 
published a correction to Question 5 in Part A of the questionnaire. In 
the April 21, 2004 notice, HUD also responded to questions that arose 
after the publication of the March 22, 2004 notice. In FY2005, HUD is 
continuing to make this a policy priority. Through this initiative, HUD 
is seeking input into how it can work more effectively with the public 
and private sectors to remove regulatory barriers to affordable 
housing. The published notices address how HUD will evaluate the 
effectiveness of State and local government efforts to remove 
regulatory barriers to affordable housing.
    Increasing the affordability of rental and homeownership housing 
continues to be a high priority of the Department. Over the last 15 
years, there has been increased recognition that unnecessary, 
duplicative, excessive, or discriminatory public processes often 
significantly increase the cost of housing development and 
rehabilitation. Often referred to as ``regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing,'' many public statutes, ordinances, regulatory 
requirements, or processes and procedures significantly impede the 
development or availability of affordable housing without providing a 
commensurate or demonstrable health or safety benefit. ``Affordable 
housing'' is decent, quality housing that low-, moderate-, and middle-
income families can afford to buy or rent without spending more than 30 
percent of their income; spending more than 30 percent of income on 
shelter may require families to sacrifice other necessities of life.
    Addressing these barriers to housing affordability is a necessary 
component of any overall national housing policy. However, addressing 
such barriers must be viewed as a complement, not a substitute, for 
other efforts to meet affordable housing needs. For many families, 
federal, state, and local subsidies are fundamental tools for meeting 
these affordable needs. In many instances, however, other sometimes 
well-intentioned public policies work at cross-purposes with subsidy 
programs by imposing significant constraints. From zoning that keeps 
out affordable housing, especially multifamily housing, to other 
regulations and requirements that unnecessarily raise the costs of 
construction, the need to address this issue is clear. For example, 
affordable rehabilitation is often constrained by outmoded building 
codes that require excessive renovation. Barrier removal will not only 
make it easier to find and get approval for affordable housing sites 
but it will also allow available subsidies to go further in meeting 
these needs. For housing for moderate-income families often referred to 
as ``work force'' housing, barrier removal can be the most essential 
component of meeting housing needs.
    Under this policy priority, higher rating points are available to 
(1) governmental applicants that are able to demonstrate successful 
efforts in removing regulatory barriers to affordable housing and (2) 
nongovernmental applicants that are associated with jurisdictions that 
have undertaken successful efforts in removing barriers. To obtain the 
policy priority points for efforts to successfully remove regulatory 
barriers, applicants must complete form HUD-27300, ``Questionnaire for 
HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory Barriers.'' Copies of HUD's 
notices published on this issue, can be found on HUD's Web site at 
http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/

[[Page 13589]]

grants/fundsavail.cfm. Local jurisdictions and counties with land use 
and building regulatory authority applying for funding, as well as 
housing authorities, nonprofit organizations, and other qualified 
applicants applying for funds for projects located in these 
jurisdictions, are invited to answer the 20 questions under Part A. An 
applicant that scores at least five in column 2 will receive 1 point in 
the NOFA evaluation. An applicant that scores 10 or more in column 2 
will receive 2 points in the NOFA evaluation.
    State agencies or departments applying for funding, as well as 
housing authorities, nonprofit organizations, and other qualified 
applicants applying for funds for projects located in unincorporated 
areas or areas not otherwise covered in Part A are invited to answer 
the 15 questions under Part B. Under Part B an applicant that scores at 
least four in Column 2 will receive one point in the NOFA evaluation. 
Under Part B an applicant that scores eight or greater will receive a 
total of two points in the respective evaluation. Applicants that will 
be providing services in multiple jurisdictions may choose to address 
the questions in either Part A or Part B for that jurisdiction in which 
the preponderance of services will be performed if an award is made. In 
no case will an applicant receive more than two points for barrier 
removal activities under this policy priority. An applicant that is an 
Indian tribe or TDHE may choose to complete either Part A or Part B 
based upon a determination by the tribe or TDHE as to whether the 
tribe's or the TDHE's association with the local jurisdiction or the 
state would be the more advantageous for its application.

    Note: Upon completion of all NOFA evaluations, grant selections, 
and awards, it is HUD's intent to add relevant data obtained from 
this evaluative factor to the database on state and local regulatory 
reform actions maintained at the Regulatory Barrier Clearinghouse 
Web site at http://www.huduser.org/rbc/ used by states, localities, 
and housing providers to identify regulatory barriers and learn of 
exemplary local efforts at regulatory reform.

    Form HUD-27300 can be found in the appendix to this General 
Section. A limited number of questions on form HUD-27300 expressly 
request the applicant to provide brief documentation with its response. 
Other questions require that, for each affirmative statement made, the 
applicant supply a reference, Internet address, or brief statement 
indicating where the back-up information may be found and a point of 
contact, including a telephone number or e-mail address. Applicants are 
encouraged to read HUD's three notices to obtain an understanding of 
this policy priority and how it can affect their score. Applicants that 
do not provide the Internet addresses, references, or documentation 
will not get the policy priority points.
    Activities support strategic goals a and b.
    h. Participation in Energy Star. The Department of Housing and 
Urban Development has adopted a wide-ranging energy action plan for 
improving energy efficiency in all program areas. As a first step in 
implementing the energy plan, HUD, the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA), and the Department of Energy (DOE) have signed a partnership to 
promote energy efficiency in HUD's affordable housing programs, 
including public housing, HUD insured housing, and housing financed 
through HUD formula and competitive programs. The purpose of the Energy 
Star partnership is to promote energy-efficient affordable housing 
stock while protecting the environment. Applicants constructing, 
rehabilitating, or maintaining housing or community facilities are 
encouraged to promote energy efficiency in design and operations. They 
are urged especially to purchase and use products that display the 
Energy Star label. Applicants providing housing assistance or 
counseling services are encouraged to promote Energy Star materials and 
practices, as well as buildings constructed to Energy Star standards, 
to both homebuyers and renters.
    Applicants are encouraged to undertake program activities that 
include developing Energy Star promotional and information materials, 
providing outreach to low- and moderate-income renters and buyers on 
the benefits and savings when using Energy Star products and 
appliances, utilizing Energy Star-designated products in the 
construction or rehabilitation of housing units, and replacing worn 
products or facilities such as light bulbs, water heaters, furnaces, 
etc., with Energy Star products to reduce operating costs. Communities 
and developers are encouraged to promote the designation of community 
buildings and homes as Energy Star compliant. For further information 
about Energy Star see http://www.energystar.gov or call (888) 782-7937, 
or 8 (888) 588-9920 (TTY).
    Activities support Strategic Goals 1 and 2.
3. Threshold Compliance
    Only applications that meet all of the threshold requirements will 
be eligible to receive an award of funds from HUD.
4. Corrections to Deficient Applications
    After the application submission date, HUD may not, consistent with 
its regulations in 24 CFR part 4, subpart B, consider any unsolicited 
information you, the applicant, may want to provide. HUD may contact 
you to clarify an item in your application or to correct technical 
deficiencies. HUD may not seek clarification of items or responses that 
improve the substantive quality of your response to any rating factors. 
In order not to unreasonably exclude applications from being rated and 
ranked, HUD may contact applicants to ensure proper completion of the 
application and will do so on a uniform basis for all applicants.
    Examples of curable (correctable) technical deficiencies include 
inconsistencies in the funding request, failure to submit the proper 
certifications, and failure to submit an application that contains a 
signature by an official able to make a legally biding commitment on 
behalf of the applicant. In the case of an applicant that received a 
waiver, the technical deficiency may include failure to submit an 
application that contains an original signature. If HUD finds a curable 
deficiency in the application, HUD will notify you in writing by 
describing the clarification or technical deficiency. HUD will notify 
applicants by facsimile or by USPS, return receipt requested. 
Clarifications or corrections of technical deficiencies in accordance 
with the information provided by HUD must be submitted within 14 
calendar days of the date of receipt of the HUD notification. (If the 
submission date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, your 
correction must be received by HUD on the next day that is not a 
Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday.) If the deficiency is not 
corrected within this time period, HUD will reject the application as 
incomplete and it will not be considered for funding. In order to meet 
statutory deadlines for the obligation of funds or for timely 
completion of the review process, program NOFAs may reduce the number 
of days for submitting a response to a HUD clarification or correction 
to a technical deficiency. Please be sure to carefully read each 
program NOFA for any additional information and instructions. An 
applicant's response to a HUD notification of a curable deficiency 
should be submitted directly to HUD in accordance with the instructions 
provided in the notification.

[[Page 13590]]

5. Rating Panels
    To review and rate applications, HUD may establish panels that may 
include persons not currently employed by HUD. HUD may include these 
non-HUD employees to obtain certain expertise and outside points of 
view, including views from other federal agencies. Persons brought into 
HUD to review applications are subject to conflict of interest 
provisions. In addition, reviewers using HUD Information Technology 
(IT) systems may be subject to an IT security check.
6. Rating
    HUD will evaluate and rate all applications for funding that meet 
the threshold requirements. HUD will consider the factors described 
below when rating your application(s).
    a. Past Performance. In evaluating applications for funding, HUD 
will take into account applicants' past performance in managing funds, 
including, but not limited to, the ability to account for funds 
appropriately; timely use of funds received either from HUD or other 
federal, state, or local programs; meeting performance targets for 
completion of activities and receipt of promised matching or leveraged 
funds; and number of persons to be served or targeted for assistance. 
HUD may consider information available from HUD's records, the name 
check review, public sources such as newspapers, Inspector General or 
Government Accountability Office reports or findings, or hotline or 
other complaints that have been proven to have merit.
    b. Deducting Points for Poor Performance. In evaluating past 
performance, HUD may elect to deduct points from the rating score or 
establish threshold levels as specified under the Factors for Award in 
the individual program NOFAs.
7. Ranking
    HUD will rank applicants within each program or, for Continuum of 
Care applicants, across the three programs identified in the Continuum 
of Care NOFA. HUD will rank applicants only against those applying for 
the same program funding.
    Where there are set-asides within a program competition, you, the 
applicant, will compete against only those applicants in the same set-
aside competition.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    The individual program NOFAs will provide the applicable 
information regarding this subject.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

1. Negotiation
    After HUD has rated and ranked all applications and made 
selections, HUD may require, depending upon the program, that a 
selected applicant participate in negotiations to determine the 
specific terms of the funding agreement and budget. In cases where HUD 
cannot successfully conclude negotiations with a selected applicant or 
a selected applicant fails to provide HUD with requested information, 
an award will not be made to that applicant. In such an instance, HUD 
may offer an award and proceed with negotiations with the next highest-
ranking applicant.
2. Adjustments to Funding
    a. HUD reserves the right to fund less than the full amount 
requested in your application to ensure the fair distribution of funds 
and enable the purposes or requirements of a specific program to be 
met.
    b. HUD will not fund any portion of your application that is not 
eligible for funding under specific program statutory or regulatory 
requirements; does not meet the requirements of this notice; or is 
duplicative of other funded programs or activities from prior year 
awards or other selected applicants. Only the eligible portions of your 
application (excluding duplicative portions) may be funded.
    c. If funds remain after funding the highest-ranking applications, 
HUD may fund all or part of the next highest-ranking application in a 
given program. If you, the applicant, turn down an award offer, HUD 
will make an offer of funding to the next highest-ranking application.
    d. If funds remain after all selections have been made, remaining 
funds may be made available within the current fiscal year for other 
competitions within the program area or held over for future 
competitions.
    e. Individual program NOFAs may have other requirements, so please 
review the program NOFA carefully.
3. Funding Errors
    In the event HUD commits an error that, when corrected, would 
result in selection of an otherwise eligible applicant during the 
funding round of a program NOFA, HUD may select that applicant when 
sufficient funds become available.
4. Performance and Compliance Actions of Funding Recipients
    HUD will measure and address the performance and compliance actions 
of funding recipients in accordance with the applicable standards and 
sanctions of their respective programs.
5. Debriefing
    For a period of at least 120 days, beginning 30 days after the 
awards for assistance are publicly announced, HUD will provide to a 
requesting applicant a debriefing related to its application. A 
debriefing request must be made in writing or by email by the 
authorized official whose signature appears on the SF-424 or his or her 
successor in office, and submitted to the person or organization 
identified as the Contact under the section entitled ``Agency 
Contact(s)'' in the individual program NOFA under which you applied for 
assistance. Information provided during a debriefing will include, at a 
minimum, the final score you received for each rating factor, final 
evaluator comments for each rating factor, and the final assessment 
indicating the basis upon which assistance was provided or denied.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    See Section III.C. of this notice regarding related requirements.

C. Reporting

    The individual program NOFAs will identify applicable reporting 
requirements related to each program, including racial and ethnic data 
collection requirements based upon the OMB standards for federal data 
on race and ethnicity, dated August 13, 2002. Applicants are also 
required to submit a completed form HUD-96010 Logic Model indicating 
results achieved against the proposed output goal(s) and proposed 
outcome(s) stated in your approved application and agreed to by HUD. 
The submission of the Logic Model and required information should be in 
accord with the reporting time frames identified for providing reports 
to HUD in each program NOFA.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

    The individual program NOFAs will identify the applicable agency 
contacts related to each program. Questions regarding this notice 
should be directed to Dorthera (Rita) Yorkshire or Eric Gauff, in HUD's 
Office of Departmental Grants Management, at (202) 708-0667 (this is 
not a toll-free number). Persons with speech or hearing impairments may 
contact Ms. Yorkshire or Mr. Gauff using the toll-free Federal Relay 
Service

[[Page 13591]]

at (800) 877-8339. Questions regarding specific program requirements 
should be directed to the agency contacts identified in each program 
NOFA.

VIII. Other Information

A. Grants.gov and Pub. L. 106-107 Streamlining Activities

    The Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 
(Pub. L. 106-107) directs each federal agency to develop and implement 
a plan that, among other things, streamlines and simplifies the 
application, administrative, and reporting procedures for federal 
financial assistance programs administered by the agency. This law also 
requires the Director of OMB to direct, coordinate, and assist federal 
agencies in establishing (1) a common application and reporting system 
and (2) an interagency process for addressing ways to streamline and 
simplify federal financial assistance application and administrative 
procedures and reporting requirements for program applicants.
    HUD is working with the 26 federal grant-making agencies to 
implement President George W. Bush's grants.gov ``FIND and APPLY'' 
initiative. This initiative is an effort by federal agencies to develop 
a common electronic application and reporting system for federal 
financial assistance. This system will provide ``one-stop shopping'' 
for funding opportunities for all federal programs. The system is being 
implemented in response to public and governmental concerns that it is 
difficult for organizations to know all the funding available from the 
federal government and how to apply for funding. It also is an effort 
by the federal government to develop common application requirements, 
further streamlining the application process to make it easier for you, 
our customers, to apply for funding.
    The first segment of the Grants.gov initiative focuses on allowing 
the public to easily FIND competitive funding opportunities and then 
APPLY via Grants.gov. HUD posted all of its funding opportunities on 
www.grants.gov/Find in FY2004 and intends to do the same in FY2005. In 
FY2004, HUD posted two fully electronic grant applications on 
Grants.gov Find and Apply. In FY2005, HUD is posting all but the 
Continuum of Care NOFA on Grants.gov for electronic application 
submission through www.grants.gov/Apply. It is HUD's intent to post the 
Continuum of Care as a fully electronic application for submission on 
www.grants.gov/Apply in FY2006.
    In addition, Grants.gov is working with the federal agencies to 
begin the process of accepting mandatory and formula grant program 
plans and application submissions online via Grants.gov in 2005-2006. 
Applicants for HUD's formula and competitive programs are urged to 
become familiar with the Grants.gov site, registration procedures, and 
electronic submissions so that as the site is expanded, you will be 
registered and familiar with the find and apply functionality.

B. HUD-IRS Memorandum of Agreement

    HUD and the Internal Revenue Service have entered into a Memorandum 
of Agreement to provide information to HUD grantees serving low-income, 
disabled, and elderly persons, as well as persons with limited English 
proficiency, on the availability of low-income tax credits; the earned 
income tax credit; individual development accounts; child tax credits, 
and the IRS Voluntary Income Tax Assistance program. HUD is making 
available on its website information on these IRS asset-building 
resources. We encourage you to visit the site and disseminate this 
information to low-income residents in your community and other 
organizations that serve low-income residents, so that eligible 
individuals can take advantage of these resources.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    The information collection requirements in this notice have been 
approved by OMB under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3501-3520). In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may not 
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a 
collection of information unless the collection displays a valid OMB 
control number. Each program NOFA will identify its applicable OMB 
control number.

D. Environmental Impact

    A Finding of No Significant Impact with respect to the environment 
has been made for this notice in accordance with HUD regulations at 24 
CFR part 50 that implement Section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). The Finding of 
No Significant Impact is available for public inspection between 8 a.m. 
and 5 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, except federal 
holidays, in the Office of the General Counsel, Regulations Division, 
Room 10276, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410-0500.

E. Executive Orders and Congressional Intent

1. Executive Order 13132, Federalism
    Executive Order 13132 prohibits, to the extent practicable and 
permitted by law, an agency from promulgating policies that have 
federalism implications and either impose substantial direct compliance 
costs on State and local governments and are not required by statute, 
or preempt State law, unless the relevant requirements of Section 6 of 
the executive order are met. This notice does not have federalism 
implications and does not impose substantial direct compliance costs on 
State and local governments or preempt State law within the meaning of 
the executive order.
2. Sense of Congress
    The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447, 
approved December 8, 2004), includes a Sense of Congress resolution, 
which states that, to the greatest extent practicable, all equipment 
and products purchased with funds made available in the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2005, should be American-made.

F. Public Access, Documentation, and Disclosure

    Section 102 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development 
Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545) (HUD Reform Act) and the 
regulations codified at 24 CFR part 4, subpart A, contain a number of 
provisions that are designed to ensure greater accountability and 
integrity in the provision of certain types of assistance administered 
by HUD. On January 14, 1992, HUD published a notice that also provides 
information on the implementation of Section 102 (57 FR 1942). The 
documentation, public access, and disclosure requirements of Section 
102 apply to assistance awarded under individual NOFAs published as 
part of HUD's SuperNOFA or thereafter, as described below.
1. Documentation, Public Access and Disclosure Requirements
    HUD will ensure that documentation and other information regarding 
each application submitted pursuant to its FY2005 NOFAs published in 
the FY2005 SuperNOFA or NOFAs published thereafter are sufficient to 
indicate the basis upon which assistance was provided or denied. This 
material, including any letters of support, will be made available for 
public inspection for a five-year period beginning not less than 30 
days after the award of the assistance. Material will be

[[Page 13592]]

made available in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 
U.S.C. 552) and HUD's implementing regulations (24 CFR part 15).
2. Form HUD-2880
    HUD will also make available to the public for five years all 
applicant disclosure reports (form HUD-2880) submitted in connection 
with an FY2005 NOFA. Update reports (also reported on form HUD-2880) 
will be made available along with the applicant disclosure reports, but 
in no case for a period of less than three years. All reports, both 
applicant disclosures and updates, will be made available in accordance 
with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and HUD's 
implementing regulations (24 CFR part 5).
3. Publication of Recipients of HUD Funding
    HUD's regulations at 24 CFR part 4 provide that HUD will publish a 
notice in the Federal Register to notify the public of all funding 
decisions made by the Department to provide:
    a. Assistance subject to Section 102(a) of the HUD Reform Act; and
    b. Assistance provided through grants or cooperative agreements on 
a discretionary (non-formula, non-demand) noncompetitive basis, but 
that is not provided on the basis of a competition.

G. Section 103 of the HUD Reform Act

    HUD's regulations implementing Section 103 of the HUD Reform Act, 
codified at 24 CFR part 4, subpart B, apply to this funding 
competition. The regulations continue to apply until the announcement 
of the selection of successful applicants. HUD employees involved in 
the review of applications and in the making of funding decisions are 
prohibited by the regulations from providing advance information to any 
person (other than an authorized employee of HUD) concerning funding 
decisions or from otherwise giving any applicant an unfair competitive 
advantage. Persons who apply for assistance should confine their 
inquiries to the subject areas permitted under 24 CFR part 4.
    Applicants or employees who have ethics-related questions should 
contact the HUD Ethics Law Division at (202) 708-3815 (this is not a 
toll-free number). The toll-free TTY number for persons with speech or 
hearing impairments is (800) 877-8339. HUD employees who have specific 
program questions should contact the appropriate field office counsel 
or Headquarters counsel for the program to which the question pertains.

H. The FY2005 HUD NOFA Process and Future HUD Funding Processes

    Each year, HUD strives to improve its NOFA process. The FY2005 
NOFAs have been revised based upon comments received during the FY2004 
funding process. The changes also reflect HUD's efforts to move to 
electronic government consistent with federal government-wide 
practices. In FY2004, as part of the Public Law 106-107 streamlining 
efforts and the interagency eGrants Initiative, HUD began making 
considerable changes to the format and presentation of its funding 
notices, which have been enhanced further for FY2005. HUD is 
continually striving to ensure effective communication with HUD program 
funding recipients and potential funding recipients. HUD has been 
posting pertinent documents related to these efforts on its Web site. 
HUD encourages you to visit the Department's Web site on an ongoing 
basis to keep abreast of the latest developments. HUD's website address 
for information on this initiative is http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/
grants/egrants/egrants.cfm. Information on grant streamlining 
activities can be found at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/pl-
106107/pl106-107.cfm. HUD continues to welcome comments and feedback 
from applicants and other members of the public on how HUD may further 
improve its competitive funding process.
    The programs for which funding is available in the FY2005 SuperNOFA 
are published simultaneously with this policy notice and follow this 
section and its appendices.

    Dated: March 4, 2005.
Roy A. Bernardi,
Deputy Secretary.
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[[Page 13645]]



Community Development Technical Assistance Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Community Planning and Development.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title. Community Development Technical 
Assistance (CD-TA).
    C. Announcement Type. Initial Announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number. The Federal Register number for this 
NOFA is FR-4950-N-03. The OMB approval number for this program is 2506-
0166 for HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), HOME Investment 
Partnerships Program for Community Housing Development Organizations 
[CHDO (HOME)], McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance (Homeless), and 
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), 2506-0133 for Housing 
Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA), and 2506-0142 for 
Youthbuild.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Numbers. The HOME 
and CHDO (HOME) CFDA number is 14.239; Homeless is 14.235; HOPWA is 
14.241; CDBG Entitlement Grants is 14.218; CDBG for Small Cities 
Program is 14.219; CDBG for States is 14.228; CDBG for Insular Areas is 
14.225; CDBG--Section 108 is 14.248; Youthbuild is 14.243.
    F. Dates. The application submission date is June 1, 2005.
    G. Additional Overview and Content Information. Applicants 
interested in providing technical assistance to entities participating 
in HUD's community development programs should carefully review the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA and the information listed in this CD-
TA NOFA. Funds are available to provide technical assistance for six 
separate program areas: HOME, CHDO (HOME), Homeless, HOPWA, CDBG, and 
Youthbuild. Applicants may apply for one, two, three, four, five, or 
all six CD-TA program areas. The application submission information is 
contained in this CD-TA NOFA at Section IV.B. Approximately $30.1 
million is available. No cost sharing is required. Grants will be 
administered under cooperative agreements with significant HUD 
involvement (see Section II.C of this NOFA).

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. CD-TA Purpose

    The purpose of the CD-TA program is to provide assistance to 
achieve the highest level of performance and results for six separate 
community development program areas: (1) HOME; (2) CHDO (HOME); (3) 
Homeless; (4) HOPWA; (5) CDBG; and (6) Youthbuild. Information about 
the six community development programs and their missions, goals, and 
activities can be found on the HUD Web site at http://www.hud.gov.

B. Description of National TA and Local TA

    There are two types of technical assistance (TA) funding available 
in this NOFA: National TA and Local TA.
    National TA activities are those that address, at a nationwide 
level, one or more of the CD-TA program activities and/or priorities 
identified in Section III.C of this NOFA. National TA activities may 
include the development of written products, development of on-line 
materials, development of training courses, delivery of training 
courses previously approved by HUD, organization and delivery of 
workshops and conferences, and delivery of direct TA as part of a 
national program. Applicants for National TA must also be willing to 
work in any HUD field office area, although work in the field office 
areas is likely to be a negligible portion of National TA activities. 
National TA activities are administered by a Government Technical 
Representative (GTR) and Government Technical Monitor (GTM) at HUD 
Headquarters.
    Local TA activities also must address the CD-TA program activities 
and/or priorities identified in this NOFA, however the Local TA is 
targeted to the specific needs of the HUD community development program 
recipients in the field office area in which the TA is proposed. Local 
TA activities are limited to the development of need assessments, 
direct TA to HUD community development program recipients, organization 
and delivery of workshops and conferences, and customization and 
delivery of previously HUD-approved trainings. Local TA will be 
administered by a GTR and GTM in the respective HUD field office.

C. Authority

    HOME TA is authorized by the HOME Investment Partnerships Act (42 
U.S.C. 12781-12783); 24 CFR part 92. CHDO (HOME) TA is authorized by 
the HOME Investment Partnerships Act (42 U.S.C. 12773); 24 CFR part 92. 
For the McKinney-Vento Act Homeless Assistance Programs TA, the 
Supportive Housing Program is authorized under 42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.; 
24 CFR 583.140; Emergency Shelter Grants, Section 8 Moderate 
Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy Program, and Shelter Plus Care TA 
are authorized by the FY2005 HUD Appropriations Act. HOPWA TA is 
authorized under the FY2005 HUD Appropriations Act. CDBG TA is 
authorized under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act 
of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301-5320); 24 CFR 570.402. Youthbuild TA is 
authorized under Title IV of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 
Housing Act, as amended by the Housing and Community Development Act of 
1992 (42 U.S.C. 12899); 24 CFR part 585.

II. Award Information

A. Available Funds

    Approximately $30,120,000 is available for the CD-TA program. 
Additional funds may become available as a result of recapturing unused 
funds. This chart shows how the funds are divided among National TA and 
Local TA activities:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Program                     National TA    Local TA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME..........................................   $2,216,000   $5,000,000
CHDO (HOME)...................................    2,440,000    5,000,000
Homeless......................................    6,000,000    3,000,000
HOPWA.........................................    2,000,000            0
CDBG..........................................    1,388,800            0
Youthbuild....................................    3,075,200            0
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Local TA funds are divided among HUD's field office 
jurisdictions for the HOME, CHDO (HOME), and Homeless programs. No 
Local TA funds are available for HOPWA, CDBG, or Youthbuild.
    The chart below shows the amounts available in dollars for Local TA 
by CD-TA program:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Local TA area                              HOME           CHDO (HOME)        Homeless
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama...................................................          $100,000           $75,000           $40,000
Alaska....................................................            40,000            30,000            30,000
Arkansas..................................................            40,000            30,000            40,000
California--Northern and Arizona, Nevada..................           300,000           300,000           300,000
California--Southern......................................           300,000           400,000           275,000

[[Page 13646]]

 
Caribbean.................................................            50,000            75,000            40,000
Colorado and Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah,              170,000           170,000            60,000
 Wyoming..................................................
Connecticut...............................................            60,000            55,000            40,000
District of Columbia area.................................            60,000            50,000            50,000
Florida--Southern.........................................            60,000            60,000            50,000
Florida--Northern.........................................           150,000           100,000            70,000
Georgia...................................................           125,000            75,000            50,000
Hawaii....................................................            70,000                 0            40,000
Illinois..................................................           275,000           125,000           145,000
Indiana...................................................            90,000            50,000            25,000
Kansas and Missouri--Western..............................            60,000            75,000            50,000
Missouri--Eastern.........................................            45,000            55,000            40,000
Kentucky..................................................           100,000           150,000            40,000
Louisiana.................................................            75,000            50,000            40,000
Maryland, except District of Columbia area................            60,000            50,000            40,000
Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont           300,000           250,000           200,000
Michigan..................................................           200,000           225,000           138,000
Minnesota.................................................            75,000           140,000            52,000
Mississippi...............................................            70,000           125,000            50,000
Nebraska and Iowa.........................................            40,000            40,000            40,000
New Jersey................................................            50,000            25,000            25,000
New Mexico................................................           120,000           225,000            50,000
New York--Downstate.......................................           410,000           482,000           250,000
New York--Upstate.........................................            80,000            60,000            35,000
North Carolina............................................           105,000           150,000            40,000
Ohio......................................................           215,000           116,000           125,000
Oklahoma..................................................            40,000            40,000            40,000
Oregon and Idaho..........................................           100,000           130,000            30,000
Pennsylvania--Eastern and Delaware........................            75,000            75,000            50,000
Pennsylvania--Western and West Virginia...................           145,000           158,000            57,000
South Carolina............................................            55,000            34,000            40,000
Tennessee.................................................           125,000           150,000            40,000
Texas--Northern...........................................           250,000           250,000            88,000
Texas--Southern...........................................            60,000            20,000            40,000
Virginia, except District of Columbia area................            80,000            80,000            40,000
Washington................................................            50,000            50,000            50,000
Wisconsin.................................................           125,000           200,000            55,000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Performance Period

    Awards will be for a period of up to 36 months. HUD, however, 
reserves the right to withdraw funds from a specific TA provider if HUD 
determines that the urgency of need for the assistance is greater in 
other field office jurisdictions or the need for assistance is not 
commensurate with the award.

C. Terms of Award

    HUD will enter into a cooperative agreement with selected 
applicants for the performance period. Because CD-TA awards are made as 
cooperative agreements, implementation entails significant HUD 
involvement. Significant HUD involvement is required in all aspects of 
TA planning, delivery, and follow-up.
    In addition to the requirements listed in the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA, selected applicants are subject to the following 
requirements:
1. Demand-Response System
    All CD-TA awardees must operate within the structure of the demand-
response system. Under the demand-response system, TA providers are 
required to:
    a. When requested by a GTR, market the availability of their 
services to existing and potential recipients within the jurisdictions 
in which the assistance will be delivered;
    b. Respond to requests for assistance from the GTR;
    c. When requested by a GTR, conduct a needs assessment to identify 
the type and nature of the assistance needed by the recipient of the 
assistance;
    d. Obtain the local HUD field office's approval before responding 
to direct requests for technical assistance from HOME Participating 
Jurisdictions (PJs), Community Housing Development Organizations 
(CHDOs), and McKinney-Vento Act Homeless Assistance, HOPWA, and CDBG 
grantees; and
    e. For CHDO (HOME) TA providers, secure a letter from a PJ stating 
that a CHDO, or prospective CHDO to be assisted by the provider, is a 
recipient or intended recipient of HOME funds and indicating, at its 
option, subject areas of assistance that are most important to the PJ.
2. Training
    When conducting training sessions as part of its CD-TA activities, 
CD-TA providers are required to:
    a. Design the course materials as ``step-in'' packages so that HUD 
or other CD-TA providers may independently conduct the course on their 
own;
    b. Make the course materials available to the GTR in sufficient 
time for review (minimum of three weeks) and receive concurrence from 
the GTR on the content and quality prior to delivery;
    c. Provide all course materials in an electronic format that will 
permit wide distribution among TA providers, field offices, and HUD 
grantees;
    d. Arrange for joint delivery of the training with HUD 
participation when requested by the GTR;
    e. Deliver HUD-approved training courses that have been designed 
and developed by others on a ``step-in'' basis when requested; and
    f. Send trainers to approved ``train-the-trainers'' sessions. The 
costs associated with attending these required sessions are eligible 
under the cooperative agreement.

[[Page 13647]]

3. Field Office Involvement Under National TA Awards
    When National TA providers are undertaking activities in field 
office jurisdictions, the National TA providers must work cooperatively 
with HUD field offices. Providers must notify the applicable HUD field 
office of the planned activities; consider the views or recommendations 
of that office, if any; follow those recommendations, to the degree 
practicable; and report to the applicable field office on the 
accomplishments of the assistance.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    The eligible applicants for each of the six CD-TA programs are 
listed in the chart below. In accordance with the President's faith-
based initiative, HUD welcomes the participation of eligible faith-
based and other community organizations in the CD-TA programs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Program                        Eligible applicants
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME.........................  A for-profit or nonprofit professional
                                and technical services company or firm
                                that has demonstrated knowledge of the
                                HOME program and the capacity to provide
                                technical assistance services;
                               A HOME Participating Jurisdiction (PJ);
                               A public purpose organization,
                                established pursuant to state or local
                                legislation, responsible to the chief
                                elected officer of a PJ;
                               An agency or authority established by two
                                or more PJs to carry out activities
                                consistent with the purposes of the HOME
                                program; or
                               A national or regional nonprofit
                                organization that has membership
                                comprised predominately of entities or
                                officials of entities of PJs or PJs'
                                agencies or established organizations.
CHDO (HOME)..................  A public or private nonprofit
                                intermediary organization that
                                customarily provides services, in more
                                than one community, related to the
                                provision of decent housing that is
                                affordable to low-income and moderate-
                                income persons or related to the
                                revitalization of deteriorating
                                neighborhoods; has demonstrated
                                experience in providing a range of
                                assistance (such as financing, technical
                                assistance, construction and property
                                management assistance) to CHDOs or
                                similar organizations that engage in
                                community revitalization; and has
                                demonstrated the ability to provide
                                technical assistance and training for
                                community-based developers of affordable
                                housing.
                               Note: Any organization funded to assist
                                CHDOs under CD-TA may not undertake CHDO
                                set-aside activities itself within its
                                service area while under cooperative
                                agreement with HUD.
Homeless.....................  A state;
                               A unit of general local government;
                               A public housing authority; or
                               A public or private nonprofit or for-
                                profit organization, including
                                educational institutions and area-wide
                                planning organizations.
HOPWA........................  A for-profit or nonprofit organization;
                               A state; or
                               A unit of general local government.
CDBG.........................  A state;
                               A unit of general local government;
                               A national or regional nonprofit
                                organization that has membership
                                comprised predominately of entities or
                                officials of entities of CDBG
                                recipients;
                               A for-profit or nonprofit professional
                                and technical services company or firm
                                that has demonstrated knowledge of the
                                CDBG program and the capacity to provide
                                technical assistance services; or
                               A public or private nonprofit or for-
                                profit organization, including
                                educational institutions and area-wide
                                planning organizations.
Youthbuild...................  A public or private nonprofit agency that
                                has significant prior experience in the
                                operation of projects similar to the
                                Youthbuild program and that has the
                                capacity to provide effective technical
                                assistance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Applicants must also meet the threshold requirements of the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA, including the Civil Rights threshold in 
section III (C).
    A consortium of organizations may apply for one or more CD-TA 
programs, but one organization must be designated as the applicant.
    Applicants may propose assistance using in-house staff, sub-
contractors, sub-recipients, and local organizations with the requisite 
experience and capabilities. Where appropriate, applicants should make 
use of TA providers located in the field office jurisdiction receiving 
services. This draws upon local expertise and persons familiar with the 
opportunities and resources available in the area to be served while 
reducing travel and other costs associated with delivering the proposed 
TA services.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    None.

C. Other

1. Eligible Activities and Priorities
    Funds may be used to provide TA to prospective applicants, 
applicants, grantees, and project sponsors of the HOME, CHDO (HOME), 
Homeless, HOPWA, CDBG, and Youthbuild programs. The TA activities may 
include but are not limited to written information such as papers, 
manuals, guides, and brochures; assistance to individual communities; 
needs assessments; and training. The priority TA areas for each of the 
six program areas are:
    a. HOME TA. By statute, HUD may provide HOME program technical 
assistance to meet specified objectives. From these objectives, HUD has 
identified four HOME program technical assistance priorities. These 
priorities that result in measurable performance outputs and outcomes 
are:
    (1) Improve the ability of PJs to design and implement housing 
programs that reflect sound underwriting, management, and fiscal 
controls; demonstrate measurable outcomes in the use of public funds; 
and provide accurate and timely reporting of HOME program 
accomplishments.
    (2) Encourage public-private partnerships that yield an increase in 
the amount of private dollars leveraged for HOME-assisted projects and 
result in an increase in the commitment and production of HOME-assisted 
units.

[[Page 13648]]

    (3) Assist PJs in developing strategies that ameliorate the 
affordability gap between rapidly increasing housing costs and the less 
rapid growth in incomes among low-income households, especially among 
underserved populations (e.g., residents of the Colonias, homeless 
persons, and persons with disabilities).
    (4) Assist PJs in developing strategies that increase and help 
sustain homeownership opportunities for low-income households--
particularly low-income, minority households--and directly result in 
the commitment and completion of HOME-assisted units.
    Some examples of measurable performance outputs and outcomes are 
given in Rating Factor 4.
    b. CHDO (HOME) TA. (1) By statute, HUD may provide HOME program 
technical assistance to meet specified objectives. From these 
objectives, HUD has identified three CHDO-specific technical assistance 
priorities. These priorities that result in measurable performance 
outputs and outcomes are:
    (a) Assist new CHDOs and potential CHDOs in developing the 
organizational capacity to own, develop, and sponsor HOME-assisted 
projects. A new CHDO is defined as a nonprofit organization that within 
three years of the publication of this NOFA was determined by a PJ to 
qualify as a CHDO. A potential CHDO is defined as a nonprofit 
organization that is expected by the PJ to qualify as a CHDO and is 
expected to enter into a written agreement with that PJ to own, 
develop, or sponsor HOME-assisted housing within 24 months of the PJ 
determining the organization qualifies as a CHDO. HUD welcomes the 
participation of otherwise eligible faith-based and community 
organizations.
    (b) Improve the HOME program production and performance of existing 
CHDOs in the areas of:
    (i) Program design and management, including underwriting, project 
financing, property management, and compliance; and
    (ii) Organizational management and capacity, including fiscal 
controls, board development, contract administration, and compliance 
systems.
    (c) Provide organizational support, technical assistance, and 
training to community groups for the establishment of community land 
trusts, as defined in section 233(f) of the Cranston-Gonzales National 
Affordable Housing Act.
    (2) Additional CHDO (HOME) eligible activities are:
    (a) Under the ``Pass-Through'' provision, CD-TA providers may 
propose to fund various operating expenses for eligible CHDOs that own, 
develop, or sponsor HOME-assisted housing. Such operating expenses may 
include reasonable and necessary costs for the operation of the CHDO 
including salaries, wages, and other employee compensation and 
benefits; employee education, training and travel; rent; utilities; 
communication costs; taxes; insurance; equipment, materials, and 
supplies.
    (b) CD-TA providers must establish written criteria for selection 
of CHDOs receiving pass-through funds. PJs must designate the 
organizations as CHDOs; and, generally, the organizations should not 
have been in existence more than three years.
    CD-TA providers must enter into an agreement with the CHDO that the 
agreement and pass-through funding may be terminated at the discretion 
of HUD if no written legally binding agreement to provide assistance 
for a specific housing project (for acquisition, rehabilitation, new 
construction, or tenant-based rental assistance) has been made by the 
PJ with the CHDO within 24 months of initially receiving pass-through 
funding. The pass-through amount, when combined with other capacity 
building and operating support available through the HOME program, 
cannot exceed the greater of 50 percent of the CHDO's operating budget 
for the year in which it receives funds, or $50,000 annually.
    c. Homeless TA. Homeless TA funds are available to provide 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act-funded grantees, project 
sponsors, and potential recipients with skills and knowledge needed to 
develop and operate projects and activities. TA activities are focused 
on these priorities that result in measurable performance outputs and 
outcomes:
    (1) Facilitate the exchange of information between community 
organizations to develop and implement a community-wide discharge plan 
for individuals exiting publicly-funded institutions (e.g., criminal 
justice system, foster care system, mental health system) so that these 
individuals do not become homeless.
    (2) Improve the ability of eligible applicants to develop and 
operate permanent housing projects for chronically homeless persons.
    (3) Develop materials on effective grant administration for 
grantees and sponsors.
    (4) Improve the ability of eligible grantees and sponsors in 
reaching out to chronically homeless persons.
    (5) Improve the ability of grantees and sponsors in coordinating 
services available through mainstream resources with housing units 
available for homeless persons.
    (6) Facilitate the formation of metropolitan, regional, and 
statewide Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) and improve 
the ability of communities to prepare data for their Annual Homeless 
Assessment Reports.
    (7) Develop materials on effective grant management for Emergency 
Shelter Grants recipients, including guidance on IDIS implementation.
    (A person experiencing chronic homelessness is defined as an 
unaccompanied individual with a disabling condition who has been 
continuously homeless for a year or more or has experienced four or 
more sustained episodes of homelessness over the last three years.)
    d. HOPWA TA. HOPWA funds are available for technical assistance, 
training, and oversight activities which can be used to provide 
grantees, project sponsors, and potential recipients with the skills 
and knowledge to effectively develop, operate, and support HOPWA-
eligible project activities that result in measurable performance 
outputs and outcomes. TA activities are focused on these priorities:
    (1) Improve the ability of grantees to develop comprehensive 
housing strategies, through collaborative public and private 
partnerships, that coordinate the use of mainstream resources and 
promote the long-term sustainability of HOPWA-assisted rental housing 
programs.
    (2) Identify and train grantees and project sponsors on successful 
examples of how local or regional employment and re-entry discharge 
planning programs and efforts can complement the overall delivery and 
effectiveness of housing and supportive services which result in 
greater client self-sufficiency and independence.
    (3) Develop materials and training for grantees and project 
sponsors (a) on implementing and achieving long-term performance 
outcome measures that promote housing stability, reduce the risk of 
homelessness, and improve access to care; and (b) on implementing sound 
fiscal and financial management practices, including oversight of 
project sponsor activities.
    (4) Develop materials that promote the utilization and coordination 
of Homeless Management Information Systems in the provision of HOPWA-
assisted housing and supportive services for homeless and chronically 
homeless persons and persons at-risk of homelessness who are served 
under this program.
    (5) Provide direct TA for local HOPWA programs in coordination with

[[Page 13649]]

HUD field office oversight and approval of TA and training efforts to 
support those HOPWA-funded projects. It is estimated that up to 40 
percent of HOPWA TA funds will be made available for this purpose.
    e. CDBG TA. HUD may provide CDBG program technical assistance to 
meet specified objectives, in particular the facilitating of skills and 
knowledge in planning, developing, and administering activities under 
the CDBG program for recipients and other entities that may need but do 
not possess such skill and knowledge, including measuring programs and 
activities under the CDBG program. Technical assistance funds will 
support local and state grantees' efforts in these areas as well as 
support for efforts to streamline the Consolidated Plan, program 
management, and analytical support of information for performance 
measurement. TA activities that result in measurable performance 
outputs and outcomes are focused on the following priorities:
    (1) Assist grantees' efforts to streamline the Consolidated Plan, 
making it more results-oriented and useful to communities in assessing 
their own progress toward addressing the problems of low-income areas 
in their communities.
    (2) Improve CDBG recipient understanding of performance measurement 
from a national programmatic perspective.
    (3) Improve recipient knowledge and skills to develop and implement 
local CDBG performance measurement systems.
    (4) Assist recipients' development of local CDBG performance 
measurement systems focused on outcomes.
    (5) Develop model, local protocols that ensure accurate, required 
program recordkeeping and performance data by recipients, sub-
recipients and sub-grantees.
    (6) Develop materials on effective grant administration for 
grantees, sub-recipients, and sub-grantees.
    (7) Improve CDBG and Section 108 program knowledge through program-
specific recipient training.
    f. Youthbuild TA. Youthbuild TA funds are available to provide 
appropriate training, information, and technical assistance to 
federally funded Youthbuild programs and to assist HUD in the 
management, supervision, and coordination of such Youthbuild programs. 
TA activities that result in measurable performance outputs and 
outcomes are focused on the following priorities:
    (1) Improve the management and implementation of Youthbuild 
programs by providing on-site and telephone assistance, preparing 
appropriate instruction materials, and conducting training workshops on 
key aspects of the Youthbuild program.
    (2) Improve Youthbuild program applications by providing assistance 
to eligible applicants in the preparation of their grant applications, 
giving priority to community-based organizations in the provision of 
this assistance.
    (3) Strengthen Youthbuild program design by facilitating peer-to-
peer assistance for Youthbuild grantee staff and disseminating best 
program practices that are identified through training workshops, peer-
to-peer assistance, and on-site TA.
    (4) Assist HUD in the management, supervision, and coordination of 
Youthbuild programs by preparing handbooks or printed materials to 
provide guidance to Youthbuild grantees and by collecting and analyzing 
performance evaluation data from Youthbuild grantees.
2. DUNS Requirement
    Refer to the General Section of the SuperNOFA for information 
regarding the DUNS requirement. Applicants need to obtain a DUNS number 
to receive an award from HUD.
3. Other Eligibility Requirements
    All applicants requesting funding from programs under this NOFA 
must be in compliance with the applicable threshold requirements found 
in the General Section of the SuperNOFA. Applicants that do not meet 
these requirements will be ineligible for funding.
4. False Statements
    An applicant's false statement in an application is grounds for 
denial or termination of an award and grounds for possible punishment 
as provided in 18 U.S.C. 1001.
5. Environmental Review
    Most activities under the CD-TA program are categorically excluded 
and not subject to environmental review under 24 CFR 50.19(b)(9) or 
(13), but in the case of CHDO (HOME) TA eligible activities, a proposal 
for payment of rent as part of CHDO operational costs will be subject 
to environmental review by HUD under 24 CFR part 50. If an applicant 
proposes to assist CHDO operating expenses that include rent, the 
application constitutes an assurance that the applicant and CHDO will 
assist HUD to comply with 24 CFR part 50; will supply HUD with all 
available and relevant information to perform an environmental review 
for the proposed property to be rented; will carry out mitigating 
measures required by HUD or select an alternate property; and will not 
lease or rent, construct, rehabilitate, convert or repair the property, 
or commit or expend HUD or non-HUD funds for these activities on the 
property to be rented, until HUD has completed an environmental review 
to the extent required by 24 CFR part 50. The results of the 
environmental review may require that the proposed property be 
rejected.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses To Request Application Package

    Electronic applications are to be submitted through Grants.gov/Apply. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic submission 
requirement should see the General Section, Appendix C for the address 
where to submit paper applications. The General Section provides 
instructions on steps required to receive a waiver and Appendix C 
provides the address for submitting the waiver request. Paper 
applications are not accepted without the applicant having received a 
waiver to the electronic submission requirement.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    Applicants must submit a completed application for each National TA 
and Local TA area and program for which they are applying. For example, 
an applicant for National TA for HOME and for Local TA in three field 
office jurisdictions would submit four separate and distinct 
applications.
    A completed application consists of an application submitted by an 
authorized official of the organization and containing all relevant 
sections of the application, as shown in the checklist below in Section 
IV.B.4.
1. Number of Copies
    This section only applies to applicants that have received a waiver 
of the electronic submission requirement. Applicants for National TA 
must submit two copies of their application to HUD Headquarters. 
Applicants for Local TA must submit one copy of their application to 
HUD Headquarters and must also send one copy of their application to 
the HUD field office in which their organization is applying. See 
Section VII.C of this NOFA for information on field office addresses. 
Applicants for National TA must submit two copies of the application 
to: HUD Headquarters;

[[Page 13650]]

Robert C. Weaver Federal Building; 451 Seventh Street, SW., room 7218; 
Washington, DC 20410; Attention: CD-TA.
2. Page Limitation
    Narratives addressing Factors 1-5 are limited to no more than 25 
typed pages. That is, reviewers will not review more than 25 pages for 
all five factors combined, except that the page limit does not include 
the Form HUD-96010, Logic Model.
3. Prohibition on Materials Not Required
    Materials other than what is requested in this NOFA are prohibited. 
Reviewers will not consider resumes, charts, letters, or any other 
documents attached to the application.
4. Checklist for Application Submission
    Applicants submitting electronic copies should follow the 
procedures in the General Section and the application submission as 
posted on Grants.gov. The following checklist is provided to ensure 
that you have submitted the submission of all the required elements. 
Make sure you see the General Section for how to submit third party 
letters and other documents as part of your electronic submission 
utilizing form HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal. For applicants 
receiving a waiver of the electronic submission, the paper submission 
must be in the order provided below. All applicants should enter the 
applicant name, DUNS number, and page numbers on the narrative pages of 
the application.

--SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance (from General Section of 
SuperNOFA)
--An Application Cover Page indicating in bold (a) the type of TA 
proposed in the application whether HOME National, HOME Local, CHDO 
National, CHDO Local, Homeless National, Homeless Local, HOPWA 
National, CDBG National, or Youthbuild National; (b) the amount of 
funds requested in the application; and (c) for Local TA, the 
jurisdiction proposed in the application.
--A one-page Summary describing (a) each major component of the 
proposed TA approach; (b) the proposed cost of each major component; 
and (c) whether the component is integrally related to another 
component in order to be successful.
--Narrative addressing Factor 1
--Narrative addressing Factor 2
--Narrative addressing Factor 3
--Narrative addressing Factor 4
--Narrative addressing Factor 5
--HUD-96010, Logic Model
--HUD-424-CB, Grant Application Detailed Budget Form (from General 
Section of SuperNOFA)
--HUD-424-CBW, Detailed Budget Worksheet for Non-Construction Projects 
(from General Section of SuperNOFA)
--If applying for CHDO (HOME) TA, statement as to whether the 
organization proposes to pass through funds to new CHDOs.
--If applying for the CHDO (HOME) TA, a certification as to whether the 
organization qualifies as a primarily single-state provider under 
section 233(e) of the Cranston-Gonzales Affordable Housing Act.
--SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (from General Section of 
SuperNOFA)
--HUD-2880, Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (from General 
Section of SuperNOFA)
--SF-424, Supplement, Survey on Equal Opportunity for Applicants
--HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal (for electronic applications)

C. Submission Dates and Times

    Please see Section F of the Overview Information and the General 
Section for submission dates and timely submission requirements.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    Intergovernmental review is not applicable to CD-TA applications.

E. Funding Restrictions

    An organization may not provide assistance to itself. An 
organization may not provide assistance to another organization with 
which it contracts or sub-awards funds to carry out activities under 
the TA award.
    Funding from HOME and from CHDO (HOME) TA to any single eligible 
organization (excluding funds for organizational support and housing 
education ``passed through'' to CHDOs), whether as an applicant or sub-
recipient is limited to not more than 20 percent of the operating 
budget of the recipient organization for any one-year period of each 
cooperative agreement. In addition, funding under either HOME or CHDO 
(HOME) TA to any single organization is limited to 20 percent of the 
$17,856,000 made available for HOME and CHDO (HOME) TA in FY2005.
    Not less than 40 percent of the approximately $7,440,000 for CHDO 
(HOME) shall be made available for eligible TA providers that have 
worked primarily in one state. HUD will consider an applicant as a 
primarily single state TA provider if it can document that more than 50 
percent of its past activities in working with CHDOs or similar 
nonprofit and other organizations (on the production of affordable 
housing, revitalization of deteriorating neighborhoods, and /or the 
delivery of technical assistance to these groups) was confined to the 
geographic limits of a single state.
    No fee or profit may be paid to any recipient or sub-recipient of 
an award under this CD-TA NOFA.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    The General Section of the SuperNOFA describes application 
submission procedures and how applicants may obtain proof of timely 
submission.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    The maximum number of points to be awarded for a CD-TA application 
is 100. The minimum score for an application to be considered for 
funding is 75 with a minimum of 20 points on Factor 5. The CD-TA 
program is not subject to bonus points, as described in the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA.
    Points are assigned on five factors. When addressing Factors 1-4, 
applicants should discuss the specific TA activities that will be 
carried out during the term of the cooperative agreement. Applicants 
should provide relevant examples to support the proposal, where 
appropriate. Applicants should also be specific when describing the 
communities, populations, and organizations that they propose to serve 
and the specific outcomes expected as a result of the TA.
    Factor 5 relates to the capacity of the applicant and its relevant 
organizational experience. Rating of the ``applicant'' or the 
``applicant's organization and staff'' includes in-house staff and any 
sub-contractors and sub-recipients which are firmly committed to the 
project. In responding to Factor 5, applicants should specify the 
experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant's 
organization and staff, and any persons and organizations firmly 
committed to the project.
1. Rating Factor 1: Need/Extent of the Problem (10 Points)
    a. For National TA applications: Sound and extensive understanding 
of need for TA in relation to the eligible activities and priorities 
listed in Section III C of this NOFA as demonstrated by objective 
information and/or data, such as information from HOME Snapshots, 
current census data, the American Housing Survey, or other relevant 
data sources.

[[Page 13651]]

    b. For Local TA applications: Sound and extensive understanding of 
high priority needs for TA in the jurisdiction as demonstrated by 
objective information and/or data, such as information from HOME 
Snapshots, current census data, the American Housing Survey, or other 
relevant data sources.
    In rating this factor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which the 
application demonstrates an understanding of the specific needs for TA 
and supports the description of need with reliable, program-specific, 
quantitative information. Applicants for HOME should, at a minimum, 
draw on HOME Snapshot information to demonstrate PJs' needs, in an area 
or nationwide, for additional training and capacity building. See 
http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/affordablehousing/programs/home/
snapshot/index.cfm.
2. Rating Factor 2: Soundness of Approach (40 Points)
    a. (25 points) For National TA applications: A sound approach for 
addressing the need for eligible TA activities in relation to the 
priorities listed in Section III C of this NOFA that will result in 
positive outcomes.
    For Local TA applications: A sound approach for addressing high 
priority needs for TA in the jurisdiction that will result in positive 
outcomes.
    In rating this factor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which the 
application presents and supports a detailed, feasible, practical 
approach for addressing TA needs (Local TA applications) or CD-TA 
program priorities (National TA applications), including techniques, 
timeframes, goals, and intended beneficiaries, and the likelihood that 
these activities will result in positive outcomes.
    b. (10 points) A feasible work plan for designing, organizing, 
managing, and carrying out the proposed TA activities under the demand-
response system.
    In rating this factor, HUD will evaluate the applicant's 
understanding of the demand-response system and the extent to which the 
application demonstrates the efficiency of proposed activities.
    c. (5 points) An effective assistance program to specific 
disadvantaged communities, populations, and/or organizations which 
previously have been underserved and have the potential to participate 
in the CD-TA program.
    In rating this factor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which the 
applicant has identified specific disadvantaged or previously 
underserved communities, populations, and organizations and has 
developed an effective strategy for engaging their participation in the 
HOME, CHDO (HOME), Homeless, HOPWA, CDBG, or Youthbuild program, as 
applicable.
3. Rating Factor 3: Leveraging Resources (10 Points)
    An efficient practical method to transfer manuals, guides, 
assessment forms, other work products, models, and lessons learned in 
its CD-TA activities to other CD-TA grantees and/or HOME, CHDO (HOME), 
Homeless, HOPWA, CDBG, or Youthbuild program beneficiaries.
    In rating this factor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which the 
application demonstrates a cost-effective means of sharing resources 
developed under the CD-TA activities with a wide audience, including 
sharing information with other TA providers in the CD-TA program.
4. Rating Factor 4: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (10 
Points)
    a. (5 points) An effective, quantifiable evaluation plan for 
measuring performance using the Logic Model with specific outcome 
measures and benchmarks, including--for HOME applicants--performance 
improvements as measured by the HOME Snapshot indicators.
    In rating this factor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which the 
application has an evaluation plan that includes outcomes and is 
specific, measurable, and appropriate in relation to the activities 
proposed.
    b. (5 points) Successful past performance in administering HUD CD-
TA programs or, for applicants new to HUD's CD-TA Programs, successful 
past performance in providing TA in other community development 
programs. Applicants should include, as applicable, increases in CPD or 
community development program accomplishments as a result of TA (e.g., 
number of homeless people or persons with HIV/AIDS receiving housing 
and services, efficiency or effectiveness of administration of CPD or 
community development programs, number of affordable housing units, 
HOME Snapshot indicators, timeliness of use of CPD or community 
development program funds).
    In rating this factor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which the 
application demonstrates successful past performance that was timely 
and resulted in positive outcomes in the delivery of community 
development TA. HUD will also consider past performance of current CD-
TA providers, including financial and other information in HUD's files.
5. Rating Factor 5: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (30 Points) (Minimum for Funding 
Eligibility--20 Points)
    a. (10 points) Recent and successful experience of the applicant's 
organization in providing TA in eligible activities and to eligible 
entities for the HOME, CHDO (HOME), Homeless, HOPWA, CDBG, or 
Youthbuild CD-TA programs, as applicable.
    In rating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which the 
application demonstrates successful experience within the last four 
years of providing TA related to the applicable CD-TA program.
    b. (10 points) Depth of experience in managing multiple TA tasks, 
to multiple entities, and in more than one geographic area.
    In rating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which the 
application demonstrates ability to manage TA assignments effectively.
    c. (10 points) Knowledgeable key personnel skilled in providing TA 
in one or more of the eligible activities for HOME, CHDO (HOME), 
Homeless, HOPWA, CDBG, and/or Youthbuild programs, as applicable; a 
sufficient number of staff or ability to procure qualified experts or 
professionals with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to deliver the 
proposed level of TA in the proposed service area in a timely and 
effective fashion; and an ability to provide CD-TA in a geographic area 
larger than a single city or county.
    In rating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which the 
application demonstrates the organization has an adequate number of key 
staff or ability to procure individuals with the knowledge of effective 
TA approaches and knowledge of HOME, CHDO (HOME), Homeless, HOPWA, 
CDBG, or Youthbuild program, as applicable.

B. Review and Selection Process

1. Review Types
    Two types of reviews will be conducted. First, HUD will review each 
application to determine whether it meets threshold eligibility 
requirements. Second, HUD will review and assign scores to applications 
using the Factors for Award noted in Section V.A.
2. Rank Order
    Once rating scores are assigned, rated applications submitted for 
each National TA program and for each Local TA program will be listed 
in rank order.

[[Page 13652]]

Applications within the fundable range (score of 75+ points with 20+ 
points for Factor 1) may then be funded in rank order under the CD-TA 
program and service area for which they applied.
3. Threshold Eligibility Requirements
    All applicants requesting CD-TA must be in compliance with the 
applicable threshold requirements found in the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA and the eligibility requirements listed in Section III of 
this NOFA in order to be reviewed, scored, and ranked. Applications 
that do not meet these requirements and applications that were received 
after the submission deadline (see Section IV.F of the General Section 
of the SuperNOFA) will be considered ineligible for funding and will be 
disqualified.
4. Award Adjustment
    In addition to the funding adjustment authority provided for in the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA, HUD reserves the right to adjust 
funding amounts for each CD-TA selectee. The amounts listed in the 
charts in Section II.A are provided to assist applicants to develop 
Local TA or National TA budgets and do not represent the exact amounts 
to be awarded. Once TA applicants are selected for award, HUD will 
determine the total amount to be awarded to any selected applicant 
based upon the size and needs of each of the selected applicant's 
service areas, the funds available for that area and CD-TA program, the 
number of other CD-TA applicants selected in that area or CD-TA 
program, and the scope of the TA to be provided.
    Additionally, HUD may reduce the amount of funds allocated for 
field office jurisdictions to fund National CD-TA providers and other 
CD-TA providers for activities that cannot be fully budgeted for or 
estimated by HUD Headquarters or field offices at the time this NOFA 
was published. HUD may also require selected applicants, as a condition 
of funding, to provide coverage on a geographically broader basis than 
proposed in order to supplement or strengthen the CD-TA network in 
terms of the size of the area covered and types and scope of TA 
proposed.
    If funds remain after all selections have been made, the remaining 
funds may be distributed among field offices for Local TA and/or used 
for National TA, or made available for other CD-TA program 
competitions.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    Successful applicants will receive notification from HUD in 
writing. Such notification is not an authorization to begin 
performance. Unsuccessful applicants will also receive notification 
from HUD in writing.
    After selection, HUD requires that all selected applicants 
participate in negotiations to determine the specific terms of the 
cooperative agreement, including the budget. Costs may be denied or 
modified if HUD determines that they are not allowable, allocable, and/
or reasonable. In cases where HUD cannot successfully conclude 
negotiations with a selected applicant or a selected applicant fails to 
provide HUD with requested information, an award will not be made to 
that applicant. In this instance, HUD may offer an award, and proceed 
with negotiations with the next highest-ranking applicant.
    After selection for funding but prior to executing the cooperative 
agreement, the selected applicant must develop in consultation with the 
GTR, a Technical Assistance Delivery Plan (TADP) for each National TA 
award. The TADP must be approved by the GTR and delineate the tasks for 
each CD-TA program the applicant will undertake during the performance 
period. For Local TA awards and generally for National TA awards, prior 
to undertaking individual tasks, the selected applicant must develop in 
consultation with the GTR a Work Plan for specific activities. The TADP 
and the Work Plans must specify the location of the proposed CD-TA 
activities, the amount of CD-TA funding and proposed activities by 
location, the improved program performance or other results expected 
from the CD-TA activities, and the methodology to be used for measuring 
the success of the CD-TA. A detailed time schedule for delivery of the 
activities, budget summary, budget-by-task, and staffing plan must be 
included in the TADP and Work Plans.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    After selection for funding but prior to award, applicants must 
submit financial and administrative information to comply with 
applicable requirements. These requirements are found in 24 CFR part 84 
for all organizations except states and local governments whose 
requirements are found in 24 CFR Part 85. Cost principles requirements 
are found at OMB Circular A-122 for nonprofit organizations, OMB 
Circular A-21 for institutions of higher education, OMB Circular A-87 
for states and local governments, and at 48 CFR 31.2 for commercial 
organizations. Applicants must submit a certification from an 
Independent Public Accountant or the cognizant government auditor, 
stating that the applicant's financial management system meets 
prescribed standards for fund control and accountability.
    The requirements to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing do not 
apply.

C. Reporting

    CD-TA awardees will be required to report to the GTR on, at a 
minimum, a quarterly basis unless otherwise specified in the 
cooperative agreement. As part of the required report to HUD, grant 
recipients must include a completed Logic Model (HUD 96010), which 
identifies output and outcome achievements.

VII. Agency Contacts

A. For Assistance

    Applicants may contact HUD Headquarters at 202-708-3176, or they 
may contact the HUD field office serving their area shown in section 
VII.C. Persons with hearing and speech challenges may access the above 
numbers via TTY (text telephone) by calling the Federal Relay Service 
at 800-877-8339 (this is a toll-free number). Information may also be 
obtained through the HUD website on the Internet at http://www.hud.gov.

B. List of Field Office Addresses

    Applicants that receive a waiver of the electronic application 
submission requirements and need to submit copies of their application 
to HUD field offices should consult the following website for a listing 
of the HUD field office addresses to send Local TA applications: http:/
/www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/about/staff/fodirectors/index.cfm.
    At the site, the map allows the user to click on an area to obtain 
the field office address and other contact information.

VIII. Other Information

A. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control numbers 2506-0166 and 2506-0133. In accordance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and

[[Page 13653]]

a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information 
unless the collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. 
Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated 
to average 60 hours for the application and grant administration. This 
includes the time for collecting, reviewing, and reporting the data. 
The information will be used for grantee selection and monitoring the 
administration of funds. Response to this request for information is 
required in order to receive the benefits to be derived.

B. HUD Reform Act

    The provisions of the HUD Reform Act of 1989 that apply to the CD-
TA program are explained in the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

[[Page 13654]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN21MR05.052


[[Page 13655]]



Community Development Block Grant Program for Indian Tribes and Alaska 
Native Villages

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian 
Housing, Office of Native American Programs.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Community Development Block Grant 
(ICDBG) Program for Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial Announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number for this 
NOFA is FR-4950-N-16. The OMB approval number for this program is 2577-
0191.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): The 
Catalog of Federal Assistance (CFDA) Number for the Indian Community 
Development Block Grant Program is 14.862.
    F. Dates: Application Deadline: The application submission date is 
June 2, 2005.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Applicants for funding should carefully review the requirements 
identified in this Program NOFA and the General Section. Unless 
otherwise stated in this Program NOFA, the requirements of the General 
Section apply.
    2. The total approximate amount of funding available for the ICDBG 
Program for FY2005 is $68,427,300, less $4,000,000 retained to fund 
Imminent Threat Grants, for a total of $64,427,300. Funds that are 
carried over from previous fiscal years or are recaptured may also be 
used for grant awards under this NOFA.
    3. Eligible applicants are Indian tribes or tribal organizations on 
behalf of Indian tribes. Specific information on eligibility is located 
in Section III.A. of this NOFA.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. General

    Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, which 
authorizes Community Development Block Grants, requires that grants for 
Indian tribes be awarded on a competitive basis in accordance with 
selection criteria contained in a regulation promulgated by the 
Secretary after notice and public comment. All grant funds awarded in 
accordance with this NOFA are subject to the requirements of 24 CFR 
part 1003. Applicants within an Area ONAP's geographic jurisdiction 
compete only against each other for that Area ONAP's allocation of 
funds.

B. Authority

    The authority for this program is Title I of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) and the 
program regulations in 24 CFR part 1003.

C. Program Description

    The purpose of the Community Development Block Grant Program for 
Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages (ICDBG) is the development of 
viable Indian and Alaska Native communities, including the creation of 
decent housing, suitable living environments, and economic 
opportunities primarily for persons with low- and moderate-incomes as 
defined in 24 CFR 1003.4. The Office of Native American Programs (ONAP) 
in HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing administers the program.
    All Federally recognized Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages 
are eligible to participate in the ICDBG Program. Tribal organizations, 
as described in 24 CFR 1003.5, are also eligible applicants. Only one 
ICDBG application may be submitted for each area within the 
jurisdiction of an entity eligible under 24 CFR part 1003. An 
application may include more than one project, but it cannot exceed the 
grant ceilings listed in Section IV. Projects funded by the ICDBG 
Program must meet the primary objective, defined at 24 CFR 1003.2, to 
principally benefit low- and moderate-income persons. Consistent with 
this objective, not less than 70 percent of the expenditures of each 
single purpose grant shall be for activities which meet the regulatory 
criteria at 24 CFR 1003.208 for:
    1. Area Benefit Activities
    2. Limited Clientele Activities
    3. Housing Activities
    4. Job Creation or Retention Activities
    ICDBG funds may be used to improve housing stock, provide community 
facilities, improve infrastructure, and expand job opportunities by 
supporting the economic development of the communities, especially by 
nonprofit tribal organizations or local development corporations.
    ICDBG single-purpose grants are distributed as annual competitive 
grants, in response to this NOFA. Additional information on eligible 
activities can be found in Section III.
    ICDBG imminent threat grants are intended to alleviate or remove 
threats to health or safety that require an immediate solution as 
described at 24 CFR part 1003, subpart E. The problem to be addressed 
must be such that an emergency situation exists or would exist if the 
problem were not addressed. In accordance with the provisions of 24 CFR 
part 1003, subpart E, we have retained $4,000,000 of the FY 2005 
appropriation to meet the funding needs of imminent threat requests 
submitted to any of the Area ONAPs. The grant ceiling for imminent 
threat requests for FY 2004 is $425,000. This ceiling has been 
established pursuant to the provisions of 24 CFR 1003.400(c).
    You do not have to submit a request for imminent threat funds by 
the deadline established in this NOFA. The deadline applies only to 
applications submitted for assistance under 24 CFR part 1003, subpart 
D, single purpose grants. Imminent threat requests may be submitted at 
any time after NOFA publication, and if the following criteria are met, 
the request may be funded until the amount set aside for this purpose 
is expended:
    1. Independent verification from a third party (i.e., Indian Health 
Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs) of the existence, immediacy and 
urgency of the threat must be provided;
    2. The threat must not be recurring in nature, i.e., it must 
represent a unique and unusual circumstance that has been clearly 
identified by the tribe or village;
    3. The threat must affect or impact an entire service area and not 
solely an individual family or household.
    4. It must be established that funds are not available from other 
local, state, or Federal sources to address the problem. The tribe or 
village must verify that Federal or local agencies that would normally 
provide assistance for such improvements have no funds available by 
providing a written statement to that effect. The tribe or village must 
also verify in the form of a tribal council resolution (or equivalent) 
that it has no available funds, including Indian Housing Block Grant 
Funds, for this purpose.
    If, in response to a request for assistance, an Area ONAP issues 
you a letter to proceed under the authority of 24 CFR 1003.401(a), then 
your application must be submitted to and approved by the Area ONAP 
before a grant agreement may be executed. Contact your Area ONAP office 
for more information on imminent threat.

D. Definitions Used in This NOFA

    1. Adopt. To approve by formal tribal resolution.
    2. Assure. As an applicant, you must state your compliance, or in 
the case of future actions, your intent to comply with a specific NOFA 
requirement.

[[Page 13656]]

    3. Document. To supply supporting written information and/or data 
in the application that satisfies the NOFA requirement. Documentation 
should clearly and concisely support your response to the rating 
factor.
    4. Entity Other than Tribe. A distinction is made between the 
requirements for point award under Rating Factor 3 if a tribe or an 
entity other than the tribe will assume maintenance and related 
responsibilities for projects other than economic development and land 
acquisition to support new housing. Entities other than the tribe must 
have the following characteristics:
    (a) Must be legally distinct from the tribal government; (b) their 
assets and liabilities cannot be considered to be assets and 
liabilities of the tribal government; (c) claims against such entities 
cannot be made against the tribal government; and (d) must have 
governing boards, boards of directors, or groups or individuals similar 
in function and responsibility to such boards which are separate from 
the tribe's general council, tribal council, or business council, as 
applicable.
    5. Homeownership Assistance Programs. Tribes may apply for 
assistance to provide direct homeownership assistance to low- and 
moderate-income households to: (a) Subsidize interest rates and 
mortgage principal amounts for low- and moderate-income homebuyers; (b) 
finance the acquisition by low- and moderate-income homebuyers of 
housing that is occupied by the homebuyers; (c) acquire guarantees for 
mortgage financing obtained by low- and moderate-income homebuyers from 
private lenders (except that ICDBG funds may not be used to guarantee 
such mortgage financing directly, and grantees may not provide such 
guarantees directly); (d) provide up to 50 percent of any down payment 
required from a low- and moderate-income homebuyer; or (e) pay 
reasonable closing costs (normally associated with the purchase of a 
home) incurred by a low- or moderate-income homebuyer.
    6. Leveraged Resources. Leveraged resources are resources that you 
will use in conjunction with ICDBG funds to achieve the objectives of 
the project. Leveraged resources include, but are not limited to: 
Tribal trust funds; loans from individuals or organizations; business 
investments; private foundations; state or federal loans or guarantees; 
other grants; and non-cash contributions and donated services. (See 
Rating Factor 4 of this NOFA for documentation requirements for point 
award for leveraged resources.)
    7. Microenterprise Programs. Tribes may apply for assistance to 
operate programs to fund the development, expansion, and stabilization 
of microenterprises. Microenterprises are defined as commercial 
entities with five or fewer employees, including the owner. 
Microenterprise program activities may entail the following assistance 
to eligible businesses: (a) Providing credit, including, but not 
limited to, grants, loans, loan guarantees, and other forms of 
financial support for the establishment, stabilization, and expansion 
of microenterprises; (b) providing technical assistance, advice, and 
business support services to owners of microenterprises and persons 
developing microenterprises; and (c) providing general support, 
including, but not limited to, peer support programs, counseling, child 
care, transportation, and other similar services to owners of 
microenterprises and persons developing microenterprises.
    8. Operations and Maintenance (O&M) for Public Facilities and 
Improvements. While various items of cost will vary in importance and 
significance depending on the type of facility proposed, there are 
items of expense related to the operation of the physical plant which 
must be addressed in a O&M plan (tribe assumes responsibility) or in a 
letter of commitment (entity other than tribe will assume these 
responsibilities). These items include daily or other periodic 
maintenance activities; repairs such as replacing broken windows; 
capital improvements or replacement reserves for repairs such as 
replacing the roof; fire and liability insurance (may not be applicable 
to most types of infrastructure projects such as water and sewer 
lines); and security (may not be applicable to many types of 
infrastructure projects such as roads). (Please note that while it is 
possible that the service provider may, in its agreement with a tribe, 
commit itself to cover certain or all facility O&M costs, as defined, 
these O&M costs do not include the program service provision costs 
related to the delivery of services (social, health, recreational, 
educational or other) which may be provided in a facility).
    9. Outcomes. The ultimate impact you hope to achieve with the 
proposed project. Outcomes should be quantifiable measures or 
indicators and identified in terms of the change in the community, 
people's lives, changes in economic status, etc. Common outcomes could 
include increases in percent of housing units in standard condition, 
homeownership rates, or employment rates.
    10. Outputs. Outputs are the direct products of a program's 
activities. They are usually measured in terms of the volume of work 
accomplished, such as the number of low-income households served, 
number of units constructed or rehabilitated, linear feet of curbs and 
gutters installed, or number of jobs created or retained. Outputs 
should be clear enough to allow HUD to monitor and assess your proposed 
project's progress if funded.
    11. Project Cost. The total cost to implement the project. Project 
costs may be covered by both ICDBG and non-ICDBG funds and resources.
    12. Standard Housing/Standard Condition. Housing that meets the 
housing quality standards (HQS) adopted by the applicant. The HQS 
adopted by the applicant must be at least as stringent as the Section 8 
HQS contained in 24 CFR 982.401 (Section 8 Tenant-Based Assistance: 
Housing Choice Voucher Program) unless the ONAPs approve less stringent 
standards based on a determination that local conditions make the use 
of Section 8 HQS infeasible. You may submit, before the application 
submission deadline, a request for the approval of standards less 
stringent than Section 8 HQS. If you submit the request with your 
application, you should not assume automatic approval by the ONAPs. The 
adopted standards must provide for (a) a safe house, in physically 
sound condition with all systems performing their intended design 
functions; (b) a livable home environment and an energy efficient 
building and systems that incorporate energy conservation measures; and 
(c) an adequate space and privacy for all intended household members.
    13. Tribe. Please note: when used in this NOFA the word ``tribe'' 
means an Indian tribe, band, group or nation, including Alaska Indians, 
Aleuts, Eskimos, Alaska Native Villages, Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act (ANCSA) Village Corporations, and ANCSA Regional 
Corporations.

II. Award Information

A. Available Funds

    The FY2005 appropriation for the ICDBG Program is $68,427,300, less 
$4,000,000 retained to fund Imminent Threat Grants, for a total of 
$64,427,300. Funds that are carried over from previous fiscal years or 
are recaptured may also be used for grant awards under this NOFA.

[[Page 13657]]

B. Allocations to Area ONAPs

    The requirements for allocating funds to Area ONAPs responsible for 
program administration are found at 24 CFR 1003.101. Following these 
requirements, based on an appropriation of $68,427,300 less $4,000,000 
for Imminent Threat grants, the allocations for FY2005 are 
approximately as follows:

 
 
 
Eastern/Woodland........................................      $7,293,860
Southern Plains.........................................      13,839,761
Northern Plains.........................................       9,175,317
Southwest...............................................      24,075,045
Northwest...............................................       3,235,327
Alaska..................................................       6,807,990
                                                         ---------------
    Total...............................................      64,427,300
 

C. Compliance with Regulations, Guidelines, and Requirements

    Applicants awarded a grant under this NOFA are required to comply 
with the regulations, guidelines, and requirements with respect to the 
acceptance and use of Federal funds for this Federally-assisted 
program. Also, the grantee, by accepting the grant, provides assurance 
with respect to the grant that:
    1. It possesses the legal authority to apply for the grant and 
execute the proposed program.
    2. The governing body has duly authorized the filing of the 
application, including all understandings and assurances contained in 
the application and has directed and authorized the person identified 
as the official representative of the applicant to act in connection 
with the application and to provide such additional information as may 
be required.
    3. It will comply with HUD general administration requirements in 
24 CFR Part 95.
    4. It will comply with the requirements of Title II of Public Law 
90-284 (25 U.S.C. 1301), the Indian Civil Rights Act. Federally 
recognized Indian tribes and their instrumentalities are subject to: 
The requirements of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, known as 
the Indian Civil Rights Act; Section 109 prohibitions against 
discrimination based on age, sex, religion and disability; the Age 
Discrimination Act of 1975; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 
of 1973.
    5. It will comply with the Indian preference provisions required in 
24 CFR 1003.510.
    6. It will establish written safeguards to prevent employees from 
using positions funded under the ICDBG programs for a purpose that is, 
or gives the appearance of being, motivated by private gain for 
themselves, their immediate family, or business associates. Employees 
are not otherwise limited from benefiting from program activities for 
which they are otherwise eligible.
    7. It will give HUD and the Comptroller General access and right to 
examine all books, records, papers, or documents related to the grant 
for a period of not less than three years after program completion or 
until resolution of any final audit findings.
    8. Neither the applicant nor its principals are presently excluded 
from participation in any HUD programs, as required by 24 CFR part 24.
    9. It will comply with the acquisition and relocation requirements 
of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition 
Policies Act of 1970, as amended, implementing regulations at 49 CFR 
part 24 and the requirements of 24 CFR 1003.602.
    10. The chief executive officer or other official of the applicant 
approved by HUD:
    a. Consents to assume the status of a responsible Federal official 
under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 insofar as the 
provisions of the Act apply to the applicant's proposed program 
pursuant to 24 CFR 1003.605.
    b. Is authorized and consents on behalf of the applicant and him/
herself to accept the jurisdiction of the Federal courts for the 
purpose of enforcement of his/her responsibilities as such an official.

    Note: Applicants for whom HUD has approved a claim of incapacity 
to accept the responsibilities of the Federal government for 
purposes of complying with the environmental review requirements of 
24 CFR part 58 pursuant to 24 CFR 1003.605 are not subject to the 
provision of paragraph 10.

    11. It will comply with the requirements of Section 3 of the 
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 and the regulations in 24 CFR 
part 135 (Economic Opportunities for Low and Very Low Income Persons) 
to the maximum extent consistent with, but not in derogation of, 
compliance with Section 7(b) of the Indian Self-Determination and 
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450e(b)).
    12. It will comply with the requirements of the Fire Authorization 
Administration Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102-522).
    13. It will provide a drug-free workplace required by 24 CFR part 
24, subpart F.
    14. It will comply with 24 CFR, part 4, subpart A, showing full 
disclosure of all benefits of the project as collected by Form HUD-
2880, Applicant/Recipient Disclosure Report.
    15. Prior to submission of its application to HUD, the grantee has 
met the citizen participation requirements which includes following 
traditional means of member involvement, as required in 24 CFR 
1003.604.
    16. It will administer and enforce the labor standards requirements 
prescribed in 24 CFR 1003.603.
    17. The project has been developed so that not less than 70 percent 
of the funds received under this grant will be used for activities that 
benefit low- and moderate-income persons.
    18. The grantee agrees to comply with Executive Order 13202, 
``Preservation of Open Competition and Government Neutrality Towards 
Government Contractors' Labor Relations on Federal and Federally Funded 
Construction Projects.'' Compliance with HUD regulations at 24 CFR 
5.108 that implement Executive Order 13202 is a condition of receipt of 
assistance under this NOFA.

D. Period of Performance

    The period of performance for any grant awarded under this NOFA 
must be included in the Implementation Schedule, HUD-4125 and approved 
by HUD.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Eligible applicants are Indian tribes or tribal organizations on 
behalf of Indian tribes. To apply for funding you must be eligible as 
an Indian Tribe (or as a tribal organization), as required by 24 CFR 
1003.5, by the application submission date.
    Tribal organizations are permitted to submit applications under 24 
CFR 1003.5(b) on behalf of eligible tribes when one or more eligible 
tribe(s) authorize the organization to do so under concurring 
resolutions. As is stated in this regulatory section, the tribal 
organization must itself be eligible under Title I of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act. The Bureau of Indian 
Affairs (BIA) or the Indian Health Service, as appropriate, must make a 
determination of such eligibility. This determination must be provided 
to the Area ONAP by the application submission date.
    If a tribe or tribal organization claims that it is a successor to 
an eligible entity, the Area ONAP must review the documentation to 
determine whether it is in fact the successor entity.
    Applicants from within Alaska: Due to the unique structure of 
tribal entities eligible to submit ICDBG applications in Alaska, and as 
only one ICDBG

[[Page 13658]]

application may be submitted for each area within the jurisdiction of 
an entity eligible under 24 CFR 1003.5, a tribal organization that 
submits an application for activities in the jurisdiction of one or 
more eligible tribes or villages must include a concurring resolution 
from each such tribe or village authorizing the submittal of the 
application. Each such resolution must also indicate that the tribe or 
village does not itself intend to submit an ICDBG application for that 
funding round. The hierarchy for funding priority continues to be the 
IRA Council, the Traditional Village Council, the ANCSA Village 
Corporation, and the ANCSA Regional Corporation.
    On December 5, 2003 (68 FR 68180), the BIA published a Federal 
Register notice entitled, ``Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to 
Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.'' 
This notice provides a listing of Indian Tribal Entities in Alaska 
found to be Indian Tribes as the term is defined and used in 25 CFR 
part 83. Additionally, pursuant to Title I of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act, ANCSA Village Corporations 
and Regional Corporations are also considered tribes and therefore 
eligible applicants for the ICDBG program.
    Any questions regarding eligibility determinations and related 
documentation requirements for entities in Alaska should be referred to 
the Alaska Area ONAP prior to the application submission date. (See 24 
CFR 1003.5 for a complete description of eligible applicants.)

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    Cost sharing or matching is not required under this grant; however, 
applicants who leverage this grant with other funds receive points. See 
Section V, (A)(3) Rating Factor 4.

C. Other

1. HUD Requirements
    Applicants for single purpose grants must comply with the HUD 
Threshold Requirements listed in the General Section, Section III, C. 
2. in order to receive an award of funds.
2. Program and Project Specific Requirements
    a. Low- and Moderate-Income Status for Rehabilitation Projects. All 
households that receive grant assistance under a housing rehabilitation 
project must be of low- and moderate-income status.
    b. Housing Rehabilitation Cost Limits. Grant funds spent on 
rehabilitation per unit must fall within the following limits for each 
Area ONAP jurisdiction:

Eastern/Woodlands: $35,000
Southern Plains: $30,000
Northern Plains: $45,000
Southwest: $40,000
Northwest $40,000
Alaska: $55,000

    c. Commitment to Housing for Land Acquisition To Support New 
Housing Projects. For land acquisition to support new housing projects, 
your application must include evidence of a financial commitment and an 
ability to construct at least 25 percent of the housing units to be 
built on the land proposed for acquisition. This evidence must consist 
of one (or more) of the following: a firm or conditional commitment to 
construct (or to finance the construction of) the units; documentation 
that an approvable application for the construction of these units has 
been submitted to a funding source or entity; or, documentation that 
these units are specifically identified in the Indian Housing Plan 
(IHP), (one-Year Financial Resources Narrative; Table 2, Financial 
Resources, Part I., Line 1E; and Table 2, Financial Resources, Part II) 
submitted by or on behalf of the applicant as an affordable housing 
resource with a commensurate commitment of Indian Housing Block Grant 
(IHBG) (also known as the Native American Housing Block Grant (NAHBG) 
resources. If the IHP for the IHBG (also known as NAHBG) program year 
that coincides with the implementation of the ICDBG proposed project 
has not been submitted, you must provide an assurance that the IHP will 
specifically reference the proposed project. The IHP submission must be 
within three years from when the land is acquired and ready for 
development.
    d. Health Care Facilities. If you propose a facility that would 
provide health care services funded by the Indian Health Service (IHS), 
you must assure that the facility meets all applicable IHS facility 
requirements. We recognize that tribes that are contracting services 
from the IHS may establish other facility standards. These tribes must 
assure that these standards at least compare to nationally accepted 
minimum standards.
3. Program Related Threshold Requirements
    a. Outstanding ICDBG Obligation. According to 24 CFR 1003.301(a), 
an applicant who has an outstanding ICDBG obligation to HUD that is in 
arrears, or one that has not agreed to a repayment schedule will be 
disqualified from the competition.
    b. Compliance with Fair Housing and Civil Rights Laws. Applicants 
and subrecipients that are not federally recognized Indian tribes or 
their instrumentalities are subject to the Civil Rights Threshold 
requirements found in the General Section. Federally recognized Indian 
tribes and their instrumentalities are subject to: the requirements of 
Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, known as the Indian Civil 
Rights Act; Section 109 prohibitions against discrimination based on 
age, sex, religion and disability; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; 
and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. To be eligible to 
apply, there must be no outstanding violations of these civil rights 
provisions at the time of application.
4. Project Specific Threshold Requirements
    Applicants must meet all parts of the project specific threshold 
applicable to the proposed project. The thresholds are:
    a. Housing Rehabilitation Project Thresholds. In accordance with 24 
CFR 1003.302(a), for housing rehabilitation projects, you must adopt 
rehabilitation standards and rehabilitation policies before you submit 
an application. You must submit with the application evidence the 
policies and standards have been adopted in accordance with tribal law 
or practice. You must also provide an assurance that project funds will 
be used to rehabilitate HUD-assisted houses only when the homebuyer's 
payments are current or the homebuyer is current in a repayment 
agreement except in emergency situation. The ONAP Administrator on a 
case-by-case basis may approve exceptions to this requirement.
    b. Land Acquisition To Support New Housing Project Thresholds. No 
project specific thresholds.
    c. New Housing Construction Project Thresholds. (1) In accordance 
with 24 CFR 1003.302 (b), new housing construction can only be 
implemented when necessary through a Community Based Development 
Organization (CBDO). Eligible CBDOs are described in 24 CFR 
1003.204(c). You must provide documentation establishing that the 
entity implementing your new housing construction project qualifies as 
a CBDO.
    (2) In accordance with 24 CFR 1003.302, you must submit a current 
(in effect) tribal resolution adopting and identifying construction 
standards.
    (3) In accordance with 24 CFR 1003.302, you must also include in 
your application documentation supporting the following:

[[Page 13659]]

    (a) All households to be assisted under a new housing construction 
project must be of low- or moderate-income status;
    (b) No other housing is available in the immediate reservation area 
that is suitable for the households to be assisted;
    (c) No other sources including an IHBG (also known as NAHBG) can 
meet the needs of the household(s) to be served; and
    (d) Rehabilitation of the unit occupied by the household(s) to be 
assisted is not economically feasible, or the household(s) to be housed 
currently is in an overcrowded house (more than one household per 
house), or the household to be assisted has no current residence.
    d. Homeownership Assistance Project Thresholds. No project specific 
thresholds.
    e. Public Facilities and Improvements Project Thresholds. No 
project specific thresholds.
    f. Economic Development Project Thresholds. In accordance with 24 
CFR 1003.302, for economic development assistance projects, you must 
provide a financial analysis. The financial analysis must demonstrate 
that the project is financially feasible and the project has a 
reasonable chance of success. The analysis must also demonstrate the 
public benefit resulting from the ICDBG assistance. The more funds you 
request, the greater public benefit you must demonstrate. The analysis 
must also establish that to the extent practicable, reasonable 
financial support will be committed from non-federal sources prior to 
disbursement of federal funds; any grant amount provided will not 
substantially reduce the amount of non-federal financial support for 
the activity; not more than a reasonable rate of return on investment 
is provided to the owner; and that grant funds used for the project 
will be disbursed on a pro-rata basis with amounts from other sources.
    g. Microenterprise Program Thresholds. No project specific 
threshold.
5. Public Service Projects
    Because there is a statutory 15 percent cap on the amount of grant 
funds that may be used for public service activities, you may not 
receive a single purpose grant solely to fund public service 
activities. Your application, however, may contain a public service 
component for up to 15 percent of the total grant. This component may 
be unrelated to the other project(s) included in your application. If 
your application does not receive full funding, we will reduce the 
public service allocation proportionately so that it comprises no more 
than 15 percent of the total grant award. In making such reductions, 
the feasibility of the proposed project will be taken into 
consideration. If a proportionate reduction of the public service 
allocation renders such a project infeasible, the project will not be 
funded. A complete description of Public Service Projects is located at 
24 CFR 1003.201.
6. Restrictions on Eligible Activities
    Activities that are eligible for ICDBG funding are identified at 24 
CFR part 1003, subpart C. Please note that although this subpart has 
not yet been revised to include the restrictions on activity 
eligibility that were added to Section 105 of the CDBG statute by 
Section 588 of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998, 
these restrictions apply. Specifically, ICDBG funds may not be used to 
assist directly in the relocation of any industrial or commercial 
plant, facility, or operation, from one area to another, if the 
relocation is likely to result in a significant loss of employment in 
the labor market area from which the relocation occurs. Rating Factors 
2 and 3 included under Section V. specify many of the activities listed 
as eligible under part 1003, subpart C. Those listed include new 
housing construction (in certain circumstances as described in Rating 
Factors 2 and 3 in Section V.), housing rehabilitation, land 
acquisition to support new housing, homeownership assistance, public 
facilities and improvements, economic development, and microenterprise 
programs. However, the following eligible activities not clearly 
identified by the rating factors may be proposed and rated as described 
below. During the past few years, many tribes have experienced high 
incidences of mold growth in tribal homes and buildings. Renovation of 
affected buildings is eligible under housing rehabilitation or public 
facility improvement projects. For a complete description of eligible 
activities, please refer to 24 CFR part 1003, subpart C.
    a. Acquisition of Property: This activity can be proposed as Land 
to Support New Housing or as part of New Housing Construction, Public 
Facilities and Improvements, or Economic Development depending on the 
purpose of the land acquisition to support new construction.
    b. Assistance to Institutions of Higher Learning: If such entities 
have the capacity, they can help the ICDBG grantees to implement 
eligible projects.
    c. Assistance to Community Based Development Organizations (CBDOs): 
Grantees may provide assistance to these organizations to undertake 
activities related to neighborhood revitalization, community economic 
development, or energy conservation.
    d. Clearance, Demolition: These activities can be proposed as part 
of Housing Rehabilitation, New Housing Construction, Public Facilities 
and Improvements, Economic Development, or Land to Support New Housing. 
Section 1003.201 (d) states ``Demolition of HUD-assisted housing units 
may be undertaken only with the prior approval of HUD.''
    e. Code Enforcement: This activity can be proposed as Housing 
Rehabilitation. The activity must comply with the requirements at 24 
CFR 1003.202.
    f. Comprehensive Planning: This activity is eligible, and can be 
proposed, as part of any otherwise eligible project to the extent 
allowed by the 20 percent cap on the grant for planning/administration.
    g. Energy Efficiency: Associated activities can be proposed under 
Housing Rehabilitation or Public Facilities and Improvements depending 
upon the type of energy efficiency activity.
    h. Lead Based Paint Abatement and Evaluation: These activities can 
be proposed under Housing Rehabilitation.
    i. Non-Federal Share: ICDBG funds can be used as a match for any 
non-ICDBG funding to the extent allowed by such funding and the 
activity is eligible under 24 CFR part 1003, subpart C.
    j. Privately and Publicly Owned Commercial or Industrial Buildings 
(real property improvements): These activities can be proposed under 
Economic Development. Privately owned commercial rehabilitation is 
subject to the requirements at 24 CFR 1003.202.
    k. Privately Owned Utilities: Assistance to privately owned 
utilities can be proposed under Public Facilities and Improvements.
    l. Removal of Architectural Barriers: This includes removing 
barriers that restrict mobility and access for elderly and persons with 
disabilities. In addition, accommodation should be made for persons 
with all varieties of disabilities to enable them to benefit from these 
activities. This activity can be proposed under Housing Rehabilitation 
or Public Facilities and Improvements depending upon the type of 
structure where the barrier will be removed.

[[Page 13660]]

7. Application Screening
    The Area ONAP will screen applications for single purpose grants. 
The Area ONAP will reject an application that fails this screening and 
will return the application unrated. The Area ONAP will accept your 
application if it meets all the criteria listed below as items a 
through f.
    a. Your application is received or submitted in accordance with the 
requirements set forth under Application and Submission Procedures in 
Section IV of this Program NOFA;
    b. You are eligible;
    c. The proposed project is eligible;
    d. Your application contains substantially all the components 
specified in Section IV. B. of this Program NOFA;
    e. Your application shows that at least 70 percent of the grant 
funds are to be used for activities that benefit low- and moderate-
income persons, in accordance with the requirements of 24 CFR 1003.208. 
For screening purposes only, HUD will use the 2000 census data if the 
data you submitted does not meet this screening requirement; and
    f. Your application is for an amount that does not exceed the grant 
ceilings listed in Section IV. E.2.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses to Request Application Package

    The FY 2005 application is now available from www.Grants.gov. 
Applicants are required to submit an electronic application unless they 
receive a waiver to the requirement. Please see the General Section for 
information on electronic application submission, procedures for 
requesting a waiver, and timely submission and receipt requirements.
    All information required to complete and return a valid application 
is included in the General Section and this program section. Appendices 
A and B in this program section include information and a list of forms 
required for application. Before preparing an application, applicants 
should carefully review the program description, ineligible activities, 
program and threshold requirements, and the General Section. Applicants 
should also review each rating factor listed in Section V, Application 
Review Information before writing a narrative response. Applicants 
should include all requested information, according to the instructions 
found in the NOFA and where applicable, in the General Section.
    Copies of the General Section and ICDBG program section (including 
appendices) may be downloaded from the grants.gov website at http://
www.grants.gov/Apply, or you may call HUD's NOFA Information Center at 
800-HUD-8929 or for the hearing impaired, call 800-HUD-2209. If you 
experience any problems with downloading the General Section or the 
ICDBG program section, call the Grants.gov help desk at 800-518-GRANTS.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

1. Application Information
    To expedite the review of your application and ensure that your 
application is given a thorough and complete review of all responses to 
each of the components of the selection criteria, please indicate on 
the first page of each project submission, the type of project(s) being 
proposed: Economic Development, Homeownership Assistance, Housing 
Rehabilitation, Land Acquisition to Support New Housing, 
Microenterprise Programs, New Housing Construction or Public Facilities 
and Improvements. This will help to ensure that the appropriate project 
specific thresholds and rating subfactors will be applied. Narrative 
statements submitted to support your application should be individually 
labeled to reflect the item the narrative is responding to, e.g. Factor 
1, Capacity; Factor 2, Need; etc. Any narratives and scanned documents 
must be submitted as a zip file, single attachment to the electronic 
application. Additional information regarding electronic submissions 
can be found in the General Section,
    If you are not submitting an electronic application and have 
received a waiver, please use separate tabs for each rating factor and 
rating subfactor. In order to be rated, make sure the response is 
beneath the appropriate heading. Keep the responses in the same order 
as the Program NOFA. It is recommended that you limit your narrative 
explanations to 200 words or less and provide the necessary data such 
as a market analysis, a pro forma, housing survey data, etc., that 
support the response. Include all relevant material to a response under 
the same tab. Only include documentation that will clearly and 
concisely support your response to the rating criteria.
    HUD suggests that you do a preliminary rating for your project, 
providing a score according to the point system in Section V. This will 
show you how reviewers might score your project. Also, it will show you 
where the strengths and weaknesses of the application are located. This 
will help you determine where improvements can be made to your 
application prior to its submission.
    The published Federal Register document is the official document 
that HUD uses to evaluate applications. Therefore, if there is a 
discrepancy between any materials published by HUD in hard copy or on 
www.grants.gov, or on any HUD Web site, and the Federal Register 
publication of the SuperNOFA, the information published in the 
SuperNOFA Federal Register publication (including any corrections 
published in the Federal Register) prevails.
2. Content of Application, Forms, and Assurances
    The applicant must respond in narrative form to all five of the 
rating factors listed in Section V.A.3. of this Program NOFA. In 
addition, the applicant must submit all of the forms required in this 
section, along with other data listed below.
    a. Demographic data. You may submit data that are unpublished and 
not generally available in order to meet the requirements of this 
section. Your application must contain a statement that the following 
criteria have been met:
    (1) Generally available published data are substantially inaccurate 
or incomplete;
    (2) Data that you submit have been collected systematically and are 
statistically reliable;
    (3) Data are, to the greatest extent feasible, independently 
verifiable; and
    (4) Data differentiate between reservation and BIA service area 
populations, when applicable.
    b. Publication of Community Development Statement. You must prepare 
and publish or post the community development statement portion of your 
application according to the citizen participation requirements of 24 
CFR 1003.604. For publication and posting purposes, you may post or 
publish all narrative portions of the Statement if you include a 
statement that indicates that the entire Community Development 
Statement is available for public viewing and include the location, 
dates, and time it will be available for review.
    c. Application Submission. Your application must contain the items 
listed below.
    (1) Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424);

[[Page 13661]]

    (2) SF-424 SUPP, Supplement Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity 
for Applicants;
    (3) Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880);
    (4) Acknowledgement of Application Receipt (HUD-2993). This form 
will be required only for applicants who have received a waiver of the 
electronic submission requirements and are submitting their paper copy 
application.
    If the application has been submitted by a tribal organization as 
defined in 24 CFR 1003.5(b), on behalf of an Indian tribe, you must 
submit concurring resolutions from the Indian tribe stating that the 
tribal organization is applying on the tribe's behalf. Applicants must 
submit the resolution by either scanning it and attaching it as a file 
to your electronic application submission, or sending it via facsimile 
transmittal.
    The other required items are as follows:
    (5) Community Development Statement that includes:
    (a) Components that address the general threshold requirement and 
the relevant project specific thresholds and rating factors;
    (b) A schedule for implementing the project (Form HUD-4125, 
Implementation Schedule); and
    (c) Cost information for each separate project, including specific 
activity costs, administration, planning, technical assistance, and 
total HUD share (Form HUD-4123, Cost Summary).
    (6) A map showing project location, if appropriate;
    (7) If the proposed project will result in displacement or 
temporary relocation, a statement that identifies:
    (a) The number of persons (families, individuals, businesses, and 
nonprofit organizations) occupying the property on the date of the 
submission of the application (or date of initial site control, if 
later);
    (b) The number to be displaced or temporarily relocated;
    (c) The estimated cost of relocation payments and other services;
    (d) The source of funds for relocation; and
    (e) The organization that will carry out the relocation activities;
    (8) If applicable, evidence of the disclosure required by 24 CFR 
1003.606(e) regarding conflict of interest.
    (9) If applicable, the demographic data statement described in 
Section IV.B.2.a. and Section V.A.3., Rating Factor 2 of this Program 
NOFA. The data accompanying the statement must identify the total 
number of persons benefiting from the project and the total number of 
low- and moderate-income persons benefiting from the project. To be 
considered, supporting documentation must include all of the following: 
a sample copy of a completed survey form; an explanation of the methods 
used to collect the data, and a listing of incomes by household.
    (10) Optional submissions are:
    (a) Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994);
    (b) Logic Model, HUD-96010;
    A checklist identifying these forms is located in Appendix B.
3. Planning and Administrative Costs
    Applicants must report project planning and administration costs on 
Form HUD-4123, Cost Summary. Planning and administrative costs cannot 
exceed 20 percent of the grant. The following criteria applies to 
planning and administrative costs:
    a. Planning and administrative activities may only be funded in 
conjunction with a physical development activity.
    b. If you are submitting an application for more than one project, 
costs must be broken down by project. Submit one Form HUD-4123 for each 
proposed project in addition to a consolidated Form HUD-4123 that 
includes costs for all proposed projects.
    c. Do not include project costs (i.e. architectural/engineering, 
environmental, technical assistance, staff/overhead costs) directly 
related to project.

C. Submission Dates and Times

1. Application Submission Deadline
    The application submission deadline is June 2, 2005. Applications 
submitted through www.Grants.gov/Apply must be received by Grants.gov 
no later than 11:59:59 Eastern time on the application submission date. 
If you have requested a waiver of the electronic submission 
requirements in the General Section, and are submitting a paper copy of 
your application, your completed application (one original and two 
copies) must be submitted to the United States Postal Service no later 
than 11:59:59 PM on the application submission date and be received by 
the designated Area Office of Native American Programs (ONAP) on or 
within 15 days of the application submission deadline. HUD will not 
accept any applications sent by e-mail or on a diskette, CD, or by 
facsimile. Please carefully follow the instructions in Section IV F. of 
the General Section for detailed information regarding application 
submission, delivery, and timely receipt requirements.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    Executive Order 12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal 
Programs, was issued to foster intergovernmental partnership and 
strengthen federalism by relying on state and local processes for the 
coordination and review of federal financial assistance and direct 
federal development. HUD implementing regulations are published in 24 
CFR part 52. The Order allows each state to designate and entity to 
perform a state review function. The official listing of State Points 
of Contact (SPOC) for this review process can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html. Please note that Indian tribes 
are not subject to the intergovernmental review process.

E. Funding Restrictions

1. Ineligible Activities
    In general, any activity that is not authorized under the 
provisions of 24 CFR 1003.201-1003.206 is ineligible to be assisted 
with ICDBG grant funds. The regulations at 24 CFR 1003.207 govern 
ineligible activities and should be referred to for details. The 
following guidance is provided in determining the eligibility of other 
activities frequently associated with ICDBG projects.
    a. Government Office Space. Buildings, or portions thereof, used 
predominantly for the general conduct of government cannot be assisted 
with ICDBG funds. Those buildings include, but are not limited to, 
local government office buildings, courthouses, and other headquarters 
of government where the governing body meets regularly. Buildings that 
contain both governmental and non-governmental services can be assisted 
as long as the ICDBG funds are used only for the non-governmental 
sections. Examples of ineligible buildings are a building to house the 
community development division or a tribal administration building. 
Your Area ONAP office should be consulted for projects of this nature.
    b. General Government Expenses. Except as authorized in the 
regulations or under OMB Circular A-87, expenses required to carry out 
the regular responsibilities of the unit of general local government 
are not eligible for assistance with ICDBG funds.
    c. Maintenance and Operation Expenses. In general, any expenses 
associated with repairing, operating, or maintaining public facilities 
and services are not eligible for assistance. Specific exceptions to 
this general rule are operating and maintenance expenses associated 
with public service activities [24 CFR 1003.201(e)], office space for

[[Page 13662]]

program staff employed in carrying out the ICDBG program [24 CFR 
1003.206(a)(4)], and interim assistance [24 CFR 1003.201(f)]. For 
example, where a public service is being assisted with CDBG funds, the 
cost of operating and maintaining that portion of the facility in which 
the service is located is eligible as part of the public service. 
Examples of ineligible operating and maintenance expenses are routine 
and non-routine maintenance and repair of streets, parks, playgrounds, 
water and sewer facilities, neighborhood facilities, senior centers, 
centers for persons with disabilities, parking facilities, and similar 
public facilities and, payment of salaries for staff, utility costs, 
and similar expenses necessary for the operation of public works and 
facilities.
    d. New Housing Construction. The construction of new permanent 
residential structures and any program to subsidize or finance such new 
construction is ineligible unless carried out by a Community-Based 
Development Organization (CBDO) pursuant to 24 CFR 1003.204(a).
    e. Furnishings and Personal Property. In general, the purchase of 
equipment, fixtures, motor vehicles, furnishings, or other personal 
property not an integral structural fixture is ineligible. Exceptions 
include when such purchases are necessary for use in grant 
administration (24 CFR 1003.206); necessary and appropriate for use in 
a project carried out by a CBDO (24 CFR 1003.204); used in providing a 
public service (24 CFR 1003.201(e)); or used as fire fighting equipment 
(24 CFR 1003.201(c)(1)(ii). However, ICDBG funds may be used to pay 
depreciation or use allowances (in accordance with OMB Circular A-87 or 
A-122 as applicable).
    f. Construction Tools and Equipment. The purchase of construction 
tools and equipment is generally ineligible. However, compensation for 
the use of such tools and equipment through leasing, depreciation, or 
use allowances pursuant to OMB Circulars A-87 and A-122, as applicable, 
for an otherwise eligible activity is an eligible use of ICDBG funds. 
Exceptions include construction tools and equipment purchased for use 
as part of a solid waste facility (24 CFR 1003.201(c)(1)(ii)) and 
construction tools only (not equipment) purchased for use in a housing 
rehabilitation project being administered by the recipient using the 
force account construction method (24 CFR 1003.202(b)(8)).
    g. Income Payments. In general, assistance shall not be used for 
income payments for housing or any other purpose. Income payments mean 
a series of subsistence-type grant payments made to an individual/
family for items such as food, clothing, housing (rent/mortgage) or 
utilities, but excludes emergency payments made over a period of up to 
three months to the provider of such items or services on behalf of an 
individual/family. Examples of ineligible income payments include the 
payments for income maintenance and housing allowances.
    2. Grant Ceilings: The authority to establish grant ceilings is 
found at 24 CFR 1003.100(b)(1). Grant ceilings are established for 
FY2005 funding at the following levels:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Area ONAP                   Population           Ceiling
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eastern Woodlands.................  ALL.................        $500,000
Southern Plains...................  ALL.................         800,000
Northern Plains...................  ALL.................         900,000
Southwest.........................  50,001+.............       5,500,000
                                    10,501-50,000.......       2,750,000
                                    7,501-10,500........       2,200,000
                                    6,001-7,500.........       1,100,000
                                    1,501-6,000.........         825,000
                                    0-1,500.............         605,000
Northwest.........................  ALL.................         500,000
Alaska............................  ALL.................         500,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For the Southwest Area ONAP jurisdiction, the population used to 
determine ceiling amounts is the Native American population that 
resides on a reservation or rancheria. Please contact that office 
before submitting your application if you are unsure of the population 
level to use to determine the ceiling amount for your tribe or if you 
believe that the level used for previous years needs to be revised or 
corrected. The Southwest ONAP must approve any corrections or revisions 
to Native American population data before you submit your application.

F. Other Submission Requirements

1. Mailing and Receipt Procedures

    Specific information regarding mailing and receipt procedures for 
FY 2005 is located in the General Section, Section IV, F.

2. Addresses for Submitting Applications

    HUD will only accept mailed applications if a waiver of the 
electronic delivery process has been approved by HUD. Information 
regarding electronic submission and waivers from the electronic 
submission requirement is located in the General Section. If a waiver 
of the electronic submission requirement is granted, submit the 
original signed application and two copies to the appropriate Area ONAP 
for your jurisdiction. A list identifying each Area ONAP jurisdiction 
is provided below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Send your application to this area
                                    ONAP:  (Persons with hearing and/or
  If you are applying from this       speech challenges may access the
 geographic location and a waiver  telephone numbers listed on this page
  from the electronic submission    via TTY (text telephone) by calling
  requirements has been granted,   the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-
            then . . .               8339 (this is a toll-free number)
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
All States East of the             Eastern/Woodlands Office of Native
 Mississippi River, Plus Iowa and   American Programs, Grants Management
 Minnesota.                         Division, 77 West Jackson Blvd.,
                                    Room 2400, Chicago, IL 60604-3507,
                                    Telephone: (312) 886-4532, Ext. 2815
                                    or 800-735-3239.
Louisiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, and   Southern Plains Office of Native
 Texas, except West Texas.          American Programs, Grants Management
                                    Division, 301 N.W. 6th Street, Suite
                                    200, Oklahoma City, OK 73102,
                                    Telephone: (405) 609-8520.
Colorado, Montana, Nebraska,       Northern Plains Office of Native
 North Dakota, South Dakota,        American Programs, Grants Management
 Utah, and Wyoming.                 Division, UMB Plaza, 1670 Broadway,
                                    23rd Floor, Denver, CO 80202-4801,
                                    Telephone: (303) 672-5465 or 888-814-
                                    2945.
Arizona, California, and Nevada..  Southwest Office of Native American
                                    Programs, Grants Management
                                    Division, One North Central Avenue,
                                    Suite 600, Phoenix, AZ 85004-2361,
                                    Telephone: (602) 379-7220.
New Mexico and West Texas........  Southwest Office of Native American
                                    Programs, Grants Management
                                    Division, 625 Silver Ave., SW Suite
                                    300, Albuquerque, NM 87102-
                                    3185, Telephone: (505) 346-6923.

[[Page 13663]]

 
Idaho, Oregon, Washington........  Northwest Office of Native American
                                    Programs, Grants Management
                                    Division, Federal Office Building,
                                    909 First Avenue, Suite 300,
                                    Seattle, WA 98104-1000, Telephone:
                                    (206) 220-5270.
Alaska...........................  Alaska Office of Native American
                                    Programs, Grants Management
                                    Division, 3000 C. Street, Suite 401,
                                    Anchorage, AK 99503, (907) 677-9800.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. RC/EZ/EC-II: Bonus points described in the General Section for 
projects located in RC/EZ/EC-II will not be awarded under this Program 
NOFA.
    2. Rating Factors to Evaluate and Rate Applications: The factors 
for rating and ranking applications and the points for each factor are 
provided below. A maximum of 100 points may be awarded under Rating 
Factors 1 through 5. To be considered for funding, your application 
must receive a minimum of 15 points under rating factor 1 and an 
application score of 70 out of the possible total of 100, the maximum 
any project can receive. The following summarizes the points assigned 
to each rating factor and each rating subfactor and lists which rating 
subfactors apply to which project types. Please use this table to 
ensure you are addressing the appropriate rating subfactor for your 
project.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Rating factor              Rating sub- factor           Points                  Project type
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.................................  Total................  30                     Minimum of 15 Points Required.
                                    (1)(a)...............  10...................  All Project Types.
                                    (1)(b)...............  5 or 7*..............  All Project Types.
                                    (1)(c)...............  3 or 8*..............  All Project Types.
                                    (1)(d)...............  2 or 5*..............  All Project Types.
                                    (2)(a)...............  2 or 0*..............  All Project Types.
                                    (2)(b)...............  2 or 0*..............  All Project Types.
                                    (2)(c)...............  2 or 0*..............  All Project Types.
                                    (2)(d)...............  2 or 0*..............  All Project Types.
                                    (2)(e)...............  2 or 0*..............  All Project Types.
                                   ------------------------
2.................................  Total................  20
                                    1....................  5....................  All Project Types.
                                    (2)(a)...............  15...................  Public Facilities and
                                                                                   Improvements and Economic
                                                                                   Development Projects.
                                    (2)(b)...............  15...................  New Housing Construction,
                                                                                   Housing Rehabilitation, Land
                                                                                   Acquisition to Support New
                                                                                   Housing, and Homeownership
                                                                                   Assistance Projects.
                                    (2)(c)...............  15...................  Microenterprise Programs.
                                   ------------------------
3.................................  Total................  35
                                    (1)..................  14...................  All Project Types.
                                    (2)..................  5....................  All Project Types.
                                    (3)..................  1....................  By Project Type.
                                    (4)(a)...............  15...................  Public Facilities and
                                                                                   Improvements.
                                    (4)(b)...............  15...................  New Housing Construction,
                                                                                   Housing Rehabilitation, and
                                                                                   Homeownership Assistance
                                                                                   Projects.
                                    (4)(c)...............  15...................  Economic Development Projects.
                                    (4)(d)...............  15...................  Microenterprise Programs.
                                    (4)(e)...............  15...................  Land Acquisition to Support
                                                                                   New Housing.
                                   ------------------------
4.................................  Total................  10...................  All Project Types.
                                   ------------------------
5.................................  Total................  5....................  All Project Types.
                                   ========================
    Total.........................  .....................  100..................  Minimum of 70 Points Required.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The first number listed indicates the maximum number of points available to current ICDBG grantees under this
  subfactor. The second number indicates the maximum number of points available to new applicants.

Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant (30 Points)
    This Factor addresses the extent to which you have the 
organizational resources necessary to successfully implement the 
proposed activities in accordance with your implementation schedule. If 
applicable, past performance in administering previous ICDBG grants 
will be taken into consideration. You must address the existence or 
availability of these resources for the specific type of activity for 
which you are applying. You must receive a minimum of 15 points under 
this Factor for your proposed activity to be eligible for funding. HUD 
will not rate any projects further that do not receive a minimum of 15 
points under this factor. Please note: If your application is funded, 
you will be required to submit an annual status and evaluation report 
which will describe the status of completed activities and any 
remaining work to be done (see Section VI.C. Reporting). The

[[Page 13664]]

implementation schedule and/or the Logic Model, Form HUD 96010, you 
submit for this Factor will also be measured against actual progress if 
you are funded.
    (1) (20 points for current ICDBG grantees) (30 points for new 
applicants) Managerial, Technical, and Administrative Capability.
    Your application must include documentation demonstrating that you 
possess or can obtain managerial, technical, and/or administrative 
capability necessary to carry out the proposed project. Your 
application must address who will administer the project and how you 
plan to handle the technical aspects of executing the project in 
accordance with your implementation schedule. Typical documents that 
may be submitted include, but are not limited to, resumes of proposed 
staff, written summaries of qualifications and past experience, job 
descriptions, organizational charts and staffing plans, and references 
or letters of endorsement from others who have worked with the proposed 
staff.
    (a) (10 points). Managerial and Technical Staff.
    The extent to which your application provides documentation and 
describes the roles/responsibilities and the knowledge/experience of 
your overall proposed project director and staff, including the day-to-
day program manager, consultants, and contractors in planning, 
managing, and implementing projects in accordance with the 
implementation schedule for which funding is being requested. 
Experience will be judged in terms of recent, relevant, and successful 
experience of your staff to undertake eligible program activities. In 
rating this Factor, HUD will consider experience within the last 5 
years to be recent; experience pertaining to the specific activities 
being proposed to be relevant; and experience producing specific 
accomplishments to be successful. The more recent the experience and 
the more experience your own staff members who work on the project have 
in successfully conducting and completing similar activities, the 
greater the number of points you will receive for this rating Factor.
    (10 Points). The applicant has provided documentation and 
adequately describes the roles/responsibilities and the knowledge/
experience of its overall project director and staff, including the 
day-to-day program manager, consultants, and contractors in planning, 
managing, and implementing projects for which funding is being 
requested. Staff experience as described in the application is recent 
(within 5 years), relevant (pertains to the specific activities being 
proposed) and successful (has produced specific accomplishments).
    (5 Points). The applicant has provided documentation and adequately 
describes the roles/responsibilities and the knowledge/experience of 
its overall project director and staff, including the day-to-day 
program manager, consultants, and contractors in planning, managing and 
implementing projects for which funding is being requested. However, 
one of the following applies: staff experience as described in the 
application is not recent (not within 5 years), is not relevant (does 
not pertain to the specific activities being proposed), or is not 
successful (did not produce specific accomplishments).
    (0 Points). The applicant has not provided any documentation or 
adequately described the roles/responsibilities and the knowledge/
experience of its overall project director and staff, including the 
day-to-day program manager, consultants, and contractors in planning, 
managing, and implementing projects for which funding is being 
requested or more than one of the following applies: staff experience 
as described in the application is not recent (not within 5 years), is 
not relevant (does not pertain to the specific activity being 
proposed), or is not successful (did not produce specific 
accomplishments).
    (b) (5 points for current ICDBG grantees) (7 points for new 
applicants) Project Implementation Plan and Program Evaluation.
    The extent to which your project implementation plan identifies the 
specific tasks and timelines that you and your partner contractors and/
or sub grantees will undertake to complete your proposed project on 
time and within budget. The Project Implementation Schedule, Form HUD-
4125, may serve as this required schedule, provided that it is 
sufficiently detailed to demonstrate that you have clearly thought out 
your project implementation. The extent to which your project 
identifies, measures, and evaluates the specific benchmarks, outputs, 
outcomes, and/or goals of your project that enhance community 
viability. The Logic Model, Form HUD-96010, may serve as the format to 
address this information or you may provide a different format that 
provides the same information.
    (5 points for current ICDBG grantees) (7 points for new 
applicants). The applicant submitted a project implementation plan that 
clearly specifies project tasks and timelines. The documentation 
identifies the steps in place to make adjustments to the work plan if 
tasks are not completed within established time frames. The applicant 
submitted clear project benchmarks, outputs, outcomes, and/or targets 
and identified objectively quantifiable program measures and/or 
evaluation process.
    (3 points for current ICDBG grantees) (4 points for new 
applicants). The applicant submitted a project implementation plan that 
specifies project tasks and timelines. The applicant submitted project 
benchmarks, outputs, outcomes, and/or targets for each; however, did 
not clearly identify objectively quantifiable program measures and/or 
the evaluation process.
    (0 points for current ICDBG grantees or new applicants). The 
applicant submitted a project implementation schedule that does not 
address all project tasks and timelines associated with the project. 
Project benchmarks, outputs, outcomes, and/or goals were not submitted, 
or if submitted, did not address either the quantifiable program 
measures and/or the evaluation process.
    (c) (3 points for current ICDBG grantees) (8 points for new 
applicants) Financial Management.
    This subfactor evaluates the extent to which your application 
describes how your financial management systems will facilitate 
effective fiscal control over your proposed project and meet the 
requirements of 24 CFR part 85 and 24 CFR part 1003. You must also 
describe how you will apply your financial management systems to the 
specific project for which you are applying. The application must 
include a tribal resolution or other written document signed by the 
appropriate entity according to tribal practices that adopts your 
financial management and/or internal control policies and procedures. 
The application will also be rated on the seriousness/significance of 
the findings related to your financial management system identified in 
your current audit. If you are required to have an audit but do not 
have a current audit, you must submit a letter from your Independent 
Public Accountant that is dated within the past 12 months stating that 
your financial management system complies with all applicable 
regulatory requirements. If you are not required to have an audit, you 
will automatically receive points for this portion of the subfactor if 
you provide the other information required by this subfactor. For 
purposes of this subfactor, a current audit is one which has been 
submitted to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse within 9 months of the end 
of the

[[Page 13665]]

applicant's last fiscal year, or 30 days after receipt of the audit 
report from the auditor, whichever comes first.
    (3 points for current ICDBG grantees) (8 points for new 
applicants). The applicant clearly described how it will apply its 
financial management systems to the proposed project. A tribal 
resolution or other written document signed by the appropriate entity 
according to tribal practices adopting financial management or internal 
control policies and procedures were included with the application. The 
applicant's current audit does not contain any serious or significant 
findings related to its financial management system, or if there is no 
current audit, the applicant submitted a letter from its Independent 
Public Accountant stating that its financial management system complies 
with all applicable regulatory requirements.
    (2 points for current ICDBG grantees) (4 points for new 
applicants). The applicant's current audit does not contain any serious 
or significant findings related to its financial management system, or 
if there is no current audit, the applicant submitted a letter from its 
Independent Public Accountant stating that its financial management 
system complies with all applicable regulatory requirements. The 
applicant did not describe how it would apply its financial management 
systems to the proposed project, or it did not submit a tribal 
resolution or other written document adopting financial management or 
internal control policies and procedures. For purposes of this 
subfactor, a current audit is one which has been submitted to the 
Federal Audit Clearinghouse within 9 months of the end of the 
applicant's last fiscal year, or 30 days after receipt of the audit 
report from the auditor, whichever comes first.
    (1 point for current ICDBG grantees) (2 points for new applicants). 
The applicant's current audit does not contain any serious or 
significant findings related to its financial management system, or if 
there is no current audit, the applicant submitted a letter from its 
Independent Public Accountant stating that its financial management 
system complies with all applicable regulatory requirements. The 
applicant did not describe how it would apply its financial management 
systems to the proposed project, and it did not submit a tribal 
resolution or other written document adopting financial management or 
internal control policies and procedures.
    (0 points for current ICDBG grantees or new applicants). The 
applicant's current audit included serious or significant findings 
related to its financial management systems or if there is no current 
audit, the applicant did not submit a letter from its IPA stating its 
financial management systems comply with all regulatory requirements. 
No tribal resolution or other written document adopting financial 
management or internal control policies and procedures were submitted 
with the application, and the applicant did not describe how it would 
apply its financial management systems to the proposed project.
    (d) (2 points for current ICDBG grantees) (5 points for new 
applicants) Procurement and Contract Management.
    This subfactor evaluates the extent to which your application 
describes how your procurement and contract management policies and 
procedures will facilitate effective procurement and contract control 
over your proposed project and meet the requirements of 24 CFR part 85 
and 24 CFR part 1003. You must also describe how you will apply your 
procurement and contract management systems to the specific project for 
which you are applying. The application must include a tribal 
resolution or other written document signed by the appropriate entity 
according to tribal practices that adopts your procurement and contract 
management policies and procedures. The application will also be rated 
on the seriousness of the findings related to procurement and contract 
management identified in your current financial audit. If you are 
required to have an audit but do not have a current audit, you must 
submit a letter from your Independent Public Accountant stating that 
your procurement and contract management system complies with all 
applicable regulatory requirements. If you are not required to have an 
audit, you will automatically receive points for this portion of the 
subfactor if you provide the other information required by this 
subfactor.
    (2 points for current ICDBG grantees) (5 points for new 
applicants). The applicant clearly described how its procurement and 
contract management policies and procedures will facilitate effective 
procurement and contract control over the proposed project, and meet 
the requirements of 24 CFR part 85 and 24 CFR part 1003. A tribal 
resolution or other written document signed by the appropriate entity 
according to tribal practices adopting procurement and contract 
management policies and procedures were included with the application. 
The applicant's current audit does not contain any serious or 
significant findings related to its procurement and contract management 
system, or if there is no current audit, the applicant submitted a 
letter from its Independent Public Accountant stating that its 
procurement and contract management system complies with all applicable 
regulatory requirements.
    (1 point for current ICDBG grantees) (4 points for new applicants). 
The applicant's current audit does not contain any serious or 
significant findings related to its procurement or contract management 
system, or if there is no current audit, the applicant submitted a 
letter from its Independent Public Accountant stating that its 
procurement and contract management system complies with all applicable 
regulatory requirements. The applicant did not describe how it would 
apply its procurement and contract management systems to the proposed 
project, or it did not submit a tribal resolution or other written 
document adopting procurement and contract management policies and 
procedures.
    (0 points for current ICDBG grantees or new applicants). The 
applicant's current audit included serious or significant findings 
related to its procurement and contract management systems or if there 
is no current audit, the applicant did not submit a letter from its IPA 
stating its procurement and contract management systems comply with all 
regulatory requirements. No tribal resolution or other written document 
adopting procurement or contract management policies and procedures 
were submitted with the application, and the applicant did not describe 
how it would apply its procurement and contract management systems to 
the proposed project.
    (2) (10 points for current ICDBG grantees) (0 points for new 
applicants) Past Performance.
    HUD will evaluate your experience in producing timely products and 
reports in any previous grant programs undertaken with HUD funds for 
the following performance measures. HUD reserves the right to take into 
account your past performance in meeting performance and reporting 
goals on any previous HUD awards. Applicants are not required to 
respond to the subfactors related to past performance. HUD will rely on 
information on file.
    (a) (2 points for current ICDBG grantees) (0 points for new 
applicants). You have had satisfactory progress in meeting the time 
frames established in the HUD-approved Implementation Schedule for the 
ICDBG Program.
    (2 points). The applicant has made satisfactory progress in meeting 
the timeframes established in the implementation schedule, or was 
behind schedule but the applicant has

[[Page 13666]]

an approved revised implementation schedule that was submitted prior to 
application deadline.
    (0 points). The applicant has not made satisfactory progress 
meeting timeframes in the most recently approved implementation 
schedule.
    (b) (2 points for current ICDBG grantees) (0 points for new 
applicants).
    (2 points). The applicant has submitted both the Annual Status and 
Evaluation Reports and Federal Cash Transaction Reports for ICDBG 
programs in a timely manner.
    (1 point). The applicant has submitted either the Federal Cash 
Transaction Reports or the Annual Status and Evaluation Reports for 
ICDBG programs in a timely manner.
    (0 points). The applicant has not submitted either of the required 
reports in a timely manner.
    (c) (2 points for current ICDBG grantees) (0 points for new 
applicants). You have submitted close-out documents to HUD in a timely 
manner. Close-out documents are required for the ICDBG Program within 
90 days of the date it is determined that the criteria for close-out at 
24 CFR 1003.508 have been met.
    (2 points). The applicant submitted close-out documents to HUD in 
accordance with the timeframe and criteria at Sec.  1003.508.
    (0 points). The applicant has not submitted close-out documents to 
HUD as required by Sec.  1003.508.
    (d) (2 points for current ICDBG grantees) (0 points for new 
applicants). You have submitted annual audits in a timely fashion in 
accordance with the ICDBG requirements and OMB Circular A-133 and its 
compliance supplements.
    (2 points). The applicant has submitted annual audits in accordance 
with ICDBG requirements and OMB Circular A-133 and its compliance 
supplements, or if the applicant has not been required to submit an 
audit, it will receive 2 points.
    (0 points). The applicant has not submitted annual audits in 
accordance with ICDBG requirements and OMB Circular A-133 and its 
compliance supplements.
    (e) (2 points for current ICDBG grantees) (0 points for new 
applicants). You have resolved in a timely manner ICDBG monitoring 
findings and controlled audit findings or there are no findings in 
current reports.
    (2 points). The applicant resolved open ICDBG monitoring findings 
and controlled audit findings in a timely manner. If there were no open 
audit or ICDBG monitoring findings (current grantees only), the 
applicant will receive 2 points.
    (0 points). The applicant has not resolved open ICDBG monitoring 
findings and controlled audit findings in a timely manner.
Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (20 points)
    This factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for the 
proposed project to address a documented problem among the intended 
beneficiaries.
    (1) (up to 5 points). Your application includes quantitative 
documentation demonstrating that the proposed project meets an 
essential community development need by providing outcomes that are 
critical to the viability of the community.
    (2) (15 points). Your project benefits the neediest segment of the 
population, in accordance with the Program's primary objective defined 
at 24 CFR 1003.2. The criteria for this sub-factor vary according to 
the type of project for which you are applying. Please note that you 
may submit data that are unpublished and not generally available in 
order to meet the requirements of this section. However, to do so, you 
must submit a demographic data statement along with supporting 
documentation as described in Section IV.B.2.a. For documenting persons 
employed by the project, you do not need to submit a demographic data 
statement and corresponding documentation. However, you do need to 
submit information that describes the nature of the jobs created or 
retained. Such information includes but is not limited to proposed job 
descriptions, salaries and the number of full-time equivalent 
positions. If you believe jobs will be retained as a result of the 
ICDBG project, include information that show clearly and objectively, 
that jobs will be lost without the ICDBG project. Jobs that are 
retained only for the period of the grant will not count under this 
rating factor.
    (a) Public Facilities and Improvements and Economic Development 
Projects. The proposed activities benefit the neediest segment of the 
population, as identified below. For economic development projects, you 
may consider beneficiaries of the project as persons served by the 
project and/or persons employed by the project, and jobs created or 
retained by the project.
    (15 points). 85 percent or more of the beneficiaries are low- or 
moderate-income.
    (10 points). At least 75 percent but less than 85 percent of the 
beneficiaries are low- or moderate-income.
    (5 points). At least 55 percent but less than 75 percent of the 
beneficiaries are low- or moderate-income.
    (0 points). Less than 55 percent of the beneficiaries are low- or 
moderate-income.
    (b) New Housing Construction, Housing Rehabilitation, Land 
Acquisition to Support New Housing, and Homeownership Assistance 
Projects. The need for the proposed project is determined by utilizing 
data from the tribe's 2005 IHBG formula information. The ratio is based 
on the dollars allocated to a tribe under the IHBG Program for Need 
divided by the sum of the number of AIAN households in the following 
categories:

--Annual income less than 30 percent of median income;
--Annual income between 30 percent and 50 percent of median income;
--Annual income between 50 percent and 80 percent of median income;
--Overcrowded or without kitchen or plumbing;
--Housing cost burden greater than 50 percent of annual income;
--Housing shortage (Number of low-income AIAN households less total 
number of NAHASDA and Formula Current Assisted Stock).
    This ratio is computed for each tribe and contained in Appendix A.
    (15 points). The dollar amount for the Indian tribe is $354-$675 or 
the tribe's total FY2005 IHBG amount was $100,000 or less and Appendix 
A of this NOFA indicates that the Indian tribe has no AIAN households 
experiencing income or housing problems.
    (10 points). The dollar amount for the Indian tribe is $67-$1,200.
    (5 points). The dollar amount for the Indian tribe is $1,201-
$1,999.
    (0 points). The dollar amount for the Indian tribe is $2,000 or 
higher, or Appendix A indicates that the Indian tribe has no AIAN 
households experiencing income or housing problems.
    (c) Microenterprise Programs.
    A microenterprise is a business that has five or fewer employees, 
one or more of whom owns the enterprise. The owner(s) of the 
microenterprise must be low- or moderate-income and the majority of the 
jobs created or retained will be for low- or moderate-income persons. 
To evaluate need, the nature of the jobs created or retained will be 
evaluated. The owners of the microenterprises are low- and moderate-
income and:
    (15 points). All employees are low- or moderate-income.
    (10 points). At least 75 percent but less than 100 percent of the 
employees are low- or moderate-income.
    (5 points). At least 50 percent but less than 75 percent of the 
employees are low- or moderate-income.

[[Page 13667]]

    (0 points). Less than 50 percent of the employees are low- and 
moderate-income.
Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (35 Points)
    This factor addresses the quality and anticipated effectiveness of 
your proposed project's outcomes in enhancing community viability and 
in meeting the needs you have identified in Rating Factor 2 and the 
commitment to sustain your proposed project. The populations that were 
described in demographics that documented need should be the same 
populations that will receive the primary benefit of the proposed 
project.
    (1) (14 points). Description of and Rationale for Proposed Project.
    (14 points). The proposed project is a viable and cost effective 
approach to address the needs outlined under Rating Factor 2 of your 
application. The proposed project is described in detail and indicates 
why you believe the proposed project will be most effective in 
addressing the identified need. The proposed outcomes for the project 
clearly describe how the community's viability will be enhanced, 
including selection of measures listed in Rating Factor 5. The 
application includes a description of the size, type and location of 
the project and a rationale for project design. The application must 
also include anticipated cost savings due to innovative program design 
or construction methods. For land acquisition to support new housing 
projects, you must establish that there is a reasonable ratio between 
the number of net usable acres to be acquired and the number of low- 
and moderate-income households to benefit from the project.
    (9 points). The proposed project is a viable and cost effective 
approach to address the needs outlined under Rating Factor 2 of the 
application. The project is described in detail and indicates why you 
believe the project will be most effective in addressing the identified 
need. Proposed outcomes that will enhance the community's viability are 
included. The application includes a description of the size, type and 
location of the project as well as a rationale for project design. For 
land acquisition to support new housing projects, the applicant has 
established that there is a reasonable ratio between the number of net 
usable acres to be acquired and the number of low- and moderate-income 
households to benefit from this project. The application does not 
include anticipated cost savings due to innovative program design and/
or construction methods.
    (5 points). The proposed project is a viable and cost effective 
approach to address the needs outlined under Rating Factor 2 of the 
application. The project is described and indicates why you believe the 
project will be most effective in addressing the identified need. 
Proposed outcomes are included but do not describe how the project will 
enhance community viability. The application includes a description of 
the size, type, and location of the project. For land acquisition to 
support new housing projects, the applicant has established that there 
is a reasonable ratio between the number of net usable acres to be 
acquired and the number of low- and moderate-income households to 
benefit from the project. The application does not include anticipated 
cost savings due to innovative program design and/or construction 
methods.
    (0 points). The proposed project is not a viable and cost effective 
approach to address the needs outlined under Rating Factor 2 of the 
application. The proposed project is not described in detail with an 
indication of why the applicant believes the project will be most 
effective in addressing the identified need. Proposed outcomes 
describing how the project will enhance community viability are not 
included. For land acquisition to support new housing projects, the 
applicant has not established that there is a reasonable ratio between 
the number of net usable acres to be acquired and the number of low- 
and moderate-income households to benefit from the project. The 
application does not include anticipated cost savings due to innovative 
program design and/or construction methods.
    (2) (5 points). Budget and Cost Estimates.
    The quality, thoroughness, and reasonableness of the proposed 
project budget are documented. Cost estimates must be broken down by 
line item for each proposed activity, including planning and 
administration costs, and documented. You must submit documentation 
listing the qualifications of the person who prepared the cost 
estimate.
    (3) (1 point). HUD Policy Priorities.
    Your application addresses the goals for ``Improving Our Nation's 
Communities'', or ``Energy Star'', two of HUD's 2005 Policy Priorities, 
as described in Section V. B. 2 of the General Section. You must 
describe which of these two Policy Priorities you select and describe 
how your activity will meet the applicable goals.
    (4) (15 points). Commitment to Sustain Activities.
    Your application demonstrates your commitment to your community's 
viability by sustaining your proposed activities. The information 
provided is sufficient to determine that the project will proceed 
effectively.
    The criteria for this sub-factor vary according to the type of 
project for which you are applying.
    (a) Public Facilities and Improvement Projects.
    (15 points). If a tribe assumes operation and maintenance 
responsibilities for the public facilities and improvements, a tribal 
resolution is included in the application that adopts the operation and 
maintenance plan and commits the necessary funds to provide for these 
responsibilities. In addition, the operation and maintenance plan is 
included in the application and addresses maintenance, repairs, 
insurance, security, and replacement reserves and includes a cost 
breakdown for annual expenses. If an entity other than the tribe 
commits to pay for operation and maintenance for the public facilities, 
a letter of commitment from the entity is included in the application 
that identifies the maintenance responsibilities and, if applicable, 
responsibilities for operations the entity will assume as well as 
necessary funds to provide for these responsibilities. Submission of 
the operation and maintenance plan is not required when an entity other 
then the tribe assumes operation and maintenance responsibilities. For 
public facility buildings only, a tribal resolution or letter of 
commitment is included in the application that identifies the source of 
and commits the necessary operating funds for any recreation, social or 
other services to be provided. In addition, letters of commitment from 
service providers are included which address both operating expenses 
and space needs.
    (10 points). If a tribe assumes operation and maintenance 
responsibilities for the public facilities and improvements, a tribal 
resolution is included in the application that adopts the operation and 
maintenance plan and commits the necessary funds to provide for these 
responsibilities. In addition, the operation and maintenance plan is 
included in the application and addresses most of the following items 
(maintenance, repairs, insurance, security, and replacement reserves) 
but does not include a satisfactory cost breakdown for annual expenses. 
If an entity other than the tribe commits to pay for operation and 
maintenance for the public facilities and maintenance, a letter of 
commitment from the entity is included in the application that 
identifies the maintenance responsibilities and, if applicable,

[[Page 13668]]

responsibilities for operations the entity will assume but no 
information committing the necessary funds to provide for these 
responsibilities is included. Submission of the operation and 
maintenance plan is not required when an entity other than the tribe 
assumes operation and maintenance responsibilities. For community 
buildings only, a tribal resolution or letter of commitment is included 
in the application that identifies the source of and commits the 
necessary operating funds for any recreation, social or other services 
to be provided. In addition, letters of commitment from service 
providers are included which address both operating expenses and space 
needs. Information provided is sufficient to determine that the project 
will proceed effectively.
    (5 points). If a tribe assumes operation and maintenance 
responsibilities for the public facilities and improvements, a tribal 
resolution is included in the application that adopts the operation and 
maintenance plan and commits the necessary funds to provide for these 
responsibilities, or the operation and maintenance plan is included in 
the application and addresses most of the following items (maintenance, 
repairs, insurance, security, and replacement reserves). If an entity 
other than the tribe commits to pay for operation and maintenance for 
the public facilities and maintenance, the maintenance provider is 
identified and, if applicable, responsibilities for operations the 
entity will assume, but no letter of commitment is included. For public 
facility buildings only, no tribal resolution or letter of commitment 
is included in the application that identifies the source of and 
commits the necessary operating funds for any recreation, social or 
other services to be provided. However, letters of commitment to 
provide services are included but they do not address operating 
expenses and space needs. Information provided is sufficient to 
determine that the project will proceed effectively
    (0 points). None of the above criteria is met.
    (b) New Housing Construction, Housing Rehabilitation, and 
Homeownership Assistance Projects.
    (15 points). The ongoing maintenance responsibilities are clearly 
identified for the tribe and/or the participants, as applicable. Any 
participant maintenance responsibilities are included on a statement to 
be signed by the participant as a condition of receiving grant 
assistance and the statement to be used is included in the application. 
If the tribe or another entity is assuming maintenance 
responsibilities, then the applicant must submit either a tribal 
resolution or letter of commitment to that effect.
    (10 points). Maintenance responsibilities are identified, but 
lacking in detail, and the above statement (if applicable) to be signed 
by the participant, or the tribal resolution or letter of commitment 
regarding maintenance responsibilities is submitted.
    (5 points). Tribal maintenance responsibilities are identified but 
participant responsibilities are either not addressed or do not exist, 
or there is no tribal resolution or letter of commitment or statement 
signed by the participant.
    (0 points). None of the above criteria is met.
    (c) Economic Development Projects.
    You must include information or documentation which addresses or 
provides all of the following in the application: a description of the 
organizational system and capacity of the entity that will operate the 
business; documents which show that formal provisions exist for 
separation of government functions from business operating decisions, 
an operating plan for the project, and the feasibility and market 
analysis of the proposed business activity and the financial viability 
of the project.
    Appropriate documents to include in the application to address 
these items include:
    (i) Articles of incorporation, by-laws, resumes of key management 
positions and board members for the entity who will operate the 
business.
    (ii) Business operating plan.
    (iii) Market study no more than two years old and which has been 
conducted by an independent entity.
    (iv) Feasibility study no more than two years old which indicates 
how the proposed business will capture a fair share of the market, and 
which has been conducted by an independent entity.
    (v) Detailed cost summary for the development of the project.
    (vi) Five year operating or cash flow financial projections.
    (vii) For the expansion of an existing business, copies of 
financial statements for the most recent three years (or the life of 
the business, if less than three years).
    The submitted documentation will be evaluated to determine the 
project's financial chance for success. The following information must 
be addressed to meet this requirement:
    (i) Does the business plan seem thorough and the organization 
structure have quality control and responsibilities built in?
    (ii) Does the business plan or market analysis indicate that a 
substantial market share is likely within five years?
    (iii) Do the costs appear to be reasonable given projected income 
and information about inputs?
    (iv) Does the business plan or cash flow analysis indicate that 
cash flow will be positive within the first year?
    (v) Is the financial statement clean with no indications of concern 
by the auditor?
    (15 points). All above documents applicable to the proposed project 
are included in your application and provide evidence that the 
project's chance for financial success is excellent.
    (8 points). All or most of the above documents applicable to the 
proposed project are included and provide evidence that the project's 
chance for financial success is reasonable.
    (0 points). Neither of the above criteria is met.
    (d) Microenterprise Programs.
    You must include the following information or documentation in the 
application that addresses or provides a description of how your 
microenterprise program will operate. Appropriate information to 
include in the application to address program operations includes:
    (i) Program description. A description of your microenterprise 
program including the types of assistance offered to microenterprise 
applicants and the types of entities eligible to apply for such 
assistance.
    (ii) Processes for selecting applicants. A description of your 
processes for analyzing microenterprise applicants' business plans, 
market studies and financial feasibility. For credit programs, you must 
describe your process for determining the loan terms (i.e. interest 
rate, maximum loan amount, duration, loan servicing provisions) to be 
offered to individual microenterprise applicants.
    (15 points). All of the above information or documentation 
applicable to the proposed project are thoroughly addressed in the 
application and the chances for success are excellent.
    (8 points). All or most of the above information or documentation 
applicable to the proposed project are addressed in the application and 
the chances for success are reasonable.
    (0 points.) Neither of the above criteria is met.
    (e) Land Acquisition Projects to Support New Housing.
    Submissions must include the results of a preliminary investigation

[[Page 13669]]

conducted by a qualified independent entity demonstrating that the 
proposed site has suitable soil conditions for housing and related 
infrastructure, potable drinking water is accessible for a reasonable 
cost, access to utilities, vehicular access, drainage, nearby social 
and community services, and no known environmental problems.
    (15 points).) The submissions include all of the above-mentioned 
items and all necessary infrastructure is in place.
    (8 points). The submissions demonstrate that the proposed site(s) 
is/are suitable for housing but that not all necessary infrastructure 
is in place. A detailed description of resources to be used and a 
detailed implementation schedule for development of all necessary 
infrastructure demonstrates that such infrastructure, as needed for 
proposed housing development, will be developed in time for such 
development, but no later than two years after site purchase.
    (0 points). Neither of the above criteria is met.
Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (10 Points)
    HUD believes that ICDBG funds can be used more effectively to 
benefit a larger number of Native American and Alaska Native persons 
and communities if projects are developed that use tribal resources and 
resources from other entities in conjunction with ICDBG funds. To 
encourage this, we will award points based on the percentage of non-
ICDBG resources provided relative to project costs as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Non-ICDBG resources to project costs                Points
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Less than 5 percent............................................        0
At least 5 percent but less than 10 percent....................        2
At least 10 percent but less than 15 percent...................        4
At least 15 percent but less than 20 percent...................        6
At least 20 percent but less than 25 percent...................        8
25 percent or more.............................................       10
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Contributions which could be considered as leveraged resources for 
point award include, but are not limited to: Tribal trust funds; loans 
from individuals or organizations; private foundations; businesses; 
state or federal loans or guarantees; other grants including IHBG (also 
known as NAHBG) funds; donated goods and services needed for the 
project; land needed for the project; and, direct administrative costs. 
With the exception of land acquisition, funds that have been expended 
on the project prior to application submission will not be counted as 
leverage. Applicants are reminded that environmental review 
requirements under 24 CFR part 58 apply to the commitment or use of 
both ICDBG and non-ICDBG funds in a leveraged project. See Section 
VI.B.a. for information related to this requirement.
    Contributions that will not be considered include, but are not 
limited to: Indirect administrative costs as identified in OMB Circular 
A-87, attachment A, section F; contributions of resources to pay for 
anticipated operations and maintenance costs of the proposed project; 
and, in the cases of expansions to existing facilities, the value of 
the existing facility.
    To be considered for point award, letters of firm or projected 
commitments, memoranda of understanding, or agreements to participate 
from any entity, including the tribe, which will be providing a 
contribution to the project, must accompany the application. The 
documentation must be received by HUD in the paper application package 
(if you have received a waiver of the electronic submission 
requirement) or for electronically submitted applications, the 
documentation must be scanned and submitted as part of the application 
documents or sent by facsimile transmittal. Applicants should follow 
the requirements for facsimile transmittal requirements in the General 
Section. All documents submitted must be received by the application 
submission dates and meet the timely receipt requirements to receive 
funding consideration.
    To demonstrate the commitment of tribal resources, the application 
must contain a council resolution or legal equivalent that identifies 
and commits the tribal resources to the project, subject to approval of 
the ICDBG assistance. In the case of IHBG (also known as NAHBG) funds, 
whether the tribe or a TDHE administers them, an approved IHP must 
identify and commit the IHBG (also known as NAHBG) resources to the 
project. If the tribe/TDHE intends to include the leveraged commitment 
in a future IHP, the application must contain a council resolution or 
legal equivalent that identifies and commits the IHBG (also known as 
NAHBG) resources to the project subject to the same requirements as 
above.
    To demonstrate the commitment of public agency, foundation, or 
other private party resources, a letter of commitment, memorandum of 
understanding, and/or agreement to participate, including any 
conditions to which the contribution may be subject, must be submitted 
with the application. All letters of commitment must include the donor 
organization's name, the specific resource proposed, the dollar amount 
of the financial or in-kind resource and method for valuation, and the 
purpose of that resource within the proposed project. An official of 
the organization legally authorized to make commitments on behalf of 
the organization must sign the commitment.
    HUD recognizes that in some cases, firm commitments of non-tribal 
resources may not be obtainable by your tribe by the application 
submission deadline. For such projected resources, your application 
must include a statement from the contributing entity that describes 
why the firm commitment cannot be made at the current time and affirms 
that your tribe and the proposed project meets eligibility criteria for 
receiving the resource. In addition, a date by which the funding 
decisions will be made must be included. This date cannot be more than 
six months from the anticipated date of grant approval by HUD. Should 
HUD not receive notification of the firm commitment within 6 months of 
the date of grant approval, HUD will recapture the grant funds approved 
and will use them in accordance with the requirement of 24 CFR 
1003.102.
    In addition to the above requirements, for all contributions of 
goods, services and land, you must demonstrate that the donated items 
are necessary to the actual development of the project and include 
comparable costs that support the donation. Land valuation must be 
established using one of the following methods and the documentation 
must be contained in the application: A site specific appraisal no more 
than two years old; an appraisal of a nearby comparable site also no 
more than two years old; a reasonable extrapolation of land value based 
on current area realtor value guides; or, a reasonable extrapolation of 
land value based on recent sales of similar properties in the same 
area.
Rating Factor 5: Comprehensiveness and Coordination (5 Points)
    This factor addresses the extent to which your project planning and 
proposed implementation reflect a coordinated, community-based process 
of identifying and addressing needs including assisting beneficiaries 
and the program to achieve self-sufficiency/sustainability. Please note 
that the Logic Model, HUD Form 96010, is not required for Rating Factor 
5 under the ICDBG Program. However, applicants may use this form to 
address program evaluation requirements under Rating

[[Page 13670]]

Factor 1.(1).(b) of this Program NOFA, and measurable outputs and 
outcomes in Section (2) of this factor.
    (1) (2 points). The application addresses the extent to which you 
have coordinated your proposed ICDBG activities with other 
organizations and/or tribal departments that are not providing direct 
financial support to your proposed work activities, but with which you 
share common goals and objectives and are working toward meeting these 
objectives in a holistic and comprehensive manner. For example, your 
project is consistent with and, to the extent possible, identified in 
the IHP (One-Year Financial Resources Narrative; Table 2, Financial 
Resources, Part I., Line 1E; and, Table 2, Financial Resources, Part 
II) submitted by you or on your behalf for the IHBG (also known as 
NAHBG) Program. If the IHP for the IHBG (also known as NAHBG) program 
year that coincides with the implementation of the ICDBG proposed 
project has not been submitted, you must provide an assurance that when 
submitted, the IHP will specifically reference the proposed project.
    (2) (3 points). Your proposed project will have measurable outputs 
and outcomes that will enhance community viability.
    Outputs must include, where applicable:
    [sbull] Number of houses rehabilitated;
    [sbull] Number of jobs created or obtained;
    [sbull] Square feet for any public facility;
    [sbull] Number of education or job training opportunities provided;
    [sbull] Number of homeownership units constructed or financed;
    [sbull] Number of businesses assisted (including number of 
minority/Native American);
    [sbull] Number of families proposed to be assisted with a drug-
elimination program, or with a program to reduce or eliminate health 
related hazards.
    Outcomes must include, where appropriate:
    [sbull] Reduction in the number of families living in substandard 
housing;
    [sbull] Increased income resulting from employment generated by 
project;
    [sbull] Increased quality of life due to services provided by the 
public facility;
    [sbull] Increased economic self-sufficiency of recipients of 
program beneficiaries;
    [sbull] Increase in homeownership rates;
    [sbull] Reduction of drug-related crime or health related hazards.

B. Reviews and Selection Process

1. Application Selection Process
    You must meet all of the applicable threshold requirements listed 
in Section III.C.3. and 4. Your application must meet all screening for 
acceptance requirements and all identified applicant and project 
specific thresholds. HUD will review each application and assign points 
in accordance with the selection factors described in this section.
2. Threshold Compliance
    The Area ONAP will review each application that passes the 
screening process to ensure that each applicant and each proposed 
project meets the applicant threshold requirements set forth in 24 CFR 
1003.301(a) and the project specific threshold requirements set forth 
in 24 CFR 1003.302 and IIIV.C.3 and 4 of this Program NOFA.
3. Past Performance
    An applicant's past performance is evaluated under Rating Factor 1, 
Capacity of the Applicant. Applicants are encouraged to address all 
performance-related criteria prior to submission of an application. An 
applicant must score a minimum of 15 points under Rating Factor 1 in 
order to meet the minimum point requirements outlined below in this 
Program NOFA.
4. Rating Panels
    The Area ONAP office for your jurisdiction, as listed in Section 
IV.F.2., will rate applications. Rating panels may be used only for the 
summary review, after the application is rated, as discussed in Section 
V.B.5. below.
5. Rating
    The Area ONAP will review and rate each project that meets the 
acceptance criteria and threshold requirements. After the applications 
are rated, a summary review of all applications will be conducted to 
ensure consistency in the application rating. The summary review will 
be performed by either the Grants Management Director (or designee) or 
by a panel composed of up to three staff members.
    The total points for all rating factors are 100. A maximum of 100 
points may be awarded under Rating Factors 1 through 5.
6. Minimum Points
    To be considered for funding, your application must receive a 
minimum of 15 points under Rating Factor 1 and an application score of 
70 out of the possible total of 100.
7. Ranking
    All projects will be ranked against each other according to the 
point totals they receive, regardless of the type of project or 
component under which the points were awarded. Projects will be 
selected for funding based on the final ranking to the extent that 
funds are available. The Area ONAP will determine individual grant 
amounts in a manner consistent with the considerations set forth in 24 
CFR 1003.100(b)(2). Specifically, the Area ONAP may approve a grant 
amount less than the amount requested. In doing so, the Area ONAP may 
take into account the size of the applicant, the level of demand, the 
scale of the activity proposed relative to need and operational 
capacity, the number of persons to be served, the amount of funds 
required to achieve project objectives, and the reasonableness of the 
project costs. If the Area ONAP determines that there are not enough 
funds available to fund a project as proposed by the applicant, it may 
decline to fund that project and may fund the next highest-ranking 
project or projects for which adequate funds are available. The Area 
ONAP may select, in rank order, additional projects for funding if one 
of the higher-ranking projects is not funded or if additional funds 
become available.
8. Tiebreakers
    When rating results in a tie among projects and insufficient 
resources remain to fund all tied projects, the Area ONAP will approve 
projects that can be fully funded over those that cannot be fully 
funded. When that does not resolve the tie, the Area ONAP will use the 
following factors in the order listed to resolve the tie:
    (a) The applicant that has not received an ICDBG over the longest 
period of time.
    (b) The applicant with the fewest active ICDBGs.
    (c) The project that would benefit the highest percentage of low- 
and moderate-income persons.
9. Technical Deficiencies and Pre-award Requirements
    a. Technical Deficiencies: If there are technical deficiencies in 
successful applications, you must satisfactorily address these 
deficiencies before HUD can make a grant award. After the application 
submission deadline, HUD may not, consistent with its regulations in 24 
CFR part 4, subpart B, consider any unsolicited information you, the 
applicant, may want to provide. HUD may contact you to clarify an item 
in your application or to correct technical deficiencies. HUD may not 
seek clarification of items or responses that improve the substantive 
quality of your response to any rating factors. In order not to 
unreasonably exclude applications from being rated and

[[Page 13671]]

ranked, HUD may contact applicants to ensure proper completion of the 
application and will do so on a uniform basis for all applicants. 
Examples of curable (correctable) technical deficiencies include 
failure to submit the proper certifications or failure to submit an 
application signed by an authorized official. In each case, HUD will 
notify applicants by facsimile or by USPS, return receipt requested. 
Clarifications or corrections of technical deficiencies in accordance 
with the information provided by HUD must be received within 14 
calendar days of the date of receipt of the HUD notification. (If the 
submission date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, your 
correction must be received by HUD on the next day that is not a 
Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday). If the technical deficiency is 
not corrected within this time period, HUD will reject the application 
as incomplete and it will not be considered for funding.
    b. Pre-award Requirements. Successful applicants may be required to 
provide supporting documentation concerning the management, 
maintenance, operation, or financing of proposed projects before a 
grant agreement can be executed. Such documentation may include 
additional specifications on the scope, magnitude, timing or method of 
implementing the project; or information to verify the commitment of 
other resources required to complete, operate, or maintain the proposed 
project. HUD will notify applicants of any pre-award requirements by 
fax or by USPS, return receipt required. Responses to pre-award 
requirements must be received by the Area ONAP within 30 calendar days 
of receipt of the HUD notification. No extensions will be provided. If 
you do not respond within the prescribed period or your response is 
insufficient, the Area ONAP will determine that you have not met the 
requirements and will withdraw the grant offer. You may not substitute 
new projects for those originally proposed in your application and any 
new information will not affect your project's rating and ranking. The 
Area ONAP will award, in accordance with the provisions of this Program 
NOFA, grant amounts that had been allocated for applicants unable to 
meet pre-award requirements.
10. Error and Appeals
    Judgments made within the provisions of this Program NOFA and the 
program regulations (24 CFR part 1003) are not subject to claims of 
error. You may bring arithmetic errors in the rating and ranking of 
applications to the attention of the Area ONAPs within 30 days of being 
informed of your score. Please see Section VI.A.3 of the General 
Section for further information regarding errors.
11. Performance and Compliance Actions of Funding Recipients
    HUD will measure and address the performance and compliance actions 
of funding recipients in accordance with the applicable standards and 
sanctions of their respective programs.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    Awards are expected to be announced by October 31, 2005. Once a 
Congressional Release date has been obtained, a grant award letter, a 
grant agreement, and other forms and certifications will be mailed to 
the recipient for signature and return to the Area ONAP.
    As soon as rating and ranking are completed and it has been 
determined that the applicant has complied with any pre-award 
requirements (see Section V.B.9.b. of this Program NOFA), the grant 
will be awarded. The grant agreement, which is signed by HUD and the 
recipient, establishes the conditions by which both the Area ONAP and 
the recipient must abide during the life of the grant. All grants are 
conditioned upon the completion of all environmental obligations and 
approval of release of funds by the Area ONAP in accordance with the 
requirements of 24 CFR part 58. HUD may impose other grant conditions 
if additional actions or approvals are required before the use of 
funds.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

1. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements
    a. Environmental Requirements. As required by 24 CFR 1003.605, 
ICDBG grantees must perform environmental reviews of ICDBG activities 
in accordance with 24 CFR part 58 (as amended 9/29/03). Grantees and 
other participants in the development process may not commit or expend 
any ICDBG or nonfederal funds on project activities (other than those 
listed in 24 CFR 58.22(f), 58.34 or 58.35(b)) until HUD has approved a 
Request for Release of Funds and environmental certification submitted 
by the grantee. The expenditure or commitment of ICDBG or nonfederal 
funds for such activities prior to HUD approval may result in the 
denial of assistance for the project or activities under consideration.
    b. Indian Preference. HUD has determined that the ICDBG program is 
subject to Section 7(b) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450e(b)). The provisions and requirements for 
implementing this section are in 24 CFR 1003.510.
    c. Anti-discrimination Provisions. Under the authority of Section 
107(e)(2) of the CDBG statute, HUD waived the requirement that 
recipients comply with the anti-discrimination provisions in Section 
109 of the CDBG statute with respect to race, color, and national 
origin. You must comply with the other prohibitions against 
discrimination in Section 109 (HUD's regulations for Section 109 are in 
24 CFR part 6) and with the Indian Civil Rights Act.
    d. Conflict of Interest. In addition to the conflict of interest 
requirements with respect to procurement transactions found in 24 CFR 
85.36 and 84.42, as applicable, the provisions of 24 CFR 1003.606 apply 
to such activities as the provision of assistance by the recipient or 
sub-recipients to businesses, individuals, and other private entities 
under eligible activities that authorize such assistance.
    e. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons 
(Section 3). Section 3 requirements apply to the ICDBG Program, but as 
stated in 24 CFR 135.3(c), the procedures and requirements of 24 CFR 
part 135 apply to the maximum extent consistent with, but not in 
derogation of, compliance with Indian Preference.
2. OMB Circulars and Government-wide Regulations Applicable to 
Financial Assistance Programs
    The policies, guidance and requirements of OMB Circular A-87, Cost 
Principles Applicable to Grants, Contracts and other Agreements with 
State and Local Governments; and OMB Circular A-122, Cost Principles 
for Nonprofit Organizations; and OMB Circular A-133, Audits of State 
and Local Governments, and Nonprofit Organizations; and the regulations 
at 24 CFR part 85, Administrative Requirements for Grants and 
Cooperative Agreements to State, Local and Federally Recognized Indian 
Tribal Governments apply to the award, acceptance, and use of 
assistance under the ICDBG program and to the remedies for 
noncompliance, except when inconsistent with the provisions of the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447; approved 
December 8, 2004) or the ICDBG program regulations at 24 CFR part 1003. 
Copies of the OMB Circulars may be obtained from EOP publications. Room 
22000, New

[[Page 13672]]

Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503, telephone (202) 395-
3080 (this is not a toll-free number) or (800) 877-8339 (TTY Federal 
Information Relay Service). Information may also be obtained from the 
OMB website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html.

C. Reporting

1. Post Award Reporting Requirements
    a. Quarterly Financial Reports. Grant recipients must submit 
quarterly to the Area ONAP a SF-272, Federal Cash Transaction Report. 
The report accounts for funds received and disbursed by the recipient.
    b. Annual Status and Evaluation Report. Recipients are required to 
submit this report in narrative form annually. The report is due 45 
days after the end of the Federal fiscal year and at the time of grant 
close-out. The report must include:
    (1) The narrative report must address the progress made in 
completing approved activities and include a list of work remaining, 
along with a revised implementation schedule if necessary. This should 
include progress on any outputs or outcomes specified in Rating Factor 
5 and incorporated into the final award document;
    (2) A breakdown of funds spent on each major project activity or 
category; and
    (3) If the project has been completed, an evaluation of the 
effectiveness of the project in meeting the community development needs 
of the grantee, as well as the final outputs and outcomes.
    c. Minority Business Enterprise Report. Recipients must submit this 
report on contract and subcontract activity during the first half of 
the fiscal year by April 10 and, by October 10 for the second half of 
the fiscal year.
    d. A close-out report must be submitted by the recipient within 90 
days of completion of grant activities. The report consists of the 
final Financial Status Report (forms SF 269 or 269A), the final Status 
and Evaluation Report including outposts and outcomes agreed upon in 
the final award document relating to Rating Factor 5 and the Close-Out 
Agreement.
    More information regarding these requirements may be found at 24 
CFR 1003.506 and 1003.508.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

A. General Questions

    You should direct general program questions to the Area ONAP 
serving your area or to Barbara Gallegos, at 602-379-7215. Persons with 
speech or hearing impairments may call HUD's TTY number (202) 708-0770, 
or 1-800-877-8339 (the Federal Information Relay Service TTY). Other 
than the ``800'' numbers, these numbers are not toll-free. You should 
direct questions concerning downloading the electronic application, 
registering with Grants.gov, or other questions regarding the 
electronic application to the Grants.gov support desk at 800-518-
GRANTS. You may also send an e-mail to Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov.

B. Technical Assistance

    Before the application submission deadline, HUD staff will be 
available to provide you with general guidance and technical assistance 
about the requirements in the General Section and this Program NOFA. 
However, HUD staff is not permitted to assist in preparing your 
application. Following selection of applicants, but before awards are 
made, HUD staff are available to assist in clarifying or confirming 
information that is a prerequisite to the offer of an award.

VIII. Other Information

A. NOFA Training

    Training for potential applicants on the requirements of the 
General Section and this Program NOFA will be provided by HUD via 
broadcast and webcast. Information on the training can be found in the 
General Section. The training schedule can be found on HUD's Web site 
at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.

B. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

    The information collection requirements in this NOFA have been 
approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB 
control number 2577-0191. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond, to a collection of information unless the collection displays 
a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for the collection 
of information is estimated to average 43 hours per annum for the 
application and grant administration. This includes the time for 
collecting, reviewing, and reporting the data. The information will be 
used for grantee selection and monitoring the administration of funds. 
Response to this request for information is required in order to 
receive the benefits to be derived.
    Appendix A: Data to Determine Need for Factor 2 (for applicants for 
New Housing Construction, Housing Rehabilitation, Land Acquisition to 
Support New Housing, and Homeownership Assistance Projects). For 
applicants submitting applications for New Housing Construction, 
Housing Rehabilitation, Land Acquisition to Support New Housing, and 
Homeownership Acquisition Projects: The need for the proposed project 
for Factor 2 is determined by utilizing data from the tribe's 2005 IHBG 
formula information. The data is contained in Appendix A. Should you 
disagree with this information, please consult the IHBG formula 
customer service center at (800) 410-8808 for the process for 
challenging IHBG formula data. Persons with hearing and/or speech 
challenges should call 1-800-505-5908 (TTY).
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

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[[Page 13694]]



Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Program Overview 
Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, Office of 
University Partnerships.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities (HBCU) Program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Numbers: The Federal Register Number for 
this Notice Of Funding Availability (NOFA) is FR-4950-N-12. The OMB 
Approval Number for this program is 2528-0235.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: The CFDA 
Number for this program is 14.520.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is May 25, 2005. Please 
be sure to read the General Section for electronic application 
submission and receipt requirements.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of the Program: The Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities (HBCU) Program assists Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities expand their role and effectiveness in addressing 
community development needs in their localities, including neighborhood 
revitalization, housing and economic development, principally for 
persons of low- and moderate-income consistent with the purposes of 
Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as 
amended.
    2. Award Information: In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately $9.92 
million has been made available by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2005 (Pub L. 108-447) plus $3.327 million in previously unobligated 
funds are available for this program. HUD will award two kinds of 
grants under this program; First Time HBCU Grants and Previously Funded 
HBCU Grants.
    a. First Time HBCU Grants will be awarded to applicants who have 
never received an HBCU grant to undertake eligible work. The maximum 
amount a First Time HBCU applicant can request for award is $400,000 
for a maximum three-year (36 months) grant performance period.
    b. Previously Funded HBCU Grants will be awarded to applicants that 
have received funding under previous HBCU grant competitions. The 
maximum amount a Previously Funded HBCU applicant can request for award 
is $600,000 for a maximum three-year (36 months) grant performance 
period.
    In order to ensure that First Time HBCU applicants receive awards 
in this competition, approximately $2.4 million will be made available 
to fund First Time HBCU applicants. In addition, approximately, $10.8 
million will be made available to fund Previously Funded HBCU 
applicants. (See Appendix C of this NOFA for a list of Previously 
Funded and Unfunded HBCUs.) If funding designated for First Time HBUC 
applicants remains after all eligible First Time HBCU applicants are 
awarded, the remaining funds will be made available to fund eligible 
Previously Funded HBCU applicants.
    3. Eligible Applicants: Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities that meet the definition of Historically Black Colleges 
and Universities as determined by the Department of Education in 34 CFR 
608.2 in accordance with that Department's responsibilities under 
Executive Order 13256, dated February 12, 2002, are eligible to apply 
for funding under this program. Applicants must be accredited by a 
national or regional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. 
Department of Education.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    The purpose of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities 
(HBCU) Program is to assist Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities expand their role and effectiveness in addressing 
community development needs in their localities, including neighborhood 
revitalization, housing, and economic development, principally for 
persons of low- and moderate-income, consistent with the purpose of the 
Title I of Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended.
    For the purposes of this program, the term ``locality'' includes 
any city, county, township, parish, village, or other general political 
subdivision of a state, or the U.S. Virgin Islands where the 
institution is located.
    A ``target area'' is the area within the locality in which the 
institution will implement its proposed HBCU grant. If an institution 
wants to provide services/activities in a location other than the 
target area of that institution an applicant must provide justification 
for why they want to do so.

A. Authority

    HUD's authority for making funding available under this NOFA is the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub L. 108-447; approved 
December 8, 2004). This program is being implemented through this NOFA 
and the policies governing its operation are contained herein.

B. Modifications

    Listed below are major modifications from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 
program-funding announcement:
    1. Applicants are required to submit their application 
electronically via the following Web site: http://www.grants.gov/Apply. 
Read the General Section for further discussion.
    2. The 15 percent cap on the total grant amount that can be used on 
public service activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons 
can now be waived. Institutions seeking to devote more than 15 percent 
of the grant funds to public service activities must formally request 
in writing a waiver of this requirement.
    The written request must include the following information: (1) The 
basis for the request; (2) a description of the proposed public service 
activities; (3) the dollar amount dedicated to the proposed public 
service activities; and (4) a statement describing how the proposed 
activities meet the Community Development Block Grant eligibility 
requirements and national objectives. Waiver requests must be addressed 
to the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Development and Research at 451 
Seventh Street SW., Room 8100, Washington, DC 20410-6000. The 
institution's Chief Executive Officer or the appropriate designee must 
sign the written request. It also must include the name, mailing 
address and e-mail address of the person to whom the response should be 
directed.
    To avoid a delay in the process, waiver requests should be sent by 
United States Postal Service Express Mail. Applicants should retain a 
receipt for the mailing showing the date submitted to the Postal 
Service. The waiver request must be received at HUD no later than 
thirty days prior to the application submission date. Waiver requests 
that are not received thirty days prior to the application submission 
date will not be considered for approval. In the event a waiver is 
granted, the application must be received no later than the application 
submission date.
    3. Letters, memoranda of understanding, or agreements in response 
to Factor 4 now can be dated no earlier than nine months prior to the 
date of this published NOFA, but must be received no later than the 
application submission date.
    4. First Time HBCU applicants can now request $400,000 for a 
maximum three-year (36 month) grant performance period.
    5. Previously Funded HBCU applicants can now request $600,000 for a 
maximum three-year (36 month) grant performance period.

[[Page 13695]]

II. Award Information

    In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately $9.92 million is made 
available for this program, plus $3.327 million in previously 
unobligated funds. HUD will award two kinds of grants under this 
program, First Time HBCU Grants and Previously Funded HBCU Grants.
    A. First Time HBCU Grants will be awarded to applicants who have 
never received an HBCU grant to undertake eligible work. The maximum 
amount a First Time HBCU applicant can request for award is $400,000 
for a maximum three-year (36 months) grant performance period.
    B. Previously Funded HBCU Grants will be awarded to applicants that 
have received funding under previous HBCU grant competitions. The 
maximum amount a Previously Funded HBCU applicant can request for award 
is $600,000 for a maximum three-year (36 months) grant performance 
period.
    In order to ensure that First Time HBCU applicants receive awards 
in this competition, approximately $2.4 million will be made available 
to fund First Time HBCU applicants. Approximately $10.8 million will be 
made available to fund Previously Funded HBCU applicants that have 
received funding under previous HBCU competitions. If funding remains 
after all eligible First Time HBCU applicants are awarded, the 
remaining funds will be made available to fund eligible Previously 
Funded HBCU applicants. (See Appendix C of this NOFA for a list of 
Previously Funded and Unfunded HBCUs).

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Historically Black Colleges and Universities as determined by the 
U.S. Department of Education in 34 CFR 608.2 in accordance with that 
Department's responsibilities under Executive Order 13256, dated 
February 12, 2002, are eligible to apply for funding under this 
program. All applicants must be accredited by a national or regional 
accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    None required.

C. Other

    1. Eligible Activities. Eligible activities are listed in 24 CFR 
part 570, subpart C, particularly Sec. Sec.  570.201 through 570.206. 
Information regarding these activities can be found at: http://
www.hudclips.org (click on the Code of Federal Regulations for detailed 
information).
    a. Examples of eligible activities include, but are not limited to:
    (1) Acquisition of real property;
    (2) Clearance and demolition;
    (3) Rehabilitation of residential structures including lead-based 
paint hazard evaluation and reduction and making accessibility and 
visitabilty modifications in accordance with the requirements of 
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973;
    (4) Public facilities and improvements, such as water and sewer 
facilities and streets compliance with accessibility requirements 
including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Fair 
Housing Act, and the American with Disabilities Act of 1990;
    (5) Special economic development activities described at 24 CFR 
570.203 and assistance to facilitate economic development by providing 
technical or financial assistance for the establishment, stabilization, 
and expansion of microenterprises, including minority enterprises;
    (6) Assistance to community-based development organizations (CBDO) 
to carry out a CDBG neighborhood revitalization, community economic 
development, or energy conservation projects, in accordance with 24 CFR 
570.204. This could include activities in support of a HUD-approved 
local entitlement grantee, CDBG Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy 
(NRS) or HUD-approved State CDBG Community Revitalization Strategy 
(CRS);
    (7) Public service activities such as those general support 
activities that can help to stabilize a neighborhood and contribute to 
sustainable redevelopment of the area, including but not limited to 
such activities as those concerned with employment, crime prevention, 
child care, health services, drug abuse, education, fair housing 
counseling, energy conservation, homebuyer down payment assistance, or 
recreational needs;
    (8) Payments of reasonable grant administrative costs related to 
planning and execution of the project (e.g., preparation/submission of 
HUD reports). Detailed explanations of these costs are provided in the 
OMB circular (A-21 Cost Principals for Educational Institutions) that 
can be accessed at the White House Web site, http://www.whitehouse.gov/
omb/circulars/index.html; and
    (9) Fair housing services designed to further the fair housing 
objectives of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601-20) by making all 
persons, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, 
familial status and/or disability aware of the range of housing 
opportunities available to them;
    b. Eligible activities that may be funded under this program are 
those eligible activities that meet both the Community Development 
Block Grant (CDBG) Program national objectives and eligibility 
requirements.
    c. The three national objectives of the Community Development Block 
Grant program are:
    (1) Benefit to low- or moderate-income persons;
    (2) Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight; and
    (3) Meet other community development needs having a particular 
urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat 
to the health and welfare of the community, and other financial 
resources are not available to meet such needs. Criteria for 
determining whether an activity addresses one or more national 
objectives are provided at 24 CFR 570.208.
    d. The CDBG publication entitled ``Community Development Block 
Grant Program Guide to National Objectives and Eligible Activities for 
Entitlement Communities'' describes the CDBG regulations, and a copy 
can be obtained from HUD's NOFA Information Center at 800-HUD-8929 or 
800-HUD-2209 for the hearing-impaired.
    2. Audit Requirements. Applicants must ensure that their most 
current A-133 audit is on file at the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. 
(Applicants are not required to submit a copy of the audit with the 
application.) Grantees that expend $500,000 or more in Federal 
financial assistance in a single year (this can be program year or 
fiscal year) must be audited in accordance with the OMB requirements as 
established in 24 CFR part 84. Additional information regarding this 
requirement can be accessed at the following Web site: http://
harvester.census.gov/sac.
    3. Threshold Requirements Applicable to all Applicants. All 
applicants must comply with the threshold requirements as defined in 
the General Section and the requirements listed below to be evaluated, 
rated, and ranked. Applications that do not meet these requirements 
will be considered ineligible for funding and will be disqualified:
    a. The applicant must meet the eligibility requirements as defined 
in Section III.A. Eligible Applicants.
    b. The maximum amount a First Time HBCU applicant can request for 
award is $400,000. The maximum amount a Previously Funded HBCU 
applicant can request for award is $600,000.

[[Page 13696]]

    c. Institutions with two or more active HBCU grants who have drawn 
down less than 50 percent of the funding for each active grant three 
weeks prior to the program's application submission date are ineligible 
to apply for a grant under this NOFA. It is the applicant's 
responsibility to make sure this requirement is met.
    d. Only one application can be submitted per institution. If 
multiple applications are submitted, all will be disqualified.
    e. Applicants must receive a minimum score of 75 points to be 
considered for funding.
    f. An applicant must have a DUNS number to receive HUD grant funds. 
(The General Section provides information regarding the DUNS 
requirement.)
    g. Electronic applications must be received by grants.gov no later 
than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on May 25, 2005. See the General 
Section for information on application submission and timely receipt 
requirements.
    4. Program Requirements. In addition to the program requirements 
listed in Section III.C of the General Section, applicants must meet 
the following program requirements:
    a. All funds awarded are for a three-year (36 months) grant 
performance period.
    b. Applicants that claim leveraging from any source, including 
their own institution, must provide letters of firm commitment, 
memoranda of understanding, or agreements evidencing the extent and 
firmness of the commitment of leveraging from other federal (e.g., 
Department of Education, AmeriCorps Programs, etc.), state, or local 
governments, and other private/public sources (including the 
applicant's own resources). These documents must follow the outline 
provided in Section V, Application Review Information, ``Factor 4: 
Leveraging Resources'' of this NOFA. Please refer to the General 
Section for further discussion on electronic submission of required 
documentation.
    c. Applicants must ensure that not less than 51 percent of the 
aggregated expenditures of the grant benefit low- and moderate-income 
persons under the criteria specified in 24 CFR 570.208(a) or 
570.208(d)(5) or (6).
    d. Site Control. Where grant funds will be used for acquisition, 
rehabilitation, or new construction an applicant must demonstrate site 
control. Funds may be recaptured or deobligated from applicants that 
cannot demonstrate control of a suitable site within one year after the 
initial notification of award.
    e. Environmental Requirements. Selection for award does not 
constitute approval of any proposed sites. Following selection for 
award, HUD will perform an environmental review of properties proposed 
for assistance in accordance with 24 CFR part 50. The results of the 
environmental review may require that proposed activities be modified 
or proposed sites be rejected. Applicants are particularly cautioned 
not to undertake or commit funds for acquisition or development of 
proposed properties prior to HUD approval of specific properties or 
areas. An application constitutes an assurance that the institution 
will assist HUD to comply with part 50; will supply HUD with all 
available and relevant information to perform an environmental review 
for each proposed property; will carry out mitigating measures required 
by HUD or select alternate property; and will not acquire, 
rehabilitate, convert, demolish, lease, repair, or construct property, 
and not commit or expend HUD or local funds for these program 
activities with respect to any eligible property until HUD's written 
approval of the property is received. In supplying HUD with 
environmental information, applicants should use the same guidance as 
provided in the HUD Notice CPD-99-01 entitled ``Field Environmental 
Review Processing for HUD Colonias Initiative (HCI) Grants'' issued 
January 27, 1999.
    The General Section provides further discussion of the 
environmental requirements. Further information and assistance on HUD's 
environmental requirements is available at http://www.hud.gov/offices/
cpd/energyenviron/environment/index.cfm.
    f. Labor Standards. Institutions and their sub-grantees, 
contractors and subcontractors must comply with the labor standards 
(Davis-Bacon) requirements referenced in 24 CFR 570.603.
    g. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very-Low Income Persons 
(Section 3). The provisions of Section 3 of the Housing and Urban 
Development Act of 196 (12 U.S.C. 1701u) apply to this NOFA. 
Regulations may be found at 24 CFR part 135.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses To Request Application Package

    Applicants may download the instructions to the application found 
on the Grants.gov Web site at http:// www.Grants.gov./Apply. The 
instructions contain the General Section and Program Section of the 
published NOFA as well as forms that you must complete and attach as a 
zip file to your application submission. If you have difficulty 
accessing the information you may call the Grants.gov Support desk toll 
free 800-518-GRANTS or e-mail your questions to Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. The 
Support Desk staff will assist you in accessing the information. Please 
remember that you must be registered to submit an application utilizing 
Grants.gov. Your registration allows you to electronically sign the 
application and enables Grants.gov to authenticate that the person 
signing the application has the legal authority to submit the 
application on behalf of the applicant. Please see the General Section 
for information regarding the registration process or ask for 
registration information from the Grants.gov Support Desk. Please be 
aware that the registration process is a separate process from 
requesting email notification of funding opportunities or downloading 
the application and should be done as soon as you download the 
application from the Grants.gov Web site. If you are not sure if you 
are already registered, the Grants.gov Support Desk can assist in 
verifying whether you are registered.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    1. Forms. The following forms are required for submission. Copies 
of these forms are included in Appendix A of the General Section. The 
electronic version of the NOFA contains all forms required for 
submission.
    a. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424);
    b. Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants (SF-424 
Supplement);
    c. Grant Application Detailed Budget (HUD-424-CB);
    d. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL);
    e. America's Affordable Communities Initiative (HUD-27300), if 
applicable;
    f. Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880);
    g. Program Logic Model (HUD-96010);
    h. Certification of Consistency with RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan 
(HUD-2990), if applicable;
    i. Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan (HUD-
2991), if applicable;
    j. Response Sheet Performance Narrative (HUD-40076) Previously 
Funded HBCU Applicant Only;
    k. Budget-By-Activity (HUD-40076);
    l. Acknowledgement of Applicant Receipt (HUD-2993). Only applicants 
that do not submit an electronic application need to include this form

[[Page 13697]]

with their application. Please complete this form if you have received 
a waiver to the electronic application submission requirement. 
Applicants are not required to include this form, but it is recommended 
that they do so;
    m. Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994). This form is 
included to solicit information from the most valuable source, the 
applicant. The changes that we have instituted this year are designed 
to make things easier for the applicant. If applicants complete and 
submit this form, it will help us to assess whether the changes have 
had the intended results. It will also guide us in our continuing 
efforts to improve the competitive grant process. In providing 
comments, please be as specific as possible. General Statements that 
the NOFA is better than before but needs improvement does not provide 
HUD with the type of information that will allow us to improve the 
process. Applicants are not required to complete this form; and
    n. Facsimile Transmittal Cover Page (HUD 96011). This form must be 
used as part of the electronic application to transmit third party 
documents and other information as described in the General Section as 
part of your electronic application submittal (if applicable). 
Applicants are advised to download the application package, complete 
the SF 424 first and it will pre-populate the Transmittal Cover page. 
The Transmittal Cover page will contain a unique identifier embedded in 
the page that will help HUD associate your faxed materials to your 
application. Please download the cover page and then make multiple 
copies to provide to any of the entities responsible for submitting 
faxed materials to HUD on your behalf.
    2. Certifications and Assurances. Please read the General Section 
for detailed information on all Certifications and Assurances. All 
applications submitted through Grants.gov constitute an acknowledgement 
and agreement to all required certifications and assurances. Please 
include in your application each item listed below. Applicants 
submitting paper copy applications should submit the application in the 
following order:
    a. SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. Please remember the 
following:
    (1) The full grant amount (entire three-years) should be entered, 
not the amount for just one year;
    (2) Include the name, title, address, telephone number, facsimile 
number, and e-mail address of the designated contact. This is the 
person who will receive the reviewers' comments; therefore, please 
ensure the accuracy of the information;
    (3) The Employer Identification/Tax ID number;
    (4) The DUNS Number;
    (5) The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this 
program is 14.520;
    (6) The project's proposed start date and completion date. For the 
purpose of this application, the program start date should be November 
1, 2005; and
    (7) The signature of the Authorized Organization Representative 
(AOR) who has been authenticated by the credential provider to submit 
applications via Grants.gov. The AOR must be able to make a binding 
legal agreement with HUD. See the General Section for instructions and 
requirements for Registration with Grants.gov.
    b. Application Checklist. Applicants should use the checklist to 
ensure that they have all the required elements of their application 
submission. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic application 
submission must include a copy of the checklist in their application 
submission. Applicants submitting an electronic application do not have 
to submit the checklist in their application. The checklist can be 
found in the NOFA (See Attachment A).
    c. Abstract. Applicants must include no more than a two-page 
summary of the proposed project. Please include the following:
    (1) A clear description of the proposed project activities, the 
target population that will be assisted, and the impact this project 
will have on the institution;
    (2) A statement that the institution is an eligible institution 
because it is a two-or four-year fully accredited institution, the name 
of the accrediting agency and an assurance that the accrediting agency 
is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education;
    (3) The designated contact person, including phone number, 
facsimile number, and e-mail address. (This is the person who will 
receive the reviewers' comments; therefore, please ensure the accuracy 
of the information);
    (4) University's name, department, mailing address, telephone 
number, facsimile number, and e-mail address; and
    (5) The principal investigator, if different from the designated 
contact person, for the project, including phone number, facsimile 
number, and e-mail address.
    d. Narrative statement addressing the Factors. HUD will use the 
narrative response to the ``Rating Factors'' to evaluate, rate, and 
rank applications. The narrative statement is the main source of 
information. Applicants are advised to review each factor carefully for 
program specific requirements. The response to each factor should be 
concise and contain only information relevant to the factor, but 
detailed enough to address each factor fully. Please do not repeat 
material in response to the five factors; instead, focus on how well 
the proposal responds to each of the factors. In factors where there 
are subfactors each subfactor must be presented separately, with the 
short title of the subfactor presented. Make sure to address each 
subfactor and provide sufficient information about every element of the 
subfactor. The narrative section of an application must not exceed 75 
pages, doubled spaced (excluding forms, budget narrative, assurances, 
commitment letters, memoranda of understanding, agreements, and 
abstract). Each page of the narrative must include the applicant's name 
and be numbered. Please note that although submitting pages in excess 
of the page limit will not disqualify an applicant, HUD will not 
consider the information on any excess pages. This exclusion may result 
in a lower score or failure to meet a threshold requirement.
    e. Budget. The budget submission must include the following:
    (1) HUD-424-CB, ``Grant Application Detailed Budget.'' This budget 
form shows the total budget by year and by line item for the program 
activities to be carried out with the proposed HUD grant. Each year of 
the program should be presented separately. Applicants must also submit 
this form to reflect the total cost for the entire grant performance 
period (Grand Total).
    (2) HUD-40076-HBCU, ``Response Sheet, Budget-By-Activity.'' This 
form must be used to document the entire three-year grant performance 
period. The form should include a listing of tasks to be completed for 
each activity necessary to be performed to implement the program, the 
overall costs for each activity, and the cost from each funding source. 
The budget-by-activity should clearly indicate the HUD grant amount and 
identify the source and dollar amount of the leveraged funds, if any.
    Make sure that the amount shown on the SF-424, HUD-424-CB, HUD-
40076-HBCU and all other required program forms is consistent and the 
budget totals are correct. Remember to check addition in totaling the 
categories on all forms so that all items are included in the total. If 
there is an inconsistency between any of the budget forms required, the 
HUD-424-CB will be used. All budget forms must be fully

[[Page 13698]]

completed. If an application is selected for award, the applicant may 
be required to provide greater specificity to the budget during grant 
agreement negotiations.
    (3) Budget Narrative. A narrative must be submitted that explains 
how the applicant arrived at the cost estimates for any line item over 
$5,000 cumulative. For example, an applicant proposes to construct a 
building using HUD funding totaling $200,000. The following costs 
estimate reflects this total. Foundation cost $75,000, electrical work 
$40,000, plumbing work $40,000, finishing work $35,000, and landscaping 
$10,000. The proposed cost estimates should be reasonable for the work 
to be performed and consistent with rates established for the level of 
expertise required to perform the work proposed in the geographical 
area. When necessary, quotes from various vendors or historical data 
should be used and included. When an applicant proposes to use a 
consultant, the applicant must indicate whether there is a formal 
written agreement. For each consultant, please provide the name, if 
known, hourly or daily rate, and the estimated time on the project. 
Applicants must submit a cost estimate based on historical data from 
the institution and/or from a qualified firm (e.g., Architectural or 
Engineering), vendor, and/or qualified individual (e.g., independent 
architect) other than the institution for projects that involve 
rehabilitation of residential, commercial and/or industrial structures, 
and/or acquisition, construction, or installation of public facilities 
and improvements. Such an entity must be involved in the business of 
housing rehabilitation, construction and/or management. Equipment and 
contracts cannot be presented as a total estimated costs. For 
equipment, applicants must provide a list by type and cost for each 
item. Applicants using contracts must provide an individual description 
and cost estimate for each contract.
    (4) Indirect costs. Indirect costs, if applicable, are allowable 
based on an established approved indirect cost rate. Applicants should 
include a copy of their indirect cost rate agreement with their 
application. Please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for 
further discussion on electronic submission of required documentation. 
Applicants who are selected for funding that do not have an approved 
indirect cost rate agreement (established by the cognizant federal 
agency, Certified Public Account, or auditor) will be required to 
establish a rate. In such cases, HUD will issue an award with a 
provisional rate and assist applicants in having a rate established.
    f. Appendix. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic 
submission requirements and submitting a paper copy of the application 
must place all letters of commitment, memoranda of understanding and 
agreements for funds/resources in response to Factor 4 and other 
required forms in this section. For applicants submitting electronic 
applications, please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for 
instructions on how third party documents are to be submitted to HUD 
using the electronic submission process. An applicant SHOULD NOT submit 
general support letters or resumes or other back-up materials. If this 
information is included, it will not be considered during the review 
process. The additional items will also slow the transmission of your 
application.

C. Submission Dates and Times

    A complete application package must be received electronically by 
the Grants.gov portal no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on or 
before May 25, 2005. Applications may be submitted in advance of the 
submission date. Electronic faxes using the Facsimile Transmittal (Form 
HUD 96011) cover sheet contained in the electronic application may be 
submitted prior to the application submission date and must be received 
no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the application submission 
date. Please see Section IV.F of the General Section for electronic 
application submission instructions and timely receipt requirements.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    This program is excluded from an Intergovernmental Review.

E. Funding Restrictions

    Ineligible CDBG Activities are listed at 24 CFR 570.207. Funding 
may only be provided to applicants that meet the standards for eligible 
applicants in Section III.A. Ineligible activities include but are not 
limited to:
    1. Curriculum development and/or expansion of an institution's 
existing curriculum;
    2. General government expenses; and
    3. Political activities.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    1. Application Submission and Receipt Procedure. Please read the 
General Section carefully and completely for the submission and receipt 
procedures for all applications because failure to comply may 
disqualify your application.
    2. Waiver of Electronic Submission Requirements. Please refer to 
the General Section for further discussion.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (25 Points). This factor addresses the extent 
to which the institution has the organizational resources necessary to 
successfully implement the proposed activities in a timely manner. In 
rating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which the proposal 
demonstrates:
    a. Knowledge and Experience For First Time Applicants (25 Points) 
For Previously Funded Applicants (10 Points). The knowledge and 
experience possessed by the proposed project director and staff, 
including the day-to-day program manager, consultants (including 
technical assistance providers), and contractors in planning and 
managing this kind of program for which funding is being requested. 
Applicants must clearly identify the following: key project team 
members, titles (e.g., project manager/coordinator, etc.), respective 
roles for the project staff, and a brief description of their relevant 
experience. Experience will be judged in terms of recent and relevant 
knowledge and skills of the staff to undertake the proposed eligible 
program activities. HUD will consider experience within the last five 
(5) years to be recent and experience pertaining to similar activities 
to be relevant.
    b. Past Performance (15 Points) For Previously Funded Grant 
Applicants Only. This subfactor will evaluate the extent to which an 
applicant has performed successfully under all previously completed and 
open HUD/HBCU grants. Applicants must demonstrate this by providing the 
following information on the HUD-40076-HBCU ``Response Sheet: 
(Performance Narrative) for each HBCU grant they have received:
    (1) A detailed list outlining the achievement of specific tasks, 
measurable objectives and specific outcomes consistent with the 
approved timeline/work plan in previous grants;
    (2) Comparison of proposed leveraged funds and/or resources in a 
previous grant with what was actually leveraged;
    (3) A list of all HUD/HBCU grants received, including the dollar 
amount awarded and the amount expended as of the date of this 
application. The HUD-40076-HBCU ``Response Sheet'' (Performance 
Narrative) form is located in Appendix C at the end of this NOFA.

[[Page 13699]]

The form should be filled out completely; and
    (4) A detailed list outlining the timeliness and completeness of 
complying with all the HBCU reporting requirements. In addressing 
timeliness, compare when reports were due with when they were actually 
submitted.
    HUD will also review an applicant's past performance in managing 
funds, including, but not limited to: the ability to account for 
funding appropriately; timely use of funds received from HUD; meeting 
performance targets for completion of activities; and receipt of 
promised leveraged funds. In evaluating past performance, HUD reserves 
the right to deduct up to five (5) points from this rating score as a 
result of the information obtained from HUD's records (i.e., progress 
and financial reports, monitoring reports, Logic Model submissions, and 
amendments), including the timely submission of required progress 
reports.
    2. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (10 Points). This 
factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for funding the 
proposed program activities and an indication of the importance of 
meeting the need(s) in the target area. The need(s) described must be 
relevant to the activities for which funds are being requested. The 
proposal will be evaluated on the extent to which the level of need for 
the proposed activities and the importance of meeting the need(s) are 
documented.
    In rating this factor, HUD will consider data collected within the 
last five (5) years to be current. To the extent that the targeted 
community's Five Year Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments to 
Fair Housing Choice (AI) identify the level of the problem and the 
urgency in meeting the need, applicants should include references to 
these documents in response to this factor.
    If the proposed activities are not covered under the scope of the 
Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice 
(AI), indicate this clearly in the proposal and use other sound data 
sources to identify the level of need and the importance in meeting the 
need.
    Applicants must use statistics or other analyses contained in at 
least one or more current data sources that are sound and reliable. The 
data provided must be specific to the area where the proposed project 
activities will be carried out. Sources for localized data can be found 
at http://www.ffiec.gov.
    Other reliable data sources include, but are not limited to, Census 
reports, HUD Continuum of Care gap analysis and its E-MAP (To find 
additional information go to HUD's Web site: http://www.hud.gov/emaps), 
law enforcement agency crime reports, Public Housing Agencies' 
Comprehensive Plans, community needs analyses such as provided by the 
United Way, the applicant's institution, and other sound and reliable 
sources. Needs in terms of fulfilling court orders or consent decrees, 
settlements, conciliation agreements, and voluntary compliance 
agreements may also be addressed.
    3. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (45 Points). This factor 
addresses the quality and effectiveness of the proposed work plan, the 
commitment of the institution to sustain the proposed activities, and 
actions regarding HUD's priorities, goals and objectives, and 
affirmatively furthering fair housing.
    This factor will be evaluated based on the extent to which the 
proposed work plan demonstrates the following:
    a. (35 Points) Quality of the Work Plan. This subfactor will be 
evaluated on the extent to which an applicant provides a clear detailed 
description of the proposed project and anticipated accomplishments.
    (1) (25 Points) Specific Services and/or Activities. The work plan 
must describe all proposed activities and major tasks required to 
successfully implement the proposed project and anticipated 
accomplishments.
    (a) Applicants must provide a clear description of the proposed 
activities and address the following:
    (i) Describe each proposed activity and the task required to 
successfully implement and complete the proposed project in measurable 
terms (e.g., the number of persons to trained and employed; houses to 
be rehabilitated; or minority-owned businesses to be started, etc.);
    (ii) List how each proposed activity meets one of the following 
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program national objectives:
    [sbull] Benefit low- and moderate-income persons;
    [sbull] Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight; or
    [sbull] Meet other community development needs having a particular 
urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat 
to the health and welfare of the community, and other financial 
resources are not available to meet such needs. Criteria for 
determining whether an activity addresses one or more objective are 
provided at 24 CFR 570.208;
    (b) Outline the major tasks required (in sequential order) to 
successfully implement and complete the proposed program activities. 
Include target completion dates for each activity/task (in 6 month 
intervals, up to thirty-six (36) months); and
    (c) Identify the individuals, as described in Factor 1, who will be 
responsible for completing each activity/task.
    (2) (10 Points) Describe clearly how each proposed activity will:
    (a) Expand the role of the institution in its community;
    (b) Address the needs identified in Factor 2;
    (c) Relate to and not duplicate other activities in the target 
area. Duplicative effort will be acceptable only if an applicant can 
demonstrate through documentation that there is a population in need 
that is not being served; and
    (d) Involve and empower citizens of the target area in the proposed 
project (particularly through a committee that is representative of the 
target community).
    b. (2 Points) Involvement of the Faculty and Students. The 
applicant must describe the extent to which it proposes to integrate 
the institution's students and faculty into proposed project 
activities.
    c. (3 Points) HUD Policy Priorities. HUD encourages applicants to 
undertake specific activities that will assist the Department in 
implementing its policy priorities that will help the Department 
achieve its goals and objectives in FY 2006, when the majority of grant 
recipients will be reporting programmatic results and achievements. In 
addressing this subfactor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which a 
program will further and support HUD's priorities. The quality of the 
responses provided to one or more of HUD's priorities will determine 
the score an applicant can receive. Applicants must describe how each 
policy priority selected will be addressed. Applicants that just list a 
priority will receive no points.
    Each policy priority addressed has a point value of one point with 
the exception of the policy priority to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, which has a point value of up to 2 points. The 
total number of points available to applicants that address policy 
priorities is 3. It is up to the applicant to determine which of the 
policy priorities they elect to address to receive the available 3 
points. To receive points for efforts to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, an applicant must submit the completed 
questionnaire (HUD-27300) ``HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barrier'' found in the

[[Page 13700]]

General Section along with required documentation. The form is part of 
the electronic application and is constructed to permit the required 
documentation to be attached to the electronic form. For the full list 
and explanation of each policy priority, please refer to the General 
Section.
    d. (5 Points) Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. This subfactor 
will be evaluated on the extent to which an applicant describes how it 
proposes to undertake activities designed to affirmatively further fair 
housing opportunities for individuals on the basis of race, color, 
national origin, sex, religion, familial status, or disability. For 
example:
    (1) Working with other entities in the community to overcome 
impediments to fair housing, such as discrimination in the sale or 
rental of housing or in advertising, provision of brokerage services or 
lending;
    (2) Promoting fair housing choice through the expansion of 
homeownership opportunities and improved quality of services for 
minorities, families with children, and persons with disabilities; or
    (3) Providing housing mobility counseling services.
    4. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (8 Points). This factor 
addresses the ability of the applicant to secure resources that can be 
combined with HUD's grant funds to achieve the program's purpose.
    In evaluating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which 
the applicant established partnerships with other entities to secure 
additional resources to increase the effectiveness of the proposed 
project activities. Resources may include funding or in-kind 
contributions, such as services or equipment, allocated for the 
purpose(s) of the grant. Resources may be provided by governmental 
entities, public or private nonprofit organizations, for-profit private 
organizations, or other entities. Applicants may also establish 
partnerships with other program funding recipients to coordinate the 
use of resources in the target area. Overhead and other institutional 
costs (e.g., salaries, indirect costs, etc.) that the institution has 
waived may be counted. Examples of potential sources for outside 
assistance include:

    [sbull] Federal, state, and local governments;
    [sbull] Local or national nonprofit organizations;
    [sbull] Financial institutions and/or private businesses;
    [sbull] Foundations;
    [sbull] Faith-based and other community-based organizations;
    For each cash or in-kind contribution to the program a letter of 
commitment, memorandum of understanding, or agreement must be provided 
that shows the extent and firmness of the commitment of leveraged funds 
(including any commitment of resources from the applicant's own 
institution) in order for these resources to count in determining 
points under this factor. Resources will not be counted for which there 
is no commitment letter, memorandum of understanding, or agreement, or 
quantified level of commitment. Letters, memoranda of understanding, or 
agreements must be submitted on the provider's letterhead and be 
included with the application package. (Applicants submitting paper 
copy applications must place all letters, memoranda of understanding, 
or agreements in the Appendix. Applicants submitting these items 
electronically must follow the submission directions in Section IV.F of 
the General Section.) The date of the letter, memorandum of 
understanding, or agreement from the CEO of the provider organization 
must be dated no earlier than nine months prior to this published NOFA. 
Applications that do not include evidence of leveraging or address all 
items as outlined below will receive zero (0) points for this Factor.
    A firm commitment letter, memorandum of understanding, or agreement 
must address the following:
    a. The cash amount contributed or dollar value of the in-kind goods 
and/or services committed (If a dollar amount and use is not shown, the 
source will not be counted);
    b. A specific description of how each contribution is to be used 
toward one of the proposed activities;
    c. The date the contribution will be made available and a statement 
that describes the duration of the contribution;
    d. Any terms or conditions affecting the commitment, other than 
receipt of a HUD grant; and
    e. The signature of the appropriate executive officer authorized to 
commit the funds and/or goods and/or services. Please remember that 
only items eligible for funding under this program can be considered.
    5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (12 
Points). This factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
management and accountability. It measures the applicant's commitment 
to assess their performance to achieve the program's proposed 
objectives and goals. Applicants are required to develop an effective, 
quantifiable, outcome oriented evaluation plan for measuring 
performance and determining that objectives and goals have been 
achieved. The Logic Model is a summary of the narrative statements 
presented in Factors 1-4. Therefore, the information submitted on the 
logic model should be consistent with the information contained in the 
narrative statements.
    ``Outcomes'' are benefits accruing to the community during or after 
participation in the HBCU program. Applicants must clearly identify the 
outcomes to be measured and achieved. Examples of outcomes include 
increased employment opportunities in the target community by a certain 
percentage, increased incomes/wages or other assets for persons 
trained, or enhanced family stability through the creation of 
affordable housing opportunities (e.g., increased assets to families 
and communities through the development of affordable housing).
    In addition, applicants must establish interim benchmarks and 
outputs that lead to the ultimate achievement of outcomes. ``Outputs'' 
are the direct products of the program's activities. Examples of 
outputs are the number of new affordable housing units, the number of 
homes that have been renovated, and the number of facilities that have 
been constructed or rehabilitated. Outputs should produce outcomes for 
the program. At a minimum, an applicant must address the following 
activities in the evaluation plan:
    a. Measurable outputs to be accomplished (e.g., the number of 
persons to be trained and employed; houses to be built pursuant to 24 
CFR 570.207 or rehabilitated; minority-owned businesses to be started);
    b. Measurable outcomes the grant will have on the community in 
general and the target area or population; and
    c. The impact the grant will have on assisting the university to 
obtain additional resources to continue this type of work at the end of 
the grant performance period.
    This information must be placed on a HUD-96010, Program Outcome 
Logic Model form. Applicants may use as many copies of this form as 
required. It will not be included in the page count requirement. A 
narrative is not required. However, if a narrative is provided, those 
pages will be included in the page count. Additional information on 
this form and how to use it can be found in the General Section.

B. Review and Selection Process

    1. Application Selection Process.
    Two types of reviews will be conducted:

[[Page 13701]]

    a. A threshold review to determine an applicant's basic 
eligibility; and
    b. A technical review for all applications that pass the threshold 
review to rate and rank the application based on the ``Rating Factors'' 
listed in Section V.A.
    Only those applications that pass the threshold review will receive 
a technical review and be rated and ranked.
    2. Rating Panels. To review and rate applications HUD may establish 
panels, which may include experts or consultants not currently employed 
by HUD. These individuals may be included to obtain certain expertise.
    3. Ranking. HUD will fund applications in rank order, until all 
available program funds are awarded. In order to be funded, an 
applicant must receive a minimum score of 75 points out of a possible 
102 points, which includes up to two bonus points that may be awarded 
for activities conducted in the RC/EZ/EC-II, as described in the 
General Section. If two or more applications have the same number of 
points, the application with the most points for Factor 3, Soundness of 
Approach, shall be selected. If there is still a tie, the application 
with the most points for Factor 1, Capacity of the Applicant and 
Relevant Organizational Experience shall be selected. If there is still 
a tie, the application with the most points for Factor 2, 4 and then 5 
shall be selected in that order until the tie is broken. HUD reserves 
the right to make selections out of rank order to provide for 
geographic distribution of grantees. HUD also reserves the right to 
reduce the amount of funding requested in order to fund as many highly 
ranked applications as possible. Additionally, if funds remain after 
funding the highest ranked applications, HUD may fund part of the next 
highest-ranking application. If an applicant turns down an award offer, 
HUD will make an award to the next highest-ranking application. If 
funds remain after all selections have been made, the remaining funds 
will be carried over to the next funding cycle's competition.
    4. Correction to Deficient Applications. The General Section 
provides the procedures for correction to deficient applications.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    Announcements of awards are anticipated on or before September 30, 
2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notice

    After all selections have been made, HUD will notify all winning 
applications in writing. HUD may require winning applicants to 
participate in additional negotiations before receiving an official 
award. For further discussion on this matter, please refer to the 
General Section.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    For further discussion of this matter, please refer to Section 
VI.B. in the General Section.
    1. Debriefing. The General Section provides the procedures for 
requesting a debriefing. All requests for debriefings must be made in 
writing and submitted to: Ophelia Wilson; Office of University 
Partnerships; Robert C. Weaver Federal Building; 451 Seventh Street, 
SW., Room 8130; Washington, DC 20410-6000. Applicants may also write to 
Ms. Wilson via email at [email protected].
    2. Administrative. Grants awarded under this NOFA will be governed 
by the provisions of 24 CFR part 84 (Grants and Agreements with 
Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals and Other Non-Profit 
Organizations), A-21 (Cost Principles for Educational Institutions) and 
A-133 (Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit 
Organizations). Applicants can access the OMB circulars at the White 
House Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html.
    3. OMB Circulars and Governmentwide Regulations Applicable to 
Financial Assistance Programs. The General Section provides further 
discussion on this matter.
    4. Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open Competition and 
Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors' Labor Relations 
on Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects. See the General 
Section for further discussion.
    5. Procurement of Recovered Materials. See Section III.C.4 of the 
General Section for further discussion.
    6. Code of Conduct. See the General Section for further discussion.

C. Reporting

    All grant recipients under this NOFA are required to submit 
quarterly progress reports. The progress reports shall consist of two 
components, a narrative that must reflect the activities undertaken 
during the reporting period and a financial report that reflects costs 
incurred by budget line item, as well as a cumulative summary of costs 
incurred during the reporting.
    For each reporting period, as part of the required report to HUD, 
grant recipients must include a completed Logic Model form (HUD-96010), 
which identifies output and outcome achievements.

VII. Agency Contacts

    Applicants may contact Ophelia Wilson at (202) 708-3061, extension 
4390 or Susan Brunson at (202) 708-3061, extension 3852. Persons with 
speech or hearing impairments may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service (TTY) at (800) 877-8339. Except for the ``800'' number, these 
numbers are not toll-free. Applicants may also reach Ms. Wilson via 
email at [email protected], and/or Ms. Brunson at Susan--S.--
[email protected].

VIII. Other Information

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2528-0235. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public 
reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to 
average 356 hours per annum per respondent for the application and 
grant administration. This includes the time for collecting, reviewing, 
and reporting the data for the application, quarterly, semi-annual and 
final reports. The information will be used for grantee selection and 
monitoring the administration of funds. Response to this request for 
information is required in order to receive the benefits to be derived.

APPENDIX C

Historically Black Colleges and Universities Unfunded by HUD During 
Fiscal Years 1991-2004

Alabama

Concordia College
Selma University
Trenholm State Technical College

Florida

Florida Memorial College

Georgia

Morehouse School of Medicine
Paine College

[[Page 13702]]

Michigan

Lewis College of Business

Ohio

Wilberforce University

Pennsylvania

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania

South Carolina

Clinton Junior College
Denmark Technical College
Morris College

Virginia

Virginia University of Lynchburg

Tennessee

Knoxville College

Texas

Southwestern Christian College

Historically Black Colleges and Universities Previously Funded By HUD 
During Fiscal Years 1991-2004

Alabama

Alabama A&M University
Alabama State University
Bishop State Community College
Gadsden State Community College
J.F. Drake Technical College
Lawson State Community College
Miles College
Oakwood College
Stillman College
Talladega College
Tuskegee University
C.A. Fredd Technical College

Arkansas

Arkansas Baptist College
Philander Smith College
Shorter College
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

Delaware

Delaware State University

District of Columbia

Howard University
University of the District of Columbia

Florida

Bethune-Cookman College
Edward Waters College
Florida A&M University

Georgia

Albany State University
Clark Atlanta University
Fort Valley State University
Interdenominational Theological Center
Morehouse College
Morris Brown College
Savannah State University
Spelman College

Kentucky

Kentucky State University

Louisiana

Dillard University
Grambling State University
Southern University A & M College System at Baton Rouge
Southern University at Shreveport
Southern University at New Orleans
Xavier University of New Orleans

Maryland

Bowie State University
Coppin State College
Morgan State University
University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Mississippi

Alcorn State University
Coahoma Community College
Jackson State University
Mississippi Valley State University
Rust College
Tougaloo College
Hinds Community College

Missouri

Harris-Stowe State College
Lincoln University

North Carolina

Barber-Scotia College
Bennett College
Elizabeth City State University
Fayetteville State University
Johnson C. Smith University
Livingstone College
North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina Central University
St. Augustine's College
Shaw University
Winston Salem State University

Ohio

Central State University

Oklahoma

Langston University

Pennsylvania

Lincoln University

South Carolina

Allen University
Benedict College
Claflin College
South Carolina State University
Voorhees College

Tennessee

Fisk University
Lemoyne-Owen College
Meharry Medical College
Tennessee State University
Lane College

Texas

Huston-Tillotson College
Jarvis Christian College
Paul Quinn College
Prairie View A&M University
Saint Philip's College
Texas Southern University
Texas College
Wiley College

Virginia

Hampton University
Norfolk State University
Saint Paul's College
Virginia State University
Virginia Union University

West Virginia

West Virginia State University
Bluefield State College

U.S. Virgin Islands

University of the Virgin Islands
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

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[[Page 13712]]



Hispanic-Serving Institutions Assisting Communities (HSIAC) Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, Office of 
University Partnerships.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Hispanic-Serving Institutions 
Assisting Communities (HSIAC) Program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Numbers: The Federal Register Number for 
this Notice Of Funding Availability (NOFA) is FR-4950-N-11. The OMB 
Approval Number for this program is 2528-0198.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: The CDFA 
Number for this program is 14.514.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is June 13, 2005. Please 
be sure to read the General Section for electronic application 
submission and receipt requirements.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of the Program: The Hispanic-Serving Institutions 
Assisting Communities (HSIAC) Program assists Hispanic-Serving 
Institutions (HSI) expand their role and effectiveness in addressing 
community development needs in their localities, including neighborhood 
revitalization, housing, and economic development, principally for 
persons of low- and moderate-income, consistent with the purposes of 
Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as 
amended.
    2. Award Information: In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately $6.64 
million has been made available for this program by the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub L. 108-447). The maximum amount an 
applicant can request for award is $600,000 for a maximum three-year 
(36 months) grant performance period.
    3. Eligible Applicants: Nonprofit Hispanic-Serving Institutions 
that meet the definition of an HSI established in Title V of the 1998 
Amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965 (Pub. L. 105-244; 
enacted October 7, 1998) are eligible to apply for funding under this 
program. In order to meet this definition, at least 25 percent of the 
full-time undergraduate students enrolled in an institution must be 
Hispanic and not less than 50 percent of these Hispanic students must 
be low-income individuals. Institutions are not required to be on the 
list of eligible HSIs prepared by the U.S. Department of Education. 
However, an institution that is not on the list is required to provide 
a statement in the application that the institution meets the U.S. 
Department of Education's statutory definition of an HSI. In addition, 
all applicants must be accredited by a national or regional accrediting 
agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. HUD also intends 
to fund at least two eligible HSIAC applications (applications that 
received a minimum score of 75 points) that serve Colonias (as defined 
in the General Section). While it is not necessary for the institution 
to be located in a Colonias, all program activities must be directed to 
the Colonias and its residents. If less than two fundable applications 
are eligible for award these funds will be made available to award 
additional HSIAC grants.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    The purpose of the Hispanic Serving Institutions Assisting 
Communities (HSIAC) Program is to assist Hispanic Serving Institutions 
(HSI) expand their role and effectiveness in addressing community 
development needs in their localities, including neighborhood 
revitalization, housing and economic development, principally for 
persons of low- and moderate-income consistent with the purpose of the 
Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as 
amended.
    For the purpose of this program, the term ``locality'' includes any 
city, county, township, parish, village, or other general political 
subdivision of a state, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands where 
the institution is located.
    A ``target area'' is the area within the locality in which the 
institution will implement its proposed HSIAC grant.

A. Authority

    HUD's authority for making this funding available under this NOFA 
is Pub. L.108-447. This program is being implemented through this NOFA 
and the policies governing its operation are contained herein.

B. Modifications

    Listed below are major modifications from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 
program-funding announcement:
    1. Applicants are required to submit their application 
electronically via the following Web site: http://www.grants.gov/Apply. 
Read the General Section for further discussion.
    2. Letters, memoranda of understanding, or agreements in response 
to Factor 4 now can be dated no earlier than nine months prior to the 
date of this published NOFA and received no later than the application 
due date.

II. Award Information

    In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately $6.64 million is made 
available under this NOFA. The maximum amount an applicant can request 
for award is $600,000 for a maximum three-year (36 months) grant 
performance period.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Nonprofit Hispanic-serving institutions that meet the definition of 
an HSI of higher education established in Title V of the 1998 
Amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965 (Pub. L. 105-244; 
enacted October 7, 1998) are eligible to apply for funding under this 
program. In order to meet this definition, at least 25 percent of the 
full-time undergraduate students enrolled in an institution must be 
Hispanic and not less than 50 percent of these Hispanic students must 
be low-income individuals. Institutions are not required to be on the 
list of eligible HSIs prepared by the U.S. Department of Education. 
However, an institution that is not on the list is required to provide 
a statement in the application that the institution meets the U.S. 
Department of Education's statutory definition of an HSI as cited 
above. In addition, all applicants must be accredited by a national or 
regional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of 
Education.
    HUD intends to fund at least two eligible HSIAC applications that 
propose to serve Colonias (as defined in the General Section). While it 
is not necessary for the institution to be located in a Colonias, all 
program activities must be directed to the Colonias and its residents. 
If fewer than two applications are eligible for award these funds will 
be made available to award additional HSIAC grants.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    None Required.

C. Other

    1. Eligible Activities. Eligible activities are listed in 24 CFR 
part 570, subpart C, particularly Sec. Sec.  570.201 through 570.206. 
Information regarding these activities can be found at: http://
www.hudclips.org (click on the Code of Federal Regulations for detailed 
information).
    a. Examples of eligible activities include, but are not limited to:
    (1) Acquisition of real property;
    (2) Clearance and demolition;

[[Page 13713]]

    (3) Rehabilitation of residential structures including lead-based 
paint hazard evaluation and reduction and making accessibility and 
visitabilty modifications in accordance with the requirements of 
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973;
    (4) Public facilities and improvements, such as water and sewer 
facilities and streets compliance with accessibility requirements, 
including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Fair 
Housing Act, and the American with Disabilities Act of 1990;
    (5) Relocation payments and other assistance for permanently and 
temporarily relocated individuals, families, businesses, nonprofit 
organizations, and farm operations where the assistance is:
    (a) Required under the provisions of 24 CFR 570.606(b) or (c); or
    (b) Determined by the grantee to be appropriate under the 
provisions of 24 CFR 570.606(d);
    (6) Direct homeownership assistance to low- and moderate-income 
persons, as provided in section 105(a) (25) of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1974;
    (7) Special economic development activities described at 24 CFR 
570.203 and assistance to facilitate economic development by providing 
technical or financial assistance for the establishment, stabilization, 
and expansion of microenterprises, including minority enterprises;
    (8) Assistance to community-based development organizations (CBDO) 
to carry out a CDBG neighborhood revitalization, community economic 
development, or energy conservation project, in accordance with 24 CFR 
570.204. This could include activities in support of a HUD-approved 
local entitlement grantee, CDBG Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy 
(NRS) or HUD-approved State CDBG Community Revitalization Strategy 
(CRS);
    (9) Public service activities such as general support activities 
that can help to stabilize a neighborhood and contribute to sustainable 
redevelopment of the area, including but not limited to such activities 
as those concerned with employment, crime prevention, child care, 
health services, drug abuse, education, fair housing counseling, energy 
conservation, homebuyer down payment assistance, or recreational needs;
    (10) Up to 20 percent of the grant may be used for payments of 
reasonable grant administrative costs related to planning and execution 
of the project (e.g., preparation/submission of HUD reports). Detailed 
explanations of these costs are provided in OMB circular A-21 Cost 
Principals for Educational Institutions that can be accessed at the 
White House Web site at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/
index.html;
    (11) Fair housing services designed to further the fair housing 
objectives of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601-20) by making all 
persons, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, 
familial status and/or disability aware of the range of housing 
opportunities available to them; and
    (12) Activities designed to promote training and employment 
opportunities (e.g., Neighborhood Networks in federally assisted or 
insured housing and employment opportunities for lower income persons 
in connection with Assisted Projects).
    b. Eligible activities that may be funded under this program are 
those activities that meet both a Community Development Block Grant 
(CDBG) Program national objectives and eligibility requirements.
    c. The three national objectives of the Community Development Block 
Grant program are:
    (1) Benefit to low- or moderate-income persons;
    (2) Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight; and
    (3) Meet other community development needs having a particular 
urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat 
to the health and welfare of the community, and other financial 
resources are not available to meet such needs. Criteria for 
determining whether an activity addresses one or more national 
objectives are provided at 24 CFR 570.208.
    d. The CDBG publication entitled ``Community Development Block 
Grant Program Guide to National Objectives and Eligible Activities for 
Entitlement Communities'' describes the CDBG regulations, and a copy 
can be obtained from HUD's NOFA Information Center at 800-HUD-8929 or 
800-HUD-2209 for the hearing-impaired.
    2. Audit Requirements. Applicants must ensure that their most 
current A-133 audit is on file at the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. 
(Applicants are not required to submit a copy of the audit with the 
application.) Grantees that expend $500,000 or more in Federal 
financial assistance in a single year (this can be program year or 
fiscal year) must be audited in accordance with the OMB requirements as 
established in 24 CFR part 84. Additional information regarding this 
requirement can be access at the following Web site: http://
harvester.census.gov/sac.
    3. Threshold Requirements Applicable to all Applicants. All 
applicants must comply with the threshold requirements as defined in 
the General Section and the requirements listed below to be evaluated, 
rated, and ranked. Applications that do not meet these requirements 
will be considered ineligible for funding and will be disqualified:
    a. The applicant must meet the eligibility requirements as defined 
in Section III.A, Eligible Applicants.
    b. The applicant may request no more than $600,000 for award.
    c. Only one application can be submitted per campus. If multiple 
applications are submitted, all will be disqualified.
    d. An individual campus that is one of several campuses of the same 
institution may apply separately as long as the applicant's campus has 
a separate administrative and budget structure.
    e. Institutions that received an HSIAC grant in FY 2004 are not 
eligible to submit an application under this NOFA. If an institution 
received an HSIAC grant in FY 2001, FY 2002, or FY 2003, the 
institution may apply under this NOFA as long as it: (a) Proposes a 
different activity (activities) in their current project location, or 
proposes replicating their current project in a new location and (b) 
has drawn down at least 75 percent of the previous grant funds at least 
three weeks prior to this program's application submission date. It is 
the applicant's responsibility to make sure that these requirements are 
met.
    f. Applicants must receive a minimum score of 75 points to be 
considered for funding.
    g. An applicant must have a DUNS number to receive HUD grant funds. 
(The General Section provides information regarding the DUNS 
requirement.)
    h. Electronic applications must be received by Grants.gov no later 
than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on June 13, 2005. See the General 
Section for information on application submission and timely receipt 
requirements.
    4. Program Requirements. In addition to the program requirements 
listed in Section III.C of the General Section, applicants must meet 
the following program requirements:
    a. All funds awarded are for a three-year (36 months) grant 
performance period.
    b. Applicants that claim leveraging from any source, including 
their own institution, must provide letters of firm commitment, 
memoranda of understanding, or agreements evidencing the extent and 
firmness of

[[Page 13714]]

commitment of leveraging from other federal (e.g., Department of Labor, 
AmeriCorps Programs), state, or local governments, and other public/
private sources (including the applicant's own resources). These 
documents must follow the outline provided in Section V, Application 
Review Information ``Factor 4: Leveraging Resources'' of this NOFA. 
Please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for further 
instructions on how to submit these third party documents via the 
electronic submission process.
    c. Applicants must ensure that not less than 51 percent of the 
aggregated expenditures of a grant award are used to benefit low- and 
moderate-income persons under the criteria specified in 24 CFR 
570.208(a) or 570.208(d)(5) or (6).
    d. Site Control. Where grant funds will be used for acquisition, 
rehabilitation, or new construction an applicant must demonstrate site 
control. Funds may be recaptured or deobligated from applicants that 
cannot demonstrate control of a suitable site within one year after the 
initial notification of award.
    e. Environmental Requirements. Selection for award does not 
constitute approval of any proposed sites. Following selection for 
award, HUD will perform an environmental review of properties proposed 
for assistance in accordance with 24 CFR part 50. The results of the 
environmental review may require that proposed activities be modified 
or proposed sites be rejected. Applicants are particularly cautioned 
not to undertake or commit funds for acquisition or development of 
proposed properties prior to HUD approval of specific properties or 
areas. An application constitutes an assurance that the institution 
will assist HUD to comply with part 50; will supply HUD with all 
available and relevant information to perform an environmental review 
for each proposed property; will carry out mitigating measures required 
by HUD or select alternate property; and will not acquire, 
rehabilitate, convert, demolish, lease, repair, or construct property, 
and not commit or expend HUD or local funds for these program 
activities with respect to any eligible property until HUD's written 
approval of the property is received. In supplying HUD with 
environmental information, applicants should use the same guidance as 
provided in the HUD Notice CPD-99-01 entitled ``Field Environmental 
Review Processing for HUD Colonias Initiative (HCI) Grants'' issued 
January 27, 1999. The General Section provides further discussion of 
the environmental requirements. Further information and assistance on 
HUD's environmental requirements is available at: http://www.hud.gov/
offices/cpd/energyenviron/environment/index.cfm.
    f. Labor Standards. Institutions and their sub-grantees, 
contractors, and subcontractors must comply with the labor standards 
(Davis-Bacon) requirements referenced in 24 CFR 570.603.
    g. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very-Low Income Persons 
(Section 3).
    The provisions of Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development 
Act of 196 (12 U.S.C. 1701u) apply to this NOFA. Regulations may be 
found at 24 CFR part 135.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses To Request Application Package

    Applicants may download the instructions to the application found 
on the Grants.gov Web site at http://www.Grants.gov./Apply. The 
instructions contain the General Section and Program Section of the 
published NOFA as well as forms that you must complete and attach as a 
zip file to your application submission. If you have difficulty 
accessing the information you may call the Grants.gov Support desk toll 
free 800-518-GRANTS or email your questions to Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. The 
Support Desk staff will assist you in accessing the information. Please 
remember that you must be registered to submit an application utilizing 
Grants.gov. Your registration allows you to electronically sign the 
application and enables Grants.gov to authenticate that the person 
signing the application has the legal authority to submit the 
application on behalf of the applicant. Please see the General Section 
for information regarding the registration process or ask for 
registration information from the Grants.gov Support Desk. Please be 
aware that the registration process is a separate process from 
requesting email notification of funding opportunities or downloading 
the application and should be done as soon as you download the 
application from the Grants.gov Web site. If you are not sure if you 
are already registered, the Grants.gov Support Desk can assist in 
verifying whether you are registered.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    1. Forms. The following forms are required for submission. Copies 
of these forms are included in Appendix A of the General Section. The 
electronic version of the NOFA contains all forms required for 
submission.
    a. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424);
    b. Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants (SF-424 
Supplement);
    c. Grant Application Detailed Budget (HUD-424-CB);
    d. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL);
    e. America's Affordable Communities Initiative (HUD-27300), if 
applicable;
    f. Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880);
    g. Program Logic Model (HUD-96010);
    h. Certification of Consistency with RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan 
(HUD-2990), if applicable;
    i. Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan (HUD-
2991), if applicable;
    j. Acknowledgement of Applicant Receipt (HUD-2993). Only applicants 
that do not submit an electronic application need to include this form 
with their application. Please complete this form if you have received 
a waiver to the electronic application submission requirement. 
Applicants are not required to include this form, but it is recommended 
that they do so;
    k. Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994). This form is 
included to solicit information from the most valuable source, the 
applicant. The changes that we have instituted this year are designed 
to make things easier for the applicant. If applicants complete and 
submit this form, it will help us to assess whether the changes have 
had the intended results. It will also guide us in our continuing 
efforts to improve the competitive grant process. In providing 
comments, please be as specific as possible. General Statements that 
the NOFA is better than before but needs improvement does not provide 
HUD with the type of information that will allow us to improve the 
process. Applicants are not required to complete this form; and
    l. Facsimile Transmittal Cover Page (HUD 96011). This form must be 
used as part of the electronic application to transmit third party 
documents and other information as described in the General Section as 
part of your electronic application submittal (if applicable). 
Applicants are advised to download the application package, complete 
the SF 424 first and it will pre-populate the Transmittal Cover page. 
The Transmittal Cover page will contain a unique identifier embedded in 
the page that will help HUD associate your faxed materials to your 
application. Please download the cover page and

[[Page 13715]]

then make multiple copies to provide to any of the entities responsible 
for submitting faxed materials to HUD on your behalf.
    2. Certifications and Assurances. Please read the General Section 
for detailed information on all Certifications and Assurance. All 
applications submitted through Grants.gov constitute an acknowledgement 
and agreement to all required certifications and assurances. Please 
include in your application each item listed below. Applicants 
submitting paper copy applications should submit the application in the 
following order:
    a. SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. Please remember the 
following:
    (1) The full grant amount (entire three years) should be entered, 
not the amount for just one year;
    (2) Include the name, title, address, telephone number, facsimile 
number, and email address of the designated contact. This is the person 
who will receive the reviewers' comments. Please ensure the accuracy of 
the information;
    (3) The Employer Identification/Tax ID;
    (4) The DUNS Number;
    (5) The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this 
program is 14.514;
    (6) The project's proposed start date and completion date. For the 
purpose of this application, the program start date should be November 
1, 2005; and
    (7) The signature of the Authorized Organization Representative 
(AOR) who has been authenticated by the credential provider to submit 
applications via Grants.gov. The AOR must be able to make a binding 
legal agreement with HUD. See the General Section for instructions and 
requirements for Registration with Grants.gov.
    b. Application Checklist. Applicants should use the checklist to 
ensure that they have all the required elements of their application 
submission. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic application 
submission must include a copy of the checklist in their application 
submission. Applicants submitting an electronic application do not have 
to submit the checklist. The checklist can be found in the NOFA (See 
Attachment A).
    c. Abstract. Applicants must include no more than a two-page 
summary of the proposed project. Please include the following:
    (1) A clear description of the proposed project activities, the 
target population that will be assisted, and the impact this project 
will have on the institution;
    (2) A statement that the institution is an eligible institution 
because it is a two-or four-year fully accredited institution, the name 
of the accrediting agency and an assurance that the accrediting agency 
is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education;
    (3) A statement that the institution meets the definition of an 
Hispanic Serving Institution: at least 25 percent of the full-time 
undergraduate students enrolled in an institution must be Hispanic and 
not less than 50 percent of these Hispanic students must be low-income 
individuals;
    (4) The designated contact person, including phone number, 
facsimile number, and email address (This is the person who will 
receive the reviewers' comments. Please ensure the accuracy of the 
information);
    (5) University's name, department, mailing address, telephone 
number, facsimile number, and email address; and
    (6) The principal investigator, if different from the designated 
contact person, for the project, including phone number, facsimile 
number, and email address.
    d. Narrative statement addressing the Factors. HUD will use the 
narrative response to the ``Rating Factors'' to evaluate, rate, and 
rank applications. The narrative statement is the main source of 
information. Applicants are advised to review each factor carefully for 
program specific requirements. The response to each factor should be 
concise and contain only information relevant to the factor, but 
detailed enough to address each factor fully. Please do not repeat 
material in response to the five factors; instead, focus on how well 
the proposal responds to each of the factors. In factors where there 
are subfactors, each subfactor must be presented separately, with the 
short title of the subfactor presented. Make sure to address each 
subfactor and provide sufficient information about every element of the 
subfactor. The narrative section of an application must not exceed 75 
pages, doubled spaced (excluding forms, budget narrative, assurances, 
commitment letters, memoranda of understanding, agreements, and 
abstract). Each page of the narrative must include the applicant's name 
and be numbered. Please note that although submitting pages in excess 
of the page limit will not disqualify an applicant, HUD will not 
consider the information on any excess pages. This exclusion may result 
in a lower score or failure to meet a threshold requirement.
    e. Budget. The budget submission must include the following:
    (1) HUD-424-CB, ``Grant Application Detailed Budget.'' This budget 
form shows the total budget by year and by line item for the program 
activities to be carried out with the proposed HUD grant. Each year of 
the program should be presented separately. Applicants must also submit 
this form to reflect the total cost for the entire grant performance 
period (Grand Total).
    Make sure that the amount shown on the SF-424, the HUD-424-CB, and 
all other required program forms is consistent and the budget totals 
are correct. Remember to check addition in totaling the categories on 
the HUD-424-CB form so that all items are included in the total. If 
there is an inconsistency between any of the budget forms required, the 
HUD-424-CB will be used. All budget forms must be fully completed. If 
an application is selected for award, the applicant may be required to 
provide greater specificity to the budget during grant agreement 
negotiations.
    (2) Budget Narrative. A narrative must be submitted that explains 
how the applicant arrived at the cost estimates for any line item over 
$5,000 cumulative. For example, an applicant proposes to construct a 
building using HUD funding totaling $200,000. The following costs 
estimate reflects this total. Foundation cost $75,000, electrical work 
$40,000, plumbing work $40,000, finishing work $35,000, and landscaping 
$10,000. The proposed cost estimates should be reasonable for the work 
to be performed and consistent with rates established for the level of 
expertise required to perform the work proposed in the geographical 
area. When necessary, quotes from various vendors or historical data 
should be used and included. All direct labor or salaries must be 
supported with mandated city/state pay scales, the Davis-Bacon rate, 
(if applicable) or other documentation. (See the General Section for 
how to submit this information electronically). When an applicant 
proposes to use a consultant, the applicant must indicate whether there 
is a formal written agreement. For each consultant, please provide the 
name, if known, hourly or daily rate, and the estimated time on the 
project. Applicants must submit a cost estimate based on historical 
data from the institution and/or from a qualified firm (e.g., 
Architectural or Engineering), vendor, and/or qualified individual 
(e.g., independent architect) other than the institution for projects 
that involve rehabilitation of residential, commercial and/or 
industrial structures, and/or acquisition, construction, or 
installation of public facilities and improvements.

[[Page 13716]]

Such an entity must be involved in the business of housing 
rehabilitation, construction and/or management. Equipment and contracts 
cannot be presented as a total estimated cost. For equipment, 
applicants must provide a list by type and cost for each item. 
Applicants using contracts must provide an individual description and 
cost estimate for each contract.
    (3) Indirect costs. Indirect costs, if applicable, are allowable 
based on an established approved indirect cost rate. Applicants should 
include a copy of their indirect cost rate agreement with their 
application. Please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for 
further discussion on electronic submission of required documentation. 
Applicants who are selected for funding that do not have an approved 
indirect cost rate agreement (established by the cognizant Federal 
agency, Certified Public Account, or auditor) will be required to 
establish a rate. In such cases, HUD will issue an award with a 
provisional rate and assist applicants with the process of establishing 
a final rate.
    f. Appendix. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic 
submission requirements and submitting a paper copy of the application 
must place all letters of commitment, memoranda of understanding and 
agreements for funds/resources in response to Factor 4 and other 
required forms in this section. For applicants submitting electronic 
applications, please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for 
instructions on how third party documents are to be submitted to HUD 
using the electronic submission process. An applicant SHOULD NOT submit 
general support letters, resumes, or other back-up materials. If this 
information is included, it will not be considered during the review 
process. The additional items will also slow the transmission of your 
application.

C. Submission Dates and Times

    A complete application package must be received electronically by 
the Grants.gov portal no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on or 
before June 13, 2005. Applications may be submitted in advance of the 
submission date. Electronic faxes using the Facsimile Transmittal (Form 
HUD 96011) cover sheet contained in the electronic application may be 
submitted prior to the application submission date and must be received 
no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on the application submission 
date. Please see Section IV.F of the General Section for electronic 
application submission instructions and timely receipt requirements.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    This program is excluded from an Intergovernmental Review.

E. Funding Restrictions

    Ineligible CDBG Activities are listed at 24 CFR 570.207. Funding 
may only be provided to applicants that meet the standards for eligible 
applicants in Section III. A. Ineligible activities include but are not 
limited to:
    a. Curriculum development and/or expansion of an institution's 
existing curriculum;
    b. General government expenses;
    c. Political activities; and
    d. Planning and administrative activities that would result in a 
grantee exceeding the 20 percent cost limitation on such activities.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    1. Application Submission and Receipt Procedure. Please read the 
General Section carefully and completely for the submission and receipt 
procedures for all applications because failure to comply may 
disqualify your application.
    2. Waiver of Electronic Submission Requirement. Please refer to the 
General Section for further discussion.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (25 Points). This factor addresses the extent 
to which the applicant has the organizational resources necessary to 
successfully implement the proposed activities in a timely manner. In 
rating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which the proposal 
demonstrates:
    a. Knowledge and Experience For First Time Applicants (25 Points) 
For Previously Funded Applicants (10 Points). The knowledge and 
experience possessed by the proposed project director and staff, 
including the day-to-day program manager, consultants (including 
technical assistance providers), and contractors in planning and 
managing this kind of program for which funding is being requested. 
Applicants must clearly identify the following: key project team 
members, titles (e.g., project manager/coordinator, etc.), respective 
roles for the project staff, and a brief description of their relevant 
experience. Experience will be judged in terms of recent and relevant 
knowledge and skills of the staff to undertake eligible program 
activities. HUD will consider experience within the last five (5) years 
to be recent and experience pertaining to similar activities to be 
relevant.
    b. Past Performance (15 Points) For Previously Funded Grant 
Applicants Only. This subfactor will evaluate the extent to which an 
applicant has performed successfully under all previously completed and 
open grants HUD/HSIAC grants. Applicants must be demonstrate this by 
providing the following information:
    (1) A detailed list outlining the achievement of specific tasks, 
measurable objectives, and specific outcomes consistent with the 
approved timeline/work plan in previous grants;
    (2) Comparison of the proposed required leveraged funds and/or 
resources in previous grants with what was actually leveraged;
    (3) A list of all HUD/HSIAC grants received, including the dollar 
amount awarded and the amount expended as of the date of this 
application; and
    (4) A detailed list outlining the timeliness and completeness of 
complying with all the HSIAC reporting requirements. In addressing 
timeliness, compare when reports were due with when they were actually 
submitted.
    HUD will also review an applicant's past performance in managing 
funds, including, but not limited to: The ability to account for 
funding appropriately; timely use of funds received from HUD; meeting 
performance targets for completion of activities; and receipt of 
promised leveraged funds. In evaluating past performance, HUD reserves 
the right to deduct up to five (5) points from this rating score as a 
result of the information obtained from HUD's records (i.e., progress 
and financial reports, monitoring reports, Logic Model submissions, and 
amendments), including the timely submission of required progress 
reports.
    2. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (10 Points). This 
factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for funding the 
proposed program activities and an indication of the importance of 
meeting the need(s) in the target area. The need(s) described must be 
relevant to the activities for which funds are being requested. The 
proposal will be evaluated on the extent to which the level of need for 
the proposed activities and the importance of meeting the need(s) are 
documented.
    In rating this factor, HUD will consider data collected within the 
last five (5) years to be current. To the extent that the targeted 
community's Five Year Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments to 
Fair Housing Choice (AI) identify the level of the problem and the 
urgency in meeting the need, applicants should include references to

[[Page 13717]]

these documents in the response to this factor.
    If the proposed activities are not covered under the scope of the 
Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice 
(AI), indicate this clearly in the proposal and use other sound data 
sources to identify the level of need and the urgency in meeting the 
need.
    Applicants must use statistics or other analyses contained in at 
least one or more current data sources that are sound and reliable. The 
data provided must be current and specific to the area where the 
proposed project activities will be carried out. Sources for localized 
data can be found at http://www.ffiec.gov.
    Other reliable data sources include, but are not limited to, Census 
reports, HUD Continuum of Care gap analysis and its E-MAP (http://
www.hud.gov/emaps), law enforcement agency crime reports, Public 
Housing Agencies' Comprehensive Plans, community needs analyses such as 
provided by the United Way, the applicant's institution, and other 
sound and reliable appropriate sources. Needs in terms of fulfilling 
court orders or consent decrees, settlements, conciliation agreements, 
and voluntary compliance agreements may also be addressed.
    3. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (45 Points). This factor 
addresses the quality and effectiveness of the proposed work plan, the 
commitment of the institution to sustain the proposed activities, 
actions regarding HUD's priorities, goals and objectives, and 
affirmatively furthering fair housing.
    This factor will be evaluated based on the extent to which the 
proposed work plan demonstrates the following:
    a. (34 Points) Quality of the Work Plan. This subfactor will be 
evaluated on the extent to which an applicant provides a clear detailed 
description of the proposed project and anticipated accomplishments.
    (1) (24 Points) Specific Services and/or Activities. The work plan 
must describe all proposed activities and major tasks required to 
successfully implement the proposed project.
    (a) Applicants must provide a clear description of the proposed 
activities and address the following:
    (i) Describe each proposed activity to successfully implement and 
complete the proposed project in measurable terms (e.g., the number of 
persons to trained and employed; houses to be built or rehabilitated; 
or minority owned businesses to be started, etc.);
    (ii) List how each proposed activity meets one of the following 
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program national objectives:
    [sbull] Benefit low- and moderate-income persons;
    [sbull] Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight; or
    [sbull] Meet other community development needs having a particular 
urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat 
to the health and welfare of the community, and other financial 
resources are not available to meet such needs. Criteria for 
determining whether an activity addresses one or more objective are 
provided at 24 CFR 570.208;
    (b) Outline the major tasks required (in sequential order) to 
successfully implement and complete the proposed program activities. 
Include target completion dates for each activity/task (in 6 month 
intervals, up to 36 months); and
    (c) Identify the individuals, as described in Factor 1, who will be 
responsible for completing each activity/task.
    (2) (10 Points) Describe clearly how each proposed activity will:
    (a) Expand the role of the institution in its community;
    (b) Address the needs identified in Factor 2;
    (c) Relate to and not duplicate other activities in the target 
area. Duplicative effort will be acceptable only if an applicant can 
demonstrate through documentation that there is a population in need 
that is not being served; and
    (d) Involve and empower citizens of the target area in the proposed 
project.
    b. (5 Points) Involvement of the Faculty and Students. The 
applicant must describe the extent to which it proposes to integrate 
the institution's students and faculty into proposed project 
activities.
    c. (3 Points) HUD Policy Priorities. HUD encourages applicants to 
undertake specific activities that will assist the Department in 
implementing its policy priorities and which will help the Department 
achieve its goals and objectives in FY 2006, when the majority of grant 
recipients will be reporting programmatic results and achievements. In 
addressing this factor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which a program 
will further and support HUD's priorities. The quality of the responses 
provided to one or more of HUD's priorities will determine the score an 
applicant can receive. Applicants must describe how each policy 
priority selected will be addressed. Applicants that just list a 
priority will receive no points.
    Each policy priority addressed has a point value of one point with 
the exception of the policy priority to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, which has a point value of up to 2 points. The 
total number of points available to applicants that address policy 
priorities is 3. It is up to the applicant to determine which of the 
policy priorities they elect to address to receive the available 3 
points. To receive points for efforts to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, an applicant must submit the completed 
questionnaire (HUD-27300) ``HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers'' found in the General Section along with required 
documentation. The form is part of the electronic application and is 
constructed to permit the required documentation to be attached to the 
electronic form. For the full list and explanation of each policy 
priority, please refer to the General Section.
    d. (3 Points) Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. This subfactor 
will be evaluated on the extent to which an applicant describes how it 
proposes to undertake activities designed to affirmatively further fair 
housing opportunities for individuals on the basis of race, color, 
national origin, sex, religion, familial status, or disability. For 
example:
    (1) Working with other entities in the community to overcome 
impediments to fair housing, such as discrimination in the sale or 
rental of housing or in advertising, provision of brokerage services or 
lending;
    (2) Promoting fair housing choice through the expansion of 
homeownership opportunities and improved quality of services for 
minorities, families with children, and persons with disabilities; or
    (3) Providing housing mobility counseling services.
    4. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (8 Points). This factor 
addresses the ability of the applicant to secure resources that can be 
combined with HUD's grant funds to achieve the program's purpose.
    In evaluating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which 
the applicant established partnerships with other entities to secure 
additional resources to increase the effectiveness of the proposed 
project activities. Resources may include funding or in-kind 
contributions, such as services or equipment, allocated for the 
purpose(s) of the grant. Resources may be provided by governmental 
entities, public or private nonprofit organizations, for-profit private 
organizations, or other entities. Applicants may also establish

[[Page 13718]]

partnerships with other program funding recipients to coordinate the 
use of resources in the target area. Overhead and other institutional 
costs (e.g., salaries, indirect costs, etc.) that the institution has 
waived may be counted. Examples of potential sources for outside 
assistance include:
    [sbull] Federal, state, and local governments.
    [sbull] Local or national nonprofit organizations.
    [sbull] Financial institutions and/or private businesses.
    [sbull] Foundations.
    [sbull] Faith-based and other community-based organizations.
    For each cash or in-kind contribution to the program a letter of 
commitment, memorandum of understanding, or agreement must be provided 
that shows the extent and firmness of the commitment of leveraged funds 
(including any commitment of resources from the applicant's own 
institution) in order for these resources to count in determining 
points under this factor. Resources will not be counted for which there 
is no commitment letter, memorandum of understanding, or agreement, or 
quantified level of commitment. (Applicants submitting paper copy 
applications must place all letters, memoranda of understanding, or 
agreements in the Appendix. Applicants submitting these items 
electronically must follow the submission directions in Section IV.F of 
the General Section.) The date of the letter, memorandum of 
understanding, or agreement from the CEO of the provider organization 
must be dated no earlier than nine months prior to this published NOFA. 
Letters, memoranda of understanding, or agreements must be submitted on 
the provider's letterhead in accordance with the instructions in the 
General Section. Applicants that do not provide the documentation 
evidencing the leveraging or address all items as outlined below will 
receive zero (0) points for this Factor.
    a. A firm commitment letter, memorandum of understanding, or 
agreement must address the following:
    (1) The cash amount contributed or dollar value of the in-kind 
goods and/or services committed (If a dollar amount and use is not 
shown, the source will not be counted);
    (2) A specific description of how the contribution is to be used 
toward one of the proposed activities;
    (3) The date the contribution will be made available and a 
statement that describes the duration of the contribution;
    (4) Any terms or conditions affecting the commitment, other than 
receipt of a HUD grant; and
    (5) The signature of the appropriate executive officer authorized 
to commit the funds and/or goods and/or services. Please remember that 
only items eligible for funding under this program can be counted.
    5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (12 
Points). This factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
management and accountability. It measures the applicant's commitment 
to assess their performance to achieve the program's proposed 
objectives and goals. Applicants are required to develop an effective, 
quantifiable, outcome oriented evaluation plan for measuring 
performance and determining that objectives and goals have been 
achieved. The Logic Model is a summary of the narrative statements 
presented in Factors 1-4. Therefore, the information submitted on the 
logic model should be consistent with the information contained in the 
narrative statements.
    ``Outcomes'' are benefits accruing to institutions and/or 
communities during or after participation in the HSIAC program. 
Applicants must clearly identify the outcomes to be measured and 
achieved. Examples of outcomes include increased employment 
opportunities in the target community by a certain percentage, or 
enhanced family stability through the creation of affordable housing 
opportunities.
    In addition, applicants must establish interim benchmarks and 
outputs that lead to the ultimate achievement of outcomes. ``Outputs'' 
are the direct products of the program's activities. Examples of 
outputs are the number of new affordable housing units, the number of 
homes that have been renovated, and the number of community facilities 
that have been constructed or rehabilitated. Outputs should produce 
outcomes for the program. At a minimum an applicant must address the 
following activities in the evaluation plan:
    a. Measurable outputs to be accomplished, e.g., the number of 
persons to be trained and employed; houses to be built (pursuant to 24 
CFR 570.207) or rehabilitated; minority-owned businesses to be started;
    b. Measurable outcomes the grant will have on the community in 
general and the target area or population; and
    c. The impact the grant will have on assisting the university to 
obtain additional resources to continue this type of work at the end of 
the grant performance period.
    This information must be placed on a HUD-96010, Program Outcome 
Logic Model form. Applicants may submit as many copies of this form as 
required. It will not be included in the page count requirement. A 
narrative is not required. However, if a narrative is provided, those 
pages will be included in the page count. Additional information on 
this form and how to use it can be found in the General Section.

B. Review and Selection Process

    1. Application Selection Process.
    Two types of reviews will be conducted:
    a. A threshold review to determine an applicant's basic 
eligibility; and
    b. A technical review for all applications that pass the threshold 
review to rate and rank the application based on the ``Rating Factors'' 
listed in Section V, A.

Only those applications that pass the threshold review will receive a 
technical review and be rated and ranked.
    2. Rating Panels. To review and rate applications, HUD may 
establish panels, which may include experts or consultants not 
currently employed by HUD. These individuals may be included to obtain 
certain expertise.
    3. Ranking. HUD will fund applications in rank order, until all 
available program funds are awarded. In order to be funded, an 
applicant must receive a minimum score of 75 points out of a possible 
102 points, which includes up to two bonus points that may be awarded 
for activities conducted in the RC/EZ/EC-II communities, as described 
in the General Section. If two or more applications have the same 
number of points, the application with the most points for Factor 3, 
Soundness of Approach, shall be selected. If there is still a tie, the 
application with the most points for Factor 1, Capacity of the 
Applicant and Relevant Organizational Experience, shall be selected. If 
there is still a tie, the application with the most points for Factors 
2, 4 and then 5 shall be selected, in that order, until the tie is 
broken. HUD reserves the right to make selections out of rank order to 
provide for geographic distribution of grantees.
    HUD also reserves the right to reduce the amount of funding 
requested in order to fund as many highly ranked applications as 
possible. Additionally, if funds remain after funding the highest 
ranked applications, HUD may fund part of the next highest-ranking 
application. If an applicant turns down an award offer, HUD will make 
an award to the next highest-ranking application. If funds remain after 
all

[[Page 13719]]

selections have been made, the remaining funds will be carried over to 
the next funding cycle's competition.
    4. Correction to Deficient Applications. The General Section 
provides the procedures for correction to deficient applications.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    Announcements of awards are anticipated on or before September 30, 
2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notice

    After all selections have been made, HUD will notify all winning 
applicants in writing. HUD may require winning applicants to 
participate in additional negotiations before receiving an official 
award. For further discussion on this matter, please refer to the 
General Section.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    For additional information regarding these requirements, please 
refer to Section VI.B in the General Section.
    1. Debriefing. The General Section provides the procedures for 
requesting a debriefing. All requests for debriefings must be made in 
writing and submitted to: Madlyn Wohlman-Rodriguez; Office of 
University Partnerships; Robert C. Weaver Federal Building; 451 Seventh 
Street, SW., Room 8130; Washington, DC 20410-6000. Applicants may also 
write to Ms Wohlman-Rodriguez via email at Madlyn--S.--Wohlman-
[email protected], and
    2. Administrative. Grants awarded under this NOFA will be governed 
by the provisions of 24 CFR part 84 (Grants and Agreements with 
Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals and Other Non-Profit 
Organizations), A-21 (Cost Principles for Educational Institutions) and 
A-133 (Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit 
Organizations). Applicants can access the OMB circulars at the White 
House Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html.
    3. OMB Circulars and Governmentwide Regulations Applicable to 
Financial Assistance Programs. The General Section provides further 
discussion.
    4. Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open Competition and 
Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors Labor Relations on 
Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects. See the General 
Section for further discussion.
    5. Procurement of Recovered Materials. The General Section provides 
further discussion of the federal law governing the procurement of 
recovered materials.
    6. Executive Order 13166, Improving Access to Services For Persons 
With Limited English Proficiency (LEP). See the General Section for 
further discussion.
    7. Code of Conduct. See the General Section for further discussion.

C. Reporting

    All grant recipients under this NOFA are required to submit semi-
annual progress reports. The progress reports shall consist of two 
components, a narrative that must reflect the activities undertaken 
during the reporting period and a financial report that reflects costs 
incurred by budget line items, as well as a cumulative summary of costs 
incurred during the reporting period.
    For each reporting period, as part of the required report to HUD, 
grant recipients must include a completed Logic Model (HUD 96010), 
which identifies output and outcome achievements.

VII. Agency Contacts

    Applicants may contact Madlyn Wohlman-Rodriguez at (202) 708-3061, 
extension 5939 or Susan Brunson, at (202) 708-3061, extension 3852. 
Persons with speech or hearing impairments may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (TTY) at (800) 877-8339. Except for the 
``800'' number, these numbers are not toll-free. Applicants may also 
reach Ms. Rodriguez via e-mail at Madlyn--S.--Wohlman-
[email protected], and/or Ms. Brunson at [email protected].

VIII. Other Information

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2528-0198. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public 
reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to 
average 59 hours per annum per respondent for the application and grant 
administration. This includes the time for collecting, reviewing, and 
reporting the data for the application semi-annual and final reports. 
The information will be used for grantee selection and monitoring the 
administration of funds. Response to this request for information is 
required in order to receive the benefits to be derived.
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[[Page 13723]]



Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian Institutions Assisting Communities (AN/
NHIAC) Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, Office of 
University Partnerships.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian 
Institutions Assisting Communities (AN/NHIAC) Program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Numbers: The Federal Register Number for 
this Notice Of Funding Availability (NOFA) is FR-4950-N-09. The OMB 
Approval Number for this program is 2528-0205.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: The CFDA 
Number for this program is 14.515.
    F. Dates: The application submission deadline shall be on or before 
June 16, 2005. Please be sure to read the General Section for 
electronic application submission and receipt requirements.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of the Program: The Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian 
Institutions Assisting Communities (AN/NHIAC) Program assists Alaska 
Native/Native Hawaiian Institutions (AN/NHI) of higher education expand 
their role and effectiveness in addressing community development needs 
in their localities, including neighborhood revitalization, housing, 
and economic development, principally for persons of low- and moderate-
income, consistent with the purposes of Title I of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1974, as amended.
    2. Award Information: In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately $3.9 
million has been made available for this program by the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447) plus $267,000 in previously 
unobligated funds are available for this program. The maximum amount an 
applicant can request for award is $800,000 for a maximum three-year 
(36 months) grant performance period. Approximately $2.1 million is 
being made available for Alaska Native Institutions (ANIs) and $2.1 
million is being made available for Native Hawaiian Institutions 
(NHIs). If funding remains after all eligible ANI applicants are 
awarded, the remaining funds will be made available to fund eligible 
NHI applicants. If funding remains after all eligible NHI applicants 
are awarded, the remaining funds will be made available to fund 
eligible ANI applicants.

Full Text Of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    The purpose of the Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian Institutions 
Assisting Communities (AN/NHIAC) Program is to assist Alaska Native/
Native Hawaiian Institutions (AN/NHI) of higher education expand their 
role and effectiveness in addressing community development needs in 
their localities, including neighborhood revitalization, housing, and 
economic development, principally for persons of low- and moderate-
income, consistent with the purposes of Title I of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1974, as amended.

A. Authority

    HUD's authority for making funding available under this NOFA is the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447, approved 
December 8, 2004). This program is being implemented through this NOFA 
and the policies governing its operation are contained herein.

B. Modifications

    Listed below are major modifications from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 
program-funding announcement:
    1. Applicants are required to submit their application 
electronically via the following Web site: http://www.grants.gov/Apply. 
Read the General Section for further discussion.
    2. Letters, memoranda of understanding, or agreements in response 
to Factor 4 now can be dated no earlier than nine months prior to the 
date of this published NOFA and received no later than the application 
submission date.

II. Award Information

    In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately $3.9 million is made 
available for this program, plus $267,000 in previously unobligated 
funds. HUD will award grants under this program to Alaska Native 
Institutions (ANI) and Native Hawaiian Institutions (NHI). The maximum 
amount an applicant can request for award is $800,000 for a maximum 
three-year (36 months) grant performance period. Approximately $2.1 
million is being made available for ANIs. If funding remains after all 
eligible ANI applicants are awarded, the remaining funds will be made 
available to fund eligible NHI applicants. Approximately $2.1 million 
is being made available for NHIs. If funding remains after all eligible 
NHI applicants are awarded, the remaining funds will be made available 
to award eligible ANI applicants.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Nonprofit Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Institutions of Higher 
Education that meet the definitions of Alaska Native and Native 
Hawaiian Institutions of Higher Education established in title III, 
part A, section 317 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended by 
the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-244; enacted 
October 7, 1998) are eligible to apply for funding under this program. 
Institutions are not required to be on the list of eligible AN/NHIs 
prepared by the U.S. Department of Education. However, an institution 
that is not on the list is required to provide a statement in the 
application that the institution meets the U.S. Department of 
Education's statutory definition of an AN/NHI institution. In order to 
meet the definition of an Alaska Native Institution, at least 20 
percent of the undergraduate headcount enrollment must be Alaska Native 
students. If an applicant is a Native Hawaiian institution, at least 10 
percent of the undergraduate headcount enrollment must be Native 
Hawaiian students in order to meet this definition. In addition, 
applicants must be accredited by a national or regional accrediting 
agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. If an applicant 
is one of several campuses of the same institution, the applicant may 
apply separately from the other campuses as long as the campus has a 
separate administrative structure and budget and meets the enrollment 
test outlined above. All applicants must be accredited by a national or 
regional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of 
Education.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    None required.

C. Other

    1. Eligible Activities: Eligible activities include, but are not 
limited to:
    a. Acquisition of real property;
    b. Clearance and demolition;
    c. Rehabilitation of residential structures and compliance with the 
accessibility requirements contained in Section 5 of the Rehabilitation 
Act of 1973;
    d. Acquisition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or 
installation of public facilities and improvements, such as water and 
sewer facilities and streets; including lead-based paint hazard 
evaluation and reduction and compliance with the accessibility 
requirements contained in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of

[[Page 13724]]

1973 and Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990;
    e. Direct homeownership assistance to low- and moderate-income 
persons, as provided in section 105(a)(25) of the Housing and Community 
Development Act of 1974;
    f. Special economic development activities described at 24 CFR 
570.203 and assistance to facilitate economic development by providing 
technical or financial assistance for the establishment, stabilization, 
and expansion of microenterprises, including minority enterprises;
    g. Assistance to community-based development organizations (CBDO) 
to carry out neighborhood revitalization, community economic 
development, or energy conservation projects, in accordance with 24 CFR 
570.204. This could include activities in support of a HUD-approved 
local entitlement grantee, CDBG Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy 
(NRS) or HUD-approved State CDBG Community Revitalization Strategy 
(CRS);
    h. Public service activities such as general support activities 
that can help to stabilize a neighborhood and contribute to sustainable 
redevelopment of the area, including but not limited to such activities 
as those concerned with employment, crime prevention, child care, 
health services, drug abuse, education, fair housing counseling, energy 
conservation, homebuyer down payment assistance, or recreational needs;
    i. Fair housing services designed to further the fair housing 
objectives of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601-20) by making all 
persons, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, 
family status, and/or disability aware of the range of housing 
opportunities available to them;
    j. Up to 20 percent of the grant may be used for payments of 
reasonable grant administrative costs related to planning and execution 
of the project (e.g., preparation/submission of HUD reports). Detailed 
explanations of these costs are provided in the OMB circulars that can 
be accessed at the White House Web site at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/
omb/circulars/index.html; and
    k. Activities designed to promote training and employment 
opportunities (e.g., Neighborhood Networks in federally-assisted or 
insured housing and employment opportunities for lower income persons 
in connection with assisted projects).
    Eligible activities that may be funded under this program are those 
activities that meet both the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) 
Program national objectives and eligibility requirements.
    a. The three national objectives of the Community Development Block 
Grant program are:
    (1) Benefit to low- or moderate-income persons;
    (2) Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight; and
    (3) Meet other community development needs having a particular 
urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat 
to the health and welfare of the community, and other financial 
resources are not available to meet such needs. Criteria for 
determining whether an activity addresses one or more of these 
objectives are provided at 24 CFR 570.208.
    The CDBG publication entitled ``Community Development Block Grant 
Program Guide to National Objectives and Eligible Activities for 
Entitlement Communities'' describes the CDBG regulations, and a copy 
can be obtained from HUD's NOFA Information Center at 800-HUD-8929 or 
800-HUD-2209 for the hearing- or speech-impaired.
    2. Audit Requirements. Applicants must ensure that their most 
current A-133 audit is on file at the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. 
(Applicants are not required to submit a copy of the audit with the 
application.) Grantees that expend $500,000 or more in Federal 
financial assistance in a single year (this can be program year or 
fiscal year) must be audited in accordance with the OMB requirements as 
established in 24 CFR part 84. Additional information regarding this 
requirement can be access at the following Web site: http://
harvester.census.gov/sac.
    3. Threshold Requirements Applicable to all Applicants. All 
applicants must comply with the threshold requirements as defined in 
the General Section and the requirements listed below to be evaluated, 
rated, and ranked. Applications that do not meet these requirements 
will be considered ineligible for funding and will be disqualified.
    a. The applicant must meet the eligibility requirements as defined 
in Section III.A, ``Eligible Applicants.''
    b. The applicant may request no more than $800,000 for award.
    c. Only one application can be submitted per campus. If multiple 
applications are submitted, all will be disqualified.
    d. An individual campus that is one of several campuses of the same 
institution may apply separately as long as the applicant's campus has 
a separate administrative and budget structure.
    e. Institutions that received grants in FY 2004 are not eligible to 
submit an application under this NOFA.
    f. Applicants must receive a minimum score of 75 points to be 
considered for funding.
    g. An applicant must have a DUNS number to receive HUD grant funds. 
(The General Section provides information regarding the DUNS 
requirement).
    h. Electronic applications must be received by Grants.gov no later 
than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on June 16, 2005. See the General 
Section for information on application submission and timely receipt 
requirements.
    4. Program Requirements. In addition to the program requirements 
listed in Section III.C of the General Section, applicants must meet 
the following program requirements:
    a. All funds awarded are for a three-year (36 months) grant 
performance period.
    b. Applicants that claim leveraging from any source, including 
their own institution, must provide letters of firm commitment, 
memoranda of understanding, or agreements evidencing the extent and 
firmness of the commitment of leveraging from other federal (e.g., 
Department of Education, AmeriCorps Programs, etc.), state, or local 
governments, and other public/private sources (including the 
applicant's own resources). These documents must follow the outline 
provided in Section V, Application Review Information, ``Factor 4: 
Leveraging Resources'' of this NOFA. Please refer to Section IV.F of 
the General Section for further instructions on how to submit these 
third party documents via the electronic submission process.
    c. Applicants must ensure that not less than 51 percent of the 
aggregated expenditures of a grant award are used to benefit low- and 
moderate-income persons under the criteria specified in 24 CFR 
570.208(a) or 570.208(d)(5) or (6).
    d. Site Control. Where grant funds will be used for acquisition, 
rehabilitation, or new construction, an applicant must demonstrate site 
control. Funds may be recaptured or deobligated from applicants that 
cannot demonstrate control of a suitable site within one year after the 
initial notification of award.
    e. Environmental Requirements. Selection for award does not 
constitute approval of any proposed sites. Following selection for 
award, HUD will perform an environmental review of properties proposed 
for assistance in accordance with 24 CFR part 50. The results of the 
environmental review may

[[Page 13725]]

require that proposed activities be modified or proposed sites be 
rejected. Applicants are particularly cautioned not to undertake or 
commit funds for acquisition or development of proposed properties 
prior to HUD approval of specific properties or areas. An application 
constitutes an assurance that the institution will assist HUD to comply 
with part 50; will supply HUD with all available and relevant 
information to perform an environmental review for each proposed 
property; will carry out mitigating measures required by HUD or select 
alternate property; and will not acquire, rehabilitate, convert, 
demolish, lease, repair, or construct property, and not commit or 
expend HUD or local funds for these program activities with respect to 
any eligible property until HUD's written approval of the property is 
received. In supplying HUD with environmental information, applicants 
should use the same guidance as provided in the HUD Notice CPD-99-01 
entitled ``Field Environmental Review Processing for HUD Colonias 
Initiative (HCI) Grants'' issued January 27, 1999.
    The General Section provides further discussion of the 
environmental requirements. Further information and assistance on HUD's 
environmental requirements is available at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/
cpd/energyenviron/environment/index.cfm.
    f. Labor Standards. Institutions and their subgrantees, 
contractors, and subcontractors must comply with the labor standards 
(Davis-Bacon) requirements referenced in 24 CFR 570.603.
    g. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very-Low Income Persons 
(Section 3).
    The provisions of Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development 
Act of 196 (12 U.S.C. 1701u) apply to this NOFA. Regulations may be 
found at 24 CFR Part 135.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address To Request Application Package

    Applicants may download the instructions to the application found 
on the Grants.gov Web site at http://www.Grants.gov./Apply. The 
instructions contain the General Section and Program Section of the 
published NOFA as well as forms that you must complete and attach as a 
zip file to your application submission. If you have difficulty 
accessing the information you may call the Grants.gov Support desk toll 
free 800-518-GRANTS or e-mail your questions to Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. The 
Support Desk staff will assist you in accessing the information. Please 
remember that you must be registered to submit an application utilizing 
Grants.gov. Your registration allows you to electronically sign the 
application and enables Grants.gov to authenticate that the person 
signing the application has the legal authority to submit the 
application on behalf of the applicant. Please see the General Section 
for information regarding the registration process or ask for 
registration information from the Grants.gov Support Desk. Please be 
aware that the registration process is a separate process from 
requesting e-mail notification of funding opportunities or downloading 
the application and should be done as soon as you download the 
application from the Grants.gov Web site. If you are not sure if you 
are already registered, the Grants.gov Support Desk can assist in 
verifying whether you are registered.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    1. Forms. The following forms are required for submission. Copies 
of these forms are included in Appendix A of the General Section. The 
electronic version of the NOFA contains all forms required for 
submission.
    a. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424);
    b. Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants (SF-424 
Supplement);
    c. Grant Application Detailed Budget (HUD-424-CB);
    d. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL);
    e. America's Affordable Communities Initiative (HUD-27300), if 
applicable;
    f. Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880);
    g. Program Logic Model (HUD-96010);
    h. Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994). This form is 
included to solicit information from the most valuable source, the 
applicant. The changes that we have instituted this year are designed 
to make things easier for the applicant. If applicants complete and 
submit this form, it will help us to assess whether the changes have 
had the intended results. It will also guide us in our continuing 
efforts to improve the competitive grant process. Applicants are not 
required to complete this form;
    i. Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan (HUD-
2991);
    j. Acknowledgement of Applicant Receipt (HUD-2993). Only applicants 
that do not submit an electronic application need to include this form 
with their application. Please complete this form if you have received 
a waiver to the electronic application submission requirement. 
Applicants are not required to include this form, but it is recommended 
that they do so; and
    k. Facsimile Transmittal Cover Page (HUD 96011). This form must be 
used as part of the electronic application to transmit third party 
documents and other information as described in the General Section as 
part of your electronic application submittal (if applicable). 
Applicants are advised to download the application package, complete 
the SF 424 first and it will pre-populate the Transmittal Cover page. 
The Transmittal Cover page will contain a unique identifier embedded in 
the page that will help HUD associate your faxed materials to your 
application. Please download the cover page and then make multiple 
copies to provide to any of the entities responsible for submitting 
faxed materials to HUD on your behalf.
    2. Certifications and Assurances. Please read the General Section 
for detailed information on all Certifications and Assurance. All 
applications submitted through Grants.gov constitute an acknowledgement 
and agreement to all required certifications and assurances. Please 
include in your application each item listed below. Applicants 
submitting paper copy applications should submit the application in the 
following order:
    a. SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. Please remember the 
following:
    (1) The full grant amount (entire three-years) should be entered, 
not the amount for just one year;
    (2) Include the name, title, address, telephone number, facsimile 
number, and email address of the designated contact. This is the person 
who will receive the reviewers' comments; therefore, please ensure the 
accuracy of the information;
    (3) The Employer Identification/Tax ID number;
    (4) The DUNS Number;
    (5) The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this 
program is 14.515;
    (6) The project's proposed start date and completion date. For the 
purpose of this application, the program start date should be November 
1, 2005; and
    (7) The signature of the Authorized Organization Representative 
(AOR) who has been authenticated by the credential provider to submit 
applications via Grants.gov. The AOR must be able to make a legally 
binding agreement with HUD. See the General Section for instructions 
and requirements for Registration with Grants.gov.

[[Page 13726]]

    b. Application Checklist. Applicants should use the checklist to 
ensure that they have all the required components of their application. 
Applicants submitting an electronic application do not have to submit 
the checklist. Applicants that receive a waiver of the electronic 
application submission requirement must include a copy of the checklist 
in their application submission. The checklist is found in Attachment A 
of this NOFA.
    c. Abstract. Applicants must include the following:
    (1) A clear description of the proposed project activities, the 
target population that will be assisted, and the impact this project 
will have on the institution;
    (2) A statement that the institution is an eligible institution 
because it is a two- or four-year fully accredited institution, the 
name of the accrediting agency and an assurance that the accrediting 
agency is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education;
    (3) A statement that the institution meets the definition of an 
Alaska Native Institution, at least 20 percent of the undergraduate 
headcount enrollment must be Alaska Native students. If an applicant is 
a Native Hawaiian institution, in order to meet this definition, at 
least 10 percent of the undergraduate headcount enrollment must be 
Native Hawaiian students;
    (4) The designated contact person, including phone number, 
facsimile number, and email address. (This is the person who will 
receive the reviewers' comments; therefore, please ensure the accuracy 
of the information);
    (5) University's name, campus, mailing address, telephone number, 
facsimile number, and e-mail address; and
    (6) The principal investigator, if different from the designated 
contact person, for the project, including phone number, facsimile 
number, and email address.
    d. Narrative statement addressing the Rating Factors. HUD will use 
the narrative response to the ``Rating Factors'' to evaluate, rate, and 
rank applications. The narrative statement is the main source of 
information. Applicants are advised to review each factor carefully for 
program specific requirements. The response to each factor should be 
concise and contain only information relevant to the factor, but 
detailed enough to address each factor fully. Please do not repeat 
material in response to the five factors; instead, focus on how well 
the proposal responds to each of the factors. In factors where there 
are subfactors, each subfactor must be presented separately, with the 
short title of the subfactor presented. Make sure to address each 
subfactor and provide sufficient information about every element of the 
subfactor. The narrative section of an application must not exceed 75 
pages, doubled spaced (excluding forms, budget narrative, assurances, 
commitment letters, memoranda of understanding, agreements, and 
abstract). Each page of the narrative must include the applicant's name 
and be numbered. Please note that although submitting pages in excess 
of the page limit will not disqualify an applicant, HUD will not 
consider the information on any excess pages. This exclusion may result 
in a lower score or failure to meet a threshold requirement.
    e. Budget. The budget submission must include the following:
    (1) HUD-424-CB, ``Grant Application Detailed Budget.'' This budget 
form shows the total budget by year and by line item for the program 
activities to be carried out with the proposed HUD grant. Each year of 
the program should be presented separately. Applicants must also submit 
this form to reflect the total cost for the entire grant performance 
period (Grand Total).
    Make sure that the amount shown on Form SF-424, the HUD-424-CB and 
on all other required program forms is consistent and the budget totals 
are correct. Remember to check addition in totaling the categories on 
the Form HUD-424-CB so that all items are included in the total. If 
there is any inconsistency between any of the required forms the HUD-
424-CB will be used. All budget forms must be fully completed. If an 
application is selected for award, the applicant may be required to 
provide greater specificity to the budget during grant agreement 
negotiations.
    (2) Budget Narrative. A narrative must be submitted that explains 
how the applicant arrived at the cost estimates for any line item over 
$5,000 cumulative. For example, an applicant proposes to construct a 
building using HUD funding totaling $200,000. The following costs 
estimate reflects this total. Foundation cost $75,000, electrical work 
$40,000, plumbing work $40,000, finishing work $35,000, and landscaping 
$10,000. The proposed cost estimates should be reasonable for the work 
to be performed and consistent with rates established for the level of 
expertise required to perform the work proposed in the geographical 
area. When necessary, quotes from various vendors or historical data 
should be used and included. (See the General Section for how to submit 
this information electronically). When an applicant proposes to use a 
consultant, the applicant must indicate whether there is a formal 
written agreement. For each consultant, please provide the name, if 
known, hourly or daily rate, and the estimated time on the project. 
Applicants must submit a cost estimate based on historical data from 
the institution and/or from a qualified firm (e.g., Architectural or 
Engineering), vendor, and/or qualified individual (e.g., independent 
architect) other than the institution for projects that involve 
rehabilitation of residential, commercial and/or industrial structures, 
and/or acquisition, construction, or installation of public facilities, 
and improvements. Such an entity must be involved in the business of 
housing rehabilitation, construction, and/or management. Equipment and 
contracts cannot be presented as a total estimated cost. For equipment, 
applicants must provide a list by type and cost for each item. 
Applicants using contracts must provide an individual description and 
cost estimate for each contract.
    (3) Indirect costs. Indirect costs, if applicable, are allowable 
based on an established approved indirect cost rate. Applicants should 
include a copy of their indirect cost rate agreement with their 
application. Please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for 
further discussion on electronic submission of required documentation. 
Applicants who are selected for funding that do not have an approved 
indirect cost rate agreement (established by the cognizant federal 
agency, Certified Public Account, or auditor) will be required to 
establish a rate. In such cases, HUD will issue an award with a 
provisional rate and assist applicants with the process of establishing 
a final rate.
    f. Appendix. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic 
submission requirements and submitting a paper copy of the application 
must place all letters of commitment, memoranda of understanding and 
agreements for funds/resources in response to Factor 4 and other 
required forms in this section. For applicants submitting electronic 
applications, please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for 
instructions on how third party documents are to be submitted to HUD 
using the electronic submission process. An applicant SHOULD NOT submit 
general support letters, resumes, or other back-up materials. If this 
information is included, it will not be considered during the review 
process. The additional items will also slow the transmission of your 
application.

[[Page 13727]]

C. Submission Dates and Times

    A complete application package must be received electronically by 
the Grants.gov portal no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on or 
before the application June 16, 2005. Applications may be submitted in 
advance of the submission date. Electronic faxes using the Facsimile 
Transmittal (Form HUD 96011) cover sheet contained in the electronic 
application may be submitted prior to the application submission date 
and must be received no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on the 
application submission date. Please see Section IV.F of the General 
Section for electronic application submission instructions and timely 
receipt requirements.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    This program is excluded from an Intergovernmental Review.

E. Funding Restrictions

    Ineligible CDBG Activities are listed at 24 CFR 570.207. Funding 
may only be provided to applicants that meet the standards for eligible 
applicants in Section III.A. Ineligible activities include but are not 
limited to:
    1. New construction of public housing;
    2. General government expenses;
    3. Political activities;
    4. Planning and administrative activities that would result in a 
grantee exceeding the 20 percent cost limitation on such activities; 
and
    5. Development and/or expansion of an institution's existing 
curriculum when it is primarily to enhance the institution rather than 
to achieve the specific goals/objectives of the proposed project.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    1. Application Submission and Receipt Procedure. Please read the 
General Section carefully and completely for the submission and receipt 
procedures for all applications because failure to comply may 
disqualify your application.
    2. Waiver of Electronic Submission Requirements. Please refer to 
the General Section for further discussion.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. Rating Factor 1. Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (25 Points). This factor addresses the extent 
to which the applicant has the organizational resources necessary to 
successfully implement the proposed activities in a timely manner. In 
rating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which the proposal 
demonstrates:
    a. Knowledge and Experience For First Time Applicants (25 Points) 
For Previously Funded Applicants (13 Points). The knowledge and 
experience possessed by the proposed project director and staff, 
including the day-to-day program manager, consultants (including 
technical assistance providers), and contractors in planning and 
managing this kind of project for which funding is being requested. 
Applicants must clearly identify the following: key project team 
members, titles (e.g., project manager/coordinator, etc.), respective 
roles for the project staff and a brief description of their relevant 
experience. Experience will be judged in terms of recent and relevant 
knowledge and skills of the staff to undertake eligible program 
activities. HUD will consider experience within the last five (5) years 
to be recent and experience pertaining to similar activities to be 
relevant.
    b. Past Performance (12 Points) For Previously Funded Applicants 
Only. This subfactor will evaluate the extent to which an applicant has 
performed successfully under all previously completed and open HUD/AN/
NHIA grants. Applicants must demonstrate this by providing the 
following information:
    (1) A detailed list outlining the achievement of specific tasks, 
measurable objectives, and specific outcomes consistent with the 
approved timeline/work plan in previous grants;
    (2) Comparison of proposed leveraged funds and/or resources in 
previous grants to what was actually leveraged;
    (3) A list of all HUD/AN/NHIAC grants received, including the 
dollar amount awarded and the amount expended as of the date of this 
application; and
    (4) A detailed list outlining the timeliness and completeness of 
complying with all the AN/NHIAC reporting requirements. In addressing 
timeliness compare when reports were due with when they were actually 
submitted. HUD will also review an applicant's past performance in 
managing funds, including, but not limited to: the ability to account 
for funding appropriately; timely use of funds received from HUD; 
meeting performance targets for completion of activities; and receipt 
of promised leveraged funds. In evaluating past performance, HUD 
reserves the right to deduct up to five (5) points from this rating 
score as a result of the information obtained from HUD's records (i.e., 
progress and financial reports, monitoring reports, Logic Model 
submissions, and amendments), including the timely submission of 
required progress reports.
    2. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (10 Points). This 
factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for funding the 
proposed program activities and an indication of the importance of 
meeting the need(s) in the target area. The need(s) described must be 
relevant to the activities for which funds are being requested. The 
proposal will be evaluated on the extent to which the level of need for 
the proposed activities and the importance of meeting the need(s) are 
documented.
    Applicants must use statistics and analyses contained in at least 
one or more current data sources that are sound and reliable. The data 
provided must be current and specific to the area where the proposed 
project activities will be carried out. Sources for localized data can 
be found at: http://www.ffiec.gov.
    In rating this factor, HUD will consider data collected within the 
last five (5) years to be current. To the extent that the targeted 
community's Five (5) Year Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments 
to Fair Housing Choice (AI) identify the level of the problem and the 
urgency in meeting the need, applicants should include references to 
these documents in the response to this factor.
    Other reliable data sources include, but are not limited to, Census 
reports, HUD Continuum of Care gap analysis and its E-MAP (http://
www.hud.gov/emaps), law enforcement agency crime reports, Public 
Housing Agencies' Comprehensive Plans, community needs analyses such as 
provided by the United Way, the applicant's institution, and other 
sound and reliable appropriate sources. Needs in terms of fulfilling 
court orders or consent decrees, settlements, conciliation agreements, 
and voluntary compliance agreements may also be addressed.
    3. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (45 Points). This factor 
addresses the quality and effectiveness of the proposed work plan, the 
commitment of the institution to sustain the proposed activities, 
actions regarding HUD's priorities, goals and objectives, and 
affirmatively furthering fair housing.
    This factor will be evaluated based on the extent to which the 
proposed work plan demonstrates the following.
    a. (35 Points) Quality of the Work Plan. This subfactor will be 
evaluated on the extent to which an applicant provides a clear detailed 
description of the proposed project and anticipated accomplishments.

[[Page 13728]]

    (1) (30 Points) Specific Services and/or Activities. The work plan 
must describe all proposed activities and major tasks required to 
successfully implement the proposed project.
    (a) Applicants must provide a clear description of the proposed 
activities and address the following:
    (i) Describe each proposed activity to successfully implement and 
complete the proposed project in measurable terms (e.g., the number of 
homes that will be renovated, the number of jobs created, etc.);
    (ii) List how each proposed activity meets one of the following 
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program national objectives:
    [sbull] Benefit low- and moderate-income person;
    [sbull] Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight; or
    [sbull] Meet other community development needs having a particular 
urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat 
to the health and welfare of the community, and other financial 
resources are not available to meet such needs. Criteria for 
determining whether an activity addresses one or more objectives are 
provided at 24 CFR 570.208;
    (b) Outline the major tasks required (in sequential order) to 
successfully implement and complete the proposed project activities. 
Include the target completion dates for these tasks (in 6 month 
intervals, up to 36 months); and
    (c) Identify the individuals, as described in Factor 1, who will be 
responsible and accountable for completing each task.
    (2) (5 Points) Describe clearly how each proposed activity will:
    (a) Expand the role of the institution in its community;
    (b) Address the needs identified in Factor 2;
    (c) Relate to and not duplicate other activities in the target 
area. Duplicative effort will be acceptable only if an applicant can 
demonstrate through documentation that there is a population in need 
that is not being served; and
    (d) Involve and empower citizens of the target area in the proposed 
project.
    b. (4 Points) Involvement of the faculty and students. The 
applicant must describe the extent to which it proposes to integrate 
the institution's students and faculty into proposed project 
activities.
    c. (3 Points) HUD Policy Priorities. HUD encourages applicants to 
undertake specific activities that will assist the Department in 
implementing its policy priorities and which help the Department 
achieve its goals and objectives in FY 2006, when the majority of grant 
recipients will be reporting programmatic results and achievements. In 
addressing this factor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which a program 
will further and support HUD's priorities. The quality of the responses 
provided to one or more of HUD's priorities will determine the score an 
applicant can receive. Applicants must describe how each policy 
priority selected will be addressed. Applicants that just list a 
priority will receive no points.
    Each policy priority addressed has a point value of one point with 
the exception of the policy priority to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, which has a point value of up to 2 points. The 
total number of points available to applicants that address policy 
priorities is 3. It is up to the applicant to determine which of the 
policy priorities they elect to address to receive the available 3 
points. To receive points for efforts to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, an applicant must submit the completed 
questionnaire (HUD-27300) ``HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers'' found in the General Section along with required 
documentation. The form is part of the electronic application and is 
constructed to permit the required documentation to be attached to the 
electronic form. For the full list and explanation of each policy 
priority, please refer to the General Section.
    d. (3 Points) Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. This subfactor 
will be evaluated on the extent to which an applicant describes how it 
proposes to undertake activities designed to affirmatively further fair 
housing opportunities for individuals on the basis of race, color, 
national origin, sex, religion, familial status, or disability. For 
example:
    (1) Working with other entities in the community to overcome 
impediments to fair housing, such as discrimination in the sale or 
rental of housing or in advertising, provision of brokerage services or 
lending;
    (2) Promoting fair housing choice through the expansion of 
homeownership opportunities and improved quality of services for 
minorities, families with children, and persons with disabilities; or
    (3) Providing housing mobility counseling services.
    4. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (8 Points). This factor 
addresses the ability of the applicant to secure resources that can be 
combined with HUD's grant funds to achieve the program's purpose.
    In evaluating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which 
the applicant established partnerships with other entities to secure 
additional resources to increase the effectiveness of the proposed 
project activities. Resources may include funding or in-kind 
contributions, such as services or equipment, allocated for the 
purpose(s) of the grant. Resources may be provided by governmental 
entities, public or private nonprofit organizations, for-profit private 
organizations, or other entities. Applicants may also establish 
partnerships with other program funding recipients to coordinate the 
use of resources in the target area. Overhead and other institutional 
costs (e.g., salaries, indirect costs, etc.) that the institution has 
waived may be counted. Examples of potential sources for outside 
assistance include:
    [sbull] Federal, state, and local governments.
    [sbull] Public Housing Agencies.
    [sbull] Local or national nonprofit organizations.
    [sbull] Financial institutions and/or private businesses.
    [sbull] Foundations.
    [sbull] Faith-based and other community-based organizations.
    For each cash or in-kind contribution to the program a letter of 
commitment, memorandum of understanding, or agreement must be provided 
that shows the extent and firmness of the commitment of leveraged funds 
(including any commitment of resources from the applicant's own 
institution) in order for these resources to count in determining 
points under this factor. Resources will not be counted for which there 
is no commitment letter, memorandum of understanding, or agreement, or 
quantified level of commitment. (Applicants submitting paper copy 
applications must place all letters, memoranda of understanding, or 
agreements in the Appendix. Applicants submitting these items 
electronically must follow the submission directions in Section IV.F of 
the General Section.) The date of the letter, memorandum of 
understanding, or agreement from the CEO of the provider organization 
must be dated no earlier than nine months prior to this published NOFA. 
Letters, memoranda of understanding, or agreements must be submitted on 
the provider's letterhead in accordance with the instructions in the 
General Section. Applicants that do not provide the documentation 
evidencing the leveraging or address all items as outlined below will 
receive zero (0) points for this Factor.

[[Page 13729]]

    A firm commitment letter, memorandum of understanding, or agreement 
must address the following:
    (1) The cash amount contributed or dollar value of the in-kind 
goods and/or services committed (If a dollar amount and use is not 
shown, the source will not be counted);
    (2) A specific description of how each contribution is to be used 
toward the proposed activities;
    (3) The date the contribution will be made available and a 
statement that describes the duration of the contribution;
    (4) Any terms or conditions affecting the commitment, other than 
receipt of a HUD Grant; and
    (5) The signature of the appropriate executive officer authorized 
to commit the funds and/or goods and/or services. Please remember that 
only items eligible for funding under this program can be counted.
    5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (12 
Points). This factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
management and accountability. It measures the applicant's commitment 
to assess their performance to achieve the program's proposed 
objectives and goals. Applicants are required to develop an effective, 
quantifiable, outcome oriented evaluation plan for measuring 
performance and determining that objectives and goals have been 
achieved. The Logic Model is a summary of the narrative statements 
presented in Factors 1-4. Therefore, the information submitted on the 
logic model should be consistent with the information contained in the 
narrative statements.
    ``Outcomes'' are benefits accruing to institutions of higher 
education and/or communities during or after participation in the AN/
NHIAC program. Applicants must clearly identify the outcomes to be 
measured and achieved. Examples of outcomes include increased community 
development in the target community by a certain percentage, increased 
employment opportunities in the target community by a certain 
percentage, increased incomes/wages or other assets for persons 
trained, and or enhanced family stability through the creation of 
affordable housing opportunities.
    In addition, applicants must establish interim benchmarks and 
outputs that lead to the ultimate achievement of outcomes. ``Outputs'' 
are the direct products of the program's activities. Examples of 
outputs are the number of new affordable housing units, the number of 
homes that have been renovated, and the number of facilities that have 
been constructed or rehabilitated. Outputs should produce outcomes for 
the program. At a minimum, an applicant must address the following 
activities in the evaluation plan:
    a. Measurable outputs to be accomplished (e.g., the number of 
persons to be trained and employed; houses to be built pursuant to 24 
CFR 570.207 or rehabilitated; minority-owned businesses to be started);
    b. Measurable outcomes the grant will have on the community in 
general and the target area or population; and
    c. The impact the grant will have on assisting the university to 
obtain additional resources to continue this type of work at the end of 
the grant performance period.
    This information must be placed on a HUD-96010, Program Outcome 
Logic Model form. Applicants may submit as many copies of this form as 
required. It will not be included in the page count. A narrative is not 
required. However, if a narrative is provided, those pages will be 
included in the page count. Additional information on this form and how 
to use can be found in the General Section.

B. Review and Selection Process

    1. Application Selection Process. Two types of reviews will be 
conducted:
    a. A threshold review to determine an applicant's basic 
eligibility; and
    b. A technical review for all applications that pass the threshold 
review to rate and rank the application based on the ``Rating Factors'' 
listed in Section V.A.
    Only those applications that pass the threshold review will receive 
a technical review and be rated and ranked.
    2. Rating Panels. To review and rate applications, HUD may 
establish panels, which may include experts or consultants not 
currently employed by HUD. These individuals may be included to obtain 
certain expertise.
    3. Ranking. HUD will fund applications in rank order, until all 
available program funds are awarded. In order to be funded, an 
applicant must receive a minimum score of 75 points out of a possible 
100 points for Factors 1 through 5. The RC/EZ/EC-II bonus points 
described in the General Section do not apply to this NOFA. If two or 
more applications have the same number of points, the application with 
the most points for Factor 3, Soundness of Approach, shall be selected. 
If there is still a tie, the application with the most points for 
Factor 1, Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational 
Experience, shall be selected. If there is still a tie, the application 
with the most points for Factors 2, 4 and then 5 shall be selected, in 
that order, until the tie is broken. HUD reserves the right to make 
selections out of rank order to provide for geographic distribution of 
grantees.
    HUD also reserves the right to reduce the amount of funding 
requested in order to fund as many highly ranked applications as 
possible. Additionally, if funds remain after funding the highest 
ranked applications, HUD may fund part of the next highest-ranking 
application. If an applicant turns down an award offer, HUD will make 
an award to the next highest-ranking application. If funds remain after 
all selections have been made, the remaining funds will be carried over 
to the next funding cycle's competition.
    4. Correction to Deficient Applications. The General Section 
provides the procedures for correction to deficient applications.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    Announcements of awards are anticipated on or before September 30, 
2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    After all selections have been made, HUD will notify all winning 
applicants in writing. HUD may require winning applicants to 
participate in additional negotiations before receiving an official 
award. For further discussion on this matter, please refer to the 
General Section.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    For additional information regarding these requirements, please 
refer to Section VI.B. in the General Section.
    1. Debriefing. The General Section provides the procedures for 
requesting a debriefing. All requests for debriefings must be made in 
writing and submitted to: Sherone Ivery; Office of University 
Partnerships; Robert C. Weaver Federal Building; 451 Seventh Street, 
SW., Room 8106; Washington DC 20410. Applicants may also write to Ms. 
Ivey via e-mail at [email protected].
    2. Administrative. Grants awarded under this NOFA will be governed 
by the provisions of 24 CFR part 84 (Grants and Agreements with 
Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals and Other Non-Profit 
Organizations), A-21 (Cost Principles for Educational Institutions) and 
A-133 (Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit 
Organizations). Applicants can access

[[Page 13730]]

the OMB circulars at the White House Web site at: http://
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html.
    3. OMB Circulars and Government-wide Regulations Applicable to 
Financial Assistance Programs. The General Section provides further 
discussion.
    4. Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open Competition and 
Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors Labor Relations on 
Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects. See the General 
Section for further discussion.
    5. Procurement of Recovered Materials. See the General Section for 
further discussion.
    6. Executive Order 13166, Improving Access to Services For Persons 
With Limited English Proficiency (LEP). See the General Section for 
further discussion.
    7. Code of Conduct. See the General Section for further discussion.

C. Reporting

    All grant recipients under this NOFA are required to submit 
quarterly progress reports. The progress reports shall consist of two 
components, a narrative that must reflect the activities undertaken 
during the reporting period and a financial report that reflects costs 
incurred by budget line item, as well as a cumulative summary of cost 
incurred during the reporting period.
    For each reporting period, as part of the required report to HUD, 
grant recipients must include a completed Logic Model form (HUD-96010), 
which identifies output and outcome achievements.

VII. Agency Contacts

    Applicants may contact Sherone Ivey at (202) 708-3061, extension 
4200 or Susan Brunson at (202) 708-3061, extension 3852. Persons with 
speech or hearing impairments may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service TTY at (800) 877-8339. Except for the ``800'' number, these 
numbers are not toll-free. Applicants may also reach Ms. Ivey via email 
at [email protected], and/or Ms. Brunson at Susan--S.--
[email protected].

VIII. Other Information:

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2528-0205. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public 
reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to 
average 59 hours per annum per respondent for the application and grant 
administration. This includes the time for collecting, reviewing, and 
reporting the data for the application, quarterly, and final reports. 
The information will be used for grantee selection and monitoring the 
administration of funds. Response to this request for information is 
required in order to receive the benefits to be derived.
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

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BILLING CODE 4210-32-C

[[Page 13734]]

Tribal Colleges and Universities Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, Office of 
University Partnerships.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Tribal Colleges and Universities 
Program (TCUP).
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Numbers: The Federal Register Number for 
this Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) is FR-4950-N-13. The OMB 
Approval Number for this program is 2528-0215.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: The CFDA 
Number for this program is 14.519.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is June 16, 2005. Please 
be sure to read the General Section for electronic application 
submission and receipt requirements.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of the Program. The Tribal Colleges and Universities 
Program (TCUP) assists Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU) to build, 
expand, renovate, and equip their own facilities.
    2. Award Information: In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately 
$2.976 million has been appropriated by the Consolidated Appropriations 
Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447). The maximum amount an applicant can 
request for award is $600,000 for a maximum three-year (36 months) 
grant performance period.
    3. Eligible Applicants: Tribal Colleges and Universities that meet 
the definition of a TCU established in Title III of the 1998 Amendments 
to the Higher Education Act of 1965 (Pub. L. 105-244, approved October 
7, 1998) are eligible to apply for funding under this program. 
Institutions must be accredited or provide a statement in the abstract 
of the application that states the institution is a candidate for 
accreditation by a regional institutional accrediting association 
recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    The purpose of this program is to assist Tribal Colleges and 
Universities (TCU) to build, expand, renovate, and equip their own 
facilities.

A. Authority

    HUD's authority for making funding available under this NOFA is the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447; approved 
December 8, 2004). This program is being implemented through this NOFA 
and the policies governing its operation are contained herein.

B. Modifications

    Listed below are major modifications from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 
program-funding announcement.
    1. Applicants are required to submit their application 
electronically via the following Web site: http://www.grants.gov/Apply. 
Read the General Section for further discussion.
    2. Letters, memoranda of understanding, or agreements in response 
to Factor 4 now can be dated no earlier than nine months before the 
date of this published NOFA and received no later than the application 
submission date.

II. Award Information

    In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately $2.976 million is made 
available under this NOFA. The maximum amount an applicant can request 
for award is $600,000 for a maximum three-year (36 months) grant 
performance period.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Tribal Colleges and Universities that meet the definition of a TCU 
established in Title III of the 1998 Amendments to the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (Pub. L. 105-244, enacted October 7, 1998) are eligible to 
apply for funding under this program. Institutions must be accredited, 
or provide a statement in their application that verifies the 
institution is a candidate for accreditation, by a regional 
institutional accrediting association recognized by the U.S. Department 
of Education.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    None required.

C. Other

    1. Eligible Activities. Eligible activities include building, 
expanding, renovating, and equipping facilities owned by the 
institution (a long-term lease for five years or more in duration is 
considered an acceptable form of ownership under this program). 
Buildings for which TCUP funding is used that also serve the community 
are eligible; however, the facilities must be predominantly (at least 
51 percent of the time) for the use of the institution (e.g., students, 
faculty, and staff). Examples of eligible activities include, but are 
not limited to:
    a. Building a new facility (e.g., classrooms, administrative 
offices, Health and Cultural centers, gymnasium, technology centers, 
etc.);
    b. Renovating an existing or acquired facility;
    c. Expanding an existing or acquired facility;
    d. Equipping university facilities (e.g., lab equipment, library 
books, furniture, etc.); or
    e. Property acquisition; and
    f. Applicants can use up to 20 percent of the grant for payments of 
reasonable grant administrative costs related to planning and execution 
of the project (e.g., preparation/submission of HUD reports). A 
detailed explanation of these costs is provided in the OMB circulars 
that can be accessed at the White House Web site at: http://
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html.
    Each activity proposed for funding must meet at least one of the 
following Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program national 
objectives:
    [sbull] Benefit low- and moderate-income persons;
    [sbull] Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight; or
    [sbull] Meet other community development needs having a particular 
urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat 
to the health and welfare of the community, and other financial 
resources are not available to meet such needs.
    Criteria for determining whether an activity addresses one or more 
objectives are provided at 24 CFR 570.208. The CDBG publication 
entitled ``Community Development Block Grant Program Guide to National 
Objectives and Eligible Activities for Entitlement Communities'' 
describes the CDBG regulations, and a copy can be obtained from HUD's 
NOFA Information Center at 800-HUD-8929 or 800-HUD-2209 for the 
hearing-impaired.
    2. Audit Requirements. Applicants must ensure that their most 
current A-133 audit is on file at the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. 
(Applicants are not required to submit a copy of the audit with their 
application.) Grantees that expend $500,000 or more in Federal 
financial assistance in a single year (this can be program year or 
fiscal year) must be audited in accordance with the OMB requirements as 
established in 24 CFR part 84. Additional information regarding this 
requirement can be access at the following Web site: http://
harvester.census.gov/sac.
    3. Threshold Requirements Applicable to All Applicants. All 
applicants must comply with the threshold requirements as defined in 
the General Section and the requirements listed below to be evaluated, 
rated, and

[[Page 13735]]

ranked. Applications that do not meet these requirements are considered 
ineligible for funding and will be disqualified.
    a. The applicant must meet the eligibility requirements as defined 
in Section III.A. Eligible Applicants.
    b. The applicant may request no more than $600,000 for award.
    c. Only one application can be submitted per campus. If multiple 
applications are received, all will be disqualified.
    d. An individual campus that is one of several campuses of the same 
institution may apply separately as long as the applicant's campus has 
a separate administrative and budget structure.
    d. Institutions that received grants in FY 2004 are not eligible to 
apply under this NOFA.
    e. Applicants must receive a minimum score of 75 points to be 
considered for funding.
    f. An applicant must have a DUNS number to receive HUD grant funds. 
(The General Section provides information regarding the DUNS 
requirement).
    h. Electronic applications must be received by Grants.gov no later 
than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on June 16, 2005. See the General 
Section for information on application submission and timely receipt 
requirements.
    4. Program Requirements. In addition to the standard requirements 
listed in Section III.C. of the General Section, applicants must meet 
the following program requirements:
    a. All funds awarded are for a three-year (36 months) grant 
performance period.
    b. While communitywide use of a facility (that is purchased, 
equipped, leased, renovated or built) is permissible under this 
program, the facility must be predominantly for the use of the 
institution (i.e., it must be used by the staff, faculty, and/or 
students at least 51 percent of the time).
    c. Applicants that claim leveraging from any source (e.g., Tribal, 
Federal and/or state governments, Tribally Designated Housing Entities, 
foundations, etc.), including their own institution, must provide 
letters of firm commitment, memoranda of understanding, or agreements 
evidencing the extent and firmness of the commitment. These documents 
must follow the outline provided in Section V. Application Review 
Information ``Factor 4: Leveraging Resources'' of this NOFA. Please 
refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for further instruction on 
how to submit these third party documents via the electronic submission 
process.
    d. If a TCU is a part or instrumentality of a federally recognized 
tribe, the applicant must comply with the Indian Civil Rights Act (25 
U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) and all other applicable civil rights statutes and 
authorities as set forth in 24 CFR 1000.12. If the TCU is not a part or 
instrumentality of a federally recognized tribe the applicant must 
comply with the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601-19) and implementing 
regulations at 24 CFR part 100 et seq., Title VI of the Civil Rights 
Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d-2000d-4) (Nondiscrimination in Federally 
Assisted Programs) and implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 1, and 
Section 109 of Title One of the Housing and Community Development Act 
of 1974 (HCDA), as amended, with respect to nondiscrimination on the 
basis of age, sex, religion, or disability and implementing regulations 
at 24 CFR part 6.
    e. Labor Standards. Institutions and their subgrantees, contractors 
and subcontractors must comply with the labor standards (Davis-Bacon) 
requirements referenced in 24 CFR 570.603. However, in accordance with 
HCDA section 107(e)(2), the Secretary waives the provisions of HCDA 
section 110 with respect to the TCUP program for grants to a TCU that 
is part of a tribe, i.e., a TCU that is legally a department or other 
part of a tribal government, but not a TCU that is established under 
tribal law as an entity separate from the tribal government. If a TCU 
is not part of a tribe, the labor standards of HCDA section 110, as 
referenced in 24 CFR 570.603, apply to activities under the grant to 
the TCU.
    f. Environmental Requirements. Selection for award does not 
constitute approval of any proposed sites. Following selection for 
award, HUD will perform an environmental review of activities proposed 
for assistance in accordance with 24 CFR part 50. The results of the 
environmental review may require that proposed activities be modified 
or proposed sites be rejected. Applicants are particularly cautioned 
not to undertake or commit funds for acquisition or development of 
proposed properties prior to HUD approval of specific properties or 
areas. An application constitutes an assurance that the institution 
will assist HUD to comply with part 50; will supply HUD with all 
available and relevant information to perform an environmental review 
for each proposed property; will carry out mitigating measures required 
by HUD or select alternate property; and will not acquire, 
rehabilitate, convert, demolish, lease, repair, or construct property 
and not commit or expend HUD or local funds for these program 
activities with respect to any eligible property until HUD's written 
approval of the property is received. In supplying HUD with 
environmental information, applicants should use the same guidance as 
provided in the HUD Notice CPD-99-01 entitled ``Field Environmental 
Review Processing for HUD Colonia Initiative (HCI) Grants'' issued 
January 27, 1999.
    Further information and assistance on HUD's environmental 
requirements is available at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/
energyenviron/environment/index.cfm.
    g. Site Control. Where grant funds will be used for acquisition, 
rehabilitation, or new construction an applicant must demonstrate site 
control. Funds may be recaptured or deobligated from applicants that 
cannot demonstrate control of a suitable site within one year after the 
initial notification of award.
    h. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very-Low Income Persons 
(Section 3). The provisions of Section 3 of the Housing and Urban 
Development Act of 196 (12 U.S.C. 1701u) apply to this NOFA. 
Regulations are located at 24 CFR part 135.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address To Request Application Package

    Applicants may download the instructions to the application found 
on the Grants.gov Web site at http://www.Grants.gov./Apply. The 
instructions contain the General Section and Program Section of the 
published NOFA as well as forms that you must complete and attach as a 
zip file to your application submission. If you have difficulty 
accessing the information, you may call the Grants.gov Support desk 
toll free, 800-518-GRANTS or email your questions to 
Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. The Support Desk staff will assist you in accessing 
the information. Please remember that you must be registered to submit 
an application utilizing Grants.gov. Your registration allows you to 
electronically sign the application and enables Grants.gov to 
authenticate that the person signing the application has the legal 
authority to submit the application on behalf of the applicant. Please 
see the General Section for information regarding the registration 
process or ask for registration information from the Grants.gov Support 
Desk. Please be aware that the registration process is a separate 
process from requesting email notification of funding opportunities or 
downloading the application and should be done as soon as you download 
the application

[[Page 13736]]

from the Grants.gov Web site. If you are not sure if you are already 
registered, the Grants.gov Support Desk can assist in verifying whether 
you are registered.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    1. Forms. The following forms are required for submission. Copies 
of these forms are included in Appendix A of the General Section. The 
electronic version of the NOFA contains all forms required for 
submission.
    a. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424);
    b. Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants (SF-424 
Supplement);
    c. Grant Application Detailed Budget (HUD-424-CB);
    d. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL);
    e. America's Affordable Communities Initiative (HUD-27300), if 
applicable;
    f. Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880);
    g. Program Logic Model (HUD-96010);
    h. Acknowledgement of Applicant Receipt (HUD-2993). Only applicants 
that do not submit an electronic application need to include this form 
with their application. Please complete this form if you have received 
a waiver to the electronic application submission requirement. 
Applicants are not required to include this form, but it is recommended 
that they do so;
    i. Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994). This form is 
included to solicit information from the most valuable source, the 
applicant. The changes that we have instituted this year are designed 
to make things easier for the applicant. If applicants complete and 
submit this form, it will help us to assess whether the changes have 
had the intended results. It will also guide us in our continuing 
efforts to improve the competitive grant process. Applicants are not 
required to complete this form; and
    j. Facsimile Transmittal Cover Page (HUD 96011). This form must be 
used as part of the electronic application to transmit third party 
documents and other information as described in the General Section as 
part of your electronic application submittal (if applicable). 
Applicants are advised to download the application package, complete 
the SF-424 first and it will pre-populate the Transmittal Cover page. 
The Transmittal Cover page will contain a unique identifier embedded in 
the page that will help HUD associate your faxed materials to your 
application. Please download the cover page and then make multiple 
copies to provide to any of the entities responsible for submitting 
faxed materials to HUD on your behalf.
    2. Certifications and Assurances. Please read the General Section 
for detailed information on all the Certifications and Assurances. All 
applications submitted through Grants.gov constitute an acknowledgement 
and agreement to all required certifications and assurances. Please 
include in your application each item listed below. Applicants 
submitting paper copy applications should submit the application in the 
following order:
    a. SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. Please remember the 
following:
    (1) The full grant amount (entire three-years) should be entered, 
not the amount for just one year;
    (2) Include the name, title, address, telephone number, facsimile 
number, and email address of the designated contact. This is the person 
who will receive the reviewer comments; therefore, please ensure the 
accuracy of the information;
    (3) The Employer Identification/Tax ID number;
    (4) The DUNS Number;
    (5) The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this 
program is 14.519;
    (6) The project's proposed start and completion dates. For the 
purpose of this application the program start date should be November 
1, 2005; and
    (7) The signature of the Authorized Organization Representative 
(AOR) who has been authenticated by the credential provider to submit 
applications via Grants.gov. The AOR must be able to make a binding 
legal agreement with HUD. See the General Section for instructions and 
requirements for Registration with Grants.gov.
    b. Application Checklist. Applicants should use the checklist to 
ensure that they have all the required elements of their application 
submission requirements. Applicants receiving a waiver of the 
electronic application submission requirement must include a copy of 
the checklist in their application submission. Applicants submitting an 
electronic application do not have to submit the checklist in their 
application. The checklist is found in the NOFA (See Attachment A).
    c. Abstract. Applicants must include the following:
    (1) A clear description of the proposed project activities, the 
target population that will be assisted, and the impact this project 
will have on the institution;
    (2) A statement that the institution is an eligible institution 
because it is a two-or four-year fully accredited institution, the name 
of the accrediting agency and an assurance that the accrediting agency 
is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education; or the applicant is 
a candidate for accreditation by a regional instructional accrediting 
association recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, including 
the name of the accrediting agency;
    (3) The designated contact person, including phone number, 
facsimile number, and email address (This is the person who will 
receive the reviewers' comments; therefore, please ensure the accuracy 
of the information);
    (4) University's name, mailing address, telephone number, facsimile 
number and email address; and
    (5) The project director, if different from the designated contact 
person for the project, including phone number, facsimile number, and 
email address.
    d. Narrative statement addressing the Rating Factors. HUD will use 
the narrative response to the ``Rating Factors'' to evaluate, rate, and 
rank applications. The narrative statement is the main source of 
information. Applicants are advised to review each factor carefully for 
program specific requirements. The response to each factor should be 
concise and contain only information relevant to the factor, but 
detailed enough to address the factor fully. Please do not repeat 
material in response to the five factors; instead focus on how well the 
proposal responds to each of the factors. In factors where there are 
subfactors, each subfactor must be presented separately, with the short 
title of the subfactor presented. Make sure to address each subfactor 
and provide sufficient information about every element of the 
subfactor. The narrative section of an application must not exceed 75 
pages, doubled spaced (excluding forms, budget narrative, assurances, 
commitment letters, memoranda of understanding, agreements, and 
abstract). Each page of the narrative must be numbered and include the 
applicant's name. Please note that although submitting pages in excess 
of the page limit will not disqualify an applicant, HUD will not 
consider the information on any excess pages. This exclusion may result 
in a lower score or failure to meet a threshold requirement.
    e. Budget. The budget submission must include the following:
    (1) HUD-424-CB, ``Grant Application Detailed Budget.'' This budget 
form shows the total budget by year and by line item for the program 
activities to be

[[Page 13737]]

carried out with the proposed HUD grant. Each year of the program 
should be presented separately. Applicants must also submit this form 
to reflect the total cost for the entire grant performance period 
(Grand Total).
    Make sure that the amount shown on the SF-424, HUD-424-CB, and all 
other required program forms is consistent and the totals are correct. 
Remember to check the addition in totaling the categories on the HUD-
424-CB form so that all items are included in the total. All budget 
forms must be fully completed. If an application is selected for award, 
the applicant may be required to provide greater specificity to the 
budget during grant agreement negotiations.
    (2) Budget Narrative. Applicants must submit a narrative that 
explains how the applicant arrived at the cost estimates for any line 
item over $5,000 cumulative. For example, an applicant proposes to 
construct an addition to an existing building, which will cost 
approximately $200,000. The following cost estimate reflects this 
total: Foundation cost $75,000, electrical work $40,000, plumbing work 
$40,000, interior finishing work $35,000 and landscaping $10,000. The 
proposed cost estimates should be reasonable for the work to be 
performed and consistent with rates established for the level of 
expertise required to perform the work proposed in the geographical 
area. When necessary, quotes from various vendors or historical data 
should be used and included. All direct labor or salaries must be 
supported with mandated city/state pay scales, Davis-Bacon wage rates, 
tribally designated wage rate (if applicable) or other documentation 
(See the General Section of how to submit this information 
electronically). When an applicant proposes to use a consultant, the 
applicant must indicate whether there is a formal written agreement. 
For each consultant, please provide the name, if known, hourly or daily 
fee, and the estimated time on the project. Applicants must submit a 
cost estimate based on historical data from the institution and/or from 
a qualified firm (e.g., Architectural or Engineering firm), vendor and/
or qualified individual (e.g., independent architect) other than the 
institution for projects that involve rehabilitation of residential, 
commercial and/or industrial structures, and/or acquisition, 
construction, or installation of public facilities and improvements. 
Such an entity must be involved in the business of rehabilitation, 
construction, and/or management. Equipment and contracts cannot be 
presented as a total estimated figure. For equipment, applicants must 
provide a list by type and cost for each item. Applicants using 
contracts must provide an individual description and cost estimate for 
each contract.
    (3) Indirect costs. Indirect costs, if applicable, are allowable 
based on an established approved indirect cost rate. Applicants should 
include a copy of their indirect cost rate agreement with their 
application. Please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for 
instructions on how these documents are to be submitted to HUD using 
the electronic submission process. Applicants who are selected for 
funding that do not have an approved indirect cost rate agreement 
(established by the cognizant Federal agency, Certified Public Account, 
or auditor) will be required to establish a rate. In such cases, HUD 
will issue an award with a provisional rate and assist applicants with 
the process of establishing a final rate.
    f. Appendix. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic 
submission requirements and submitting a paper copy of the application 
must place all letters of commitment, memoranda of understanding and 
agreements for funds/resources in response to Factor 4 and other 
required forms in this section. For applicants submitting electronic 
applications, please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for 
instructions on how third party documents are to be submitted to HUD 
using the electronic submission process. An applicant SHOULD NOT submit 
general support letters, resumes, or other back-up materials. If this 
information is included, it will not be considered during the review 
process. The additional items will also slow the transmission of your 
application.

C. Submission Dates and Times

    A complete application package must be received electronically by 
the Grants.gov portal no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on or 
before June 16, 2005. Applications may be submitted in advance of the 
submission date. Electronic faxes using the Facsimile Transmittal (Form 
HUD 96011) cover sheet contained in the electronic application may be 
submitted prior to the application submission date and must be received 
no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on the application submission 
date. Please see Section IV.F of the General Section for electronic 
application submission instructions and timely receipt requirements.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    This program is excluded for an Intergovernmental Review.

E. Funding Restrictions

    Ineligible activities for funding under this program include, but 
are not limited to the following:
    1. Renovation of a facility in which the facility is not used at 
least 51 percent of the time by the institution;
    2. Rental space to another entity that operates a small business 
assistance center;
    3. Building of a new facility, where the activities are for non-
students or the activities are primarily run by an outside entity;
    4. Using more than 20 percent of the grant for payments of grant 
administrative costs related to planning and execution of the project 
(e.g., preparation/submission of HUD reports);
    5. Public services, or program delivery type activities; and
    6. Curriculum development and or expansion on an institution's 
existing curriculum.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    1. Application Submission and Receipt Procedure. Please read the 
General Section carefully and completely for the electronic submission 
and receipt procedures for all applications because failure to comply 
may disqualify your application.
    2. Waiver of Electronic Submission Requirements. Please refer to 
Section IV.F. of the General Section for further discussion.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (25 Points). This factor addresses the extent 
to which the applicant has the organizational resources necessary to 
successfully implement the proposed activities in a timely manner. In 
rating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which the applicant 
demonstrates:
    a. Knowledge and Experience. For First Time Applicants (25 Points) 
For Previously Funded Applicants (15 Points). The knowledge and 
experience possessed by the proposed project director and staff, 
including the day-to-day program manager, consultants (including 
technical assistance providers), and contractors in planning and 
managing the kind of projects for which funding is being requested. 
Applicants must clearly identify the following: key project team 
members, titles (e.g., project manager/coordinator, etc.), respective 
roles for the project staff, and a brief description of their

[[Page 13738]]

relevant experience. Experience will be judged in terms of recent and 
relevant knowledge and skills of the staff to undertake eligible 
program activities. HUD will consider experience within the last five 
(5) years to be recent and experience pertaining to similar activities 
to be relevant.
    b. Past Performance (10 Points) For Previously Funded Grant 
Applicants Only. This subfactor will evaluate the extent to which an 
applicant has performed successfully under all previously completed and 
open HUD/TCUP grants. Applicants must demonstrate this by providing the 
following information:
    (1) A detailed list outlining the achievement of specific tasks, 
measurable objectives, and specific outcomes consistent with the 
approved timeline/work plan in previous grants;
    (2) Comparison of the proposed leveraged funds and/or resources in 
previous grants with what was actually leveraged;
    (3) A list of all HUD/TCUP grants received, including the dollar 
amount awarded and the amount expended as of the date of this 
application; and
    (4) A detailed list outlining the timeliness and completeness of 
complying with all the TCUP reporting requirements. In addressing 
timeliness compare when reports were due with when they were actually 
submitted.
    HUD will also review an applicant's past performance in managing 
funds, including, but not limited to: The ability to account for 
funding appropriately; timely use of funds received from HUD; meeting 
performance targets for completion of activities; and receipt of 
promised leveraged funds. In evaluating past performance, HUD reserves 
the right to deduct up to five (5) points from this rating score as a 
result of the information obtained from HUD's records (i.e., progress 
and financial reports, monitoring reports, Logic Model submission, and 
amendments), including timely submission of required progress reports.
    2. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (10 Points). This 
factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for funding the 
proposed project activities and an indication of the importance of 
meeting the need(s). The need(s) described must be relevant to 
activities for which funds are being requested. The proposal will be 
evaluated on the extent to which the level of need for the proposed 
project activities and the importance of meeting the need(s) are 
documented.
    Applicants must use statistics and analyses contained in at least 
one or more current data sources that are sound and reliable. The data 
provided must be current and specific to the area where the proposed 
project activities will be carried out. Reliable sources of data may 
include information that describes the need, such as a need to have a 
building renovated because it is 50 years old and is deteriorating; a 
new computer lab has been built, but the computers are obsolete; a 
library has been expanded, but the books are outdated, etc. When 
presenting data, include the source and date of the information.
    3. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (45 Points). This factor 
addresses the quality and effectiveness of the proposed work plan. 
There must be a clear relationship between the proposed activities and 
the need(s) identified in Factor 2 for an applicant to receive points 
for this factor.
    This factor will be evaluated based on the extent to which the 
proposed work plan demonstrates the following:
    a. (40 Points) Quality of Work Plan. This subfactor will be 
evaluated on the extent to which an applicant provides a clear detailed 
description of the proposed project and anticipated accomplishments. 
Specifically, HUD will examine the proposed activities and determine to 
what extent the project activities are measurable (e.g., the number of 
classrooms added, the increase in enrollment), result in improvement to 
the institution as a result of the project activities (e.g., fifty more 
students will be receiving computer literacy training, etc.), and how 
well the applicant demonstrates that these objectives will be achieved 
by the proposed management plan and team.
    (1) (35 Points) Specific Services and/or Activities. The work plan 
must:
    (a) Provide a clear description of all the proposed activities;
    (b) Outline major tasks in sequential order (e.g., complete 
environmental review requirement, develop plans and specifications, 
advertise bids, etc.) necessary to successfully implement the proposed 
project, and target completion dates for the tasks;
    (c) Identify the individuals, as described in Factor 1, who will be 
responsible for completing the identified tasks; and
    (d) Describe the measurable objectives that will be realized as a 
result of implementing the proposed project.
    (2) (5 Points) Describe clearly how each proposed project activity 
will:
    (a) Address the needs identified in Factor 2;
    (b) Relate to and not duplicate other activities in the target 
area; and
    (c) Meet one of the following Community Development Block Grant 
(CDBG) Program national objectives:
    (1) Benefit low- and moderate-income persons;
    (2) Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight; or
    (3) Meet other community development needs having a particular 
urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat 
to the health and welfare of the community, and other financial 
resources are not available to meet such needs. Criteria for 
determining whether an activity addresses one or more objectives are 
provided at 24 CFR 570.208.
    b. (2 Points) Involvement of the Faculty and Students. The 
applicant must describe the extent to which it proposes to integrate 
the institution's students and faculty into proposed project 
activities.
    c. (3 Points) HUD Policy Priorities. HUD encourages applicants to 
undertake specific activities that will assist the Department in 
implementing its policy priorities and help the Department achieve its 
goals and objectives in FY 2006, when the majority of grant recipients 
will be reporting programmatic results and achievement. In addressing 
this factor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which a program will 
further and support HUD priorities. The quality of the responses 
provided to one or more of HUD's priorities will determine the score an 
applicant can receive. Applicants must describe how each policy 
priority will be addressed. Applicants that just list a priority will 
receive no points.
    Each policy priority addressed has a point value of one point, with 
the exception of the policy priority related to remove regulatory 
barriers to affordable housing, which has a value of up to 2 points. 
The total number of points available to applicants that address policy 
priorities is
    3. It is up to the applicant to determine which of the policy 
priorities they elect to address to receive the available 3 points. To 
receive points for efforts to remove regulatory barriers to affordable 
housing, an applicant must submit the completed questionnaire (HUD-
27300) ``HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory Barriers'' found in 
the General Section along with required documentation. The form is part 
of the electronic application and is constructed to permit the required 
documentation to be attached to the electronic form. For the full list 
and explanation of each policy priority, please refer to the General 
Section.

[[Page 13739]]

    4. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (8 Points). This factor 
addresses the ability of the applicant to secure resources that can be 
combined with HUD's grant funds to achieve the program's purpose.
    In evaluating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which 
the applicant established partnerships with other entities to secure 
additional resources to increase the effectiveness of the proposed 
program activities. Resources may include funding or in-kind 
contributions, such as services or equipment, allocated for the 
purpose(s) of the grant. Resources may be provided by governmental 
entities (e.g., Tribal, Federal, and/or state governments), public or 
private nonprofit organizations, for-profit private organizations, or 
other entities. Overhead and other institutional costs (e.g., salaries, 
indirect costs) that the institution has waived may be counted. 
Examples of potential sources for outside assistance include:
    [sbull] Tribal, Federal, state, and local governments.
    [sbull] Tribally Designated Housing Entities.
    [sbull] Local or national nonprofit organizations.
    [sbull] Banks and/or private businesses.
    [sbull] Foundations.
    [sbull] Faith-based and other community-based organizations.
    For each cash or in-kind contribution, a letter of commitment, 
memorandum of understanding, or agreement must be provided that shows 
the extent and firmness of the commitments of leveraged funds 
(including any commitment of resources from the applicant's own 
institution) in order for these resources to count in determining 
points under this factor. Resources will not be counted for which there 
is no commitment letter, memorandum of understanding or agreement or 
quantified level of commitment. Letters, memoranda of understanding, or 
agreements must be submitted from the provider on the provider's 
letterhead and included in the application package. (Applicants 
submitting paper copy applications must place all letters, memoranda of 
understanding, or agreements in the Appendix. Applicants submitting 
these items electronically must follow the submission directions in 
Section IV.F of the General Section.) The date of the letter, 
memorandum of understanding, or agreement from the CEO of the 
provider's organization must be dated no earlier than nine months prior 
to the date of this published NOFA. Letters, memoranda of understanding 
or agreements must be submitted on the provider's letterhead in 
accordance with the instructions in the General Section. Applicants 
that do not include evidence of leveraging or address all the items 
listed below will receive zero (0) points for this Factor.
    a. A firm commitment letter, memorandum of understanding or 
agreement must address the following:
    (1) The cash amount contributed or dollar value of the in-kind 
goods and/or services committed (If a dollar amount and use is not 
shown, the source will not be counted);
    (2) A specific description of how each contribution is to be used 
toward the proposed activities;
    (3) The date the contribution will be made available and a 
statement that describes the duration of the contribution;
    (4) Any terms or conditions affecting the commitment, other than 
receipt of a HUD grant; and
    (5) The signature of the appropriate executive officer authorized 
to commit the funds and/or goods and/or services. Please remember that 
only items eligible for funding under this program can be counted.
    5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (12 
Points). This factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
management and accountability. The factor measures the applicant's 
commitment to assess their performance to achieve the project's 
proposed objectives and goals. Applicants are required to develop an 
effective, quantifiable, outcome-oriented evaluation plan for measuring 
performance and determining that objectives and goals have been 
achieved. The Logic Model is a summary of the narrative statements 
presented in Factors 1-4. Therefore, the information submitted on the 
logic model should be consistent with the information contained in the 
narrative statements.
    ``Outcomes'' are benefits accruing to institutions of higher 
education during or after participation in the TCUP program. Applicants 
must clearly identify the outcomes to be measured and achieved. 
Examples of outcomes include an increased number of campus facilities 
(e.g., newly built or renovated), an increased number of classroom 
spaces available, or an increased student enrollment and graduation 
rate.
    In addition, applicants must establish interim benchmarks and 
outputs that lead to the ultimate achievement of outcomes. ``Outputs'' 
are the direct products of the project's activities. Examples of 
outputs are the number of new facilities renovated, or the number of 
new dormitories built. Outputs should produce outcomes for the project. 
At a minimum, an applicant must address the following activities in the 
evaluation plan:
    a. Short-and-long term outputs to be achieved;
    b. Measurable outcomes the grant will have on the university or the 
target population;
    This information must be placed on a HUD-96010, Program Outcome 
Logic Model form. Applicants may submit as many copies of this form as 
required. It will not be included in the page count. A narrative is not 
required. However, if a narrative is provided, those pages will be 
included in the page count. Additional information on this form and how 
to use can be found in the General Section.

B. Review and Selection Process

    1. Application Selection Process.
    Two types of reviews will be conducted:
    a. A threshold review to determine an applicant's basic 
eligibility; and
    b. A technical review for all applications that pass the threshold 
review to rate and rank the application based on the ``Rating Factors'' 
listed in Section V.A. above. Only those applications that pass the 
threshold review will receive a technical review and be rated and 
ranked.
    2. Rating Panels. To review and rate applications, HUD may 
establish panels that may include experts or consultants not currently 
employed by HUD. These individuals may be included to obtain certain 
expertise.
    3. Ranking. HUD will fund applications in rank order, until all 
available program funds are awarded. In order to be funded, an 
applicant must receive a minimum score of 75 points out of a possible 
100 points. The RC/EZ/EC-II bonus points described in the General 
Section do not apply to this NOFA. If two or more applications have the 
same number of points, the application with the most points for Factor 
3, Soundness of Approach, shall be selected. If there is still a tie, 
the application with the most points for Factor 1, Capacity of the 
Applicant and Relevant Organizational Experience, shall be selected. If 
there is still a tie, the application with the most points for Factor 
2, 4, and 5 shall be selected in that order until the tie is broken. 
HUD reserves the right to select out of rank order to provide for 
geographic distribution of grantees. HUD also reserves the right to 
reduce the amount of funding requested in order to fund as many highly 
ranked applications as possible. Additionally, if funds remain after 
funding the highest ranked applications, HUD may fund part of the

[[Page 13740]]

next highest-ranking application. If an applicant turns down the award 
offer, HUD will make the same determination for the next highest-
ranking application. If funds remain after all selections have been 
made, the remaining funds will be carried over to the next funding 
cycle's competition.
    4. Corrections to Deficient Applications. The General Section 
provides the procedures for corrections to deficient applications.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    Announcements of awards are anticipated on or before September 30, 
2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notice

    After all selections have been made, HUD will notify all winning 
applicants in writing. HUD may require winning applicants to 
participate in additional negotiations before receiving an official 
award. For further information about award administration, please refer 
to the General Section.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    For additional information regarding these requirements, please 
refer to Section VI.B. in the General Section.
    1. Debriefing. The General Section provides the procedures for 
requesting a debriefing. All requests for debriefings must be made in 
writing and submitted to: Sherone Ivey; Office of University 
Partnerships; Robert C. Weaver Federal Building; 451 Seventh Street, 
SW., Room 8106; Washington, DC 20410-6000. Applicants may also write to 
Ms. Ivey via email at [email protected].
    2. Administrative. Grants awarded under this NOFA will be governed 
by the provisions of 24 CFR part 84 (Grants and Agreements with 
Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals and Other Non-Profit 
Organizations), A-21 (Cost Principles for Educational Institutions) and 
A-133 (Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit 
Organizations). Applicants can access the OMB circulars at the White 
House Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html.
    3. OMB Circulars and Government Wide Regulations Applicable to 
Financial Assistance Programs. The General Section provides discussion 
of OMB circulars and governmentwide regulations.
    4. Code of Conduct. See the General Section for further discussion.
    5. Procurement of Recovered Materials. See Section III.C. of the 
General Section for further discussion.
    6. Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open Competition and 
Government Neutrality Toward Government Contractors' Labor Relations of 
Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects. See the General 
Section for further discussion if applicable.
    7. Executive Order 13166, Improving Access to Services For Persons 
With Limited English Proficiency (LEP). See the General Section for 
further discussion.

C. Reporting

    All grant recipients under this NOFA are required to submit 
quarterly progress reports. The progress reports shall consist of two 
components, a narrative that must reflect the activities undertaken 
during the reporting period and a financial report that reflects costs 
incurred by budget line item, as well as a cumulative summary report 
during the reporting period.
    For each reporting period, as part of the required report to HUD, 
grant recipients must include a completed Logic Model (HUD-96010), 
which identifies output and outcome achievements.

VII. Agency Contacts

    Applicants may contact Sherone Ivey at (202) 708-3061, extension 
4200, or Susan Brunson at (202) 708-3061, extension 3852. Persons with 
speech or hearing impairments may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service TTY at (800) 877-8339. Except for the ``800'' number, these 
numbers are not toll-free. Applicants may also reach Ms. Ivey via email 
at [email protected], and Ms. Brunson at Susan--S.--
[email protected].

VIII. Other

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2528-0215. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public 
reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to 
average 68 hours per annum per respondent for the application and grant 
administration. This includes the time for collecting, reviewing, and 
reporting the data for the application, quarterly and final report. The 
information will be used for grantee selection and monitoring the 
administration of funds. Response to this request for information is 
required in order to receive the benefits to be derived.
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

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[[Page 13744]]



The Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, Office of 
University Partnerships.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Community Outreach Partnership 
Centers (COPC) Program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Numbers: The Federal Register Number for 
this Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) is FR-4950-N-10. The OMB 
Approval Number for this program is 2528-0180.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: The CFDA 
Number for this program is 14.511.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is June 23, 2005. Please 
be sure to read the General Section for electronic application 
submission and receipt requirements.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of the Program. The Community Outreach Partnership 
Centers (COPC) Program provides funds to two-year and four-year 
colleges and universities to establish and operate COPCs to address the 
problems of urban areas.
    2. Award Information. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately $6.64 
million has been appropriated by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2005 (Pub. L. 108-447). HUD will award two kinds of grants under this 
program, First Time Grants and New Directions Grants.
    a. First Time Grants will be awarded to applicants who have never 
received a COPC grant to undertake eligible work. The maximum amount an 
applicant can request for award is $400,000 for a maximum three-year 
(36 months) grant performance period.
    b. New Directions Grants will be awarded to applicants who have 
previously received a COPC grant to undertake new directions in their 
activities. Applicants are only eligible to receive one New Directions 
Grant. The maximum amount an applicant can request for award is 
$200,000 for a maximum two-year (24 months) grant performance period.
    HUD will use up to $5.2 million to fund approximately (13) First 
Time Grants and up to $1.4 million to fund approximately seven (7) New 
Directions Grants.
    3. Eligible Applicants: Public or private nonprofit institutions 
granting two- or four-year degrees that are accredited by a national or 
regional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of 
Education are eligible to apply. A consortium of eligible institutions 
may also apply for funding under this program, as long as one 
institution is designated the lead applicant.

    (Note: Institutions that participated in a COPC grant as a 
member of a consortium are eligible to apply for a New Grant if they 
received 25 percent or less of the funding from the earlier grant). 
HUD intends to fund at least two eligible COPC New First Time Grant 
applications (applications that receive a minimum score of 75 
points) that serve Colonias (as defined in the General Section). 
While it is not necessary for the institution to be located in a 
Colonias, all program activities must be directed to the Colonias 
and its residents. If less than two fundable applications are 
eligible for award, these funds will be used to award additional 
COPC grants.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    The purpose of the Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPC) 
program is to assist in establishing or carrying out outreach and 
applied research activities that address problems of urban areas. The 
program also seeks to encourage structural change, both within an 
institution and in the way the institution relates to its neighbors.
    A. Funding under this program shall be used to establish and 
operate local Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPCs). The five 
key concepts that a COPC Program should include are:
    1. Outreach activities and technical assistance to address 
multidimensional urban problems;
    2. Empowerment efforts that engage community-based organizations 
and residents as partners with the institution throughout the life of 
the project and beyond;
    3. Applied research related to the project's outreach activities 
(Note: Applicants are not required to undertake any research as part of 
their project and may apply for a project that is totally outreach 
focused);
    4. Assistance to target communities primarily from the faculty, 
students, and to a limited extent by neighborhood residents and 
community-based organizations funded by the university; and
    5. Support from the university's senior officials to make the 
program part of the institution's broader effort to meet its urban 
mission.

B. Authority

    The COPC program is authorized under the Community Outreach 
Partnership Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 5307 note; the ``COPC Act''). The 
COPC Act is contained in section 851 of the Housing and Community 
Development Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102-550, approved October 28, 1992) 
(HCD Act of 1992). Section 801(c) of the HCD Act of 1992 authorized 
$7.5 million for each year of the 5-year demonstration to create 
Community Outreach Partnership Centers as authorized in the COPC Act. 
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447) continues 
this program beyond the initial five-year demonstration by providing 
funding for Community Outreach Partnership Centers for FY 2005. This 
program is being implemented through this NOFA and the policies 
governing its operation are contained herein.

C. Modifications

    Listed below are major modifications from the FY 2004 program-
funding announcement:
    1. Applicants are required to submit their application 
electronically via the following Web site: http://www.grants.gov/Apply. 
Read the General Section for further discussion.
    2. Applicants that apply as a Consortium must include a memorandum 
of understanding or agreement signed by each of the Chief Executive 
Officers of the institutions involved. The document must describe all 
the members of the Consortium, outline each institution's roles and 
responsibilities, and how much funding each institution will receive 
from the grant. (Applicants must place the memorandum of understanding 
or agreement in the Appendix.)
    3. Letters, memoranda of understanding, or agreements in response 
to Factor 4 now can be dated no earlier than nine months prior to the 
date of this published NOFA and received no later than the application 
submission date.

II. Award Information

    In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately $6.64 million is being made 
available under this program. HUD will award two kinds of grants under 
this program, First Time Grants and New Directions Grants.
    A. First Time Grants will be awarded to applicants who have never 
received a COPC grant to undertake eligible work. The maximum amount an 
applicant can request for award is $400,000 for a maximum three-year 
(36 months) grant performance period.
    B. New Directions Grants will be awarded to applicants who have 
previously received a COPC grant to undertake new directions in their

[[Page 13745]]

activities. The maximum amount an applicant can request for award is 
$200,000 for a maximum two-year (24 months) grant performance period.
    HUD will use up to $5.2 million to fund approximately (13) First 
Time Grants and up to $1.4 million to fund approximately seven (7) New 
Directions Grants.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Public or private nonprofit institutions granting two- or four-year 
degrees that are accredited by a national or regional accrediting 
agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education are eligible to 
apply for funding under this program. A Consortium of eligible 
institution may also apply, as long as one institution is designated 
the lead applicant. Applicants that apply as a Consortium must include 
a memorandum of understanding or agreement signed by each of the Chief 
Executive Officers of the institution involved. The document must 
describe all the members of the Consortium, outline each institution's 
roles and responsibilities, and how much funding each institution will 
receive from the grant. (Applicants must place the memorandum of 
understanding or agreement in the Appendix if submitting a paper copy 
application or following the submission instructions in the General 
Section for electronic copy submission. Note: Institutions that 
participated in a COPC grant as a member of a Consortium are eligible 
to apply for a First Time Grant if they received 25 percent or less of 
the earlier grant funds.) HUD intends to fund at least two eligible 
COPC First Time Grant applications (applications that receive a minimum 
score of 75 points) that serve Colonias (as defined in the General 
Section). While it is not necessary for the institution to be located 
in a Colonias, all program activities must be directed to the Colonias 
and its residents. If less than two fundable applications are eligible 
for award these funds will be used to award additional COPC grants.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    Applicants are required to meet the following match requirements:
    1. First Time Grant Applicants Match Requirements.
    a. Research Activities. 50 percent of the total project costs of 
establishing and operating research activities.
    b. Outreach Activities. 25 percent of the total project costs of 
establishing and operating outreach activities.
    2. New Directions Grant Applicants Match Requirements.
    a. Research Activities. 60 percent of the total project costs of 
establishing and operating research activities.
    b. Outreach Activities. 35 percent of the total project costs of 
establishing and operating outreach activities.
    For each match, cash or in-kind contribution to the program, 
applicants must submit a signed letter of commitment (See Section V, 
Application Review Information, Factor 4: Leveraging Resources). 
Applicants may not count as match any costs that would be ineligible 
for funding under the program (e.g., housing rehabilitation). In 
previous competitions, some applicants incorrectly based their match 
calculations on the Federal grant amount only. An applicant's match is 
evaluated as a percentage of the total cost of establishing and 
operating research and outreach activities, not just the Federal grant 
amount.
    Assume that the total project cost for a First Time COPC Grant was 
$710, 000, with $110,000 for research and $600,000 for outreach. Note 
that this project meets the requirement that no more than one-quarter 
of the total project costs be allocated for research as defined in 
Section III, Eligibility Information, Other. The total amount of the 
required match would be $205,000. The research match would be $55,000 
($110,000 x 50 percent) and the outreach match would be $150,000 
($600,000 x 25 percent). The Federal grant requested would be $400,000 
($710,000 minus the match of $310,000). In calculating the match, 
administrative costs should be applied to the appropriate attributable 
outreach or research component.

C. Other

    1. Eligible Activities. COPC Programs may combine outreach 
activities with research (if applicable) and work with communities and 
local governments to address the multidimensional problems that beset 
urban areas. Examples of urban problems include, but are not limited to 
homeownership, economic development, neighborhood revitalization, 
health care, job training, education, crime prevention, planning, the 
environment, and capacity building.
    a. Outreach activities, technical assistance, and information 
exchange activities must be designed to address specific urban problems 
in designated communities and neighborhoods served by the grant.
    b. Research activities (if applicable, research activities are not 
required) must have a clear near-term potential and practical 
application for solving specific, significant urban problems in 
designated communities and neighborhoods, including evaluation of the 
effectiveness of the outreach activities and how they relate to HUD 
programs. Applicants must have the capacity to apply the research 
results directly to the proposed outreach activities outlined in the 
application's work plan. In addition, applicants must work with 
communities and local institutions, including neighborhood groups, 
local governments, and other appropriate community stakeholders, in 
applying these results to real-life urban problems.
    (1) Examples of outreach activities include, but are not limited 
to:
    (a) Assistance to communities to improve consolidated housing and 
community development plans and to eliminate impediments to the design 
and implementation of such plans;
    (b) Innovative use of funds to provide direct technical expertise 
and assistance to local community groups, residents, and other 
appropriate community stakeholders to resolve local problems such as 
homelessness, housing discrimination, and impediments to fair housing 
choice;
    (c) Technical assistance in business start-up activities for low- 
and moderate-income individuals and organizations, including business 
start-up training and technical expertise and assistance, mentor 
programs, assistance in developing small loan funds, business 
incubators, etc;
    (d) Technical assistance to local public housing agencies on 
welfare-to-work initiatives and physical transformations of public or 
assisted housing, including development of accessible and visitable 
housing;
    (e) Job training and other training projects, such as workshops, 
seminars, and one-on-one and on-the-job training; and
    (f) Assistance to communities in eliminating or reducing excessive, 
unnecessary or duplicative regulations, processes or policies that 
restrict the development or rehabilitation of affordable housing (For 
further discussion of Regulatory Barriers see the General Section.)
    c. Funds for faculty development, including paying for course time 
or summer support, to enable faculty members to work with the COPC.
    d. Funds for stipends or salaries for students (but the program 
cannot cover tuition and fees) while students are working with the 
COPC.
    e. Up to 20 percent of the grant may be used for payments of 
reasonable grant administrative costs related to planning and execution 
of the project (e.g., preparation/submission of HUD

[[Page 13746]]

reports). Detailed explanations of these costs are provided in the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circulars that can be accessed at 
the White House Web site at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/
index.html.
    f. Activities to carry out the ``Program Requirements'' as defined 
in this NOFA. These activities may include leases for office space in 
which to house the Community Outreach Partnership Center, under the 
following conditions:
    (1) The lease must be for existing facilities not requiring 
rehabilitation or construction;
    (2) No repairs or renovations of the property may be undertaken 
with Federal funds; and
    (3) Properties in the Coastal Barrier Resource System designated 
under the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (16 U.S.C. 3501) cannot be 
leased with Federal funds.
    g. Components of the program may address metropolitan or regional 
strategies. Applicants must clearly demonstrate how:
    (1) Strategies are directly related to what the targeted 
neighborhoods and neighborhood-based organizations have decided is 
needed; and
    (2) Neighborhoods and neighborhood organizations are involved in 
both the development and implementation of the metropolitan or regional 
strategies.
    2. Audit Requirements. Applicants must ensure that their most 
current A-133 audit is on file at the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. 
(Applicants are not required to submit a copy of the audit with the 
application.) Grantees that expend $500,000 or more in federal 
financial assistance in a single year (this can be program year or 
fiscal year) must be audited in accordance with the OMB requirements as 
established in 24 CFR part 84. Additional information regarding this 
requirement can be accessed at the following Web site: http://
harvester.census.gov/sac.
    3. Threshold Requirements Applicable to All Applicants. All 
applicants must comply with the threshold requirements as defined in 
the General Section and the requirements listed below to be evaluated, 
rated, and ranked. Applications that do not meet these requirements 
will be considered ineligible for funding and will be disqualified. 
There will be two separate competitions, one for First Time Grant 
applicants and one for New Directions Grant applicants.
    a. The applicant must meet the eligibility requirements as defined 
in Section III.A, Eligible Applicants.
    b. The maximum amount an applicant applying for a First Time Grant 
can request for award is $400,000. The maximum amount an applicant 
applying for a New Directions Grant can request for award is $200,000.
    c. Applicants must meet the program's statutory match requirement 
(the requirement is defined in Section III.B Cost Sharing or Matching).
    d. First Time Grant applications must be multifaceted. For purposes 
of this grant, multifaceted means an applicant must address three or 
more distinct urban problems and propose at least one distinct activity 
for each of the problems identified. For instance, an applicant might 
identify inadequate educational systems for grades K-12 as an urban 
problem and propose a program to train parents to successfully 
influence change and become involved in the public school system as the 
distinct activity. The applicant might address a second urban problem 
relating to unemployment of youth released from the local juvenile 
justice detention center and propose a counseling and job placement 
program. The third urban problem the applicant might address is 
inadequate social service for homeless families. The proposed activity 
would be to coordinate with or become part of a local Continuum of Care 
to conduct surveys to develop a strategy and create an implementation 
plan to more efficiently address the needs identified. Single or dual-
purpose applications are not eligible and will be disqualified. For 
example, an applicant proposes: (1) A program to train residents for 
employment in the energy assistance industry; (2) a model curriculum 
for incorporating energy conservation into public school science 
programs; and (3) a program to assist local nonprofit organizations to 
conduct home energy assessments. Although all three activities are 
distinct, they address the same urban issue--energy conservation.
    e. New Directions Grant applications must address two urban 
problems and undertake at least one activity for each of these 
problems. Applicants must also demonstrate that the proposed activities 
either implement new eligible projects in the current target 
neighborhood(s) or implement eligible projects in a new target 
neighborhood(s). Single purpose applications are not eligible and will 
be disqualified.
    f. New Directions Grant applicants must have drawn down at least 75 
percent of the grant funds from any previous COPC award three weeks 
prior to the program's application submission date to be eligible to 
apply for a New Directions Grant. It is the applicant's responsibility 
to make sure that this requirement is met.
    g. Applicants who were a member of a consortium and received more 
than 25 percent of the earlier funding are not eligible to apply for a 
First Time Grant. However, applicants may submit an application for a 
New Directions Grant (applicants may submit an application individually 
or as part of the old consortium).
    h. Only one First Time Grant or New Directions application will be 
eligible for funding from an institution. If multiple applications are 
submitted, all will be disqualified. However, different campuses of the 
same university system are eligible to apply, even if one campus has 
already received COPC funding, if they have an administrative and 
budgeting structure independent of other campuses in the system.
    i. Applicants may be part of only one consortium or submit only one 
application, or all applications will be disqualified. HUD will hold 
the applicant responsible for ensuring that neither the applicant nor 
any part of their institution, including specific faculty, participates 
in more than one application.
    j. Programs must operate in an urban area. The statute creating 
COPC is very specific that programs address the problems of urban 
areas. HUD uses the Census definition of an urban area: a single 
geographic place (e.g., a city, town, or village, but not a county) 
with a population of 2,500 or more. Applicants cannot meet this test by 
aggregating several places smaller than the population threshold in 
order to meet this requirement. (However, because of the size of the 
grant and the three-year performance period, HUD encourages applicants 
to target activities in a minimum number of definable neighborhoods or 
communities.)
    k. In order to ensure that the primary focus of the proposed 
project is on outreach, there is a limit on the amount of money that 
can be budgeted for research costs for this program. No more than 25 
percent of the total project costs (Federal share plus matching funds) 
can be spent on research activities. However, applicants are not 
required to undertake any research as part of their project and may 
apply for a project that is totally outreach focused.
    l. Applicants must receive a minimum score of 75 points to be 
considered for funding.
    m. An applicant must have a DUNS number to receive HUD grant funds. 
(The General Section provides information regarding the DUNS 
requirement.)
    n. Electronic applications must be received by Grants.gov no later 
than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on the June

[[Page 13747]]

23, 2005. See the General Section for information on application 
submission and timely receipt requirements.
    4. Program Requirements. In addition to the requirements listed in 
Section III.C of the General Section, applicants must meet the 
following program requirements:
    a. All funds awarded under this program to First Time Grant 
applicants are awarded for a three-year (36 months) grant performance 
period. All funds awarded under this NOFA to New Directions grant 
applicants are awarded for a two-year (24 months) grant performance 
period;
    b. Employ the outreach and research resources of the institution to 
solve specific urban problems identified by communities served by the 
Center;
    c. Establish and coordinate outreach activities in areas identified 
in the application as the communities to be served by the Center;
    d. Establish a community advisory committee comprised of 
representatives of local institutions and residents of the communities 
to be served to assist in identifying local needs and advise on the 
development and implementation of strategies to address those issues;
    e. Facilitate public service projects in the communities served by 
the Center;
    f. Act as both a national and a regional/local clearinghouse for 
dissemination of information;
    g. Develop instructional programs, convene conferences, and provide 
training for local community leaders, when appropriate;
    h. Grant funds will pay for activities conducted directly, rather 
than passing funds to other entities (in order for an application to be 
competitive no more than 25 percent of the grant funds should be passed 
through to other entities); and
    i. Applicants must seek to provide access to program benefits and 
information to individuals who may be limited English proficient 
through translation and interpretive services in accordance to HUD's 
LEP Recipient Guidance published in the Federal Register on December 
19, 2003.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses To Request Application Package

    Applicants may download the instructions to the application found 
on the Grants.gov Web site at http://www.Grants.gov./Apply. The 
instructions contain the General Section of the published NOFA as well 
as forms that you must complete and attach as a zip file to your 
application submission. If you have difficulty accessing the 
information you may call the Grants.gov Support desk toll free (800-
518-GRANTS) or emailing your questions to Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. The 
Support Desk staff will assist you in accessing the information. Please 
remember that you must be registered to submit an application utilizing 
Grants.gov. Your registration allows you to electronically sign the 
application and enables Grants.gov to authenticate that the person 
signing the application has the legal authority to submit the 
application on behalf of the applicant. Please see the General Section 
for information regarding the registration process or ask for 
registration information from the Grants.gov Support Desk. Please be 
aware that the registration process is a separate process from 
requesting e-mail notification of funding opportunities or downloading 
the application and should be done as soon as you download the 
application from the Grants.gov Web site. If you are not sure if you 
are already registered, the Grants.gov Support Desk can assist in 
verifying whether you are registered.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    1. Forms. The following forms are required for submission. Copies 
of these forms are included in Appendix A of the General Section. The 
electronic version of the NOFA contains all forms required for 
submission.
    a. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424);
    b. Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants (SF-424 
Supplement);
    c. Grant Application Detailed Budget (HUD-424-CB);
    d. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL);
    e. America's Affordable Communities Initiative (HUD-27300), if 
applicable;
    f. Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880);
    g. Community Outreach Partnership Center Program Matching 
Requirements (HUD-30001);
    h. Community Outreach Partnership Center Program Breakdown of 
Outreach and Research Activities (HUD-30002);
    i. Verification of Match (HUD-30011);
    j. Program Logic Model (HUD-96010);
    k. Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994). This form is 
included to solicit information from the most valuable source, the 
applicant. The changes that we have instituted this year are designed 
to make things easier for the applicant. If applicants complete and 
submit this form, it will help us to assess whether the changes have 
had the intended results. It will also guide us in our continuing 
efforts to improve the competitive grant process. In providing 
comments, please be as specific as possible. General statements that 
the NOFA is better than before but needs improvement do not provide HUD 
with the type of information that will allow us to improve the process. 
Applicants are not required to complete this form;
    l. Certification of Consistency with RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan 
(HUD-2990), if applicable;
    m. Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan (HUD-
2991), if applicable;
    n. Acknowledgement of Applicant Receipt (HUD-2993). Only applicants 
that do not submit an electronic application need to include this form 
with their application. Please complete this form if you have received 
a waiver to the electronic application submission requirement. 
Applicants are not required to include this form, but it is recommended 
that they do so; and
    o. Facsimile Transmittal Cover Page (HUD 96011). This form must be 
used as part of the electronic application to transmit third party 
documents and other information as described in the General Section as 
part of your electronic application submittal (if applicable). 
Applicants are advised to download the application package, complete 
the SF 424 first and it will pre-populate the Transmittal Cover page. 
The Transmittal Cover page will contain a unique identifier embedded in 
the page that will help HUD associate your faxed materials to your 
application. Please download the cover page and then make multiple 
copies to provide to any of the entities responsible for submitting 
faxed materials to HUD on your behalf.
    2. Certifications and Assurances. Please read the General Section 
for detailed information on all Certifications and Assurances. All 
applications submitted through Grants.gov constitute an acknowledgement 
and agreement to all required certifications and assurances. Please 
include in your application each item listed below. Applicants 
submitting paper copy applications should submit the application in the 
following order:
    a. SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. Please remember the 
following:
    (1) The full grant amount (First Time Grant applicants' entire 
three-years and New Directions applicants' entire two-years) should be 
entered, not the amount for just one year;
    (2) Include the name, title, address, telephone number, facsimile 
number, and e-mail address of the designated

[[Page 13748]]

contact. This is the person who will receive the reviewers' comments; 
therefore, please ensure the accuracy of the information;
    (3) The Employer Identification/Tax ID;
    (4) The DUNS Number;
    (5) The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this 
program is 14.511;
    (6) The project's proposed start date and completion date. For the 
purpose of this application, the program start date should be November 
1, 2005; and
    (7) The signature of an Authorized Organization Representative 
(AOR) who has been authenticated by the credential provider to submit 
applications via Grants.gov. The AOR must be able to make a binding 
legal agreement with HUD. See the General Section for instructions and 
requirements for Registration with Grants.gov.
    b. Application Checklist. Applicants should use the checklist to 
ensure that they have all the elements required in their application 
submission. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic application 
submission requirements must include a copy of the checklist in their 
application submission. Applicants submitting an electronic application 
do not have to submit the checklist in their application. The checklist 
can be found in the NOFA (See Attachment A).
    c. Abstract. Applicants must include no more than a two-page 
summary of the proposed project. Please include the following:
    (1) A clear description of the proposed project activities, the 
target population that will be assisted, and the impact this project 
will have on the institution;
    (2) A statement that the institution is an eligible institution 
because it is a two- or four-year fully accredited institution, the 
name of the accrediting agency and an assurance that the accrediting 
agency is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education;
    (3) The designated contact person, including phone number, 
facsimile number, and e-mail address (This is the person who will 
receive the reviewers' comments; therefore, please ensure the accuracy 
of the information);
    (4) University's name, department, mailing address, telephone 
number, facsimile number, and e-mail address; and
    (5) The principal investigator, if different from the designated 
contact person, for the project, including phone number, facsimile 
number, and e-mail address.
    d. Narrative statement addressing the Rating Factors. HUD will use 
the narrative response to the ``Rating Factors'' to evaluate, rate, and 
rank applications. The narrative statement is the main source of 
information. Applicants are advised to review each factor carefully for 
program specific requirements. The response to each factor should be 
concise and contain only information relevant to the factor, but 
detailed enough to address each factor fully. Please do not repeat 
material in response to the five factors; instead, focus on how well 
the proposal responds to each of the factors. In factors where there 
are subfactors, each subfactor must be presented separately, with the 
short title of the subfactor presented. Make sure to address each 
subfactor and provide sufficient information about every element of the 
subfactor. The narrative section of an application must not exceed 75 
pages, doubled spaced (excluding forms, budget narrative, commitment 
letters, memoranda of understanding, agreements, and abstract). Each 
page of the narrative must include the applicant's name and be 
numbered. Please note that although submitting pages in excess of the 
page limit will not disqualify an applicant, HUD will not consider the 
information on any excess pages. This exclusion may result in a lower 
score or failure to meet a threshold requirement.
    e. Budget. The budget submission must include the following form:
    (1) HUD-424-CB ``Grant Application Detailed Budget.'' This budget 
form shows the total budget by year and by line item for the program 
activities to be carried out with the proposed HUD grant. Each year of 
the program should be presented separately. Applicants must also submit 
this form to reflect the total cost for the entire grant performance 
period (Grand Total).
    Make sure that the amount shown on the SF-424, the HUD-424-CB, and 
all other required program forms is consistent and the budget totals 
are correct. Remember to check addition in totaling the categories on 
all forms so that all items are included in the total. If there is an 
inconsistency between any of the budget forms required, the HUD-424-CB 
will be used. All budget forms must be fully completed. If an 
application is selected for award, the applicant may be required to 
provide greater specificity to the budget during grant agreement 
negotiations.
    (2) Budget Narrative. A narrative must be submitted that explains 
how the applicant arrived at the cost estimates for any line item, 
including match items, over $5,000. For example, a van rental, $150 per 
month x 36 months equals $5,400. The proposed cost estimates should be 
reasonable for the work to be performed and consistent with rates 
established for the level of expertise required to perform the work 
proposed in the geographical area. When necessary, quotes from various 
vendors or historical data should be used and included. When an 
applicant proposes to use a consultant, the applicant must indicate 
whether there is a formal agreement or written procurement policy. For 
each consultant, please provide the name, if known, hourly or daily 
rate, and the estimated time on the project. For equipment, applicants 
must provide a list by type and cost for each item and explain how it 
will be used. Applicants using contracts must provide an individual 
description and cost estimate for each contract.
    (3) Indirect costs. Indirect costs, if applicable, are allowable 
based on an established approved indirect cost rate. Applicants should 
include a copy of their indirect cost rate agreement with their 
application. Please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for 
instructions on how these documents are to be submitted to HUD using 
the electronic submission process. Applicants who are selected for 
funding that do not have an approved indirect cost rate agreement 
(established by the cognizant Federal agency, Certified Public Account, 
or auditor) will be required to establish a rate. In such cases, HUD 
will issue an award with a provisional rate and enter into an agreement 
to have one established.
    f. Match and Research Compliance. All applicants must include the 
following forms:
    (1) HUD-30001, ``Community Outreach Partnership Centers Matching 
Requirements.'' This form should show how the match requirements have 
been met. Under each category, list the specific project activities. 
Only the dollar totals for research and outreach activities should be 
listed; costs by activity do not need to be listed. For the purpose of 
this form, administrative costs should be allocated between research 
and outreach activities, as appropriate. Applicants must provide 
letters, memoranda of understanding or agreements that show the extent 
and firmness of commitments of leveraged funds (including an 
applicant's own resources) in order for these resources to count. Any 
resource for which there is no commitment letter will not be counted, 
nor will the resource be counted without the proposed level of 
commitment being quantified. Each letter must include the specific 
dollar amount and the use of the funds. If a dollar amount and use is 
not shown, the

[[Page 13749]]

source cannot be counted toward the match requirement in Factor 4. This 
form is included in Appendix B.
    (2) HUD-30002, ``Community Outreach Partnership Centers Breakdown 
of Outreach and Research Activities.'' This form is used to demonstrate 
that the applicant has not allocated more than 25 percent of the total 
budget (including Federal and matching funds) to research activities. 
This form is included in Appendix B.
    For purposes of this form, all costs (including administrative 
costs) must be categorized or apportioned as either research or 
outreach, as appropriate.
    (Note: While indirect costs can count toward meeting the required 
match, they will not be used to calculate the match percentage above 
the match requirement. Only direct costs can count in this factor). 
Letters, memoranda of understanding, and agreements must be signed by 
an authorized representative of the funding source. If any matching 
sources are for more than one year, the commitment letter, memorandum 
of understanding, or agreement must state the number of years, the per 
year commitment, and the total commitment. Only items eligible for 
program funding can be counted as match. Include matching documentation 
at the end of the narrative statement addressing the Factors for Award 
and note in this section a list of the letters that have been placed 
there.
    (3) HUD-30011, ``Verification of the Match.'' Applicants must 
include a multiple page worksheet (included in Appendix B) to determine 
if a sufficient match has been provided. This worksheet must be 
included in the application. Please note on this form by each 
commitment listed if the match is an inside or outside match 
commitment. Electronic filers should use the PureEdge Electronic form 
found on the Grants.gov application package. Paper copy filers should 
use this form found on HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    g. Appendix. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic 
submission requirements and submitting a paper copy of the application 
must place all letters of commitment, memoranda of understanding, and 
agreements for funds/resources in response to Factor 4 and all other 
required forms for this section. For applicants submitting electronic 
applications, please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for 
instructions on how third party documents are to be submitted to HUD 
using the electronic submission process. An applicant SHOULD NOT submit 
general support letters or resumes or other back-up materials. If this 
information is included, it will not be considered during the review 
process. The additional items will also slow the transmission of your 
application.
    Applicants applying as a Consortium must include a memorandum of 
understanding or agreement signed by each of the Chief Executive 
Officers of the institutions involved. The document must describe all 
the members of the Consortium, outline each institution's roles and 
responsibilities, and describe how much funding each institution will 
receive from the grant.

C. Submission Dates and Times

    A complete application package must be received electronically by 
the Grants.gov portal no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on June 
23, 2005. Applications may be submitted in advance of the submission 
date. Electronic faxes using the Facsimile Transmittal (Form HUD 96011) 
cover sheet contained in the electronic application may be submitted 
prior to the application submission date and must be received no later 
than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on the application submission date. 
Please see Section IV.F of the General Section for electronic 
application submission instructions and timely receipt requirements.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    This program is excluded from an Intergovernmental Review.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Activities such as, but not limited to, the following are 
ineligible for funding:
    a. Research activities that account for more than 25 percent of the 
total project cost (federal share plus match) and/or that have no clear 
and immediate practical application for solving urban problems or do 
not address specific problems in designated communities and 
neighborhoods or have any specific link to HUD programs.
    b. Any type of construction, rehabilitation, or other physical 
development costs.
    c. Costs used for routine operations and day-to-day administration 
of institutions of higher education, local governments, or neighborhood 
groups.
    2. Funding may only be provided to applicants that meet the 
standards for eligible applicants in Section III.A.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    1. Application Submission and Receipt Procedure. Please read the 
General Section carefully and completely for the submission and receipt 
procedures for all applications because failure to comply may 
disqualify your application.
    2. Wavier of Electronic Submission Requirements. Please refer to 
the General Section for further discussion.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (20 Points). This factor addresses the extent 
to which the institution has the organizational resources necessary to 
successfully implement the proposed activities in a timely manner. In 
rating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which the proposal 
demonstrates:
    a. Knowledge and Experience. For First Time Applicants (20 Points) 
For New Directions Grant Applicants (10 Points). The knowledge and 
experience possessed by the proposed project director and staff, 
including the day-to-day program manager, consultants (including 
technical assistance providers), and contractors in planning and 
managing the kind of program for which funding is being requested. 
Applicants must clearly identify the following: Key project team 
members, titles (e.g., project manager/coordinator, etc.), respective 
roles for the project staff, and a brief description of their relevant 
experience. Experience will be judged in terms of recent and relevant 
knowledge and skills of the staff to undertake eligible program 
activities. HUD will consider experience within the last five (5) years 
to be recent and experience pertaining to similar activities to be 
relevant. The more recent and substantial the experience of the staff, 
particularly the institution's own staff who will work on the project 
have in successfully conducting and completing similar activities, the 
higher the number of points an applicant can receive for this rating 
factor. The following areas will be evaluated:
    (1) Outreach activities in communities to solve or ameliorate 
significant urban issues;
    (2) Projects with community-based organizations or local 
governments;
    (3) Solving community problems that have a direct bearing on the 
proposed activities and that make a national contribution to solving 
long-term and immediate urban problems/issues; and
    (4) Research activities (if applicable) that have a practical 
application to significant urban issues.
    b. Past Performance (10 points) New Directions Grant Applicants 
Only. This subfactor will evaluate the extent to which an applicant has 
performed successfully under a previous COPC

[[Page 13750]]

grant. Applicants must demonstrate this by providing the following 
information:
    (1) A detailed list outlining the achievement of specific tasks, 
measurable objectives and outcomes consistent with the approved 
timeline/work plan in previously awarded grant;
    (2) Comparison of proposed required match funds and resources in a 
previous grant with what was actually matched; and
    (3) A detailed list outlining the timeliness and completeness of 
complying with all the COPC reporting requirements. In addressing 
timeliness compare when reports were due with when they were actually 
submitted.
    HUD will also review an applicant's past performance in managing 
funds, including, but not limited to: the ability to account for 
funding appropriately; timely use of funds received from HUD; meeting 
performance targets for completion of activities; and receipt of 
promised match funds. In evaluating past performance, HUD reserves the 
right to deduct up to five (5) points from this rating score as a 
result of the information obtained from HUD's records (i.e., progress 
and financial reports, monitoring reports, Logic Model submissions, and 
amendments), including the timely submission of required progress 
reports.
    2. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (10 Points). This 
factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for funding the 
proposed program activities and an indication of the importance of 
meeting the need(s) in the target area. The need(s) described must be 
relevant to the activities for which funds are being requested. The 
proposal will be evaluated on the extent to which the level of need for 
the proposed activities and the importance of meeting the need(s) are 
documented.
    In rating this factor, HUD will consider data collected within the 
last five (5) years to be current. To the extent that the targeted 
community's Five Year Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments to 
Fair Housing Choice (AI) identify the level of the problem and the 
urgency in meeting the need, applicants should include references to 
these documents in response to this factor.
    Applicants must use statistics or other analyses contained in at 
least one or more current data sources that are sound and reliable. 
Sources for localized data can be found at: http://www.ffiec.gov.
    Other reliable sources of data include, but are not limited to, 
Census reports, HUD Continuum of Care gap analysis and its E-Map (To 
find additional information go to HUD's Web site: http://www.hud.gov/
emaps), law enforcement agency crime reports, Public Housing Agencies' 
Comprehensive Plans, community needs analyses such as provided by the 
United Way, the applicant's institution, and other sound and reliable 
appropriate sources. Needs in terms of fulfilling court orders or 
consent decrees, settlements, conciliation agreements, and voluntary 
compliance agreements may also be addressed.
    The data used must be specific to the area where the proposed 
activities will be carried out (not the entire locality or state). 
Remember, the statute creating COPC is very specific that the program 
addresses problems of an urban area: a single geographic place (e.g., a 
city, town, or village, but not a county) with a population of 2,500 or 
more. (However, because of the size of the grant and the three-year 
period of performance, HUD encourages applicants to target activities 
in a minimum number of definable neighborhoods or communities.)
    3. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (40 Points). This factor 
addresses the quality and effectiveness of the proposed work plan. 
There must be a clear relationship between proposed activities and 
community needs for an applicant to receive points for this factor. 
This factor will be evaluated based on the extent to which the proposed 
work plan demonstrates the following:
    a. Quality of Work Plan (26 Points).
    (1) Specific Services and/or Activities. The work plan must 
describe all proposed activities and major tasks required to 
successfully implement the proposed project. HUD will consider the 
probability of success of the program, the significance of the tasks 
identified, how realistic are the proposed time frames, and who will be 
responsible for completing each proposed activity. (Note: applicants 
are not required to undertake research as part of the grant.)
    (a) Describe a clear outreach agenda and demonstrate this by 
providing the following:
    (i) Identifiable outreach activities;
    (ii) Required tasks to be completed (in sequential order) for each 
proposed activity;
    (iii) Target completion date for each proposed task/activity to be 
successfully implemented (in six-month intervals); and
    (iv) The staff member, as described in Factor 1, who will be 
responsible and accountable for completing each task.
    (b) Describe how the project will:
    (i) Involve the institution as a whole (i.e., variety of academic 
disciplines and administrative offices);
    (ii) Provide for on-site or frequent presence in the target area; 
and
    (iii) Ensure proposed activities do not duplicate outreach 
activities by the institution or others for the target area previously 
completed or currently underway.
    (c) Applicants proposing research activities must describe a clear 
research agenda that applies the proposed research results directly to 
the proposed outreach activities and demonstrate this by providing the 
following:
    (i) Identifiable research activities and outcomes (e.g., reports, 
surveys, etc.);
    (ii) Required tasks to be completed (in sequential order) for each 
proposed activity;
    (iii) Time necessary for each proposed task/activity to be 
successfully implemented (in six-month intervals) and target completion 
date; and
    (iv) The staff member, as described in Factor 1, who will be 
responsible for research activities and accountable for completing each 
task;
    (v) Ensure that the proposed research is tied to the proposed 
outreach agenda (e.g., a proposed study of the extent of housing 
abandonment in a neighborhood is followed by a plan for reusing this 
housing demonstrates a link between the proposed research and outreach 
strategies); and
    (vi) Describe how the research does not duplicate the research by 
the institution or others for the target area previously completed or 
currently underway. If similar research is underway, describe how the 
proposed research agenda would complement it.
    b. (5 Points) Community Involvement. The applicant must describe 
the extent to which it proposes to integrate the community as partners 
in the planning and implementation of proposed program activities. In 
reviewing this subfactor, HUD will look at the extent to which:
    (1) One or more Community Advisory Committees have been formed that 
represent the community's diversity (including businesses, community 
groups, residents, and others) and will serve to develop and implement 
strategies to address the needs identified in Factor 2. In addressing 
this subfactor, applicants must provide evidence that such a 
committee(s) has been in place and what groups are represented, or that 
commitments have been secured from the appropriate persons to serve on 
a committee(s), rather than just describing generally the types of 
people whose involvement will be sought.
    (2) The committee(s) and partners play an active role in all stages 
of the project and not serve as merely advisors or monitors.

[[Page 13751]]

    (3) The outreach agenda includes training projects for local 
community leaders to increase their capacity to direct their 
organizations or undertake various kinds of community development 
projects.
    c. (5 Points) Dissemination Strategies. In reviewing this 
subfactor, HUD will assess the applicant's demonstrated ability to 
disseminate results of outreach and research activities to other COPCs 
and communities. In addition, the scope and quality of the applicant's 
plan to disseminate information results, strategies, and lessons 
learned through such means as conferences, cross-site technical 
assistance, Web sites, publications, etc. will be assessed. (Note: 
Applicants must make materials available in alternative formats for 
persons with disabilities (e.g., Braille, audio, large type) upon 
request, and provide materials in languages other than English that are 
common in the community, if speakers of these languages are found in 
significant numbers and come into frequent contact with the program.)
    d. (2 Points) Affirmatively Further Fair Housing. This subfactor 
will be evaluated on the extent to which an applicant describes how 
they propose to undertake activities designed to affirmatively further 
fair housing opportunities for individuals on the basis of race, color, 
national origin, sex, religion, familial status, or disability. For 
example:
    (1) Working with other entities in the community to overcome 
impediments to fair housing, such as discrimination in the sale or 
rental of housing or in advertising, provision of brokerage services, 
or lending;
    (2) Promoting fair housing choice through the expansion of 
homeownership opportunities and improved quality of services for 
minorities, families with children, and persons with disabilities; or
    (3) Providing housing mobility counseling services.
    e. (2 Points) HUD Policy Priorities. HUD encourages applicants to 
undertake specific activities that will assist the Department in 
implementing its policy priorities that will help the Department 
achieve its goals and objectives in FY2006, when the majority of grant 
recipients will be reporting programmatic results and achievements. In 
addressing this subfactor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which a 
program will further and support HUD's priorities. The quality of the 
responses provided to one or more of HUD's priorities will determine 
the score an applicant can receive. Applicants must describe how each 
policy priority selected will be addressed. Applicants that just list a 
priority will receive no points.
    Each policy priority addressed has a value of one point with the 
exception of the policy priority to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, which has a point value of up to 2 points. The 
total number of points available to applicants that address policy 
priorities is 2. It is up to the applicant to determine which of the 
policy priorities they elect to address to receive the available 2 
points. To receive points for efforts to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, an applicant must submit the completed 
questionnaire (HUD-27300) ``HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barrier'' found in the General Section along with required 
documentation. The form is part of the electronic application and is 
constructed to permit the required documentation to be attached to the 
electronic form. For the full list and explanation of each policy 
priority, please refer to the General Section.
    4. Rating Factor 4: Matching Resources and Institutionalization of 
Program (20 Points). This factor addresses the ability of the applicant 
to secure resources and make the program activities part of the 
institution's on-going mission. In evaluating this factor, HUD will 
consider the extent to which the applicant established partnerships 
with other entities (other than HUD) to secure additional resources to 
increase the effectiveness of the proposed program activities.
    a. Matching Resources (10 Points). This subfactor addresses the 
applicant's ability to secure community resources combined with HUD's 
grant funds to achieve the program's purpose. Resources may include 
funding or in-kind contributions, such as services or equipment, 
allocated to the purpose(s) of the grant being sought. External 
resources (those acquired from outside the college or university) may 
be provided by governmental entities (only block grants or formula 
grants will be considered, no direct grants), public or private 
nonprofit organizations, for-profit private organizations, or other 
entities willing to establish partnerships. Applicants may also 
establish partnerships with funding recipients in other grant programs 
to coordinate the use of resources in the target area. Please note that 
the value of the time of individuals serving on an applicant program 
advisory board cannot be counted as an in-kind contribution. Applicants 
may count overhead and other institutional costs (e.g., salaries, 
indirect costs, etc.) that the institution has waived. In evaluating 
this subfactor, HUD will allocate points as follows:
    (1) (5 Points) will be awarded for a match that is 25 percent or 
more over the required match, as described in Section V, Application 
Review Information. Fewer points will be assigned depending on the 
extent of the match overage provided. Matching funds must be provided 
unconditionally in order to be counted for this subfactor.
    HUD is concerned that applicants should be providing hard dollars 
as part of their matching contributions to enhance the tangible 
resources going into targeted neighborhoods. Thus, while indirect costs 
can count toward meeting the required match, they will not be used in 
calculating match overage. Only direct costs can count in this factor.
    (2) (5 Points) will be awarded for the extent to which applicant 
documents that matching funds are provided from eligible external 
sources other than the institution (e.g., funds from the city, 
including CDBG, other state or local government agencies, public or 
private organizations, or foundations). Federal funds can be used for 
the match as long as the funds are not a result of a direct Federal 
grant, but are block or formula grant funds that allow states or local 
governments allocation authority. Fewer points will be assigned 
depending on the amount of the outside match.
    For each match, cash or in-kind contribution, a letter of 
commitment, memorandum of understanding, or agreement must be provided 
that shows the extent and firmness of the commitment of leveraged funds 
(including any commitment of resources, as well as an indirect cost 
considered an internal match) in order for the resources to count in 
determining points under this factor. Resources will not be counted for 
which there is no commitment letter, memorandum of understanding, or 
agreement, nor quantified level of commitment. Letters, memoranda of 
understanding, or agreements must be submitted on the provider's 
letterhead and be submitted as part of the application package. 
(Applicants submitting paper copy applications must place all letters, 
memoranda of understanding, or agreements in the Appendix. Applicants 
submitting these items electronically must follow the submission 
directions in Section IV.F of the General Section.) The date of the 
letter, memorandum of understanding, or agreement from the CEO of the 
provider organization must be dated no earlier than nine months prior 
to the date of this published NOFA. Applications that do not include

[[Page 13752]]

evidence of matching or address all items described below will receive 
zero (0) points for this Factor and will be disqualified.
    a. A firm commitment letter, memorandum of understanding, or 
agreement must address the following:
    (1) The cash amount contributed or dollar value of the in-kind 
goods and/or services committed (If a dollar amount and use is not 
shown, the source will not be counted toward the match requirement);
    (2) A specific description of how the match is to be used toward 
one of the proposed program activities;
    (3) The date the match will be made available and a statement that 
describes the duration of the contribution. If any of the matching 
sources are for more than one year, the commitment letter, memorandum 
of understanding, or agreement must state the number of years, the per 
year commitment, and the total commitment. Without this statement, HUD 
will assume that the commitment is for only one year;
    (4) Any terms or conditions affecting the commitment, other than 
receipt of a HUD grant;
    (5) The signature of the appropriate executive officer authorized 
to commit the funds and/or goods and/or services. Please remember that 
only items eligible for funding under this program can be considered as 
a match; and
    (6) Internal match provided by an applicant must be documented by a 
letter, memorandum of understanding, or agreement; describes the 
requirements outlined above; and be signed by the appropriate executive 
officer authorized to commit funds and/or goods and/or services. See 
the General Section for instructions on how to submit these documents 
to HUD using the electronic submission process.
    b. Institutionalization (10 Points). This subfactor looks at how 
the institution plans to make the COPC function and related activities 
a part of its urban mission and ensure funding in the future by sources 
other than HUD.
    (1) First Time Grant Applicants. In reviewing this subfactor for a 
First Time Grant, HUD will consider the extent to which the First Time 
Grant applicant addresses the institution's capacity and commitment to 
undertake outreach activities. HUD will evaluate the following:
    (a) COPC activities as they relate to the institution's urban 
mission;
    (b) Support and involvement of the institution's executive 
leadership (e.g., department chairs, deans, etc.), faculty, staff and 
students from across many disciplines in order to demonstrate the 
institution's commitment to these kinds of activities;
    (c) Commitment of the institution to establish a climate that 
rewards faculty and staff for work in COPC neighborhoods by including 
this work in decisions affecting rank, tenure, and promotion;
    (d) Benefit to students through the implementation of service 
learning programs or professional training at the institution that are 
reflected in the curriculum (rather than just volunteer activities);
    (e) Commitment to a formal organizational structure within the 
university related to outreach and community partnerships as reflected 
in the university's budget and planning documents of the university.
    (2) New Directions Applicants. In reviewing this subfactor for a 
New Directions Grant, HUD will consider the extent to which the New 
Directions applicant's proposed project will sustain the institutional 
capacity and commitment of the institution to undertake outreach 
activities. HUD will evaluate the following:
    (a) Increases in the number of faculty undertaking this kind of 
work;
    (b) Increases in the number of courses linked to outreach 
activities and the number of students taking these courses; and
    (c) Formal changes in institutional policies related to support of 
outreach.
    5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (10 
Points). This factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
management and accountability. It measures the applicant's commitment 
to assess their performance to achieve the program's proposed 
objectives and goals. Applicants are required to develop an effective, 
quantifiable, outcome oriented evaluation plan for measuring 
performance and determining that objectives and goals have been 
achieved. The Logic Model is a summary of the narrative statements 
presented in Factors 1-4. Therefore, the information submitted on the 
logic model should be consistent with the information contained in the 
narrative statements, but does not have to be as detailed.
    ``Outcomes'' are benefits accruing to institutions of higher 
education and/or communities during or after participation in the COPC 
program. Applicants must clearly identify the outcomes to be measured 
and achieved. Examples of outcomes are increased business start-up in 
the target community by a certain percentage, or increased family 
financial stability (e.g., increased assets to families and communities 
through the development of incubators).
    In addition, applicants must establish interim benchmarks and 
outputs that lead to the ultimate achievement of outcomes. ``Outputs'' 
are the direct products of the program's activities. Examples of 
outputs are the number of new businesses developed, the number of 
students involved in service learning activities, the number of new 
courses an institution developed that focus on community outreach 
activities, the number of newly formed partnerships that aid in 
community capacity building. Outputs should produce outcomes for the 
program. At a minimum, an applicant must address the following 
activities in the evaluation plan:
    a. Specific time-phased short- and long-term measurable outputs to 
be accomplished.
    b. Measurable outcomes the grant will have on the community in 
general and the target area or population.
    c. The impact the grant will have on the long-term commitment of 
the university to the faculty and students to provide opportunities to 
continue this type of work.
    d. The impact the grant will have on assisting the university to 
obtain additional resources to continue this type of work at the end of 
the grant performance period.
    This information must be placed under this section on a HUD-96010 
Program Outcome Logic Model form. Applicants may submit as many copies 
of this form as required. It will not be included in the page count 
requirement. A narrative is not required. However, if a narrative is 
provided, those pages will be included in the page count. Additional 
information on this form and how to use it can be found in the General 
Section.

B. Review and Selection Process

    1. Application Selection Process.
    Two types of reviews will be conducted:
    a. A threshold review to determine an applicant's basic 
eligibility; and
    b. A technical review for all applications that pass the threshold 
review to rate and rank the application based on the ``Rating Factors'' 
listed in Section V.A.
    Only those applications that pass the threshold review will receive 
a technical review and be rated and ranked.
    2. Rating Panels. To review and rate applications, HUD may 
establish panels which may include experts or consultants not currently 
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[[Page 13753]]

HUD. These individuals may be included to obtain certain expertise.
    3. Ranking. HUD will fund applications in rank order until all 
available program funds are awarded. In order to be funded, an 
applicant must receive a minimum score of 75 points out of a possible 
102 points, which includes up to two bonus points that may be awarded 
for activities conducted in the RC/EZ/EC-II communities, as described 
in the General Section. If two or more applications have the same 
number of points, the application with the most points for Factor 3, 
Soundness of Approach, shall be selected. If there is still a tie, the 
application with the most points for Factor 1, Capacity of the 
Applicant and Relevant Organizational Experience, shall be selected. If 
there is still a tie, the application with the most points for Factors 
2, 4 and then 5 shall be selected in that order until the tie is 
broken. HUD reserves the right to make selections out of rank order to 
provide for geographic distribution of grantees. In addition, HUD 
intends to fund at least two eligible COPC First Time Grant 
applications that serve Colonias (as defined in the General Section). 
While it is not necessary for the institution to be located in a 
Colonias, all program activities must be directed to the Colonias and 
its residents. If less than two fundable applications are eligible for 
award these funds will be made available to award additional COPC 
grants.
    HUD also reserves the right to reduce the amount of funding 
requested in order to fund as many highly ranked applications as 
possible. Additionally, if funds remain after funding the highest 
ranked applications, HUD may fund part of the next highest-ranking 
application. If an applicant turns down the award offer, HUD will make 
the same determination for the next highest-ranking application. If 
funds remain after all selections have been made, the remaining funds 
will be carried over to the next funding cycle's competition.
    4. Correction to Deficient Applications. The General Section 
provides the procedures for correction to deficient applications.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    Announcements of awards are anticipated on or before September 30, 
2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notice

    After all selections have been made, HUD will notify all winning 
applications in writing. HUD may require winning applicants to 
participate in additional negotiations before receiving an official 
award. For further discussion on this matter, please refer to the 
General Section.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    For information regarding these requirements, please refer to 
Section VI.B the General Section.
    1. Debriefing. The General Section provides the procedures for 
requesting a debriefing. All requests for debriefings must be made in 
writing and submitted to: Kinnard Wright; Office of University 
Partnerships; Robert C. Weaver Federal Building; 451 Seventh Street, 
SW., Room 8106; Washington, DC 20410-6000. Applicants may also write to 
Mr. Wright via e-mail at [email protected].
    2. Administrative. Grants awarded under this NOFA will be governed 
by the provisions of 24 CFR part 84 (Grants and Agreements with 
Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals and Other Non-Profit 
Organizations), A-21 (Cost Principles for Educational Institutions) and 
A-133 (Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit 
Organizations). Applicants can access the OMB circulars at the White 
House Web site at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html.
    3. OMB Circulars and Governmentwide Regulations Applicable to 
Financial Assistance Programs. The General Section provides further 
discussion.
    4. Code of Conduct. See the General Section for further discussion.
    5. Recovered Materials. The General Section provides further.
    6. Environmental requirements. In accordance with 24 CFR 50.19(b) 
of the HUD regulations, activities under the COPC program are 
categorically excluded from the requirements of the National 
Environment Policy Act and are not subject to environmental review 
under related laws and authorities.

C. Reporting

    All grant recipients under this NOFA are required to submit semi-
annual progress reports. The progress reports shall consist of two 
components, a narrative that must reflect the activities undertaken 
during the reporting period and a financial report that reflect costs 
by budget line item, as well as a cumulative summary of costs incurred 
during the reporting period.
    For each reporting period, as part of the required report to HUD, 
grant recipients must include a completed Logic Model (HUD-96010), 
which identifies output and outcome achievements.

VII. Agency Contacts

    Applicants may contact Kinnard Wright at (202) 708-3061, extension 
7495 or Susan Brunson, at (202) 708-3061, extension 3852. Persons with 
speech or hearing impairments may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service (TTY) at (800) 877-8339. Except for the ``800'' number, these 
numbers are not toll-free. Applicants may also reach Mr. Wright via e-
mail at [email protected], and/or Ms. Brunson at Susan--S.--
[email protected].

VIII. Other Information

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2528-0180. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public 
reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to 
average 144 hours per annum per respondent for the application and 
grant administration. This includes the time for collecting, reviewing, 
and reporting the data for the application, quarterly, semi-annual and 
final reports. The information will be used for grantee selection and 
monitoring the administration of funds. Response to this request for 
information is required in order to receive the benefits to be derived.
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The Early Doctoral Student Research Grant Program and Doctoral 
Dissertation Research Grant Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, Office of 
University Partnerships.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: The Early Doctoral Student Research 
Grant (EDSRG) Program and the Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant 
(DDRG) Program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register Number for this 
Notice Of Funding Availability (NOFA) is FR4950-N-07. The OMB Approval 
Numbers for the programs in this NOFA are as follows:
    1. Early Doctoral Student Research Grant Program is 2528-0216.
    2. Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant Program is 2528-0213.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): The 
CFDA Numbers for the programs in this NOFA are as follows:
    1. Early Doctoral Student Research Grant Program is 14.517
    2. Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant Program is 14.516
    F. Dates: The application submission deadline shall be on or before 
May 18, 2005. Please be sure to read the General Section for electronic 
submission and receipt requirements.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information: 1. Purpose of 
the University Partnership Dissertation Programs:
    a. Early Doctoral Student Research Grant (EDSRG) Program. The 
purpose of the EDSRG program is to enable doctoral students enrolled at 
accredited institutions of higher education recognized by the U.S. 
Department of Education to cultivate their research skills through the 
preparation of research manuscripts that focus on policy-relevant 
housing and urban development issues.
    b. Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant (DDRG) Program. The purpose 
of the DDRG program is to enable Ph.D. candidates enrolled at 
accredited institutions of higher education recognized by the U.S. 
Department of Education to complete their research and dissertations on 
policy-relevant housing and urban development issues.
    2. Award Information: In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately 
$550,000 has been made available for the following Office of University 
Partnerships (OUP) dissertation programs.
    a. Early Doctoral Student Research Grant Program--Approximately 
$150,000 is available for funding under this program. The maximum grant 
performance period is 12 months. The performance period will commence 
on the effective date of the grant agreement. The maximum amount that 
can be requested by a doctoral student for award is $15,000.
    b. Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant Program--Approximately 
$400,000 is available for funding under this program. The maximum grant 
performance period is 24 months. The performance period will commence 
on the effective date of the grant agreement. The maximum amount that 
can be requested by a doctoral student for award is $25,000.
    If funding remains after all eligible EDSRG doctoral students are 
awarded, the remaining funds will be made available to fund eligible 
DDRG doctoral students. If funding remains after all eligible DDRG 
doctoral students are awarded, the remaining funds will be made 
available to fund eligible EDSRG doctoral students.
    3. Eligible Applicants. Eligible applicants are accredited 
institutions of higher education recognized by the U.S. Department of 
Education that sponsor doctoral students who meet the following program 
requirements:
    a. Early Doctoral Student Research Grant Program. Doctoral students 
applying for funding under this program must meet the following 
requirements:
    (1) Be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (recipient of an 
Alien Registration Recipient Card-Form I-551, commonly referred to as a 
Green Card) currently enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited 
doctoral program;
    (2) Have a major or concentration within a field related to housing 
and urban development;
    (3) Have not taken the preliminary/comprehensive examinations;
    (4) Completed at least two semesters or three terms of a doctoral 
studies program (depending on the course structure of the institution);
    (5) Have an assigned faculty advisor to supervise the research 
manuscript;
    (6) Submit a letter of support from the assigned faculty advisor in 
the doctoral student's department; and
    (7) Provide a support letter from the institution. This support may 
not replace support or assistance the institution would otherwise 
provide to the student.
    b. Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant Program. Doctoral students 
applying for funding under this program must meet the following 
requirements:
    (1) Be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (recipient of an 
Alien Registration Recipient Card-Form I-551, commonly referred to as a 
Green Card) currently enrolled an accredited doctoral program;
    (2) Have an approved dissertation proposal;
    (3) Provide documentation from the dissertation committee 
chairperson that states the feasibility of the following:
    (a) By the application due date, the student's dissertation 
proposal will be accepted by the full dissertation committee;
    (b) The student will have an assigned dissertation advisor;
    (c) By September 1, 2005, the student will have satisfactorily 
completed all other written and oral Ph.D. requirements, including all 
examinations and defense of the proposal, except the dissertation; and
    (d) The proposed dissertation can be prepared and delivered within 
the two-year grant period.
    (4) Provide a support letter from the institution. This support may 
not replace support or assistance the institution would otherwise 
provide to the student.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Early Doctoral Student Research Grant (EDSRG) Program

    The purpose of the EDSRG program is to enable doctoral students 
enrolled at an accredited institution of higher education recognized by 
the U.S. Department of Education to cultivate their research skills 
through the preparation of research manuscripts that focus on policy-
relevant housing and urban development issues. The FY 2005 EDSRG 
program seeks to fund research studies that may impact federal problem 
solving and policymaking and that are relevant to HUD's policy 
priorities and annual goals and objectives (See the General Section for 
discussion of these priorities and annual goals and objectives).

B. Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant (DDRG) Program

    The purpose of the DDRG program is to enable Ph.D. candidates 
enrolled at accredited institutions of higher education recognized by 
the U.S. Department of Education to complete their research and 
dissertations on policy-relevant housing and urban development issues. 
The FY 2005 DDRG program seeks to fund research studies that may impact 
federal problem solving and policymaking and that are relevant to HUD's 
policy priorities and annual

[[Page 13765]]

goals and objectives (See the General Section for discussion of these 
priorities and annual goals and objectives).

C. Topics

    Examples of topics addressing these issues (applicable to both the 
EDSRG and DDRG programs) include but are not limited to:
1. Increase Homeownership Opportunities
    a. Increase Minority Homeownership.
    b. Simplify the Home Buying Process (RESPA reform) and Reduce 
Settlement Costs.
    c. Set Appropriate Housing Goals for the GSEs.
    d. Counter Predatory Lending.
    e. Help Low-Income Homeowners Avoid Default and Foreclosure.
    f. Evaluate Housing Counseling.
2. Promote Decent Affordable Housing
    a. Reduce Regulatory Barriers to the Development of Affordable 
Housing, as well as All Forms of Multifamily Housing.
    b. Develop Creative Strategies for Expanding the Availability of 
Affordable Housing.
    c. Strengthen the Delivery of HUD-Funded Rental Assistance and 
Assistance Provided Through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.
    d. Promote Self-Sufficiency Among Residents of Public and Assisted 
Housing.
    e. Meet the Housing-Related Needs of the Elderly.
    f. Meet the Housing-Related Needs of Persons with Disabilities.
    g. Improve Housing Quality and Affordability through Technology and 
Design.
3. Strengthen Communities
    a. End Chronic Homelessness.
    b. Prevent Homelessness.
    c. Strengthen Cities.
    d. Meet the Housing and Community and Economic Development Needs of 
Residents of High-Needs Areas, including the Colonias, Appalachia, the 
Mississippi Delta, and Indian Country.
4. Ensure Equal Opportunity In Housing
    a. Reduce Housing Discrimination.
    b. Improve Housing Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities.
5. Embrace High Standards of Ethics, Management, and Accountability
    a. Reduce Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in HUD-Funded Programs.
    b. Improve the Effectiveness of HUD Programs Through Program 
Evaluations and Performance Measurement.
6. Promote Participation of Faith-Based and Community Organizations
    a. Strengthen the Capacity of Faith-Based and Community 
Organizations.

D. Modifications

    There is one major modification from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 
program-funding announcement. In FY 2005, applicants are required to 
submit their application electronically via the following Web site: 
http://www.grants.gov/Apply. Read the General Section for further 
information regarding submitting your application electronically.

E. Authority

    HUD's authority for making funding available under this NOFA is the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447, approved 
December 8, 2004). These programs are undertaken under HUD's research 
authority under Title V of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 
1970. They are being implemented through this NOFA and the policies 
governing their operation are contained herein.

II. Award Information

    In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately $550,000 is made available 
for the Office of University Partnerships (OUP) dissertation programs 
as follows:

A. Early Doctoral Student Research Grant Program

    Approximately $150,000 will be made available for funding under 
this program. The maximum grant performance period is 12 months. The 
performance period will commence on the effective date of the grant 
agreement. The maximum amount that can be requested by a doctoral 
student for award is $15,000.

B. Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant Program

    Approximately $400,000 will be made available for funding under 
this program. The maximum grant performance period is 24 months. The 
performance period will commence on the effective date of the grant 
agreement. The maximum amount that can be requested by a doctoral 
student for award is $25,000.
    If funding remains after all eligible EDSRG doctoral students are 
awarded, the remaining funds will be made available to fund eligible 
DDRG doctoral students. If funding remains after all eligible DDRG 
doctoral students are awarded, the remaining funds will be made 
available to fund eligible EDSRG doctoral students.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Eligible applicants are accredited institutions of higher education 
recognized by the U.S. Department of Education that sponsor doctoral 
students. The institution must address the following program 
requirements:
    1. Early Doctoral Student Research Grant Program. Doctoral students 
applying for funding under this program must meet the following 
requirements:
    a. Be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (recipient of an 
Alien Registration Recipient Card-Form I-551, commonly referred to as a 
Green Card) currently enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited 
doctoral program;
    b. Have not taken the preliminary/comprehensive examinations;
    c. Have completed at least two semesters or three terms of a 
doctoral studies program (depending on the course structure of the 
institution);
    d. Have an assigned faculty advisor to supervise the research 
manuscript (provide the advisor's name, address, phone number, 
facsimile number, and email address);
    e. Submit a letter of support from the assigned faculty advisor of 
the doctoral student that confirms that the student meets all of the 
conditions above and that the proposed research manuscript can be 
completed within the one-year grant period; and
    f. Provide a support letter from the institution that includes in 
detail the type of support the university is providing. Such support 
might include tuition waivers, office space, computer time, assumption 
of indirect costs, or similar items the doctoral student might need in 
order to complete the required product. This support may not replace 
support or assistance the institution would otherwise provide to the 
student.
    2. Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant Program. Doctoral students 
applying for funding under this program must meet the following 
requirements:
    a. Be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (recipient of an 
Alien Registration Recipient Card-Form I-551, commonly referred to as a 
Green Card) currently enrolled in an accredited doctoral program;
    b. Have an approved dissertation proposal;
    c. Provide letter from the dissertation committee chairperson that 
confirms the following:
    (1) By the application due date, the student's dissertation 
proposal has been accepted by the full dissertation committee and the 
student has been assigned a dissertation advisor (provide

[[Page 13766]]

the advisor's name, address, phone number, facsimile number, and email 
address);
    (2) By September 1, 2005, the student will have satisfactorily 
completed all other written and oral Ph.D. requirements, including all 
examinations and defense of the proposal, except the dissertation; and
    (3) The proposed dissertation can be prepared and delivered within 
the two-year grant period.
    d. Provide a support letter from the institution that includes in 
detail the type of support the university is providing. Such support 
might include tuition waivers, office space, computer time, assumption 
of indirect costs, or similar items the student might need in order to 
complete the required product. This support may not replace support or 
assistance the institution would otherwise provide to the student.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    None Required.

C. Other

1. Eligible Activities
    Grant funds awarded for programs under this NOFA must be used to 
support direct costs incurred in the timely completion of the research 
product. Eligible costs include stipends, computer software, purchase 
of data, travel expenses to collect data, transcription services, and 
compensation for interviews.
2. Audit Requirements
    Applicants must ensure that their most current A-133 audit is on 
file at the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. (Applicants are not required 
to submit a copy of the audit with the application.) Grantees that 
expend $500,000 or more in federal financial assistance in a single 
year (this can be program year or fiscal year) must be audited in 
accordance with the OMB requirements as established in 24 CFR Part 84. 
Additional information regarding this requirement can be access at the 
following Web site: http://harvester.census.gov/sac.
3. Threshold Requirements Applicable to All Applicants
    All applicants and doctoral students must comply with the threshold 
requirements as defined in the General Section and the requirements 
listed below to be evaluated, rated, and ranked. Applications that do 
not meet these requirements will be considered ineligible for funding 
and will be disqualified.
    a. The doctoral student must meet the eligibility requirement for 
the program for which they are requesting funding as defined in Section 
III.A, Eligible Applicants;
    b. University sponsorship. The university shall enter into a Grant 
Agreement with HUD that provides for payment of the grant by HUD to the 
university and from the university to the approved doctoral student, 
and that further provides all required certifications and assurances. 
The university shall agree to provide as the Principal Investigator 
under the Grant Agreement a faculty advisor or chairperson of the 
doctoral student's dissertation committee who shall supervise the 
student's work under the Grant Agreement;
    c. The student has provided a letter from the faculty advisor or 
chairperson of the doctoral student's dissertation committee confirming 
the applicant is eligible as outlined in Section III A, Eligible 
Applicants;
    d. The student's institution has provided a letter agreeing to 
provide support and outlines the specific type of support they will 
provide as part of this grant as defined in Section III A, Eligible 
Applicants;
    e. The student has requested no more funding than the grant maximum 
allocated for the program from which they are requested funding as 
outlined in Section II, Award Information;
    f. Only one application package can be submitted per doctoral 
student. Students who have received funding in the past are not 
eligible to receive funding under the same program.
    g. Applications must receive a minimum score of 75 points to be 
considered for funding;
    h. The University (the official applicant on behalf of the student) 
must have a DUNS number to receive HUD grant funds. (The General 
Section provides information regarding the DUNS requirement); and
    i. Electronic applications must be received by grants.gov no later 
than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on May 18, 2005. See the General 
Section for information on application submission and timely receipt 
requirements.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses To Request Application Package

    Applicants may download the instructions to the application found 
on the grants.gov Web site at http://www.Grants.gov./Apply. The 
instructions contain the General Section and Program Section of the 
published NOFA as well as forms that you must complete and attach as a 
zip file to your application submission. If you have difficulty 
accessing the information you may call the Grants.gov Support desk toll 
free 800-518-GRANTS or e-mail your questions to Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. The 
Support Desk staff will assist you in accessing the information. Please 
remember that you must be registered to submit an application utilizing 
Grants.gov. Your registration allows you to electronically sign the 
application and enables Grants.gov to authenticate that the person 
signing the application has legal authority to submit the application 
on behalf of the applicant. Please see the General Section for 
information regarding the registration process or ask for registration 
information from the Grants.gov Support Desk. Please be aware that the 
registration process is a separate process from requesting e-mail 
notification of funding opportunities or downloading the application 
and should be done as soon as you download the application from the 
grants.gov Web site. If you are not sure if you are already registered, 
the Grants.gov Support Desk can assist in verifying whether you are 
registered.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

1. Forms.
    The following forms are required for submission. Copies of these 
forms are included in Appendix A of the General Section. All required 
forms are contained in the electronic application package.
    a. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424);
    b. Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants (SF-424 
Supplement);
    c. Grant Application Detailed Budget (HUD-424-CB);
    d. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL);
    e. America's Affordable Communities Initiative (HUD-27300), if 
applicable;
    f. Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880);
    g. Program Logic Model (HUD-96010);
    h. Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994). This form is 
included to solicit information from the most valuable source, the 
applicant. The changes that we have instituted this year are designed 
to make things easier for the applicant. If applicants complete and 
submit this form, it will help us to assess whether the changes have 
had the intended results. It will also guide us in our continuing 
efforts to improve the competitive grant process. Applicants are not 
required to complete this form;
    i. Acknowledgement of Applicant Receipt (HUD-2993). Only applicants

[[Page 13767]]

that do not submit an electronic application need to include this form 
with their application. Please complete this form if you have received 
a waiver to the electronic application submission requirement. 
Applicants are not required to include this form, but it is recommended 
that they do so; and
    j. Facsimile Transmittal Cover Page (HUD 96011). This form must be 
used as part of the electronic application to transmit third party 
documents and other information as described in the General Section as 
part of your electronic application submittal (if applicable). 
Applicants are advised to download the application package, complete 
the SF 424 first and it will pre-populate the Transmittal Cover page. 
The Transmittal Cover page will contain a unique identifier embedded in 
the page that will help HUD associate your faxed materials to your 
application. Please download the cover page and then make multiple 
copies to provide to any of the entities responsible for submitting 
faxed materials to HUD on your behalf.
2. Certifications and Assurances.
    Please read the General Section for detailed information on all 
Certifications and Assurance. All applications submitted through 
Grants.gov constitute an acknowledgement and agreement to all required 
certifications and assurances. Please include in your application each 
item listed below. Applicants submitting paper copy applications should 
submit the applications in the following order:
    a. SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. Please remember the 
following:
    (1) The name of the applicant for these programs is the University. 
Please make sure that the University's address is listed on this form 
(not the student's information);
    (2) Include the name, title, address, telephone number, facsimile 
number, and e-mail address of the designated contact person. This is 
the University contact who will receive all information pertinent to 
this grant;
    (3) The total grant amount requested;
    (4) The University's Employer Identification/Tax ID;
    (5) The DUNS Number;
    (6) The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for the 
program from which you are requesting funding;
    (a) Early Doctoral Student Research Grant Program is 14.517
    (b) Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant Program is 14.516.
    (7) The signature of the Authorized Organization Representative 
(AOR) who has been authenticated by the credential provider to submit 
applications via Grants.gov. The AOR must be able to make a binding 
legal agreement with HUD. See the General Section for instructions and 
requirements for Registration with Grants.gov.
    b. Table of Contents
    c. Application Checklist. Doctoral students should use the 
checklist to ensure that they have all the required components of the 
application. Students submitting an electronic application do not have 
to submit the checklist. Students who receive a waiver of the 
electronic application submission requirement must include a copy of 
the checklist in their application. The checklist is found in the NOFA 
(See Attachment A).
    c. Executive Summary (700 words or less). The Executive Summary 
should, at a minimum, include a summary of the proposed research 
project that addresses the following information:
    (1) Specific purpose of the manuscript/dissertation;
    (2) Methodology being used; and
    (3) How the student meets the eligibility criteria for the program 
from which she/he is requesting funding.
    In addition, include the following information:
    (1) Student's address, telephone number, facsimile number, and e-
mail address at the university;
    (2) The faculty/chairperson advisor's name, title, department, 
address, telephone number, facsimile number, and e-mail address. This 
person will serve as the Principal Investigator for this grant; and
    (3) The designated university contact person, including phone 
number, facsimile number, and e-mail address.
    d. Narrative Statement Addressing the Rating Factors. HUD will use 
the narrative response to the ``Rating Factors'' to evaluate, rate, and 
rank applications. The narrative statement is the main source of 
information. Therefore, it is very important that the student becomes 
fully familiar with the rating factors for the program from which he/
she is requesting funding. The narrative should be numbered in 
accordance with each factor and subfactor. Please do not repeat 
material in response to the four factors; instead, focus on how well 
the proposal responds to each of the factors. Make sure to address each 
factor and subfactor and provide sufficient information about every 
element. The application narrative, bibliographies, and any supporting 
references must not exceed 20 pages in length (excluding forms, 
assurances, budget narrative, Table of Contents, Executive Summary, 
agreements, and letters) and must be submitted on 8 \1/2\ by 11-inch 
paper, double-spaced on one side of the paper, with one inch margins 
(from the top, bottom, left, and right side of the document) and 
printed in standard Times New Roman 12-point font. Each page must be 
numbered and the name of the student and university on each page. The 
double-spacing requirement applies to the narrative section of the 
application (excluding references, bibliographies, agreements, and 
letters). Please note that although submitting pages in excess of the 
page limit will not disqualify the application, HUD will not consider 
the information on any excess page. This exclusion may result in a 
lower score or failure to meet a threshold requirement.
    Support Letters--For doctoral students submitting electronic 
applications, please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for 
further instructions on how third party documents are to be submitted 
to HUD via the electronic submission process.
    (1) Faculty Advisor/Dissertation Advisor Support Letter. This 
letter must provide a statement from the doctoral student's faculty 
advisor or chairperson of the doctoral student's dissertation committee 
verifying the doctoral student has met all the eligibility criteria 
described in Section III.A, Eligible Applicant.
    (2) University Support Letter. This letter must provide a statement 
from the appropriate official at the university that describes in 
detail the type of support the University will be providing, as 
described in Section III.A, Eligible Applicant. Please remember that 
this support may not replace support or assistance that the institution 
would otherwise provide the student.
    g. Budget. The budget submission must include the following:
    (1) HUD-424-CB, ``Grant Application Detailed Budget.'' This budget 
form shows the total budget by year and by line item for the program 
activities to be carried out with the proposed HUD grant. Each year of 
the program should be presented separately.
    Make sure that the amount shown on the SF-424, the HUD-424-CB and 
on all other required program forms is consistent and the budget totals 
are correct. Remember to check addition in totaling the categories on 
the Form HUD-424-CB so that that all items are included in the total. 
The budget form must be fully completed. If there is any inconsistency 
between any required forms, the HUD-424-CB will be used. If this 
correction puts an application over the grant maximum, the doctoral 
student will not be able to correct the

[[Page 13768]]

amount requested and the application will be disqualified. If an 
application is selected for award, the applicant may be required to 
provide greater specificity to the budget during grant agreement 
negotiations.
    (2) Budget Narrative. A narrative must be submitted that explains 
how the doctoral student arrived at the cost estimates. The proposed 
cost estimates should be reasonable for the work to be performed and 
consistent with rates established for the level of expertise required 
to perform the work proposed.
    h. Appendix. Doctoral students receiving a waiver of the electronic 
submission requirements and submitting a paper copy of the application 
must place all letters and other required forms in this section. For 
doctoral students submitting electronic applications, please refer to 
Section IV.F of the General Section for instructions on how third party 
documents are to be submitted to HUD using electronic submission 
process. An applicant SHOULD NOT submit general support letters, 
resumes, or other back-up materials. If this information is included, 
it will not be considered during the review process. The additional 
items will also slow the transmission of your application.

C. Submission Dates and Times

    A complete application package must be received electronically by 
the Grants.gov portal no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on or 
before May 18, 2005. Applications may be submitted in advance of the 
submission date. Electronic faxes using the Facsimile Transmittal (Form 
HUD 96011) cover sheet contained in the electronic application may be 
submitted prior to the application submission date and must be received 
no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on the application submission 
date. Please see Section IV.F of the General Section for electronic 
application submission instructions and timely receipt requirements.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    These programs are excluded from an Intergovernmental Review.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Funding may only be provided to doctoral students who meet the 
standards for eligible applicants outlined in Section III. A.
    2. Grant funds awarded for programs under this NOFA may not be used 
to pay for tuition, computer hardware, or meals.
3. Early Doctoral Student Research Grant (EDSRG) Program
    Three thousand dollars of the grant funds will be held until the 
doctoral student's research manuscript has been completed and accepted 
for presentation at a conference or publication in a refereed journal 
by the end of the grant period, or a committee of three faculty members 
(including the faculty sponsor, as the principal investigator of the 
grant) has determined and certified to HUD that the manuscript is of 
high quality and worthy of submission to conferences or journals, and 
two copies of the research product are submitted to HUD in their final 
version.
4. Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant (DDRG) Program
    Six thousand dollars of the grant funds will be held until the 
doctoral student's dissertation has been completed, approved by the 
committee, and two final copies are submitted to HUD.
    5. Institutions that have had previously awarded grants under these 
programs terminated for non-performance and have outstanding funds owed 
to HUD resulting from the termination will be excluded from competition 
until the outstanding funds are repaid. (Applicants must comply with 
the Delinquent Federal Debt Requirement as defined in the General 
Section.)

F. Other Submission Requirements

    1. Application Submission and Receipt Procedure. Please read the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA carefully and completely for the 
submission and receipt procedures for all applications because failure 
to comply may disqualify a doctoral student's application.
    2. Waiver of Electronic Submission Requirements. Please refer to 
Section IV.F4 of the General Section for further discussion.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

1. Rating Factor 1
    Capacity to do the Research (20 Points). In reviewing this factor, 
HUD will determine the extent to which:
    a. The student's skills and experience are relevant to the proposed 
research manuscript/dissertation (e.g., course work, teaching, research 
projects, and presentations);
    b. The student provides a research outline that identifies the 
preliminary steps that have been undertaken (e.g., literature review, 
research hypotheses, questions to be answered) to produce the proposed 
manuscript/dissertation; and
    c. For Early Doctoral Program Applicants only; The proposed 
research will help to further the student's research skills (i.e., it 
is relevant to the kind of projects the student will continue to work 
on as she/he earns his/her Ph.D.).
    d. For Doctoral Dissertation Research Applicants only; The doctoral 
student's previous research experience (e.g., graduate-level research 
projects, presentations at conferences, publications, etc.) is relevant 
to and supportive of the proposed dissertation.
2. Rating Factor 2
    Need for the Research (35 Points). In reviewing this factor, HUD 
will determine the extent to which the proposed research manuscript/
dissertation will produce policy-relevant information that is directly 
related to HUD's research priorities and/or annual goals and objectives 
(i.e., the research that will be produced could have an effect on HUD's 
strategic goals and programs and policies to achieve these goals). The 
more direct the relationship is between the doctoral student's 
manuscript/dissertation and one of these topics, the higher number of 
points awarded. For example a study of minorities' housing choice 
decisions would have high relevance to HUD's strategic goals; a study 
of transportation inequities would have medium relevance; and a study 
of the effects of global warming on urban development would have low 
relevance. For a full list and explanation of the research priorities 
and/or annual goals, please refer to the General Section.
3. Rating Factor 3
    Soundness of Approach (35 Points). This factor addresses the 
quality and effectiveness of the proposed research design and 
methodology and the actions regarding HUD's policy priorities. This 
factor will be evaluated based on the extent to which the proposed work 
plan will demonstrate the following:
    a. Quality of Research (33 Points). (1) The research design and 
methodology proposed is likely to produce data and information that 
will successfully answer the research hypothesis; and
    (2) The methodology proposed is sound and generally accepted by the 
relevant research community and is in line with research already 
completed or existing publications in the field as they relate to the 
scholarly standard for the research questions.
    b. HUD Policy Priorities (2 Points). An important purpose of these 
programs is

[[Page 13769]]

to fund research that may impact federal problem solving and 
policymaking and is relevant to HUD's policy priorities and annual 
goals and objectives. (See General Section for further discussion). HUD 
encourages doctoral students to undertake research that will assist the 
Department in implementing its policy priorities and which help the 
Department achieve its goals and objectives in FY 2006. In addressing 
this factor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which the research will 
further and support HUD's priorities. The quality of a student's 
response to one or more of HUD's priorities will determine the score a 
doctoral student can receive. Students must describe how each policy 
priority they selected will be addressed. Students who just list a 
priority will receive no points.
    Each policy priority addressed has a value of one point with the 
exception of the policy priority to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, which has a point value of up to 2 points. The 
total number of points available to students who address policy 
priorities is two. It is up to the student to determine which of the 
policy priorities they elect to address to receive the available 2 
points. To receive points for efforts to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, a student must submit a completed questionnaire 
(HUD-27300) ``HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory Barriers'' 
found in the General Section along with required documentation. This 
form is part of the electronic application and is constructed to permit 
the required documentation to be attached to the electronic form. For 
the full list and explanation of each policy priority, please refer to 
the General Section.
4. Rating Factor 4 Issuance of the Research Product (10 Points)
    In reviewing this factor, HUD will determine the following:
    a. For Early Doctoral Program Applicants only. The extent to which 
the proposed research manuscript will be completed within the grant 
performance period and be suitable for presentation at a conference or 
publication in a refereed journal.
    b. For Doctoral Dissertation Program Applicants only. The extent to 
which the proposed research can feasibly be prepared and delivered to 
HUD by the end of the grant performance period.
    c. Students must demonstrate the feasibility of completing their 
research within the grant performance period by providing the following 
information:
    (1) Major tasks involved in completing the proposed research;
    (2) Indicate the sequence in which these tasks will be performed; 
and
    (3) Identify any key individuals responsible for carrying out any 
proposed activities. The sequence and duration of this effort should be 
presented in quarterly (3 month) intervals for the entire life of the 
grant (use of a milestone chart to present this information is 
recommended).
    (4) Efforts on the part of the doctoral student who proposes 
extremely complex and time-consuming data collection efforts (e.g., 
major longitudinal studies or a very large number of site visits within 
the grant period) will be determined less feasible for completion 
within the allotted grant performance period. For example, if the 
proposed methodology is based on information that may not be publicly 
available until after the end of the grant period (e.g., Census 
information), or a data collection plan that will take longer than the 
allotted grant performance period is proposed, zero points will be 
awarded for this factor.
    (5) HUD will also evaluate the student's plan to disseminate the 
research through other means (e.g., seminars, university publications, 
or relevant electronic means).

B. Review and Selection Process

1. Application Selection Process
    Two types of reviews will be conducted:
    a. A threshold review to determine an applicant's basic 
eligibility; and
    b. A technical review for all applications that pass the threshold 
review to rate and rank the application based on the ``Rating Factors'' 
listed in Section V.A above.
    Only those applications that pass the threshold review will receive 
a technical review and be rated and ranked.
2. Rating Panels
    To review and rate applications, HUD may establish panels which may 
include experts or consultants not currently employed by HUD. These 
individuals may be included to obtain certain expertise.
3. Ranking
    In order to be funded, an application must receive a minimum score 
of 75 points out of a possible 100 for Factors 1 through 5. The RC/EZ/
EC-II communities, two bonus points described in the General Section, 
do not apply to this NOFA. HUD will fund applications under each 
program in rank order, until all available program funds are awarded. 
If two or more applications have the same number of points, the 
application with the higher points for Factor 1, Capacity to do the 
Research, shall be selected. If there is still a tie, the application 
with the higher points for Factor 2, Need for the Research, shall be 
selected. HUD reserves the right to reduce the amount of funding 
requested in order to fund as many highly ranked applications as 
possible. Additionally, if funds remain after funding the highest 
ranked applications, HUD may fund part of the next highest-ranking 
application. If an applicant turns down the award offer, HUD will make 
the same determination for the next highest-ranking application.
4. Correction to Deficient Applications
    The General Section provides the procedures for correction to 
deficient applications.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    Announcements of awards are anticipated on or before September 30, 
2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    After all selections have been made, HUD will notify all winning 
applicants in writing. HUD may require winning applicants to 
participate in additional negotiations before receiving an official 
award. For further discussion on this matter, please refer to the 
General Section.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    For additional information regarding these requirements, please 
refer to the General Section.
    1. Debriefing. The General Section provides the procedures for 
requesting a debriefing. All requests for debriefings must be made in 
writing and submitted to Armand Carriere; Office of University 
Partnerships; Robert C. Weaver Federal Building; 451 Seventh Street, 
SW., Room 8106; Washington, DC 20410. Applicants may also write to Mr. 
Carriere via e-mail at [email protected].
    2. Environmental Requirements. The provision of assistance under 
these programs is categorically excluded from environmental review 
under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321) 
and not subject to compliance actions for related environmental 
authorities under 24 CFR 50.19(b)(1) and (b)(9).
    3. Administrative. Grants awarded under this NOFA will be governed 
by the provisions of 24 CFR part 84 (Grants and Agreements with 
Institutions of

[[Page 13770]]

Higher Education, Hospitals and Other Non-Profit Organizations), A-21 
(Cost Principles for Educational Institutions) and A-133 (Audits of 
States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations). Applicants 
can access the OMB circulars at the White House Web site at: 
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html.

C. Reporting Requirements

    All recipients of grant funds for programs in this NOFA are 
required to submit a report, halfway through the grant period, on the 
progress to date that has been made toward completion of the research 
product and the likelihood that it will be completed on time.
    HUD requires that funded recipients collect racial and ethnic 
beneficiary data. HUD has adopted the Office of Management and Budget's 
Standards for the Collection of Racial and Ethnic Date. In view of 
these requirements, applicants should use form HUD-27061, Racial and 
Ethnic Date Reporting Form or a comparable form, or a comparable 
electronic data system for this purpose.

VII. Agency Contacts

    Doctoral students may contact Armand Carriere, Office of University 
Partnerships at (202) 708-3061, extension 3181 or Susan Brunson at 
(202) 708-3061, extension 3852. Persons with speech or hearing 
impairments may call the Federal Information Relay Service TTY at 800-
877-8339. Except for the ``800'' number, these telephone numbers are 
not toll-free. Students may also reach Mr. Carriere via the Internet at 
[email protected] and/or Ms. Brunson at Susan--S.--
[email protected].

VIII. Other Information

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2528-0216 (for the Early Doctoral Student Research 
Grant Program) and 2528-0213 (for the Doctoral Dissertation Research 
Grant Program). In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may 
not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a 
collection of information unless the collection displays a currently 
valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for the collection of 
information is estimated to average 44 hours per annum per respondent 
for the application and grant administration. This includes the time 
for collecting, reviewing, and reporting the data for the application, 
semi-annual reports, and final report. The information will be used for 
grantee selection and monitoring the administration of funds. Response 
to this request for information is required in order to receive the 
benefits to be derived.
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

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[[Page 13774]]



Community Development Work Study Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, Office of 
University Partnerships
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Community Development Work Study 
Program (CDWSP).
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register Number for this 
Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) is FR-4950-N-08. The OMB approval 
number for this program is 2528-0185.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: The CFDA 
Number for this program is 14.512.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is May 18, 2005. Please 
be sure to read the General Section for electronic application 
submission and receipt requirements.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of the Program: The Community Development Work Study 
Program (CDWSP) funds two-year grants to accredited institutions of 
higher education, Area Planning Organizations (APOs), and states 
applying on behalf of institutions to provide assistance to 
economically disadvantaged and minority graduate students who 
participate in a community development work study program. Students 
must be U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents (recipient of an 
Alien Registration Recipient Card-Form I-551, commonly referred to as a 
Green Card) and enrolled full-time in a graduate community building 
academic degree program. Grants will cover the academic period August 
2005 through August 2007.
    2. Award Information: In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately $2.8 
million has been made available for this program, plus $391,144 in 
previously unobligated FY 2004 funds. The grant performance period is 
two years (24 months). The performance period will commence on the 
effective date of the grant agreement. Institutions may request no more 
than $15,000 per year per student for a total of $30,000 for a two-year 
(24 months) grant performance period. The minimum number of students 
that can be assisted under this program per participating institution 
is three. The maximum number of students that can be assisted under 
this program per participating institution is five. The maximum amount 
an institution can request for funding is $150,000.
    3. Eligible Applicants: Organizations are eligible if they are:
    a. An accredited institution of higher education recognized by the 
U.S. Department of Education that offers a graduate degree in a 
community development academic program;
    b. An Area Planning Organization (APO) (Additional information and 
locations of APOs can be accessed at the following Web site, http://
www.narc.org.) applying on behalf of two or more eligible accredited 
institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education that offer 
a graduate degree in a community development academic program. These 
institutions must also be located in the same Standard Metropolitan 
Statistical Area (SMSA) or non-SMSA as the APO (in accordance with the 
regulations at 24 CFR 570.415, institutions of higher education are 
permitted to choose whether to apply independently or through an APO); 
or
    c. A state applying on behalf of two or more eligible accredited 
institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education that offer 
a graduate degree in a community development academic program and that 
are located in the state.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    The Community Development Work Study Program (CDWSP) funds two-year 
grants to accredited institutions of higher education, Area Planning 
Organizations (APOs), and states applying on behalf of institutions to 
provide assistance to economically disadvantaged and minority graduate 
students who participate in a community development work study program.

A. Authority

    HUD's authority for making funding available under this NOFA is 
Section 107(c) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 
U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). Regulations for the program appear at 24 CFR 
570.415.

B. Modifications

    Listed below are major modifications to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 
program-funding announcement:
    1. Applicants are required to submit their application 
electronically via the following Web site: http://www.grants.gov/Apply. 
Read the General Section for further information regarding submitting 
your application electronically.
    2. The procedure for institutions to apply for funding under this 
NOFA has changed. See Section III.A. of this NOFA for details.
    3. If an applicant is an APO or State the application narrative 
must not exceed 85 pages in length including any supplemental 
photocopies or excerpts from official publications of the educational 
institution or department (excluding forms and assurances, Executive 
Summary, agreements and letters).

C. Program Definitions

    1. Area Planning Organizations (APO)--An organization authorized by 
law or by interlocal agreement to undertake planning and other 
activities for a metropolitan or non-metropolitan area. For an 
organization operating in a non-metropolitan area to be considered an 
APO, its jurisdiction must cover at least one county. Additional 
information and locations of APOs can be accessed at the following Web 
site http://www.narc.org.
    2. Economically disadvantaged and minority students--Students who 
satisfy all applicable guidelines established at the participating 
institution to measure financial need for academic scholarship or loan 
assistance, including, but not limited to, students who are Black, 
American Indian/Alaskan Native, Hispanic, or Asian/Pacific Island, and 
including students with disabilities.
    3. Student--An individual enrolled in an eligible full-time 
academic program. He/she must be a first-year student in a two-year 
graduate program. Students enrolled in Ph.D. programs are ineligible.

II. Award Information

    In Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, approximately $2.8 million, plus $391,144 
in previously unobligated FY 2004 funds is made available under this 
NOFA. Institutions may request no more than $15,000 per year per 
student for a total of $30,000 for a two-year (24 months) grant 
performance period. The performance period will commence on the 
effective date of the grant agreement. The minimum number of students 
that can be assisted per participating institution is three. The 
maximum number of students that can be assisted under this program is 
five per participating institution. The maximum amount of funding an 
institution can request is $150,000.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Organizations are eligible if they are:
    1. An accredited institution of higher education recognized by the 
U.S.

[[Page 13775]]

Department of Education that offers a graduate degree in a community 
development academic program;
    2. An APO (Additional information and locations of APOs can be 
accessed at the following Web site, http://www.narc.org.) applying on 
behalf of two or more eligible accredited institutions recognized by 
the Department of Education that offer a graduate degree in a community 
development academic program. These institutions must also be located 
in the same Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) or non-SMSA 
as the APO (in accordance with the regulations at 24 CFR 570.415, 
institutions are permitted to choose whether to apply independently or 
through an APO); or
    3. A state applying on behalf of two or more eligible accredited 
institutions recognized by the Department of Education that offer a 
graduate degree in a community development academic program that are 
located in the state.
    4. Accredited institutions located in a state may apply 
independently even if the state is applying. However, if the 
institution is also included in the application of the State or APO 
then the separate individual application from that institution will be 
disregarded. Additionally, if an institution is included in the 
application of both an APO and a State, then the reference to the 
institution in the application of the State will be stricken. The 
State's application will then be ineligible if fewer than two 
institutions remain as participants in the State's application.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    None Required.

C. Other

Audit Requirements
    Applicants must ensure that their most current A-133 audit is on 
file at the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. (Applicants are not required 
to submit a copy of the audit with the application.) Grantees that 
expend $500,000 or more in federal financial assistance in a single 
year (this can be program year or fiscal year) must be audited in 
accordance with the OMB requirements as established in 24 CFR Part 84. 
Additional information regarding this requirement can be accessed at 
the following Web site: http://harvester.census.gov/sac.
2. Threshold Requirements Applicable to All Applicants
    All applicants must comply with the threshold requirements as 
defined in the General Section and the requirements listed below to be 
evaluated, rated, and ranked. Applications that do not meet these 
requirements will be considered ineligible for funding and will be 
disqualified:
    a. The applicant must meet the eligible requirement as defined in 
Section III.A, Eligible Applicants.
    b. Applicants must comply with all statutory and regulatory 
requirements applicable to this program. CDWSP regulations can be found 
at 24 CFR 570.415. Copies of the regulations are available on request 
from http://www.HUDUSER.org.
    c. An eligible community building academic program includes, but is 
not limited to, accredited graduate degree programs in community and 
economic development, community planning, community management, 
community organizing, public administration, public policy, urban 
economics, urban management, and urban planning.
    d. The minimum number of students that may be assisted per 
participating institution is three. If an APO or state receives 
assistance for a program that is conducted by two or more institutions, 
each participating institution must have a minimum of three students 
per program. The maximum number of students that can be assisted under 
this program is five per participating institution. The applicant may 
request no more than $150,000 for award.
    e. Only one application can be submitted per institution. If 
multiple applications are submitted, all will be disqualified. If a 
single institution application is also included in the application of 
an APO or state, then the individual application of the institution 
will be disregarded. Additionally, if an institution is included in the 
application of both an APO and a state, then the reference to the 
institution in the application of the state will be stricken. The 
state's application will then be ineligible if fewer than two 
institutions remain as participants in the state's application.
    f. Applicants must receive a minimum score of 75 points to be 
considered for funding.
    g. An applicant must have a DUNS Number to receive HUD grant funds. 
(The General Section provides information regarding the DUNS 
requirement.)
    h. Electronic applications must be received by Grants.gov no later 
than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on May 18, 2005. See the General 
Section for information on application submission and timely receipt 
requirements.
3. Program Requirements
    In addition to the standard requirements listed in Section III.C of 
the General Section, applicants must meet the following program 
requirements:
    a. All funds awarded under this program must be spent during a two-
year (24 months) grant performance period.
    b. Applicants must have on file a signed agreement with each 
student that covers the purpose of the work placement, responsibilities 
of both parties, including financial support and work components. This 
agreement should also address the student's responsibilities as 
described in the program regulations that can be found at 24 CFR 
570.415.
    c. Applicants must have on file a signed agreement with each work 
placement agency that covers the purpose of the work placement, and the 
respective roles of all parties. Among other matters determined to be 
appropriate, this agreement should address the work placement agency's 
responsibilities described in the program regulations that can be found 
at 24 CFR 570.415.
    d. Where the recipient is an APO or State, the recipient and each 
participating institution must execute a written agreement 
incorporating their mutual responsibilities under the CDWSP program. 
Applicants must have on file a copy of all executed agreements.

    (Note: HUD does not provide a model or sample format for any of 
these agreements).

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

    Applicants may download the instructions to the application found 
on the grants.gov Web site at http://www.Grants.gov/Apply. The 
instructions contain the General Section and Program Section of the 
published NOFA as well as forms that you must complete and attach as a 
zip file to your application submission. If you have difficulty 
accessing the information you may call the Grants.gov Support desk toll 
free 800-518-GRANTS or e-mail your questions to Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. The 
Support Desk staff will assist you in accessing the information. Please 
remember that you must be registered to submit an application utilizing 
Grants.gov. Your registration allows you to electronically sign the 
application and enables Grants.gov to authenticate that the person 
signing the application has the legal authority to submit the 
application on behalf of the applicant. Please see the General Section 
for information regarding the registration

[[Page 13776]]

process or ask for registration information from the Grants.gov Support 
Desk. Please be aware that the registration process is a separate 
process from requesting e-mail notification of funding opportunities or 
downloading the application and should be done as soon as you download 
the application from the grants.gov Web site. If you are not sure if 
you are already registered, the Grants.gov Support Desk can assist in 
verifying whether you are registered.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

1. Forms
    The following forms are required for submission. Copies of these 
forms are included in Appendix A of the General Section. All required 
forms are contained in the electronic application package.
    a. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424);
    b. Survey of Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants (SF-424 
Supplement);
    c. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL);
    d. America's Affordable Communities Initiative (HUD-27300), if 
applicable;
    e. Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880);
    f. Program Logic Model (HUD-96010);
    g. Community Development Work Study Program Student Data Sheets 
Budget (HUD-30007);
    h. Community Development Work Study Program Student Budget Sheet 
(HUD-30015);
    i. Budget Cover Sheet for State/Area-Wide Planning Organizations 
Budget Summary Sheet (HUD-30014) if applicable only for states and 
APOs; and
    j. Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994). This form is 
included to solicit information from the most valuable source, the 
applicant. The changes that we have instituted this year are designed 
to make things easier for the applicant. If applicants complete and 
submit this form, it will help HUD to assess whether the changes made 
to this document have had the intended results. It will also guide us 
in our continuing efforts to improve the competitive grant process. 
Applicants are not required to complete this form;
    k. Acknowledgement of Applicant Receipt (HUD-2993). Only applicants 
that do not submit electronic application need to include this form 
with their application. Please complete this form if you have received 
a waiver to the electronic application submission requirement. 
Applicants are not required to include this form, but it is recommended 
that they do so; and
    l. Facsimile Transmittal Cover Page (HUD 96011). This form must be 
used as part of the electronic application to transmit third party 
documents and other information as described in the General Section as 
part of your electronic application submittal (if applicable). 
Applicants are advised to download the application package, complete 
the SF-424 first and it will pre-populate the Transmittal Cover page. 
The Transmittal Cover page will contain a unique identifier embedded in 
the page that will help HUD associate your faxed materials to your 
application. Please download the cover page and then make multiple 
copies to provide to any of the entities responsible for submitting 
faxed materials to HUD on your behalf.
    2. Certifications and Assurances. Please read the General Section 
for detailed information on all the Certifications and Assurances. All 
applications submitted through Grants.gov constitute an acknowledgement 
and agreement to all required certifications and assurances. Please 
include in your application each item listed below. Applicants 
submitting paper copy applications should submit the application in the 
following order:
    a. SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance. Please remember the 
following:
    (1) The full grant amount for the entire two years should be 
entered, not the amount for just one year;
    (2) Include the name, title, address, telephone number, facsimile 
number, and e-mail address of the designated contact. This is the 
person who will receive the reviewers' comments; therefore, please 
ensure the accuracy of the information;
    (3) The Employer Identification/Tax ID;
    (4) The DUNS Number;
    (5) The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this 
program is 14.512;
    (6) The project's proposed start date and completion date. For the 
purpose of this application, the program start date should be September 
1, 2005; and
    (7) The signature of the Authorized Organization Representative 
(AOR) who has been authenticated by the credential provider to submit 
applications via Grants.gov. The AOR must be able to make a binding 
legal agreement with HUD. See the General Section for instructions and 
requirements for Registration with Grants.gov.
    b. Application Checklist. Applicants should use the checklist to 
ensure that they have all the required components of their application. 
Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic submission must include 
the completed checklist in their application. Applicants submitting an 
electronic application do not have to submit the checklist in their 
application. The checklist can be found in the NOFA (See Attachment A).
    c. Executive Summary. Applicants must include an Executive summary 
that is no more than three pages in length. The Executive Summary must, 
at a minimum, describe:
    (1) The academic degree programs for which the students will be 
selected;
    (2) The type of work placement agencies (including specific 
examples) that have committed to participate in the program (students 
cannot be placed at a federal government agency);
    (3) The plans and resources/facilities for administering the 
program and assisting students to pursue post-academic or community 
building opportunities; and
    (4) The contact person and the address where correspondence and all 
other information should be sent. If this is not included, all 
information will be forwarded to the address and the official named on 
the Form SF-424.
    d. Designation of Applicable Graduate Degree Program(s) Form HUD-
30013 (Community Development Work Study Program Designation of 
Applicable Graduate Academic Degree Program). Review carefully the 
regulations that can be found at 24 CFR 570.415 dealing with eligible 
types of degree programs before completing this form. If the proposed 
program is other than one listed as an eligible degree program, please 
contact Madlyn Wohlman-Rodriguez for additional guidance. See Section 
VII below for contact information.
    e. Narrative statement addressing the Rating Factors. HUD will use 
the narrative response to the ``Rating Factors'' to evaluate, rate, and 
rank applications. The narrative statement is the main source of 
information. Applicants are advised to review each factor carefully for 
program specific requirements. The response to each factor should be 
concise and contain only information relevant to the factor, but 
detailed enough to address each factor fully. Please do not repeat 
material in response to the five factors; instead, focus on how well 
the proposal responds to each of the factors. In factors where there 
are subfactors, each subfactor must be presented separately, with the 
short title of the subfactor presented. Make sure to address each 
subfactor and provide sufficient information about every element of 
each subfactor. The application narrative

[[Page 13777]]

must not exceed 50 pages in length including any supplemental 
photocopies or excerpts from official publications of the educational 
institution or department (excluding forms and assurances, Executive 
Summary, agreements and letters) unless the applicant is an APO or 
State. If an applicant is an APO or State the application narrative 
must not exceed 85 pages including any supplemental photocopies or 
excerpts from official publications of the educational institution or 
department (excluding forms and assurances, Executive Summary, 
agreements and letters). Each page of the narrative must be numbered 
and include the applicant's name. Please note that although submitting 
pages in excess of the page limit will not disqualify an applicant, HUD 
will not consider the information on any excess pages. This exclusion 
may result in a lower score or failure to meet a threshold requirement.
    f. Budget. Use the budget form HUD-30015 (Community Development 
Work Study Program Student Budget Sheet) for the August 2005 through 
August 2007 funding period. An APO or State must also complete the HUD-
30014 (Community Development Work Study Program State/Area Planning 
Organization Budget Summary). Please provide any necessary back-up 
documentation (e.g., pages from course catalogues listing the fees) to 
demonstrate concisely that the amounts requested are reasonable and 
customary. Applicants are not required to submit documentation for the 
administrative allowance amount. Any anticipated increases to these 
project costs should be included and an explanation for the basis of 
the increases provided. If documentation is not included, the award 
amount will be based on current tuition rates, regardless of any 
subsequent tuition increase. HUD will not increase the amount of the 
grant once awarded to reflect any tuition or fee increases that have 
not been set forth in the application. Also, HUD will not cover any 
costs exceeding the per-student maximum.
    g. Appendix. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic 
submission requirements and submitting a paper copy of the application 
must place all letters of support, agreements, and other required forms 
in this section. For applicants submitting electronic applications, 
please refer to Section IV.F of the General Section for instructions on 
how third party documents are to be submitted to HUD using the 
electronic submission process. An applicant should not submit general 
support letters, resumes, or other back-up materials. If this 
information is included, it will not be considered during the review 
process. The additional items will also slow the transmission of your 
application.

C. Submission Dates and Times

    A complete application package must be received electronically by 
the Grants.gov portal no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on or 
before May 18, 2005. Applications may be submitted in advance of the 
submission date. Electronic faxes using the Facsimile Transmittal (Form 
HUD 96011) cover sheet contained in the electronic application may be 
submitted prior to the application submission date and must be received 
no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the application submission 
date. Please see Section IV.F of the General Section for electronic 
application submission instructions and timely receipt requirements.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    This program is excluded from an Intergovernmental Review.

E. Funding Restrictions

    Funding may only be provided to applicants that meet the standards 
for eligible applicants defined in Section III.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    1. Application Submission and Receipt Procedure. Please read the 
General Section carefully and completely for the electronic submission 
and receipt procedures for all applications because failure to comply 
may disqualify your application.
    2. Waiver of Electronic Submission Requirements. Please refer to 
Section IV.F. of the General Section for further discussion.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

1. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Academic Program and Relevant Past 
Experience (25 Points)
    This factor addresses the extent to which an applicant's academic 
program has the capacity to prepare students for careers in community 
building. In evaluating this factor, HUD will consider:
    a. Capacity of the Academic Program. For First Time Applicants (20 
Points). For Previously Funded Applicants (15 Points). Applicants must 
describe the quality of the academic program the institution offers (or 
in the case of an application from an APO or state, those offered by 
the institutions included in the application) including, without 
limitation, the following:
    (1) The course offerings in terms of their depth and emphasis on 
applied coursework; and
    (2) Qualifications of the faculty, such as the number of relevant 
Ph.D.s, specific accomplishments and the percentage of their time 
devoted to teaching and research in community building.
    As a supplement to the narrative response, applicants can include 
photocopies of excerpts from official publications of the educational 
institution or department. Please make sure to place these documents 
after the narrative and include them in the page count. For applicants 
submitting electronic applications, please refer to Section IV.F of the 
General Section for instructions on how third party documents are to be 
submitted to HUD using the electronic submission process.
    b. Rates of Graduation. For First Time Applicants (5 Points). For 
Previously Funded Applicants (10 Points). HUD will evaluate the 
graduation rates of students previously enrolled in a community 
building academic degree program, specifically (where applicable), 
graduation rates from any previously funded CDWSP academic programs or 
similar programs. This factor measures the rate of graduation for all 
applicable years and awards points based on the extent to which the 
applicant exceeds a 50 percent graduation rate each applicable year. 
Previously funded CDWSP programs should include copies of the final 
Community Development Work Study Program Student Data Sheet, HUD-30007, 
for each previously enrolled student who received assistance from the 
program in the last six years. These documents must be submitted 
electronically.
    2. Rating Factor 2: Need for the Program (10 Points). This factor 
addresses the extent to which there is a need for funding the proposed 
program activities and an indication of the importance of meeting the 
need. In responding to this factor, HUD will evaluate the applicant's 
commitment to meeting the needs of economically disadvantaged and 
minority students as demonstrated by the institution's policies and 
plans, past efforts and successes recruiting, enrolling, and 
financially assisting economically disadvantaged and minority students, 
including the provision of reasonable accommodations for students with 
disabilities. If the applicant is an APO or state, HUD will consider 
the demonstrated commitment of each accredited institution of higher

[[Page 13778]]

education on whose behalf the APO or state is applying.
3. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (45 Points)
    This factor addresses the quality and effectiveness of the proposed 
student work placement assignments.
    a. Quality of the Work Placement Assignments (13 Points). HUD will 
evaluate the extent to which participating students will receive a 
variety of work placement assignments. (Note: Students cannot be placed 
with a federal government agency.) The assignments should provide 
practical and useful experience to students participating in the 
program and further the participating students' preparation for 
professional careers in community building. In rating this subfactor, 
HUD will consider the variety of work placement agencies, and the 
variety of projects/experiences at each agency and overall. Applicants 
must also include a description of the plan for rotating students among 
work placement agencies. In addition, for each placement applicants 
must outline the educational objectives of the placement, the nature of 
the supervision, the standard of evaluation, and the student's 
commitment under the work placement agreement.

    Note: Students engaging in community building projects through 
an institution of higher education (rather than being directly 
supervised by local work placement sites) may do so only through a 
HUD-funded Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC), which will 
be considered a work placement agency even if the community building 
projects are undertaken with or through a separate organization or 
entity. Accordingly, students engaging in community building through 
an institution of higher education's outreach center should do so 
during only part of their academic program and should rotate to 
other work placement agency responsibilities as well. In order to 
receive higher points on this subfactor, applicants must propose at 
least three different work placement experiences for each student 
(typically, one each school year and one during the summer between 
the two school years) and include executed agreements with their 
proposed work study sites, rather than just listing the sites.


    b. Effectiveness of Program Administration (15 Points). HUD will 
evaluate the degree to which the applicant will be able to effectively 
coordinate and administer the program. HUD will allocate the maximum 
points available under this criterion equally among the following three 
considerations, except that the maximum points available under this 
criterion will be allocated equally only between (1) and (2), if the 
applicant has not previously administered a CDWSP-funded program. If an 
applicant received a CDWSP grant in FY 2001 or before and has not 
received one since, the applicant is considered a new applicant for the 
purposes of this factor. Applicants must include a Management Work Plan 
(it should be included under this subfactor) that addresses the 
following details at a minimum:
    (1) The strength and clarity of the plan for placing CDWSP students 
on rotating work placement assignments and for monitoring CDWSP 
students' progress both academically and in their work placement 
assignments. In addition, include plans, procedures, schedules, and 
preferably a milestone chart that indicates the sequence in which these 
tasks will be performed, noting areas of work that will be performed 
simultaneously and continually during the life of the grant, along with 
the name of the responsible individual. Also, include plans for 
recruiting and selecting students, monitoring and guidance of students 
academic progress, coordinating and monitoring student work placement 
agencies, and other matters deemed significant;
    (2) The key personnel responsible for administering, managing, and 
evaluating the project; the experience, responsibilities, available 
time, and authority of the individual who will coordinate and 
administer the program; and
    (3) The effectiveness of prior coordination and administration of a 
CDWSP-funded program, where applicable. In addressing this factor, 
applicants should describe the timeliness of report submissions. 
Applicants should review their prior CDWSP grant agreements and reports 
and compare when reports were due with when the reports actually were 
submitted. Applicants should also describe their timeliness in 
expending grant funds. Applicants are encouraged to provide a chart 
that outlines report submissions for each grant by the submission date 
and the pattern of drawing down of funds. HUD will also review an 
applicant's past performance in managing funds, including, but not 
limited to: the ability to account for funding appropriately; timely 
use of funds received from HUD; and meeting performance targets for 
completion of the grant. In evaluating past performance, HUD reserves 
the right to deduct up to five points from this rating score as a 
result of the information obtained from HUD's records (i.e., progress 
reports, including Logic Model submissions, amendments and financial 
reports), including the timely submission of required progress reports.
    c. Likelihood of Fostering Students' Permanent Employment in 
Community Building (15 Points). HUD will evaluate the extent to which 
the proposed program will lead participating students directly and 
immediately to permanent employment in community building. Include a 
statement that describes, at a minimum, the following:
    (1) Past success (in the last four years) in placing graduates 
(particularly CDWSP-funded and similar program graduates, where 
applicable) in permanent employment in community building; and
    (2) How the institution will assist students (particularly students 
in CDWSP-funded and similar programs, where applicable) in finding 
permanent employment in community building. Include the amount/type of 
faculty/staff time and institutional resources that will be devoted to 
assisting students.
    d. HUD Policy Priorities (2 Points). HUD encourages applicants to 
undertake specific activities that will assist the Department in 
implementing its policy priorities and which will help the Department 
achieve its goals and objectives in FY 2006, when the majority of grant 
recipients will be reporting programmatic results and achievements. In 
addressing this subfactor, HUD will evaluate the extent to which an 
applicant will provide students with work place assignments that 
undertake specific activities that will further and support HUD's 
priorities. The quality of the responses provided to one or more of 
HUD's priorities to determine the score an applicant can receive. 
Applicants must describe how each policy priority selected will be 
addressed.
    Applicants that just list a priority will receive no points. Each 
policy priority addressed has a point value of one point with the 
exception of the policy priority to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, which has a point value of up to 2 points. The 
total number of points available to applicants that address policy 
priorities is 2. It is up to the applicant to determine which of the 
policy priorities they elect to address to receive the available 2 
points. To receive points for efforts to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, an applicant must submit the completed 
questionnaire (HUD-27300) ``HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers'' found in the General Section along with required 
documentation. The form is part of the electronic application and is 
constructed to permit the required documentation to be attached to the

[[Page 13779]]

electronic form. For the full list and explanation of each policy 
priority, please refer to the General Section.
    4. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (10 points). HUD will 
evaluate the applicant's commitment and ability to assure that CDWSP 
students will receive sufficient financial assistance above and beyond 
the CDWSP funding to complete their academic program in a timely manner 
and without working in excess of 20 hours a week during the school 
year. When addressing this issue, delineate the full costs budgeted 
annually per student (including living expenses, fees, etc), explain 
the basis for the budget and how the financial assistance package 
offered to each CDWSP student will meet that budget. Applicants must 
explain how variations in the budget needs and emergency financial 
needs will be addressed among students. Loans are less preferred than 
grants because of the burden placed on the student to repay them. 
Therefore, higher points will be given to applicants that provide 
assistance in the form of grants rather than loans.
    5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (10 
Points). This factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
management and accountability. It measures the applicant's commitment 
to assess their performance to achieve the project's proposed 
objectives and goals. Applicants are required to develop an effective, 
quantifiable, outcome-oriented evaluation plan for measuring 
performance and determining that objectives and goals have been 
achieved. The Logic Model is a summary of the narrative statements 
presented in Factors 1-4. Therefore, the information submitted on the 
Logic Model form should be consistent with the information contained in 
the narrative statements.
    ``Outcomes'' are benefits accruing to students in the program. 
Applicants must clearly identify the outcomes to be measured and 
achieved. Examples of outcomes include the number of students that 
complete the program and/or the number of students that obtained full-
time employment.
    In addition, applicants must establish interim benchmarks and 
outputs that lead to the ultimate achievement of outcomes. ``Outputs`` 
are the direct products of the program's activities. An example of 
output is the number of placements a student has during the course of 
the grant. Outputs should produce outcomes for the program.
    All performance indicators should be objectively quantifiable and 
measure actual achievements against anticipated achievements. 
Applicants must also describe the steps that will be taken to make 
adjustments to the work plan if performance targets are not met within 
the established time frame associated with each activity. At a minimum, 
the evaluation plan should address the following activities:
    a. Student recruitment;
    b. Student completion of degree program; and
    c. Long-term placement after graduation (1 year after graduation).
    This information must be placed under this section on a HUD-96010, 
Program Outcome Logic Model form. Applicants may submit as many copies 
of this form as required. It will not be included in the page count 
requirement. A narrative is not required for this factor. However, if a 
narrative is provided, those pages will be included in the page count. 
Additional information on how to use this form can be found in the 
General Section.

B. Review and Selection Process

1. Application Selection Process
    Two types of reviews will be conducted.
    a. A threshold review to determine an applicant's basic 
eligibility; and
    b. A technical review based on the ``Rating Factors'' listed above.
    Only those applications that pass the threshold review will receive 
a technical review and be rated and ranked.
2. Rating Panels
    To review and rate applications, HUD may establish panels which may 
include persons not currently employed by HUD. These individuals may be 
included to obtain certain expertise.
3. Ranking
    HUD will fund applications in rank order, until all available 
program funds are awarded. In order to be funded, an application must 
receive a minimum score of 75 points. The maximum number of points 
available for this program is 100. The RC/EZ/EC-II communities, two 
bonus points described in the General Section, do not apply to this 
program. HUD may make awards out of rank order to achieve geographic 
diversity, and may provide assistance to support a number of students 
that is less than the number requested under an application or a lower 
funding level per student, in order to provide assistance to as many 
highly ranked applications as possible. If there is a tie in the point 
scores of two applications, the rank order will be determined by the 
scores on Rating Factor 3 entitled ``Soundness of Approach.'' The 
application with the higher points on this factor will be given the 
higher rank. If there is still a tie, the rank order will be determined 
by the applicant's scores on Rating Factor 1 entitled ``Capacity of the 
Applicant's Academic Program and Relevant Past Experience.'' The 
application with the most points for this selection factor will be 
given the higher rank. If there is still a tie, the application with 
the most points for Factors 2, 4, and then 5 shall be selected in that 
order until the tie is broken. HUD reserves the right to make 
selections out of rank order to provide for geographic distribution of 
grantees.
    HUD also reserves the right to reduce the amount of funding 
requested in order to fund as many highly ranked applications as 
possible. Additionally, if funding remains after all selections have 
been made, the remaining funds will be carried over to the next funding 
cycle.
4. Correction to Deficient Applications
    The General Section provides the procedures for correction to 
deficient applications.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    Announcements of awards are anticipated on or before September 30, 
2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notice

    After all selections have been made, HUD will notify all winning 
applicants in writing. HUD may require winning applicants to 
participate in additional negotiations before receiving an official 
award. For further discussion on this matter, please refer to the 
General Section.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    For information regarding these requirements, please refer to 
Section VI.B in the General Section.
1. Debriefing
    The General Section provides the procedures for requesting a 
debriefing. All requests for a debriefing must be made in writing and 
submitted to Madlyn Wohlman-Rodriguez, Office of University 
Partnerships; Robert C. Weaver Federal Building; 451 Seventh Street, 
SW., Room 8106; Washington, DC 20410-6000. Applicants may also write to 
Ms. Wohlman-Rodriguez at [email protected].
2. Administrative
    Grants awarded under this NOFA will be governed by the provisions 
of 24 CFR

[[Page 13780]]

part 84 (Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, 
Hospitals and Other Non-Profit Organizations), A-21 (Cost Principles 
for Educational Institutions) and A-133 (Audits of States, Local 
Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations). Applicants can access the 
OMB circulars at the White House Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/
omb/circulars/index.html.
3. OMB Circulars and Government-Wide Regulations Applicable to 
Financial Assistance Programs
    The General Section provides further discussion on this matter.
4. Environmental Requirements
    In accordance with 24 CFR 50.19 (b)(3) and (b)(9) of the HUD 
regulations, activities assisted under this program are categorically 
excluded from the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321) and are not subject to environmental review 
under the related laws and authorities.
5. Code of Conduct
    See the General Section for further discussion.

C. Reporting

    All grant recipients under this NOFA are required to submit semi-
annual progress reports. The progress reports shall consist of two 
components, a narrative (including forms) that must reflect the 
activities undertaken during the reporting period and a financial 
report that reflects costs incurred during the reporting period, as 
well as a cumulative summary.
    For each reporting period, as part of the required report to HUD, a 
grant recipient must include a completed Logic Model (HUD-96010), which 
identifies output and outcome achievements.
    HUD requires that funded recipients collect racial and ethnic 
beneficiary data. HUD has adopted the Office of Management and Budget's 
Standards for the Collection of Racial and Ethnic Data. In view of 
these requirements, applicants should use form HUD-27061, Racial and 
Ethnic Data Reporting Form or a comparable form, or a comparable 
electronic data system for this purpose.

VII. Agency Contacts

    Applicants may contact Madlyn Wohlman-Rodriguez at (202) 708-3061, 
extension 5939 or Susan Brunson, at (202) 708-3061, extension 3852. 
Person with speech or hearing impairments may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service TTY at (800) 877-8339. Except for the ``800'' 
number, these numbers are not toll-free. Applicants may also reach Ms. 
Rodriguez via e-mail at [email protected], and/or 
Ms. Brunson at [email protected].

VIII. Other Information

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2528-0185. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public 
reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to 
average 60 hours per annum per respondent for the application and grant 
administration. This includes the time for collecting, reviewing, and 
reporting the data for the application, semi-annual reports, and final 
report. The information will be used for grantee selection and 
monitoring the administration of funds. Response to this request for 
information is required in order to receive the benefits to be derived.
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

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Fair Housing Initiatives Program

    Overview Information:
    A. Federal Agency Name: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Fair Housing Initiatives Program 
(FHIP)
    C. Announcement Type: Initial Announcement
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The OMB Approval Number is: 2539-
0033. The Federal Register number for this NOFA is: FR-4950-N-18.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): Private 
Enforcement Initiative (PEI) 14.408; Fair Housing Organizations 
Initiative (FHOI) 14.408; Education and Outreach Initiative (EOI) 
14.408.
    F. Dates: The application submission date shall be on or before May 
23, 2005. Please see the General Section for information on electronic 
submission and timeliness requirements.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information
    1. For FY2005, FHIP electronic applications will be available on 
www.Grants.gov/Find  and Apply. For further instructions on electronic 
application submission requirements using Grants.gov, please read the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    2. FHIP funds are used to increase compliance with the Fair Housing 
Act (the Act) and with substantially equivalent state and local fair 
housing laws. Approximately $18,040,000 in FY 2005 funds and any 
potential recapture is allocated to three (3) initiatives as follows:
    a. Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI) $13,000,000
    b. Education and Outreach Initiative (EOI) $3,940,000
    c. Fair Housing Organizations Initiative (FHOI) $1,100,000
    3. HUD expects to award a cost reimbursable cooperative agreement 
or grant agreement to each applicant selected for award. Upon 
completion of negotiations, HUD reserves the right to use the funding 
instrument it determines is most appropriate.
    4. Eligible applicants are Qualified Fair Housing Enforcement 
Organizations (QFHOs) and Fair Housing Enforcement Organizations 
(FHOs); see 24 CFR 125.103; public or private, for-profit or not-for-
profit organizations or institutions and other public or private 
entities that are formulating or carrying out programs to prevent or 
eliminate discriminatory housing practices (including entities that 
will be established as a result of receiving an award under this FHIP 
NOFA); agencies of state or local governments; and agencies that 
participate in the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP).
    5. Except for applicants under FHOI and the PEI-Performance Based 
Funding Component (PBFC), applicants may not submit multiple 
applications under this NOFA.
    6. Applicants awarded funding under the PEI--(PFBC) will not be 
eligible to submit applications for additional FHIP funding for FY 2006 
and FY 2007. Applicants awarded funding under this component will be 
eligible to apply for funding in FY 2008.
    7. If you are interested in applying for funding under the Fair 
Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP), please review carefully the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA (hereafter, the General Section), the FHIP 
Authorizing Statute (Sec. 561 of the Housing and Community Development 
Act of 1987, as amended), the FHIP Regulations (24 CFR 125.103-501).
    8. For planning purposes, assume a start date no later than 
September 19, 2005.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Authority. Section 561 of the Housing and Community Development 
Act of 1987, as amended, (42 U.S.C. 3616) established the FHIP and 
the implementing regulations are found at 24 CFR part 125.

A. FHIP Initiatives and Components

    The FHIP assists fair housing activities that increase compliance 
with the Act and with substantially equivalent fair housing laws 
administered by State and local government agencies under the Fair 
Housing Assistance Program (FHAP).
    1. Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI).
    This Initiative assists private, tax-exempt fair housing 
enforcement organizations in the investigation and enforcement of 
alleged violations of the Act and substantially equivalent State and 
local fair housing laws. Under this Initiative, there are two 
Components, the General Component and the Performance Based Funding 
Component (PBFC). The PBFC is being established to award high 
performing enforcement organizations with continuous funding for a 
three-year period that will assist agencies in implementing strategic 
plans and developing long-term systemic investigations.
2. Education and Outreach Initiative (EOI).
    This Initiative assists projects that inform the public about their 
rights and obligations under the Act and substantially equivalent State 
and local fair housing laws. Applications are solicited for this 
Initiative under the EOI-Regional/Local/Community-Based Program (R/L/C-
B)--in which activities are conducted on a regional/local/community-
based level.
    Applicants who apply under EOI R/L/C-B may apply under one of four 
(4) Components, as follows: EOI-General Component; EOI Disability 
Component; EOI Asian/Pacific Islander Fair Housing Awareness Component; 
or the Minority Serving Institutions Component.
    All applications submitted under EOI are required to describe a 
complaint referral process that should result in referrals to HUD of 
fair housing complaints and other information regarding discriminatory 
housing practices.
3. Fair Housing Organizations Initiative (FHOI).
    This Initiative provides assistance to a project (sponsoring 
organization) that will establish or build the capacity of a start up 
fair housing organization to become a viable fair housing enforcement 
organization that will conduct fair housing activities in underserved 
areas (as defined in Section I. B.1. ``Program Definitions'' below) 
rural areas and/or areas with new immigrants (especially racial and 
ethnic minorities who are not English-speaking or have limited English 
proficiency.) This is accomplished with the assistance of a sponsoring 
organization. The sponsoring organization must submit the application 
and must certify that the sponsored organization has the ability to 
become a QFHO or FHO. The period of performance for the award of funds 
to assist in capacity building activities is renewable for a period of 
up to three years, based upon successful performance of the sponsored 
organization. Funds are distributed to the sponsored organization by 
the sponsoring organization. All fund distributions are based on the 
performance of both the sponsoring and the sponsored organization.

B. Other

    1. Program Definitions. The definitions that apply to this FHIP 
section of the NOFA are as follows:
    a. Broad-based proposals are those that include activities that are 
not limited to a single fair housing issue but instead, cover multiple 
issues related to housing discrimination covered under the Act, such 
as: rental, sales and financing of housing. (See also Full Service 
Projects below).
    b. Complaint means the person, including the Assistant Secretary 
for

[[Page 13789]]

Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD, who files a complaint under 
Section 810 of the Fair Housing Act.
    c. Disability Advocacy Groups means organizations that 
traditionally have provided for the civil rights of persons with 
disabilities. This would include organizations such as Independent 
Living Centers and cross-disability legal services groups. Such 
organizations must be experienced in providing services to persons with 
a broad range of disabilities, including physical, cognitive, and 
psychiatric/mental disabilities. Such organizations must demonstrate 
actual involvement of persons with disabilities throughout their 
activities, including on staff and board levels.
    d. Enforcement proposals are potential complaints under the Act 
that are timely, jurisdictional, and well-developed, that could 
reasonably be expected to become enforcement actions if an impartial 
investigation found evidence supporting the allegations and the case 
proceeded to a resolution with HUD or FHAP Agency involvement.
    e. Fair Housing Act means Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 
1968 as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 
3600-3620).
    f. Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) Agencies mean State and 
local fair housing enforcement government agencies that receive FHAP 
funds because they administer laws deemed substantially equivalent to 
the Act, as described in 24 CFR part 115.
    g. Fair Housing Enforcement Organization (FHO) means an 
organization engaged in fair housing activities as defined in 24 CFR 
125.103.
    h. Full-service projects must include the following enforcement-
related activities in your project application: interviewing potential 
victims of discrimination; analyzing housing-related issues; taking 
complaints; testing; evaluating testing results; conducting preliminary 
investigations; conducting mediation; enforcing meritorious claims 
through litigation or referral to administrative enforcement agencies; 
and disseminating information about fair housing laws.
    i. Grassroots organizations (See General Section).
    j. Jurisdiction means that the complaint must be timely filed; the 
complainant must have standing; the respondent and the dwelling 
involved (where the complaint involves a provision or denial of a 
dwelling) must be covered by the Act; and the subject matter or issue, 
and the basis of the alleged discrimination, must constitute illegal 
practices as defined by the Act.
    k. Meritorious claims means enforcement activities by an 
organization that resulted in lawsuits, consent decrees, legal 
settlements, HUD and/or substantial equivalent agency (under 25 CFR 
115.6) conciliations and organization initiated settlements with the 
outcome of monetary awards for compensatory and/or punitive damages to 
plaintiffs or complaining parties, or other affirmative relief, 
including the provision of housing (24 CFR 125.103).
    l. Minority Serving Institutions (See General Section).
    m. Operating budget means your organization's total planned budget 
expenditures from all sources, including the value of in-kind and 
monetary contributions, in the period for which funding is requested.
    n. Qualified Fair Housing Enforcement Organization (QFHO) means an 
organization engaged in fair housing activities as defined in 24 CFR 
125.103.
    o. Regional/Local/Community-Based Activities are defined at 24 CFR 
125.301(a) & (d).
    p. Rural Areas, eligible Rural Area means the following:
    (1) A non-urban place having fewer than 2,500 inhabitants (within 
or outside of the metropolitan areas).
    (2) A county or parish with an urban population of 20,000 
inhabitants or less
    (3) Territory, including its persons and housing units, in rural 
portions of ``extended cities''. The Census Bureau identifies the rural 
portions of extended cities.
    (4) Open Country that is not part of or associated with an urban 
area. The USDA describes ``open country'' as a site separated by open 
space from any adjacent densely populated urban area. Open space 
includes undeveloped land, agricultural land, or sparsely settled 
areas, but does not include physical barriers (such as rivers and 
canals), public parks, commercial and industrial developments, small 
areas reserved for recreational purposes, or open space set aside for 
future development.
    (5) Any place with a population not in excess of 20,000 and not 
located in a Metropolitan Statistical Area.
    q. Traditional Civil Rights Organizations mean non-profit 
organizations or institutions and/or private entities with a history 
and primary mission of securing Federal civil rights protection for 
groups and individuals protected under the Act or substantially 
equivalent State or local laws and that are engaged in programs to 
reduce discriminatory housing practices.
    r. Underserved Areas mean jurisdictions where there are no Fair 
Housing Initiatives Program or Fair Housing Assistance Program agencies 
and where either no public or private fair housing enforcement 
organizations exist or the jurisdiction is not sufficiently served by 
one or more public or private enforcement fair housing organizations 
and there is a need for service.
    s. Underserved Populations mean groups of individuals who fall 
within one or more of the categories protected under the Act or who are 
also:
    (1) of an immigrant population (especially racial and ethnic 
minorities who are not English-speaking or limited English 
proficiency);
    (2) in rural populations,
    (3) the homeless,
    (4) persons with disabilities who can be historically documented to 
have been subject to discriminatory practices not having been the focus 
of Federal, State or local fair housing enforcement efforts, and
    (5) areas that are heavily impacted with minorities and there is 
inadequate protection and ability to provide service from the state or 
local government or private fair housing organizations.

II. Award Information

    For Fiscal Year 2005, $20,000,000 is appropriated for the Fair 
Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP). Of this amount, approximately 
$18,040,000 is being made available on a competitive basis to eligible 
organizations responding to this FHIP program section of the SuperNOFA. 
The amount available for each initiative or component and the maximum 
amount of funds that can be awarded for each award are specified as 
follows:

A. Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)

    Approximately $13,000,000 is allocated under two Components: (1) 
Approximately $8,100,000 under the General Component; maximum award is 
$275,000 per grant, project duration is 12-18 months and (2) 
Approximately $4,900,000 under the Performance Based Funding Component 
(PBFC); the maximum award is $275,000 per year for a three-year 
duration (a total of $825,000), based upon appropriations.

B. Education and Outreach Initiative (EOI)

    Approximately $3,940,000 is allocated to 4 components under this 
initiative for EOI, the estimated number of awards is: The maximum 
award is $100,000 for the R/L/CB Program and the project duration is 
12-18 months. The components are as follows:

[[Page 13790]]

1. EOI-General Component.
    Approximately $2,340,000 is allocated.
    2. EOI-Disability Component. Approximately $800,000 is allocated.
    3. Asian and Pacific Islander Fair Housing Awareness Component. 
Approximately $400,000 is allocated, and
    4. Fair Housing and Minority Serving Institutions Component. 
Approximately $400,000 is allocated.

C. Fair Housing Organizations Initiative (FHOI)

    Approximately $1,100,000 is allocated; project duration is three 
years. The maximum award is $1,100,000 allocated over a three-year 
period at up to $366,666 per year. For FHOI the estimated number of 
awards is one (1).

D. Award Instrument

    The type of funding instrument HUD may offer a successful applicant 
which sets forth the relationship between HUD and the grantee will be a 
grant or cooperative agreement, where the principal purpose is the 
transfer of funds, property, services, or anything of value to the 
applicant to accomplish a public purpose. Upon completion of 
negotiations, HUD reserves the right to use the funding instrument it 
determines is most appropriate. The agreement will identify the 
eligible activities to be undertaken, financial controls, and special 
conditions, including sanctions for violations of the agreement. HUD 
will determine the type of instrument under which the award will be 
made and monitor progress to ensure that the grantee has achieved the 
objectives set out in the agreement. Failure to meet such objectives 
may be the basis for HUD determining the agreement to be in default and 
exercising available sanctions, including suspension, termination, and/
or the recapture of funds. Also HUD may refer violations or suspected 
violations to enforcement offices within HUD, the Department of 
Justice, or other enforcement authorities.
    If awarded as a Cooperative Agreement, HUD will also exercise the 
right to have substantial involvement by: conducting quarterly reviews 
and approval of all proposed deliverables documented in the applicant's 
Work Plan or Statement of Work (SOW), and determining whether the 
agency meets all certification and assurance requirements under the 
grant, cooperative agreement, etc. HUD will conduct this performance 
assessment, in part, by using the Logic Model submitted by the 
applicant and approved by HUD in the award agreement (rating Factor 5). 
If upon completion of this assessment by the Government Technical 
Representative (GTR) a determination is made that the quarterly 
requirements have not been met, the grantee will be obligated to 
provide additional information or make modifications to its work plan 
and activities, as necessary, in a timeframe to be established by the 
GTR.

E. Project Starting Period

    For planning purposes, assume a start date no later than September 
19, 2005.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

1. Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)
    a. Eligible Applicants. Eligible applicants are fair housing 
enforcement organizations (FHOs) with at least one year of experience 
in complaint intake, complaint investigation, testing for fair housing 
violations, and meritorious claims in the two years prior to the filing 
of this application (24 CFR 125.401(b)(2)) and Qualified Fair Housing 
Enforcement Organizations (QFHOs) with at least two years of 
enforcement-related experience, as noted above, and meritorious claims 
in the three years prior to filing this application, (24 CFR 125.103). 
All applicants claiming QFHO and FHO status are required to be a 
501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and also to submit with their 
application a copy of its Letter of Determination from the Internal 
Revenue Service (IRS) in support of its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.
    Additional Requirements--PEI Performance Based Funding Component.
    In addition to the above, applicants to the PBFC must have 
received: (1) two years of excellent performance reviews for FHIP 
awards made in FY's 2002 and 2003; and (2) a minimum score of 95 for 
their most recent (FY '02 or FY '03) performance assessment received 
from your Government Technical Representative.
    b. Eligible Activities include:
    (1) Complaint intake of allegations of housing discrimination, 
testing, evaluating testing results, or providing other investigative 
and complaint support for administrative and judicial enforcement of 
fair housing laws.
    (2) Investigations of individual complaints and systemic housing 
discrimination for further enforcement processing by HUD, through 
testing and other investigative methods;
    (3) Mediation or other voluntary resolution of allegations of fair 
housing discrimination after a complaint has been filed; and
    (4) Litigating fair housing cases including procuring expert 
witnesses.
    c. Eligibility of Successor Organization. HUD recognizes that QFHOs 
and FHOs may merge with each other or other organizations. The merger 
of a QFHO or an FHO with a new organization, that has a separate 
Employer Identification Number (EIN), does not confer QFHO or FHO 
status upon the successor. To determine whether the successor 
organization meets the eligibility requirements for this Initiative, 
HUD will look at the enforcement-related experience of the successor 
organization (based upon the successor organization's EIN). The 
successor organization is not eligible to apply under this Initiative 
unless it establishes in its application that it is a private, tax-
exempt organization with the requisite two years of enforcement related 
experience for a QFHO or one year experience for an FHO.
2. Education and Outreach Initiative
    a. Eligible Applicants. Eligible applicants are QFHOs; FHOs; public 
or private, for-profit or not-for-profit organizations or institutions 
or other public or private entities that are formulating or carrying 
out programs to reduce discriminatory housing practices; agencies of 
State or local governments; and agencies that participate in the FHAP. 
If you are a disability advocacy group, or an organization that 
partners with or substantially provides activities for grassroots, 
faith-based or other community-based organizations, minority 
universities or institutions, or traditional civil rights 
organizations, you are encouraged to apply under this Initiative.
    b. Eligible Activities: The following are eligible activities for 
the components under EOI: conducting educational symposia or other 
training; developing innovative fair housing activities or materials 
into languages applicable to your community throughout your project 
area; providing outreach and information on fair housing through 
printed and electronic media; developing fair housing curricula; 
providing outreach to persons with disabilities and their support 
organizations and service housing providers; and working with homeless 
activists or persons to determine if fair housing plays a part in their 
homeless condition, and the general public regarding the rights of 
persons with disabilities under the Act. When

[[Page 13791]]

conducting outreach activities, you are encouraged to use existing fair 
housing materials; except that you are required to translate these 
existing materials in languages applicable to your community using the 
four factor Limited English Proficient (LEP) Guidance as referenced in 
the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    (1) Disability Component. Applicants that emphasize the fair 
housing needs of person with disabilities, so that persons with 
disabilities, housing providers and the general public better 
understand the rights and obligations under the Act and fully 
appreciate the forms of housing discrimination that persons with 
disabilities may encounter, should submit their applications under the 
EOI-Disability Component. Although the component has a disability 
focus, the funded education and outreach activities must be provided to 
all persons protected under the Act.
    (2) Asian and Pacific Islander Fair Housing Awareness Component. 
Applicants must be able to provide bilingual materials and oral 
interpretation services to Asians and Pacific Islanders (APIs) so that 
they are aware of and educated about their fair housing rights and 
responsibilities under the Act. HUD's ``Discrimination in Metropolitan 
Housing Markets, Phase 2--Asians and Pacific Islanders'' report showed 
that API prospective renters and homebuyers experienced consistent 
adverse treatment. Fair Housing education and outreach activities 
should be designed to address the areas where APIs received adverse 
treatment as addressed in the Report. These activities should include, 
but not limited to:
    (a) Using HUD fair housing translated materials or other translated 
material available through fair housing organizations, the applicant 
will sponsor fair housing classes, seminars, and fairs to educate the 
API communities on their rights.
    (b) The applicant should also design a fair housing course of study 
(lesson plans, fair housing material to be used, performance tests to 
measure students knowledge) that may be duplicated by other fair 
housing groups to be used with the API communities.
    (c) The applicant shall develop an advertising mechanism to assist 
in the distribution of education and outreach material through 
community and faith-based organizations, immigrant advocacy groups, 
schools and universities, and workplace.
    In addition, an applicant and its staff must have demonstrated 
bilingual experience, which is defined as three (3) years of proven 
experience in providing social services to persons of Asian and Pacific 
Islanders or must have established a partnership with an established 
grass-roots, faith-based or other community-based organization to carry 
out the objectives of this component. Although the component's focus is 
providing education and outreach to these communities, the funded 
education and outreach activities must be provided in a non-
discriminatory manner. Grantees may not deny services and activities to 
any class protected by the Fair Housing Act.
    (3) Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) Component. This Component 
will focus on furthering HUD's goal of establishing partnerships with 
Tribal Colleges and Universities, historically Black Colleges and 
Universities, Hispanic serving institutions and Asians and Pacific 
Islanders serving institutions. Working with local fair housing 
organizations, and other federal government agencies, the recipient 
will develop curricula for students to pursue careers in fair housing 
law and investigations. Applicants under this component must have the 
ability to design and support the development of quality fair housing 
education at MSIs.
    (4) General Component. Applications for all other fair housing 
education and outreach activities should be submitted to the EOI-
General Component.
3. Fair Housing Organization Initiative.
    This Initiative will provide assistance to a project (sponsoring 
organizations) that will establish or build the capacity of an 
organization to become a viable fair housing enforcement organization, 
as referenced in 24 CFR Part 125.103, that conducts fair housing 
enforcement activities in underserved areas (as defined in Section 
I.B.), in rural areas and areas with new immigrants (especially racial 
and ethnic minorities who are not English-speaking or limited English 
proficiency). It is the sponsoring organization that submits the 
application under this Initiative and certifies the sponsored 
organization's ability to become a QFHO or FHO (Note: The sponsoring 
organization is ineligible if they received a grant under this 
Initiative in FY 2003 or FY 2004.) The sponsored organization, whose 
enforcement capacity is established or enhanced by funding under this 
Initiative, will be allowed to participate in this Initiative for three 
years contingent upon acceptable annual performance reviews. Funds are 
awarded under this Initiative for a three (3) year period of 
performance and are distributed to the sponsored organization by the 
HUD awardee.
    a. Eligible Applicants. Only the sponsoring organization is 
eligible to apply under this Initiative. The sponsoring organization 
must be a qualified fair housing enforcement organization (QFHO). You 
must certify in this application that your organization is a QFHO. 
Sponsored agencies that cannot establish themselves as private, tax 
exempt non-profit charitable organizations cannot qualify as a QFHO or 
an FHO.
    b. Eligible Activities. The proposed activities must build the 
enforcement capacity of the sponsored organization so that it can 
undertake all of the following activities by the conclusion of year 
three (3) of the grant cycle:
    (1) Complaint intake of allegations of housing discrimination, 
testing, evaluating testing results or providing other investigative 
and complaint support for administrative and judicial enforcement of 
fair housing laws;
    (2) Investigations of individual complaints and systemic housing 
discrimination for further enforcement processing by HUD, through 
testing and other investigative methods;
    (3) Mediation or other voluntary resolution of allegations of fair 
housing discrimination after a complaint has been filed; and
    (4) Litigating fair housing cases including procuring expert 
witnesses.
    The following chart summarizes each FHIP Initiative/Component and 
the approximate Funding Available along with Eligible Applicants:

[[Page 13792]]



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Allocation                               Project
       Initiative/Component            amount        Applicant eligibility     period          Award caps
                                      available                               (months)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Private Enforcement Initiative         $8,100,000  QFHOs and FHO (with at        12-18  $275,000
 (PEI) General Component: Assists                   least one year of
 private, tax-exempt fair housing                   enforcement related
 enforcement organizations in the                   experience). See
 investigation and enforcement of                   Section III of the FHIP
 alleged violations of the Fair                     NOFA-Eligibility
 Housing Act and substantially                      Information.
 equivalent state and local fair
 housing laws See Section I of
 the FHIP NOFA-Funding
 Opportunity Description.
Private Enforcement Initiative         $4,900,000  QFHOs and FHOs (with at          36  $275,000 per year for a
 (PEI) Performance Based Funding                    least one year of                    three-year duration,
 Component Assists private, tax-                    enforcement related                  based upon
 exempt fair housing enforcement                    experience) who have                 appropriations.
 organizations in the                               received an Excellent               Eligible PBFC applicants
 investigation and enforcement of                   Performance Rating on                must receive a minimum
 alleged violations of the Fair                     their FY 2002 and 2003               score of 95 from the FY
 Housing Act and substantially                      FHIP award activities;               '05 Technical
 equivalent state and local fair                    and have received a                  Evaluation Panel (TEP)
 housing laws.                                      minimum score of 95 on               to be considered for
                                                    their most recent ('02               funding.
                                                    or '03) performance
                                                    assessment from their
                                                    Government Technical
                                                    Representative.
Fair Housing Organization               1,100,000  Only QFHOs are eligible   36 months  1,100,000
 Initiative Assistance to                           to apply under this
 projects (sponsoring                               Initiative to serve as
 organizations) that establish or                   a sponsoring
 build the capacity of                              organization. See
 organizations to become viable                     Section III of the FHIP
 fair housing enforcement                           NOFA-Eligibility
 organizations that conduct fair                    Information.
 housing activities in
 underserved areas (as defined in
 Section I.B. ``Program
 Definitions'') or in rural areas
 with new immigrants especially
 immigrants with limited English
 proficiency. The sponsoring
 organization must submit the
 application and must certify
 that the sponsored organization
 has the ability to become a QFHO
 or FHO. See Section I of the
 FHIP NOFA-Funding Opportunity
 Description.
Education and Outreach Initiative       3,940,000  QFHOs FHOs, public or         12-18  100,000
 (EOI)-. EOI Regional, Local and                    private for profit or       months
 Community Based Program: Assists                   not for profit
 projects that inform the public                    organizations or
 about rights and obligations                       institutions, or other
 under the Fair Housing Act and                     public or private
 substantially equivalent State                     entities that carry out
 and local fair housing laws.                       programs to prevent or
 Applicants must develop a                          eliminate
 complaint referral process so                      discriminatory housing
 that funded activities will                        practices. This
 result in referrals to HUD of                      includes agencies of
 fair housing complaints and                        State or local
 other possible discriminatory                      governments and
 housing practices. See Section I                   agencies that
 of the FHIP NOFA-Funding                           participate in the Fair
 Opportunity Description.                           Housing assistance
                                                    Program (FHAP). See
                                                    Section III of the FHIP
                                                    NOFA-Eligibility
                                                    Information.
EOI-General Component Open to           2,340,000  Same as EOI above. See        12-18  100,000
 applicants for all other fair                      Section III of the FHIP     months
 housing education and outreach                     NOFA-Eligibility
 activities. See Section I of the                   Information.
 FHIP NOFA-Funding Opportunity
 Description.

[[Page 13793]]

 
EOI-Disability Component                  800,000  Same as EOI above. See        12-18  100,000
 Applicants must emphasize the                      Section III of the FHIP     months
 fair housing needs of persons                      NOFA-Eligibility
 with disabilities, so that                         Information.
 persons with disabilities,
 housing providers and the
 general public better understand
 the rights and obligations under
 the Fair Housing Act and fully
 appreciate housing
 discrimination that persons with
 disabilities may encounter. The
 funded education and outreach
 activities must be provided to
 all persons protected under the
 Fair Housing Act.
EOI-Asians and Pacific Islanders          400,000  Same as EOI above. See        12-18  100,000
 Fair Housing Awareness                             Section III of the FHIP     months
 Component--Applicants must be                      NOFA-Eligibility
 able to provide bilingual                          Information.
 materials and services to Asian
 Pacific Islanders so that they
 and others are educated about
 their fair housing rights and
 responsibilities under the Fair
 Housing Act. Funded education
 and outreach activities must be
 provided in a non-discriminatory
 manner. Recipients may not deny
 services to a client who is not
 Asian-Pacific Islander See
 Section I of the FHIP NOFA-
 Funding Opportunity Description.
EOI-Minority Serving Institution          400,000  Same as EOI above. See        12-18  100,000
 Component- Under the Fair                          Section III of the FHIP     months
 Housing and Minority Serving                       NOFA-Eligibility
 Institution Component,                             Information.
 applicants must demonstrate the
 ability to establish
 partnerships with Tribal
 Colleges and Universities,
 historically Black Colleges and
 Universities, Hispanic serving
 institutions, and Asian Pacific
 Islanders serving institutions
 to broaden support for
 development of quality fair
 housing education in MSIs See
 Section I of the FHIP NOFA-
 Funding Opportunity Description.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    No matching funds are required for the Education and Outreach or 
Private Enforcement Initiatives. For the Fair Housing Organizations 
Initiatives, Federal funds can be used as matching funds if the 
statutes governing the Federal funds consider the funds to be local 
resources i.e., Community Development Block Grants. See Rating Factor 4 
for additional information.

C. Other

1. Threshold Requirements
    Program Requirements for All Initiatives. In addition to the Civil 
Rights and other Threshold Requirements found in the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA, your FHIP-funded program application must also meet the 
following requirements:
    a. Protected Classes. All FHIP-funded projects must address housing 
discrimination based upon race, color, religion, sex, disability, 
familial status, or national origin. All services and activities must 
be available to the protected class members.
    b. Tax Exempt Status. Applicants for the PEI and FHOI Initiatives 
are ineligible for funding if they are not a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt 
organization as determined by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) prior 
to the application submission date.
    c. Name Check Review. See the General Section.
    d. Poor Performance. All applicants are ineligible for funding if 
they are a previous FHIP grantee that has received a ``Poor'' 
performance rating for its most recent performance rating from its 
Government Technical Representative (GTR) except for those applicants 
submitting applications under the PBFC. Applicants submitting 
applications under the PBFC must receive an excellent performance 
rating on their FY2002 and FY2003 and receive a minimum score of 95 on 
their most recent performance assessment. HUD will assess performance 
ratings for applicants who have received FHIP funding in FY 2002 or 
2003. If the applicant has received a ``poor'' performance rating for 
its most recent performance rating from its GTR, its application is 
ineligible for FY 2005 competition. An applicant that does not agree 
with its determination of ineligibility for the FY 2005 competition 
because of ``poor'' performance must address to HUD's satisfaction the 
factors resulting in the ``poor'' performance

[[Page 13794]]

rating before the FHIP application deadline. If the ``poor'' 
performance rating is not resolved to the Department's satisfaction 
before the application deadline, the application is ineligible for 
funding. HUD is interested in improving the performance level of all 
grantees; therefore, applicants who are deemed ineligible because of a 
``poor'' performance rating have the right and are encouraged to seek 
technical assistance from HUD to correct their performance in order to 
be eligible for future NOFA competition. Applicants who have received a 
``poor'' performance prior to FY 2002 must provide written 
documentation that they have implemented remedies to address those 
issues and concerns that contributed to a ``poor'' performance rating. 
This written documentation should be an addendum to your abstract.
    e. Suits Against the United States. Your application is ineligible 
for funding if, as a current or past recipient of FHIP funds, your 
organization used any funds provided by HUD for the payment of expenses 
in connection with litigation against the United States (24 CFR 
125.104(f)).
    f. Other Litigation. Your application is ineligible for funding if 
you used funds provided by HUD under this Program to settle a claim, 
satisfy a judgment, or fulfill a court order in any defensive 
litigation (24 CFR 125.104).
    g. Maximum award. Applicants are ineligible for funding if they 
request funding in excess of the maximum allowed under the Initiative 
or Component for which they are applying. Any amount over the maximum 
award, even if less than one dollar, will be considered a request in 
excess of the maximum award. In addition, inconsistencies in the amount 
requested and/or miscalculations that result in amounts over the 
maximum award will be considered excessive; therefore the application 
will be considered ineligible.
    h. DUN and Bradstreet Numbering System (DUNS) Numbering 
Requirement. Refer to General Section of SuperNOFA for information 
regarding the DUNS requirement. You must have a DUNS number to receive 
an award from HUD. You must have a DUNS number to register with 
Grants.gov . Registration with Grants.gov is required to submit your 
application electronically.
    i. Majority of Eligible Activities. If a majority (greater than 
50%) of the activities and costs within your Statement of Work (SOW) 
and budget are not fair housing related activities, your application 
will be deemed ineligible.
    Fair Housing Assistance Program agencies who are under a Suspension 
based on agency performance, as designated under 24 CFR Part 115.211(b) 
at time of application are ineligible for funding under this FHIP NOFA.
    j. Minimum TEP Score. Except for the PBFC, applicants must receive 
a minimum TEP score of 75 to be considered for funding.
    k. Single Applications. Except for applicants under FHOI and PEI-
PBFC, all other applicants must submit only one application under the 
FHIP. Applicants must determine under which Initiative/Component to 
which they want to apply and submit a completed application to only 
that Initiative/Component. FHOI and PEI-PBFC applicants may apply under 
one other Initiative/Component. However, applicants to the PBFC can 
only be considered for one award. Multiple applications submitted to 
more than one Initiative/Component, except for applicants to the FHOI 
and PEI-PBFC, will be treated as a technical deficiency and the 
applicant will be asked to identify the application they want reviewed, 
if qualified. Applicants applying under PEI-PBFC and any other 
Initiative/Component must state their preference in the Abstract.
    l. Independence of Awards. HUD will review each eligible 
application separately and without reference to other applications 
submitted by you or others. However, the application you submit must be 
independent and capable of being implemented without reliance on the 
selection of other applications submitted by you or other applicants.
    m. Training funds. Your proposed budget must set aside funds to 
participate in the National Fair Housing Training Academy (NFHTA) or 
other HUD mandatory sponsored or approved training-$5,000 for 12-18 
month projects (EOI and PEI); $6,000 annually for 36 month projects 
(FHOI); and for PEI-PBFC, $5000 annually for a 36 month duration. For 
FHOI, there must be attendance from the sponsoring and sponsored 
organization. Requests to attend the NFHTA must be submitted to the GTR 
for approval in advance of the requested training. Staff performance 
assessments must be submitted to the NFHTA prior to attendance. Do not 
include amounts over the $5,000 or $6,000 (as appropriate) for the 
training set-aside in this category. If applicants do not include these 
funds in the budget and you are selected for an award, HUD will modify 
your budget, reallocating the appropriate amount for training. If 
grantees key personnel do not attend mandatory HUD-approved or HUD 
sponsored training, training funds must be returned to HUD and it will 
be reflected on your performance assessment.
    n. Accessibility Requirements. All activities, facilities, and 
materials funded by this Program must be accessible and visitable to 
persons with disabilities (24 CFR 8.2, 8.4, 8.6, and 8.54).
    o. Fair Housing Act. HUD expects applicants to address housing 
discrimination covered under the Act. HUD has determined there is a 
need to ensure equal opportunity and access to housing in communities 
across the nation.
    p. Research Activities. Applicants are ineligible for funding if 
between 90-100% of their project is aimed at research.
    q. Tax Exempt Status. Your application must include a copy of your 
Letter of Determination from the Internal Revenue Service, dated prior 
to the application submission date of this FHIP Program Section of the 
SuperNOFA, establishing your 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Failure to 
submit this with your application is a technical deficiency.
    r. Limited English Proficient (LEP). Applicants obtaining an award 
from HUD must provide access to program benefits and information to LEP 
individuals through translation and interpretive services in accordance 
with HUD's published LEP Guidance.
    s. OMB Circular. For-profit awardees are not allowed to earn a 
profit and must adhere to OMB Circular A-133.
    t. Single Audit Requirement. All applicants who have expended 
$500,000 or more in Federal financial assistance in a single year (this 
can be a program or fiscal year) must be audited in accordance with the 
OMB-A133 requirements as established in 24 CFR part 84 and 85.
2. Other Program Requirements by Initiative
    a. Asians and Pacific Islander Fair Housing Awareness Component. 
Applicants are ineligible for funding if the current bilingual or 
bicultural Project Director does not have at least three years of 
proven experience providing bilingual or bicultural services; and if 
the organization does not have three years of proven experience 
providing bilingual or bicultural services. You must list all bilingual 
or bicultural employees and provide proof of employment. Grantees may 
not deny services and activities to

[[Page 13795]]

any protected classes under the Fair Housing Act.
    b. FHOI. Applicants for FHOI are ineligible if their organization 
received previous FHOI awards in FY 2003 or FY 2004.
    c. Under the PBFC, applicants must receive a minimum FY '05 TEP 
score of 95 to be considered for funding.
3. Performance Measures and Products
    For all Initiatives. Applicants must submit a Logic Model (Form HUD 
96010) in their application and report against planned actions on a 
quarterly basis as specified in the award agreement. Refer to the Logic 
Model Form HUD 96010. In addition:
    (1) Your application must demonstrate how your project activities 
will support HUD goals;
    (2) Identify performance measures/outcomes in support of those 
goals, describe your proposed record-keeping and evaluation systems; 
and
    (3) Identify current (baseline) conditions and target levels of the 
performance measures that you plan to achieve.
    (a) For PEI, your application also must contain a strategy for 
generating enforcement related project products (e.g., testing audits, 
complaint based testing, or systemic investigations) with related 
timelines and milestones.
    (b) PEI--Performance Based Funding Component applicants must show 
how this three years of funding will be used and the outcomes to be 
achieved by the end of each year.
    (c) For FHOI, if the sponsoring organization is enhancing an 
existing organization, then the sponsoring organization must submit a 
statement outlining:
    (i) what is expected of the sponsored organization, and
    (ii) that the sponsored organization will be part of the program.
    If the sponsoring organization is being created, then the sponsored 
organization must submit a mission statement for the sponsoring 
organization and a timeline for creation and independence. If selected 
for funding, your final performance measures will be negotiated with 
HUD as part of the executed grant agreement.
    4. Tester Requirements for PEI and FHOI applicants. If you propose 
a testing program, you must explain how you plan to structure the 
tests, train testers, and conduct investigations, etc. Testers in your 
FHIP-funded testing activities must not have prior felony convictions 
or convictions of crimes involving fraud or perjury. All testers must 
receive training acceptable to HUD or be experienced in testing 
procedures and techniques. Testers and the organizations conducting 
tests, and the employees and agents of these organizations may not:
    (1) Have an economic interest in the outcome of the test; except to 
the extent that they could recover damages as provided by law;
    (2) Be a relative related by adoption, blood, or marriage to any 
party in a case;
    (3) Have had any employment or other affiliation, within the past 
year, with the person or organization to be tested; or
    (4) Be a competitor of the person or organization to be tested in 
the listing, rental, sale, or financing of real estate.
    a. Review and Approval of Testing Methodology. If your SOW proposes 
testing, other than rental housing testing, HUD may require copies of 
the following documents to be reviewed and approved by HUD prior to 
your carrying out the testing activities.
    (1) The testing methodology to be used;
    (2) The training materials to be provided for testing; and
    (3) Other forms, protocols, cover letters, etc., used in the 
conduct of testing and reporting of results.
    If HUD has approved your testing methodology for FY 2003 and FY 
2004, then there is no need to submit your testing methodology, unless 
you are revising the methodology that was approved by HUD. If changes 
are being made, you must submit information on the methodology to be 
used, highlighting the changes from the methodology previously approved 
by HUD. Please tell us within your application. Also tell us whether 
you have made any changes to that approved methodology and what those 
changes are. For all other applicants, the testing methodology and 
training materials that you submit to HUD for review and approval will 
remain confidential.
    b. Retainer Fees. If you are a recipient of FHIP funds, you cannot 
require any complainant to whom you are providing assistance to sign a 
retainer agreement or other contract for legal fees as part of the 
filing, commencement, or maintenance of a Fair Housing Act complaint. 
If the FHIP recipient has a successful settlement or a verdict, then 
the FHIP is able to include its reasonable fees as a part of the 
settlement, though the complainant shall be under no obligation to 
accept such an agreement. If reasonable legal fees are recovered, the 
FHIP agency must return to HUD a percentage of the legal fees that is 
equal to the percentage of FHIP funds spent on the prosecution of the 
case. For example, if 5% of FHIP funding were spent on prosecution of 
the case, HUD would recover 5% of any legal fees. However, the amount 
of funds recovered will never exceed the actual amount of the FHIP 
grant.
    (1) Agencies that are the recipients of FHIP funds agree to provide 
HUD with information regarding the recovery of fees and applicable 
reimbursement of FHIP funds on a yearly basis;
    (2) All settlements and verdicts involving cases processed using 
FHIP funds are a matter of public record. The grantee cannot claim 
attorney-client or other privilege against the release of data 
concerning a case.
    (3) This restriction on withholding of information must be 
communicated to the complainant.
    (4) The complainant must agree to such a restriction before a case 
can be processed using FHIP funds.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address To Request Application Package

    This section describes how you may obtain application forms and 
additional information about the FHIP program. Copies of the published 
SuperNOFA, FHIP NOFA and application forms may be downloaded from the 
grants.gov Web site at http://www.grants.gov/FIND or if you have 
difficulty accessing the information you may receive customer support 
from Grants.gov by calling their help line at (800) 518-GRANTS or 
sending an email to [email protected]. The operators will assist you 
in accessing the information. If you do not have internet access and 
you need to obtain a copy of the NOFA you can contact HUD's NOFA 
Information Center toll-free at (800) HUD-8929. Persons with hearing or 
speech impairments may also call toll-free at (800) HUD-2209.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    1. Please ensure that your application contains all of the 
following items in the exact order as described below:

a. SF-424*
b. SF 424 Supplement*-Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for 
Applicants.
c. Project Abstract Outlining Project Activities
d. Factor No. 1 Narrative
e. Factor No. 1 Attachments: Tester Experience, Letter of Determination 
from IRS on 501(c)(3), if applicable.
f. Factor No. 2 Narrative
g. Factor No. 2 Attachments
h. Factor No. 3 Narrative
i. Factor No. 3 Attachments: Statement of Work (SOW) with activities 
listed

[[Page 13796]]

in priority order, Budget Forms HUD 424 CB* and HUD 424 CBW reflecting 
the order of the statement of work and prioritized activities,* Budget 
Narrative.
j. Factor No. 4 Narrative
k. Factor No. 4 Attachments: Letter(s) of Firm Commitment
l. Factor No. 5 Narrative
m. Responses to Additional Requirements for Specific Initiative/Project
n. HUD-2880 (Applicant Recipient Disclosure Update Report (General 
Section)*
o. OMB SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (General Section)*
p. HUD 2990 Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC-IIs. (See 
HUD's Web page at www.hud.gov/cr. for listing and www.hud.gov/crlocator 
for project eligibility.
q. HUD-2994 Client Comments and Suggestions

    This Checklist reflects all forms that must be included in your 
electronic application submission.
    In addition to the above, all applicants must read and adhere to 
Initiative specific information. Applicants are encouraged to review 
the chart entitled ``Summary of Initiatives/Components'' to assist in 
identifying the Initiative and component to which you wish to apply. 
Also, to submit documents using the facsimile method, applicants must 
use form HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal, which is a cover page for 
the faxed materials. The form HUD-96011 is an electronic form and is 
part of the downloaded application. See the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA for specific procedures governing facsimile submission.
    2. For All Applicants. The maximum narrative page requirement is 
ten (10) pages per factor. The narrative pages must be double-spaced. 
This includes all narrative text, titles and headings. (However, you 
may single space footnotes, quotations, references, captions, charts, 
forms, tables, figures and graphs). You are required to use 12-point 
type size. You must respond fully to each factor to obtain maximum 
points. Failure to provide narrative responses to all factors or 
omitting requested information will result in less than the maximum 
points available for the given rating factor or sub-factors. Failure to 
provide double-spaced, 12-point type size narrative responses will 
result in five points being deducted from your overall score (one point 
per factor).
    3. EOI and PEI-General Component. Organizations applying under the 
EOI and PEI General Component must submit a budget at 100% of proposed 
costs and activities. Additionally, applicants must identify costs and 
activities in priority order so if HUD funds at an 80% level, approved 
awards will reflect the priorities of the applicant. The activities and 
line item costs above the 80% should be reflected as optional 
activities in the applicant's SOW, Logic Model and Budget.
    For example, if an applicant proposes 10 workshops, the applicant 
can designate 2 workshops as optional to reduce their funding by 20%. 
By providing the information in this manner if there are no further 
changes during negotiations, the applicant does not have to submit 
another budget.
    4. Application Submission and Timeliness Procedures. See the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA for specific procedures governing the 
submission and receipt of applications.

C. Submission Dates and Times

    You must submit a completed electronic application for the specific 
initiative and component for which you are applying to HUD on or before 
May 23, 2005. Grants.gov will reject applications that do not meet the 
deadline requirements.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Complete application package
             contains                   Required content       Required form or format      When to submit it
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application:
Cover sheet......................  (per required form)......  Form SF-424, available    On or before 11:59:59
                                                               from (General Section).   p.m. on the application
                                                                                         submission date using
                                                                                         Grants.gov/Apply.
Survey for Ensuring Equal          .........................  SF-424 Supplement.......
 Opportunity for Applicants.
Budget information...............  (per required form)......  Form SF-424CB and SF-
                                                               424CBW, ).
Disclosure of Lobbying Activities  (per required form)......  SF-LLL, if applicable...
Applicant-Recipient Disclosure     (per required form)......  HUD-2880................
 Update Report.
Certification of Consistency with  (per required form)......  HUD-2990................
 RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan.
Program Outcome Logic Model......  (per required form)......  HUD-96010 or equivalent.
Race and Ethnic Date Reporting     (per required form)......  HUD-27061...............
 Form.
America's Affordable Communities   (per required form)......  HUD-27300...............
 Initiative.
Narrative........................  Described in Section       Format described in
                                    IV.B. of this              Section IV.B of this
                                    announcement.              announcement.
Letters from third parties         Third parties'             No specific form or
 contributing to cost sharing.      affirmations of amounts    format.
                                    of their commitments.
Addendum to Abstract--Correction   Written documentation      No specific form or
 of Poor Performance (as            that performance issues    format.
 appropriate).                      and concerns have been
                                    cured.
Project Abstract.................  Short summary of project   No specific form or
                                    activities, areas of       format.
                                    concentration and
                                    persons to be served.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D. Intergovernmental Review

    Intergovernmental Review is not applicable to this program.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Administrative Costs for the Sponsoring Organization (FHOI). The 
sponsoring organization may use no more than 15 percent of the annually

[[Page 13797]]

awarded funds to cover its costs to administer the grant.
    2. PEI and FHOI Limitations for Education & Outreach--There is a 5% 
limit on the amount of education- and outreach related activities that 
can be funded in an enforcement award. If you exceed the limit, points 
will be deducted in the rating process and funds will be adjusted to 
maintain the required limitation.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    Electronic delivery via http://www.grants.gov/Apply is HUD's 
required method for application delivery beginning in FY 2005. 
Applicants interested in applying for FHIP funding must submit their 
applications electronically or request a waiver from the Assistant 
Secretary responsible for the program area. Waiver requests must be 
submitted at least thirty days prior to the application submission 
date. See the General Section for detailed instructions on how to 
submit applications using Grants.gov. The General Section also provides 
requirements and instructions for submitting a waiver request.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria for Regional/Community-Based Applications

1. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of Applicant and Relevant Organizational 
Experience (25 Points).
    You must describe staff expertise and your organization's ability 
to complete the proposed activities within the grant period.
    In General. HUD recognizes that, in carrying out the proposed 
activities, you may have persons already on staff, plan to hire 
additional staff, or rely on subcontractors or consultants to perform 
specific tasks. You must describe your staffing plan and the extent to 
which you plan to add staff (employees) or contractors. If your 
application proposes using subcontractors and these subcontractor 
activities amount to more than 10 percent of your total activities, you 
must submit a separate budget for each subcontractor. Failure to 
include a separate budget will result in lower points being assessed to 
your application.
    a. Number and expertise of staff (this includes subcontractors and 
consultants). (5) Points for current FHIP grantees (10) Points for New 
Applicants. You must show that you will have sufficient, qualified 
staff that will be available to complete the proposed activities. 
Provide the following information for all staff assigned to or hired 
for this project, not just key personnel (those persons identified in 
attachments to Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach). Applicants 
applying to the Asians, Pacific Islanders Fair Housing Awareness 
Component must list all bilingual employees, identify the languages 
they are fluent in, and provide proof of their employment.
    (1) Identify, by name and/or title and hours, all persons that will 
be assigned to the project. You must describe the knowledge and 
experience of the proposed overall project director or day-to-day 
program manager (whose duties and responsibilities include managing all 
program and administrative activities as outlined in the SOW and 
ensuring that all timelines are met), in planning and managing projects 
similar in scope and complex interdisciplinary programs. To receive 
maximum points, your day-to-day program manager must devote a minimum 
of 75% of his/her time to the project, and this individual must be 
stationed in the metropolitan area where the project will be carried 
out. For day-to-day managers who do not have at least 75% of their time 
devoted to the project, no points will be awarded under this sub-
factor. For example, if the Executive Director is responsible for 
managing the overall program administrative activities, the application 
should reflect the Executive Director's time as 75%. However, if a 
staff person will be assigned this responsibility, the 75% time should 
be reflected as such. You may not designate more than one person to fit 
this 75% criterion. You may demonstrate capacity by thoroughly 
describing your staff's prior experience in fair housing. You should 
indicate how this prior experience would be used in carrying out your 
proposed activities. Your application must also clearly identify those 
persons that are on staff at the time this application is submitted and 
those persons who will be assigned at a later date; describe each 
person's duties and responsibilities and their expertise (including 
years of experience and bilingual languages as noted above) to perform 
project tasks; and indicate whether the staff person is assigned to 
work full-time or part-time (if part-time, indicate the percentage of 
time each person is assigned to the project).
    (2) Attach resumes for all key personnel or position descriptions 
for newly created positions. (Resumes or position descriptions do not 
count against the ten-page limit.)
    b. Organizational experience. (10) Points for current FHIP 
grantees;(15) Points for new applicants. In responding to this sub-
factor, you must show that your organization has:
    (1) conducted a past project or projects similar in scope and 
complexity to the project proposed in this application (whether FHIP-
funded or not), or
    (2) engaged in activities that, although not similar, are readily 
transferable to the proposed project.
    EOI applicants must show that they have engaged in projects that 
are Regional/Local/Community based. Experience will be judged in terms 
of recent, relevant and successful experience of your staff to 
undertake eligible activities. In rating this factor, HUD will consider 
experience within the last three years to be recent, experience 
pertaining to the specific activities to be relevant, and experience 
producing measurable accomplishments to be successful. The more recent 
the experience and the more experience your own staff members who work 
on the project have in successfully conducting and completing similar 
activities, the greater the number of points you will receive for this 
rating factor.
    (a) If you are applying for funding under the EOI-Asians and 
Pacific Islanders Fair Housing Awareness Component, in addition to the 
items described under items (1) and (2) above, you must provide the 
following information when responding to this sub-factor.
    (i). A list of all bilingual or bicultural materials developed and 
distributed.
    (ii). A description of specific instances where projects similar to 
the scope and activities proposed in this application had an impact in 
various communities.
    (iii). A description of recent relevant experience. Recent 
experience is experience within the past three years.
    (b) If you are applying for funding under the EOI-Fair Housing and 
Minority Serving Institutions Component, in addition to the items 
described under item (1) and (2) above, you must provide the following 
information when responding to this sub-factor:
    (i) A description of staff's experience in providing fair housing 
and educational curricular development with the objective of increasing 
awareness of fair housing and
    (ii) A designation from the Department of Education specifying the 
organization as a Tribal College and University, historically Black 
College or University, Hispanic serving institutions, or Asian, Pacific 
Islander serving institution.
    (c) If you are applying for funding under PEI or FHOI, you must 
provide

[[Page 13798]]

the following information when responding to this sub-factor:
    (i) If you propose to conduct testing (other than rental or 
accessibility testing), projects proposing testing in specific areas 
should document that, at a minimum, you have conducted successful 
testing in those areas. Provide a general description of when and where 
the tests occurred, the entities tested, and the overall results of the 
tests, including complaints filed and the settlements or remedies 
secured (for example, if testing is for sales of housing, your 
application should outline your sales testing experience).
    (ii) Discuss your compliance with the requirement to reimburse the 
Federal government for compensation received from FHIP-funded 
enforcement activities. If you have not reimbursed the Federal 
government for such compensation, explain why you have not. Also, state 
whether you reported to HUD any likely compensation that may result in 
such reimbursement. Two (2) points will be deducted for this sub-factor 
if you have not complied with the requirement.
    (d) FHOI. Provide a statement of organizational capacity and 
experience of the sponsored organization and a list of persons who will 
work on the project along with their experience.
    c. Performance on past project(s). (10) Points for current FHIP 
grantees; (0) Points for new applicants. HUD will assess your 
organization's past performance in conducting activities relevant to 
your application. For current FHIPs, past performance will be assessed 
based on your most recent performance assessment received from your HUD 
Government Technical Representative (GTR) over the past two (2) years 
(FY 2002-FY 2003).
    This information will be provided to the Technical Evaluation Panel 
(TEP) by HUD staff; however, you may also include a copy in your 
application. Based on past performance, the following points will be 
deducted from your score under this rating sub-factor:
    (1) 10 points out of 10 possible points will be deducted if you 
received a ``fair performance'' assessment;
    (2) 5 points out of 10 possible points will be deducted if you 
received a ``good performance'' assessment; and
    (3) 0 points will be deducted if you received an ``excellent 
performance'' assessment.
2. Rating Factor 2: Need/Distress/Extent of the Problem (20 Points)
    This factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for 
funding the proposed activities to address a documented fair housing 
problem(s) in the target area(s). You will be evaluated on the 
information that you submit that describes the fair housing need in the 
geographic area you propose to serve, its urgency and how your project 
is responsive to that need.
    a. Documentation of Need. To justify the need for your project, PEI 
and EOI applicants must describe the following:
    (1) The fair housing need, including:
    (a) Geographic area to be served and your proximity to the area;
    (b) Populations that will be served--your project must serve all 
persons protected by the Act; and
    (c) The presence of housing discrimination, high segregation 
indices or other evidence of discrimination prohibited by the Act 
within the project area.
    (2) The urgency of the identified need. For example:
    (a) The potential consequences to persons if your application is 
not selected for funding;
    (b) The extent to which the organizations provides the services 
identified in your application;
    (c) Other sources that support the need and urgency for this 
project. For example, make reference to reports, statistics, or other 
data sources that you used that are sound and reliable, including but 
not limited to, HUD or other Federal, State or local government reports 
analyses, relevant economic and/or demographic data--including those 
that show segregation--foundation reports and studies, news articles, 
and other information that relate to the identified need. Chapter V of 
the Fair Housing Planning Guide, Vol. 1 has other suggestions for 
supporting documentation. You may access the Guide from the HUD web at 
``www.hud.gov.''
    To receive maximum points under this sub-factor, applicants must 
submit data and studies that support (a), (b), and (c) above. Those 
that address each category and submit supporting data will receive 
higher points than those that do not.
    b. For FHOI: to justify the need for a sponsored organization under 
FHOI, the sponsoring organization must describe the following:
    (1) Populations that will be served--HUD has targeted for funding 
under this Initiative, projects that will provide fair housing 
enforcement services to underserved areas, rural areas and areas 
serving individuals who are immigrants (especially racial and ethnic 
minorities who are not English-speaking or limited English proficient).
    (2) The presence of housing discrimination, segregation and/or 
other indices of discrimination that are in the project area prohibited 
by the Act. Submit data and studies that support your claim; and
    (3) Why the project area is underserved and why the proposed 
sponsored organization is needed. Your proposed activities must serve 
all persons protected by the Act.
    For example, make reference to reports, statistics, or other data 
sources that you used that are sound and reliable, including but not 
limited to, HUD or other Federal, state or local government reports 
analyses, relevant economic and/or demographic data, including those 
that show segregation, foundation reports and studies, news articles, 
and other information that relate to the identified need.
    For all applicants: You must use sound data sources to identify the 
level of need and the urgency in meeting the need (ex. Consolidated 
Plan (CP), Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI), fair 
housing studies, etc.) For you to receive maximum points for this 
factor, there must be a direct relationship between your proposed 
activities and the community(ies) fair housing needs, including your 
knowledge of and your proximity to the targeted area, and the purpose 
of the program funding.
    To the extent possible, the data you use should be specific to the 
area where the proposed activity will be carried out. You should 
document needs as they apply to the specific area(s) where activities 
will be targeted and your proximity to the target area, rather than the 
entire locality or state. If the data presented does not specifically 
represent your target area, you should discuss why the target areas 
were proposed.
    (4) The link between the need and your proposed activities:
    (a) How the proposed activities augment or improve upon on-going 
efforts by public and private agencies, organizations and institutions 
in the target area, and/or
    (b) Why, in light of other on-going efforts, the additional funding 
you are requesting is necessary.
    c. In addition, with respect to Documentation of Need, the 
following apply to specific FHIP initiatives or components:
    (1) EOI-Disability Component. Your project must focus on persons 
with disabilities, however you must serve all persons protected by the 
Act.
    (2) EOI-Asians and Pacific Islanders Fair Housing Awareness 
Component. Your project must focus on serving Asians, Pacific 
Islanders; however, you must serve all persons protected by the Act. 
Therefore, provide specific

[[Page 13799]]

demographics on areas to be served and the relationship of the area 
served to the objectives of the project. The need in these 
neighborhoods must be clearly stated and supported with documentation 
such as beneficiary information.
    (3) EOI-Fair Housing and Minority Serving Institutions Component. 
Your project must document curricular development and a critical level 
of need for fair housing activities in the area where activities will 
be carried out.
3. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (35 Points)
    You must describe your project in detail, demonstrate how your 
project activities will support HUD's policy priorities that support 
HUD's goals, propose suggested performance measures/outcomes in support 
of these goals, and identify current baseline conditions and target 
levels of the performance measures that you plan to achieve. Attach a 
Statement of Work (SOW) and budget. Your proposed activities must 
support HUD's policy priorities as referenced in the General Section.
    a. Support of Policy Priorities (8 Points). Describe how your 
proposed project will further and support HUD's policy priorities for 
FY 2005. HUD encourages applicants to undertake specific activities 
that will assist the Department in implementing its policy priorities 
and which will help the Department achieve its goals and objectives in 
FY 2005. HUD will evaluate the extent to which a program will further 
and support HUD's priorities. The quality of the responses provided to 
one or more of HUD's priorities will determine the score an applicant 
can receive. Applicants must describe how each policy priority selected 
will be addressed.
    Applicants that just list a priority will receive no points. Each 
policy priority addressed must discuss the geographic area to be served 
in relation to the project's purpose, the persons to be served and the 
methodology for carrying out these activities. Each policy priority has 
a point value of one point, with the exception of the policy priority 
to remove regulatory barriers to affordable housing which has a point 
value of up to 2 points; and, for EOI applicants only, promoting 
participation of grassroots faith-based and other community-based 
organization or partnering with an organization promoting participation 
in grassroots faith-based and other community-based organizations, 
which has a point value of up to 4 points The total number of points 
that can be received for this sub-factor is 8. It is up to the 
applicant to determine which of the policy priorities they elect to 
address to receive the available 8 points. Applicants are eligible to 
receive up to 2 points for efforts to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing. To secure points an applicant must submit the 
completed questionnaire (HUD 27300), and provide the required 
documentation. Please see the General Section for further information 
on Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing. The 
questionnaire is part of the electronic application package and is also 
found in the Appendix to the General Section. For the full list of each 
policy priority, please refer to the General Section of this SuperNOFA.
    b. Proposed Statement of Work (SOW) and Information Requirements 
(17 Points). The SOW and budget are attachments that will not count 
toward the 10-page limit on the narrative response to this factor. 
However, points will be assigned based on the relevance of proposed 
activities to stated needs, attention to implementation steps, proposed 
activities consistent with organizational expertise and capacity and 
accuracy of the SOW and budget.
    (1) Statement of Work--Submit a proposed SOW that comprehensively 
outlines in chronological order the administrative and program 
activities and tasks to be performed during the grant period. Your 
outline should identify all activities and tasks to be performed and by 
whom (e.g., you, a subcontractor, or partner), and the products that 
will be provided to HUD and when. You should also include a schedule of 
your activities and products (with interim implementation steps), staff 
allocation over the term of the project; staff acquisition and 
training; and activities of partners and/or subcontractors. Applicants 
should provide figures on the projected clients to be served. Do not 
provide ranges or percentages, but a specific number of clients. These 
figures should represent individuals to be served entirely with HUD 
FHIP funding.
    (2) EOI-General and PEI-General Applicants Only-You must identify 
optional activities (to achieve an 80% budget) in order to receive full 
points under this sub-factor.
    (3) For the Asians and Pacific Islanders Fair Housing Awareness 
Component include:
    (a) All bilingual or bicultural key personnel and their capacity to 
communicate and disseminate information in projected neighborhoods.
    (b) A plan that reflects an understanding of the characteristics 
and needs of the neighborhoods selected and outlines a plan of action 
pertaining to the scope and detail of how the work outlined will be 
accomplished.
    c. The Budget Form and the Budget Information (10 Points). HUD will 
also assess the soundness of your approach by evaluating the quality, 
thoroughness, and reasonableness of the budget and financial controls 
of your organization, including information on your proposed program 
cost categories. As part of your response you must prepare a budget 
that is:
    (1) Reasonable in achieving the goals identified in your proposed 
SOW;
    (2) relate tasks in the SOW to the proposed budget costs;
    (3) cost-effective, e.g. in terms of staff used to perform the 
activities, results to be achieved for the dollar costs of the program, 
location of the organization in relation to targeted area(s), etc.
    (4) quantifiable based on the need identified in Factor 2, and
    (5) justifiable for all cost categories in accordance with the cost 
categories indicated in the HUD-424 CB (see General Section Grant 
Application Detailed Budget). Include your approved Indirect Cost rate 
in your budget submission, as well as the agency contact name and 
telephone number. If you do not have a Federally approved indirect cost 
rate, please provide your proposed rate and submit an indirect cost 
rate proposal with your application. If HUD is the cognizant agency, it 
will establish a rate or contact the appropriate Federal agency to 
establish a rate. For information on Indirect Cost rates, you can 
review HUD's training on www.hud./gov.
    (6) Cost Effectiveness of Program. Discuss and provide supportive 
facts concerning the extent to which your proposed program is cost 
effective in achieving the anticipated results of the proposed 
activities in the targeted area. Applicants seeking funding to conduct 
activities in an area other than the applicant's State or locality must 
discuss the cost effectiveness of where the activities will be 
conducted in relation to the location of the organization. HUD will 
look at the cost effectiveness of your travel to and from your location 
to the targeted area(s), personnel expenses for outstationed personnel, 
contracts and subgrantees, and other direct costs, which may include 
relocation expenses, and telecommunications expenses. Also, indicate 
how the proposed project is quantifiable based on the needs identified 
in Rating Factor 2.
    (7) Financial Management Capacity. Describe and provide 
documentation to support your organization's financial management 
system and your Board's

[[Page 13800]]

contribution to the organization. In addition, provide documentation 
about your capabilities in handling financial resources, dissemination 
to subcontracting affiliates, and maintenance of an adequate accounting 
and internal control procedures.
    (8) For FHOI provide a statement of transfer of programmatic and 
management responsibilities from the sponsoring to sponsored 
organization by the end of grant year three. Also provide budgetary 
information on the viability of the sponsoring organization to maintain 
the sponsored organization for the duration of the grant.
    (9) Your Grant Application Detailed Budget Worksheet (HUD-424-CBW) 
and Grant Application Detailed Budget (HUD-424-CB) must show the total 
cost of the project and indicate other sources of funds that will be 
used for the project. While the costs are based only on estimates, the 
budget narrative work plan may include information obtained from 
various vendors, or you may rely on historical data. Applicants must 
round all budget items to the nearest dollar.
    A written budget narrative work plan must accompany the proposed 
budget explaining each budget category listed and must explain each 
cost category. Failure to provide a written budget narrative work plan 
will result in 2 points being deducted from your application. It must 
explain each cost category you list. Generally, estimated costs for 
high-cost items or subcontractors/consultants should be supported by 
bids from at least three (3) sources. Where there are travel costs for 
subcontractors/consultants, you must show that the combined travel 
costs (per diem rates) are consistent with Federal Travel Regulations 
(41 CFR 301.11) and travel costs for the applicant's subcontractors 
and/or consultants do not exceed the rates and fees charged by local 
subcontractors and consultants. The narrative (which does count toward 
the 10 page limit) and supporting documentation (which does not count 
toward the 10 page limit) must address the Grant Application Detailed 
Budget.
4. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (5 Points)
    This factor addresses your ability to secure additional resources 
to support your project. Points will be awarded on the basis of the 
percentage of non-FHIP resources you have identified and how firm the 
commitment is for those resources.
    a. Firm Commitment of Leveraging. HUD requires you to secure 
resources from sources other than what is requested under this FHIP 
Program Section of the SuperNOFA. Community resources may include 
funding or in-kind contributions, such as workspace or services or 
equipment, allocated to the purpose(s) of your proposal. Contributions 
from affiliates, subsidiaries, divisions, or employees of the applicant 
do not qualify as in-kind contributions. Resources may be provided by 
governmental entities (including other HUD programs if such costs are 
allowed by statute), public or private non-profit organizations, faith-
based organizations, for-profit or civic private organizations, or 
other entities willing to work with you. In order to secure points you 
must establish leveraging of resources by providing letters of firm 
commitment from the organizations and/or individuals who will support 
your project. Each letter of firm commitment must:
    (1) Identify the organization and/or individual committing 
resources to the project and identify any affiliation with the 
applicant,
    (2) Identify the sources and amounts of the leveraged resources 
(the total FHIP and non-FHIP amounts must match those in your proposed 
budget submitted under Factor 3), and
    (3) Describe how these resources will be used under your SOW. The 
letter must be signed by the individual or organization official 
legally able to make commitments for the organization. If the resources 
are in-kind or donated goods, the commitment letter must indicate the 
fair market value of those resources and describe how this fair market 
value was determined. (Do not include indirect costs within your in-
kind resources). In-kind matching and leveraging contributions, as well 
as Program Income must comply with 24 CFR 84.23 and 84.24 requirements. 
FHIP funds cannot be used for in-kind or donated services (for example, 
a current staff person on a FHIP-funded project). No points will be 
awarded for general letters of support endorsing the project from 
organizations, including elected officials on the local, State, or 
national levels, and/or individuals in your community. See Section 
IV.F. of the General Section of the SuperNOFA for instructions on how 
third party documents are to be submitted to HUD via the electronic 
submission process. For PEI and EOI, if your project will not be 
supported by non-FHIP resources, then you will not receive any points 
under this factor. Points will be assigned for each Initiative based on 
the following scale:
    One point will be awarded if less than 5% of the projects total 
costs come from non-FHIP resources.
    Two points will be awarded if between 5% and 10% of the project's 
total costs are from non-FHIP resources.
    Three points will be awarded if between 11% and 20% of the 
project's total costs are from non-FHIP resources.
    Four points will be awarded if between 21% and 30% of the project's 
total costs are from non-FHIP resources.
    Five points will be awarded if at least 31% of the project's total 
costs are from non-FHIP resources.
    The sponsored organization must not rely exclusively on FHIP 
funding. At the conclusion of each grant year, the sponsored 
organization must show increasing support from sources other than what 
is awarded under this program. Specifically, at the conclusion of year 
1, no less than 5% of the funds supporting the sponsored organization's 
fair housing enforcement-related activities must be funded from non-
FHIP funds; at the conclusion of year 2, no less than 10% of the funds 
supporting the sponsored organization's fair housing enforcement-
related activities must be from non-FHIP funds; and at the conclusion 
of year 3, no less than 20% of the funds supporting the sponsored 
organization's fair housing enforcement-related activities must be from 
non-FHIP funds. Your application must state how you will meet these 
requirements.
    For FHOI, two points will be awarded if between 5% and 10% of the 
project's total costs are from non-FHIP resources. Three points will be 
awarded if between 11% and 20% of the project's total costs are from 
non-FHIP resources; Four points will be awarded if between 21% and 30% 
of the project's total costs are from non-FHIP resources; Five points 
will be awarded if at least 31% of the projects total costs are from 
non-FHIP resources.
5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (15 
Points)
    a. In evaluating this factor, HUD will assess the extent to which 
you demonstrate how you will measure your success or results to be 
achieved that represent the work of your organization as set out in 
your budget. Applicants must describe their specific methods and 
measures to assess progress, evaluate program effectiveness, and 
identify program changes necessary to improve performance. This will 
ensure that performance measures are met and that grantees are 
establishing achievable realistic goals. Applicants who have identified 
outputs and outcome measurements and include means for assessing these 
measurements, tracking and monitoring performance goals and 
achievements against these

[[Page 13801]]

commitments made in the application, will receive higher points than 
those that do not. To meet this Factor requirement, you must first 
refer to the Logic Model and instructions provided in the forms 
appended to the General Section. All applicants must use the Logic 
Model Form to respond to this Factor. Applicants should also review the 
Logic Model training which can be found at http://www.hud.gov/offices/
adm/grants/training/training.cfm.
    b. In evaluating this Factor: (1) HUD will consider how you have 
described the degree to which you have identified and characterized the 
information needs of your intended audience or target populations;
    (2) Output. The direct products of the applicant's activities that 
lead to the ultimate achievement of outcomes. Examples of outputs 
include, but are not limited to, the number of training sessions 
conducted; the number of PSA's aired; the number of conferences held; 
the number of brochures/fair housing materials to be disseminated and/
or the number of outreach activities;
    (3) Outcome. Demonstrate ability to measure outcomes so the major 
outcome is to increase awareness of fair housing laws and enforce the 
fair housing act. Outcomes are benefits provided to all protected class 
members as a result of education and outreach or fair housing 
enforcement activities; and, performance indicators the applicant 
expects to achieve or goals it hopes to meet over the term of the 
proposed grant. In other words, provide the figure that the applicant 
estimates for that outcome category as a result of the applicant's 
activities. For example as it relates to EOI Activities:
    [sbull] The number of individuals reached as a result of training, 
outreach efforts, one on one fair housing counseling, participation in 
a conference or symposium.
    [sbull] The percentage of persons whose knowledge and awareness of 
fair housing is increased as a result of training, outreach efforts, 
one on one fair housing counseling, participation in a conference or 
symposium.
    [sbull] The number of complaints received as a result of training, 
outreach efforts, one on one fair housing counseling, participation in 
a conference or symposium.
    As it relates to PEI Activities:
    [sbull] The number of tests completed as result of investigations, 
systemic testing or audit testing.
    [sbull] The number of enforcement actions as a result of testing 
investigations, systemic testing, or audit testing.
    The number of individuals served as a result of pre-complaint 
counseling and/or education and outreach efforts as a result of testing 
activities.
    (4) Describe how your program will be held accountable for meeting 
program goals, objectives, and the actions undertaken in implementing 
the grant program. You should provide a description of the procedure to 
be used to assess progress and track performance in meeting the goals 
and objectives outlined in the work plan.
    Accountability can be achieved using specific measurements tools to 
assess the impact of your solutions. Examples include:
    [sbull] Intake Assessment Instrument;
    [sbull] Pre/Post Tests;
    [sbull] Customer/Client Satisfaction Survey;
    [sbull] Follow-up Survey;
    [sbull] Observational Survey;
    [sbull] Functioning scale; or
    [sbull] Self-sufficiency scale.
    You should describe what kind of fair housing activities you 
propose to accomplish and the success of your project as identified in 
Factor 2, for these activities. For the EOI-Disability Component, you 
should also demonstrate how the activities will assist the Department 
in implementing the New Freedom Initiative (see General Section).

B. Reviews and Selection Process

    1. Rating and Ranking. Although all rating factors are organized 
the same way for all FHIP initiatives, there are differences in 
application requirements and rating criteria, which are indicated 
throughout the Rating Factor instructions. Your application for funding 
will be evaluated competitively against all other applications 
submitted under one of the following initiatives or components:
    a. Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)--
    (1) General Component (PEI-GC);
    (2) Performance Based Funding Component (PEI-PBFC).
    b. Education and Outreach Initiative (EOI)--
    (1) Regional/Local/Community-Based Programs:
    (a) General Component (EOI-GC);
    (b) Disability Component (EOI-DC);
    (c) Asians, Pacific Islanders Fair Housing Awareness Component 
(EOI-AC);
    (d) Fair Housing and Minority Serving Institutions Component (EOI-
MSI);
    c. Fair Housing Organizations Initiative (FHOI). For all 
initiatives, all eligible applications will be reviewed and points 
awarded based upon: 1. Your narrative responses to the Factors for 
Award and accompanying materials (e.g., resumes) and 2. EC/EZ-II bonus 
points, as applicable. Ineligible applications will not be ranked. The 
maximum number of points to be awarded for the Rating Factors is 100. 
See Section V. of the General Section for information on Bonus Points.
    Applications with a score of seventy-five (75) points or more will 
be considered of sufficient quality for funding. The Selecting Official 
will not select for award any application with a score below seventy-
five (75) points. Generally, applications of sufficient quality for 
funding will be selected in rank order under each initiative or 
component.
    For the PEI--Performance Based Funding Component applicants will be 
evaluated competitively against other applicants who apply and have 
received an Excellent Performance Assessment for FY 2002 and 2003 FHIP-
funded activities, as well as a 95 on their most current performance 
review (FY '02 or '03). These applicants will then be rated by the 
Technical Evaluation Panel and ranked by score. Only those applicants 
who receive a minimum final score of 95 from the TEP will be considered 
for funding under this Component.
    2. Tie Breaking. When two or more applications have the same total 
overall score, the application with the higher score under Rating 
Factor 3: Soundness of Approach will be ranked higher. If this does not 
break the tie, the application with the higher score under Rating 
Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational 
Experience will be ranked higher. If this does not break the tie, the 
application requesting the lower amount of FHIP funding will be ranked 
higher. Finally, if this does not break the tie, the application with 
the higher score under Rating Factor 2 will be rated higher.
    For the PEI--Performance Based Component, the tie breaking 
provision does not apply.
    3. Achieving Geographic Diversity of Awards. a. PEI and EOI. HUD 
reserves the right to select applications out of rank order to achieve 
geographic diversity, to ensure that, to the extent possible, 
applications from more States for each initiative or component are 
selected for funding. If the Selecting Official exercises this 
discretion, there will be two determinants used: (1) geography and (2) 
score. Geographic diversity shall be applied to all qualified 
applications (applications of sufficient quality for funding--
applications that received a score of 75 or more points) in each 
Initiative or Component in which the Selecting Official applies 
geographic diversity. The geographic

[[Page 13802]]

diversity provision will be applied as follows: when there are two or 
more applications of sufficient quality from the same state, the 
application(s) with the lower score(s) will be moved to the end of the 
qualified queue. The applications moved to the end of the qualified 
queue will retain their geographic rank order. If sufficient funds 
remain, it is possible that applications moved to the end of the queue 
may be selected for award.
    b. FHOI and PEI--Performance Based Funding Component. Under FHOI 
and the PEI--Performance Based Funding Component, the geographic 
diversity provision does not apply.
    4. Adjustments to Funding. As provided in the General Section, HUD 
may approve an application for an amount lower than the amount 
requested, fund only portions of your application, withhold funds after 
approval, reallocate funds among activities and/or require that special 
conditions be added to your grant agreement, in accordance with 24 CFR 
84.14, the requirements of the SuperNOFA, or where:
    a. HUD determines whether the amount requested for one or more 
eligible activities is unreasonable or unnecessary;
    b. An ineligible activity is proposed in an otherwise eligible 
project;
    c. Insufficient amounts remain to fund the full amount requested in 
the application, and HUD determines that partial funding is a viable 
option;
    d. The past record of key personnel warrants special conditions; 
or,
    e. Training funds are not reserved for FHIP training.
    5. Reallocation of Funds. If after all applications within funding 
range have been selected or obligations are completed in an Initiative 
and funds remain available, the selecting official or designee will 
have the discretion to reallocate leftover funds in rank order among 
initiatives as follows:
    a. For EOI, any remaining funds from any component will be 
reallocated first within the initiative; if after reallocating funds 
within the initiative left over funds remain, they shall be reallocated 
to PEI then to FHOI;
    b. For PEI, any remaining funds will be reallocated to EOI then to 
FHOI;
    c. For FHOI, left over funds will be reallocated to PEI then to 
EOI.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    For planning purposes, anticipate an announcement date of July 29, 
2005 and an award date of August 31, 2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

1. Applicant Notification and Award Procedures
    a. Notification. No information about the review and award process 
will be available to you during the period of HUD evaluation, which 
begins on the application submission date under this NOFA and lasts 
approximately 90 days thereafter. However, you will be advised, in 
writing or by telephone, if HUD determines that your application is 
ineligible or has technical deficiencies which may be corrected as 
described in the General Section of the SuperNOFA and Section of this 
NOFA. HUD will communicate only with persons specifically identified in 
the application. HUD will not provide information about the application 
to third parties such as subcontractors.
    b. Negotiations. If you are selected, HUD will require you to 
participate in negotiations to determine the specific terms of your 
cooperative or grant agreement. HUD will follow the negotiation 
procedures described in the General Section of the SuperNOFA. The 
selection is conditional and does not become final until the 
negotiations between the applicant and the Department are successfully 
concluded and the grant or cooperative agreement is signed and 
executed. HUD will negotiate only with the person identified in the 
application as the Director of the organization or if specifically 
identified in the application as the Project Director. HUD will not 
negotiate with any third party (i.e., a subcontractor, etc.). Grantees 
awarded funding who have had a `poor performance' rating in subsequent 
years prior to FY 2002, will be required to provide documentation of 
the agency's improved performance status during negotiations. The Grant 
Officer and Government Technical Representative will determine on a 
case-by-case basis if technical assistance or additional monitoring is 
required.
    Performance Based Funding Component-Applicants selected for funding 
under the PBFC will be required to submit a SOW that projects the 
agency's activities for a period of three years commensurate with the 
level of funding.
    c. Applicant Debriefing. After awards are announced, applicants may 
receive a debriefing on their application as described in the General 
Section. Materials provided during the debriefing will be the 
applicant's final scores for each rating factor and final evaluator 
comments for each rating factor. Applicants requesting a debriefing 
must send a written request to Annette Corley, Grant Officer, U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHIP/FHAP Support 
Division, 451 7th Street SW., Room 5224, Washington, DC 20410. HUD will 
not release the names of applicants or their scores to third parties

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    1. Accessibility Requirements. All activities, facilities, and 
materials funded by this Program must be accessible to persons with 
disabilities (24 CFR 8.2, 8.4, 8.6, and 8.54).
    2. Protected Classes. All FHIP-funded projects must address housing 
discrimination based upon race, color, religion, sex, disability, 
familial status, or national origin.
    3. Environmental Requirements. In accordance with 24 CFR 
50.19(b)(3), (4), (9), (12), and (13) of HUD regulations, activities 
assisted under this program are categorically excluded from the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and are not 
subject to environmental review under related laws and authorities.
    4. Procurement of Recovered Materials. State agencies (FHAP 
agencies) and agencies of a political subdivision of a state that are 
using assistance under a HUD program NOFA for procurement, and any 
person contracting with such an agency with respect to work performed 
under an assisted contract, must comply with the requirements of 
Section 6002 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the 
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. See General Section for 
details.
    5. Product Information. Press releases and any other product 
intended to be disseminated to the public must be submitted to the 
Government Technical Representative (GTR) two weeks before release for 
approval and acceptance.
    6. Ensuring the Participation of Small Businesses, Small 
Disadvantaged Businesses, and Women Owned Businesses. (See General 
Section).
    7. Payment Contingent on Completion. Payment of FHIP funds is made 
on a reimbursement basis. Payments are contingent on the satisfactory 
and timely completion of your project activities and products as 
reflected in your grant or cooperative agreement. Requests for funds 
must be accompanied by financial and progress reports.
    8. Copyright Materials. You may copyright any work that is eligible 
for copyright protection subject to HUD's right to reproduce, publish, 
or otherwise

[[Page 13803]]

use your work for Federal purposes, and to authorize others to do so as 
required in 24 CFR 84.36.
    9. Complaints Against Awardees. Each FHIP award is overseen by a 
HUD Grant Officer (See Appendix A for list of Grant Officers per region 
Complaints from the public against FHIP grantees should be forwarded to 
the Grant Officer. The Grant Officer's name and contact information is 
provided in the grant agreement. If, after notice and consideration of 
relevant information, the Grant Officer concludes that there has been 
inappropriate conduct, such as a violation of FHIP program 
requirements, terms or conditions of the grant, or any other applicable 
statute, regulation or other requirement, HUD will take appropriate 
action in accordance with 24 CFR 84.62. Such action may include: 
written reprimand; consideration of past performance in awarding future 
FHIP applications; repayment to HUD of funds received under the grant; 
or temporary or permanent denial of participation in the FHIP in 
accordance with 24 CFR part 24.
    10. Double Payments. If you are awarded funds under this NOFA, you 
(and any subcontractor or consultant) may not charge or claim credit 
for the activities performed under this project under any other 
Federally assisted project.
    11. Performance Sanctions. A grantee or subcontractor failing to 
comply with the requirements set forth in its grant agreement will be 
liable for such sanctions as may be authorized by law, including 
repayment of improperly used funds, termination of further 
participation in the FHIP, and denial of further participation in 
programs of HUD or any Federal agency.

C. Reporting

    1. HUD requires that funded recipients collect racial and ethnic 
beneficiary data. It has adopted the Office of Management and Budget's 
Standards for the Collection of Racial and Ethnic Data. In view of 
these requirements, you should use Form HUD-27061, Racial and Ethnic 
Data Reporting Form (and instructions for its use), found on 
www.HUDclips.org., a comparable program form, or a comparable 
electronic data system for this purpose. As your project ends, you must 
report meaningful data derived from client feedback on how they 
benefited from your project's activities.
    2. Listed below is a sample-reporting document of activities and 
tasks to be performed by a FHIP Grantee.

                                            Administrative Activities
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Activities                         Tasks                  Submitted by            Submitted to
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Complete HUD-22081 Race and       ...........................  45 Days...............  GTR/GTM.
 Ethnic Data Reporting Form.
2. Complete HUD-2880 Disclosure      Submit Disclosure            When changes occur....  GTR/GTM.
 Statements.                          Statement. If no changes
                                      occur, submit statement of
                                      no change with final
                                      report.
3. Complete SF-269A Financial        Submit SF-269A and Copy of   Quarterly.............  GTR/GTM.
 Status Report and Written            Written Report.
 Quarterly Status Reports on All
 Activities.
4. Voucher for Payment.............  Submit payment request to    Per Payment Schedule..  GTR/GTM.
                                      LOCCS.
5. Complete Listing of Current or    Submit listing for           45 Days and At end of   GTR/GTM.
 Pending Grants/Contracts/Other       recipient and any            Grant.
 Financial Agreements.                contractors.
6. Prepare and Submit Draft of       Submit Draft of Report.      One month before end    GTR/GTM.
 Final Report.                        Report Summary should        of grant term.
                                      include objectives,
                                      accomplishments, and
                                      results. Complaint and
                                      testing activities should
                                      summarize data on
                                      complaints received and
                                      tests conducted by basis,
                                      issues, and outcomes. This
                                      should include number of
                                      credible, legitimate
                                      complaints filed with HUD,
                                      a State or local Fair
                                      Housing Agency, Department
                                      of Justice or private
                                      Litigator; and types of
                                      relief/results.
7. Complete Final Report and         Submit a copy of the Final   Within 90 days after    GTR/GTM.
 Provide Copies of All Final          Report and All Final         end of grant term.
 Products Not Previously Submitted.   Products not previously
                                      submitted to GTR and GTM.
8. Submit 2 copies of Final Report   Submit activities and        Within 90 days after    GTR/GTM.
 and all final program products       database entry sheet(s) to   end of grant term.
 produced under the Grant (with       HUD. Submit copy of HUD
 diskette, where feasible) to HUD.    database entry sheet(s) or
                                      detailed description of
                                      items submitted to GTR and
                                      GTM.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VII. Agency Contacts

    You may contact Myron P. Newry or Denise L. Brooks, of the Office 
of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity's FHIP Support Division, at 202-
708-0800 (this is not a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or 
speech impairments may contact the Division by calling 1-800-290-1617 
(this is a toll-free number).

VIII. Other Information

1. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2529-0033 In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to a collection of information unless the collection displays a 
currently valid OMB control number. Public reporting burdens for the 
collection of information is estimated to average xxx hours per annum 
per respondent for the application and grant administration. This 
includes the time for collecting, reviewing, and reporting the data for 
the application, semi-annual reports and final report. The information 
will be used for grantee selection and monitoring the

[[Page 13804]]

administration of funds. Response to this request for information is 
required in order to receive the benefits to be derived.

2. Frequently Asked Questions

    Q. If data, tables, exhibits, reports, and studies are submitted 
with the application, will they be counted toward the 10-page limit 
requirement?
    A. The attachments do not count toward the ten-page limit. However, 
you are encouraged to summarize the points that support your Factor 
responses. Do not attach data tables, exhibits, and studies and expect 
the evaluator to read them and discern the points that should be 
considered. If you summarize information from studies, reports, etc, 
simply include a bibliography or other reference at the end of each 
Rating Factor.
    Q. In previous years, FHIP applicants were not required to submit 
the Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan. Is the 
Certification required this year?
    A. For FY 2005, the Certification of Consistency with the 
Consolidated Plan is not required.
    Q. Where can I find a copy of the Application Kit?
    A. There is no Application Kit for the FY 2005 FHIP NOFA. The NOFA 
clearly describes the requirements for completing a successful 
application and all forms and certifications needed to complete the 
application are included in the General and FHIP Sections of the 
SuperNOFA.
    Q. What is the maximum number of narrative pages that can be 
submitted for each Rating Factor?
    A. The maximum number is 10 pages per Rating Factor. This does not 
include any attachments that may be required under each factor (for 
example, the proposed statement of work and budget required under 
Factor 3, Resumes as required by Factor 1, or any reports or documents 
you attach to support your Factor information). The narrative pages 
must be double-spaced and you are required to use 12-type size (font). 
However, all pages in the narrative portion of your application must be 
consecutively numbered starting with Rating Factor One page one (1) 
through the end of your application for each narrative rating factor 
response.
    Q. The FHIP SuperNOFA refers to QFHOs and FHOs. What is the 
difference between them?
    A. These terms are defined in the FHIP regulations. Both 
organizations must be private, tax-exempt, charitable organizations 
that have engaged in enforcement-related activities. The amount of 
enforcement-related experience is an eligibility requirement, for PEI 
at least one year and for FHOI at least two years. (See 24 CFR 125.103 
for QFHO and 24 CFR 125.401(b)(2) for FHO.) For PEI and FHOI, 
applicants must self-identify as a QFHO or an FHO and provide 
information, including dates of enforcement-related activities. The 
information you provide should enable HUD to determine if your 
organization meets at least the one or two year enforcement-related 
experience requirement.
    Q. May an applicant subcontract out a percentage of its activities 
to subcontractors, partner, or consultants, if it is selected for a 
FHIP award?
    A. Yes. However, when the expenditures to a particular 
subcontractor, partner, or consultant exceed 10% of the grant amount, 
an itemized budget is required.
    Q. Is an organization ``engaged in testing for fair housing 
violations'' if it hires a qualified organization to carry out its 
testing program?
    A. Yes, so long as the applicant maintains decision making 
authority, analyzes the test results, and maintains oversight or 
selection of testing operations.
    Q. Does the SuperNOFA identify what makes an application 
ineligible?
    A. Yes. For FHIP, see the eligibility requirements for each 
Initiative, and the Threshold Criteria in Section III. For threshold 
requirement information under the SuperNOFA, see Section of the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA.
    Q. Can an applicant propose to do an Analysis of Impediments (AI)?
    A. No. The applicant can identify activities to be carved out of 
the AI but not to do planning to develop AI.
    Q. Will applicants be able to apply for other funding if selected 
for the Performance Based Funding Component?
    A. No, applicants selected to the PEI-PBFC will not be able to 
apply for any other FHIP funding for the three-year period of the PBF.
    Q. Are grantees required to attend the National Fair Housing 
Training Academy (NFHTA)?
    A. Yes, provisions have been included in Training Funds to 
accommodate grantee's participation in the NFHTA.
    Q. At what point may a FHOI ``sponsored organization'' apply under 
any FHIP Initiative?
    A. A sponsored organization is eligible after three (3) years to 
apply for funds under other initiatives or components.
    Q. What are maximum awards?
    A. Maximum award is the maximum amount that will be awarded under 
the Initiative/Component for which you are applying. If you request an 
amount over this maximum amount, your application will be declared 
ineligible.
    Q. Where do you send completed applications?
    A. All applications must be submitted electronically. Please review 
Section IV.F of the General Section of the SuperNOFA for specific 
information on electronic application submittal.
    Q. How do I sign my electronic application?
    A. Applications submitted through grants.gov constitute submission 
as electronically signed applications once the Authorized Organization 
Representative (AOR) (the individual who has been authenticated by the 
grants.gov credential provider to submit applications on behalf of your 
organization) transmits your application via grants.gov. Please see 
Section IV.F of the General Section of the SuperNOFA for details.
    Q. What is the Web site address to apply for funding?
    A. Http://www.grants.gov/Apply. See General Section for more 
information.
    Q. What is the application submission date?
    A. The application submission date is outlined in this NOFA under 
Section IV.C., ``Submission Dates and Times.''
    Q. If I have a technical question, can I call HUD?
    A. Yes, technical questions should be directed to Myron P. Newry or 
Denise L. Brooks of the FHIP Support Division at (202) 708-0800 (this 
is not a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech impairments 
may call 1-800-290-1617 (this is a toll-free number). Technical 
assistance does not include assisting you in determining your 
eligibility to apply for funds. Applicants must make their own 
determination, based upon the requirements identified in the FHIP 
component under the section labeled Eligible Applicants. Technical 
Assistance cannot be provided to help you write any part of your 
application or develop responses to the application requirements. 
Rather, technical assistance, outside of the training broadcasts, will 
only clarify general application and program requirements published in 
the NOFA.
    Q. As an FHOI applicant, are education and outreach expenses 
required to come out of my 15% administrative costs?
    A. Yes.

Appendix A

[[Page 13805]]



                       FHEO Field Structure--Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              FHEO offices                       Directors            Telephone No.           Area covered
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOSTON Hub--Thomas P. O'Neill, Federal   Marcella Brown...........     (617) 565-6977  MA, CT, ME, VT, NH, RI.
 Bldg., 10 Causeway Street, Room 375,
 Boston, MA 02222-1092.
NEW YORK CITY Hub--26 Federal Plaza,     Stanley Seidenfeld.......     (221) 264-1290  NY, NJ.
 New York, NY 10278-0068.
PHILADELPHIA Hub--The Wanamaker          Wanda S. Nieves..........     (215) 656-0647  PA, MD, VA, DC, WV, DE.
 Building, 100 Penn Square East,
 Philadelphia, PA 19107-3380.
ATLANTA Hub--5 Points Plaza, 40          James Sutton.............     (404) 331-5001  GA, AL, MS, FL, PUERTO
 Marrietta Street, SW, Atlanta, GA                                                      RICO, KY, TN, SC, NC.
 30303-3388.
CHICAGO Hub--Ralph H. Metcalfe, Federal  Barbara Knox.............     (312) 353-7776  IL, MN, MI, WI, OH, IN.
 Building, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,
 Chicago, IL 60604-3507.
FORT WORTH Hub--1600 Throckmorton        Garry Sweeney............     (817) 978-9271  TX, AR, OK, LA, NM.
 Street, Fort Worth, TX 76113-2905.
KANSAS CITY Hub--Gateway Tower II, 400   Robbie Herndon...........     (913) 551-6958  KA, MO, NE, IA.
 State Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101-
 2406.
DENVER Hub--633 17th Street, Denver, CO  Evelyn Meininger.........     (303) 672-5434  CO, UT, WY, SD, ND, MT.
 80202-3607.
SAN FRANCISCO Hub--Phillip Burton        Chuck E. Hauptman........     (415) 436-6569  CA, HI, NV, AZ, Guam.
 Federal Bldg., 450 Golden Gate Avenue,
 San Francisco, CA 94102-3448.
SEATTLE Hub--Seattle Federal Office      Judith Keeler............     (206) 220-5170  WA, OR, ID.
 Bldg., 909 1st Avenue, Suite 200,
 Seattle, WA 98104-1000.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

[[Page 13806]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN21MR05.109


[[Page 13807]]



Housing Counseling Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Single Family Housing.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Housing Counseling Program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial Announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number is: FR-
4950-N-05. The OMB Approval number is: 2502-0261.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 14.169 
Housing Counseling Assistance Program.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is June 6, 2005. Please 
see the General Section of the SuperNOFA for application submission and 
receipt procedures.
    G. Available Funds: Approximately $38.914 million is made available 
for eligible applicants under this program NOFA.

Full Text Of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    A. Program Description. This program supports the delivery of a 
wide variety of housing counseling services to homebuyers, homeowners, 
low-to moderate-income renters, and the homeless. The primary 
objectives of the program are to expand homeownership opportunities and 
improve access to affordable housing. Counselors provide guidance and 
advice to help families and individuals improve their housing 
conditions and meet the responsibilities of tenancy and homeownership. 
Counselors also help borrowers avoid inflated appraisals, unreasonably 
high interest rates, unaffordable repayment terms, and other conditions 
that can result in a loss of equity, increased debt, default, and 
eventually foreclosure.
    Applicants funded through this program may also provide Home Equity 
Conversion Mortgage (HECM) counseling to elderly homeowners who seek to 
convert equity in their homes into income that can be used to pay for 
home improvements, medical costs, living expenses, or other expenses.
    This grant program also supports the delivery of housing counseling 
services to potential homebuyers and homeowners utilizing Section 8 
Homeownership Vouchers (hereafter referred to as Homeownership 
Vouchers) under HUD's Homeownership Voucher Program. The primary 
objectives of counseling in conjunction with the Homeownership Voucher 
program are to: (1) Help Homeownership Voucher Program participants 
make the transition from renting to homeownership; (2) assist them in 
evaluating their readiness and in making informed decisions; (3) help 
them meet the responsibilities of homeownership; and (4) encourage 
increased participation by Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) in HUD's 
Homeownership Voucher Program.
    B. Grant Applicant Categories. HUD will award a single grant to 
qualified applicants through one of three categories: (1) Local Housing 
Counseling Agencies (LHCAs); (2) National and Regional Intermediaries 
(Intermediaries); and (3) State Housing Finance Agencies (SHFAs).
    1. Comprehensive Counseling. All awards through the 3 categories 
will consist of a specified sum for comprehensive counseling which is 
also the minimum required application amount as specified in III.C.3.b.
    2. Supplemental Funding. Comprehensive counseling awards may be 
used for any of the activities specified below. Applicants may also 
request additional funds to carry out the following specific activities 
and assistance to targeted communities:
    a. Predatory Lending. Supplemental funding is available for 
counseling and educational activities designed to combat predatory 
lending, including helping borrowers avoid inflated appraisals, 
unreasonably high interest rates, unaffordable repayment terms, and 
other conditions that can result in a loss of equity, increased debt, 
default, and foreclosure.
    b. Homeownership Voucher Counseling. Supplemental funding is 
available for counseling and educational activities in conjunction with 
HUD's Homeownership Voucher Program.
    c. Colonias. Supplemental funding is available for the counseling 
and educational activities targeted at Colonias. Colonias means any 
identifiable, rural community that is located in Arizona, California, 
New Mexico, or Texas; is within 150 miles of the border between the 
United States of America and the United Mexican States; and is 
determined to be a Colonia on the basis of objective need criteria, 
including lack of potable water supply, lack of adequate sewage 
systems, and lack of decent, safe, sanitary, and accessible housing.
    d. HECM Counseling. Supplemental funding is available for 
counseling and educational activities in conjunction with HUD's Home 
Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Program.
    C. Authority. HUD's Housing Counseling Program is authorized by 
Section 106 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 
1701x).
    The Homeownership Voucher Program refers to the homeownership 
option in the Housing Choice Voucher Program. The homeownership option 
is authorized by section 8(y) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 
as amended by section 555 of the Quality Housing and Work 
Responsibility Act of 1998. The implementing regulations are found at 
24 CFR 982.625 through 982.643.
    The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Program is authorized by 
section 255 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z-20).

II. Award Information

    A. Amount Allocated. Of the $41.664 million appropriated for 
housing counseling in FY2005, $38.914 million is available for eligible 
applicants under this NOFA. Specifically, $32.120 million is available 
for comprehensive counseling, $2.7 million is available for counseling 
services that address predatory lending, $1.7 million is available for 
counseling in conjunction with HUD's Homeownership Voucher Program, 
$394,000 is available for counseling services that specifically target 
Colonias, and $2.0 million is available for HECM counseling.
    B. Specific Allocations. Funding is allocated to each Homeownership 
Center (HOC), regional HUD offices that oversee the Housing Counseling 
Program in their jurisdiction, by a formula that incorporates first-
time homebuyer rates, default rates, HECM endorsements, and minority 
homebuyers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Total amount
     Applicant categories          Who is eligible         available
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category 1--LHCAs.............  HUD-approved Local           $14,954,946
                                 Housing Counseling
                                 Agencies.
Category 2--Intermediaries....  HUD-approved National         21,575,182
                                 and Regional
                                 Intermediaries.
Category 3--SHFAs.............  State Housing Finance          2,383,873
                                 Agencies.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 13808]]

    1. Category 1--Local Housing Counseling Agencies (LHCAs). 
Approximately $14,954,946 is available from HUD to directly fund HUD-
approved LHCAs, including $12,920,000 for comprehensive counseling, 
$1,199,880 in supplemental funding for predatory lending, $722,500 in 
supplemental funding for counseling in conjunction with HUD's 
Homeownership Voucher Program, and $112,566 for counseling targeting 
Colonias.
    Allocations for Category 1 by HOC are as follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                   Homeownership
                           HOC                               Comprehensive        Predatory           voucher            Colonias            Total
                                                               counseling          lending           counseling
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Philadelphia.............................................         $3,511,709           $326,127           $196,376  .................         $4,034,212
Atlanta..................................................          3,706,596            344,246            207,285  .................          4,258,127
Denver...................................................            345,317            310,649            187,055             56,283          3,899,304
Santa Ana................................................          2,356,378            218,858            131,784             56,283          2,729,398
                                                          --------------------
    Total................................................         12,920,000          1,199,880            722,500            112,566         14,954,946
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. Category 2--Intermediaries. Approximately $21,575,182 is 
available from HUD to directly fund HUD-approved Intermediaries, 
including $17,200,000 for comprehensive counseling, $1,300,050 in 
supplemental funding for predatory lending, $850,000 in supplemental 
funding for counseling in conjunction with HUD's Homeownership Voucher 
Program, $225,132 for counseling targeting Colonias, and $2.0 million 
for HECM counseling.
    3. Category 3--State Housing Finance Agencies (SHFAs). 
Approximately $2,383,873 is available to fund SHFAs that provide 
housing counseling services directly or serve as intermediaries to 
Affiliates who offer housing counseling services, including $2.0 
million for comprehensive counseling, $200,070 in supplemental funding 
for predatory lending, $127,500 in supplemental funding for counseling 
in conjunction with HUD's Homeownership Voucher Program, and $56,303 
for counseling targeting Colonias.
    Allocations for Category 3 by HOC are as follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                   Homeownership
                           HOC                               Comprehensive        Predatory           voucher            Colonias            Total
                                                               counseling          lending           counseling
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Philadelphia.............................................           $543,600            $54,379            $34,655  .................           $632,634
Atlanta..................................................            573,800             57,400             36,580  .................            667,780
Denver...................................................            517,800             51,798             33,010             28,152            630,759
Santa Ana................................................            364,800             36,493             23,256             28,152            452,700
                                                          --------------------
    Total................................................          2,000,000            200,070            127,500             56,303          2,383,873
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Individual Awards.

    1. Category 1: No individual LHCA may be awarded more than 
$260,000, which includes any supplemental funding. Specifically, the 
limit for Comprehensive Counseling is $175,000. The limit for 
supplemental funding for predatory lending is $40,000, the limit for 
supplemental funding for Homeownership Voucher Counseling is $30,000, 
and the limit for supplemental funding for Colonias is $40,000. HUD 
anticipates that the average total award for LHCAs will be 
approximately $40,000.
    2. Category 2: Awards for individual HUD-approved intermediaries 
may not exceed $3.4 million, which includes any supplemental funding. 
The limit for Comprehensive Counseling is $2.5 million. The limit for 
supplemental funding for predatory lending is $325,000, the limit for 
supplemental funding for Homeownership Voucher Counseling is $275,000, 
the limit for supplemental funding for Colonias is $300,000 and the 
limit for HECM counseling is $2.0 million. HUD anticipates that the 
average total award for Intermediaries will be $1.1 million.
    3. Category 3: No individual SHFA may be awarded more than 
$450,000, which includes any supplemental funding. Specifically, the 
limit for Comprehensive Counseling is $300,000. The limit for 
supplemental funding for predatory lending is $63,000, the limit for 
supplemental funding for Homeownership Voucher Counseling is $47,000, 
and the limit for supplemental funding for Colonias is $40,000. HUD 
anticipates that the average total award for SHFAs will be 
approximately $140,000.
    D. Grant Period. Funds awarded shall be available for a period of 
12 calendar months.
    E. Award Instrument. HUD will use a Grant Agreement. All Housing 
Counseling Program awards will be made on a cost reimbursement basis in 
accordance with the requirements in OMB Circular A-87, Cost Principles 
for state and local governments and Indian tribal governments; or OMB 
Circular A-122, Cost Principles for Non-Profit Organizations, as 
applicable to your organization; and the administrative requirements 
established in OMB Circular A-102, which was implemented by 24 CFR part 
85 (Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements 
to state, local, and federally recognized Indian tribal governments); 
OMB Circular A-110, which was implemented by 24 CFR part 84 (Grants and 
Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals and Other 
Non-Profit Organizations); and OMB Circular A-133 which was implemented 
by 24 CFR parts 84 and 85. Grantees must ensure that any Sub-grantees 
and/or Branches also comply with the above requirements. OMB circulars 
can be found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/.

[[Page 13809]]

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants Eligible applicants include: HUD-approved Local 
Housing Counseling Agencies (LHCAs); HUD-approved national and regional 
intermediaries (Intermediaries); and State Housing Finance Agencies 
(SHFAs). LHCAs and Intermediaries are private or public nonprofit 
organizations, including grassroots community-based organizations, 
inclusive of faith-based organizations, that secure HUD approval as an 
LHCA, or as an intermediary, as of the publication date of the 
SuperNOFA, and retain such approval through the term of any grant 
awarded. A SHFA does not need HUD approval in order to apply for a 
grant through this NOFA.

1. Definitions
    a. Affiliate. ``Affiliate'' means an organization to which a 
Grantee awards a sub-grant and which is accountable to the Grantee for 
the use of funds provided. An affiliate is separately incorporated or 
organized but connected with an intermediary or SHFA for the purposes 
of this NOFA. To be eligible for a sub-grant an affiliate must be: (1) 
duly organized and existing as a nonprofit, (2) in good standing under 
the laws of the state of its organization, and (3) authorized to do 
business in the states where it proposes to provide housing counseling 
services. In the case of an intermediary or SHFA, all affiliates must 
be identified in the application submitted in response to this NOFA.
    b. Applicant. ``Applicant'' means a HUD-approved housing counseling 
agency or SHFA applying for a Housing Counseling grant from HUD through 
this NOFA. The term ``Applicant'' includes the agency's branch or 
branch offices identified in its application.
    c. Branch. ``Branch'' or ``Branch Office'' means an organizational 
and subordinate unit of an LHCA, Intermediary or SHFA not separately 
incorporated or organized. A Branch or Branch Office must be in good 
standing under the laws of the state where it is authorized to do 
business and where it proposes to provide housing counseling services. 
A Branch or Brach Office cannot be an applicant, affiliate or sub-
grantee.
    d. Grantee. ``Grantee'' means the HUD-approved housing counseling 
agency or SHFA that receives housing counseling funds from HUD through 
this NOFA. The term ``Grantee'' includes the agency's branch or branch 
offices identified in its application.
    e. Intermediary. ``Intermediary'' means a HUD-approved national or 
regional organization that provides housing counseling services through 
its branches or affiliates. As used in this NOFA, the term Intermediary 
refers to any of the following entities:
    (7) National Intermediary. A National Intermediary provides housing 
counseling services through its branches or affiliates in a number of 
states as determined by HUD.
    (2) Regional Intermediary. A Regional Intermediary provides housing 
counseling services through its branches or affiliates in a generally 
recognized region or group of regions within the United States of 
America, such as the Southwest, Mid-Atlantic, and New England.
    f. Local Housing Counseling Agency (LHCA). ``LHCA'' means a HUD-
approved Local Housing Counseling Agency. LHCAs must be approved by one 
of HUD's four HOCs. Affiliates of HUD-approved Housing Counseling 
intermediaries are not HUD-approved LHCAs by virtue of their 
affiliation with the intermediary. They are, however, eligible to 
individually apply for HUD approval as an LHCA.
    g. State Housing Finance Agency (SHFA). For the purpose of this 
NOFA, a ``SHFA'' is the unique public body, agency, or instrumentality 
created by a specific act of a state legislature and empowered to 
finance activities designed to provide housing and related facilities 
and services, for example through land acquisition, construction or 
rehabilitation, throughout a state. The term state includes the several 
states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth 
of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin 
Islands.
    h. Sub-grantee. ``Sub-grantee'' means an organization to which the 
grantee awards a sub-grant, and which is accountable to the grantee for 
the use of the funds provided. A Sub-grantee may be separately 
incorporated or organized, but connected with an intermediary or SHFA 
for purposes of this NOFA.
    In the case of an intermediary or SHFA, all Sub-grantees must be 
identified in the grantee's application. Under certain conditions, 
grantees may amend their Sub-grantee list after awards are made.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    No specific ratio is required. However, in order to receive points 
under Rating Factor 4, applicants are required to demonstrate the 
commitment of other private and public sources of funding to supplement 
HUD funding for the applicant's counseling program. HUD does not intend 
for the Housing Counseling grants to cover all costs incurred by an 
applicant.

C. Other

1. Eligible Activities for Awards Under all Applicant Categories
    Grantees and sub-grantees will only be reimbursed for the eligible 
activities outlined in this Section. Grantees and sub-grantees 
providing housing counseling services under Categories 1 through 3 may 
use their HUD housing counseling funds for one or more of the following 
activities.
    a. Pre-Purchase Homebuyer Counseling. This includes the following 
types of one-on-one counseling: pre-purchase; evaluating mortgagor 
readiness; search assistance/mobility; fair housing; budgeting for 
mortgage payments; money management (does not include administration of 
debt management plans whereby an organization pays bills on behalf of a 
client); selecting a real estate agent, and home inspection. This also 
may include guidance on: alternative sources of mortgage credit; how to 
apply for special programs available to potential homebuyers; how to 
identify and avoid predatory lending practices; locating housing that 
provides universal design and visitability; and referrals to community 
services and regulatory agencies.
    b. Homebuyer Education Programs. These programs are homeownership 
preparation-related group education programs in which educational 
materials, including HUD's Homebuyer Education and Learning Program 
(HELP) guide, are used in training sessions for multiple participants, 
and not tailored to the unique circumstances of an individual. This 
activity also includes financial literacy workshops that are geared 
toward potential homebuyers, and group sessions that assist potential 
homebuyers with identifying and avoiding predatory lending practices, 
such as loans with unreasonable and inappropriate terms and conditions, 
and other unscrupulous practices intended to defraud or take advantage 
of homebuyers and borrowers. Applicants that provide homebuyer 
education must also offer individual counseling that complements the 
group sessions.
    c. Counseling to Resolve or Prevent Mortgage Delinquency or 
Default. This includes counseling on how to: restructure debt, obtain 
re-certification for mortgage subsidy, establish reinstatement plans, 
seek loan forbearance, and manage household finances. This counseling 
can also include helping clients affected by predatory lending, 
foreclosure

[[Page 13810]]

prevention strategies, explaining the foreclosure process, providing 
referrals to other sources, and assisting clients with locating 
alternative housing, or pursuing loss mitigation strategies.
    d. Non-Delinquency Post-Purchase Counseling including Improving 
Mortgage Terms, Home Equity Conversion, and Home Improvement. This 
includes information and advice on finding favorable mortgage loan 
terms, personal money management, and relations with lenders. It also 
includes help in converting home equity into cash, such as counseling 
on HUD's HECM Program. HECM counseling assists clients who are 62 years 
or older with the opportunity to convert the equity in their homes into 
income to pay living, medical, or other expenses. This counseling also 
includes counseling the client about: home improvement and 
rehabilitation; property maintenance; loan and grant options; the loan 
or grant application processes; what housing codes and housing 
enforcement procedures apply for the intended activity; accessibility 
codes and how to design features to provide accessibility for persons 
with disabilities; non-discriminatory lending and funding for persons 
who modify their dwellings to accommodate disabilities; visitability 
and universal design; how to specify and bid construction work; how to 
enter into construction contracts; and how to manage construction 
contracts, including actions to address the non-performance of 
contractors.
    e. Post-Purchase Education Programs. These are post-purchase 
oriented group sessions in which educational materials are used in 
training sessions for multiple participants. Topics can include 
resolving or preventing mortgage delinquency and default, converting 
home equity into cash, seeking favorable mortgage loan terms, budgeting 
and financial management, real estate taxes and insurance, and home 
maintenance. Agencies that provide this service must also offer 
individual counseling to complement group sessions.
    f. Counseling and Education on Locating, Securing, or Maintaining 
Residence in Rental Housing. This refers to one-on-one counseling and 
group education sessions regarding renter-related topics, including: 
helping clients obtain and utilize rent subsidies; pre-rental search 
assistance/mobility counseling; budgeting for rent payments; educating 
clients on landlords' and renters' rights; explaining the eviction 
process; ensuring clients understand their rights when faced with 
displacement; explaining the responsibility of the entity causing 
displacement; and providing assistance with locating alternate housing.
    g. Counseling on Shelter or Services for the Homeless. Includes 
referrals to social, community, and homeless services such as emergency 
shelter or transitional housing.
    h. Marketing and Outreach Initiatives. This includes providing 
general information and materials about housing opportunities and 
issues, conducting informational campaigns, advocating with lenders for 
non-traditional lending standards, and raising awareness about critical 
housing topics, such as predatory lending or fair housing issues. 
(Note: affirmative fair housing outreach should be directed at those 
populations least likely to seek counseling services. To do so, it may 
be necessary to broaden the target areas or provide translation and 
interpretive services in languages other than English in order to reach 
a greater variety of racial and ethnic minorities.)
2. Eligible Activities--Supplemental Funding
    a. Predatory Lending. Recipients of supplemental funding for 
Predatory Lending must use the supplemental funds for any of the 
marketing and outreach initiatives, group sessions, or one-on-one 
counseling activities outlined in Section III.C. of this NOFA, in a 
manner that clearly and directly assists clients affected by predatory 
lending or helps to prevent predatory lending.
    b. Homeownership Voucher Counseling. Recipients of supplemental 
funding for counseling in conjunction with HUD's Homeownership Voucher 
Program must use the supplemental funds for any of the group sessions 
or one-on-one counseling activities outlined in Section III.C of this 
NOFA, in a manner that clearly and directly assists recipients of 
Homeownership Vouchers to utilize those vouchers toward the purchase 
and maintenance of a home.
    According to the Final Rule on the Homeownership Voucher Program 
(65 FR 55163), suggested topics for the HUD-required pre-assistance 
counseling program include: how to negotiate the purchase price of a 
home; how to obtain homeownership financing and loan pre-approvals, 
including a description of types of financing that may be available, 
and the pros and cons of different types of financing; alternative 
sources of mortgage credit; how to find a home, including information 
about homeownership opportunities, schools, and transportation in the 
PHA jurisdiction; mobility counseling, including purchasing a home 
outside the PHA's jurisdiction; advantages of purchasing a home in an 
area that does not have a high concentration of low-income families and 
how to locate homes in such areas; how to design features to provide 
accessibility for persons with disabilities; how to obtain funding for 
modifications that will make housing accessible and available to 
clients and their family members with disabilities; information on fair 
housing, including fair housing lending and local fair housing 
enforcement agencies; information about the Real Estate Settlement 
Procedures Act (12 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) (RESPA); state and federal 
truth-in-lending laws; how to identify and avoid loans with oppressive 
terms and conditions; home maintenance; budgeting and money management; 
and credit counseling.
    Counseling services in conjunction with HUD's Homeownership Voucher 
Program can be adapted to reflect local circumstances, fit the pre- and 
ongoing post-purchase needs of the individual families, and fulfill 
specific requirements established by the PHA as identified in the 
written agreement. The PHA has the discretion to require ongoing 
counseling for all or select participants in the homeownership option.
    For example, agencies may provide on-going counseling on issues 
such as home improvement and rehabilitation. This could include 
educating the client about loan and grant options; loan or grant 
application processes; what housing codes and housing enforcement 
procedures apply for the intended activity; accessibility codes; 
visitability and universal design; non-discriminatory lending for 
persons who modify their dwellings to accommodate disabilities; how to 
identify and hire a construction contractor; how to specify and bid 
construction work; how to enter into construction contracts; and how to 
manage construction contracts, including actions to address the non-
performance of contractors.
    Additional ongoing counseling needs may include default counseling 
and loss mitigation strategies such as debt restructuring, establishing 
reinstatement plans, seeking loan forbearance, and managing household 
finances. Counselors can also help program participants that are 
affected by predatory lending, provide referrals to emergency and 
social service providers, and assist clients with locating alternative 
housing.
    c. Colonias. Recipients of this supplemental funding may provide 
any of the eligible activities outlined in

[[Page 13811]]

Section III.C, so long as they serve individuals in communities that 
meet the definition of a Colonia provided in Section I.B.2.c, of this 
NOFA.
    d. HECM Counseling. Recipients of this supplemental funding must 
provide counseling to individuals/families that may be eligible for or 
are interested in obtaining a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM). 
Counseling must be provided by AARP certified HECM counselors who must 
explain all of the details related to HECM financing to help clients 
make informed decisions.
3. Threshold Requirements
    Applications that do not meet all of the following Threshold 
Requirements are not eligible to receive an award from HUD.
    a. Applicants, and Sub-grantees, must meet the Threshold 
Requirements in the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    b. Minimum grant request. Applications must contain a request for 
funds of not less than $15,000 from LHCAs, not less than $50,000 from 
SFHAs and not less than $200,000 from Intermediaries. Applications for 
lesser amounts will not be considered.
    c. Only HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agencies and SHFAs may 
apply. Applicants must be currently approved by HUD as an LHCA or as a 
housing counseling intermediary, and have secured HUD approval as a 
housing counseling agency by the publication date of this NOFA. SHFAs 
are not required to be HUD-approved, but must meet the eligibility 
requirements listed in this NOFA.
    d. Recipients of Previous Housing Counseling Grants. Applicants 
that received a HUD Housing Counseling grant or grants through the 
FY2003 HUD Housing Counseling NOFA, and did not receive an extension 
approved by HUD, must have drawn-down at least 70 percent of award 
monies by December 31, 2004.
    e. HUD-9902. Applicants that were, for any reason, required to 
submit Form HUD-9902 data, covering the period October 1, 2003, through 
September 30, 2004, must have submitted the data to HUD by June 6, 
2005.
    f. Applicants Requesting Supplemental Funding. No separate 
application is needed to apply for supplemental funding. However, 
applicants who propose to use the Comprehensive portion of their award 
for these activities must propose outputs and outcomes under 
supplemental funding categories exclusive of (over and above) those 
proposed under comprehensive counseling. Applicants must also meet the 
following requirements.
    (1) Predatory Lending. An applicant must: (a) request the 
supplemental funding by specifically and separately identifying 
``Predatory Lending'' and the specific amount requested along with 
budget information in Section B of the SF-424A; (b) identify predatory 
lending related needs in the target community in the response to Rating 
Factor 2; (c) include predatory lending related activities over and 
above the proposed comprehensive counseling activities listed in 
response to the Rating Factors; (d) indicate, where required in the 
Rating Factors, how many individuals in addition to those served under 
the comprehensive counseling award will be served with the requested 
supplemental funding for predatory lending; and (e) respond to all 
predatory lending related requests for information throughout the NOFA. 
Be sure clearly to identify the total number served, the activities 
provided, and the output and outcome goals to be achieved with the 
supplemental funding.
    (2) Homeownership Voucher Counseling. An applicant must: (a) 
request the supplemental funding by specifically and separately 
identifying ``Homeownership Voucher Counseling'' and the specific 
amount requested along with budget information in Section B of the SF-
424A; (b) respond to all Homeownership Voucher Counseling related 
requests for information throughout the NOFA; (c) include counseling 
and other related activities in conjunction with the Homeownership 
Voucher Program over and above the proposed comprehensive counseling 
activities listed in response to the Rating Factors; (d) indicate, 
where required in the Rating Factors, how many individuals additional 
to those served under the comprehensive counseling award will be served 
with the requested supplemental funding for Homeownership Voucher 
Counseling; and (e) provide a written agreement from one or more Public 
Housing Authorities (PHAs) with whom the applicant has an agreement to 
provide housing counseling to participants of the PHA's Homeownership 
Voucher Program. Intermediaries and SHFAs proposing to make sub-grants 
must provide a separate written agreement from a PHA for each proposed 
sub-grantee. There is no requirement that the PHA commit to use the 
applicant for the provision of all housing counseling services related 
to its Homeownership Voucher Program, although this would be 
acceptable.
    Written agreements from PHAs do not have to be ratified by the PHA 
Board, although a formal document, such as a Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU) between the PHA and the applicant, is acceptable. 
The written agreement must be on PHA letterhead, specifically mention 
the housing counseling agency (applicant) and proposed sub-grantee, if 
applicable; and be signed by an official authorized to sign on behalf 
of the PHA. Moreover, the written agreement must indicate that the PHA 
is exercising its option to implement the Homeownership Voucher Program 
and agrees to refer Homeownership Voucher participants to the applicant 
to fulfill the housing counseling requirement specified in the 
Homeownership Voucher Program regulations. The written agreement must 
clearly outline: (1) The respective activities and responsibilities to 
be undertaken by the PHA and the applicant; (2) the estimated number of 
Homeownership Voucher Program participants, both pre-purchase and 
ongoing, to be referred by the PHA to the applicant during the grant 
period October 1, 2005, to September 30, 2006; (3) the services to be 
delivered and the specific PHA requirements for ongoing counseling; and 
(4) outputs and outcome goals.
    While no written agreement is required from PHAs approved by HUD as 
housing counseling agencies, the PHA must estimate the number of 
voucher participants to be counseled in connection with its 
Homeownership Voucher Program, and describe the types of counseling, 
and output and outcome goals to be achieved. See the General Section 
for directions for submitting documents requiring third party 
signatures. Be sure clearly to identify the total number served, the 
activities provided, and the output and outcome goals to be achieved 
with the supplemental funding.
    (3) Colonias. An applicant must: (a) Request the supplemental 
funding by specifically and separately identifying ``Colonias'' and 
providing the specific amount requested along with budget information 
in Section B of the SF-424A; (b) identify Colonias-related needs in the 
target community in its response to Rating Factor 2; (c) respond to all 
Colonias-related requests for information throughout the NOFA; (d) 
include counseling and other related activities targeted at Colonias 
over and above the proposed comprehensive counseling activities listed 
in response to the Rating Factors; (e) indicate in the response to 
Rating Factors how many individuals in addition to those served under 
the comprehensive counseling award will be served with the requested 
supplemental funding for Colonias; and (f) demonstrate that the 
communities that the applicant will target with these funds meet the 
definition of Colonias

[[Page 13812]]

provided in Section I.B.2.c.of this NOFA. Be sure clearly to identify 
the total number served, the activities provided, and the output and 
outcome goals to be achieved with the supplemental funding.
    (4) HECM Counseling. An applicant must: (a) request the 
supplemental funding by specifically and separately identifying 
``HECM'' and providing the specific amount requested along with budget 
information in Section B of the SF-424A; (b) identify HECM-related 
needs in the target community in its response to Rating Factor 2; (c) 
respond to all HECM-related requests for information throughout the 
NOFA; (d) include counseling and other related activities targeted at 
HECM clients over and above the proposed comprehensive counseling 
activities listed in response to the Rating Factors; and (e) indicate 
in the Rating Factors how many individuals will be served with the 
requested supplemental funding for HECM counseling in addition to those 
served under the comprehensive counseling award. Be sure clearly to 
identify the total number served, the activities provided, and the 
output and outcome goals to be achieved with the supplemental funding.
4. Other Program Requirements
    To receive a grant or subgrant under this Housing Counseling NOFA, 
all applicants and subgrantees (except SHFAs) must be:
    [sbull] duly organized and existing as a nonprofit;
    [sbull] in good standing under the laws of the state of their 
organization; and
    [sbull] authorized to do business in the states where they propose 
to provide housing counseling services.
    a. Limits on applications. (1) HUD-approved LHCAs. HUD-approved 
LHCAs may apply for and receive: one grant under Applicant Category 1; 
or one sub-grant from an intermediary or SHFA under Applicant Category 
2 or 3, but not both. The only exception to this rule is that HUD-
approved LHCAs that have one or more HECM Network Counselors that 
receive a grant or sub-grant under Categories 1-3, may also receive a 
sub-grant, or be reimbursed exclusively for HECM counseling activities 
from a HUD-approved intermediary that exclusively provides HECM 
counseling.
    HUD-approved LHCAs applying under Category 1 are also eligible for 
supplemental funding to combat predatory lending, homeownership voucher 
counseling, and to provide counseling to residents of Colonias.
    Funded LHCAs may not make sub-grants to other HUD-approved LHCAs or 
non-HUD-approved entities.
    (2) HUD-approved Intermediaries. HUD approved intermediaries may 
only apply for a grant under Applicant Category 2. HUD-approved 
intermediaries are also eligible for supplemental funding to combat 
predatory lending, homeownership voucher counseling, provide counseling 
to residents of Colonias, and for HECM counseling.
    (3) SHFAs. SHFAs may only apply for grants under Applicant Category 
3 and are eligible to apply for comprehensive counseling funds and 
supplemental funding to combat predatory lending, homeownership voucher 
counseling, and to provide counseling to residents of Colonias. b. Sub-
grantees of Intermediaries and SHFAs. (1) Sub-grantees of 
intermediaries and SHFAs are not required to be HUD-approved, although 
HUD-approved LHCAs may apply to an intermediary or SHFA as a sub-
grantee.
    (2) Intermediaries and SHFAs that award sub-grants to counseling 
agencies that are not HUD-approved must assure that the sub-grantee 
organizations meet or exceed HUD's approval standards, listed in 
Section III.C.4.c. Program Requirements.
    (3) Subgrantees must also be in compliance with all civil rights 
threshold requirements. Intermediaries that do not ensure their sub-
grantee's compliance with HUD standards may be prohibited from 
participating in the Housing Counseling Program. HUD will monitor sub-
grantees.
    (4) Sub-grantees under Categories 2 or 3 must not have directly 
applied for or received a grant under Category 1 of this NOFA, or 
applied for or received a sub-grant from an intermediary or SHFA under 
Category 2 or 3 of this NOFA.
    (5) Sub-grantees may apply for and receive only one sub-grant from 
an intermediary or SHFA under Category 2 or 3, but not both. The only 
exception to this rule is that sub-grantees that have one or more HECM 
Network Counselors that receive a sub-grant from an intermediary or 
SHFA under Category 2 or 3 may also receive a sub-grant or be 
reimbursed exclusively for HECM counseling activities, from a HUD-
approved intermediary that exclusively provides HECM counseling.
    (6) Intermediaries and SHFAs that make sub-grants must execute sub-
grant agreements with sub-grantees that clearly delineate the mutual 
responsibilities for program management, including appropriate time 
frames for reporting results to HUD. Intermediaries and SHFAs have wide 
discretion to decide how to allocate their HUD Housing Counseling 
funding among sub-grantees, with the understanding that a written 
record must be kept documenting and justifying funding decisions. This 
record must be made available to sub-grantees and to HUD.
    c. Approval Criteria. The following approval criteria apply to all 
applicants, except SHFAs.
    (1) Each branch or affiliate included in an approval application 
must satisfy these criteria.
    (a) Nonprofit Status. An applicant and its branches or affiliates 
for approval must function as private or public nonprofit 
organizations. The applicant must submit evidence of nonprofit status 
as demonstrated by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code 
approval (or pending approval) to support its nonprofit status and that 
of its branches or affiliates.
    (b) Community Base. The applicant or its branches and affiliates 
must have functioned as a housing counseling agency for at least one 
year in the geographical area that the applicant proposes to serve as a 
HUD-approved housing counseling agency or agencies and must have 
established working relationships with private and public community 
resources to which it can refer clients who need help the agency cannot 
offer.
    (c) Staff. The applicant and its branches or affiliates must employ 
staff trained in housing counseling with at least six months experience 
in the job they will perform in the counseling program.
    (d) Language Skills/Limited English Proficiency. Agencies must seek 
to provide access to program benefits and information to persons with 
limited English proficiency (LEP) through translation and interpretive 
services. Applicants that receive an award from HUD must satisfy the 
requirements of HUD's LEP Recipient Guidance published on December 19, 
2003 at 68 FR 70968.
    (e) Knowledge of HUD Programs and Local Housing Market. The 
applicant's housing counseling staff, including those in branches and 
affiliates, must possess a working knowledge of HUD housing programs 
(including public housing), the housing programs available in the 
community, and the local housing market A working knowledge means that 
a counselor can inform the client in detail regarding what housing is 
available for which the client is eligible, how the client applies for 
the housing, and the rights and responsibilities of all parties 
involved in

[[Page 13813]]

particular housing transactions--leases, mortgages, notes, contracts, 
etc.
    (f) State and Local Requirements. The applicant, including its 
branches or affiliates, must meet all State and local requirements for 
its operation.
    (g) Facilities. The counseling facilities of the applicant or its 
branches or affiliates must meet the following criteria.
    (i) Located in the community of the target population.
    (ii) Provide privacy for all one-on-one sessions between a 
counselor and a client.
    (iii) Public transportation is within easy walking distance (15 
minutes) of the applicant's location, except for rural or distant 
suburban locations.
    (iv) Operating hours include regular work hours and days, and other 
hours and days when necessary to meet the needs of working clients.
    (v) All grantees and sub-grantees must make counseling offices and 
services accessible to persons with a wide range of disabilities and 
help persons locate suitable housing in locations throughout the 
applicant's community, target area, or metropolitan area, as defined by 
the applicant. For each of the general activities proposed, grantees 
must be prepared to meet the needs of all individuals requesting 
services, including persons with disabilities, regardless of the 
complexity of the services involved.
    d. List of HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agencies. Pursuant to 
section 106 (C)(5) of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 
HUD maintains a list of all HUD-approved and HUD-funded counseling 
agencies, including contact information that interested persons can 
access. All HUD-approved LHCAs and their branches, and all sub-grantees 
and their branches that receive funding under Applicant Categories 2 
and 3 of this NOFA will be placed on this list and must accept 
subsequent referrals, or when they do not provide the services sought, 
refer the person to another organization in the area that does provide 
the services.
    e. Non-Discrimination Requirement. (1) Grant recipients and sub-
grantees are prohibited from discriminating on behalf of or against any 
segment of the population in the provision of services or in outreach.
    (2) Organizations funded under this program may not engage in 
inherently religious activities, such as worship, religious 
instruction, or proselytization, as part of the programs or services 
funded under this program. If an organization conducts such activities, 
these activities must be offered separately, in time or location, from 
the programs or services funded under this part, and participation must 
be voluntary for the HUD-funded programs or services.
    f. Indirect Cost Rate. Grantees that plan to use grant funds to 
cover direct costs only are not required to provide an indirect cost 
rate. However, Grantees that plan to use grant funds to cover any 
indirect costs must submit their approved indirect cost rate 
established by the cognizant federal agency. If the grantee does not 
have an established indirect cost rate, it will be required to develop 
and submit an indirect cost proposal to HUD, or the cognizant federal 
agency as applicable, for determination of an indirect cost rate that 
will govern the award. Applicants that do not have a previously 
established indirect cost rate with a federal agency shall submit an 
initial indirect cost rate proposal immediately after the applicant is 
advised that it will be offered a grant and, in no event, later than 
three months after the start date of the grant. OMB Circular A-122 
established the requirements to determine allowable direct and indirect 
costs and the preparation of indirect cost proposals, and can be found 
at http://www.whitehouse.omb.gov. Applicants can review Indirect Cost 
Training on http://www.hud.gov at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/
grants/training/training.cfm.
    g. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons 
(Section 3). Section 3 does not apply to Housing Counseling Grants.
    h. Ensuring the Participation of Small Businesses, Small 
Disadvantaged Businesses, and Woman-Owned Businesses. See the General 
Section for information on this topic.
    i. Subcontracting. Grantees and sub-grantees must deliver all of 
the counseling activities set forth in the applicant's work plan 
provided in Factor 3 of this NOFA. Subcontracting with other entities 
is permitted only in geographical areas where no HUD-approved housing 
counseling agency exists; however, the subcontractor must meet HUD's 
approval standards, listed at III.C.4.c. above.
    j. Conflicts of Interest. See the General Section. In addition, a 
grantee or sub-grantee that is using grant funds to pay a subcontractor 
for housing counseling services pursuant to a housing counseling sub-
agreement is prohibited from having a controlling interest in that 
subcontractor or vice versa. In other words, a grantee or sub-grantee 
cannot use grant funds to pay for housing counseling services by a 
subcontractor, if the subcontractor is partially or fully-controlled by 
the grantee or sub-grantee, or affiliate or vice versa.
    k. Accessible Technology. See the General Section.
    l. Participation in HUD Sponsored Program Evaluation. See the 
General Section.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Receiving an Application Package

    Applicants may download the Instructions to the application found 
on the Grants.gov Web site at http://www.Grants.gov. The instructions 
contain the General Section and Program Section of the published NOFA 
as well as forms that you must complete and attach as a zip file to 
your application submission. If you have difficulty accessing the 
information you may call the Grants.gov Support desk toll free 800-518-
GRANTS or email your questions to Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. The Support Desk 
staff will assist you in accessing the information. Please remember 
that you must be registered to submit an application utilizing 
Grants.gov. Your registration allows you to electronically sign the 
application and Grants.gov to authenticate that the appropriate 
organization staff with legal authority to submit the application on 
behalf of the applicant submitted the application. Please see the 
General Section for information regarding the registration process or 
ask for registration information from the Grants.gov Support Desk. 
Please be aware that the registration process is a separate process 
from requesting email notification of funding opportunities or 
downloading the application and should be done prior to downloading the 
grant application from the Grants.gov web site. If you are not sure if 
you are already registered, the Grants.gov Support Desk can assist in 
verifying whether you are or are not registered.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    Please be sure to read the General Section for application 
submission and timely receipt requirements as HUD is using electronic 
application submission via www.Grants.gov. In addition to the 
instructions in the General Section follow the instructions below:
1. Size Limitations and Format for Narrative Statements
    Applicants must be as specific and direct as possible. For LHCAs, 
narrative responses to each factor must be limited to 10 double-spaced, 
size 12 font, single sided pages. Intermediaries and SHFAs

[[Page 13814]]

are limited to 20 double-spaced, size 12 font, single sided page 
narratives for each factor. Pages in excess of the size limit will not 
be read. Number the pages of the narrative statements and include a 
header that includes the applicant's name and the Rating Factor number 
and title. Within each narrative, clearly identify each sub-factor 
immediately above the response for that sub-factor. The General Section 
of the SuperNOFA provides detailed requirements for electronic 
submission of narrative statements and other documents that are part of 
the application.
2. Application Checklist
    The Application Checklist indicates forms, information, 
certifications and assurances that apply to this NOFA.

Housing Counseling NOFA Application Checklist

    [sbull] SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance
    [sbull] SF-424 Supplement--Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for 
Applicants
    [sbull] SF 424A, Budget Information--Non-Construction Programs
    [sbull] SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if applicable)
    [sbull] HUD-27300, Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of 
Regulatory Barriers (optional)
    [sbull] HUD-2880, Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report
    [sbull] HUD-2990, Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC-II 
Strategic Plan (LHCAs only) (if applicable)
    [sbull] HUD-2991, Certification of Consistency with the 
Consolidated Plan (if applicable)
    [sbull] HUD-2994, Client Comments and Suggestions (optional)
    [sbull] HUD-96010, Program Outcome Logic Model
    [sbull] HUD-96011 Facsimile Transmittal Cover Page
    [sbull] HUD-9902, Housing Counseling Agency Fiscal Year Activity 
Report
    [sbull] SHFA Statutory Authority. SHFAs must submit evidence of 
their statutory authority to operate as a SHFA, as defined in this 
NOFA, and must submit evidence of their authority to apply for funds 
and subsequently use any funds awarded.
    [sbull] Written Agreement with a PHA. Applicants applying for 
Supplemental Funding for Homeownership Voucher Counseling, and 
applicants proposing to counsel clients in conjunction with HUD's 
Homeownership Voucher Program with comprehensive counseling funds, must 
provide a copy of a written agreement from each Public Housing 
Authority (PHA) with which the applicant, and proposed sub-grantees and 
branches, have entered into an agreement, as described in Section III 
of this NOFA.
    [sbull] Letters, Contracts, MOUs and/or other documentation that 
demonstrates working relationships.
    [sbull] Letters, Contracts, MOUs and/or other documentation that 
shows leveraged resources.
    [sbull] List of all offices. Intermediaries must provide a list of 
the states in which they maintain offices, including the central office 
and all affiliates or branch offices. Provide this information for all 
affiliates and branch offices, not just the ones the applicant proposes 
to fund through this grant. Indicate with an asterisk or other notation 
those that will be funded through this grant and the amount, if known.
    [sbull] Organization Description. Applicants must provide a brief 
description, no more than 225 words, of their organizational history 
and activities, as they would like them to appear in the press release 
issued by HUD in the event that the applicant is funded through this 
NOFA.
    [sbull] Copy(s) of disclosure forms used by the housing counseling 
agency or SHFA to inform clients they are not required to use other 
services or products offered by the housing counseling agency or SHFA 
or any of its associates.
    [sbull] Narrative statements as required in this NOFA.

C. Submission Dates and Times

1. Application Submission Date and Proof of Timely Submission. The 
application submission date is June 6, 2005. Please be sure to read the 
General Section for timely submission and receipt requirements as 
submission requirements have substantially changed this year. Failure 
to follow the submission requirements and procedures may affect your 
ability to receive an award of funds.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    The Housing Counseling Program is not subject to Intergovernmental 
Review.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Funding is limited to the eligible activities described in 
Section III.C of this NOFA.
    2. Pre-award Costs. Grantees may incur pre-award costs not more 
than 90 calendar days prior to the effective date of the grant 
agreement and only with prior approval from HUD. All pre-award costs 
are incurred at the applicant's risk and HUD has no obligation to 
reimburse such costs if the award is inadequate to cover such costs or 
the award offer is withdrawn because of the applicant's failure to 
satisfy the requirements of this NOFA.

F. Other Submission Requirements See the General Section. Please read 
the General Section instructions for submission of third-party 
documents by facsimile or by scanning and attaching to Grants.gov 
submission package.

V. Application Review Information

    A. Criteria. The Factors for Award, and maximum points for each 
factor, are outlined below. These factors will be used to evaluate all 
applications. The maximum number of points for each applicant is 102 
for LHCAs and 100 for all other applicants.
    1. Bonus Points--``RC/EZ/EC-II''. ONLY LHCAs are eligible for 2 
bonus points. See the General Section for information regarding ``RC/
EZ/EC-II'' bonus points.
    2. Additional Information. HUD may rely on information from 
performance reports, financial status information, monitoring reports, 
audit reports, and other information available to HUD to make score 
determinations to any relevant Rating Factor.
    3. Responses to Factors for Award. Responses to the following 
rating factors should provide HUD with detailed quantitative and 
qualitative information and relevant examples regarding the housing 
counseling work of the organization.
    The Rating Factors contain requests for additional information from 
applicants interested in supplemental funding. Applicants who propose 
to use the Comprehensive portion of their award for these activities 
must also respond to the requirements defined for each category the 
applicant proposes to provide services in.
    In responses to the various factors and sub-factors, intermediaries 
and SHFAs should not submit a separate response for each proposed sub-
grantee and branch, but should provide a brief profile of each and 
summary response for their entire network, highlighting individual 
activities, partnerships, needs and/or results when appropriate.

[[Page 13815]]

a. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Staff (30 Points) HUD uses responses to this Rating 
Factor to evaluate the readiness and ability of an applicant and 
proposed sub-grantee and branch staff, to immediately begin, and 
successfully implement, the proposed work plan detailed in Rating 
Factor 3. HUD will also evaluate how effectively the applicant managed 
work plan adjustments that may have been required if performance 
targets were not met within established timeframes and how often work 
plan adjustments were required.

    (1) Applicants must provide the following information to support 
evaluation of this Rating Factor. Information may be provided in a 
chart or table.
    (a) Number of full-time (35 hours + per week) housing counselors 
working for the applicant and, if applicable, proposed sub-grantees or 
branches;
    (b) Number of part-time housing counselors working for the 
applicant and, if applicable, proposed sub-grantees or branches;
    (c) Number of bilingual housing counselors working for the 
applicant and, if applicable, proposed sub-grantees or branches;
    (d) Average years of housing counseling experience for counselors 
working for the applicant and, if applicable, proposed sub-grantees or 
branches;
    (e) Average years of housing counseling program management 
experience for the project director(s) for the applicant and, if 
applicable, proposed sub-grantees or branches;
    (f) For intermediaries and SHFAs, the number of sub-grantees and 
branches that received funding from the applicant through a FY2003 HUD 
housing counseling grant(s), if applicable, covering the period October 
1, 2003-September 30, 2004.

(2) Knowledge and Experience (14 points)

    Using the information provided above, demonstrate that the 
applicant, including proposed sub-grantees and branches, has sufficient 
personnel with the relevant knowledge and experience to implement the 
proposed activities in a timely and effective manner, and bilingual 
language skills, if appropriate.
    Specifically, for LHCAs, scoring will be based on the number of 
years of recent and relevant experience of Housing Counseling Program 
project directors and recent housing counseling and relevant experience 
of housing counselors.
    For intermediaries and SHFAs, scoring will be based on: the number 
of years of recent and relevant experience of project directors of 
proposed sub-grantees and branches; the number of years of recent 
housing counseling and relevant experience of counselors in proposed 
sub-grantees and branches; and the number of years, for key 
intermediary or SHFA personnel, of recent experience running a housing 
counseling program consisting of a network of multiple housing 
counseling agencies. HUD will award higher scores to applicants with 
more experienced staff and management.
    Related experience, such as experience in mortgage lending, will 
also be considered, but will not be weighted as heavily in the scoring 
as direct housing counseling or housing counseling program management 
experience. HUD will also factor in other information that demonstrates 
the capacity of the applicant, such as relevant staff trainings, 
competency exams, and certifications. HUD will award higher scores to 
applicants with staff and management that have the greatest combination 
of experience, training and demonstrated competency.
    (a) Submit the names and titles of employees, including 
subcontractors and consultants who will perform the activities proposed 
in the applicant's work plan in Rating Factor 3. Clerical staff should 
not be listed. Describe each employee's, subcontractor's, or 
consultant's relevant professional background and experience, and 
bilingual language skills, if applicable. Experience is relevant if it 
corresponds directly to projects of a similar scale and purpose. 
Individual descriptions should be limited to one page, and do not count 
toward narrative page limitations. Provide the number of years of 
experience for each position listed, and indicate when each position 
was held. Indicate whether the position is full-time or part-time, and 
in the case of part-time positions, provide the number of hours per 
week.
    Intermediaries and SHFAs should summarize in a single chart 
listing, each applicable employee, subcontractor, and consultant of 
proposed sub-grantees or branches, the number of years of direct 
counseling or counseling program management experience, and the number 
of years of relevant experience. Please total each column.
    (b) All applicants must indicate whether counselors in their agency 
and proposed sub-grantees and branches are required to take and pass an 
exam that evaluates housing counseling competency as a condition of 
employment. Describe the test and testing process and how test results 
are used to measure the capability of an employee.
    (c) Indicate for each counselor listed the specific counseling 
activities with which they have experience, distinguishing between 
group sessions and one-on-one counseling, and the relevant number of 
years of experience for each counseling type. In scoring this section, 
HUD will evaluate whether the applicant has experience providing the 
proposed services.
    Applicants for supplemental funding for Homeownership Voucher 
Counseling must provide detailed information regarding the 
Homeownership Voucher Program-related experience of the applicant and 
each PHA with whom the applicant, or its proposed sub-grantees and 
branch offices, have a written commitment to partner, including the 
number of years of experience that the applicant and partnering PHA(s) 
have working with HUD's Homeownership Voucher Program. If different 
from the applicant, explain what counseling agency or other 
organization provided the housing counseling related to the PHA's 
program.
    Similarly, applicants for supplemental funding for Predatory 
Lending, HECM and Colonias must specify the predatory lending, HECM or 
Colonias-specific experience of project directors and counselors and 
the organization. Applicants for Colonias supplemental funding must 
also highlight the bilingual capacity of relevant counselors.
    (d) Indicate for all housing counselors and project directors the 
specialized trainings and certifications received relevant to the 
proposed activities. Include when the training was received and who 
provided it.
    Applicants for supplemental funding must also indicate whether or 
not staff has received recent and relevant specialized training. For 
example, applicants for supplemental funding for predatory lending must 
indicate if relevant personnel received FHA loss mitigation training or 
other training relevant to predatory lending. Applicants that seek 
supplemental funds for HECM counseling must indicate what relevant 
training and certifications counselors received to qualify them as HECM 
counselors. Likewise, specific training for Homeownership Voucher and 
Colonias should be highlighted.
    (e) Indicate if the applicant, affiliates and branches, utilized an 
on-line Client Management System during the grant period October 1, 
2003, to September 30, 2004. If a system was used, identify

[[Page 13816]]

which system, how long it has been used and whether or not it is web 
based. If the applicant does not currently use an on-line or web-based 
system but plans to in the coming grant period, October 1, 2005 through 
September 30, 2006, indicate which system will be used, whether or not 
it is web based, and how its use will be implemented in terms of 
training employees to use it and its ability to improve client services 
and generate reports.

(3) Grant and Compliance Management (6 points)

    In scoring this Section, HUD will examine its files and evaluate 
how well the applicant managed administration and met the requirements, 
including reporting and grant document execution, of its FY2003 HUD 
housing counseling grant, for the grant period October 1, 2003, to 
September 30, 2004, and its ability to spend all grant funds allotted. 
If the applicant did not receive an FY2003 HUD grant, it must provide a 
response, with sufficient detail for HUD to evaluate management, based 
on activities and requirements under other sources of funding, such as 
other federal, state, or local grant awards. Identify the source(s), 
amount(s), how funds were used for housing counseling and related 
activities and whether work was completed during the period of 
performance.
    (a) HUD will evaluate the applicant's performance with regard to 
the timeliness and completeness with which they satisfied grant 
document execution and reporting requirements including quarterly (if 
applicable), mid-term and final reports.
    (b) If grant awards were not fully expended during the grant period 
October 1, 2003, to September 30, 2004, indicate the percentage of 
funds that were not spent, and provide an explanation as to the reason 
why and the steps the applicant has taken to ensure that future funding 
will be expended according to the terms of the grant agreement. To 
receive full credit, either 100 percent of grant funds must have been 
expended in a timely manner or all goals must have been achieved prior 
to expending 100 percent of grant funds. If goals were achieved with 
fewer funds, state so and briefly provide details of efficiencies 
realized (if any).
    (c) Biennial Performance Reviews. Significant findings on biennial 
performance reviews conducted by HUD staff will be taken into 
consideration when scoring this section. Explain how the applicant has 
taken steps to address and correct any significant findings, if 
applicable.

(4) Management--Goals and Results (10 points)

    Applicants that received a FY2003 housing counseling grant covering 
the period October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2004 were required to 
submit a Program Outcome Logic Model, Form HUD-96010, which reflected 
an effective, quantifiable, outcome-oriented evaluation plan for 
measuring performance. The Logic Model was to identify what would be 
measured, how it would be measured, and the steps the applicant would 
take to make adjustments to the work plan if performance targets were 
not met within established timeframes. Specifically, the plan had to 
identify:
    (a) Outputs. Outputs are the direct products of the applicant's 
activities that lead to the ultimate achievement of outcomes. Examples 
of outputs include, but are not limited to, the number of individual 
counseling sessions, the number of group sessions to be provided, the 
number of materials to be distributed, and outreach activities. Interim 
and full grant term outputs, and time frames for accomplishing these 
goals. The plan must have shown how the applicant would measure actual 
accomplishments against anticipated achievements.
    (b) Work Plan Adjustments. A description of steps in place to make 
adjustments to the work plan if outputs are not met within established 
time frames or if the applicant begins to fall short of established 
outputs and time frames. Intermediaries and SHFAs should have indicated 
if and how the performance of sub-grantees and branch offices affects 
current and future sub-grants and allocations.
    (c) Outcomes. Outcomes are benefits accruing to the families as a 
result of participation in the program. Outcomes are performance 
indicators the applicant expects to achieve or goals it hopes to meet 
over the term of the proposed grant. For the period October 1, 2003-
September 30, 2004, the anticipated outcomes for clients as a result of 
the proposed grant were required as part of the Logic Model. The 
required outcome categories are:
    [sbull] The number of individuals receiving pre-purchase counseling 
who will purchase a home;
    [sbull] The number of individuals receiving pre-purchase counseling 
who are working toward becoming mortgage ready;
    [sbull] The number of individuals receiving pre-purchase counseling 
who, after evaluating their unique financial situation and the costs of 
homeownership, will elect not to purchase a home;
    [sbull] The number of individuals receiving default counseling who 
will successfully avoid foreclosure;
    [sbull] The number of individuals seeking help in locating or 
securing residence in rental housing who found alternative rental 
housing;
    [sbull] Applicants proposing to address predatory lending should 
indicate the number of clients affected by predatory lending counseled 
that will have their mortgage modified, refinanced, or otherwise 
assisted to avoid foreclosure.
    These specific outcomes correspond to the Form HUD-9902.
    Applicants who received a FY2003 Housing Counseling Grant must 
explain differences in goals and actual results in narrative form 
including any changes in measurement reporting tools and/or the 
evaluation process as a result of variations in output and outcome 
goals and results. For purposes of scoring this sub-factor, HUD's 
primary concern is how the applicant managed change, when needed, 
within the organization as well as a clear and reasonable explanation 
as to why goals were not met, or why they were exceeded, and what steps 
were taken organizationally to accommodate either scenario. Applicants 
who did not receive a FY2003 Housing Counseling Grant must provide 
detailed, quantifiable information on housing counseling related goals 
they did set for their organization and actual results either for the 
period covering October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2004 or for the 12 
month period ending December 31, 2004 if more appropriate to the 
Applicant's or other grant-required reporting schedule. In narrative 
form, explain any differences in goals versus actual results and 
indicate what measurement reporting tools were used as well as the 
evaluation process. Form HUD-96010-1, Logic Model Instructions, which 
is part of Form HUD-96010, provides information on what should be 
included in measurement reporting tools and the evaluation process.
    For applicants applying for the predatory lending supplemental 
funding, identify the number of clients affected by predatory lending 
that were counseled and able to have their mortgage modified, 
refinanced, or otherwise assisted to avoid foreclosure. Compare these 
outcome goals with the applicant's actual performance outcomes for 
these categories, reported in the Form HUD-9902 submitted with this 
application, covering the grant period October 1, 2003, to September 
30, 2004. Characterize the applicant's performance at meeting its goals

[[Page 13817]]

regarding activities for that time period. Explain any differences 
between goals and results. Describe relevant market conditions and 
other circumstances that affected reported outcome numbers. If the 
applicant did not establish outcome projections/goals for these 
specific categories prior to the grant period October 1, 2003, to 
September 30, 2004, indicate the specific quantitative goals that it 
did make, and explain any difference between goals and results.

b. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (12 Points)

    This factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for 
funding the proposed activities described in the applicant's work plan, 
and the degree to which the applicant's work plan substantively 
addresses departmental policy priorities.

(1) Needs Data (6 Points)

    Provide current or recent economic and demographic data, and any 
other evidence, that demonstrates housing counseling need relevant to 
the target area. All proposed activities must have corresponding need-
related data. Sources for all data provided must be clearly cited. Do 
not submit copies of reports or tables.
    To the extent that the community the applicant serves has 
documented need in its Consolidated Plan, Analysis of Impediments to 
Fair Housing Choice (AI), or other planning documents, provide these in 
the response. Economic and demographic data must include persons with 
disabilities located in the target area. The U.S. Census Bureau, for 
example, maintains disability data by state, county, and metropolitan 
statistical area (MSA) at the following web site: http://
www.census.gov/hhes/www/disability.html.
    Additionally, the HUD USER Research Information Service and 
Clearinghouse, available at http://www.huduser.org/, allows users to 
search over 800 HUD publications by subjects and keywords.
    Applicants applying for predatory lending supplemental funding must 
provide current or recent economic and demographic data, and any other 
evidence, that demonstrates the prevalence and impact of predatory 
lending within the target area.
    Applicants planning to provide counseling in conjunction with HUD's 
Homeownership Voucher Program must demonstrate that the local market 
will support affordable homeownership. For example, describe the income 
and wealth characteristics of Homeownership Voucher Program 
participants, such as average income as a percent of area median 
income, and average savings available for down payment, and then 
demonstrate the availability in the local market of homes that are 
affordable to these participants. Intermediaries and SHFAs must provide 
this information for each sub-grantee or branch included in their 
application that will engage in this activity.
    In scoring this Section, HUD will evaluate the degree to which the 
applicant is able to provide current or recent economic and demographic 
data, and any other evidence, that demonstrates housing counseling need 
relevant to the target area and the activities proposed in projected 
work plan activities detailed in Rating Factor 3. Applicants that fail 
to identify current or recent objective data will receive no points for 
this factor.

(2) Departmental Policy Priorities (6 Points)

    The Departmental policy priorities are described in detail in the 
General Section. Of those listed, the following five apply to the 
Housing Counseling Program for the purpose of this NOFA. Indicate if 
and describe how the applicant's work plan substantively addresses each 
of these departmental policy priorities. Applicants are advised to 
review the policy priorities in the General Section, to assure they 
fully understand the meaning of each, prior to responding to this sub-
factor.
    In scoring this section, the applicant will receive one point for 
each of the departmental policy priorities (a)-(d) that the work plan 
substantively addresses. Up to 2 points are available for priority (e). 
The activities the applicant proposes in its projected work plan, 
detailed in Factor 3 of this NOFA, must address the policy priorities 
for priorities (a)-(c) in order to receive rating points. Points will 
only be awarded to applicants for policy priority (e) if the submission 
includes the required documentation or URL sites where the 
documentation can be found.
    (a) Providing Increased Homeownership and Rental Opportunities for 
Low- and Moderate-Income Persons, Persons with Disabilities, the 
Elderly, Minorities, and Families with Limited English Proficiency.
    (b) Providing Full and Equal Access to Grassroots, Faith-Based and 
Other Community-Based Organizations in HUD Program Implementation.
    (c) Participation of Minority-Serving Institutions in HUD Programs.
    (d) Participation in Energy Star. Applicants must provide 
information on how they promote or plan to promote Energy Star 
materials and practices and buildings constructed to Energy Star 
standards to homebuyers, renters and other applicable counseling 
clients. Describe any outreach activities previously conducted and/or 
planned to promote Energy Star products.
    (e) Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing. Under 
this policy priority, higher rating points are available to (1) 
governmental applicants that are able to demonstrate successful efforts 
in removing regulatory barriers to affordable housing and (2) 
nongovernmental applicants that are associated with jurisdictions that 
have undertaken successful efforts in removing barriers. To obtain the 
policy priority points for efforts to successfully remove regulatory 
barriers, applicants must complete form HUD-27300, ``Questionnaire for 
HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory Barriers.'' A limited number 
of questions on form HUD-27300 expressly request the applicant to 
provide brief documentation with its response. Other questions require 
that, for each affirmative statement made, the applicant supply a 
reference, URL or brief statement indicating where the back-up 
information may be found, and a point of contact, including a telephone 
number or e-mail address. Applicants that do not provide the URL 
references or documentation will not get the policy priority points.
    The General Section and HUD's Notices identify how policy priority 
points will be awarded. Copies of HUD's notices published on this 
issue, can be found on HUD's web site at http://www.hud.gov/grants/index.cfm.

c. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach/Scope of Housing Counseling 
Services (40 Points)

    This factor addresses the quality and effectiveness of the 
applicant's historical and proposed housing counseling activities.
    (1) Historical Performance includes information on Housing 
Counseling services conducted during the period October 1, 2003 through 
September 30, 2004. Applicants must provide the following information, 
which will be used as a basis to support the scoring of sub-factors 
V.A.3.c (2) and V.A.3.c (3). Responses to V.A.3.c(2) and V.A.3.c (3) 
should contain ``Historical Performance'' as part of the heading for 
the response.
    (a) Average hours of housing counseling per client, for the period 
October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004, for each of the following 
service types, including follow-up, the applicant organization 
provides:
    (i) Pre-purchase Counseling

[[Page 13818]]

    (ii) Homebuyer Education
    (iii) Delinquency/Default Counseling
    (iv) Non-Delinquency Post-Purchase Counseling
    (v) Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Counseling
    (vi) Post-Purchase Education
    (vii) Rental Counseling
    (viii) Homeless/Displacement Counseling
    (ix) Predatory Lending Counseling
    (x) Homeownership Voucher Counseling and Education
    (xi) Other (describe)
    (b) FY2003 HUD housing counseling grant(s) or sub-grant(s), if 
applicable. If the applicant received one or more FY2003 HUD housing 
counseling grants or sub-grants covering the period October 1, 2003-
September 30, 2004, make sure that these grants are properly recorded 
in Section 8 of the Form HUD-9902 that was submitted through HUD's 
Housing Counseling System (HCS). Applicants that were not required to 
submit Form HUD-9902 must complete one as part of this application 
filling in the ``All Activities'' column only.
    (c) FY2003 total housing counseling budget, covering the period 
October 1, 2003-September 30, 2004, including HUD housing counseling 
grant(s) or sub-grants, if applicable, as well as other resources 
leveraged specifically for housing counseling. Do not include funds for 
down payment or closing cost assistance, Individual Development 
Accounts, emergency services, or other resources not used for the 
direct provision of housing counseling.
    (d) The number of clients recorded on the Form HUD-9902, covering 
the period October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004, that 
participated only in Homebuyer Education Workshops or other types of 
classes offered as group sessions:
    (i) Under the ``HUD Grant Activities'' column, if applicable
    (ii) Under the ``All Counseling Activities'' column
    (e) The number of clients recorded on the Form HUD-9902 submitted 
with this application, covering the period October 1, 2003, through 
September 30, 2004, that participated in one-on-one counseling only:
    (i) Under the ``HUD Grant Activities'' column, if applicable
    (ii) Under the ``All Counseling Activities'' column
    (f) If applicable, for the grant period October 1, 2003, through 
September 30, 2004, indicate:
    (i) The number of individuals and families counseled by the 
applicant that participated in HUD's Homeownership Voucher Program;
    (ii) The number of clients that received one-on-one counseling from 
the applicant related to predatory lending, or if applicable, from sub-
grantees and branches;
    (iii) The results of one-on-one counseling pertaining to predatory 
lending, including the number of clients for whom loans have been 
successfully restructured, credit fixed, and the success of other loss 
mitigation strategies.
    (iv) The number of clients that participated in group educational 
sessions related to predatory lending
    (2) Historical Performance--Quality and Complexity of Services (6 
points).
    HUD will evaluate the quality of, the variety of, and the level of 
effort and time associated with the housing counseling services 
provided by the applicant during the period October 1, 2003, to 
September 30, 2004, both with HUD housing counseling grant funds, if 
applicable, and with other resources leveraged for housing counseling. 
For applicants that did not receive an FY2003 HUD housing counseling 
grant, the analysis will be based on services provided with other 
sources of funding.
    (a) Applicants must carefully document the various types of housing 
counseling and education services provided during the period October 1, 
2003, through September 30, 2004, both with FY2003 HUD grant funds, if 
applicable, and other resources leveraged for housing counseling. Also 
describe follow-up activities, if applicable.
    If applying for supplemental funding for predatory lending, 
describe the applicant's activities for the grant period October 1, 
2003, to September 30, 2004, in assisting individuals, through outreach 
and group education, in identifying and avoiding predatory lending. For 
example, describe group workshops, community meetings, mass media, or 
material distribution (provide copies of relevant letters, brochures, 
etc.) Also describe the applicant's outreach strategy, including the 
various types of individuals targeted (e.g., sub-prime borrowers, 
elderly homeowners with substantial equity in their homes, etc.), 
explain the rationale for targeting specific areas, types of community 
forums that are effective, methods through which ideas and materials 
are disseminated, and all other relevant information.
    Also, if applicable, describe efforts through one-on-one counseling 
for the period October 1, 2003, to September 30, 2004, to assist 
individuals in identifying and avoiding predatory lending, and describe 
efforts through one-on-one counseling to assist clients affected by 
predatory lending.
    If applying for supplemental Homeownership Voucher Counseling 
funds, describe counseling and education activities during the period 
October 1, 2003, to September 30, 2004, performed in conjunction with 
HUD's Homeownership Voucher Program.
    If applying for supplemental funding for Colonias, describe the 
applicant's activities for the grant period October 1, 2003, to 
September 30, 2004, in assisting individuals in Colonias.
    If applying for supplemental funding for HECM counseling describe 
the applicant's activities for the grant period October 1, 2003, to 
September 30, 2004, in assisting individuals that sought HECM 
counseling.
    (b) Describe the level of effort and time required to provide the 
housing counseling services described in part (a) and to meet the needs 
of clients. Explain the average counseling time per client figures 
provided in Section V.A.4.c(1)(a). Scoring will be based on the degree 
to which the applicant demonstrates that sufficient time and resources 
were devoted to ensure that clients received quality counseling.
    (c) Explain the figures provided in Section V.A.4.c(1)(d)-(f) 
regarding group session participation and one-on-one counseling. 
Describe how clients come to participate in one or the other, the 
relationship between the two, and the role that each plays in the 
applicant's overall service provision.
    Applicants for supplemental funds should also provide this 
information for the activities relevant to the specific supplemental 
funding for which they are applying, which should include only 
information on clients served exclusive of (over and above) those 
served with comprehensive funds.
    Scorers will evaluate the extent to which an agency encouraged and 
provided one-on-one counseling, which HUD considers the most effective 
form of housing counseling, instead of over-relying on homebuyer 
education workshops and other forms of group sessions.
    (3) Historical Performance--Impact/Outcomes (7 Points).
    To score this Section, HUD will evaluate the applicant's, and 
affiliates' and branches', clients served numbers for the grant period 
October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2004. The quantity of clients the 
applicant was able to serve will be compared to similar applicants 
providing similar services. Clients served numbers will also be 
analyzed in the context of the total housing counseling budget, which 
applicants must provide from FY2003 HUD housing counseling grant(s), 
including costs; spending decisions; the types of

[[Page 13819]]

services provided; level of effort expended; and the performance of 
similar applicants providing similar services. HUD will also consider 
the degree to which the services provided are time and resource 
intensive.
    Additionally, HUD will evaluate the geographic coverage of the 
applicant's activities for the grant period October 1, 2003, through 
September 30, 2004. For intermediaries and SHFAs, the number of sub-
grantees under a FY2003 HUD housing counseling grant(s), if applicable, 
and the overall size of the housing counseling network during that 
period will be factors in the scoring.
    (a) Indicate how location, type of counseling, client type, and 
expenses may have affected client volume that appears on the Form HUD-
9902, and in Section V.A.4.c(1)(d)-(f), that were served under the 
column ``All Counseling Activities.'' This total should reflect all the 
counseling activities performed by the applicant during the period 
October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004, both with HUD housing 
counseling grant funds, if applicable, and with other leveraged 
resources.
    If the applicant received one or more FY2003 HUD housing counseling 
grants, indicate differences in how the HUD grants were spent compared 
to other leveraged resources. Justify expenses and explain why they 
were reasonable, strategic, and appropriate for the counseling 
activities identified above.
    If applying for supplemental funding, quantify the applicant's 
relevant predatory lending, Homeownership Voucher Counseling, Colonias 
and/or HECM results during the period October 1, 2003 through September 
30, 2004 and provide the total budget for each. For example, if 
applying for supplemental funding for Homeownership Voucher Counseling, 
provide the number of families that participated in the applicant's 
Homeownership Voucher Program in the past complete fiscal year, and the 
number of current homeowners receiving voucher assistance to date, and 
other notable outcomes and information demonstrating the effectiveness 
of the existing program. Provide the same information for PHAs with 
whom the applicant, and if applicable, proposed sub-grantees and 
branches have written commitments to partner.
    (b) Intermediaries and SHFAs that received one or more FY2003 HUD 
housing counseling grants, for the grant period October 1, 2003, to 
September 30, 2004, must also indicate what percentage of their 
grant(s) was passed through directly to sub-grantees or branches, and 
explain how funds not passed through were spent.
    LHCAs applying under Applicant Category 1 that received one or more 
FY2003 HUD housing counseling grants for the grant period October 1, 
2003, to September 30, 2004, must indicate what percentage of their 
grant(s) was spent on the salaries and benefits of housing counselors 
and project directors. Explain how other funds were spent.
    Applicants that did not receive a FY2003 HUD housing counseling 
grant must characterize their performance through other housing 
counseling funding sources, providing as much detail, similar to that 
requested above, as possible.
    (c) LHCAs must describe the applicant's geographic coverage for the 
period October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004. For example, 
indicate the percentage of a metropolitan area covered by the grantee. 
If the LHCA operates in more than one state, indicate which states and 
the percent of each state covered.
    Intermediaries and SHFAs must identify the sub-grantees, affiliates 
and branches, and corresponding states, to which the applicant provided 
housing counseling funding, for the period October 1, 2003, through 
September 30, 2004, through:
    (i) FY2003 HUD housing counseling grant funds, if applicable
    (ii) All housing counseling resources
    (4) Projected Performance/Work Plan--Involves information on 
housing counseling services to be conducted during the period October 
1, 2005 through September 30, 2006. Applicants must provide the 
following information, which will be used in conjunction with responses 
in Rating Factor 5, as a basis to support the scoring of the sub-
factors below. Responses should contain ``Projected Performance'' as 
part of the heading for the response.
    (a) Average hours of housing counseling time the applicant 
estimates per client, for each of the activities listed in 
V.A.3.c(1)(a)(i)-(xi), including follow-up: If the projected average 
times are the same as those listed for the period covering October 1, 
2003-September 30, 2004, the applicant may simply state so in lieu of 
listing them again here.
    The proposed average hourly labor-rate for housing counselors 
working for the applicant, affiliates, or branch network, if 
applicable, including benefits.
    (b) For intermediaries and SHFAs, the total number of sub-grantees 
and branches, and corresponding number of states, that the applicant 
estimates will receive funding through the proposed FY2005 HUD Housing 
Counseling Grant. If applying for supplemental funding, indicate the 
number of sub-grantees and branches the applicant estimates for 
comprehensive counseling, and for each type of supplemental funding 
requested.
    (c) For intermediaries and SHFAs, the total number of sub-grantees 
and branches that the applicant estimates will receive funding, 
specifically for housing counseling, from the applicant, both through 
the proposed FY2005 HUD Housing Counseling Grant, and other sources of 
funds, during the grant period October 1, 2005, to September 30, 2006.

(5) Projected Performance/Work Plan--Quality and Complexity of Services 
(12 points)

    In scoring this Section, HUD will consider the types and variety of 
housing counseling and education services being offered, and other 
activities occurring in support of the applicant's housing counseling 
program.
    HUD will also evaluate the quality of the applicant's proposed 
housing counseling services, and level of effort and time associated 
with providing the proposed counseling services to the number of 
clients it estimates it will serve. Scoring will be based on the degree 
to which the applicant demonstrates that, for each type of counseling 
service delivered, average, greater than average or less than average 
time and resources will be devoted to ensure that clients receive 
quality counseling.
    Additionally, scorers will evaluate the extent to which an 
applicant will encourage and provide one-on-one counseling, which HUD 
considers the most effective form of housing counseling, instead of 
over-relying on homebuyer education workshops and other forms of group 
sessions.
    (a) Describe the various types of housing counseling and education 
services, and if applicable intermediary activities, including 
training, the applicant proposes to undertake, and identify the 
geographic area the services will cover. Also, describe planned follow-
up activities, if applicable.
    Applicant work plans must include both pre-purchase counseling and 
post-purchase counseling and a broad array of counseling services in 
general. Applicants that provide default counseling as part of the work 
plan will receive more points in this sub-factor than those that do 
not.
    Intermediaries and SHFAs must also:
    (i) Describe the housing counseling and education activities to be 
provided by proposed sub-grantees and branches,

[[Page 13820]]

explicitly stating the types of services to be offered, preferably in a 
chart.
    (ii) Describe the applicant's legal relationship with sub-grantees 
(i.e. membership organization, field, or branch office, subsidiary 
organization, etc.)
    (iii) Explain the process that will be used to determine sub-
grantee funding levels and distribute funds. If applicable, indicate 
how sub-grantee funding levels are adjusted on an on-going basis based 
on performance.
    (b) Describe the level of effort and time the applicant anticipates 
is required to provide the proposed counseling services to, and meet 
the needs of, the number of clients it indicates in Section V.A.4.c 
(4)(a)-(d) that it will serve with the proposed grant. Explain and 
describe the activities corresponding to the average counseling time 
figures for each counseling type provided in Section V.A.4.c (4)(b).
    (c) Explain the figures provided in Section V.A.4.c (4)(c)-(d) 
regarding proposed group session participation and one-on-one 
counseling. Describe how clients are selected for one or the other, the 
relationship between the two, and the role that each will play in the 
overall service provision.
    (d) Indicate the names and titles of employees, including 
subcontractors and consultants, allocated to each proposed activity, as 
well as the corresponding staff hours for each task, and demonstrate 
that the applicant has the human resources to accomplish the proposed 
activities and serve the number of individuals the applicant proposes 
to serve. The staff information should include who from Rating Factor 1 
will be involved and any new staff, subcontractors or consultants that 
will be hired for the October 1, 2005-September 30, 2006 grant period.

(6) Projected Performance/Work Plan--Coordination (5 points).

    HUD will consider the extent to which, as compared to similar 
applicants, the applicant can demonstrate it will coordinate proposed 
activities with other organizations, and if applicable with other 
services and products offered by the applicant's organization, in a 
manner that benefits their clients. Scoring will also be based on the 
degree to which the applicant takes steps to avoid conflicts of 
interest, and discloses to clients that they have a choice in matters 
such as the loan product they choose and the house that they purchase.
    (a) Describe partnerships and efforts to coordinate proposed 
activities with other organizations, including, but not limited to, 
emergency and social services providers, lending organizations, 
homeowner insurance providers, down payment and closing cost assistance 
programs, and nonprofit housing providers. For example, describe 
agreements with lenders regarding non-traditional lending standards. 
Any written agreements or memoranda of understanding in place should be 
described and copies provided.
    Applicants should also highlight internal products and functions, 
such as loan products available to clients, down payment and closing 
cost assistance programs, as well as internal affordable housing 
programs that can be a resource for clients.
    Applicants requesting supplemental funding should highlight the 
partnerships or internal products that are relevant to the proposed 
predatory lending, Homeownership Voucher counseling, Colonias or HECM 
activities. For example, applicants for supplemental funding for 
predatory lending should also describe relevant partnerships and 
relationships with other organizations, including state and local 
government regulatory agencies, Legal Aid groups, and other 
organizations with whom the applicant collaborates on predatory lending 
cases and issues, or to whom the applicant refers clients affected by 
predatory lending.
    (b) Describe plans to avoid conflicts of interest, such as methods 
for disclosing to participants that they are free to choose lenders, 
loan products, and homes, regardless of the recommendations made by 
counselors. To receive full credit in this Section, the applicant must 
provide copies of the disclosure forms and materials used by the 
applicant to communicate to clients that, while affordable homes, 
lending products and other forms of assistance might be available 
through the applicant, and partnerships in which the applicant has 
entered, the client is under no obligation to utilize these services.
    (7) Projected Performance/Work Plan--Impact/Efficient Use of 
Resources (10 points).
    In scoring this Section, HUD will evaluate the number of clients 
that the applicant estimates will be served under the proposed HUD 
grant, by the applicant and sub-grantees, if applicable, for the grant 
period October 1, 2005, to September 30, 2006. Scoring will be based on 
the cost and quantity of clients the applicant proposes to serve, 
compared historical averages for similar services. Proposed clients 
served numbers will also be analyzed in the context of budget, costs, 
spending decisions, the types of services provided, level of effort 
expended, etc. HUD will also factor in other information that 
demonstrates that resources are being used efficiently; for example, 
the percentage of grant funds intermediaries and SHFAs pass through to 
sub-grantees Additionally, HUD will evaluate the geographic coverage of 
the applicant's proposed activities.
    In the case of intermediaries and SHFAs, the number of proposed 
sub-grantees and branches, the overall size and scope of the counseling 
network will be a factor in the scoring.
    (a) Provide a context for, or qualify the number of clients the 
applicant projects to serve with the proposed HUD grant. Indicate how 
location, counseling and client types, and expenses may affect client 
volume, and whether the impact will be short-term or long-term. Justify 
proposed expenses and explain why they are reasonable, strategic, and 
appropriate for the counseling activities identified above.
    Explain and justify significant changes, relative to past 
performance and grant/budget size, in the number of clients the 
applicant proposes to serve. For example, describe changes in the types 
of counseling being delivered, costs, etc.
    (b) Intermediaries and SHFAs must also indicate what percentage of 
their proposed award will be passed through directly to sub-grantees 
and branches, and explain how funds not passed through will be spent.
    LHCAs that apply under Applicant Category 1 must indicate what 
percentage of their proposed award will be spent on the salaries and 
benefits of housing counselors and project directors. Explain in detail 
how other proposed funds will be spent.
    (c) LHCAs must list all branch offices and indicate if they will be 
funded through the proposed award. Also, describe the applicant's 
geographic coverage. For example, indicate the percentage of a 
metropolitan area that will be covered by the grantee, and if the 
applicant will operate in more than one state, identify the states and 
what percent of coverage in each the applicant will provide.
    Intermediaries and SHFAs must also identify the sub-grantees and 
branches, and corresponding states, the applicant proposes will receive 
funding through this grant award. In the event that different sub-
grantees or branches will be selected for comprehensive counseling and/
or the supplemental funding types, separately list proposed sub-
grantees and branches for each. Applicants unable to precisely identify

[[Page 13821]]

proposed sub-grantees and branches to receive funding through the 
proposed grant must identify the most likely sub-grantees and branches, 
based on past experience, and explain what process will be used to 
select actual sub-grantees and branches. Pursuant to the applicable 
regulations at 24 CFR 84.82(d)(3)(iii) and 85.30(d)(4), grantees must 
receive HUD's prior written approval for sub-grants.

d. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (10 Points)

    HUD housing counseling grants are not intended to fully fund an 
applicant's housing counseling program, or that of its sub-grantees. 
All organizations that use housing counseling grant funds are expected 
to seek other private and public sources of funding for housing 
counseling to supplement HUD funding. Any agency that does not have 
other resources available will receive no points for this factor.
    Applicants will be evaluated based on their ability to show that 
they have obtained additional resources for their housing counseling 
activities, including: direct financial assistance; in-kind 
contributions, such as services, equipment, office space, labor; etc. 
Resources may be provided by governmental entities, public or private 
nonprofit organizations, for-profit private organizations, or other 
entities committed to providing assistance. Grantees will be required 
to maintain evidence that leveraged funds were actually provided to the 
agency. These files will be reviewed by HUD staff as a part of the 
biennial reviews and on-site monitoring visits.
    (1) Applicants must provide a comprehensive list of all leveraged 
funds and in-kind contributions being claimed. Include the amount and 
the source. All contributions, including cash and third party in-kind, 
shall be accepted as part of the recipient's cost sharing or matching 
when such contributions meet all of the criteria set forth in 24 CFR 
84.23.
    (2) Additionally, resources provided by the applicant may count as 
leveraged resources. These amounts must include only funds that will 
directly result in the provision of housing counseling services, but 
not resources for activities such as down payment and closing cost 
assistance, IDA programs, and emergency services.
    (3) Intermediaries and SHFAs should include information on 
leveraged resources for their entire counseling network and program, 
not simply anticipated sub-grantees that will be funded through this 
application.
    (4) Points for this factor will be awarded based on the 
satisfactory level of leveraging and financial sustainability and the 
percentage of the applicant's total housing counseling budget that the 
requested HUD housing counseling funds would represent. Depending on 
organization type, the following scales will be used to determine 
scores for this factor:

LHCAs and SHFAs

1-25%--10 points
26-40%--9 points
41-48%--8 points
49-55%--7 points
56-65%--6 points
66-75%--5 points
76-85%--4 points
86-91%--3 points
92-95%--2 points
96-99%--1 point

Intermediaries

1-15%--10 points
16-23%--9 points
24-29%--8 points
30-35%--7 points
36-41%--6 points
42-47%--5 points
48-53%--4 points
54-59%--3 points
60-65%--2 points
66-99%--1 point

e. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (8 Points)

    This factor emphasizes HUD's determination to ensure that 
applicants meet commitments made in their applications and grant 
agreements and assess their performance to realize performance goals, 
and reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of ethics, management 
and accountability.
    The purpose of this factor is for the applicant to identify program 
outputs and outcomes that will allow it and HUD to measure actual 
achievements against anticipated achievements. Outputs and outcomes 
must be objectively quantifiable.
    In scoring this section, HUD will consider the thoroughness of the 
response, as well as the appropriateness of the proposed outcomes given 
the proposed HUD award and past performance, as compared to similar 
applicants.

(1) Program Outcome Logic Model (6 Points)

    Applicants must complete and submit Form HUD-96010 identifying 
activities to be performed, program outputs and outcomes to be achieved 
with grant funds. Applicants must also submit an effective, 
quantifiable, outcome-oriented evaluation plan for measuring 
performance and determining that output and outcome goals have been 
met. Applicants must submit a program evaluation plan, consisting of 
the completed Form HUD-96010, Program Outcome Logic Model, and 
corresponding narrative, that identifies what will be measured, how it 
will be measured, and the steps the applicant has in place to make 
adjustments to the work plan if performance targets are not met within 
established timeframes. Specifically, the plan must identify:
    (a) Outputs. Outputs are the direct products of the applicant's 
activities that lead to the ultimate achievement of outcomes. Examples 
of outputs include, but are not limited to, the number of individual 
counseling sessions, the number of group sessions to be provided, the 
number of materials to be distributed, and outreach activities. 
Identify interim and full grant term outputs, and time frames for 
accomplishing these goals. The plan must show how the applicant will 
measure actual accomplishments against anticipated achievements.
    [sbull] Provide the following figures. Do not provide ranges or 
percentages, but a specific numbers of clients. These amounts should 
represent individuals to be served entirely with HUD housing counseling 
funding. If, in reality, various funding sources will contribute to the 
services provided each individual, the applicant must prorate their 
response to reflect a figure representing services provided with only 
funding from the proposed grant.
    [sbull] The total number of clients the applicant projects it and, 
if applicable, sub-grantees, will serve under the total proposed HUD 
grant, including all requested supplemental funding.
    [sbull] If requesting supplemental funding, indicate the specific 
number of clients the applicant projects it, or if applicable, sub-
grantees, will serve under the comprehensive counseling portion of the 
requested award.
    [sbull] If requesting supplemental funding, separately indicate for 
each specific type of supplemental funding being requested, the number 
of clients the applicant projects it, or if applicable, sub-grantees, 
will serve under the proposed supplemental funding. The total number of 
clients that will receive only Homebuyer Education Workshops or other 
types of classes offered as group sessions with the proposed award in 
general, and under each of the applicable supplemental funding types.
    [sbull] The number of clients that will participate in one-on-one 
counseling only, with the proposed award in general, and under each of 
the applicable supplemental funding types.

[[Page 13822]]

    (b) Work Plan Adjustments. Describe steps in place to make 
adjustments to the work plan if outputs are not met within established 
time frames or if the applicant begins to fall short of established 
outputs and time frames. National and regional intermediaries and SHFAs 
should indicate if and how the performance of sub-grantees and branch 
offices, affects current and future sub-grants and allocations.
    (c) Outcomes. Outcomes are benefits accruing to the families as a 
result of participation in the program. Outcomes are performance 
indicators the applicant expects to achieve or goals it hopes to meet 
over the term of the proposed grant. For the period October 1, 2005-
September 30, 2006, provide the following anticipated outcomes for 
clients as a result of the proposed grant. In other words, provide the 
figure that the applicant estimates for that outcome category under the 
HUD grant activities column on the Form HUD-9902.
    [sbull] The number of individuals receiving pre-purchase counseling 
that will purchase a home;
    [sbull] The number of individuals receiving pre-purchase counseling 
that are working toward becoming mortgage ready;
    [sbull] The number of individuals receiving pre-purchase counseling 
that, after evaluating their unique financial situation and the costs 
of homeownership, will elect not to purchase a home;
    [sbull] The number of individuals receiving default counseling that 
will successfully avoid foreclosure;
    [sbull] The number of individuals seeking help in locating or 
securing residence in rental housing that found alternative rental 
housing;
    [sbull] Applicants proposing to address predatory lending should 
indicate the number of clients affected by predatory lending counseled 
that will have their mortgage modified, refinanced, or otherwise 
assisted to avoid foreclosure.
    These specific outcomes correspond to the Form HUD-9902 data. The 
proposed outcomes the applicant provides will be compared to actual 
results in the measurement of grant performance and future grant 
application evaluations.
    (2) Information Collection (2 points).
    Describe the applicant's procedure for following-up with clients 
and collection of outcome information.
    B. Review and Selection Process. Two types of reviews will be 
conducted.
    1. Technical Review. First, each application will be reviewed for 
technical sufficiency, in other words, whether the application meets 
the threshold requirements set out in this NOFA and the General Section 
and whether all required forms have been submitted. The General Section 
provides the procedures for corrections to deficient applications.
    2. General Review. The second review considers the responses to the 
rating factors outlined above and other relevant information. 
Applications will be evaluated competitively and ranked against all 
other applicants that applied in the same funding category.
    3. Rating Panels. Detailed information on the rating review panels 
appears in the General Section.
    4. Minimum Score for Fundable Applications. The minimum score for 
fundable applications is 75 points.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    Following selection, applicants will receive notification from HUD 
regarding their application.
1. Publication of Recipients of HUD Funding
    HUD's regulations at 24 CFR Part 4 provide that HUD will publish a 
notice in the Federal Register to notify the public of all decisions 
made by the Department. Please see the General Section for more 
information on this topic.
2. Debriefing
    Applicants may receive a debriefing on their application 
submission. Please see the General Section for a further discussion of 
the time frame in which the debriefing request may be submitted.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

1. Environmental Requirements
    In accordance with 24 CFR 50.19(b)(9) and (12) of the HUD 
regulations, activities assisted under this program are categorically 
excluded from the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act 
and are not subject to environmental review under the related laws and 
authorities.
2. Audit Requirements
    Grantees that expend $500,000 or more in federal financial 
assistance in a single year (this can be program year or fiscal year) 
must be audited in accordance with the OMB requirements as established 
in 24 CFR part 84. Additional information regarding this requirement 
can be accessed at the following Web site: http://harvester.census.gov/
sac.
3. Other Matters
    a. Relocation. See the General Section.
    b. OMB Circulars and Government-wide Regulations Applicable to 
Financial Assistance Programs. See the General Section.
    c. Prohibition Against Lobbying Activities. See the General 
Section.
    d. Procurement of Recovered Materials. See the General Section.
    f. Executive Order 13279 Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-
Based and Community Organizations. See the General Section.
    g. Salary Limitation for Consultants. See the General Section.
    h. Executive Order 13132, Federalism. See the General Section.
    i. Sense of Congress. See the General Section.

C. Reporting

1. Fiscal Year Activity Report
    Grantees are required to submit Form HUD-9902, Fiscal Year Activity 
Report, via HUD's web-based Housing Counseling System (HCS). The 
information compiled from this report provides HUD with its primary 
means of measuring program performance.
2. Program Outcome Logic Model
    Grantees are required to submit an updated Form HUD-96010, Program 
Outcome Logic Model in accordance with the reporting requirements of 
the grant agreement. The information in this form provides the primary 
means through which HUD will monitor the ongoing performance of the 
grantee.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

A. Technical Assistance

    For technical assistance in downloading or submitting an 
application package using http:www.Grants.gov, contact the Grants.gov 
support desk at 800-518-Grants or by sending an e-mail to 
[email protected].

B. Programmatic Information

    For program related information, LHCAs and SHFAs should contact the 
HOC serving their area, as indicated below. Intermediaries should 
contact HUD Headquarters, Program Support Division at (202) 708-0317 
(this is not a toll-free number). Hearing and speech challenged persons 
may access the telephone numbers listed below by calling the Federal 
Information Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

[[Page 13823]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Homeownership center                        States
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHILADELPHIA HOMEOWNERSHIP CENTER Ms.    Connecticut, Delaware, District
 Brenda Bellisario, Acting Director,      of Columbia, Maine, Maryland,
 Program Support Division, Wannamaker     Massachusetts, Michigan, New
 Building, 100 Penn Square East, 12th     Hampshire, New Jersey, New
 Fl Philadelphia, PA 19107-3389, For      York, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
 programmatic information contact:        Rhode Island, Vermont,
 Robert Wright [email protected].    Virginia, West Virginia.
 (215) 656-0527 x3406.
ATLANTA HOMEOWNERSHIP CENTER Ms. Gayle   Alabama, Puerto Rico, Florida,
 Knowlson, Director, Program Support      Georgia, Illinois, Indiana,
 Division 40 Marietta Street, 8th Floor   Kentucky, Mississippi, North
 Atlanta, GA 30303-2806 For               Carolina, South Carolina,
 programmatic information contact: E.     Tennessee.
 Carolyn Hogans E.--Carolyn--
 [email protected] (404) 331-5001, x2129.
DENVER HOMEOWNERSHIP CENTER Ms. Irma     Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa,
 Devich, Director, Program Support        Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota,
 Division 1670 Broadway Denver, CO        Missouri, Montana, Nebraska,
 80202-4801 For programmatic              New Mexico, North Dakota,
 information contact: 303-672-5200 Vic    Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas,
 Karels x1995 Victor--E.--                Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
 [email protected] Jonna Munson x1987
 [email protected].
SANTA ANA HOMEOWNERSHIP CENTER Mr.       Alaska, Arizona, California,
 Jerrold Mayer, Director, Program         Hawaii, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada,
 Support Division 1600 N. Broadway        Washington.
 Suite 100 Santa Ana, CA 92706-3927 For
 programmatic information contact:
 Rhonda J. Rivera, rhonda--j.--
 [email protected] 1-888-827-5605 x3210.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

VIII. Other Information

A. Satellite Broadcast

    HUD will hold an informational broadcast via satellite for 
potential applicants to learn more about the program and the 
application. For more information about the date and time of the 
broadcast, consult the HUD Web site at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.

B. Public Access, Documentation, and Disclosure

    See the General Section of the SuperNOFA for more information on 
this topic.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2502-0261. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public 
reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to 
average hours per annum per respondent for the application and grant 
administration. This includes the time for collecting, reviewing, and 
reporting the data for the application, semi-annual reports and final 
report. The information will be used for grantee selection and 
monitoring the administration of funds. Response to this request for 
information is required in order to receive the benefits to be derived.

Appendix A--Form HUD-9902, Fiscal Year Activity Report

BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

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[[Page 13837]]



Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant 
Program
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: FR-4950-N-25; OMB Approval Number 
2539-0015
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 14.900 
Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control in Privately Owned Housing
    F. Dates: For 2005 HUD is accepting electronic applications 
utilizing Grants.gov. The application submission date is June 7, 2005. 
Applications submitted through www.grants.gov must be received by 
Grants.gov no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on June 7, 2005. 
All narrative files and any scanned documents must be submitted as a 
zip file, single attachment to the electronic application. See the 
General Section for specific instructions for application submissions 
procedures, timely filing, methods, acceptable proof of application 
submission and receipt procedures, and other information regarding 
application submission. Materials associated to your electronic 
application submitted by facsimile transmission must also be received 
by 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the application submission date. 
Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic submission requirement 
must submit their application to the United States Postal Service for 
delivery no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the application 
submission date. Please carefully read the submission and timely 
receipt requirements in the General Section.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of the Program. The purpose of the Lead-Based Paint 
Hazard Control Grant Program is to assist states, Native American 
Tribes and local governments in undertaking comprehensive programs to 
identify and control lead-based paint hazards in eligible privately 
owned housing for rental or owner-occupants.
    2. Available Funds. Approximately $93.6 million.
    3. Eligible Applicants. To be eligible to apply for funding under 
this program, the applicant must be a state, Native American Tribe, 
city, county, or similar unit of local government. Multiple units of a 
local government (or multiple local governments) may apply as part of a 
consortium; however, you must identify a lead applicant that will be 
responsible for ensuring compliance with all requirements specified in 
this NOFA. If you are a state or Tribal applicant, you must have a 
Lead-Based Paint Contractor Certification and Accreditation Program 
authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Current 
grantees with grants ending after December 31, 2005 are not eligible to 
apply.
    4. Match. A statutory minimum of 10 percent match is required.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Description

    The Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Program is authorized by 
Section 1011 of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act 
of 1992 (Title X of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, 
Public Law 102-550). HUD's authority for making funding available under 
this NOFA is the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005. The Lead-Based 
Paint Hazard Control Grant Program assists states, Native American 
Tribes and local governments in undertaking programs for the 
identification and control of lead-based paint hazards in eligible 
privately owned rental and owner-occupied housing units. Refer to 
Section II.C.2, below, for instructions on downloading a table, 
``Eligibility of HUD Assisted Housing,'' that lists the HUD-associated 
housing programs that meet the definition of eligible housing under 
this program. HUD is interested in promoting lead hazard control 
approaches that result in the reduction of elevated blood lead levels 
in children for the maximum number of low-income families with children 
under six years of age, for the longest period of time, and that 
demonstrate techniques which are cost-effective, efficient, and 
replicable elsewhere. Copies of HUD's Lead-Safe Housing Regulation, and 
the companion publication ``Interpretive Guidance: The HUD Regulation 
on Controlling Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing Receiving Federal 
Assistance and Federally Owned Housing Being Sold,'' are available from 
the National Lead Information Clearinghouse at 1-800-424-LEAD (this is 
a toll-free number). If you are a hearing- or speech-impaired person, 
you may reach the telephone number via TTY by calling the toll-free 
Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. Copies are also 
available from the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Web 
site at: www.hud.gov/offices/lead.
    1. Because lead-based paint is a national problem, these funds will 
be awarded to programs which:
    a. Maximize the combination of children under six years of age 
protected from lead poisoning and housing units where lead-hazards are 
controlled;
    b. Target the reduction of elevated blood lead levels in children 
for the maximum number of low-income families with children under six 
years of age, for the longest period of time, and that demonstrate 
techniques which are cost-effective, efficient, and replicable 
elsewhere.
    c. Stimulate cost-effective approaches that can be replicated;
    d. Emphasize lower cost methods of hazard control;
    e. Build local capacity to safely and effectively address lead 
hazards during lead hazard control, renovation, remodeling, and 
maintenance activities; and
    f. Affirmatively further fair housing and environmental justice.
    2. The objectives of this program include:
    a. Implementation of a national strategy, as defined in Title X of 
the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 4851 et 
seq.) (Title X), to build the community's capacity necessary to 
eliminate lead-based paint hazards in housing, as widely and quickly as 
possible by establishing a workable framework for lead-based paint 
hazard identification and control;
    b. Mobilization of public and private resources, involving 
cooperation among all levels of government, the private sector, and 
grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, including faith-
based organizations, to develop cost-effective methods for identifying 
and controlling lead-based paint hazards;
    c. Development of comprehensive community approaches which result 
in integration of all community resources (governmental, grassroots 
community-based nonprofit organizations, including faith-based 
organizations, or other community-based organizations, and private 
businesses) to address lead hazards in housing;
    d. Integration of lead-safe work practices into housing 
maintenance, repair, weatherization, rehabilitation, and other programs 
that will continue after the grant period ends;
    e. Establishment of a public registry (listing) of lead-safe 
housing or inclusion of the lead-safe status of properties in another 
publicly accessible address-based property information

[[Page 13838]]

system to be affirmatively marketed to families with young children; 
and
    f. To the greatest extent feasible, promotion of job training, 
employment, and other economic opportunities for low-income and 
minority residents and businesses that are owned by and/or employ 
minorities and low-income persons as defined in 24 CFR 135.5 (see 59 FR 
33881, June 30, 1994).
    3. Changes in FY2005 Competitive NOFA.
    a. The page limit for the narrative response to the rating factors 
has been reduced from 25 to 15 pages.
    b. Applicants are to complete and submit the Rating Factor Tables 
included in Section IV of this NOFA.
    c. The minimum percentage of the federal funds requested identified 
for direct lead hazard control activities has been increased from 60 to 
65 percent with temporary relocation now included as a direct lead 
hazard control activity. Direct lead hazard control activities consist 
of dust testing, combined lead paint inspection and risk assessments, 
interim controls, abatement of lead hazards, temporary relocation, and 
clearance examinations. Direct hazard control activities do not include 
blood lead testing of residents or workers, housing rehabilitation, 
training, community education and outreach, applied research, purchase 
of supplies or equipment, or administrative costs.

II. Award Information

A. Funding Available

    Approximately $93.6 million will be available for the Lead-Based 
Paint Hazard Control Grant Program. Approximately 32 to approximately 
40 grants will be awarded. Grant award amounts shall be from 
approximately $1 million up to a maximum of $3 million per grant. Of 
the total grants, a maximum of $32.7 million will be made available to 
applicants eligible for a Competitive Performance-Based Renewal grant, 
as defined below in Section III.A.1.b. Competitive Performance-Based 
Renewal award amounts shall be approximately $2 million up to a maximum 
of $4 million per grant. We anticipate awarding approximately seven to 
approximately ten grants to Competitive Performance-Based Renewal 
applicants. Approximately $60.9 million will be awarded to new, current 
and previously funded applicants not awarded Competitive Performance-
Based Renewal grants, as defined below in Section III.A.1.a. Grant 
award amounts for these grants shall be from approximately $1 million 
up to a maximum of $3 million per grant. The project duration shall be 
36 months for all grant recipients. Period of performance extensions 
for delays due to exceptional conditions beyond the grantee's control 
will be considered for approval by HUD in accordance with 24 CFR 
85.25(e)(2) and the OHHLHC Program Guide. Such extensions, when 
granted, are one time only, and for no longer than a period of one 
year.

B. Contracts or Other Formal Arrangements With Grassroots Community-
Based Nonprofit Organizations, Including Faith-Based Organizations

    If selected for funding, local and State applicants are encouraged 
to enter into formal arrangements with grassroots community-based 
nonprofit organizations, including faith-based organizations. (This 
does not apply to Native American Tribes.) These formal arrangements 
could be a contract, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), a Memorandum 
of Agreement (MOA), or a letter of commitment. Such relationships 
should be established prior to the actual execution of an award or 
within 120 days of the effective start date of the grant agreement.

III. Eligibility Information

    See the General Section for additional eligibility requirements 
applicable to HUD Programs.

A. Eligible Applicants

    1. To be eligible to apply for funding under this program, the 
applicant must be a State; Native American tribal government; or a 
city, county, or similar unit of local government. Multiple units of a 
local government (or multiple local governments) may apply as part of a 
consortium; however, you must identify a lead applicant that will be 
responsible for ensuring compliance with all requirements specified in 
this NOFA. State government and Native American tribal applicants must 
have an EPA approved State Program for certification of lead-based 
paint contractors, inspectors, and risk assessors in accordance with 40 
CFR 745. Current grantees with grants ending after December 31, 2005 
may not apply under this NOFA.
    a. ``General applicants'' are new applicants, previously funded 
lead-based paint hazard control grantee applicants whose period of 
performance ended prior to the NOFA publication date, and current 
grantees with grants ending on or before December 31, 2005 (including 
those who are not awarded under the Competitive Performance-Based 
Renewal category), and will be evaluated and scored as a separate 
group. Grantee applicants that are eligible to compete under the 
Competitive Performance-Based Renewal category will be evaluated and 
scored as a separate group.
    b. Eligible Applicants for Competitive Performance-Based Renewal 
Grants. Current grantees with grants ending on or before December 31, 
2005 must meet specific competitive performance criteria outlined in 
Section III.A.3, below, for the period ending March 31, 2005 to be 
eligible for a Competitive Performance-Based Renewal Grant. Eligible 
applicants that do not receive funding under the Competitive 
Performance-Based Renewal category will be evaluated and scored in the 
General applicant category. Unsuccessful applicants under the 
Competitive Performance-Based Renewal category will be evaluated and 
scored in the general applicant category. If your requested funding 
amount for a Competitive Performance-Based Renewal application exceeds 
$3 million, and if you wish to be considered for a General category 
grant should you not be funded for a Competitive Performance-Based 
Renewal grant, you must submit a separate application for the General 
category with a funding request not exceeding $3 million in order to be 
considered for funding in the General category if your Competitive 
Performance-Based Renewal grant application is not funded.
    2. Applicants may submit only one application for each category in 
which you are eligible to apply. If a single applicant submits multiple 
applications, this will be considered a technical deficiency and the 
application review process delayed until the applicant notifies HUD in 
writing which application should be reviewed. Your other applications 
will be returned without being rated or ranked.
    3. Minimum Eligibility Criteria for Competitive Performance-Based 
Renewal Grants Eligibility Criteria For Period Ending March 31, 2005 *

[[Page 13839]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Percent of grant
                                                            agreement
                                      Percent of grant    federal funds
                                       agreement units     reimbursed
Calendar quarter of grant expiration    completed and   through the line
                                           cleared          of credit
                                                         control system
                                                             (LOCCS)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
April-June..........................               100                80
July-September......................                95                75
October-December....................                80                60
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    * Based on Quarterly Progress Reporting Data submitted to HUD for 
the reporting period ending March 31, 2005.
    By achieving the above-referenced minimum level of performance both 
for percent of units cleared and grant award disbursement (as reported 
through LOCCS), current grantees are eligible for competition under the 
Competitive Performance-Based Renewal category for receiving additional 
funds.
    4. Existing grantees awarded grant funds under this category will 
be required to meet the terms and conditions of their current grant 
agreement and any additional applicable requirements under this NOFA 
and subsequent grant agreement modification. HUD may terminate awards 
to grantees that fail to meet established milestones or benchmark 
performance standards established by this NOFA or the Award Agreement.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    You must provide a matching contribution of at least 10 percent of 
the requested grant sum. This may be in the form of cash, including 
private sector funding, or in-kind (non-cash) contributions or a 
combination of these sources. With the exception of Community 
Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, Federal Revenue Sharing programs, 
or other programs which by statute allow their funds to be considered 
local funds and therefore eligible to be used as matching funds, 
federal funds may not be used to satisfy the statutorily required 10 
percent matching requirement. Federal funds may be used, however, for 
contributions above the statutory requirement. If an applicant does not 
include the minimum 10% match in the application, it will be considered 
ineligible for an award. The applicant must submit a letter of 
commitment for the match from each organization other than itself that 
is providing a match, whether cash or in-kind. The letter must describe 
the contributed resources that you will use in the program and their 
designated purpose. The signature of the authorized official on the 
Form SF-424 commits matching or other contributed resources of the 
applicant organization. A separate letter from the applicant 
organization is not required.

C. Other

1. Eligible Activities
    All lead hazard control activities must be conducted in compliance 
with the applicable requirements of HUD's Lead-Safe Housing Regulation, 
24 CFR Part 35, and as clarified in HUD's Interpretive Guidance about 
the rule located at http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead. Activities must 
also comply with any additional requirements in effect under a state or 
Tribal Lead-Based Paint Training and Certification Program that has 
been authorized by the EPA pursuant to 40 CFR 745.320.
    There are, in general, four categories of expenditures under this 
grant program, as are discussed below. They are: direct costs for lead 
hazard identification control activities, direct costs for other 
activities, indirect costs, and administrative costs.
    a. Direct Lead Hazard Identification and Control Activities. The 
proposed budget must show a minimum of 65 percent of the total Federal 
amount requested identified for direct lead hazard control activities. 
Direct lead hazard control activities consist of dust testing, combined 
lead paint inspection and risk assessments, interim controls, abatement 
of lead hazards, temporary relocation of occupants when lead hazard 
control intervention work is conducted in a unit, and clearance 
examinations. Direct hazard control activities do not include blood 
lead testing of residents or workers, housing rehabilitation beyond 
what is specifically required to carry out effective hazard control, 
and without which the hazard control could not be completed and 
maintained, training, community education and outreach, applied 
research, purchase of supplies or equipment, or administrative costs. 
The remaining 35 percent of the funds are to be used for other direct 
costs, including those discussed in Section III.C.1.b below, or 
indirect costs. See budget section IV.B.1.c(4), below, for discussion 
of these cost limits.
    (1) Performing dust testing, combined lead-based paint inspections 
and risk assessments, and engineering and architectural activities that 
are required for, and in direct support of, interim control and lead 
hazard abatement work, of eligible housing units constructed prior to 
1978 to determine the presence of lead-based paint and/or lead hazards 
from paint, dust, or soil through the use of acceptable testing 
procedures. The purchase or lease of a maximum of two X-ray 
fluorescence analyzers used by the grant program, if not already 
available, are eligible costs. All test results must be provided to the 
owner of the unit, together with a notice describing the owner's legal 
duty to disclose the results to tenants and buyers.
    (2) Conducting lead hazard control activities that may include any 
combination of the following strategies. All lead hazards identified in 
a housing unit or common area of multifamily housing enrolled in this 
grant program must be controlled or eliminated by any combination of 
these strategies.
    (a) Interim controls of lead-based paint hazards including lead-
contaminated soil in housing (that must include specialized cleaning 
techniques to address lead dust), according to the HUD Guidelines, 
located at http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead.
    (b) Abatement. The complete abatement of all lead-based paint 
hazards in a unit or structure is acceptable if it is cost-effective. 
Abatement of lead-contaminated soil should be limited to areas with 
bare soil in the immediate vicinity of the structure, i.e. drip line or 
foundation of the unit being treated, and children's play areas.
    (3) Undertaking minimal housing rehabilitation activities that are 
specifically required to carry out effective hazard control, and 
without which the hazard control could not be completed and maintained. 
These grant funds may be used for lead hazard control work done in 
conjunction with other housing rehabilitation programs. HUD encourages 
integration of this grant program with housing rehabilitation, 
maintenance,

[[Page 13840]]

weatherization, and other energy conservation activities.
    (4) Conducting clearance dust-wipe testing and laboratory analysis 
(the laboratory must be recognized by EPA's National Lead Laboratory 
Accreditation Program (NLLAP) as being capable of performing lead 
analyses of samples of paint, dust-wipes, and/or soil).
    (5) Purchasing or leasing supplies having a per-unit cost under 
$5,000.
    (6) Performing blood lead testing and air sampling to protect the 
health of the hazard control workers, supervisors, and contractors.
    b. Eligible Other Direct Costs that you or your sub-recipients may 
undertake, include:
    (1) Carrying out temporary relocation of families and individuals 
during the period in which hazard control is conducted and until the 
time the affected unit receives clearance for re-occupancy. If families 
or individuals are temporarily relocated in a project which utilizes 
Community Development Block Grant funds, the guidance and requirements 
of 24 CFR 570.606(b)(2)(i)(D)(1)-(3) must be met. HUD recommends you 
review these regulations when preparing your proposal.
    (2) Conducting targeted community awareness, affirmative marketing, 
education or outreach programs on lead hazard control and lead 
poisoning prevention designed to increase the ability of the program to 
deliver lead hazard control services including educating owners of 
rental properties, tenants, and others on the Residential Lead-Based 
Paint Hazard Reduction Act, Lead-Safe Housing Rule, and applicable 
provisions of the Fair Housing Act especially as it pertains to 
familial status (i.e. families with children) and disability 
discrimination, and offering educational materials in languages other 
than English that are common in the community, consistent with HUD's 
published LEP Recipient Guidance, 68 FR 70968, and providing training 
on lead-safe maintenance and renovation practices and management. Upon 
request, this also would include making all materials available in 
alternative formats to persons with disabilities (e.g., Braille, audio, 
and large type).
    (3) Supporting data collection, analysis, and evaluation of grant 
program activities. This includes compiling and delivering such 
information and data as may be required by HUD. This activity is 
separate from administrative costs.
    (4) Preparing a final report at the conclusion of grant activities.
    (5) Conducting required pre-hazard control blood lead testing of 
children under six years of age residing in units undergoing lead paint 
inspection/risk assessment, or hazard control, unless reimbursable from 
Medicaid or another source.
    (6) Providing resources to build capacity for lead-safe housing and 
lead hazard control, including free delivery of HUD-approved lead-safe 
work practices training courses for housing rehabilitation contractors, 
rehabilitation workers, homeowners, renters, painters, remodelers, 
maintenance staff, and others conducting renovation, rehabilitation, 
maintenance or other work in private housing; free delivery of lead 
sampling technician training, lead-based paint worker or contractor 
certification training; and subsidies for licensing or certification 
fees to low-income persons seeking credentials as lead-based paint 
workers or contractors or lead sampling technicians.
    (7) Providing instruction, training, materials and supplies for 
dust control activities to grassroots community-nonprofit based 
organizations, including faith-based organizations, or other community-
based organizations, parent organizations, homeowners, and renters in 
low-income private housing.
    (8) Conducting planning, coordination, and training activities to 
comply with HUD's Lead-Safe Housing Rule (24 CFR Part 35). These 
activities should support the expansion of a workforce properly trained 
in lead-safe work practices which is available to conduct interim 
controls on HUD assisted housing covered by these regulations. The 
regulation and interpretive guidance about the rule are available from 
the National Lead Information Center at 1-800-424-LEAD (this is a toll-
free number). If you are a hearing- or speech-impaired person, you may 
reach the telephone number via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal 
Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. Copies are also available 
from the HUD Web site at: http://www.hud.gov.
    (9) Participating in applied research, studies, or developing 
information systems to enhance the delivery, analysis, or conduct of 
lead hazard control activities, or to facilitate targeting and 
consolidating resources to further childhood lead poisoning prevention 
efforts.
    2. Eligibility of HUD-Assisted Housing. The chart ``Eligibility of 
HUD-Assisted Housing,'' posted at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm, lists the housing units that may participate 
under the Lead Hazard Control Grant Program. Only those HUD-assisted 
units on the list are eligible to participate and receive Lead-Based 
Paint Hazard Control Grant funds.
    3. Threshold Requirements. As an eligible applicant, you must meet 
all of the threshold requirements in Section III.C of the General 
Section as well as any specific threshold requirements listed in this 
subsection. Applications will not be funded if they do not meet the 
threshold requirements.
    a. Applicants are required to match 10 percent of the grant funds 
requested with other funds or resources.
    b. EPA Authorization. If you are a State government or Indian 
(Native American) Tribal government, you must have an EPA-authorized 
Lead-Based Paint Training and Certification Program in effect on the 
application deadline date to be eligible to apply for Lead Based Paint 
Hazard Control Grant funds. The approval date in the Federal Register 
notice published by the EPA will be used in determining the Training 
and Certification status of the applicant state or Indian (Native 
American) Tribal government. If you do not have an EPA authorized 
program, the application will not be rated or ranked.
    c. DUNS Requirement. You will need to obtain a Dun and Bradstreet 
Universal Data Numbering System (DUNS) number in order to register and 
submit your electronic application on line through http://www.grants.gov. To obtain a DUNS number your can follow the directions 
on HUD's grants page at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/duns.cfm 
or at http://www.grants.gov/GetStarted.
4. Program Requirements
    a. Environmental Requirements. Recipients of lead-based paint 
hazard control grants must comply with 24 CFR Part 58, ``Environmental 
Review Procedures for Entities Assuming HUD Environmental 
Responsibilities.'' Recipients and other participants in the project 
are prohibited from committing or expending HUD and non-HUD funds on 
the project until HUD approves the recipient's Request for the Release 
of Funds (form HUD 7015.15) or the recipient has determined that the 
activity is either Categorically Excluded, not subject to the related 
Federal laws and authorities pursuant to 24 CFR 58.35(b) or exempt 
pursuant to 24 CFR 58.34. For Part 58 procedures, see http://
www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/energyenviron/environment/index.cfm. For 
assistance, contact Karen Choi, the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead 
Hazard Control Environmental Officer at (213) 534-2458 (this is not a 
toll free-number) or the HUD Environmental Review Officer in the HUD 
Field Office serving your area. If you are a hearing-

[[Page 13841]]

or speech-impaired person, you may reach the telephone number via TTY 
by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-
877-8339. Recipients of a grant under this funded program will be given 
additional guidance in these responsibilities.
    b. Executive Order 13202. Compliance with HUD regulations at 24 CFR 
5.108 that implement Executive Order 13202, ``Preservation of Open 
Competition and Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors' 
Labor Relations on Federal and Federally-Funded Construction 
Projects,'' is a condition of receipt of assistance under this NOFA.
    c. Administrative Requirements.
    (1) Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (Title X of the Housing 
and Community Development Act of 1992), Section 1011 of Title X. 
Section 217 of Public Law 104-134 (the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions 
and Appropriations Act of 1996, 110 Stat. 1321, approved April 26, 
1996) amended Section 1011(a) of the Residential Lead-Based Paint 
Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 (Title X) to read as follows: ``Sec.1011. 
Grants for Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction in Target Housing
    ``(a) General Authority. The Secretary is authorized to provide 
grants to eligible applicants to target the reduction of elevated blood 
lead levels in children for the maximum number of low-income families 
with children under six years of age in housing that is not federally 
assisted housing, federally owned housing, or public housing, for the 
longest period of time, and that demonstrate techniques which are cost-
effective, efficient, and replicable elsewhere. Grants shall only be 
made under this section to provide assistance for housing that meets 
the following criteria--
    ``(1) for grants made to assist rental housing, at least 50 percent 
of the units must be occupied by or made available to families with 
incomes at or below 50 percent of the area median income level and the 
remaining units shall be occupied or made available to families with 
incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median income level, and in 
all cases the landlord shall give priority in renting units assisted 
under this section, for not less than 3 years following the completion 
of lead abatement activities, to families with a child under the age of 
six years, except that buildings with five or more units may have 20 
percent of the units occupied by families with incomes above 80 percent 
of area median income level.
    ``(2) for grants made to assist housing owned by owner-occupants, 
all units assisted with grants under this section shall be the 
principal residence of families with income at or below 80 percent of 
the area median income level, and not less than 90 percent of the units 
assisted with grants under this section shall be occupied by a child 
under the age of six years or shall be units where a child under the 
age of six years spends a significant amount of time visiting''. For 
the purposes of complying with Section 1011, a unit occupied by a 
pregnant woman meets the Congressional intent of promoting primary 
prevention and therefore, can be assisted by this program.
    (2) Certified and Trained Performers. Funded activities must be 
conducted by persons qualified for the activities according to 24 CFR 
Part 35 (possessing certification as abatement contractors, risk 
assessors, inspectors, abatement workers, or sampling technicians, or 
others having been trained in a HUD-approved course in lead-safe work 
practices).
    (3) Consolidated Plans. (This requirement does not apply to Native 
American Tribes.) If your jurisdiction has a current HUD-approved 
Consolidated Plan, you must submit, as an appendix, the lead-based 
paint element included in the approved Consolidated Plan. If the 
Analysis of Impediments (AI) includes references to lead-based paint as 
an impediment to fair housing, this should be included in your 
application as well. If your jurisdiction does not have a currently 
approved Consolidated Plan, but it is otherwise eligible for this grant 
program, you must include your jurisdiction's abbreviated Consolidated 
Plan, which includes a lead-based paint hazard control strategy 
developed in accordance with 24 CFR 91.235. You may provide a currently 
validated web site (URL) reference where the required documentation 
above is readily accessible for use, instead of submitting the 
documentation itself.
    (4) Lead hazard evaluation and control work must be conducted in 
compliance with HUD's Lead Safe Housing Rule, 24 CFR Part 35, the HUD 
Guidelines, and applicable federal, state and local regulations and 
guidance.
    (5) Prohibited Practices. You must not engage in the following 
prohibited practices:
    (a) Open flame burning or torching;
    (b) Machine sanding or grinding without a high-efficiency 
particulate air (HEPA) exhaust control;
    (c) Uncontained hydro blasting or high-pressure wash;
    (d) Abrasive blasting or sandblasting without HEPA exhaust control;
    (e) Heat guns operating above 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit;
    (f) Chemical paint strippers containing methylene chloride or other 
volatile hazardous chemicals in a poorly ventilated space; and
    (g) Dry scraping or dry sanding, except scraping in conjunction 
with heat guns or around electrical outlets or when treating no more 
than two square feet in any one interior room or space, or totaling no 
more than 20 square feet on exterior surfaces.
    (6) Written Policies and Procedures. You must have clearly 
established, written policies and procedures for eligibility, program 
marketing, unit selection, expediting work on homes occupied by 
children with elevated blood lead levels, and all phases of lead hazard 
control, including risk assessment, inspection, development of 
specifications, pre-hazard control blood lead testing, financing, 
temporary relocation and clearance testing. Grantees, subcontractors, 
sub-grantees, sub-recipients, and their contractors must adhere to 
these policies and procedures.
    (7) Continued Availability of Lead-Safe Housing to Low-Income 
Families. Units in which lead hazards have been controlled under this 
program shall be occupied by and/or continue to be available to low-
income residents as required by Title X (Section 1011). You must 
maintain a publicly available registry (listing) of units in which lead 
hazards have been controlled and ensure that these units are 
affirmatively marketed to agencies and families as suitable housing for 
families with children under six years of age. The grantee must also 
notify the owner of the lead hazard evaluation and control information 
generated by activities under this grant, so that the owner will comply 
with disclosure requirements under 24 CFR part 35, Subpart A.
    (8) Testing. In developing your application budget, include costs 
for lead paint inspection, risk assessment, and clearance testing for 
each dwelling that will receive lead hazard control, as follows:
    (a) General. All testing and sampling shall conform to the current 
HUD Guidelines and federal, state, or tribal regulations developed as 
part of the appropriate contractor certification program, whichever is 
more stringent. It is particularly important to provide this full cycle 
of testing for lead hazard control, including interim controls. Testing 
must be conducted according to the HUD Guidelines, located at http://
www.hud.gov/offices/lead/guidelines/hudguidelines/index.cfm, and the 
EPA lead hazard standards rule at 40 CFR

[[Page 13842]]

part 745. All test results must be provided to the owner in a timely 
fashion.
    (b) Lead-Based Paint and Lead-Based Paint Hazard Identification. A 
combined lead-based paint inspection and risk assessment is required. 
You should ensure that lead paint inspection and risk assessment 
reports are conducted in accordance with established protocols and 
sufficient to support hazard control decisions.
    (c) Clearance Testing. Clearance testing shall be completed in 
accordance with Chapter 15 of the HUD Guidelines and the EPA lead 
hazards standards rule at 40 CFR part 745 for abatement projects and 
the Lead-Safe Housing Regulation (24 CFR part 35) for lead hazard 
control activities or other abatement. The clearance standards shall be 
the more restrictive of those set by the local jurisdiction, EPA, or 
HUD. In accordance with the HUD Guidelines, Table 7.3, for multi-family 
residential properties, clearance can be done on randomly selected 
units, and credit will be given for the entire project represented by 
the units that were randomly selected. If rehabilitation is conducted 
in conjunction with lead hazard control, clearance may be conducted 
either after the lead hazard control work is completed, and again after 
any subsequent rehabilitation work is completed, or after all of the 
lead hazard control and rehabilitation work is completed. Clearance 
shall be successfully completed before re-occupancy.
    (d) Blood lead testing. Each occupant who is under six years of age 
should be tested for lead poisoning within the six months preceding the 
housing intervention. Any child with an elevated blood lead level must 
be referred for appropriate medical follow-up. The standards for such 
testing are described in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
(CDC) publications Preventing Lead Poisoning in Young Children (1991), 
and Screening Young Children for Lead Poisoning: Guidance for State and 
Local Public Health Officials (1997).
    (9) Cooperation With Related Research and Evaluation. You shall 
cooperate fully with any research or evaluation sponsored by HUD, CDC, 
EPA or other government agency and associated with this grant program, 
including preservation of project data and records and compiling 
requested information in formats provided by the researchers, 
evaluators or HUD. This also may include the compiling of certain 
relevant local demographic, dwelling unit, and participant data not 
contemplated in your original proposal. Participant data shall be 
subject to Privacy Act protection.
    (10) Data collection. You will be required to collect and maintain 
the data necessary to document the various lead hazard control methods 
used and the cost of these methods. You should have a data archiving 
and electronic data backup system.
    (11) Section 3 Employment Opportunities. Please refer to Section 
III.C of the General Section. The requirements of Section 3 of the 
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 are applicable to this 
program. In your application you should demonstrate how you will ensure 
that, to the greatest extent feasible, training, employment, and other 
economic opportunities will be directed to low- and very-low income 
persons, particularly those who are recipients of government assistance 
for housing, and business concerns that provide economic opportunities 
to low- and very low-income persons. If you are funded, you will be 
required to submit Form HUD-60002 annually.
    (12) Replacing Existing Resources. Funds received under this grant 
program shall not be used to replace existing community resources 
dedicated to any ongoing project.
    (13) Certifications and Assurances. By submitting your application, 
you are making the certifications and assurances listed in section 
IV.B.1.b.
    (14) Conducting Business in Accordance with HUD Core Values and 
Ethical Standards. Refer to the General Section for information about 
conducting business in accordance with HUD's core values and ethical 
standards.
    (15) Lead-Safe Work Practice Training Activities. Applicants are 
encouraged to provide resources to promote the expansion of a workforce 
properly trained in lead-safe work practices and which is available to 
conduct interim controls and/or lead hazard abatement as well as follow 
lead-safe work practices while performing work on HUD assisted housing 
units per the provisions of the HUD Lead-Safe Housing Rule, 24 CFR 
35.1330(a)(4)(iii)(v), and to safely repair, rehabilitate, and maintain 
other privately-owned residential property.
    (16) By September 30, 2006, grantees are to participate in an 
established statewide or jurisdiction-wide strategic plan to eliminate 
childhood lead poisoning as a major public health problem by 2010, or 
are to assist in the development of such a plan in states or localities 
that do not have such a strategic plan. (Further guidance will be 
provided to grantees on developing a strategic plan.) Applicants shall 
demonstrate the nature of their collaboration with Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC) funded Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention 
grantees, which are now required to develop such plans, and the local 
CDC subgrantee(s), where they exist for the grant's proposed target 
area(s). A list of CDC childhood lead poisoning prevention programs can 
be downloaded from www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/grants/contacts/
keyContacts.htm. The CDC strategic elimination plans for state and 
local childhood lead poisoning prevention programs can be downloaded 
from http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/Strategic%20Elim%20Plans/
strategicplans.htm.
    Applicants shall include an outline of the steps that they will 
take to participate in or develop a statewide or jurisdiction-wide 
strategic plan. At a minimum, the plan must include the following 
elements:
    (a) Mission Statement;
    (b) Purpose and Background on Lead Poisoning Prevalence;
    (c) Goals, Objectives, and Activities; and
    (d) Evaluation Plan.
    (17) Coordination among Critical Agencies. Submit documentation of 
the existence and nature of formal cooperation regarding childhood lead 
poisoning prevention programs among health agencies, housing agencies, 
community development agencies, and code enforcement agencies (or 
equivalent) for their target area(s) local jurisdiction(s), and, for 
state or tribal applicants, for their state or tribal health agencies, 
housing agencies, development agencies. and code enforcement agencies 
(or equivalent). Documentation shall include memoranda of agreement, 
memoranda of understanding, operating plans, or similar materials that 
describe the coordinated childhood lead poisoning prevention effort. 
Where local or state governments have combined two or more of these 
functions into a larger organization, the documentation may be from 
either the individual component entities or the larger organization. As 
part of this documentation, describe how the health department and the 
housing and/or development agency will consider enrolling housing units 
(or multifamily buildings) in which one or more children under age 6 
years have elevated blood lead levels, with priority to housing where 
repeated and/or severe cases of childhood lead poisoning have occurred. 
(Because of the presence of a variety of priorities, it is not a 
requirement that units with lead-poisoned children be enrolled, but the

[[Page 13843]]

process for giving such units high priority should be described and 
implemented.)
    (18) Work Plan. For all grantees, the work plan shall consist of 
the goals and specific time-phased objectives established for each of 
the major activities and tasks required to implement the program. These 
major activities and tasks are outlined in the Quarterly Progress 
Reporting System (Form-HUD-96006) and include: Program Management and 
Capacity Building including data collection and program evaluation; 
Community Education, Outreach and Training; and Lead Hazard Activities 
including testing, interventions conducted, and temporary relocation.
    (a) You should provide documentation that addresses your 
jurisdiction's Consolidated Plan for pursuing goals for community 
planning and development programs and housing programs, the Community 
is tasked to address lead and other housing-related issues that affect 
the health of residents. The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) 
under which you received federal funding requires that your program 
submit ``a copy of the lead hazard control element included in your 
current program year's Consolidated Plan. (This does not apply to 
Native American Tribes) You should include the discussion of any lead-
based paint issues in your jurisdiction's Analysis of Impediments, 
particularly as it addresses your target areas.'' In accordance with 
the requirements set forth in the NOFA, your work plan must include a 
detailed strategy to:
    (i) Obtain data from state or local health departments on the 
addresses of housing units in which children have been identified as 
lead poisoned, as required by 24 CFR 91.100(a)(2).
    (ii) Formalize commitments, or provide documentation of 
commitments, with applicable state or local health and child welfare 
agencies, community development organizations, and housing agencies to 
team with the HUD Lead Hazard Control grantee to identify and address 
childhood lead poisoning in your jurisdiction collaboratively, and 
describe your methods for coordinating among these agencies.
    (iii) Address issues of patient confidentiality raised by the 
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) as 
it relates to the release of addresses of units where children have 
been poisoned by lead-based paint hazards within your jurisdiction; in 
addition, provide thorough details of all security measures to be taken 
to ensure that the privacy of patient information obtained for the 
purposes of public health services conducted through the lead hazard 
control program will be safeguarded.
    (iv) Describe how lead hazard units, especially those known to 
contain EBL children, will be identified, selected, prioritized, and 
considered for treatment under this grant and/or other programs of the 
grantee or grantee's team members. You must demonstrate how you 
consider housing units identified by local health and child welfare 
agencies where incidences of childhood lead poisoning have occurred, 
particularly those where multiple poisonings have been reported, for 
enrollment into lead hazard control treatment programs.
    (b) Demonstration of specific steps and/or actions that will be 
taken to ensure that other resources in the community are utilized to 
increase funding, to locate and provide training, and to link with 
other local programs engaged in lead hazard control activities;
    (c) The management plan that describes how the project will be 
managed, and the timeline for staffing the program, establishing a 
lead-based paint contractor pool, and obtaining HUD approval for the 
Release of Funds Request (HUD Form 7015.15);
    (d) Detailed description of how assistance and funding will flow 
from the grantee to the actual performers of the hazard reduction work;
    (e) Detailed description of the selection process for sub-grantees, 
sub-contractors, or sub-recipients;
    (f) Description of the financing mechanism used to support lead 
hazard control work in units (name of administering agency, eligibility 
requirements, type of financing (grant, forgivable or deferred loans, 
private sector financing etc.), any owner matching requirement, and the 
terms, conditions, and amounts of assistance available (include 
affordability terms and forgiveness and recapture of funds provisions);
    (g) Combined lead inspection and risk assessment testing procedures 
using EPA standards to identify lead hazards and to conduct clearance 
testing. [Dust wipe samples, soil samples and any paint samples to be 
analyzed by a laboratory must be analyzed by a laboratory recognized by 
the EPA National Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program (NLLAP)];
    (h) The process for developing work specifications and bids on 
properties selected for lead hazard control;
    (i) The specific intervention methods and clearance procedures to 
be conducted for units enrolled;
    (j) The number of rental-occupied, vacant, and owner-occupied units 
proposed for interim controls and hazard abatement;
    (k) The relocation plan that will be carried out for residents 
required to be out of their homes during hazard control activities;
    (l) The education, outreach, and training activities to be 
undertaken by the program;
    (m) The blood lead testing and other health measures to be 
undertaken to protect children under six, and other occupants of units 
undergoing lead hazard control work; and
    (n) The evaluation process used to measure program performance, 
with particular attention given to program performance in the five key 
areas evaluated by OHHLHC on a quarterly basis (cf. NOFA Rating Factor 
5 response): number of units inspected and risk assessed; number of 
units cleared of lead hazards; the amount of grant funds disbursed 
through the LOCCS system; the number of persons reached through 
outreach and education efforts; and, the number of persons trained in 
lead hazard control courses.
    (o) Objectives and Milestones. Measurable quarterly performance 
objectives include:
    (i) The overall objectives for lead hazard control activities 
including the total number of lead hazard evaluations, units projected 
to be completed and cleared, and the expenditure of Federal grant funds 
(HUD Agreement Form HUD-1044). Quarterly performance milestones are to 
be developed to achieve the overall objectives for these activities;
    (ii) The overall objectives for community education, outreach, and 
training activities. Quarterly performance milestones are to be 
developed to achieve the overall objectives for these activities;
    (iii) Quarterly performance benchmarks. The benchmarks for a 36-
month grant are on the Work Plan Development Worksheet with Minimum 
Benchmark Standards for 36 Months--Form HUD-96008. You can download 
Form HUD-96008 from http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm, and can also find it on the HUD OHHLHC web site at: 
http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/grantfrm/hudgrantee.cfm. Development of 
your work plan should include and reflect the benchmark standards.
    (19) A detailed budget submission which identifies the total budget 
(Federal share and matching

[[Page 13844]]

contribution) identified on Form HUD 424CB with supporting narrative 
and cost justifications for all budget categories of your grant 
request. You must provide a separate estimate for the overall grant 
management element (Administrative Costs), which is more fully defined 
in Section IV.E of this NOFA. The budget shall include not more than 10 
percent for administrative costs and not less than 90 percent for 
eligible direct costs. A minimum of 65 percent of the total federal 
amount requested must be dedicated to direct lead hazard control 
activities. (Applicants are to identify the direct lead hazard control 
costs that meet this requirement.) A table, ``Summary of Budget 
Category Funding Limits,'' that can be downloaded from http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm, shows the funding limits 
for the three categories, direct lead hazard identification and control 
activities, administrative costs, and total of other direct costs and 
indirect costs.
    You must provide a detailed budget for any subcontractors, 
subgrantees, or subrecipients receiving greater than 10 percent of the 
federal budget request. In the event of a discrepancy between grant 
amounts requested in various sections of the application, the amount 
you indicate on the Form SF-424 will govern as the correct value.
    (19) If your program includes conducting research involving human 
subjects in a manner which requires Institutional Review Board (IRB) 
approval and periodic monitoring under 24 CFR 60, which incorporates 
the Department of Health and Human Service's regulations at 45 CFR 46, 
subpart A, address how you will obtain such approval and your 
monitoring plan (before you can receive funds from HUD for activities 
that require IRB approval, you must provide an assurance that your 
study has been reviewed and approved by an IRB and evidence of your 
organization's institutional assurance). Describe how you will provide 
informed consent (e.g., from the subjects, their parents, or their 
guardians, as applicable) to help ensure their understanding of, and 
consent to, the elements of informed consent, such as the purposes, 
benefits, and risks of the research. Describe how this information will 
be provided and how the consent will be collected. For example, 
describe your use of `plain language' forms, flyers, and verbal 
scripts, and how you plan to work with families with limited English 
proficiency or primary languages other than English, and with families 
which include persons with disabilities.

IV. Application and Submission Procedures

A. Address To Request Application Package

    See the General Section for specific procedures concerning the 
electronic application submission requirements. Be advised that there 
is no Application Kit for this Lead Hazard Control Grant Program. All 
the information required to submit an application is contained in this 
Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA).
    Guidebook and Further Information. A guidebook to HUD programs 
entitled, ``Connecting with Communities: A User's Guide to HUD Programs 
and the FY2005 NOFA Process,'' is available from the HUD NOFA 
Information Center and the HUD Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. The guidebook provides a brief description 
of all HUD programs, identifies eligible applicants for the programs, 
and provides examples of how programs can work in combination to serve 
local community needs. You can also get a copy from the NOFA 
Information Center at (800) HUD-8929, or for the hearing impaired, 
(800) HUD-2209 (TTY) (these are toll-free numbers). You can obtain 
copies of the guidebook from HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. The Grants.gov support desk is 1-
800-518-Grants or by e-mail at support@Grants.gov. This help desk 
provides information on accessing and submitting the application.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    Application Submission Requirements for eligible Applicants (this 
includes General category applicants and those applicants qualifying 
for consideration under the Competitive Performance-based Renewal 
category). Applicants eligible to apply under this NOFA are to follow 
the submission requirements described in Section IV.B.1.a. below.

1. Applicant Information

    a. Application Format. The application narrative response to the 
Rating Factors from new and eligible prior grantees is limited to a 
maximum of 15 pages (excluding appendices and worksheets) of size 8\1/
2\'' x 11'' using a 12-point (minimum) font with not less than \3/4\'' 
margins on all sides. Appendices should be referenced and discussed in 
the narrative response. Materials provided in the appendices should 
directly apply to the specific rating factor narrative. Information 
that is not referenced or does not directly apply to a specific 
narrative response may not be rated or ranked by reviewers.
    b. Application Checklist (Voluntary). Your application must contain 
all of the required information noted in this NOFA and the General 
Section. These items include the standard forms, and the certifications 
and assurances listed in the General Section that are applicable to 
this NOFA. The forms required for application submission and 
instructions can be found in the application at www.grants.gov. Make 
sure you see the General Section for how to submit third party letters 
and other documents as part of your electronic submission utilizing 
form HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal. The ``Checklist and Submission 
Table of Contents'' below includes a listing of the required items 
needed for submitting a complete application and receiving 
consideration for funding. In the Checklist and Submission Table of 
Contents, note the corresponding page number where the response is 
located. Inclusion of this Checklist and Submission Table of Contents 
with your proposal is recommended but not required.

Checklist and Submission Table of Contents--Lead-Based Paint Hazard 
Control Grant Program

    [sbull] Application Checklist (Paper copy applications only)
    [sbull] Applicant Abstract (limited to a maximum of 2 pages)
    [sbull] Rating Factor Response (limited to a maximum of 15 
narrative pages plus the following forms)
    1. Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational 
Experience--Form HUD-96012
    2. Needs/Extent of the Problem--Form HUD-96013
    3. Soundness of Approach (Work Plan/Budget)--Form HUD-96014; and 
Work Plan Development Worksheet with Minimum Benchmark Standards for 36 
Months--Form HUD-96008
    4. Leveraging Resources--Form HUD-96015
    5. Achieving Results and Program Evaluation--Logic Model--Form HUD-
96010
    [sbull] Required materials in response to rating factors (does not 
count towards 15-page limit)
    Application for Federal Assistance--Form SF-424
    Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants--Form SF-424 
Supplement
    Grant Application Detailed Budget--HUD-424CB--Grant Application 
Detailed Budget Worksheet--HUD-424CBW, Total Budget (Federal Share

[[Page 13845]]

and Matching) with Supporting Narrative and Cost Justification
    Disclosure and Update Report--Form HUD-2880
    Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan--
Form HUD-2990
    Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan--Form HUD-
2991
    Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if applicable)--Form SF-LLL
    Facsimile Transmittal (for electronic applications)--Form HUD-96011
    Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers, including the required information (if applicable)--Form HUD-
27300, including required documentation or URL references--
    Acknowledgment of Application Receipt (for paper copy submissions 
only)--Form HUD-2993
    Client Comments and Suggestions--Form HUD-2994 (optional)
    [sbull] Threshold Requirements
    Lead-Based Paint Element in Consolidated Plan 10 Percent Matching 
Contribution
    [sbull] Material in support of the Rating Factors (20 page limit) 
Budget.
    Matching Contribution. An itemized breakout of your required 
matching contribution, including:
    Values placed on donated in-kind services;
    Letters or other evidence of commitment from donors; and
    The amounts and sources of contributed resources.
    Grant Team Members. Contracts, Memoranda of Understanding or 
Agreement, letters of commitment or other documentation describing the 
proposed roles of agencies, local broad-based task forces, 
participating grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, 
including faith-based organizations, local businesses, and others 
working with the program.
    Consolidated Plan Element. A copy or URL reference to the lead 
hazard control element included in your current program year's 
Consolidated Plan. (This does not apply to Native American Tribes.) You 
should include the discussion of any lead-based paint issues in your 
jurisdiction's Analysis of Impediments, particularly as it addresses 
your target areas.

C. Submission Dates and Times

1. Application Submission Dates
    The application submission date is June 7, 2005. Refer to the 
General Section for additional submission requirements including 
submission methods, proof of delivery, and other information regarding 
electronic application submission via Grants.gov.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    Not required.

E. Funding Restrictions

1. Ineligible Activities
    You may not use grant funds for the following ineligible 
activities:
    a. Purchase of real property.
    b. Purchase or lease of equipment having a per unit cost in excess 
of $5,000, except for the purchase of X-ray fluorescence analyzers.
    c. Chelation or other medical treatment costs related to children 
with elevated blood lead levels. Non-federal funds used to cover these 
costs may be counted as part of the required matching contribution.
    d. Lead hazard control activities in publicly owned housing, or 
project-based Section 8 housing (This housing stock is not eligible 
under Section 1011 of the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act).
    e. Activities that do not comply with the Coastal Barrier Resources 
Act (16 U.S.C. 3501).
    f. Lead-based paint hazard control of a building or manufactured 
home that is located in an area identified by the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency (FEMA) under the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 
1973 (42 U.S.C. 4001-4128), as having special flood hazards unless:
    (1) The community in which the area is situated is participating in 
the National Flood Insurance Program in accordance with the applicable 
regulations (44 CFR parts 59-79), or less than a year has passed since 
FEMA notification regarding these hazards; and
    (2) Where the community is participating in the National Flood 
Insurance Program, flood insurance on the property is obtained in 
accordance with section 102(a) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act (42 
U.S.C. 4012a(a)). You are responsible for assuring that flood insurance 
is obtained and maintained for the appropriate amount and term.
2. Administrative Costs
    There is a 10 percent maximum for administrative costs as specified 
in Section 1011(j) of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction 
Act of 1992 (Title X of the Housing and Community Development Act of 
1992, Public Law 102-550). Additional information about allowable 
administrative costs is provided below.
    a. Purpose. The intent of this HUD grant program is to allow the 
grantee to be reimbursed for the reasonable direct and indirect costs, 
for the overall management of the grant. In most instances the grantee, 
whether a state or a local government, principally serves as a conduit 
to pass funding to sub-grantees, which are to be responsible for 
conducting lead-hazard reduction work. Program planning and management 
costs of sub-grantees and other sub-recipients are not included in the 
10 percent maximum for grantee administrative costs. Congress set a 
maximum of 10 percent of the total grant sum for the grantee to perform 
the function of overall management of the grant program, including 
passing on funding to sub-grantees. The cost of that function, for the 
purpose of this grant, is defined as the ``administrative cost'' of the 
grant, and is limited to ten percent of the total grant amount. The 
balance of ninety percent or more of the total grant sum is reserved 
for sub-grantees or other direct-performers of lead-hazard 
identification and reduction work including relocation. For purposes of 
the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant Program, lead hazard 
identification and reduction includes lead paint inspection/risk 
assessments, interim controls, and abatement of lead hazards, clearance 
testing, and relocation.
    b. Administrative Costs: What They Are Not. For the purposes of 
this HUD grant program for States and local governments to provide 
support for the evaluation and reduction of lead-hazards in low- and 
moderate-income, private target housing, the term ``administrative 
costs'' should not be confused with the terms ``general and 
administrative cost,'' ``indirect costs,'' ``overhead,'' and ``burden 
rate.'' These are accounting terms usually represented by a government-
accepted standard percentage rate. The percentage rate allocates a fair 
share of an organization's costs that cannot be attributed to a 
particular project or department (such as the chief executive's salary 
or the costs of the organization's headquarters building) to all 
projects and operating departments (such as the Fire Department, the 
Police Department, the Community Development Department, the Health 
Department or this program). Such allocated costs are added to those 
projects' or departments' direct costs to determine their total costs 
to the organization.
    c. Administrative Costs: What They Are: For the purposes of this 
HUD grant program, ``Administrative Costs'' are the grantee's allowable 
direct costs for the overall management of the grant program plus the 
allocable indirect costs. The allowable limit of such costs that can be 
reimbursed under this program is 10 percent of the total grant

[[Page 13846]]

sum. Should the grantee's actual costs for overall management of the 
grant program exceed ten percent of the total grant sum, those excess 
costs shall be paid for by the grantee. However, excess costs paid for 
by the grantee may be shown as part of the requirement for cost-sharing 
funds to support the grant.
    d. Administrative Costs Definition: (1) General: Administrative 
costs are the allowable, reasonable, and allocable direct and indirect 
costs related to the overall management of the HUD grant for lead-
hazard reduction activities. Those costs shall be segregated in a 
separate cost center within the grantee's accounting system, and they 
are eligible costs for reimbursement as part of the grant, subject to 
the ten percent limit. Such administrative costs do not include any of 
the staff and overhead costs directly arising from specific sub-grantee 
program activities eligible under this NOFA, because those costs are 
eligible for reimbursement under a separate cost center as a direct 
part of project activities.
    The grantee may elect to serve solely as a conduit to sub-grantees, 
who will in turn perform the direct program activities eligible under 
this NOFA, or the grantee may elect to perform all or a part of the 
direct program activities in other parts of its own organization, which 
shall have their own segregated, cost centers for those direct program 
activities. In either case, not more than 10 percent of the total HUD 
grant sum may be devoted to administrative costs, and not less than 90 
percent of the total grant sum shall be devoted to direct program 
activities. The grantee shall take care not to mix or attribute 
administrative costs to the direct project cost centers. (2) Specific. 
Reasonable costs for the grantee's overall grant management, 
coordination, monitoring, and evaluation are eligible administrative 
costs. Subject to the ten percent limit, such costs include, but are 
not limited to, necessary expenditures for the following goods, 
activities and services: (a) Salaries, wages, and related costs of the 
grantee's staff, the staff of affiliated public agencies, or other 
staff engaged in grantee's overall grant management activities. In 
charging costs to this category the recipient may either include the 
entire salary, wages, and related costs allocable to the program for 
each person whose primary responsibilities (more than 75 percent of 
their time) with regard to the grant program involve direct overall 
grant management assignments, or the pro rata share of the salary, 
wages, and related costs of each person whose job includes any overall 
grant management assignments. The grantee may use only one of these two 
methods during this program. Overall, grant management includes the 
following types of activities:
    (i) Preparing grantee program budgets and schedules, and amendments 
thereto;
    (ii) Developing systems for the selection and award of funding to 
sub-grantees and other sub-recipients;
    (iii) Developing suitable agreements for use with sub-grantees and 
other sub-recipients to carry out grant activities;
    (iv) Developing systems for assuring compliance with program 
requirements;
    (v) Monitoring sub-grantee and sub-recipient activities for 
progress and compliance with program requirements;
    (vi) Preparing presentations, reports, and other documents related 
to the program for submission to HUD;
    (vii) Evaluating program results against stated objectives;
    (viii) Providing local officials and citizens with information 
about the overall grant program; however, a more general education 
program, helping the public understand the nature of lead hazards, lead 
hazard reduction, blood-lead screening, and the health consequences of 
lead poisoning is a direct project support activity);
    (ix) Coordinating the resolution of overall grant audit and 
monitoring findings; and
    (x) Managing or supervising persons whose responsibilities with 
regard to the program include such assignments as those described in 
paragraphs (a) through (i).
    (b) Travel costs incurred for official business in carrying out the 
overall grant management;
    (c) Administrative services performed under third party contracts 
or agreements, for services directly allocable to grant management such 
as: legal services, accounting services, and audit services;
    (d) Other costs for goods and services required for and directly 
related to the overall management of the grant program; and including 
such goods and services as telephone, postage, rental of equipment, 
renter's insurance for the program management space, utilities, office 
supplies, and rental and maintenance (but not purchase) of office space 
for the program.
    (e) The fair and allocable share of grantee's general costs that 
are not directly attributable to specific projects or operating 
departments such as salaries, office expenses and other related costs 
for local officials (e.g., mayor and city council members, etc.), and 
expenses for a city's legal or accounting department which are not 
charged back to particular projects or other operating departments. If 
a grantee has an established burden rate, it should be used; if not, 
the grantee shall be assigned a negotiated provisional burden rate, 
subject to final audit.
    3. Sixty-five percent (65 percent) of the total Federal funds 
requested must be used for direct lead hazard control activities. The 
remaining 35 percent of the funds can be used for other direct or 
indirect costs.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    Beginning in FY2005, HUD requires applicants to submit applications 
electronically through Grants.gov. Applicants interested in applying 
for funding must submit their application electronically via the Web 
site http://www.grants.gov unless you request and are granted a waiver 
to the electronic submission requirements. This site has easy to follow 
step-by-step instructions that will enable you to apply for HUD 
assistance. The www.grants.gov Web site includes a simple, unified 
application process to enable applicants to apply for grants online. 
See section IV.F of the General Section for additional information on 
the electronic process and how to request a waiver from the 
requirement.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

1. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (20 Points Maximum)
    This factor addresses your organizational capacity necessary to 
successfully implement the proposed activities in a timely manner. All 
applicants must respond to this Rating Factor. The rating of the 
``applicant'' or the ``applicant's staff'' for technical merit or 
threshold compliance, unless otherwise specified, includes any 
grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, including faith-
based organizations, sub-contractors, consultants, sub-recipients, and 
members of consortia that are firmly committed to your project.
    In rating this factor, HUD will consider: the applicant's recent, 
relevant, and successful demonstrated experience (including working 
with governments, parent groups, and grassroots community-based 
nonprofit organizations, including faith-based organizations) to 
undertake eligible program activities. Applicants are to identify the 
organizations or entities that will assist the applicant in 
implementing the program. The applicant must describe the knowledge and 
experience of the current or

[[Page 13847]]

proposed overall project director and day-to-day program manager in 
planning and managing large and complex interdisciplinary programs, 
especially involving housing rehabilitation, public health, or 
environmental programs. The applicant must demonstrate that it has 
sufficient personnel or will be able to retain qualified experts or 
professionals, and be prepared to perform lead hazard evaluation, lead 
hazard control intervention work, and other proposed activities within 
120 days of the effective date of the grant award. HUD reserves the 
right to terminate the grant if sufficient personnel or qualified 
experts are not retained within these 120 days. In the narrative 
response for this factor, you should include information on your 
program staff, their experience, their commitment to the program, 
salary information, and position titles. Resumes (for up to three key 
personnel) or position descriptions for those key personnel to be 
hired, and a clearly identified organizational chart for the lead 
hazard control grant program effort (and for the overall organization) 
must be included in an appendix. Indicate the percentage of time that 
key personnel will devote to all lead hazard control projects (see 
Factor 1 Table--Key Personnel and Partners). The applicant's day-to-day 
program manager must be experienced in the management of housing 
rehabilitation or lead hazard control, childhood lead poisoning 
prevention, or similar work involving project management, and must be 
dedicated to the proposed program for a minimum of 75 percent of the 
time. The applicant should provide a description of any previous 
experience in enrolling units and in completing lead hazard control 
work, housing rehabilitation or other work in a timely and effective 
manner. Describe how any other principal components of your agency, 
other public entities, or other organizations will participate in 
implementing or otherwise supporting or participating in the grant 
program. You may demonstrate capacity by thoroughly describing your 
prior experience in initiating and implementing lead hazard control 
efforts and/or related environmental, health, or housing projects. You 
should indicate how this prior experience will be used in carrying out 
your proposed comprehensive Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant 
Program.
    a. All Current or Previous HUD Lead-Based Paint Grantees (including 
Competitive Performance-Based Renewal applicants). If the applicant 
received previous HUD Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Grant funding, 
this past experience will be evaluated in terms of cumulative progress 
and achievements under the previous grant(s). If the applicant has 
received multiple HUD Lead Hazard Control Grants, performance under the 
most recent grant award will be primarily evaluated. The applicant must 
provide a description of its progress and performance implementing the 
most recent grant award including the total number of housing units 
enrolled, assessed, and completed and cleared as a result of program 
efforts. The applicant must also describe outcomes, capacity building 
efforts and impediments experienced during a previous Lead Hazard 
Control Grant program. Other work plan activities and tasks associated 
with implementing HUD's Lead-Safe Housing Regulation, integrating lead-
safe work practices into the private market, and promoting effective 
education, outreach, and other training activities should be described. 
The applicant should also describe specific instances where the program 
has contributed positive impacts in the community, and indicate what 
activities were undertaken to develop, enhance or expand the local 
infrastructure through collaboration.
    HUD's evaluation process will consider an applicant's past 
performance record as reported to HUD in effectively organizing and 
managing their grant operations, in meeting performance and work plan 
benchmarks and goals, and in managing funds, including their ability to 
account for funds appropriately, the timely use of funds received 
either from HUD or other Federal, State or local programs, and meeting 
performance milestones. HUD may also use other information relating to 
these items from sources at hand, including public sources such as 
newspapers, Inspector General or Government Accountability Office 
Reports or Findings, hotline complaints, or other sources of 
information that have been proven to have merit.
    b. Eligible grantees applying for consideration as Competitive 
Performance-Based Renewal Applicants. Competitive Performance-Based 
Renewal applicants must include the number of units cleared and the 
percentage of the current total award amount disbursed through LOCCS, 
as of March 31, 2005, in their response to Rating Factor 1, as 
described above in Section V.A.1. All applicants eligible to compete in 
the Competitive Performance-Based Renewal category in accordance with 
the eligibility table in Section III.A.4 will be evaluated against 
other Competitive Performance-Based Renewal category applicants. If a 
current lead hazard control grantee does not meet the established 
threshold requirements for Competitive Performance-Based Renewal, the 
application will not be considered under this category.
    (1) Rating Factor 1 will be scored according to the applicant's 
current grant performance using the Competitive Performance-Based 
Renewal Score Table below. Although the narrative response to Factor 1 
will not be initially reviewed, you must state your LOCCS and Units 
Cleared performance data in the narrative response to Factor 1 to be 
considered under the Competitive Performance-based Renewal category. 
The Factor will be scored up to 20 points using the score tables below.
    (a) Unit Production (15 points). The percentage of units completed 
and cleared as of March 31, 2005. Grantees whose percentage of units 
completed and cleared in their current agreement meets or exceeds the 
performance criteria in the table, ``Competitive Performance-Based 
Score Table for Units Completed and Cleared Based on Period of 
Performance End-Date,'' that can be downloaded from www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm, will be awarded points based on the 
table. Points will be awarded for the percentage of housing units 
cleared, compared to the commitment in the existing lead hazard control 
grant, with the number of points depending on the 2005 calendar year 
quarter (second, third or fourth) in which the grant expires. A grantee 
whose performance does not meet the performance criteria for its ending 
performance period quarter is ineligible for a Competitive-Based 
Renewal grant.
    (b) Cumulative LOCCS Drawdowns (5 Points). The cumulative drawdowns 
from LOCCS as a percentage of the federal funds awarded in their 
current agreement as of March 31, 2005. Grantees whose percentage of 
cumulative LOCCS drawdowns in their current agreement meets or exceeds 
the performance criteria below will be awarded points based in the 
table, ``Competitive Performance-Based Score Sheet for Federal Funds 
Reimbursed through the Line of Credit Control system (LOCCS) Based on 
Period of Performance End-Date,'' that can be downloaded from http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm, will be awarded points 
based on the table. Points will be awarded for the percentage of 
Federal funds reimbursed through LOCCS, compared to the commitment in 
the existing lead hazard

[[Page 13848]]

control grant, with the number of points depending on the 2005 calendar 
year quarter (second, third or fourth) in which the grant expires. A 
grantee whose performance does not meet the performance criteria for 
its ending performance period quarter is ineligible for a Competitive-
Based Renewal grant.
    (2) Once all eligible Competitive Performance-Based Renewal 
applicants have been evaluated, scored and ranked, any application not 
awarded funding in this category will receive consideration as a 
current or previously funded applicant in the General applicant 
category using the applicant's narrative responses to Rating Factors 1 
through 5 according to V.A.1(a)(2). The Competitive Performance-Based 
Renewal Score Tables will not be used to figure scoring in this 
circumstance. The Factor will be scored up to 20 points.
    d. All applicants are to complete the Factor 1 Table to support the 
narrative information submitted.
2. Rating Factor 2: Needs/Extent of the Problem (20 Points Maximum)
    This factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for the 
proposed program to address a documented problem related to lead-based 
paint and lead-based paint hazards in your identified target area(s). 
An applicant will be scored in this rating factor based on their 
documented need as evidenced by thorough, credible, and appropriate 
data and information. The evaluation will be based only on the 
applicant's documentation of the data submitted. The data submitted in 
response to this rating factor will be verified using data available 
from the Census, HUDuser, other data available to HUD and/or in 
cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 
applicant is to complete the Factor 2 Table--Need/Extent of the Problem 
in Section IV of this NOFA.
    A maximum of 20 Points will be awarded in this rating factor based 
on the information documenting the number of children with an elevated 
blood lead level, the number of pre-1978 housing units, and the number 
and percentage of families with incomes at or below 80% of the Area 
Medium Income as determined by HUD within your jurisdiction and/or 
target areas.
    a. Documented Number of Children with an Elevated Blood Lead (EBL) 
(10 Points Maximum).
    Provide the actual number of children documented as having an 
elevated blood lead (EBL) residing within the applicant's jurisdiction 
for the most recent complete calendar year and identify the source of 
the data. Data prior to calendar year 2001 will not be accepted. States 
must report the number in the city, county, or other area where funds 
will actually be used. Consortia of local governments must report the 
number in the cities or counties making up the consortium. For the 
purposes of this application, the ``documented number of children'' 
with an EBL is based on the CDC level of concern. A child under six 
years of age with a blood lead level test result equal to or greater 
than 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, which was performed 
by a medical health care provider is considered to have an EBL. The 
actual number of children with an EBL (not an estimate) must be 
reported to HUD in order to receive points for this sub-factor. Do not 
send the children's names or addresses or other identifiers. Failure to 
provide this number in the application means that no points will be 
awarded for this sub-factor. For you to receive maximum points for this 
rating factor there must be a direct relationship between your proposed 
lead hazard control activities and the documented community needs. 
Since an objective of the program is to prevent at-risk children from 
being poisoned, specific attention must be paid to documenting the 
identified need as it applies to any selected targeted area(s).
    Applicants are to use the Factor 2 Table to document the target 
area(s) need:
    Points based on the documented number of children with an EBL will 
be awarded based on the chart below.
    (1) Applicants are to complete the Factor 2 Table to document the 
number of children with an elevated blood lead level. Points will be 
awarded based on the documented number of children with an elevated 
blood lead level according to the table, ``Points Awarded for Number of 
Children Under Age 6 Years with an Elevated Blood Lead Level in Target 
Area,'' that can be downloaded from http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. The table shows the number of points awarded 
based on the number of children with an elevated blood lead level in 
the grant target area(s).
    b. Housing market data relevant to the specified target area(s) 
Housing Age for the following sub-categories: Pre-1940, 1940-1949, 
1950-1959, 1960-1969, 1970-1979 and 1980 or newer (Census information 
includes 1970-1979 category). (5 Points Maximum). Points will be 
awarded for the number of pre 1940 occupied rental units in the 
applicant's jurisdiction according to the table, ``Points Awarded for 
Number of Pre-1940 Occupied Rental Housing Units in Target Area,'' that 
can be downloaded from http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. The table shows the number of points awarded based on 
the number of pre-1940 occupied rental housing units in the grant 
target area(s).
    c. The number and percentage of very-low (income less than 50 
percent of the area median) and low- (income less than 80 percent of 
the area median) income families, as determined by HUD (http://
www.huduser.org), with adjustments for smaller and larger families 
(Very-Low and Low-Income Population) (5 Points Maximum). Points will be 
awarded for the percentage of very low (up to 50 percent of area median 
income for the jurisdiction) and low-income (up to 80 percent of area 
median income for the jurisdiction) families in the target area, 
according to the table, ``Points Awarded for Number of Very Low and 
Low-Income Percentages of Families in Target Area,'' that can be 
downloaded from http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. 
The table shows the number of points awarded based on the number of 
very low and low-income percentages of families in target area(s).
3. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (30 Points)
    This factor addresses the quality and cost-effectiveness of your 
proposed work plan. Applicants should develop a work plan that includes 
specific, measurable, and time-phased objectives for each major program 
activity. The applicant's work plan should reflect benchmark standards 
for production, expenditures, and other activities that have been 
developed by the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. These 
benchmark standards, as well as policy guidance on developing work 
plans have been included in this NOFA and are available at the HUD web 
site at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/grantfrm/hudgrantee.cfm. This 
policy guidance provides a sample format and outline for developing the 
Lead Hazard Control Grant Program Work Plan.
    Applicants should describe the proposed activities and provide HUD 
with measurable outcome results to be achieved with the requested 
funds. Measurable outcome results should be stated in terms relevant to 
the purpose of the program funds as a direct result of the work 
performed within the performance period of the grant (e.g., estimated 
number of units to be made lead-safe, estimated number of children 
living in units made lead-safe, estimated number of persons to be 
trained to perform lead hazard control activities, estimated number of 
educational programs to be presented and/or the

[[Page 13849]]

number of persons to be served by such programs, and the basis for 
these estimates). Each proposed activity must be eligible in accordance 
with the requirements of this NOFA and meet statutory requirements for 
assistance to low- and very low-income persons.
    Your response to this factor must include the elements in 
paragraphs a. through d. described below:
    a. Lead Hazard Control Work Plan Strategy (30 of 40 points). 
Describe your work plan goals and specific time-phased strategy to 
complete work under the grant within the 36-month or less period of 
performance for your lead hazard control grant program. You should 
provide the information described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this 
factor.
    (1) Implementing a Lead Hazard Control Program (15 points). 
Describe how you will implement the strategy for your proposed lead 
hazard control program. The description must include information on:
    (a) How the project will be organized, managed, and staffed. You 
must also identify the specific steps that will be taken to train and 
ensure the availability of enough lead-based paint contractors and 
workers to conduct lead hazard control interventions, and to perform 
other program activities. In addition, you must provide a detailed 
description of the selection process for sub-grantees, subcontractors 
or sub-recipients, and how assistance and funding will flow from the 
grantee to those who will actually perform the work under the grant.
    (b) The overall number of eligible privately owned housing units, 
especially those known to contain EBL children, scheduled for lead 
hazard control intervention work and the strategy for their 
identification, selection, prioritization, and enrollment in the 
selected target area(s). Explain how you will obtain data from state or 
local health departments on the addresses of housing units in which 
children have been identified as lead poisoned. Discuss the eligibility 
criteria for unit selection and how the program will identify units 
that meet these criteria. Explain how you would target resources to 
maximize the return on investment from grant funding. As funding is a 
constraint for this program, it is imperative to maximize the impact of 
grant dollars. Include in this discussion your proposed technical 
approach and how this choice addresses local conditions and needs as 
well as attempting to maximize the number of children protected from 
lead hazards. As there are a variety of reduction techniques that 
grantees can apply to lead hazards, it is important for HUD to be able 
to assess the effectiveness of a grantee's choice of a technical 
strategy. Explain how referrals of eligible units will be obtained from 
childhood lead poisoning prevention programs, other health care or 
housing agencies or health providers that serve children. Also, discuss 
how referrals from the Section 8/Housing Choice Voucher programs and 
other agencies that provide housing assistance to low-income households 
with children including CDBG, HOME Investment Partnerships Program-
funded housing programs or other sources will be made. (Include as 
attachments any referral agreements, commitment letters or other 
documents from other entities that describe their participation in 
recruiting eligible units in the lead hazard control grant program; see 
Rating Factor 4 Leveraging Resources for additional information 
regarding referral agreements. Applicants are to complete the Factor 3 
Table).
    (c) The degree to which the work plan focuses on eligible privately 
owned housing units occupied or to be occupied by low-income families 
with children under six years of age. Discuss strategies to control 
lead hazards in units where children have already been identified with 
an elevated blood lead level (EBL), including your capacity to rapidly 
complete lead hazard control work in their units. Demonstrate how you 
will consider housing units identified by local health and child 
welfare agencies where incidences of childhood lead poisoning have 
occurred, particularly those where multiple poisonings have been 
reported. Describe your planned approaches to control lead hazards in 
vacant and/or occupied units before children are poisoned and your 
plans to ensure that the program will continue to affirmatively market 
and match these units made lead-safe with low-income families with 
children under six years of age in the future. Provide estimates of the 
number of low-income children you will assist through this program. You 
should describe how the program will respond to the needs of children 
with elevated blood lead levels (EBLs) located outside the target 
area(s).
    (d) Discuss the lead hazard control financing strategy, including 
financing eligibility requirements, terms, conditions, dollar limits, 
and amounts available for lead hazard control work. Applicants must 
also describe how grant funds will be recaptured by the program in the 
event that a recipient of grant funds fails to comply with any terms 
and conditions of the financing arrangement (e.g. affordability, sale 
of property, etc.) You must discuss the way assistance from the grant 
funds will be administered to or on behalf of property owners (e.g. use 
of grants, deferred loans and/or forgivable loans and the basis and 
schedule for forgiveness), and the role of other resources, such as 
private sector financing). You should identify the entity that will 
administer the financing process and describe how coordination and 
payment between the program and contractors performing the work will be 
accomplished. Describe matching requirements, if any, proposed for 
assistance to rental property owners.
    (e) Applicants shall incorporate in their application the approach 
of a Statewide or jurisdiction-wide strategic plan to eliminate 
childhood lead poisoning as a major public health problem by 2010 (7 
points). Describe any formalized commitments, or provide documentation 
of commitments, with applicable State or local health and child welfare 
agencies, community development organizations, and housing agencies 
that have teamed with you to identify and address childhood lead 
poisoning in your jurisdiction collaboratively, and describe your 
methods for coordinating among these agencies. Address issues of 
patient confidentiality raised by the Health Insurance Portability and 
Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) as it relates to the release of 
addresses of units where children have been poisoned by lead-based 
paint hazards within your jurisdiction; in addition, provide thorough 
details of all security measures to be taken to ensure that the privacy 
of patient information obtained for the purposes of public health 
services conducted through the lead hazard control program will be 
safeguarded. Applicants are encouraged to include an outline of the 
steps that they will take to participate in or develop a statewide or 
jurisdiction-wide strategic plan. Applicants are encouraged to 
collaborate with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention grantees, who are now required to 
develop such plans. At a minimum, the plan must include the following 
elements:
    (i) Mission Statement
    (ii) Purpose and Background on Lead Poisoning Prevention Prevalence
    (iii) Goals, Objectives, and Activities; and
    (iv) Evaluation Plan
    (f) Community-wide Learning Opportunity (3 points). The Lead-Based 
Paint Hazard Control Grant provides an opportunity for learning by 
community members, including families, workers,

[[Page 13850]]

small businesses and others, to help develop a strategic community 
health educational model that identifies lead-related health hazards 
and their solutions, and educates community members and affects wider 
efforts in the applicant's targeted area. Applicant shall discuss the 
opportunity-to-learn approach to educate children, parents, workers, 
businesspeople and other community members about lead poisoning 
prevention and lead hazard control. The applicant's proposed 
educational program shall continue to meet the needs of those children 
already living in units with eligible lead hazards.
    (g) Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing 
Choice. You also must provide documentation of the priority that the 
community's Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments to Fair 
Housing Choice has placed on addressing the needs you described. (This 
section does not apply to Native American Tribes. However, a Native 
American Tribe applicant may use the Indian Housing Plan to document 
how the Indian Housing Plan addresses the need for lead hazard control 
grant activities.) You should describe how your proposed program will 
contribute to satisfying the stated needs in the Consolidated Plan or 
Indian Housing Plan, and eliminating impediments identified in the 
Analysis of Impediments (AI). Also describe how your proposed program 
will further and support the policy priorities of the Department: 
including promoting healthy homes and the quality of housing. The 
applicant should describe its activities that remove barriers to 
affordable housing within their communities or support such efforts at 
the state and local level. This priority relates to HUD's Strategic 
Goal for Increasing Homeownership Opportunities and Promoting Decent 
Affordable Housing. In addition, applicants should describe how your 
strategy will provide long-term benefits to families with children 
under six years of age, and whether any of the proposed activities will 
occur in an Empowerment Zone (EZ), Renewal Community (RC), or 
Enterprise Community, designated by USDA in round II (EC-IIs), that are 
intended to serve the residents of these areas, and that are certified 
to be consistent with the area's strategic plan or RC Tax Incentive 
Utilization Plan (TIUP), and how they will benefit the residents of 
those zones or communities.
    (h) All test results related to lead-based paint or lead-based 
paint hazards must be provided to the owner of the unit, together with 
a statement describing the owner's legal duty to disclose the results 
to tenants (before initial leasing, or before lease renewal with 
changes) and buyers (before sale) if the housing was constructed before 
1978 (24 CFR Part 35, subpart A). This information provided to owners 
may only be used for purposes of remediation of lead-based paint and 
other hazards in the unit. Disclosure of other identified housing-
related health or safety hazards to the owner of the unit, for purposes 
of remediation, is encouraged but not required. Submission of any 
information on the properties to databases (whether web site, computer, 
paper, or other format) of addresses of identified, treated or cleared 
housing units is subject to the protections of the Privacy Act of 1974, 
and shall not include any personal information that could identify any 
child affected.
    (2) Technical Approach/Performance (15 points).
    (a) Describe your process for the conduct of a combined lead-based 
paint inspection and risk assessment lead hazard evaluation in units of 
eligible privately owned housing to confirm that there are lead-based 
paint hazards in the housing units where lead hazard control is 
undertaken.
    (b) Describe your testing methods, schedule, and costs for 
performing blood lead testing in children under six, combined lead-
based paint inspections and risk assessments and clearance examinations 
to be used. If you propose to use a more restrictive standard than the 
HUD/EPA thresholds (e.g., less than 0.5 percent or 1.0 [mu]g/square 
centimeter for lead in paint, or less than 40, 250, 400 [mu]g/square 
foot for lead in dust on floors, sills and troughs, respectively); or 
400 ppm in bare soil in children's play areas and 1200 ppm for bare 
soil in the rest of the yard), identify the standard(s) that will be 
used. All testing shall be performed in accordance with applicable 
regulations.
    (c) Describe the lead hazard control methods and strategies you 
will undertake and the number of units you will treat for each method 
selected (interim controls or hazard abatement). Research has shown 
that interim controls generally yield the best benefit/cost ratio among 
technological approaches for eliminating lead hazards. Applicants 
should assume that interim controls are the preferred approach for 
their strategies and project unit output targets accordingly. If 
applicants maintain that approaches other than interim controls are 
necessary for their jurisdiction, they should explain why this is the 
case. For example, abatement might be justified in an area where 
significant amounts of low-income housing stock are highly distressed 
or where lead hazard work is being combined with rehabilitation. Where 
highly distressed stock is present, applicants should explain why 
options for households to move to lead-safe housing are not viable.
    (i) Complete abatement of all lead painted surfaces in all units is 
generally not acceptable as a strategy. In cases where only a few 
surfaces have lead hazards in a specific unit and abatement is cost-
effective, the applicant must provide a detailed rationale for 
selecting complete abatement as a strategy.
    (ii) Describe the process for developing work specifications and 
bids on properties selected for lead hazard control.
    (iii) Provide an estimate of the per unit costs (and a basis for 
those estimates) for each lead hazard control method proposed and a 
schedule for initiating and completing lead hazard control work in the 
selected units. Discuss efforts to incorporate cost-effective lead 
hazard control methods. Explain your cost estimates, providing detail 
on how the estimates were developed, with particular references to cost 
effectiveness.
    (d) Schedule. Provide a realistic schedule for completing key 
activities, by quarter, so that all activities can be completed before 
or within the period of performance of the grant. Key production 
activities include enrollment of units, paint inspections/risk 
assessments, and completion/clearance of units. When developing the 
schedule, the applicant shall take into consideration their previous 
experience and performance in administering similar lead hazard control 
or rehabilitation programs.
    (e) Timeframes. Describe the estimated elapsed timeframe for 
treating a typical unit that will receive lead hazard control, 
including referral/intake, enrollment (qualification of the unit as 
eligible), combined lead-based paint inspection/risk assessments, 
preparation of specifications or work write-up, selection of the 
contractor, lead hazard control intervention work activities, quality 
control and monitoring of work activities, and clearance. The timeframe 
should include an estimate of the staff and contractor time required to 
treat a typical unit that will receive lead hazard control. Describe 
the schedule for emergency referrals (e.g. unit occupied by a child 
under six years of age with an elevated blood lead level). List the 
type of unit (e.g., owner-occupied, rental, or vacant) and the number 
of units projected in each of the following

[[Page 13851]]

categories: Lead-based paint inspections/risk assessments; interim 
controls; hazard abatement; and clearance examinations.
    (f) Workflow and Production Control. Provide guidelines and/or 
flowcharts showing agency/team member responsibilities for each step in 
the process (from intake to clearance) and describe/show how 
coordination and hand-offs will be handled. Discuss how the actual 
production status of units, from intake to final clearance, will be 
monitored, and how and when production bottlenecks will be identified, 
remedied, and monitored.
    (g) Describe how you will integrate proposed lead hazard control 
activities with rehabilitation activities, including providing the 
training needed to create a workforce properly trained in lead-safe 
work practices for units assisted or rehabilitated under other HUD 
programs, and any collaboration with local housing or health 
departments, rehabilitation programs or community development 
corporations to stage lead hazard control and rehabilitation in the 
same units.
    (h) Describe your contracting process, including development of 
specifications or adoption of existing specifications for selected lead 
hazard control methods. Describe the management processes you will use 
to ensure the cost-effectiveness of your lead hazard control methods. 
Your application must include a discussion of the contracting process 
for the conduct of lead hazard control activities in the selected 
units, and requirements for coordination among lead hazard control, 
rehabilitation, weatherization, and other contractors.
    (i) Describe your plan for occupant protection or the temporary 
relocation of the occupants of units selected and undergoing lead 
hazard control work. Describe any plan to avoid overnight relocation in 
small-scale projects consistent with 24 CFR 35.1345(a)(2) and HUD's 
Lead Safe Housing Rule (24 CFR part 35) Interpretive Guidance, 
including items J24, R18, and R19. Your work plan should address the 
use of safe houses and other temporary housing arrangements, storage of 
household goods, stipends, incentives, etc.
    b. Economic Opportunity (4 of 40 points).
    (1) Describe the ways you will train individuals and contractors in 
housing related trades, such as painters, remodelers, renovators, 
maintenance personnel, rehabilitation specialists, and others in lead-
safe work practices.
    (2) Describe how you will help to integrate lead-safety into other 
housing activities, such as meeting the requirements of the HUD Lead-
Safe Housing Regulation in housing units rehabilitated or assisted with 
federal funds.
    (3) Describe the methods to be used to provide economic 
opportunities for residents and businesses throughout the community 
within the target area. This discussion should include information on 
how you will promote training, employment, business development, and 
contract opportunities as part of your lead hazard control program. 
Grantees must comply with Section 3 of the Housing and Urban 
Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701u) and HUD's implementing rules 
at 24 CFR part 135. Describe how you will accomplish the requirement by 
(a) providing training and employment opportunities for low and very 
low-income persons living within the grantee's jurisdiction, and by (b) 
providing business opportunities to businesses owned by low and very 
low-income persons living within the grantees jurisdiction. Applicants 
that provide training, employment or business opportunities for low- 
and very low-income persons will receive one point in this sub factor.
    c. Lead Hazard Control Outreach and Community Private Sector 
Involvement (4 of 40 points). Applicants are encouraged to solicit 
participation of grassroots community-based and private sector 
organizations, including faith-based organizations; and other 
community-based and private sector organizations; to accomplish 
outreach and community involvement activities and to build long-term 
capacity to sustain accomplishments in the target area. Applicants that 
team with, fund, or subcontract with grassroots community-based 
nonprofit organizations, including faith-based organizations, will 
receive one point in this-sub factor. Your application must describe:
    (1) Proposed methods of community education. These may include 
community awareness, education, training, and outreach programs in 
support of the work plan and objectives. This description should 
include general and/or targeted efforts undertaken to assist your 
program in reducing lead exposure. Programs should be culturally 
sensitive, targeted, and linguistically appropriate. Upon request, this 
would include making materials available in alternative formats to 
persons with disabilities (e.g., Braille, audio, large type), and in 
other languages common to the community to the extent possible.
    (2) Strategy for involving neighborhood or grassroots community 
based nonprofit organizations, including faith-based organizations, in 
your proposed activities. Your activities may include training 
(including training residents to screen houses through visual 
assessment and sampling), outreach, community education, marketing, 
inspection (including dust lead testing), and the conduct of lead 
hazard control activities. HUD will evaluate the proposed level of 
substantive involvement of such organizations during the review 
process.
    (3) Strategies and methodologies that affirmatively further fair 
housing and increase access to lead-safe housing for all segments of 
the population: homeowners, owners of rental properties, and tenants. 
This outreach should address ways to avoid housing discrimination 
against families with young children, and ways to ensure that all 
families will have adequate, lead-safe housing choices in the future. 
These strategies could include your plans to develop and implement a 
registry (listing) of lead-safe housing that is available to the 
public, or to incorporate the inclusion of the lead-safe status of 
properties in another publicly accessible address-based property 
information system. The strategy could also include affirmatively 
marketing your services to those populations least likely to apply and 
who may not be served by any of the organizations working with you on 
the grantee team.
    d. Data Collection and other Program Support Activities (2 of 40 
points).
    (1) Identify and discuss the specific methods you will use (in 
addition to HUD reporting requirements) to document activities, 
progress, program effectiveness, and how changes necessary to improve 
performance will be implemented. Describe how you will obtain, document 
and report on information collected.
    (2) Provide a detailed description of any proposed participation in 
research activities, studies, or development of information systems 
designed to enhance the delivery, analysis, or conduct of lead hazard 
control activities, or that will facilitate the targeting and pooling 
of resources to further childhood lead poisoning prevention efforts. If 
you are proposing to participate in research activities, describe the 
objectives, methodology, and impact at the local level of the proposed 
research activities.
4. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (10 Points)
    This factor addresses your ability to obtain other community and 
private sector resources that can be combined with HUD's program 
resources to achieve program objectives. In evaluating this factor, HUD 
will consider the extent to which you have

[[Page 13852]]

established working relationships with other entities to get additional 
resources or commitments to increase the effectiveness of the proposed 
program activities. Resources may include cash or in-kind contributions 
of services, equipment, or supplies allocated to the proposed program. 
Resources may be provided by governmental entities, public, or private 
organizations, and other entities teaming with you. Leveraging 
arrangements with rental property owners may have the benefits of 
increasing the efficiency of public lead hazard identification and 
control expenditures and creating a financial stake for rental property 
owners in the quality of lead hazard control work. Contractual or other 
formal relationships with grassroots community-based nonprofit 
organizations, including faith-based organizations, are a requirement 
for State and local government applicants. Documentation of 
relationships with grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, 
including faith-based organizations, must be provided in this 
application in the form of either signed agreements or commitment 
letters from organization officials who have the authority to commit 
the organization. This requirement does not apply to Native American 
Tribe applicants. You also may team with other program funding 
recipients to coordinate the use of resources in your target area(s).
    (1) You should detail any activities to increase the understanding 
of lead poisoning prevention in your community. This could include 
teaming with childhood lead screening programs, collaboration with 
ongoing health, housing or environmental research efforts which could 
result in a greater availability of resources, and efforts to build 
capacity for lead-safe housing.
    (2) Matching funds must be shown to be specifically dedicated to 
and integrated into supporting the lead-based paint hazard control 
program. Refer to Section III. B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirements 
for additional information. You may not include any federal funds as 
part of the 10 percent match, unless those funds are specifically 
permitted by statute to be used as matching funds, such as CDBG funds. 
Other resources from the private sector or other sources committed to 
the program that exceed the required 10 percent match will provide 
points for this rating factor. Contributions above the first 10 percent 
may include funds from other federally funded programs, and/or state, 
local, charity, nonprofit or for-profit entities. The signature of the 
authorized official on the Form SF-424 commits matching or other 
contributed resources of the applicant organization. A separate letter 
of commitment for the match from the applicant organization is not 
required; however, the applicant must submit a letter of commitment 
from each organization other than itself that is providing a match, 
whether cash or in-kind, both for the required minimum and additional 
amounts. The letter must describe the contributed resources that you 
will use in the program and their designated purpose. Staff in-kind 
contributions should be given a monetary value based on the local 
market value of the staff skills; you are responsible for tracking the 
number of labor hours provided in the match for each labor category. If 
you do not provide letters from contributors specifying details and the 
amount of the actual contributions, those contributions will not be 
counted. Contributions required of rental property owners may be 
included as part of your match. You should document and provide the 
amount of the match from each resource.
    Applicants will not receive full points under this rating factor if 
they do not submit evidence of a firm commitment and the appropriate 
use of leveraged resources under the grant program. Such evidence must 
be provided in the form of letters of firm commitment, memoranda of 
understanding, or other signed agreements to participate from those 
entities identified as team members in your application. Each letter of 
commitment, memorandum of understanding, or agreement to participate 
should include the organization's name, the proposed level of 
commitment, and the responsibilities as they relate to your proposed 
program. The commitment must be signed by an official of the 
organization legally able to make commitments on behalf of the 
organization. Describe the role of grassroots community-based nonprofit 
organizations, including faith-based organizations, in specific program 
activities, such as: hazard evaluation and control; monitoring; and 
awareness, education, and outreach within the community. Describe how 
you will ensure that commitments to sub-grantees specified in your 
proposal will be honored and executed, contingent upon an award from 
HUD.
5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (10 
Points)
    (A) This factor emphasizes HUD's commitment to ensuring that 
applicants achieve the goals outlined in their work plan and other 
benchmark standards and assess their performance to ensure performance 
goals are met (5 points). Achieving results means you, the applicant, 
have clearly identified the benefits, or outcomes of your program. 
Outcomes are ultimate goals. Benchmarks or outputs are interim 
activities or products that lead to the ultimate achievement of your 
goals.
    Program evaluation requires that you, the applicant, identify 
program outcomes, interim products or benchmarks, and performance 
indicators that will allow you to measure your performance. Performance 
indicators should be objectively quantifiable and measure actual 
achievements against anticipated achievements. Your Evaluation Plan 
should identify what you are going to measure, how you are going 
measure it and the steps you have in place to make adjustments to your 
work plan if performance targets are not met within established 
timeframes. The degree to which benefits are maximized relative to cost 
is important. In particular, different technical approaches vary widely 
in cost, but also produce different levels of benefits. Evaluation 
should explore how well the technical strategy meets the conditions and 
needs found in the grantee's jurisdiction.
    This rating factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
ethics, management, and accountability. Applicants are required to 
complete the HUD 96010 Logic Form included in the General Section.
    (1) An applicant is to identify and describe specific methods, 
measures, and tools that you will use (in addition to HUD reporting 
requirements) to measure progress, evaluate program effectiveness, and 
identify program changes necessary to improve performance. Describe how 
you will obtain, document, and report the information. In evaluating 
this factor, HUD will consider how you have described outcome measures 
and benefits of your program including:
    (a) The degree to which lead hazard control work will be done in 
conjunction with other housing-related activities (i.e., 
rehabilitation, weatherization, correction of code violations, and 
other similar work), or your plan for the integration and coordination 
of lead hazard control activities into those activities in the future.
    (b) Plans to develop public/private lending partnerships to finance 
lead hazard control as part of acquisition and rehabilitation financing 
such as the use of Community Reinvestment Act ``credits'' by lending 
institutions or other financing strategies.
    (c) Results of any specific plans and objectives established to 
implement

[[Page 13853]]

and/or maintain a registry (listing) of lead-safe housing that is 
available to the public, or to incorporate the inclusion of the lead-
safe status of properties in another publicly accessible address-based 
property information system. Results could include how the information 
would be managed and affirmatively marketed to the public so that 
families (particularly low-income families with children under six 
years of age) can make informed decisions regarding their housing 
options. Prior grantee applicants must address any registry (listing) 
of lead-safe housing developed during the prior grant period by 
specifically discussing the availability, amount of information 
contained, and its maintenance.
    (d) The extent to which affirmatively furthering fair housing for 
all segments of the population is advanced by the proposed activities. 
(This section does not apply to Native American Tribes.) Detail how 
your proposed work plan will support the community's efforts to 
affirmatively further affordable housing and how you will quantify 
results of affirmatively furthering fair housing activities. As part of 
the background for your fair housing element of your work plan under 
this grant, discuss the impact of prior activities that have 
contributed to enhanced lead-safe housing opportunities.
    (e) The resulting impact of plans to adopt or amend statutes, 
regulations, or policies that will more fully integrate lead hazard 
control into community policies and priorities.
    (f) How your program will be held accountable for meeting program 
goals, objectives, and the actions undertaken in implementing the grant 
program. Applicants should provide a description of the mechanism to 
assess progress and track performance in meeting the goals and 
objectives outlined in the work plan. Applicants should provide 
assurances that work plans and performance measures developed for the 
program will assist intended beneficiaries, and that work will be 
conducted in a timely and cost-effective manner.
    (B) Results of activities to coordinate and cooperate with other 
organizations that will lead to a reduction in lead risks to community 
residents (5 points). This could include documenting such activities 
as: free training to create a workforce properly trained in lead safe 
work practices; lead-safe work practices training for repainting and 
remodeling; promotion of essential maintenance practices; and provision 
of lead dust testing to low-income, privately-owned homes which may not 
receive lead hazard control assistance under this grant program. This 
factor should address the quantitative measures of the following:
    (1) Community outreach education that focuses on the outcomes of a 
workforce properly trained in lead safe work practices.
    (2) Effective outreach education aimed at families, health care 
members, and other professional colleagues.
    (3) Effective outreach education assessing the needs of families 
and communities intended to receive lead hazard control assistance 
under this grant program
6. Bonus Points (2 Points)
    HUD's FY2005 NOFAs provide for the award of two bonus points for 
eligible activities/projects that the applicant proposes to locate in 
federally designated Empowerment Zones (EZs), Renewal Community (RC), 
or Enterprise Community, designated by USDA in round II (EC-IIs). 
Applicants may also meet the requirements listed in the General Section 
of this NOFA for a possible award of two bonus points.

B. Reviews and Selection Process

1. Rating and Ranking
    Please refer to the General Section. Only those applications that 
meet the threshold review requirements will be rated and ranked. HUD 
intends to fund the highest ranked applications in each category 
receiving a minimum score of 75 within the limits of funding.
    a. A current grantee eligible to compete as a Competitive 
Performance-Based Renewal Grant applicant will be rated and ranked 
based on its demonstrated performance in terms of the number of housing 
units completed and cleared (as a percentage of units in current grant 
agreement), the cumulative Line of Credit Control System (LOCCS) 
drawdowns to date, and the applicant's response to Factors Two through 
Five. Performance will be evaluated based upon the quarterly progress 
data submitted to HUD for the period ending March 31, 2005 and other 
data available to HUD.
    Current grantees that are eligible to submit a Performance-Based 
Renewal application and are successful applicants will have their 
current grant agreement modified to allow for an additional 36-months 
grant. The submission requirements for the Performance-Based Renewal 
grant can be found in Section IV of this NOFA.
    b. Remaining Funds. Refer to the General Section of this NOFA for 
HUD's procedures if funds remain after all selections have been made 
within a category of the Lead Hazard Control Grant Program.
2. Factors for Award Used to Rate and Rank Applications
    a. Implementing HUD's Strategic Framework and Demonstrating 
Results. HUD is committed to ensuring that programs result in the 
achievement of HUD's strategic mission. To support this effort, grant 
applications submitted for HUD programs will be rated on how well they 
tie proposed outcomes to HUD's policy priorities and Annual Goals and 
Objectives, and the quality of proposed Evaluation and Monitoring 
Plans.
    HUD is encouraging applicants to undertake specific activities that 
will assist the Department in implementing its policy priorities. HUD's 
Strategic Goals and Policy Priorities are outlined in the General 
Section of this NOFA. For Lead Hazard Control Grant Program applicants, 
activities that promote economic opportunities for low-income persons 
support HUD's policy priority for Improving the Quality of Life in Our 
Nation's Communities. An applicant will be awarded one point under 
Rating Factor 3: Economic Opportunities for activities that are 
undertaken to specifically address this policy priority. Activities 
that promote the participation of grassroots community-based nonprofit 
organizations, including faith-based organizations, or community and 
parent organizations, support HUD's policy priority for providing full 
and equal access to grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, 
including faith-based organizations. An applicant will be awarded one 
point under Rating Factor 3: Lead Hazard Control Outreach and Community 
Private Sector Involvement for activities undertaken that specifically 
addresses this policy priority. For initiatives that break down 
regulatory barriers that impede the production of affordable housing, 
an applicant will be awarded up to two (2) points under Rating Factor 3 
for activities that remove barriers to affordable housing within their 
communities or support such efforts at the state and local level. This 
priority relates to HUD's Strategic Goal for Increasing Homeownership 
Opportunities and Promoting Decent Affordable Housing. Refer to the 
General Section for additional details pertaining to this policy 
priority. Applicants addressing this policy priority are to complete 
Form HUD-27300--Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of 
Regulatory Barriers, and must include required documentation to receive 
policy priority points.
    b. The maximum number of points to be awarded is 102. This maximum

[[Page 13854]]

includes two bonus points as described in the General Section.
    c. The factors for rating and ranking eligible grantees under all 
categories, and the maximum points for each factor are stated below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Maximum
                        Rating factor                            points
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational              20
 Experience (or, Units Completed/LOCCS Disbursed by deadline
 date for Competitive Performance-Based Renewal Applicants)..
2. Needs/Extent of the Problem...............................         20
3. Soundness of Approach.....................................         40
4. Leveraging Resources......................................         10
5. Achieving Results and Program Evaluation..................         10
Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community Bonus Points.......          2
                                                              ----------
    Total....................................................        102
------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. Award Administration Information: Refer to the General Section for 
Additional Details on Award Administration

A. Award Notices

    1. Successful applicants will receive a letter from the Office of 
Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Grant Officer indicating that 
they have been selected for an award. This letter will provide 
additional details regarding the effective start date of the grant and 
any additional data and information to be submitted to execute a grant 
agreement. This letter is not an authorization to begin work or incur 
costs under the grant. A fully executed grant agreement is the 
authorizing document. Unsuccessful applicants will also be notified 
that their application was not selected for an award and will be 
afforded an opportunity to request a debriefing on the unsuccessful 
application according to the procedures outlined in the General 
Section.
    2. Negotiation. Refer to the General Section for additional 
details.
    3. Adjustments to Funding. Refer to the General Section for 
additional details.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    Refer to the General Section for additional details regarding the 
Administrative and National Policy Requirements applicable to HUD 
Programs.
1. Flood Disaster Protection Act
    Under the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4001-
4128), you may not use these grant funds for lead-based paint hazard 
control of a building or manufactured home that is located in an area 
identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as having 
special flood hazards unless:
    a. The community in which the area is situated is participating in 
the National Flood Insurance Program in accordance with the applicable 
regulations (44 CFR parts 59-79), or less than a year has passed since 
FEMA notification regarding these hazards; and
    b. Where the community is participating in the National Flood 
Insurance Program, flood insurance on the property is obtained in 
accordance with section 102(a) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act (42 
U.S.C. 4012a(a)). You are responsible for assuring that flood insurance 
is obtained and maintained for the appropriate amount and term.
2. National Historic Preservation Act
    The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470) and 
the regulations at 36 CFR part 800 apply to the lead-based paint hazard 
control activities that are undertaken pursuant to this program. HUD 
and the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation have developed an 
optional Model Agreement for use by grantees and State Historic 
Preservation Officers in carrying out activities under this program. 
The Model Agreement may be obtained from the HUD Web site at: 
www.hud.gov/utilities/intercept.cfm?/offices/lead/grantfrm/pgi/95--
06.pdf
3. Waste Disposal
    You must handle waste disposal according to the requirements of the 
appropriate local, state, and federal regulatory agencies. You must 
handle disposal of wastes from hazard control activities that contain 
lead-based paint, but are not classified as hazardous in accordance 
with state or local law or the HUD Guidelines for the Evaluation and 
Control of Lead-Based Hazards in Housing (HUD Guidelines). The 
Guidelines are available from the HUD Web site at: http://www.hud.gov/
offices/ lead/guidelines/hudguidelines/ index.cfm.
4. Worker Protection Procedures
    You must observe the procedures for worker protection established 
in the HUD Guidelines, as well as the requirements of the Occupational 
Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) (29 CFR 1926.62, Lead Exposure 
in Construction), or the State or local occupational safety and health 
regulations, whichever are most protective. If other applicable 
requirements contain more stringent requirements than the HUD 
Guidelines, the more rigorous standards shall be followed.
5. Davis-Bacon Act
    The Davis-Bacon Act does not apply to this program. However, if you 
use grant funds in conjunction with other federal programs in which 
Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates apply, then Davis-Bacon provisions 
would apply to the extent required under the other Federal programs.
6. Procurement of Recovered Materials
    See the General Section for information concerning this 
requirement.

C. Reporting

    Successful applicants will be required to submit quarterly, annual, 
and final program and financial reports according the requirements of 
the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. Your quarterly, 
annual and final report must include a completed Logic Model form HUD-
96010, approved and incorporated into your award agreement, showing 
specific outputs and outcome results against those proposed and 
accepted as part of your approved grant agreement. For specific 
reporting requirements, see policy guidance: www.hud.gov/offices/lead. 
Specific guidance and additional details will be provided to successful 
applicants.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

    For Further Information and Technical Assistance: You may contact 
Jonnette Hawkins, Director, Program Management and Assurance Division, 
Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, 451 Seventh Street 
SW., Washington, DC 20410-3000, telephone (202) 755-1785, extension 126 
(this is not a toll-free number) facsimile (202) 755-1000, e-mail: 
[email protected] (use underscores). If you are a hearing- 
or speech-impaired person, you may reach the above telephone number via 
TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-
800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

    Other Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Information: 
For additional general, technical, and grant program information 
pertaining to the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, 
visit: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead.
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

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Healthy Homes Technical Studies Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control (OHHLHC).
    B. Funding Opportunity Title. Healthy Homes Technical Studies
    C. Announcement Type. Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number. The Funding Opportunity Number is: 
FR-4950-N-26. The OMB Paperwork Approval number is: 2539-0015.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s). 14.906, 
Healthy Homes Technical Studies Grant Program.
    F. Dates. The application submission date is June 8, 2005. See the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA Section IV, Application and Submission 
Information, regarding application submission procedures and timely 
filing requirements.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information.
    a. Purpose: To fund technical studies to improve existing methods 
for detecting and controlling housing-related health and safety 
hazards, to develop new methods, and to improve our knowledge of 
housing-related health hazards.
    b. Available funding: The total amount to be awarded is 
approximately $2 million.
    c. Anticipated awards: The anticipated amounts and/or numbers of 
individual awards will be approximately 2 to approximately 8 awards, 
ranging from approximately $200,000 to approximately $1 million, plus 
an award to be made to correct a funding error under the fiscal year 
2004 Healthy Homes Technical Studies Program NOFA.
    d. Type of awards: The type of award instruments that will be used 
are grants or cooperative agreements, with substantial involvement of 
the government in the case of cooperative agreements (see Section II.C 
for a description of substantial involvement).
    e. Eligible applicants: Academic, not-for-profit and for-profit 
institutions located in the U.S., state and local governments, and 
federally recognized Native American tribes are eligible to apply.
    f. Cost sharing is not required; however, applicant ``leveraging'' 
contributions are encouraged (see Section V.A.3.d).
    g. There are no limitations on the number of applications that each 
applicant may submit.
    h. The applications for this NOFA can be found at http://www.grants.gov. The application is an electronic application. You must 
register at http://www.grants.gov to be able to submit your 
application. The General Section contains information about submission 
requirements and procedures. Please carefully review the General 
Section before reading the program section so that you understand HUD's 
new electronic application process.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Purpose of the Program

    The overall goal of the Healthy Homes Technical Studies program is 
to gain knowledge to improve the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of 
methods for evaluation and control of multiple housing-related health 
and safety hazards.

B. Program Description

    HUD is funding studies to improve HUD's knowledge of housing-
related health hazards, and to improve or develop new hazard assessment 
and control methods, with a focus on the key residential health and 
safety hazards. Key hazards are described in Appendix A of this NOFA 
(the appendices to this NOFA are available on HUD's Web site at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm).
    The Healthy Homes Initiative (HHI), which includes the Healthy 
Homes Technical Studies Program and the Healthy Homes Demonstration 
Grant Program (see the separate funding announcement for this program), 
departs from the more traditional approach of attempting to correct one 
hazard at a time. In April 1999, HUD submitted to Congress a 
preliminary plan containing a full description of the HHI. The 
preliminary plan (Summary and Full Report) and a description of the HHI 
are available on the HUD Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/
hhi/index.cfm.
    HUD encourages applicants to consider using the ``community based 
participatory research'' approach, where applicable, in the design and 
implementation of your healthy homes technical studies application (see 
e.g., http://www.niehs.nih.gov/translat/cbpr/cbpr.htm).
    A description of current and recently completed Healthy Homes 
Technical Studies projects and grantee contact information can be found 
on the HUD Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/hhi/
hhigranteeinfo.cfm.
    In addition to deficiencies in basic housing facilities that may 
impact health, changes in the U.S. housing stock and more sophisticated 
epidemiological methods and biomedical research have led to the 
identification of new and often more subtle health hazards in the 
residential environment (e.g., asthma triggers). While such hazards 
will tend to be found disproportionately in housing that is substandard 
(e.g., structural problems, lack of adequate heat, etc.), such housing-
related environmental hazards may also exist in housing that is 
otherwise of good quality. Appendix A of this NOFA briefly describes 
the key housing-associated health and injury hazards HUD considers 
targets for intervention. Appendix B of this NOFA lists the references 
that serve as the basis for the information provided in this NOFA (see 
http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm). HUD has also 
developed resource papers on a number of topic areas of importance 
under the Healthy Homes Initiative, including mold, environmental 
aspects of asthma, carbon monoxide, and unintentional injuries. These 
papers can be downloaded from the HUD Web site at www.hud.gov/offices/
lead/hhi. HUD is interested in promoting approaches that are cost-
effective and efficient and that result in the reduction of health 
threats for the maximum number of residents, and in particular, low-
income children.
1. Goals of the Healthy Homes Initiative
    The overall goals and objectives of the HHI are to:
    a. Mobilize public and private resources, involving cooperation 
among all levels of government, the private sector, grassroots 
community-based organizations, including faith-based organizations, and 
other non-profit organizations, to develop the most promising, cost-
effective methods for identifying and controlling housing-based 
hazards; and
    b. Build local capacity to operate sustainable programs that will 
continue to prevent and minimize and control housing-based hazards in 
low- and very low-income residences when HUD funding is exhausted.
2. Objectives of the Healthy Homes Technical Studies Program
    With this NOFA, HUD hopes to advance the recognition and control of 
residential health and safety hazards and more closely examine the link 
between housing and health. The overall objectives of Healthy Homes 
Technical studies projects to be funded

[[Page 13862]]

through this NOFA include, but are not limited to:
    a. Development and assessment of low-cost test methods and 
protocols for identification and assessment of housing-related hazards;
    b. Development and assessment of cost-effective methods for 
reducing or eliminating housing-related hazards;
    c. Evaluation of the effectiveness of housing interventions and 
public education campaigns, and barriers and incentives affecting 
future use of the most cost-effective strategies;
    d. Investigation of the epidemiology of housing-related hazards and 
illness and injuries associated with these hazards, with an emphasis on 
children's health;
    e. Evaluation of residential health and safety hazard assessment 
and control methodologies and approaches (including both existing 
methods and the evaluation of improved or novel approaches);
    f. Analysis of existing data or generation of new data to improve 
knowledge regarding the prevalence and severity of specific hazards in 
various classes of housing, with a focus on low-income housing. 
Specific examples include:
    (1) The prevalence of carbon monoxide and other indoor air quality 
hazards;
    (2) The prevalence and patterns of moisture problems and biological 
contaminants associated with excess moisture (e.g., fungi, bacteria, 
dust mites);
    (3) The prevalence of specific childhood injury hazards in housing; 
and
    (4) Improved understanding of the relationship between a 
residential exposure and childhood illness or injury;
    g. Low-cost analytical techniques and instruments for the rapid, 
on- and off-site determination of environmental contaminants of concern 
(e.g., bioaerosols, pesticides, allergens). HUD's primary interest is 
in the improvement of existing instruments or methods, and not in the 
development of new technologies or instruments. Applicants seeking to 
develop new technologies/instruments should discuss why, if funded, 
their proposed project would be unlikely to experience significant 
delays in its completion. The OHHLHC has noted that these types of 
studies pose a high risk of experiencing significant delays.
    h. Objectives of particular interest to HUD include:
    (1) Improving or assessing the efficacy of current methods for 
residential Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM approaches focus on 
the use of economical means for managing pests, which incorporate 
information on the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the 
environment, while minimizing hazards to people, property, and the 
environment. HUD is particularly interested in IPM methods for reducing 
cockroach and/or rodent populations in multifamily housing;
    (2) Controlling excess moisture by reducing migration through the 
building envelope and condensation of water vapor on interior surfaces, 
with an emphasis on low cost interventions for low income housing;
    (3) Improving indoor air quality, such as through cost-effective 
approaches to upgrading residential ventilation or improving control/
management of combustion appliances. Applicants should discuss how 
proposed approaches might affect residential energy costs (e.g., 
increasing air exchange rates resulting in an increase in heating 
costs);
    (4) Dust control measures (e.g., preventing track-in of exterior 
dust and soil, improved methods for interior dust cleaning) have been 
identified as key areas in the HHI Preliminary Plan;
    (5) Evaluating the effectiveness of education and outreach methods 
designed to provide at-risk families with the knowledge to adopt self-
protective behaviors with respect to housing-related health hazards.
    In proposing to conduct a study on a particular topic, applicants 
should consider:
    (1) The ``fit'' of the proposed hazard assessment and/or control 
methods within the overall goal of addressing ``priority'' health and 
safety hazards in a cost-effective manner;
    (2) The efficacy of the proposed methods for hazard control and 
risk reduction (e.g., how long is effective hazard reduction 
maintained;
    (3) Consider where and how these methods would be applied and 
tested, and/or perform demonstration activities; and
    (4) The degree to which the study will help develop practical, 
widely applicable methods and protocols or improve our understanding of 
a residential health hazard.
    Although HUD is soliciting proposals for technical studies on these 
broad topics, HUD will also consider funding applications for technical 
studies on topics that are relevant under the overall goals and 
objectives of this program, as described above. In such instances, it 
is especially important that the applicant indicate why the proposed 
study is needed and indicate how it is consistent with the overall 
goals and objectives of the program. Applications for a study for which 
the sole or primary focus is on lead-based paint hazards are ineligible 
for funding under this NOFA. Such studies should be submitted for 
funding under the ``Lead Technical Studies Program'' NOFA, which is 
also administered by the OHHLHC; see www.grants.gov for information on 
applying under that program.
    Applicants should consider the efficiencies that might be gained by 
working cooperatively with some of the recipients of HUD's Healthy 
Homes Demonstration and Lead Hazard Control grants, which are widely 
distributed throughout the U.S. Information on current grantees is 
available at http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead.
    You may address one or more of the technical studies topic areas 
within your proposal, or submit separate applications for different 
topic areas.

C. Authority

    These awards are authorized under sections 501 and 502 of the 
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 (12 U.S.C. 1701z-1 and 1701z-
2); and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447, 
approved December 8, 2005).

II. Award Information

A. Funding Available

    Approximately $2 million in fiscal year 2005 funds is available for 
grants or cooperative agreements under this Healthy Homes Technical 
Studies Program NOFA. Of this amount, HUD will award a grant for 
$365,736 in fiscal year 2005 funds to Edenspace Systems Corporation, 
15100 Enterprise Court, Suite 100, Dulles, VA 20151-1217, to resolve a 
funding error under the fiscal year 2004 Healthy Homes Technical 
Studies Program NOFA, in accordance with Sec. VI.A.3 of the fiscal year 
2004 General Section. The remaining amount, approximately $1.6 million, 
will be awarded on a competitive basis following evaluation of all 
eligible proposals according to the rating factors described in Section 
V of this NOFA. HUD anticipates awarding approximately two to 
approximately eight grants or cooperative agreements, ranging from 
approximately $200,000 to approximately $1 million each.
    Applications for supplementation of existing projects are eligible 
to compete with applications for new awards (i.e., for work outside of 
the scope of the original agreement).

B. Anticipated Start Date and Period of Performance for New Grants

    The start date for new awards is expected to be October 1, 2005. 
The

[[Page 13863]]

period of performance cannot exceed 36 months from the time of award. 
The proposed performance period should include adequate time for 
project components such as the Institutional Review Board process, the 
recruitment of study participants, and the development of new 
instrumentation or methods (e.g., analytical methods), all of which 
have been found to delay projects in the past. Period of performance 
extensions for delays due to exceptional conditions beyond the 
grantee's control will be considered for approval by HUD in accordance 
with 24 CFR 85.25(e)(2) or 24 CFR 85.30(d)(2), as applicable, and the 
OHHLHC Program Guide. If approved, grantees will be eligible to receive 
a single extension of up to 12 months in length. Applicants are 
encouraged to plan studies with shorter performance periods, however 
when developing your schedule you should also consider the possibility 
that issues may arise that could cause delays.

C. Type of Award Instrument

    All awards in response to this NOFA will be made as grants or 
cooperative agreements. Anticipated substantial involvement by HUD on 
cooperative agreements may include, but will not be limited to:
    1. Review and possibly suggest amendments to the study design, 
including: Study objectives; data collection methods; sample handling 
and preparation, and, sample and data analysis;
    2. Review and provide technical recommendations in response to 
quarterly progress reports (e.g., possible amendments to study design 
based on preliminary results);
    3. Review and provide technical recommendations on the final study 
report.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Eligible Applicants. Academic and not-for-profit institutions 
located in the U.S., state and local governments, and federally 
recognized Native American tribes are eligible under all existing 
authorizations. For-profit firms also are eligible; however, they are 
not allowed to earn a fee (i.e., no profit can be made from the 
project). Applications for supplementation of existing projects are 
eligible to compete with applications for new awards. Federal agencies 
and federal employees are not eligible to submit applications. The 
General Section of the SuperNOFA provides additional eligibility 
requirements.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    Cost sharing or matching is not required. In rating your 
application, however, you will receive a higher score under Rating 
Factor 5 if you provide evidence of significant cost leveraging.

C. Other

1. Threshold Requirements Applicable to All Applicants Under the 
SuperNOFA
    To be scored and ranked under the Rating Factors, and thus be 
eligible to receive funds from HUD, you must meet all of the threshold 
requirements described in the General Section of the SuperNOFA. 
Threshold requirements include Eligibility, Compliance with Fair 
Housing and Civil Rights Laws, Conducting Business in Accordance with 
Core Values and Ethical Standards, Delinquent Federal Debts and Pre-
Award Accounting System Surveys. Information about threshold 
requirements is provided in the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
2. Program Requirements
    Applicants must agree to the following:
    a. Comply with all relevant federal and state regulations regarding 
exposure to and proper disposal of hazardous materials;
    b. Any blood lead testing and medical referral and follow-up for 
children under six years of age will be conducted according to the 
recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
(CDC), Preventing Lead Poisoning in Young Children (see Appendix B of 
this NOFA at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm);
    c. HUD Healthy Homes Technical Studies funds awarded will not 
replace existing resources dedicated to any ongoing project;
    d. Laboratory analysis covered by the National Lead Laboratory 
Accreditation Program (NLLAP) will be conducted by a laboratory 
recognized under the program;
    e. Standardized Dust Sampling Protocol and Quality Control 
Requirements. Grantees collecting samples of settled dust from 
participant homes for environmental allergen analyses (e.g., cockroach, 
dust mite) will be required to use a standard dust sampling protocol, 
unless there is a strong justification to use an alternate protocol 
(e.g., the study involves the development of an alternative sampling 
method). The HUD protocol will be posted on the OHHLHC Web site at: 
http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/hhi/hhiresources.cfm. Grantees 
conducting these analyses will also be required to include quality 
control dust samples, provided by OHHLHC at no cost to the grantee, 
with the samples that are submitted for laboratory analyses. For the 
purpose of budgeting laboratory costs, you should assume that five 
percent of your total allergen dust samples will consist of QC samples.
    f. Human research subjects will be protected from research risks in 
conformance with Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, 
codified by HUD at 24 CFR part 60; and
    g. The requirements of OSHA (e.g., 29 CFR part 1910 and/or 1926, as 
applicable) or the state or local occupational safety and health 
regulations, whichever are most stringent, will be met;
    h. If an individual researcher or a research team submits the 
application, the institution administering the award will meet the 
civil rights threshold in the General Section of this NOFA
    i. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons 
(Section 3). This program is subject to the requirements of Section 3 
of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701u). 
Section 3 requires recipients to ensure that, to the greatest extent 
feasible, training, employment, and other economic opportunities will 
be directed to low- and very low-income persons, particularly those who 
are recipients of government assistance for housing, and to business 
concerns which provide economic opportunities to low- and very low-
income persons. The regulations may be found at 24 CFR part 135.
    j. All test results in pre-1978 housing related to lead-based paint 
or lead-based paint hazards must be provided to the owner of the unit, 
together with a statement describing the owner's legal duty to disclose 
the results to tenants (before initial leasing, or before lease renewal 
with changes) and buyers (before sale) if the housing was constructed 
before 1978 (24 CFR part 35, subpart A). This information provided to 
owners may only be used for purposes of remediation of lead-based paint 
and other hazards in the unit. Disclosure of other identified housing-
related health or safety hazards to the owner of the unit, for purposes 
of remediation, is encouraged but not required. Submission of any 
information on the properties to databases (whether web site, computer, 
paper, or other format) of addresses of identified, treated or cleared 
housing units is subject to the protections of the Privacy Act of 1974, 
and shall not include any

[[Page 13864]]

personal information that could identify any child affected.
3. DUNS Requirement
    Refer to the General Section of the SuperNOFA for information 
regarding the DUNS requirement. A DUNS number must be provided for the 
institution that is submitting an application.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    If you are interested in applying for funding under this program, 
please review carefully the General Section of the SuperNOFA and the 
following additional information.

A. Addresses to Request Application Package

    There is no Application Kit. All the information required to submit 
an application is contained in this program NOFA and the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA. Forms can be downloaded from the web at: 
http://www.grants.gov.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

1. Applicant Data
    Your application must contain the items listed in this Section. 
These items include the standard forms, certifications, and assurances 
listed in the General Section of the SuperNOFA that are applicable to 
this funding announcement (collectively referred to as the ``standard 
forms''). The standard forms can be found in the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA. The required items are:
    a. Application Abstract. An abstract describing the project title, 
the names and affiliations of all investigators, and a summary of the 
objectives, expected results, and study design (two-page maximum) must 
be included in the proposal.
    b. All forms as required by the General Section of the SuperNOFA. A 
Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan is not required 
for this application. Also, HUD Form-27061 (Race and Ethnicity Data) is 
not required with the application for this program.
    c. A project description/narrative statement addressing the rating 
factors for award of funding under this program. The narrative 
statement must be identified in accordance with each factor for award 
(i.e., Rating Factors 1 through 5). The project description must be 
included in the responses to the rating factors. The response to the 
rating factors should not exceed a total of 25 pages, single-sided (12-
point font with at least \3/4\ inch margins on 8\1/2\'' by 11'' pages). 
Any pages in excess of this limit will not be read. The rating for each 
Rating Factor will be based on the Rating Factor's numbered portion of 
your narrative statement, supplemented by appendices referenced and 
discussed in that portion of your narrative statement; material located 
outside the Rating Factor's numbered portion of your narrative 
statement and its referenced and discussed appendices will not be 
rated. Additional materials (e.g., appendices) must be submitted with 
your application according to the directions in the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA.
    d. Evidence of leveraging/partnerships. Submit the following with 
your application: letters of firm commitment; memoranda of 
understanding; or agreements to participate from those entities 
identified as partners in the project efforts. Each letter of 
commitment, memorandum of understanding, or agreement to participate 
must include the organization's name, proposed level of commitment 
(with monetary value) and responsibilities as they relate to specific 
activities or tasks of your proposed program. The commitment must also 
be signed by an official of the organization legally able to make 
commitments on behalf of the organization.
    e. In conformance with the Common Rule (Federal Policy for the 
Protection of Human Subjects) (required by HUD at 24 CFR part 60), if 
your research is subject to these regulations, your organization must 
provide an assurance (e.g., a letter signed by an appropriate official) 
that the research has been reviewed and approved by an Institutional 
Review Board (IRB) before you can initiate activities that require IRB 
approval. Before receiving such funds, you must also provide the number 
for your organization's assurance (i.e., an ``institutional 
assurance'') that has been approved by the Department of Health and 
Human Service's Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). For 
additional information on what constitutes human subject research or 
how to obtain an institutional assurance, see the OHRP Web site at 
http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp.
    f. Submit materials that are required in support of your 
application (e.g., resumes of the principal investigator and other key 
personnel, letters of commitment). Resumes shall not exceed three pages 
each, and are limited to information that is relevant in assessing the 
qualifications of key personnel to conduct and/or manage the proposed 
technical studies. (This information will not be counted towards the 
page limit.)
    g. Submit any optional materials (e.g., figures, data, letters of 
support) in support of your application, following the directions in 
the General Section of the SuperNOFA. These additional optional 
materials must not exceed 20 pages. Any pages in excess of this limit 
will not be read.
    h. Submit the required forms and a detailed total budget with 
supporting cost justification for all budget categories of the federal 
funding request. Use the budget format discussed in Section V(A), 
Rating Factor 3(c)(5), below. In completing the budget forms and 
justification, address the following elements:
    (1) Direct Labor Costs. This should include all full- and part-time 
staff required for the planning and implementation phases of the 
project. These costs should be based on full time equivalent (FTE) or 
hours per year (hours/year) (i.e., one FTE equals 2,080 hours/year);
    (2) Travel. Budget for three trips to HUD Headquarters in 
Washington, DC, planning each trip for two people, with the first trip 
occurring shortly after award, for a stay of five or six days, 
depending on your location, and the remaining trips having a stay of 
one or two days, depending on your location;
    (3) Subrecipients. Provide a separate budget proposal for any 
subrecipients receiving more than 10 percent of the total federal 
budget request;
    (4) You should be prepared to provide supporting documentation for 
salaries and prices of materials and equipment upon request;
    (5) Indirect Cost Rates. Organizations that have a federally 
negotiated indirect cost rate should use that rate and the appropriate 
base. Other organizations, not having a federally negotiated rate 
schedule, must obtain a rate from their cognizant federal agency, 
otherwise the organization will be required to obtain a negotiated rate 
through HUD; and
    (6) Rate Agreements. Submit the negotiated rate agreements for 
fringe benefits and indirect costs, if applicable, as an attachment to 
the budget sheets.
    i. Applicants are encouraged to use the following checklist to 
ensure that all required materials have been prepared and submitted. 
You are not required to submit this checklist with your application.

Checklist for Healthy Homes Technical Studies Program Applicants

Item

Applicant Abstract (Limited to 2-pages)

Rating Factor Responses (Total Narrative Response Limited to 25 Pages)

1. Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational Experience

[[Page 13865]]

2. Need/Extent of the Problem
3. Soundness of Approach
4. Leveraging Resources
5. Achieving Results and Program Evaluation

Required Materials in Response to Rating Factors (Does Not Count 
Towards 25-Page Limit)

--Resumes of Key Personnel (limited to 3 pages per resume)
--Organizational Chart
--Letters of Commitment (if applicable)
--Form HUD-96010 Logic Model Form

Optional Material in Support of the Rating Factors (20 Page Limit)

Required Forms and Budget Material

--Form SF 424 (Application for Federal Assistance)
--Form HUD-424-CB Grant Application Detailed Budget
--Form HUD-CBW (Budget Worksheet)
--Form SF 424 Supplement (Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for 
Applicants) (to be completed by private nonprofit organizations only)
--Form SF LLL (Disclosure of Lobbying Activities)
--Form HUD 2880 (Applicant/ Recipient Disclosure/Update Report)
--Form 2990 Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic 
Plan (required only for applicants who are seeking these bonus points)
--Form HUD 2994 Client Comments and Suggestions (Optional)
--Facsimile Transmittal (for electronic applications)--Form HUD-96011

C. Submission Dates and Times

    Electronic applications must be submitted to and received by 
www.grants.gov or before 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on June 8, 2005. 
All narrative files and any scanned documents must be submitted as a 
zip file, single attachment to the electronic application. Refer to the 
General Section for additional submission requirements including 
acceptable submission methods, acceptable proof of submission and 
receipt procedures and other information regarding application 
submission. Materials associated to your electronic application 
submitted by facsimile transmission must also be received by 11:59:59 
p.m. eastern time on the application submission date. Make sure you see 
the General Section for how to submit third party letters and other 
documents as part of your electronic submission utilizing form HUD-
96011, Facsimile Transmittal.
    Applicants receiving a waiver to the electronic application 
submission requirement, must submit an original and the required number 
of copies of your application by the application submission date to the 
identified address in Appendix C of the General Section.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    Funding received through this NOFA is not subject to Executive 
Order (EO) 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''

E. Funding Restrictions

    The following restrictions apply to the use of funds awarded under 
this program:
    1. Administrative Costs. There is a 10 percent maximum allowance 
for administrative costs. Additional information about allowable 
administrative costs is provided in Appendix C of this NOFA that is 
available on HUD's Web site at: www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    2. The purchase of real property is prohibited.
    3. The purchase or lease of equipment having a per unit cost in 
excess of $5,000, unless prior written approval is obtained from HUD.
    4. The use of grant funds for medical treatment costs is 
prohibited.
    5. For-profit entities are not allowed to earn a fee.
    6. You must comply with the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (16 
U.S.C. 3501).
    7. You may not conduct construction, reconstruction or lead based 
paint hazard control activities that fall below the threshold of 
building repair or improvement, as defined in Section 3(a)(4) of the 
Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4001-4128), of a 
building or mobile home which is located in an area identified by the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as having special flood 
hazards unless:
    (1) The community in which the area is situated is participating in 
the National Flood Insurance Program in accordance with the applicable 
regulations (44 CFR parts 59-79), or less than a year has passed since 
FEMA notification regarding these hazards; and
    (2) Where the community is participating in the National Flood 
Insurance Program, flood insurance on the property is obtained in 
accordance with section 102(a) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act (42 
U.S.C. 4012a(a)). You are responsible for assuring that flood insurance 
is obtained and maintained for the appropriate amount and term.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    If you have received a waiver to the electronic application 
submission requirement, please see Appendix C of the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA for specific procedures concerning the form of 
application submission.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

1. Threshold Requirements
    Applications that meet all of the threshold requirements will be 
eligible to be scored and ranked, based on the total number of points 
allocated for each of the rating factors described in Section V.A.3 of 
this program NOFA. Your application must receive a total score of at 
least 75 points to remain in consideration for funding.
2. Rating and Ranking
    Applications will be reviewed by an Application Review Panel (ARP) 
which will assign each application a score based on the rating factors 
presented below. The ARP chairperson selects and provides at least one 
application to panel members to score during a calibration round to 
ensure that all panel members are consistent in their application of 
the rating factors. When the calibration round is completed, each 
application is reviewed and scored by at least two panel members. If 
significant scoring discrepancies are identified among the reviewers of 
an application, the reviewers discuss their differences and are then 
given an opportunity to rescore the application among themselves and, 
if needed, with the full ARP. An average score is then computed for 
each application. The ARP chair may call upon an advisor (generally a 
scientist with another federal agency) to the ARP to review and comment 
on a proposal; however, the advisor does not score the application. 
Advisory comments that potentially affect the rating of an applicant 
are retained as part of the documentation of the review process. At a 
final meeting, the ARP identifies the top-ranking applications to be 
recommended for funding.
    The factors for rating and ranking applicants and maximum points 
for each factor are provided below. Each factor is weighted as 
indicated by the number of points that are attainable for it. The 
maximum score that can be assigned to an application is 102 points. 
Applicants should be certain that these factors are adequately 
addressed in the project description and accompanying materials. The 
five rating factors are listed below. A more detailed description of 
the factors follows.
    Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (22 points).

[[Page 13866]]

    Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (15 points).
    Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (45 points).
    Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (8 points).
    Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (10 
points).
    RC/EZ/EC-II Bonus Points (2 points).
    Total: 102 points.
    Applicants are eligible to receive two bonus points for projects 
located within federally designated Renewable Communities (RCs), 
Empowerment t Zones (EZs), or Enterprise Communities (ECs) designated 
by USDA in round II (EC-IIs) (collectively referred to as RC/EZ/EC-
IIs), and which will serve the residents of these communities (see the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA).
    You will receive one point under Rating Factor 3(c)(2) for each of 
the applicable FY2005 policy priorities that are adequately addressed 
in your application with the exception of ``Removal of Barriers to 
Affordable Housing,'' for which you can receive up to two points (see 
the General Section of the SuperNOFA). Policy priorities that are found 
in the General Section and applicable to the Healthy Homes Technical 
Studies NOFA are: (1) Improving our Nation's Communities (focus on 
distressed communities); (2) Providing Full and Equal Access to 
Grassroots Faith-based and other Community-based Organizations in HUD 
Program Implementation; (3) Participation of Minority-Serving 
Institutions in HUD Programs, and (4) Removal of Barriers to Affordable 
Housing.
    You may address more than one of the technical study topic area 
within your proposal or submit separate applications for technical 
studies in different topic areas.
3. Rating Factors
    a. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (22 Points). This factor addresses the extent 
to which you have the ability and organizational resources necessary to 
successfully implement your proposed activities in a timely manner. The 
rating of your application will include any sub-grantees, consultants, 
sub-recipients, and members of a consortium that are firmly committed 
to the project (generally, ``subordinate organizations''). In rating 
this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which your application 
demonstrates:
    (1) The capability and qualifications of the principal investigator 
and key personnel (14 points). Qualifications to carry out the proposed 
study as evidenced by academic background, relevant publications, and 
recent (within the past 10 years) relevant research experience. 
Publications and research experience are considered relevant if they 
required the acquisition and use of knowledge and skills that can be 
applied in the planning and execution of the technical study that is 
proposed under this program NOFA; and
    (2) Past performance of the study team in managing similar projects 
(8 points). Demonstrated ability to successfully manage various aspects 
of a complex technical study in such areas as logistics, study 
personnel management, data management, quality control, community study 
involvement (if applicable), and report writing, as well as overall 
success in project completion (i.e., projects completed on time and 
within budget). You should also demonstrate that your project would 
have adequate administrative support, including clerical and 
specialized support in areas such as accounting and equipment 
maintenance.
    If applicable, describe the past performance of your organization 
in implementing a previously awarded Healthy Homes or Lead Hazard 
Control grant, or grants that your organization received from other 
sources to support research on relevant, related topics. Provide 
details about the nature of the project, the funding agency, and your 
performance (e.g., timely completion, achievement of desired outcomes). 
If your organization has an active OHHLHC grant or cooperative 
agreement, provide a description of the progress and outcomes achieved 
under that award.
    b. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (15 Points). This 
factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for your proposed 
technical study. In responding to this factor, you should document in 
detail how your project would make a significant contribution towards 
achieving some or all of HUD's stated goals and objectives for the 
Healthy Homes Technical Studies Program, as described in Section V.A.2 
above. You should demonstrate how your proposed study addresses a need 
associated with an important housing-related health hazard, with an 
emphasis on children's health. Specific topics to be addressed for this 
factor include:
    (1) Provide a concise review of the health hazard that is addressed 
in your study and why you consider it a ``high priority'' hazard. If 
available, include documented rates of illness or injury associated 
with the hazard, including local, regional, and national data;
    (2) Discuss how your proposed project would significantly advance 
the current state of knowledge for your focus area, especially with 
respect to the development of practical solutions; and,
    (3) Discuss how you anticipate your study findings will be used to 
improve current methods for assessing or mitigating the hazard that 
your study addresses. Indicate why the method/protocol that would be 
improved through your study would be widely adopted (e.g., low cost, 
easily replicated, lack of other options).
    c. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (45 Points). This factor 
addresses the quality of your proposed technical study plan. Specific 
components include:
    (1) Soundness of the study design (20 points). The project 
description/study design must be thorough and feasible, and reflect 
your knowledge of the relevant scientific literature. You should 
clearly describe how your study builds upon the current state of 
knowledge for your focus area. If possible your study should be 
designed to address testable hypotheses that are clearly stated. Your 
study design should be statistically based with adequate power to test 
your stated hypotheses. The study design should be presented as a 
logical sequence of steps or phases with individual tasks described for 
each phase. You should identify any important ``decision points'' in 
your study plan and you should discuss plans for data management, 
analysis and archiving. It is HUD's experience that studies can be 
subjected to considerable delay because of delays in the IRB approval 
process or because of unexpected difficulties with recruiting study 
participants. If applicable, describe actions that you will take to 
minimize the possibility that your study would experience delays in 
these areas (e.g., understanding likely IRB requirements in advance, 
planning on additional avenues for recruitment).
    (2) Policy Priorities (5 points). Indicate if your proposed study 
will address any of the FY2005 policy priorities that are applicable to 
this program that were described previously in Section V.A.2 of this 
program NOFA (see the General Section of the SuperNOFA for additional 
details regarding these policy priorities). You will receive one point 
for each of the applicable policy priorities that are addressed in your 
application, with the exception of ``Removal Of Barriers to Affordable 
Housing,'' for which you can receive a maximum of 2 points.
    (3) Quality assurance mechanisms (8 points). You must describe the 
quality assurance mechanisms that will be

[[Page 13867]]

integrated into your project design to ensure the accuracy and 
reliability of the results. Applicants that receive awards will be 
required to submit a Quality Assurance Plan to HUD.
    (a) Areas to be addressed include, but are not limited to: 
acceptance criteria for data quality; procedures for selection of 
samples/sample sites; sample handling; measurement and analysis; and 
any standard/nonstandard quality assurance/control procedures to be 
followed. Documents (e.g., government reports, peer-reviewed academic 
literature) that provide the basis for your quality assurance 
mechanisms should be cited.
    (b) For the collection of data using instruments, such as surveys 
and visual assessment tools, describe the procedures that you will 
follow to ensure accurate data capture and transfer. Also, indicate 
whether research was done (or is planned) to validate the instrument.
    (c) If your project involves human subjects in a manner which 
requires IRB approval and periodic monitoring, address how you will 
obtain such approval and your monitoring plan. Before you can initiate 
activities that require IRB approval, you must provide an assurance 
that your study has been reviewed and approved by an IRB and evidence 
of your organization's ``institutional assurance'' (see Section 
IV.B.1.f). Describe how you will provide informed consent (e.g., from 
the subjects, their parents or their guardians, as applicable) to help 
ensure their understanding of, and consent to, the elements of informed 
consent, such as the purposes, benefits and risks of the research. 
Describe how this information will be provided and how the consent will 
be collected. For example, describe your use of ``plain language'' 
forms, flyers and verbal scripts, and how you plan to work with 
families with limited English proficiency or primary languages other 
than English, and with families including persons with disabilities.
    (4) Project management plan (8 points). The proposal should include 
a management plan that provides a schedule for the completion of major 
tasks, with associated benchmarks and major study milestones, and major 
deliverables, with an indication that there will be appropriate 
resources (e.g., personnel, financial) to successfully meet the 
proposed schedule. The major tasks and benchmarks/deliverables 
identified in the management plan should be consistent with those 
identified in the Logic Model (see description under Rating Factor 5). 
The management plan should clearly identify the specific 
responsibilities for each member of the project team. You should also 
include preparation of a final deliverable in your management plan. HUD 
encourages grantees to draft one or more articles for peer-reviewed 
academic journals as the major component of a final report. The final 
deliverable can be submitted to HUD during the period of performance of 
your grant or cooperative agreement or during the 90-day closeout 
period (i.e., the 90-day period following award expiration).
    (5) Budget Proposal (4 points).
    (a) Your budget proposal should thoroughly estimate all applicable 
direct and indirect costs, and be presented in a clear and coherent 
format in accordance with the requirements listed in the General 
Section of this NOFA. HUD is not required to approve or fund all 
proposed activities. Your detailed budget should be submitted using 
Form HUD-424-CBW. You must thoroughly document and justify all budget 
categories and costs (see Form HUD-424-CB for the major budget 
categories) and all major tasks, for yourself, sub-recipients, 
partners, major subcontractors, joint venture participants, or others 
contributing resources to the project. A separate detailed budget 
(i.e., Form HUD-424-CBW) is required for subrecipients who will receive 
more than 10 percent of the federal budget request.
    (b) Your narrative justification associated with these budgeted 
costs should be included as an attachment to the Total Budget (Federal 
Share and Matching), but does not count in the 25-page limit for this 
submission.
    (c) The application will not be rated on the proposed cost; 
however, cost will be considered in addition to the rated factors to 
determine the proposal most advantageous to the federal government. 
Cost will be the deciding factor when proposals ranked under the listed 
factors are considered acceptable and are substantially equal.
    d. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (8 Points). Your proposal 
should demonstrate that the effectiveness of HUD's Healthy Homes 
Technical Studies award is being increased by securing additional 
public and/or private resources or by structuring the project in a 
cost-effective manner, such as integrating the project into an existing 
study. Resources may include funding or in-kind contributions (such as 
services, facilities, or equipment) allocated to the purpose(s) of your 
project. Staff and in-kind contributions should be given a monetary 
value.
    You should provide evidence of leveraging/partnerships by attaching 
to your application the following: Letters of firm commitment; 
memoranda of understanding; or agreements to participate from those 
entities identified as partners in the project efforts. Each letter of 
commitment, memorandum of understanding, or agreement to participate 
must include the organization's name, proposed level of commitment 
(with monetary value) and responsibilities as they relate to specific 
activities or tasks of your proposed program. The commitment must also 
be signed by an official of the organization legally able to make 
commitments on behalf of the organization.
    e. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (10 
Points). This factor emphasizes HUD's commitment to ensuring that 
applicants keep promises made in their applications and assess their 
performance to ensure performance goals are met. Achieving results 
means you have clearly identified the benefits or outcomes of your 
program. Outcomes are ultimate goals. Benchmarks or outputs are interim 
activities or products that lead to the ultimate achievement of your 
goals.
    Program evaluation requires that you identify program outcomes, 
interim products or benchmarks, and performance indicators that will 
allow you to measure your performance. Performance indicators should be 
objectively quantifiable and measure actual achievements against 
anticipated achievements. Your evaluation plan should identify what you 
are going to measure, how you are going to measure it, and the steps 
you have in place to make adjustments to your work plan if performance 
targets are not met within established timeframes.
    In your response to this Rating Factor you are to discuss the 
performance goals for your project and identify specific outcome 
measures. You are also to describe how the outcome information will be 
obtained, documented, and reported. You must complete and return the 
Logic Model Form included in the General Section of the SuperNOFA 
showing your proposed project long-term, mid-term, short-term and final 
results, and how they support HUD's departmental goals and objectives. 
Information about developing a Logic Model is available at http://www.hud.gov.
    Also, in responding to this factor, you should:
    (1) Identify benchmarks that you will use to track the progress of 
your study;
    (2) Identify milestones that are critical for achieving study 
objectives (e.g.,

[[Page 13868]]

recruitment of study participants, developing a new analytical 
protocol), potential obstacles in meeting these objectives, and how you 
would respond to these obstacles. These milestones should be clearly 
indicated in your study timeline.
    This rating factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
ethics, management and accountability.

B. Review and Selection Process

1. Corrections To Deficient Applications
    The General Section of the SuperNOFA provides the procedures for 
corrections to deficient applications.
2. Rating and Ranking
    Awards will be made separately in rank order for Healthy Homes 
Technical Studies applications, within the limits of funding 
availability for the program.
    (a) Partial Funding. In the selection process, HUD reserves the 
right to offer partial funding to any or all applicants. If you are 
offered a reduced award amount, you will have a maximum of 14 calendar 
days to accept such a reduced award. If you fail to respond within the 
14-day limit, you shall be considered to have declined the award.
    (b) Remaining Funds. See the General Section of this NOFA for HUD's 
procedures if funds remain after all selections have been made within 
the Healthy Homes Technical Studies Program.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    The anticipated date for the announcement of awards under the 
Healthy Homes Technical Studies Program is September 30, 2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

1. Notice of Award
    Applicants who have been selected for award will be notified by 
letter from the Grant or Cooperative Agreement Officer. The letter will 
state the program for which the application has been selected, the 
amount the grantee is eligible to receive, and the name of the 
Government Technical Representative (GTR). This letter is not an 
authorization to begin work or incur costs under the award. An executed 
grant or cooperative agreement is the authorizing document.
    HUD may require that all the selected applicants participate in 
negotiations to determine the specific terms of the award budget. In 
cases where HUD cannot successfully conclude negotiations with a 
selected applicant or a selected applicant fails to provide HUD with 
requested information, an award will not be made to that applicant. In 
this instance, HUD may offer an award, and proceed with negotiations 
with the next highest-ranking applicant. If you accept the terms and 
conditions of the award, you must return your signed agreement by the 
date specified during negotiation.
    After receiving the letter, additional instructions on how to have 
the grant or cooperative agreement account entered into HUD's Line of 
Credit Control System (LOCCS) payment system will be provided. Other 
forms and program requirements will also be provided.
    In accordance with OMB Circular A-133 (Audits of States, Local 
Governments and Non-Profit Organizations), grantees will have to submit 
their completed audit-reporting package along with the Data Collection 
Form (SF-SAC) to the Single Audit Clearinghouse; the address can be 
obtained from their Web site. The SF-SAC can be downloaded at http://
harvester.census.gov/sac/.
2. Debriefing
    The General Section of the SuperNOFA provides the procedures for 
requesting a debriefing.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

1. Program Performance
    Awardees shall take all reasonable steps to accomplish all HUD-
funded activities within the approved period of performance. HUD 
reserves the right to terminate the grant or cooperative agreement 
prior to the expiration of the period of performance if the awardee 
fails to make reasonable progress in implementing the approved program 
of activities.
2. Conducting Business in Accordance With HUD Core Values and Ethical 
Standards
    If awarded assistance under this NOFA, prior to entering into an 
agreement with HUD, you will be required to submit a copy of your code 
of conduct and describe the methods you will use to ensure that all 
officers, employees, and agents of your organization are aware of your 
code of conduct. See the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
information about conducting business in accordance with HUD's core 
values and ethical standards.
3. Participation in HUD-Sponsored Program Evaluation
    As a condition of the receipt of financial assistance under this 
NOFA, you will be required to cooperate with all HUD staff or 
contractors performing HUD-funded research and evaluation studies 
pertaining to the subject of the grant or cooperative agreement.
4. Environmental Requirements
    In accordance with 24 CFR 50.19(b)(1), (b)(3) and (b)(5), 
activities assisted under this program are categorically excluded from 
the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321) and are not subject to environmental review under the 
related laws and authorities.
5. Removal of Barriers to Affordable Housing
    See the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
6. HUD Reform Act of 1989
    The provisions of the HUD Reform Act of 1989 that apply to this 
NOFA are explained in the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
7. Audit Requirements
    Any funding recipient that expends $500,000 or more in federal 
financial assistance in a single year must meet the audit requirements 
established in 24 CFR parts 84 and 85 in accordance with OMB Circular 
A-133.
8. Executive Order 13202
    Compliance with HUD regulations at 24 CFR 5.108 that implement 
Executive Order 13202, ``Preservation of Open Competition and 
Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors' Labor Relations 
on Federal and Federally-Funded Construction Projects'', is a condition 
of receipt of assistance under this NOFA.
9. Procurement of Recovered Materials
    See the General Section for information concerning this 
requirement.

C. Reporting

    Post award reporting requirements include the following:
1. Final Budget and Work Plan
    Final budget and work plans are due 60 days after the start date of 
the funding award.
2. Quality Assurance Plan (QAP)
    Successful applicants will be required to submit a Quality 
Assurance Plan to HUD prior to initiating work under the award. This is 
a streamlined version of the format used by some other federal 
agencies, and is intended to help ensure the accuracy and validity of 
the data that you will collect under the agreement. You should plan for 
this and include it in your study work plan. (See

[[Page 13869]]

the HUD Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control's Internet 
site, http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead, for the QAP template).
3. Progress Reporting
    Progress reporting is done on a quarterly basis. Project benchmarks 
and milestones will be tracked using a benchmark spreadsheet that uses 
the benchmarks and milestones identified in the Logic Model form (HUD-
96010) approved and incorporated into your award agreement. For 
specific reporting requirements, see policy guidance: www.hud.gov/
offices/lead.
4. Racial and Ethnic Beneficiary Data
    Successful applicants that conduct residential intervention studies 
(i.e., physical or behavioral interventions) or other research that 
involves the occupants of homes (e.g., survey research) must submit 
Form-27061, Racial and Ethnic Data Reporting Form, to HUD on an annual 
basis. Grantees conducting studies that do not involve people, such as 
those confined to the laboratory or certain types of environmental 
sampling, will not be required to submit Form-27061 to HUD. Form HUD-
27061 and instructions for its use are found on www.grants.gov.
5. Final Report
    The award agreement will specify the requirements for final 
reporting (e.g., scientific manuscript, final technical report, and 
final project benchmarks and milestones achieved against the proposed 
benchmarks and milestones in the Logic Model (HUD-96010) approved and 
incorporated into your award agreement.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

    For technical help in downloading an application from Grants.gov or 
submitting via Grants.gov, call the Grants.gov help desk at 800-518-
GRANTS. For programmatic questions you may contact Dr. Peter Ashley, 
Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, at the address above; 
telephone (202) 755-1785, extension 115 (this is not a toll-free 
number) or via e-mail at [email protected]. For administrative 
questions on grants or cooperative agreements, you may contact Ms. 
Curtissa L. Coleman, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, 
at the address above; telephone (202) 755-1785, extension 119 (this is 
not a toll-free number) or via e-mail at [email protected]. 
If you are a hearing-or speech-impaired person, you may reach the above 
telephone numbers by TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information 
Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

A. Other Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Information

    For additional general, technical, and grant program information 
pertaining to the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, 
visit: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead.

B. Appendices

    Appendices A through C to this NOFA are available on HUD's Web site 
at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.

  Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 53 / Monday, March 21, 2005 / 
Notices  

[[Page 13871]]


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN21MR05.129


[[Page 13872]]



Lead Technical Studies Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Lead Technical Studies.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Funding Opportunity Number is: 
FR-4950-N-28. The OMB Paperwork Approval number is: 2539-0015.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 14.902, 
Lead Technical Studies Grant Program.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is June 8, 2005. See the 
General Section IV, Application and Submission Information, regarding 
application submission procedures and timely filing requirements.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    a. The funding opportunity is for technical studies to improve 
methods for detecting and controlling residential lead-based paint 
health and safety hazards.
    b. The total amount to be awarded is approximately $3 million, of 
which $1 million is a set-aside for Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities (HBCUs).
    c. The anticipated amounts and/or numbers of individual awards will 
be approximately 6 to 10 awards, ranging from approximately $200,000 to 
approximately $750,000.
    d. The types of instruments awarded will be grants or cooperative 
agreements, with substantial involvement of the government for 
cooperative agreements (see Section II.C for a description of 
substantial involvement).
    e. Academic, not-for-profit and for-profit institutions located in 
the U.S., state and local governments, and federally recognized Native 
American tribes are eligible to apply. HBCUs are also eligible to apply 
under the set-aside.
    f. Cost sharing is not required, but is encouraged.
    g. There are no limitations on the numbers of applications that 
each applicant may submit, however, HBCUs should not submit the same 
application under both the set-aside and ``open'' categories, and,
    h. The applications for this NOFA can be found at http://www.grants.gov. The application is an electronic application. You must 
register at http://www.grants.gov to be able to submit your 
application. The General Section contains information submission 
requirements and procedures. Please carefully review the General 
Section before reading the program section so that you understand HUD's 
new electronic application process.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Purpose of the Program. The purpose of the Lead Technical Studies 
program is to improve methods for detecting and controlling residential 
lead-based paint hazards.

A. Program Description

1. General Goals and Objectives
    The overall goal of the Lead Technical Studies grant program is to 
gain knowledge to improve the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of 
methods for evaluation and control of residential lead-based paint 
hazards.
    Through the Lead Technical Studies Program, HUD is helping to 
fulfill the requirements of sections 1051 and 1052 of the Residential 
Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 (``Title X'') (42 U.S.C. 
4854 and 4854a) which directs HUD to conduct research on topics which 
include the development of ``improved methods for evaluating [and] 
reducing lead-based paint hazards in housing,'' among others.
    Brief descriptions of active and previously funded lead technical 
studies projects can be found on HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/
offices/lead/techstudies/index.cfm. Where it is appropriate, as an 
applicant, you are strongly encouraged to ensure that your proposed 
study builds upon HUD-sponsored work that has been previously 
completed, in addition to other relevant research (i.e., that contained 
in government reports and in the published literature).
    HUD encourages applicants to consider using the ``community based 
participatory research'' approach, where applicable, in the design and 
implementation of lead technical studies (see e.g., http://
www.niehs.nih.gov/translat/cbpr/cbpr.htm).
2. Background
    HUD has been actively engaged in a number of activities relating to 
lead-based paint hazard control as a result of the Lead-Based Paint 
Poisoning Prevention Act of 1971, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 4801-4856. 
Sections 1051 and 1052 of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard 
Reduction Act of 1992 (Title X) (42 U.S.C. 4854 and 4854a) state that 
the Secretary of HUD, in cooperation with other federal agencies, shall 
conduct technical studies on specific topics related to the evaluation 
and mitigation of residential lead hazards. Section 1053 of Title X 
authorized HUD to spend funds to conduct these studies, under the Lead 
Hazard Control Grant Program's funding authorization in section 
1011(o). The HUD-sponsored technical studies program also responds to 
recommendations by the Task Force on Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction 
and Financing, which was established pursuant to section 1015 of Title 
X. (42 U.S.C. 4852a). The Task Force presented its final report to HUD 
and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in July 1995. The Task 
Force Report, entitled ``Putting the Pieces Together: Controlling Lead 
Hazards in the Nation's Housing'' (see Appendix A of this program NOFA, 
which is available on HUD's Web site at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm), recommended that research be conducted on a 
number of key topics to address significant gaps in our knowledge of 
lead exposure and hazard control.
    The findings of technical studies will be used in part to update 
HUD's Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead-Based Paint 
Hazards in Housing (Guidelines), which were published in June 1995 and 
partly amended in September 1997 (Chapter 7, Lead-Based Paint 
Inspection). For availability of the Guidelines, see ``Guidelines'' in 
Appendix A.

B. Eligible Activities

    HUD is especially interested in the following lead technical 
studies topics:
    1. Development of alternative or improved cleaning methods. Current 
methods for cleaning lead-contaminated dust from hard surfaces consist 
of a combination of HEPA vacuuming and wet cleaning. Research sponsored 
by both the U.S. EPA and HUD has shown that trisodium phosphate (TSP) 
is not more effective than other detergents in cleaning lead 
contaminated dust (USEPA 1998, Rich et al. 2002). Additional HUD-
sponsored research showed that use of household vacuums without HEPA 
filtration for cleaning as an interim control measure (i.e., not 
following lead abatement or other interim control activities) did not 
produce detectable airborne lead emissions (Public Health Institute/
California Dept. of Health Services, unpublished data), and actually 
performed better than the HEPA vacuum that was tested in cleaning lead-
contaminated dust from smooth surfaces. The same study also found that 
wet washing was considerably more

[[Page 13873]]

effective than vacuuming in removing dust-lead from smooth floors.
    There are other cleaning techniques that might be effective in 
cleaning hard surfaces, but which have not been studied. The other 
cleaning techniques include the use of disposable cloths or towelettes 
(either used directly or at the end of a wand) or dry cleaning methods 
using disposable wipes that collect dust electrostatically. Important 
considerations include both efficacy in the removal of lead-
contaminated dust and cost.
    Additional ideas would be welcome, along with a clear description 
of approaches to evaluate the effectiveness of the cleaning techniques.
    2. Reducing exterior soil and dust-lead hazards. Studies have shown 
that lead in exterior dust and soil can be an important source of lead 
exposure to young children, both through direct contact and indirectly 
when tracked or blown into the home. HUD has funded several studies 
that have assessed approaches to reducing the risk posed by this large 
environmental lead reservoir. Examples of these studies have focused on 
the following topics: Reducing the bioavailability (as determined using 
in vitro testing) of lead in soil through the addition of composted 
biosolids; reducing soil hazards in urban yards through targeted 
landscaping (e.g., raised beds, improving ground cover); reducing 
exterior dust-lead levels through exterior building treatments and 
street and sidewalk cleaning; and, reducing surface soil-lead hazards 
by overlaying clean soil with grass cover.
    Additional study is needed to assess the long-term effectiveness of 
interim controls to reduce soil and exterior dust-lead hazards. 
Research is also needed to develop interim controls and strategies for 
exterior dust and soil that are reasonable in cost, feasible to 
implement, and which do not require frequent maintenance to maintain 
their effectiveness.
    3. Potential exposure and contamination from floor sanding of lead-
containing floor varnish. A HUD-funded pilot study by the Wisconsin 
Division of Public Health, ``Potential Lead Exposures from Sanding 
Floors Containing Leaded Varnish,'' found that although no floor 
varnish was identified as lead-based paint using X-ray fluorescence 
(XRF), 52% of varnish samples exceeded the definition of lead-based 
paint based on laboratory analysis. Also, more than 70% of the settled 
dust samples (not dust wipe samples) exceeded the floor dust clearance 
level of 40 [mu]g/ft2 after floor sanding. Use of low-cost 
dust controls significantly reduced the amount of lead-contaminated 
dust on the floors. Hand-scraping of varnished stairs was also shown to 
be a high risk operation for occupational (personal) lead exposure.
    HUD is interested in expanding this study to include a larger 
number of homes and floor refinishing contractors, and to include 
additional regions of the country. HUD is also interested in the ease 
of achieving clearance (using dust wipes) after floor sanding of 
varnishes that contain lead followed by cleaning, and in the 
development of procedures for minimizing the spread of lead-
contaminated dust during sanding (i.e., considering the large amount of 
dust produced during sanding).
    4. Approaches to streamlining performance of interim controls, 
abatement, and clearance in multi-family housing where repeat 
operations occur. The performance of abatement or interim control of 
lead-based paint hazards in multi-family housing may result in 
repetitive operations (for example repetitive treatments in common 
areas such as hallways and stairwells) that hinder the movement, 
access, and exit of residents. For some of these areas, such as a 
hallway on each floor, or a stairwell or entranceways to buildings, 
repetitive operations such as interim controls may require relocation 
of residents until work can be completed, clean-up accomplished, and 
clearance attained.
    There may be ways to show, with statistical significance, and 
through the use of existing or newly collected data that repeat 
operations may be defined with sufficient specificity to allow 
accelerated clean-up and clearance. HUD is interested in studies to 
determine whether repeat operations in multi-family housing can be 
sufficiently safe to allow return of residents to their units based on 
considered professional judgment and data collected from similar 
operations. This approach may be analogous to the approach taken to 
prove a negative exposure assessment for OSHA exposure determinations.
    5. Effectiveness of Ongoing Maintenance Program Activities in 
Controlling Lead-Based Paint Hazards. While a variety of lead abatement 
and interim control techniques have been evaluated for their 
effectiveness in controlling lead-based paint hazards, there are few 
studies directly assessing the effectiveness of ongoing lead-based 
paint maintenance programs. HUD is interested in evaluating the 
effectiveness and feasibility of ongoing lead-based paint maintenance 
programs, identifying program components for which particular 
implementation difficulties exist, and evaluating proposed measures for 
overcoming those difficulties. Such an evaluation of program components 
could address whether and how technically-acceptable and cost-effective 
work practices are selected and implemented, how effectively 
supervisors monitor work activities to ensure that lead-based paint 
hazards are controlled and that dust and debris are contained and 
cleaned up during and after work, and how well clearance procedures 
(including necessary re-cleaning) are integrated into the maintenance 
program, among other factors.
    6. Use of Available Databases to Evaluate the Efficacy of Lead 
Hazard Control Activities.
    Public databases can be used to help target and assess the 
effectiveness of lead hazard control activities. Examples of this 
include the use of census data to identify neighborhoods that are at 
high risk for lead poisoning (e.g., age and value of housing used in 
combination with indicators of socioeconomic status) and the use of 
blood-lead screening data to target dwellings that have been associated 
with repeated identification of resident children with elevated blood-
lead levels. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have also been 
successfully used as a tool to help target high risk housing. At a 
broader level, serial blood-lead screening data could be used to assess 
the effectiveness of lead hazard control activities or laws that 
require lead hazard control treatments in high risk housing (e.g., by 
comparing community screening results before and after laws were 
enacted while accounting for the overall downward trend in blood lead 
levels). HUD is interested in studies that assess effective and 
creative uses of public databases to improve the efficacy of lead 
hazard control programs (e.g., targeting neighborhoods), assess the 
effectiveness of enforcement and lead hazard control activities and 
regulations, and other uses of these data that further the goal of 
improving methods for the identification and control of residential 
lead-based paint hazards.
    7. Other Focus Areas that are Consistent with the Overall Goals of 
HUD's Lead Technical Studies Program. Additional ideas will be 
considered with an open mind if proposed with novel techniques and 
applications. HUD will also consider funding applications for technical 
studies on topics which are relevant under the overall goals and 
objectives of the lead technical studies program, as described above. 
In such instances, the applicant should describe how the proposed 
activity addresses these overall goals and objectives.

[[Page 13874]]

C. Authority

    These grants are authorized under sections 1011(g)(1), 1011(o), 
1051-1053 of the Residential Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 
1992 (Title X of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, 42 
U.S.C. 4851 et seq.); and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, 
(Pub. L. 108-477; approved December 8, 2004).

II. Award Information

A. Funding Available

    Approximately $3 million in Fiscal Year 2005 funds is available for 
Lead Technical Studies. Of this amount, $1 million is set-aside for 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Cooperative 
agreements and/or grants will be awarded on a competitive basis 
following evaluation of all proposals according to the rating factors 
described in at Section V.A.3. HUD anticipates that approximately six 
to ten awards will be made, ranging from approximately $200,000 to 
approximately $750,000 each. In FY 2004, HUD awarded 4 grants averaging 
approximately $430,000.
    Applications for additional work related to existing HUD-funded 
technical studies (i.e., for work outside of the scope of the original 
agreement) are eligible to compete with applications for new awards. 
These applications will be evaluated in the same manner as new 
applicants.

B. Anticipated Start Date and Period of Performance for New Grants

    The start date for new awards is expected to be October 1, 2005. 
The period of performance cannot exceed 36 months from the time of 
award. The proposed performance period should include adequate time for 
project components such as the Institutional Review Board process, the 
recruitment of study participants, and the development of new 
instrumentation or methods (e.g., analytical methods), all of which 
have been found to delay projects in the past. Period of performance 
extensions for delays due to exceptional conditions beyond the 
grantee's control will be considered for approval by HUD in accordance 
with 24 CFR 85.25 and the OHHLHC Program Guide. If approved, grantees 
will be eligible to receive a single extension of up to 12 months in 
length. Applicants are encouraged to plan studies with shorter 
performance periods than 36 months; when developing your schedule, 
however, you should consider the possibility that issues may arise that 
could cause delays .

C. Type of Award Instrument

    Awards in response to this NOFA will be made as grants or 
cooperative agreements. Anticipated substantial involvement for 
cooperative agreements may include, but will not be limited to:
    1. Review and possibly suggest amendments to the study design, 
including: study objectives; field sampling plan; data collection; 
sample handling and preparation; and sample and data analysis.
    2. Review and provide technical recommendations in response to 
quarterly progress reports (e.g., amendments to study design based on 
preliminary results).
    3. Review and provide technical recommendations on the final study 
report.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Academic and not-for-profit institutions located in the U.S., state 
and local governments, and federally recognized Native American tribes 
are eligible under all existing authorizations. For-profit firms also 
are eligible; however, they are not allowed to earn a fee (i.e., no 
profit can be made from the project). HBCUs, that is, educational 
institutions that satisfy the requirements of 34 CFR 608.2, are also 
eligible to apply under the set-aside. Applications for supplementation 
of existing projects are eligible to compete with applications for new 
awards. Federal agencies and federal employees are not eligible to 
submit applications. The General Section identifies threshold 
requirements that must be met for an organization to receive an award.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    Cost sharing or matching is not required. In rating your 
application, however, you will receive a higher score under Rating 
Factor 4 if you provide evidence of significant cost sharing.

C. Other

1. Threshold Requirements Applicable to All Applicants Under the 
SuperNOFA
    As an applicant, you must meet all of the threshold requirements 
described in the General Section. Threshold requirements include 
Eligibility, Compliance with Fair Housing and Civil Rights Laws, 
Conducting Business in Accordance with Core Values and Ethical 
Standards, Delinquent Federal Debts and Pre-Award Accounting System 
Surveys. Applicants that meet all of the threshold requirements will be 
eligible to receive funds from HUD.
2. Program Requirements
    a. Program Performance. Grantees shall take all reasonable steps to 
accomplish all activities within the approved period of performance. 
HUD reserves the right to terminate the grant prior to the expiration 
of the period of performance if the grantee fails to make reasonable 
progress in implementing the approved program of activities or fails to 
comply with the terms of the grant agreement.
    b. You must comply with all relevant federal and state regulations 
regarding exposure to and proper disposal of hazardous materials;
    c. Any blood lead testing, blood lead level test results, and 
medical referral and follow-up for children under six years of age will 
be conducted according to the recommendations of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Preventing Lead Poisoning in 
Young Children (see Appendix A of this NOFA, available at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm);
    d. HUD technical studies grant funds will not replace existing 
resources dedicated to any ongoing project;
    e. Laboratory analysis covered by the National Lead Laboratory 
Accreditation Program (NLLAP) will be conducted by a laboratory 
recognized under the program;
    f. Human research subjects will be protected from research risks in 
conformance with Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, 
required by HUD at 24 CFR 60.101;
    g. The requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration (OSHA) (e.g., 29 CFR part 1910 and/or 1926, as 
applicable) or the state or local occupational safety and health 
regulations, whichever are most stringent, will be met;
    h. If an individual researcher or a research team submits the 
application, the institution administering the grant must meet the 
civil rights threshold in the General Section.
    i. Privacy and Disclosure. All test results in pre-1978 housing 
related to lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards must be 
provided to the owner of the unit, together with a statement describing 
the owner's legal duty to disclose the results to tenants (before 
initial leasing, or before lease renewal with changes) and buyers 
(before sale) if the housing was constructed before 1978 (24 CFR part 
35, subpart A). This information provided to owners may only be used 
for purposes of remediation of lead-based paint and other hazards in 
the unit. Disclosure of other identified housing-related health

[[Page 13875]]

or safety hazards to the owner of the unit, for purposes of 
remediation, is encouraged but not required. Submission of any 
information on the properties to databases (whether Web site, computer, 
paper, or other format) of addresses of identified, treated or cleared 
housing units is subject to the protections of the Privacy Act of 1974, 
and shall not include any personal information that could identify any 
child affected.
    3. DUNS Requirement. Refer to the General Section for information 
regarding the DUNS requirement. A DUNS number must be provided for the 
institution that is submitting an application.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    If you are interested in applying for funding under this program, 
please review carefully the General Section and the following 
additional information.

A. Addresses To Request Application Package

    There is no Application Kit. All the information required to submit 
an application is contained in the program section of this NOFA and the 
General Section. Applications can be downloaded from the Web at: http://www.grants.gov. If you have difficulty accessing the information you 
may call the Grants.gov helpline toll-free at (800) 518-GRANTS or e-
mailing [email protected]. Helpline customer representatives will 
assist you in accessing the information.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

1. Applicant Data.
    Your application must contain the items listed in this section. 
These items include the standard forms listed in the General Section 
that are applicable to this funding announcement (collectively referred 
to as the ``standard forms''). The required items are:
    a. Application Abstract. An abstract with the project title, the 
names and affiliations of all investigators, and a summary of the 
objectives, expected results, and study design (two-page maximum) must 
be included in the proposal. Applicants applying under the HBCU set-
aside should indicate this by inserting ``(HBCU Set-aside)'' under the 
project title.
    b. All forms as required by the General Section. A Certification of 
Consistency with the Consolidated Plan is not required for this 
application.
    c. Applications that are submitted for funding under the HBCU set-
aside should indicate this in box 11 (Descriptive Title of 
Applicant's Project) of form SF-424 (Application for Federal 
Assistance) by inserting ``HBCU Set-aside'' in parentheses under the 
project title.
    d. A project description/narrative statement addressing the rating 
factors for award for this NOFA. The narrative statement must be 
identified in accordance with each factor for award (Rating Factors 1 
through 5). Number the pages of your narrative statement and include a 
header and a footer that provides the name of the applicant and the 
name of the HUD program to which you are applying. The project 
description must be included in the responses to the rating factors. 
The response to the rating factors should not exceed a total of 25 
pages, single-sided, (10- to 12-point font with at least \3/4\ inch 
margins on 8\1/2\'' by 11'' pages) for each technical study topic area. 
Any pages in excess of this limit will not be read. The rating for each 
rating factor will be based on the portion of your narrative statement 
that you submit in response to that particular factor, supplemented by 
any appendices that are referenced in your response. Supporting 
materials that are not referenced or discussed in your responses to the 
individual rating factors will not be rated. Additional materials 
(e.g., appendices) must be submitted with your application according 
the directions in the General Section.
    e. You should provide evidence of leveraging/partnerships by 
submitting the following with your application: letters of firm 
commitment; memoranda of understanding; or agreements to participate by 
those entities identified as partners in the project efforts. Each 
letter of commitment, memorandum of understanding, or agreement to 
participate must include the organization's name, proposed level of 
commitment (with monetary value) and responsibilities as they relate to 
specific activities or tasks of your proposed program. The commitment 
must also be signed by an official of the organization legally able to 
make commitments on behalf of the organization.
    f. In conformance with the Common Rule (Federal Policy for the 
Protection of Human Subjects, codified by HUD at 24 CFR part 60.101), 
if your research involves human subjects, your organization must 
provide an assurance (e.g., a letter signed by an appropriate official) 
that the research has been reviewed and approved by an Institutional 
Review Board (IRB) before you can initiate activities that require IRB 
approval. Before initiating such activities you must also provide the 
number for your organization's assurance (i.e., an ``institutional 
assurance'') that has been approved by the Department of Health and 
Human Service's Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP). For 
additional information on what constitutes human subject research or 
how to obtain an institutional assurance see the OHRP web site at 
http://ohrp. osophs.dhhs.gov/.
    g. With your application submission, include the resumes of the 
principal investigator and other key personnel and other materials that 
are needed in your response to the rating factors (e.g., organizational 
chart, letters of commitment). Resumes shall not exceed three pages 
each, and are limited to information that is relevant in assessing the 
qualifications of key personnel to conduct and/or manage the proposed 
technical studies. This information will not be counted towards the 
page limit.
    h. Submit other relevant information provided in support of your 
application following the directions in the General Section. These 
additional optional materials must not exceed 20 pages. Any pages in 
excess of this limit will not be read.
    i. Include a detailed total budget with supporting cost 
justification for all budget categories of the federal grant request. 
Use the budget format discussed in Rating Factor 3, Section V.A.3.c, 
below. In completing the budget forms and justification, you should 
address the following elements:
    (1) Direct Labor costs should include all full- and part-time staff 
required for the planning and implementation phases of the project. 
These costs should be based on full time equivalent (FTE) or hours per 
year (hours/year) (i.e., one FTE equals 2,080 hours/year);
    (2) You should budget for three trips to HUD Headquarters in 
Washington, DC, planning each trip for two people, with the first trip 
occurring shortly after grant award for a stay of two or three days, 
depending on your location, and the remaining trips having a stay of 
one or two days, depending on your location;
    (3) A separate budget proposal should be provided for any 
subrecipients receiving more than 10 percent of the total federal 
budget request;
    (4) You should be prepared to provide supporting documentation for 
salaries and prices of materials and equipment upon request;
    (5) Organizations that have a federally negotiated indirect cost 
rate should use that rate and the appropriate base. Other 
organizations, not having a federally negotiated rate schedule, must 
obtain a

[[Page 13876]]

rate from their cognizant federal agency, otherwise the organization 
will be required to obtain a negotiated rate through HUD; and
    (6) You should submit the negotiated rate agreements for fringe 
benefits and indirect costs, if applicable, as an attachment to the 
budget sheets.
    j. Applicants are encouraged to use the following checklist to 
ensure that all required materials have been prepared and submitted. 
You are not required to submit this checklist with your application.

Checklist for Lead Technical Studies Program Applicants

Item

Applicant Abstract (limited to a 2-pages)

Rating Factor Responses (Total Narrative Response Limited to 25 Pages)

1. Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational Experience
2. Need/Extent of the Problem
3. Soundness of Approach
4. Leveraging Resources
5. Achieving Results and Program Evaluation

Required Materials in Response to Rating Factors (Does Not Count 
Towards 25-Page Limit)

--Resumes of Key Personnel (limited to 3 pages per resume)
--Organizational Chart
--Letters of Commitment (if applicable)
--Form HUD-96010 Logic Model Form

Optional Material in Support of the Rating Factors (20 page limit)

Required Forms and Budget Material

--Form SF 424 (Application for Federal Assistance)
--Form HUD-424-CB Grant Application Detailed Budget
--Form HUD-CBW (Budget Worksheet)
--Form SF 424 Supplement (Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for 
Applicants) (to be completed by private nonprofit organizations only)
--Form SF LLL (Disclosure of Lobbying Activities)
--Form HUD 2880 (Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report)
--Form 2990 Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic 
Plan (required only for applicants who are seeking these bonus points)
--Form HUD 2994 Client Comments and Suggestions (Optional)
--Facsimile Transmittal (for electronic applications)--Form HUD-96011

C. Submission Dates and Times

    Electronic applications must be submitted and received by 
Grants.gov on or before June 8, 2005. All narrative files and any 
scanned documents must be submitted as a zip file, single attachment to 
the electronic application. Refer to the General Section for specific 
application submission instructions including acceptable submission 
dates, times, methods, acceptable proof of application submission and 
receipt procedures, and other information regarding application 
submission. Materials associated to your electronic application 
submitted by facsimile transmission must also be received by 11:59:59 
p.m. Eastern time on the application submission date. Make sure you see 
the General Section for how to submit third party letters and other 
documents as part of your electronic submission utilizing form HUD-
96011, Facsimile Transmittal.
    Applicants receiving a waiver to the electronic submission process 
must submit the required number of copies of the application by the 
application submission date to the identified address in Appendix C of 
the General Section.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    Funding received through this NOFA is not subject to Executive 
Order (EO) 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Administrative Costs. There is a 10 percent maximum allowance 
for administrative costs. Additional information about allowable 
administrative costs is provided in Appendix B of this NOFA, which is 
available at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    2. Purchase of Real Property is not an allowable cost under this 
program.
    3. Purchase or lease of equipment having a per unit cost in excess 
of $5,000 is not an allowable cost, unless prior written approval is 
obtained from HUD.
    4. Medical treatment costs are not allowable under this program .
    5. For profit institutions are not allowed to earn a fee.
    6. You must comply with the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (16 
U.S.C. 3501).
    7. You may not conduct construction, reconstruction or lead based 
paint hazard control activities that fall below the threshold of 
building repair or improvement, as defined in Section 3(a)(4) of the 
Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4001-4128), of a 
building or mobile home which is located in an area identified by the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as having special flood 
hazards unless:
    (1) The community in which the area is situated is participating in 
the National Flood Insurance Program in accordance with the applicable 
regulations (44 CFR parts 59-79), or less than a year has passed since 
FEMA notification regarding these hazards; and
    (2) Where the community is participating in the National Flood 
Insurance Program, flood insurance on the property is obtained in 
accordance with section 102(a) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act (42 
U.S.C. 4012a(a)). You are responsible for assuring that flood insurance 
is obtained and maintained for the appropriate amount and term.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    See the General Section for specific procedures concerning the form 
of application submission.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. Threshold Requirements. Applications that meet all of the 
threshold requirements will be eligible to be scored and ranked, based 
on the total number of points allocated for each of the rating factors 
described in Section V.A.3 of this program NOFA. Your application must 
receive a total score of at least 75 points to remain in consideration 
for funding.
    2. Rating and Ranking. Applications will be reviewed by an 
Application Review Panel (ARP) which will assign each application a 
score based on the rating factors presented below. The ARP chairperson 
selects and provides at least one application to panel members to score 
during a calibration round to ensure that all panel members are 
consistent in their application of the rating factors. When the 
calibration round is completed, each application is reviewed and scored 
by at least two panel members. If significant scoring discrepancies are 
identified among the reviewers of an application, the reviewers discuss 
their differences and are then given an opportunity to rescore the 
application among themselves and, if needed, with the full ARP. An 
average score is then computed for each application. The ARP chair may 
call upon an advisor (generally a scientist with another federal 
agency) to the ARP to review and comment on a proposal; however, the 
advisor does not score the application. At a final meeting, the ARP 
identifies the top-ranking applications to be recommended for funding.
    3. Award Factors. The factors for rating and ranking applicants, 
and maximum points for each factor, are provided below. Each factor is 
weighted

[[Page 13877]]

as indicated by the number of points that are attainable for it. The 
maximum score that can be assigned to an application is 102 points. 
Applicants should be certain that these factors are adequately 
addressed in the project description and accompanying materials. The 
five rating factors are listed below (a more detailed description 
follows).

Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational 
Experience (22 points).
Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (15 points).
Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (45 points).
Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (8 points).
Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (10 points).
RC/EZ/EC-II Bonus Points (2 points).
Total: 102 points.

    Applicants are eligible to receive up to two bonus points for 
projects located within federally designated Renewable Communities 
(RCs), Empowerment Zones (EZs), or Enterprise Communities (ECs) 
designated by USDA in round II (EC-IIs) (collectively referred to as 
RC/EZ/EC-IIs), and which will serve the residents of these communities 
(see the General Section). In order to be eligible for these bonus 
points, applicants must submit a completed HUD form 2990.
    You will receive one point under Rating Factor 3(2) for each of the 
applicable FY 2005 policy priorities that are found in the General 
Section and applicable to the Lead Technical Studies NOFA that are 
adequately addressed in your application, with the exception of 
``Removal of Barriers to Affordable Housing,'' for which you can 
receive up to two points (see the General Section). Policy priorities 
that are applicable to the Lead Technical Studies Program NOFA are: (1) 
Improving our Nation's Communities (focus on distressed communities); 
(2) Providing Full and Equal Access to Grass-Roots Faith-based and 
other Community-based Organizations in HUD Program Implementation; (3) 
Participation of Minority-Serving Institutions in HUD Programs, and (4) 
Removal of Barriers to Affordable Housing.
    You may address more than one of the technical study topic areas 
within your proposal or submit separate applications for different 
topic areas.
    The following is a description of the five award factors and their 
associated subfactors. a. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant 
and Relevant Organizational Experience (22 Points). This factor 
addresses the extent to which you have the ability and organizational 
resources necessary to successfully implement your proposed activities 
in a timely manner. The rating of you, the ``applicant,'' will include 
any sub-grantees, consultants, sub-recipients, and members of consortia 
that are firmly committed to the project (generally, ``subordinate 
organizations''). In rating this factor, HUD will consider the extent 
to which your application demonstrates:
    (1) The capability and qualifications of the principal investigator 
and key personnel (14 points). HUD will assess your qualifications to 
carry out the proposed study as evidenced by academic background, 
relevant publications, and recent (within the past 10 years) relevant 
research experience. Publications and research experience are 
considered relevant if they required the acquisition and use of 
knowledge and skills that can be applied in the planning and execution 
of the technical study that is proposed under this NOFA; and
    (2) Past performance of the study team in managing similar projects 
(8 points). Demonstrated ability to successfully manage various aspects 
of a complex technical study in such areas as logistics, study 
personnel management, data management, quality control, community study 
involvement (if applicable), and report writing, as well as overall 
success in project completion (i.e., projects completed on time and 
within budget). You should also demonstrate that your project would 
have adequate administrative support, including clerical and 
specialized support in areas such as accounting and equipment 
maintenance.
    If applicable, provide the past performance of the organization 
(applicant or partners) in another Healthy Homes or Lead Hazard Control 
grant, another grant related to environmental health and safety issues, 
or other experience in a similar program. Provide details about the 
nature of the project, the funding agency, and your performance.
    If your organization is an existing Lead Technical Studies grantee, 
provide a description of the progress and outcomes achieved in that 
grant. If you received previous Lead Technical Studies funding, this 
experience will be evaluated in terms of cumulative progress and 
achievements under the previous grant.
    b. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (15 Points). This 
factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for your proposed 
technical study. In responding to this factor, you should document in 
detail how your project would make a significant contribution towards 
achieving some or all of HUD's stated goals and objectives for one or 
more of the topic areas described in Section I.B. You should 
demonstrate how your proposed study addresses a need with respect to 
the development of improved methods for the assessment and control of 
residential lead-based paint hazards. Specific topics to be addressed 
for this factor include:
    (1) Provide a concise review of the research need that is addressed 
in your study and why it is high priority with respect to improving 
methods for lead hazard detection and control;
    (2) Discuss how your proposed project would significantly advance 
the current state of knowledge for your focus area, especially with 
respect to the development of practical solutions; and,
    (3) Discuss how you anticipate your study findings will be used to 
improve current methods for assessing or mitigating the lead hazard 
that your study addresses. Indicate why the method/protocol that would 
be improved through your study would likely be widely adopted (e.g., 
low cost, easily replicated, lack of other options).
    c. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (45 Points). This factor 
addresses the quality of your proposed technical study plan. Specific 
components include:
    (1) Soundness of the study design (20 points). The project 
description/study design must be thorough and feasible, and reflect 
your knowledge of the relevant scientific literature. You should 
clearly describe how your study builds upon the current state of 
knowledge for your focus area. If possible, your study should be 
designed to address testable hypotheses that are clearly stated. Your 
study design should be statistically based with adequate power to test 
your stated hypotheses. The study design should be presented as a 
logical sequence of steps or phases with individual tasks described for 
each phase. You should identify any important ``decision points'' in 
your study plan and you should discuss plans for data management, 
analysis and archiving. It is HUD's experience that studies can be 
subjected to considerable delay because of delays in the IRB approval 
process or because of unexpected difficulties with recruiting study 
participants. If applicable, describe actions that you will take to 
minimize the possibility that your study would experience delays in 
these areas (e.g., understanding likely IRB requirements in advance, 
planning on additional avenues for recruitment).

[[Page 13878]]

    (2) Policy Priorities (5 points). Indicate if your proposed study 
will address any of the FY 2005 policy priorities that are applicable 
to this program as identified in Section V.A.3 (see the General Section 
for additional details regarding these policy priorities). You will 
receive one point for each of the applicable policy priorities that are 
addressed in your application, with the exception of ``Removal Of 
Barriers to Affordable Housing,'' for which you can receive a maximum 
of 2 points.
    (3) Quality assurance mechanisms (8 points). You must describe the 
quality assurance mechanisms that will be integrated into your project 
design to ensure the validity and quality of the results.
    (a) Areas to be addressed include acceptance criteria for data 
quality, procedures for selection of samples/sample sites, sample 
handling, measurement and analysis, pre-testing and validation of 
questionnaires or surveys, measures to ensure accuracy during data 
management, and any standard/nonstandard quality assurance/control 
procedures to be followed. Documents (e.g., government reports, peer-
reviewed academic literature) that provide the basis for your quality 
assurance mechanisms should be cited.
    (b) If your project involves human subjects in a manner which 
requires IRB approval and periodic monitoring, address how you will 
obtain such approval. Before you can receive funds from HUD for 
activities that require IRB approval, you must provide an assurance 
that your study has been reviewed and approved by an IRB and evidence 
of your organization's ``institutional assurance.'' Describe how you 
will provide informed consent (e.g., from the subjects, their parents 
or their guardians, as applicable) to help ensure their understanding 
of, and consent to, the elements of informed consent, such as the 
purposes, benefits and risks of the research. Describe how this 
information will be provided and how the consent will be collected. For 
example, describe your use of ``plain language'' forms, flyers and 
verbal scripts, and how you plan to work with families with limited 
English proficiency or primary languages other than English, and with 
families including persons with disabilities.
    (4) Project management plan (8 points). The proposal should include 
a management plan that provides a schedule for the completion of major 
tasks, with associated benchmarks and major study milestones, and major 
deliverables, with an indication that there will be adequate resources 
(e.g., personnel, financial) to successfully meet the proposed 
schedule. The major tasks and benchmarks/deliverables identified in the 
management plan should be consistent with those identified in the Logic 
Model (see description under Rating Factor 5). You should include 
preparation of one or more articles for peer-reviewed academic journals 
and submission of the draft(s) to the journal(s) after HUD acceptance 
during the period of performance of your grant.
    (5) Budget Proposal (4 points).
    (a) Your budget proposal should thoroughly estimate all applicable 
direct and indirect costs, and be presented in a clear and coherent 
format in accordance with the requirements listed in the General 
Section. HUD is not required to approve or fund all proposed 
activities. You must thoroughly document and justify all budget 
categories and costs (Form HUD-424-CBW) and all major tasks, for 
yourself, sub-recipients, major subcontractors, joint venture 
participants, or others contributing resources to the project. A 
separate budget must be provided for partners who are proposed to 
receive more than 10 percent of the federal budget request.
    (b) Your narrative justification associated with these budgeted 
costs should be submitted as part of the Total Budget (Federal Share 
and Matching), but is not included in the 25-page limit for this 
submission.
    (c) The application will not be rated on the proposed cost; 
however, cost will be considered in addition to the rated factors to 
determine the proposal most advantageous to the Federal Government. 
Cost will be the deciding factor when proposals ranked under the listed 
factors are considered acceptable and are substantially equal.
    d. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (8 Points) Your proposal 
should demonstrate that the effectiveness of HUD's Lead Technical 
Studies grant funds is being increased by securing other public and/or 
private resources or by structuring the project in a cost-effective 
manner, such as integrating the project into an existing study. 
Resources may include funding or in-kind contributions (such as 
services, facilities or equipment) allocated to the purpose(s) of your 
project. Staff and in-kind contributions should be assigned a monetary 
value.
    You should provide evidence of leveraging/partnerships by 
submitting the following: letters of firm commitment; memoranda of 
understanding; or agreements to participate from those entities 
identified as partners in the project efforts. Each letter of 
commitment, memorandum of understanding, or agreement to participate 
must include the organization's name, proposed level of commitment 
(with monetary value) and responsibilities as they relate to specific 
activities or tasks of your proposed program. The commitment must also 
be signed by an official of the organization legally able to make 
commitments on behalf of the organization.
    e. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (10 
Points). This factor emphasizes HUD's commitment to ensuring that 
applicants keep promises made in their applications and assess their 
performance to ensure performance goals are met. Achieving results 
means you, the applicant, have clearly identified the benefits or 
outcomes of your program. Outcomes are ultimate goals. Benchmarks or 
outputs are interim activities or products that lead to the ultimate 
achievement of your goals.
    Program evaluation requires that you, the applicant, identify 
program outcomes, interim products or benchmarks, and performance 
indicators that will allow you to measure your performance. Performance 
indicators should be objectively quantifiable and measure actual 
achievements against anticipated achievements. Your evaluation plan 
should identify what you are going to measure, how you are going to 
measure it, and the steps you have in place to make adjustments to your 
work plan if performance targets are not met within established 
timeframes.
    This rating factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
ethics, management and accountability. In evaluating this factor, HUD 
will consider how you have described outcome measures and benefits of 
your program.
    In your response to this Rating Factor you are to discuss the 
performance goals for your project and identify specific outcome 
measures. You are also to describe how the outcome information will be 
obtained, documented, and reported. You must complete and return the 
Logic Model Form included in the General Section showing your proposed 
project long-term, mid-term, short-term and final results. Information 
about developing a Logic Model is available at http://www.hud.gov.
    Also, in responding to this factor, you should:
    (1) Identify benchmarks that you will use to track the progress of 
your study;
    (2) Identify important study milestones (e.g., the end of specific 
phases in a multiphased study), which

[[Page 13879]]

should also be clearly indicated in your study timeline;
    (3) Identify milestones that are critical for achieving study 
objectives (e.g., recruitment of study participants, developing a new 
analytical protocol), potential obstacles in meeting these objectives, 
and how you would respond to these obstacles;
    (4) Identify how your program will be held accountable for meeting 
program goals, objectives, and the actions undertaken in implementing 
the grant program.

B. Review and Selection Process

    1. Corrections To Deficient Applications. The General Section 
provides the procedures for correcting deficient applications.
    2. Rating and Ranking. Awards will be made in rank order for Lead 
Technical Studies applications, within the limits of funding 
availability for the program.
    (a) Partial Funding. In the selection process, HUD reserves the 
right to offer partial funding to any or all applicants. If you are 
offered a reduced grant amount, you will have a maximum of 14 calendar 
days to accept such a reduced award. If you fail to respond within the 
14-day limit, you shall be considered to have declined the award.
    (b) Remaining Funds. See the General Section for HUD's procedures 
if funds remain after all selections have been made within a category 
of the Lead Technical Studies Program.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    The anticipated date for the announcement of awards under the Lead 
Technical Studies Program is September 30, 2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

1. Notice of Award
    Applicants who have been selected for award will be notified by 
letter from the Grant Officer. The letter will state the program for 
which the application has been selected, the amount the applicant is 
eligible to receive, and the name of the Government Technical 
Representative (GTR).
    HUD may require that all the selected applicants participate in 
negotiations to determine the specific terms of the grant agreement and 
budget. In cases where HUD cannot successfully conclude negotiations 
with a selected applicant or a selected applicant fails to provide HUD 
with requested information, an award will not be made to that 
applicant. In this instance, HUD may offer an award, and proceed with 
negotiations with the next highest-ranking applicant. If you accept the 
terms and conditions of the grant, you must return your signed grant 
agreement by the date specified during negotiation.
    After receiving the letter, additional instructions on how to have 
the grant account entered into HUD's Line of Credit Control System 
(LOCCS) payment system will be provided. Other forms and program 
requirements will also be provided.
    In accordance with OMB Circular A-133 (Audits of States, Local 
Governments and Non-Profit Organizations), grantees expending $500,000 
in Federal funds within a program or fiscal year must submit their 
completed audit-reporting package along with the Data Collection Form 
(SF-SAC) to the Single Audit Clearinghouse, the address can be obtained 
from their web site. The SF-SAC can be downloaded at http://
harvester.census.gov/sac/.
2. Debriefing
    The General Section provides the procedures that applicants should 
follow for requesting a debriefing.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

1. Environmental Requirements
    In accordance with 24 CFR 50.19(b)(1), (b)(3) and (b)(5), 
activities assisted under this program are categorically excluded from 
the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321) and are not subject to environmental review under the 
related laws and authorities.
2. Conducting Business in Accordance with HUD Core Values and Ethical 
Standards
    If awarded assistance under this NOFA, prior to entering into a 
grant agreement with HUD, you will be required to submit a copy of your 
code of conduct and describe the methods you will use to ensure that 
all officers, employees, and agents of your organization are aware of 
your code of conduct. See the General Section for information about 
conducting business in accordance with HUD's core values and ethical 
standards.
3. Participation in HUD-Sponsored Program Evaluation
    See the General Section.
4. Removal of Barriers to Affordable Housing
    See the General Section.
5. HUD Reform Act of 1989
    The provisions of the HUD Reform Act of 1989 that apply to this 
NOFA are explained in the General Section.
6. Audit Requirements
    Any grant recipient that expends $500,000 or more in federal 
financial assistance in a single year must meet the audit requirements 
established in 24 CFR parts 84 and 85 in accordance with OMB Circular 
A-133.
7. Procurement of Recovered Materials
    See the General Section for information concerning this 
requirement.

C. Reporting

1. Post Award Reporting Requirements
    Final budget and work plans are due 60 days after the start date.
2. Quality Assurance Plan (QAP)
    Successful applicants will be required to submit a Quality 
Assurance Plan to HUD prior to initiating work under the grant. This is 
a streamlined version of the format used by some other Federal 
agencies, and is intended to help ensure the accuracy and validity of 
the data that you will collect under the grant. You should plan for 
this and include it in your study work plan. (See the HUD Office of 
Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control's Internet site, http://http://
www.hud.gov/offices/lead, for the QAP template for this program.)
3. Progress Reporting
    Progress reporting is required on a quarterly basis. Project 
benchmarks and milestones will be tracked using a benchmark spreadsheet 
that uses the benchmarks and milestones identified in the Logic Model 
form (HUD-96010). For specific reporting requirements, see policy 
guidance at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead.
4. Racial and Ethnic Beneficiary Data
    HUD does not require grantees to collect racial and ethnic 
beneficiary data for this program. If, however, racial and ethnic data 
are collected and reported as part of a study funded under this program 
NOFA, you must use the Office of Management and Budget's Standards for 
the Collection of Racial and Ethnic Data as presented on Form HUD-
27061, Racial and Ethnic Data Reporting Form (and instructions for its 
use), found on http://www.grants.gov.
5. Final Report
    The grant agreement will specify the requirements for final 
reporting (e.g., scientific manuscript, report).

[[Page 13880]]

VII. Agency Contact(s)

    For technical help in downloading an application from Grants.gov or 
submitting via Grants.gov, call the Grants.gov help desk at 800-518-
GRANTS. For programmatic questions, you may contact Dr. Peter Ashley, 
Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, at (202) 755-1785, 
extension 115 (this is not a toll-free number) or via e-mail at Peter--
[email protected]. For grants administrative questions, you may 
contact Ms. Curtissa L. Coleman, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead 
Hazard Control, at the address above; telephone (202) 755-1785, 
extension 119 (this is not a toll-free number) or via e-mail at 
[email protected]. If you are a hearing- or speech-impaired 
person, you may reach the above telephone numbers through TTY by 
calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-
8339.

VIII. Other Information

A. Other Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Information

    For additional general, technical, and grant program information 
pertaining to the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, 
visit: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead.

B. Appendices

    Appendices A and B to this NOFA are available from HUD's Web site 
at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.

[[Page 13881]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN21MR05.130


[[Page 13882]]



Lead Outreach Grant Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Lead Outreach Grant Program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register Number is: FR-
4950-N-27. The OMB Approval Number is 2539-0015.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 14.904, 
Lead Outreach Grant Program.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is June 14, 2005. See the 
General Section, Section IV, Application and Submission Information, 
regarding application submission procedures and timely filing 
requirements.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose. This funding opportunity is for non-profit grassroots 
community-based organizations, including faith-based organizations; 
other non-profit organizations; states; Tribes; and units of general 
local government to:
    a. develop and distribute outreach and educations materials;
    b. encourage occupants to identify potential paint hazards and 
report them to property owners; and
    c. increase enrollment of low-income housing units in lead hazard 
control treatment programs.
    2. Available Funds. Approximately $2 million is available under 
this program.
    3. Number of Awards. Between 4 and approximately 10 grants will be 
awarded, with each grant ranging between approximately $200,000 and a 
maximum of $500,000.
    4. Type of Awards. The awards will be made as grants.
    5. Eligible Applicants. Grassroots community-based organizations, 
including faith-based organizations; other nonprofit organizations; 
states; Tribes; and units of general local government are eligible to 
apply for funding. Teaming arrangements are encouraged, including 
teaming with educational institutions and other entities such as groups 
of parents of lead-poisoned children, although the application must be 
made by a single entity.
    6. Matching Funds. No match or cost sharing is required. However, 
leveraging is encouraged. See Section V, Rating Factor 4.
    7. Limitations on Applications. Only one application per applicant 
will be permitted for this lead outreach grant program.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Purpose of the Program

    The purpose of this lead outreach grant program is to:
    1. Increase enrollment of low-income housing units in lead hazard 
control treatment programs;
    2. Develop and distribute outreach and educational materials to 
raise public awareness of childhood lead poisoning, its prevention, and 
proper lead hazard identification and control methods for at-risk 
communities, at-risk populations of children and workers in the housing 
maintenance or rehabilitation fields; and
    3. Encourage occupants to identify potential lead-based paint 
hazards and report them to property owners, managers, and/or public 
health or housing officials, as appropriate.

B. Background

    Childhood lead poisoning is the primary childhood environmental 
health problem in the United States today. The Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that there are approximately 
434,000 children under age 6 that have elevated blood lead levels, and 
those who are non-Hispanic blacks or Hispanics are more likely to have 
elevated blood lead levels than are non-Hispanic whites. The February 
2000 report, ``Eliminating Childhood Lead Poisoning: A Federal Strategy 
Targeting Lead Paint Hazards,'' sets forth action to be taken to 
prevent such poisoning. In addition to contributing to the elimination 
of lead hazards in housing occupied by low-income families with 
children, the federal government's public education and outreach 
activities should measurably increase the public's awareness of lead 
hazards and how to address them.
    In keeping with the mandate of section 1011(g)(1) of Title X, the 
Residential Lead-Base Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, Public Law 
102-550, 106 Stat. 3672, October 28, 1992, for HUD to ``develop the 
capacity of eligible applicants * * * to carry out activities under'' 
lead hazard control grant programs, HUD has conducted outreach and 
public education initiatives through the Lead Hazard Control Grant 
program, the National Lead Information Center, and other training, 
education and outreach initiatives.
    Lead Hazard Control grants are awarded to perform lead hazard 
reduction in low-income privately owned pre-1978 housing. Lead outreach 
activities encourage low-income occupants and owners to participate in 
HUD-funded lead hazard control programs. HUD's supplement to the 
Current Population Survey has determined that only a fraction of 
citizens are educated about how lead-based paint hazards are more 
common in older housing and threaten young children. This low level of 
awareness means that few construction and maintenance business owners 
are aware of the extent of lead-based paint hazards. Some general 
information on the background of lead and lead-based paint hazards can 
be found in Appendix A Background on Lead, posted at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.

C. Authority

    The authority for this program is section 1011(e)(8) and (g)(1) of 
the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 (Title X 
of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992), and the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-477; approved 
December 8, 2004).

II. Award Information

A. Available Funding

    Approximately $2 million in fiscal year 2005 funds from the lead 
technical assistance set aside under the lead hazard reduction 
appropriation will be available for the Lead Outreach Program. Grants 
will be awarded on a competitive basis according to the Rating Factors 
described in Section V of this program section.

B. Anticipated Awards

    Between four and approximately ten grants will be awarded, with 
each grant ranging between approximately $200,000 and a maximum of 
$500,000.

C. Award Instrument

    1. Grants. Awards will be made as grants.
    2. Start Date. The anticipated start dates for new awards is 
October 1, 2005.

D. Period of Performance

    The period of performance cannot exceed 24 months from the date of 
the award. A period of performance extension for delays due to 
exceptional conditions beyond the grantee's control will be considered 
for approval by HUD in accordance with 24 CFR 85.30(d)(2) or 24 CFR 
84.25(e)(2), as applicable, and the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead 
Hazard Control (OHHLHC) Program Guide. Only one extension will be 
provided for a period not to exceed 12 months.

[[Page 13883]]

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Grassroots non-profit community-based organizations, including 
faith-based organizations; other non-profit organizations; states; 
Tribes; and units of general local government are eligible applicants. 
Teaming arrangements are encouraged, including teaming with educational 
institutions and other entities such as groups of parents of lead-
poisoned children, although the application must be made by a single 
entity. Nonprofit organizations, grassroots community-based nonprofit 
organizations, including faith-based organizations; educational 
institutions; Fair Housing Organizations; and advocacy groups for 
children's health, minority and ethnic groups and persons with 
disabilities can also be sub-grantees or sub-contractors. We encourage 
both public and nonprofit groups to apply.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirements

    None required. In rating your application, however, you will 
receive a higher score under Rating Factor 4 if you provide evidence of 
significant cost sharing or leveraging.

C. Other

1. Eligible Activities
    Eligible activities under this NOFA are:
    a. Activities to publicize or conduct events which highlight lead 
hazards in the home environment and available lead hazard reduction 
programs;
    b. Development and distribution of materials, including pamphlets, 
newsletters, flyers, etc., to be distributed in stores, schools, 
churches, community centers, or other neighborhood locations. 
References to outreach materials may be found in Appendix B, Lead 
Outreach Materials, posted at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    c. Conducting presentations or speaking engagements to inform the 
public and owners of housing of lead hazards in the home and programs 
that can assist in the abatement and control of the identified hazards;
    d. Entering into working arrangements with local non profit 
organizations, including grassroots community-based organizations, 
including faith-based organizations; chambers of commerce; public and 
private social service agencies; and others to disseminate information 
to populations identified as being at-risk.
    e. Establishing teams with non-profit organizations and 
associations, such as grassroots organizations, including faith-based, 
advocacy, and community-based non-profit organizations, or 
corporations, retailers, construction organizations, and unions for the 
purpose of coordinating or conducting joint outreach activities;
    f. Preparing publications, including graphics, public service 
announcements, posters and entries for newspapers and magazines with 
local and/or regional distribution.
    g. Training local residents and businesses on identifying potential 
lead-based paint hazards, and lead-safe maintenance and renovation work 
practices, etc.;
    h. Making materials available in alternative formats for persons 
with disabilities (e.g., Braille, audio, large type) upon request, and 
providing materials in languages other than English that are common in 
the community, consistent with HUD's published Limited English 
Proficiency (LEP) Recipient Guidance, 68 FR 70968.
    i. Program Administration in accordance with the guidelines 
established under funding restrictions.
    j. Program evaluation and assessment activities to improve the 
effectiveness of present and future outreach efforts and to measure 
whether efforts have successfully been targeted to at risk populations.
    2. Threshold Requirements Applicable to all Applicants Under the 
SuperNOFA. As an applicant, you must meet all of the threshold 
requirements described in the General Section.
3. Program Requirements
    a. Outreach activities must: (1) Increase lead awareness;
    (2) Encourage owners and low-income occupants to enroll their 
housing units in lead hazard control programs; and
    (3) Encourage owners and low-income occupants to identify potential 
lead-based paint hazards and report them to property owners and 
managers, public health, and/or housing officials as appropriate.
    b. All activities under this program must be targeted to at-risk 
populations or areas, and implement an outreach program to meet those 
populations' information needs.
    c. Media Products in Languages other than English. Applicants are 
encouraged to utilize minority media in an effort to achieve diversity 
in outreach and educational efforts to minority target populations. 
Applications that include development and distribution of media 
products in languages other than English must include a discussion of 
the applicant's (or subcontractor's) expertise in those languages and 
in meeting the informational needs of non-English-speaking, underserved 
populations.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    If you are interested in applying for funding under this program, 
please carefully read the General Section and the following additional 
information.

A. Addresses To Request Application Package

1. There Is No Application Kit
    All the information required to submit an application is contained 
in the program section of this NOFA and the General Section. 
Applications can be downloaded from the Web at: http://www.grants.gov.
2. Satellite Broadcast
    HUD expects to hold an information broadcast via satellite for 
potential applicants to learn more about the program and the 
preparation of the application. For more information about the date and 
time of the broadcast, you should consult the HUD Web site at: http://www.hud.gov.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

1. Address for Submitting Applications
    You, the applicant, must submit a complete application via 
Grants.gov. For additional information see the General Section.
2. Application Information
    a. Application Format. Your application narrative response must be 
limited to a maximum of 25 pages (excluding additional materials and 
worksheets) equivalent to one-side only on 8\1/2\ x 11 inch paper using 
a standard 12-point font with not less than \3/4\ inch margins on all 
sides. Additional materials should be referenced and discussed in the 
narrative response and should directly apply to the rating factor to 
receive points. The rating for each Rating Factor will be based on the 
Rating Factor's numbered portion of your narrative statement, 
supplemented by materials referenced and discussed in that portion of 
your narrative statement.
    b. Applicant Data. Your application must contain all of the 
required information as noted in this NOFA Section and the General 
Section. These items include the standard forms listed in the General 
Section that are applicable to this funding (collectively referred to 
as the ``standard forms''). The standard forms can be found in the 
application package on Grants.gov and

[[Page 13884]]

are referenced in the General Section. The application items are as 
follows:
    (1) Application Abstract (limited to two-pages). An abstract that 
summarizes your proposed project, including the objectives and expected 
results, the dollar amount requested, and identifying the name, address 
and key contacts for you and your team members in the application. The 
abstract will be used for Congressional Release and Public Announcement 
if you are selected to receive an award.
    (2) A narrative statement addressing the rating factors for award. 
The narrative statement must be numbered in accordance with each factor 
for award (Rating Factors 1 through 5). The response to the rating 
factors must not exceed an equivalent of 25 pages. Any pages in excess 
of this limit will not be read. (The 25-page limit does not include the 
two-page abstract.) Key points to consider in preparing your 
application are provided in the General Section.
    (3) Applicant should provide the resumes and position descriptions 
of your project director, project manager and up to three additional 
key personnel (in accordance with Rating Factor 1). These should not 
exceed three pages each. This information will not be counted towards 
the page limit.
    (4) Any attachments, additional materials, references, or other 
relevant information that directly support the narrative statement may 
be included, but must not exceed 20 pages for your entire application. 
Any pages in excess of this limit will not be read.
    (5) Provide a detailed budget with supporting cost justification 
for all budget categories of your funding request, in accordance with 
Rating Factor 3. This information will not be counted towards the page 
limits. A detailed budget must also be provided for any subcontractors, 
subgrantees, or subrecipients receiving greater than 10 percent of the 
federal budget request. Use the budget format discussed in Rating 
Factor 3 Section V(A)3.c(2)(b), below. In completing the budget forms 
and justification, you should address the following elements:
    (a) Direct Labor. Direct Labor costs should include all full- and 
part-time staff required for the planning and implementation phases of 
the project. These costs should be based on full time equivalent (FTE ) 
or hours per year (hours/year) (i.e., one FTE equals 2,080 hours/year);
    (b) Travel to HUD Meetings. You should budget for three trips to 
HUD Headquarters in Washington, DC, planning each trip for two people, 
assuming the first trip occurring shortly after grant award for a stay 
of five or six days, depending on your location, and the remaining 
trips having a stay of one or two days, depending on your location;
    (c) Sub-grantee and Subrecipient Budgets. A separate budget 
proposal should be provided for any subrecipients receiving more than 
10 percent of the total federal budget request;
    (d) Supporting Documentation for Salaries and Costs of Materials. 
You should be prepared to provide supporting documentation for salaries 
and prices of materials and equipment upon request;
    (e) Federally Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate. Organizations that 
have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate should use that rate and 
the appropriate base. Other organizations not having a federally 
negotiated rate schedule must obtain a rate from their cognizant 
federal agency. If HUD is the cognizant agency, HUD will establish the 
rates. If awarded a grant, you will be asked to submit your negotiated 
rate agreements for fringe benefits and indirect costs.
    (6) Applicants are encouraged to use the following checklist to 
ensure that all required materials have been prepared and submitted. 
The checklist is not required to be submitted with the application. 
(See below.)
    (7) Any information or materials that are not listed above will not 
be reviewed.

Checklist for Lead Outreach Grant Program Applicants

Applicant Abstract (limited to 2 pages)

Rating Factor Responses (Total narrative response limited to 25 pages.)

1. Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational Experience
2. Need/Extent of the Problem
3. Soundness of Approach
4. Leveraging Resources
5. Achieving Results and Program Evaluation

Required Materials in Response to Rating Factors (does not count 
towards 25-page limit)

    [sbull] Resumes of Key Personnel (limited to 3 pages per resume)
    [sbull] Organizational Chart
    [sbull] Letters of Commitment (if applicable)
    [sbull] Form HUD-96010 Logic Model Form

Optional Material in Support of the Rating Factors (20 page limit)

Required Forms and Budget Material

    [sbull] Form SF 424 (Application for Federal Assistance)
    [sbull] Form HUD-424-CB Grant Application Detailed Budget
    [sbull] Form HUD-CBW (Budget Worksheet)
    [sbull] Form SF 424 Supplement (Survey on Ensuring Equal 
Opportunity for Applicants) (to be completed by private nonprofit 
organizations only)
    [sbull] Form SF LLL (if applicable) (Disclosure of Lobbying 
Activities)
    [sbull] Form HUD 2880 (Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update 
Report)
    [sbull] Form 2990 Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC-II 
Strategic Plan (required only for applicants who are seeking these 
bonus points)
    [sbull] Form HUD 2994 Client Comments and Suggestions (Optional)
    [sbull] Form HUD 27300 Removal of Regulatory Barriers (if 
applicable)
    [sbull] HUD's Waiver from submitting electronically (if applicable)
    [sbull] Form HUD 2993 Acknowledgment of receipt if making paper 
submittal (only if HUD waiver is granted)
    [sbull] Form HUD-96011 Facsimile Transmittal (for electronic 
applications)

C. Submission Dates and Times

    Electronic applications must be submitted to and received by 
www.grants.gov no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the 
application submission date. All narrative files and any scanned 
documents must be submitted as a zip file, single attachment to the 
electronic application. Please refer to the General Section for 
additional submission requirements including acceptable submission 
methods, acceptable proof of submission and receipt procedures, and 
other information regarding application submission. Materials 
associated to your electronic application submitted by facsimile 
transmission must also be received by 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the 
application submission date. Make sure you see the General Section for 
how to submit third party letters and other documents as part of your 
electronic submission utilizing form HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal.
    If you have received a waiver to the electronic application 
submission requirement, you must submit an original and three copies of 
your application on or before June 14, 2005 following the instructions 
in the General Section.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    Not applicable to this program. See 24 CFR Part 52.

E. Funding Restrictions.

    1. HUD will not fund the following ineligible activities:

[[Page 13885]]

    a. Purchase of real property.
    b. Purchase or lease of equipment having a per-unit cost in excess 
of $5,000, unless prior written approval is obtained from HUD.
    c. Hazard abatement, hazard reduction, rehabilitation, remodeling, 
repair, or other construction work.
    2. Administrative Costs. No more than 10 percent of the funds can 
be used for administrative costs. Administrative costs that may be 
applicable to the program included in this NOFA are discussed below:
    a. Purpose. The intent of this HUD grant program is to allow the 
grantee to be reimbursed for the reasonable direct and indirect costs, 
subject to a top limit, for overall management of the grant. In some 
instances the grantee principally serves as a conduit to pass funding 
to sub-grantees, which are to be responsible for conducting the lead 
outreach work. HUD has established a top limit of 10 percent of the 
total grant sum for the grantee to perform the function of overall 
management of the grant program, including passing on funding to sub-
grantees. The cost of that function, for the purpose of this grant, is 
defined as the ``administrative cost'' of the grant, and is limited to 
ten percent of the total grant amount. The balance of ninety percent or 
more of the total grant sum is reserved for sub-grantees or other 
direct-performers of lead outreach work.
    b. Administrative Costs: What They Are Not. For the purposes of 
this HUD grant program for lead outreach, the term ``administrative 
costs'' should not be confused with the terms ``general and 
administrative cost,'' ``indirect costs,'' ``overhead,'' and ``burden 
rate.'' These are accounting terms usually represented by a government-
accepted standard percentage rate. The percentage rate allocates a fair 
share of an organization's costs that cannot be attributed to a 
particular project or department (such as the chief executive's salary 
or the costs of the organization's headquarters building) to all 
projects and operating departments (such as the community relations 
program office or education program office, or, for governmental 
grantees, such offices as the Fire Department, the Police Department, 
the Community Development Department, the Health Department or this 
program). Such allocated costs are added to those projects' or 
departments' direct costs to determine their total costs to the 
organization.
    c. Administrative Costs: What They Are. For the purposes of this 
HUD grant program, ``Administrative Costs'' are the grantee's allowable 
direct costs for the overall management of the grant program plus the 
allocable indirect costs. The allowable limit of such costs that can be 
reimbursed under this program is 10 percent of the total grant sum. 
Should the grantee's actual costs for overall management of the grant 
program exceed 10 percent of the total grant sum, those excess costs 
shall be paid for by the grantee. However, excess costs paid for by the 
grantee may be shown as part of the requirement for cost-sharing funds 
to support the grant.
    d. Administrative Costs: Definition
    (1) General. Administrative costs are the allowable, reasonable, 
and allocable direct and indirect costs related to the overall 
management of the HUD grant for lead outreach activities. Those costs 
shall be segregated in a separate cost center within the grantee's 
accounting system, and they are eligible costs for reimbursement as 
part of the grant, subject to the 10 percent limit. Such administrative 
costs do not include any of the staff and overhead costs directly 
arising from specific sub-grantee program activities eligible under 
Section III(C) of this NOFA, because those costs are eligible for 
reimbursement under a separate cost center as a direct part of project 
activities.
    The grantee may elect to serve solely as a conduit to sub-grantees, 
who will in turn perform the direct program activities eligible under 
Section III(C) of this NOFA, or the grantee may elect to perform all or 
a part of the direct program activities in other parts of its own 
organization, which shall have their own segregated, cost centers for 
those direct program activities. In either case, not more than 10 
percent of the total HUD grant sum may be devoted to administrative 
costs, and not less than 90 percent of the total grant sum shall be 
devoted to direct program activities. The grantee shall take care not 
to mix or attribute administrative costs to the direct project cost 
centers.
    (2) Specific. Reasonable costs for the grantee's overall grant 
management, coordination, monitoring, and evaluation are eligible 
administrative costs. Subject to the 10 percent limit, such costs 
include, but are not limited to, necessary expenditures for the 
following goods, activities and services:
    (a) Salaries, wages, and related costs of the grantee's staff, the 
staff of affiliated public agencies, or other staff engaged in 
grantee's overall grant management activities. In charging costs to 
this category the recipient may either include the entire salary, 
wages, and related costs allocable to the program for each person whose 
primary responsibilities (more than 65 percent of their time) with 
regard to the grant program involve direct overall grant management 
assignments, or the pro rata share of the salary, wages, and related 
costs of each person whose job includes any overall grant management 
assignments. The grantee may use only one of these two methods during 
this program. Overall grant management includes the following types of 
activities:
    (i) Preparing grantee program budgets and schedules, and amendments 
thereto;
    (ii) Developing systems for the selection and award of funding to 
sub-grantees and other subrecipients;
    (iii) Developing suitable agreements for use with sub-grantees and 
other subrecipients to carry out grant activities;
    (iv) Developing systems for assuring compliance with program 
requirements;
    (v) Monitoring sub-grantee and subrecipient activities for progress 
and compliance with program requirements;
    (vi) Preparing presentations, reports, and other documents related 
to the program for submission to HUD;
    (vii) Evaluating program results against stated objectives;
    (viii) Providing local officials and citizens with information 
about the overall grant program (however, a more general education 
program, helping the public understand the nature of lead hazards, lead 
hazard reduction, blood-lead screening, and the health consequences of 
lead poisoning is a direct project support activity);
    (ix) Coordinating the resolution of overall grant audit and 
monitoring findings; and
    (x) Managing or supervising persons whose responsibilities with 
regard to the program include such assignments as those described in 
paragraphs (i) through (ix) above.
    (b) Travel costs incurred for official business in carrying out the 
overall grant management;
    (c) Administrative services performed under third party contracts 
or agreements, for services directly allocable to grant management such 
as: legal services, accounting services, and audit services;
    (d) Other costs for goods and services required for and directly 
related to the overall management of the grant program; and including 
such goods and services as telephone, postage, rental of equipment, 
renter's insurance for the program management space, utilities, office 
supplies, and rental and maintenance (but not purchase) of office space 
for the program.
    (e) The fair and allocable share of grantee's general costs that 
are not directly attributable to specific projects

[[Page 13886]]

or operating departments such as salaries, office expenses and other 
related costs for a private-sector grantee's parent organization, or, 
for a governmental grantee, local officials (e.g., mayor and city 
council members, etc.), and expenses for a grantee's legal or 
accounting department which are not charged back to particular projects 
or other operating departments. If a grantee has an established burden 
rate, it should be used; if not, the grantee shall be assigned a 
negotiated provisional burden rate, subject to final audit.

F. Other Submission Requirements

1. Submission Dates and Times
    a. If you seek a waiver from submitting electronically, see the 
General Section.
    b. Applicants who have received a waiver from submitting 
electronically must submit their paper copy applications for delivery 
following the instructions in the General Section, no later than 
11:59:59 PM on the application submission date. Paper copy applications 
submitted without being granted a waiver will not receive funding 
consideration. Please read the General Section carefully as 
instructions have significantly changed for FY2005 application 
submissions.
2. Electronic Application Assistance
    For technical assistance in downloading the electronic application 
or for other questions regarding the electronic application, please 
contact the Grants.gov help desk at (800) 518-GRANTS. The Grants.gov 
help desk can also be contacted by email at Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. You can 
also get assistance on general questions from the NOFA Information 
Center at (800) HUD-8929. If you are hearing impaired, you may reach 
the numbers above at (800) HUD-2209 (TTY) or the Federal Information 
Relay Service at (800) 877-8339 (these are toll-free numbers).

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. Applications will be reviewed by an Application Review Panel 
(ARP) which will assign each application a score based on the rating 
factors presented below.
2. Factors for Award Used to Evaluate and Rate Applications
    The factors for rating and ranking applicants, and maximum points 
for each factor, are provided below. The maximum number of points to be 
awarded is 102, including the potential for two RC/EZ/EC-II bonus 
points, as described in the General Section.
3. Award Factors
    Each factor is weighted as indicated by the number of points that 
are attainable for it. Applicants should be certain that these factors 
are adequately addressed in the project description and accompanying 
materials. The five rating factors are listed below.

Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational 
Experience (20 points).
Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (15 points).
Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (40 points).
Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (10 points).
Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (15 points).
RC/EZ/EC-II Bonus Points (2 points, see below).
Total: 102 points.
    HUD FY 2005 NOFAs provide for the award of two bonus points for 
eligible activities/projects that the applicant proposes to locate in 
federally designated Empowerment Zones (EZs), Renewal Communities 
(RCs), or Enterprise Communities, designated by USDA in round II (EC-
IIs), that are intended to serve the residents of these areas, and that 
are certified to be consistent with the area's strategic plan or RC Tax 
Incentive Utilization Plan (TIUP). (For ease of reference in this 
Notice, all of the federally designated areas are collectively referred 
to as ``RC/EZ/EC-IIs'' and residents of any of these federally 
designated areas as ``RC/EZ/EC-II residents.'') This Notice contains a 
certification that must be completed for the applicant to be considered 
for RC/EZ/EC-II bonus points. A list of RC/EZ/EC-IIs can be obtained 
from HUD's web page at http://www.hud.gov/cr. Applicants can determine 
if their program/project activities are located in one of these 
designated areas by using the locator on HUD's web site at http://
www.hud.gov/crlocator. Please see the General Section.
    You will receive points under Rating Factor 3(1) for each of the 
applicable FY2005 policy priorities that are adequately addressed in 
your application, up to a maximum of four points (see the General 
Section). Policy priorities that are applicable to the Lead Outreach 
grant NOFA and eligible for one point each are: (1) Improving our 
Nation's Communities (focus on distressed communities); and (2) 
Providing full and equal access to grass-roots faith-based and other 
community-based organizations in HUD program implementation. Removal of 
regulatory barriers to affordable housing is eligible for up to 2 
points provided the required documentation, as specified in form HUD 
27300 (Removal of Regulatory Barriers), is part of the application 
submission to HUD. Applicants may also provide a web site URL for a web 
site where the required documentation is readily accessible for use.
    You are encouraged to plan projects that can be completed over a 
short time period (e.g., 18 to 24 months from the date of award) so 
useful information generated from the outreach activities can be 
available for policy or program decisions and disseminated to the 
public as quickly as possible. The grant performance period is limited 
to 24 months.
    a. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (20 Points). This factor addresses your 
organizational capacity necessary to successfully implement your 
proposed activities in a timely manner. The rating of you or your staff 
includes any grassroots nonprofit organizations, including faith-based 
nonprofit organizations and other community-based non-profit 
organizations, sub-contractors, consultants, subrecipients, and members 
of consortia that are firmly committed to your project. For all of the 
descriptions of personnel and organizational qualifications and 
experience in this factor, more points will be given for more recent 
relevant experience of high quality with this type of work, as 
documented below. Applicants who are funding or sub-contracting with 
grassroots nonprofit organizations, including faith-based nonprofit 
organizations, and other community-based nonprofit organizations, in 
conducting their outreach programs should include the qualifications 
and experience of these organizations in responding to this rating 
factor. In rating this factor HUD will consider:
    (1) Your recent, relevant and successful demonstrated experience in 
undertaking eligible program activities. You must describe the 
knowledge and experience of the proposed overall project director and 
day-to-day project manager in planning and managing large and complex 
interdisciplinary outreach programs, especially those involving 
housing, public health, or environmental programs. In your narrative 
response for this factor, you should include information on your 
project staff, their experience, percentage commitment to the project, 
and position titles. You must provide resumes (or position descriptions 
and copies of job announcements including salary range, for vacant 
positions) of up to three pages each for the project

[[Page 13887]]

director, project manager, and up to three key personnel, and a clearly 
delineated organizational chart for the Lead Outreach project in your 
application. Indicate the name and the position of key personnel, the 
percentage of time that proposed staff will devote to your project and 
any salary costs to be paid by funds from this program. Include 
descriptions of the experience and qualifications of subcontractors and 
consultants. You may find it useful to include a table indicating the 
name, position and percentage contribution of staff members, specifying 
organizational affiliation.
    (2) Your qualifications to carry out the proposed activities as 
evidenced by experience, training, and/or relevant publications of 
project staff, and whether you have sufficient personnel, or will be 
able to quickly retain qualified experts or professionals to begin your 
proposed project immediately, and to perform your proposed activities 
in a timely and effective fashion. Describe how principal components of 
your organization will participate in, or support, your project. You 
should thoroughly describe capacity, as demonstrated by experience in 
initiating, implementing and evaluating related health education, 
outreach and recruitment projects.
    (3) Your past performance in previous projects with an emphasis on 
health education, outreach and recruitment. Provide details about the 
nature of the project, the funding agency, and your performance, 
relative to performance measures or the achievement of desired health 
outcomes. If a subgrantee or subcontractor is an existing HUD lead 
outreach grantee, provide a description of the progress and outcomes 
achieved in that grant.
    HUD's evaluation process will consider an applicant's past 
performance in effectively organizing and managing their grant 
operations, in meeting performance and work plan benchmarks and goals, 
and in managing funds, including their ability to account for funds 
appropriately, timely use of funds received either from HUD or other 
federal, state, Tribal, or local programs, and meeting performance 
milestones. This includes whether the applicant has requested no-cost 
time extensions for previous Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard 
Control awards. HUD may use other information relating to these items 
from sources at hand, public sources such as newspapers, Inspector 
General or Government Accounting Office Reports or Findings, hotline 
complaints, or other sources of information that have been proven to 
have merit.
    (4) Statement Regarding Other Grants and Applications. You need to 
disclose all grants that you are currently receiving from OHHLHC, and a 
list of the applications you have submitted or plan to submit for 
FY2005 for other OHHLHC grants. This information will be used during 
evaluation of your application in regard to evaluating your capacity to 
conduct the activities under this grant program concurrently with 
activities under other OHHLHC grants.
    b. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (15 Points) This 
factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for your proposed 
project activities to address documented problems, target area(s) and 
target populations. Applications that demonstrate a greater need for 
lead outreach beyond existing levels as a mechanism for increasing 
enrollment in lead hazard treatment programs, or more thoroughly 
document this need will earn higher numbers of points.
    (1) Your application should document a critical level of need for 
your proposed outreach activities in the area(s) where activities will 
be carried out. You should pay specific attention to documenting the 
need for outreach to increase enrollment of low- income housing units 
with children under six in lead hazard treatment programs as it applies 
to your target area(s) and target populations, rather than a larger 
geographic area or general population. Examples of information that 
might be used to demonstrate need, include:
    (2) Economic or sociological information relevant to your target 
area(s). If this information is applied locally, the neighborhoods or 
type of neighborhoods to be targeted should be characterized with 
regard to populations and age of housing that the outreach activities 
are attempting to reach. Information on the number and percentage of 
very-low (income less than 50 percent of the area median) and low-
(income less than 80 percent of the area median) income families, as 
determined by HUD is available at the HUDuser web site, 
www.huduser.org, with adjustments for smaller and larger families 
(Very-Low and Low-Income Population).
    (3) Data documenting targeted populations that are traditionally 
underserved or have special needs. For a maximum score in this Rating 
Factor, data provided should specifically represent the target area. If 
the data presented in your response do not specifically represent your 
target area, you should discuss why the target areas are being 
proposed. If your application addresses needs that are in the 
Consolidated Plan or Analysis of Impediments (AI) to Fair Housing 
Choice (see the General Section), court orders or consent decrees, 
settlements, conciliation agreements, or voluntary compliance 
agreements, you will receive more points than applicants that do not 
relate their project to an identified need.
    (4) Information from the local (or state or Tribe, if applicable) 
health department, if available, on actual (not estimated) rates of 
elevated blood lead levels among children residing in your target 
area(s).
    (5) Readily available information on the presence of existing 
outreach and educational resources in your target area(s).
    c. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (40 Points) This factor 
addresses the quality and cost-effectiveness of your proposed work 
plan. You should present information on your proposed approach for 
increasing the public's awareness and knowledge about lead poisoning 
and lead-based paint hazards, for encouraging owners and low-income 
family occupants to identify potential lead-based paint hazards, and 
enrolling their housing units in lead hazard control treatment 
programs. Applications containing approaches with clear activities and 
sub-activities that will result in increasing the enrollment in lead 
hazard treatment programs, that include a range of approaches that 
address the needs of populations with limited English proficiency, 
persons with disabilities, persons with low literacy, etc., that 
demonstrate a logical progression of implementation steps, that include 
more appropriate mechanisms for reaching audiences, and that provide 
better documentation of the methodology of the proposed approach will 
receive higher numbers of points. Applicants shall identify their 
approaches to overcoming recruitment difficulties, including over-
recruiting efforts, incentives to increase enrollment, and any other 
options. Applicants will receive higher rating points for approaches 
that include higher percentages of funding or sub-contracting for 
substantive work by grassroots organizations, including faith-based and 
other community-based non-profit organizations, Fair Housing 
Organizations and advocates for various minority and ethnic groups and 
for persons with disabilities.
    You should describe how proposed activities would help HUD achieve 
its goals for this program area. You should demonstrate your knowledge 
of the

[[Page 13888]]

outreach methodology relevant to your approach. You should develop a 
work plan that includes specific, measurable and time-phased objectives 
for each major program activity, accompanied by a complementary 
schedule indicating proposed date(s) of completion.
    There must be a direct relationship between the proposed 
activities, community needs, the purpose of the project, and the number 
of low-income housing units enrolled in lead hazard treatment programs. 
Your response to this factor should include the following elements:
    (1) Approach for Developing the Project. (30 points) Describe your 
overall approach for your proposed project. The description must 
include a discussion of specific planned project activities:
    (a) Provide the estimated total number of low-income housing units 
that you expect to be enrolled in lead hazard treatment programs. 
Describe in detail how you will identify and track participants 
receiving outreach under your project, especially participants in high-
risk groups and communities, vulnerable populations and persons 
traditionally underserved. (6 points)
    (b) Describe your process for developing outreach materials, or 
using existing materials. (3 points)
    (c) Describe your management processes to be used to ensure the 
cost-effectiveness of expenditures of funds. (2 points)
    (d) Describe any measurement tools you would employ to evaluate the 
effectiveness of your outreach and educational activities for occupants 
of housing units enrolled in lead hazard treatment programs before and 
after treatment. (2 points)
    (e) Describe the methods of community education you would use 
including community awareness, education, training, and outreach 
programs in support of your work plan and objectives that are 
culturally sensitive, targeted, and linguistically appropriate. (3 
points)
    (f) Proposed involvement of grassroots organizations, including 
faith-based and other community-based non-profit organizations in the 
proposed activities. HUD strongly encourages you to substantively use 
grassroots organizations, including faith-based, and other community-
based non-profit organizations. (10 points)
    (g) Indicate if, and describe how, you will address any of HUD's 
departmental policy priorities. (See the General Section for a fuller 
explanation of HUD's policy priorities.) Policy priorities that are 
potentially applicable to this NOFA include: (i) Improving our Nation's 
Communities, (ii) Providing Full and Equal Access to Faith-based and 
other Community-based Organizations in HUD Program Implementation, and 
(iii) Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing. You will 
receive one point for each of the first two applicable policy 
priorities that are adequately addressed in your application, and up to 
two points for Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing. If 
your application addresses all three policy priorities, you could get 
up to four points. (4 points)
    (2) Approach for Implementing the Project. (10 points) Describe 
your project goals, objectives and the strategy you will use in 
executing the project. You should provide information on the general 
approach and overall plan employed.
    (a) Baseline Plan for Project Management. (5 points) Include a 
management plan that:
    (i) Lists the outreach project objectives, major tasks and 
activities. All specific activities necessary to complete the proposed 
project must be included in the task listing.
    (ii) Incorporates appropriate performance goals with projected 
outputs and outcomes of the outreach program's activities.
    (iii) Identifies major milestones and provides a schedule for the 
assignment, tracking and completion of major tasks and activities, and 
a timeframe for delivery, including reports and other proposed 
deliverables of the outreach activity.
    (iv) Designates resources and identifies responsible entities for 
performing work.
    (b) Budget Justification. (5 points) Your proposed budget will be 
evaluated for the extent to which it is reasonable, clearly justified, 
and consistent with the outreach project management plan and intended 
use of program funds. HUD is not required to approve or fund all 
proposed activities. You must thoroughly document and justify all 
budget categories and costs (Form HUD-424-CB) and all major tasks, for 
yourself, subrecipients (grassroots organizations, including faith-
based, and other community-based non-profit organizations), partners, 
major subcontractors, joint venture participants, or others 
contributing resources to the project, especially those proposed to 
receive greater than 10 percent of the federal budget request. Describe 
clearly and in detail your budgeted costs for each required program 
element (major task) included in your overall plan.
    d. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (10 Points). This factor 
addresses your ability to secure other community and/or private sector 
resources (such as financing, supplies, or services) that can be 
combined with HUD's resources to achieve project purposes. These 
community resources may be contributions from organizations such as the 
applicant, subrecipients, partners, or other organizations not directly 
involved in the project.
    (1) In evaluating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to 
which you have developed partnerships to secure additional resources to 
increase the effectiveness of your proposed project. Describe how other 
organizations will participate in or support your project. Resources 
may include funding or in-kind contributions (such as labor, fringe 
benefits, services, supplies, or equipment) budgeted for your proposed 
project. Resources may be provided by state, Tribal, and local 
governmental entities, public or private organizations, or other 
partners.
    (2) Each source of contributions (financial or in-kind) must be 
supported by a letter of commitment from the contributing entity, 
whether the applicant, a partner organization, or a public or private 
source. The letter must describe the contributed resources that will be 
used in your project and the dollar value of that contribution. Staff 
in-kind contributions should be given a market-based monetary value. If 
you fail to provide letters of commitment with specific details 
including the amount of the actual contributions, you will not get 
points for this factor. Each letter of commitment, memorandum of 
understanding, or agreement to participate shall include the 
organization's name and the proposed level of commitment and 
responsibilities as they relate to the proposed project. The commitment 
must be signed by an official legally able to make commitments on 
behalf of the organization. See the General Section for instructions on 
how to submit third party documents using the electronic submission 
process. Letters of support (letters that indicate support but do not 
specify a monetary commitment to the project) will not be considered in 
the scoring of this Rating Factor.
    Include information to address the following elements:
    (a) The extent to which you have coordinated your activities with 
other known organizations that are not directly participating in your 
proposed work activities, but with which you share common goals and 
objectives.
    e. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (15 
points).

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This factor emphasizes HUD's commitment to ensuring that applicants 
keep promises made in their application and assessing their performance 
to ensure performance goals are met. Achieving results means the 
applicant has clearly identified the benefits, or outcomes of your 
program. Outcomes are ultimate goals; for this lead outreach grant 
program, the major outcome is increasing the number of low-income 
housing units that house young children enrolled in lead hazard 
treatment programs as a result of the grant activity. Benchmarks or 
outputs are interim activities or products that lead to the ultimate 
achievement of your goals.
    Program evaluation requires that the applicant identifies program 
outcomes, interim products or benchmarks, and performance indicators 
that will allow you to measure your performance. Performance indicators 
should be objectively quantifiable and measure actual achievements 
against anticipated achievements. Your Evaluation Plan should identify 
what you are going to measure, how you are going to measure it, and the 
steps you have in place to make adjustments to your work plan if 
performance targets are not met within established timeframes.
    This rating factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
ethics, management, and accountability. In evaluating this factor, HUD 
will consider how you have described outcome measures and benefits of 
your program.
    In your response to this Rating Factor you are to discuss the 
performance goals for your project and identify specific outcome 
measures. You are also to describe how the outcome information will be 
obtained, documented, and reported. You must complete and return the 
Logic Model Form, HUD 90610, included in the General Section, showing 
your proposed project long-term, mid-term, short-term, and final 
results, and how they support HUD's departmental goals and objectives. 
Information about developing a Logic Model is available at: 
www.hud.gov.
    In evaluating this factor, HUD will consider how you have related 
your needs statement and your proposed activities, with clearly defined 
objectives, outputs and outcomes.
    f. Bonus Points for Federally Designated Zones and Communities. (2 
points) This Section of the NOFA provides for the award of two bonus 
points for eligible activities/projects that the applicant proposes to 
be located in federally designated Empowerment Zones (EZs), Renewal 
Communities (RCs), or Enterprise Communities, designated by USDA in 
round II (EC-IIs). A list of RCs, EZs, and EC-IIs is available from 
HUD's Web site at: http://www.hud.gov. See also the General Section.

B. Reviews and Selection Process

1. Rating and Ranking
    Awards will be made in rank order for Lead Outreach applications.
2. Partial Funding
    In the selection process, HUD reserves the right to offer partial 
funding to any or all applicants. If you are offered a reduced grant 
amount, you will have a maximum of 14 calendar days to accept such a 
reduced award. If you fail to respond within the 14-day limit, you 
shall be considered to have declined the award. Please see the General 
Section for a discussion of adjustments to funding that may be made by 
HUD during the selection process.
3. Remaining Funds
    See the General Section for HUD's procedures if funds remain after 
all selections have been made.
4. Minimum Points for Award
    Your application must receive a total score of at least 75 points 
to be considered for funding. Applications will not be rated or ranked 
if they do not meet the threshold requirements of the General Section.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    HUD anticipates announcing awards under this program on or about 
September 30, 2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

1. Notice of Award
    Applicants who have been selected for award will be notified by 
letter from the Grant Officer. The letter will state the program for 
which the application has been selected, the amount the grantee is 
eligible to receive, and the name of the Government Technical 
Representative (GTR). This letter is not an authorization to begin work 
or incur costs under the grant.
2. Negotiations
    HUD may require that selected applicants participate in 
negotiations to determine the specific terms of the grant agreement and 
budget. In cases where HUD cannot successfully conclude negotiations 
with a selected applicant or a selected applicant fails to provide HUD 
with requested information, an award will not be made to that 
applicant. In this instance, HUD may offer an award, and proceed with 
negotiations with the next highest-ranking applicant. If you accept the 
terms and conditions of the grant, you must return your signed grant 
agreement by the date specified during negotiation.
3. LOCCS Payment System
    After receiving the letter, additional instructions on how to have 
the grant account entered into HUD's Line of Credit Control System 
(LOCCS) payment system will be provided. Other forms and program 
requirements will also be provided.
4. Start of Work
    All awardees are expected to commence activity immediately upon 
completion of budget and work plan negotiations, and execution of the 
grant agreement.
5. Applicant Debriefing
    See the General Section for information regarding applicant 
debriefing.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

1. Environmental Review
    In accordance with 24 CFR 50.19(b)(2), (b)(3), and (b)(9) of the 
HUD regulations, activities assisted under this program are 
categorically excluded from the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321) and are not subject 
to environmental review under the related laws and authorities.
2. HUD Reform Act of 1989
    Applicants must comply with the requirements for funding 
competitions established by the HUD Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3531 
et seq.) as defined in the General Section.
3. Audit Requirements
    Any grant recipient that expends $500,000 or more in federal 
financial assistance in a single year must meet the audit requirements 
established in 24 CFR parts 84 and 85 in accordance with OMB Circular 
A-133. In accordance with OMB Circular A-133 (Audits of States, Local 
Governments and Non-Profit Organizations), grantees will have to submit 
their completed audit-reporting package along with the Data Collection 
Form (SF-SAC) to the Single Audit Clearinghouse, at the address 
obtained from their Web site. The SF-SAC can be downloaded at: http://
harvester.census.gov/sac/.

[[Page 13890]]

4. Corrections to Deficient Applications
    See the General Section for information about corrections to 
deficient applications.
5. Timely Hiring of Staff
    HUD reserves the right to terminate grant awards made to applicants 
that fail to timely hire (within 90 days of award) staff to fill key 
positions identified in the applicant's proposal as vacant.
6. Procurement of Recovered Materials
    See the General Section for information concerning this 
requirement.
7. Privacy and Disclosure
    All test results in pre-1978 housing related to lead-based paint or 
lead-based paint hazards must be provided to the owner of the unit, 
together with a statement describing the owner's legal duty to disclose 
the results to tenants (before initial leasing, or before lease renewal 
with changes) and buyers (before sale) if the housing was constructed 
before 1978 (24 CFR Part 35, subpart A). This information provided to 
owners may only be used for purposes of remediation of lead-based paint 
and other hazards in the unit. Disclosure of other identified housing-
related health or safety hazards to the owner of the unit, for purposes 
of remediation, is encouraged but not required. Submission of any 
information on the properties to databases (whether web site, computer, 
paper, or other format) of addresses of identified, treated or cleared 
housing units is subject to the protections of the Privacy Act of 1974, 
and shall not include any personal information that could identify any 
child affected.
8. Conducting Business in Accordance with HUD Core Values and Ethical 
Standards
    Refer to the General Section for information about conducting 
business in accordance with HUD's core values and ethical standards.

C. Reporting

    The following items are Post Award Reporting Requirements.
1. Final Budget and Work Plan
    Final budget and work plans are due 60 days after the effective 
date of the grant (start date).
2. Progress Reporting
    Progress reporting is done on a quarterly basis. Project benchmarks 
and milestones will be tracked using a benchmark spreadsheet that uses 
the benchmarks and milestones identified in the Logic Model form (HUD-
96010) approved and incorporated into your award agreement. For 
specific reporting requirements, see policy guidance at: http://
www.hud.gov/offices/lead.
3. Final Report
    An overall final grant report, due at the completion of the grant, 
will detail activities (e.g., the number of low-income housing units 
enrolled in lead hazard treatment programs as a result of activities 
performed under this grant, number and type of materials produced, 
activities conducted, evaluation of the various outreach and 
educational methods used, findings, and recommended future actions at 
the conclusion of grant activities). The final report shall include 
final project benchmarks and milestones achieved against the proposed 
benchmarks and milestones in the Logic Model (HUD-96010) approved and 
incorporated into your award agreement.

VII. Agency Contacts

    For programmatic questions, you may contact Jonnette Hawkins, 
Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control; telephone (202) 755-
1785, extension 126 (this is not a toll-free number) or via e-mail at 
[email protected]. For grants administrative questions, you 
may contact Ms. Curtissa L. Coleman, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead 
Hazard Control; telephone (202) 755-1785, extension 119 (this is not a 
toll-free number) or via e-mail at [email protected]. If 
neither of these individuals is available, you may contact the Office's 
general Lead Regulations hotline, at (202) 755-1785, extension 104, for 
which your call will be forwarded in one business day for subsequent 
response by the appropriate staff. If you are a hearing- or speech-
impaired person, you may reach the above telephone numbers through TTY 
by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 800-877-
8339.

VIII. Other Information

    Other Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Information: 
For additional general, technical, and grant program information 
pertaining to the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, 
visit: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead.

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Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program

    Overview Information:
    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration 
Grant Program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The funding opportunity number for 
this program is FR-4950-N-30; The OMB Approval Number for this program 
is 2539-0015.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 14.905; 
Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is June 14, 2005. For 
2005, HUD is accepting electronic applications utilizing Grants.gov. 
See the General Section for specific instructions for application 
submissions procedures and timely filing.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of the Program. The purpose of the Lead Hazard Reduction 
Demonstration Grant Program is to assist areas with the highest lead 
paint abatement needs in undertaking programs for abatement, 
inspections, risk assessments, temporary relocations, and interim 
control of lead-based paint hazards in eligible privately owned, single 
family housing units, and multifamily buildings that are occupied by 
low-income families.
    2. Available Funds. Approximately $49.4 million.
    3. Eligible Applicants. To be eligible to apply for funding under 
this program, the applicant must be a city, county, or similar unit of 
local government. States and Indian Tribes may apply on behalf of units 
of local government within their jurisdiction, if the local government 
designates the state or the Indian Tribe as their applicant. Multiple 
units of a local government (or multiple local governments) may apply 
as part of a consortium; however, you must identify a lead applicant 
that will be responsible for ensuring compliance with all requirements 
specified in this NOFA. State government and Native American tribal 
applicants must have an EPA approved State Program for certification of 
lead-based paint contractors, inspectors, and risk assessors in 
accordance with 40 CFR 745 in effect on the application deadline date 
to be eligible to apply for Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant 
funds.
    4. Match. A statutory minimum of 25 percent match is required.
    Full Text of Announcement:

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    A. Program Description. The Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration 
Grant Program is authorized by Section 1011 of the Residential Lead-
Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 (Title X of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1992, Public Law 102-550). HUD's authority 
for making funding available under this NOFA is the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-477; approved December 8, 2004). 
The Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program assists States, 
Native American Tribes and local governments in undertaking programs 
for the identification and control of lead-based paint hazards in 
eligible privately owned rental and owner-occupied housing units. Refer 
to Section IV.E.3 of this NOFA for instructions on downloading the 
table, ``Eligibility of HUD Assisted Housing'' that lists the HUD-
associated housing programs that meet the definition of eligible 
housing under this program.
    1. Because lead-based paint is a national problem, these funds will 
be awarded to programs which:
    a. Maximize the combination of children protected from lead 
poisoning and housing units where lead-hazards are controlled;
    b. Target lead hazard control efforts at housing in which children 
are at greatest risk of lead poisoning;
    c. Stimulate cost-effective approaches that can be replicated;
    d. Emphasize lower cost methods of hazard control;
    e. Build local capacity to safely and effectively address lead 
hazards during lead hazard control, renovation, remodeling, and 
maintenance activities; and
    f. Affirmatively further fair housing and environmental justice.
    2. The objectives of this program include:
    a. Implementation of a national strategy, as defined in Title X of 
the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 4851 et 
seq.) (Title X), to build the community's capacity necessary to 
eliminate lead-based paint hazards in housing, as widely and quickly as 
possible by establishing a workable framework for lead-based paint 
hazard identification and control;
    b. Mobilization of public and private resources, involving 
cooperation among all levels of government, the private sector, 
including grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, including 
faith-based organizations or other community-based organizations 
including fair housing organizations and advocates for Fair Housing Act 
protected classes to develop cost-effective methods for identifying and 
controlling lead-based paint hazards;
    c. Development of comprehensive community approaches which result 
in integration of all community resources (governmental, grassroots 
community-based nonprofit organizations, including faith-based 
organizations or other community-based organizations, and private 
businesses) to address lead hazards in housing;
    d. Integration of lead-safe work practices into housing 
maintenance, repair, weatherization, rehabilitation, and other programs 
that will continue after the grant period ends;
    e. Establishment of a public registry (listing) of lead-safe 
housing or inclusion of the lead-safe status of properties in another 
publicly accessible address-based property information system and 
affirmatively marketed to families with young children; and
    f. To the greatest extent feasible, promotion of job training, 
employment, and other economic opportunities for low-income and 
minority residents and businesses that are owned by and/or employ 
minorities and low-income persons as defined in 24 CFR 135.5 (see 59 FR 
33881, June 30, 1994).
    3. Changes in FY 2005 Competitive NOFA:
    a. Applicants must have at least 7,000 pre-1940 occupied rental 
housing units in order to apply under this NOFA. The threshold 
requirement was increased from 3200 under the FY2003 Lead Hazard 
Reduction Demonstration Grant Program NOFA and reflects the intent of 
Congress to provide funds to areas with the greatest need.
    b. Engineering and architectural activities that are required for, 
and in direct support of, lead hazard control work are direct costs 
that can be reimbursed from the 90 percent of the funds available that 
are to be used exclusively for lead-based paint abatement, interim 
controls, combined lead-based paint inspection and risk assessment, 
clearance testing, and relocation. These activities were eligible 
support costs that could be reimbursed through matching, leveraged or 
other available funds in FY 2004.
    c. The purchase or lease of a maximum of two X-ray fluorescence 
analyzers for use by this program, if not already available, can be 
reimbursed from the 90 percent of the funds available that are to be 
used exclusively for lead-based paint abatement, interim

[[Page 13898]]

controls, combined lead-based paint inspection and risk assessment, 
clearance testing, and relocation. These activities were eligible 
support costs that could be reimbursed through matching, leveraged or 
other available funds in FY 2004.
    d. For 2005, HUD is accepting electronic applications utilizing 
Grants.gov. See the General Section for specific instructions for 
application submissions procedures and timely filing. Applicants are to 
complete and submit the Rating Factor Tables included in Section IV of 
this NOFA.

II. Award Information

    Funding Available. Approximately $49.4 million in Fiscal Year 2005 
funds is available. The minimum award amount shall be $2 million per 
grant. The maximum award amount shall be $4 million per grant. 
Approximately 13 to approximately 25 grants will be awarded. The period 
of performance is 36 months. Period of performance extensions for 
delays due to exceptional conditions beyond the grantee's control will 
be considered for approval by HUD in accordance with 24 CFR 85.30(d)(2) 
and the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control (OHHLHC) 
Program Guide. Such extensions, when granted, are one time only, and 
for no longer than a period of one year. Applicants are encouraged to 
plan studies with shorter performance periods than 36 months. When 
developing your schedule you should consider the possibility that 
issues may arise that could cause delays.

III. Eligibility Information

    See the General Section for additional eligibility requirements 
applicable to HUD Programs.

A. Eligible Applicants

    1. To be eligible to apply for funding under this program, the 
applicant must be a city, county, or similar unit of local government. 
States and Indian Tribes may apply on behalf of units of local 
government within their jurisdiction, if the local government 
designates the state or the Indian Tribe as their applicant. Multiple 
units of a local government (or multiple local governments) may apply 
as part of a consortium; however, you must identify a lead applicant 
that will be responsible for ensuring compliance with all requirements 
specified in this NOFA. State government and Native American tribal 
applicants must have an EPA approved State Program for certification of 
lead-based paint contractors, inspectors, and risk assessors in 
accordance with 40 CFR 745 in effect on the application deadline date 
to be eligible to apply for Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant 
funds.
    2. Eligible applicants may submit only one application. In the 
event that multiple applications are submitted, this will be considered 
a technical deficiency and the application review process will be 
delayed until you notify HUD in writing which application should be 
reviewed. Your other applications will be returned without being rated 
or ranked.
    If you or any member of your consortium also applied for funding 
under the fiscal year 2005 Lead Hazard Control Grant Program Notice of 
Funding Availability or received funds under the fiscal year 2004 Lead 
Hazard Reduction Demonstration NOFA, you must discuss how both programs 
will operate concurrently and how program activities will be combined 
to achieve maximum benefits. If you achieve a score of 75 or higher in 
this competition and in the FY 2005 Lead Hazard Control Grant Program 
competition and fall within the fundable range in both competitions, 
prior to selection, HUD will evaluate your responses to Rating Factor 
1--Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organization Experience and 
Rating Factor 3--Soundness of Approach (Work Plan/Budget), and 
determine whether you have the ability and capacity to successfully 
implement both grant programs concurrently. If you cannot demonstrate 
to HUD that you have the capacity to successfully implement both grant 
programs, HUD reserves the right to fund only one application.
    The applications for this NOFA can be found at http://www.grants.gov. The application is an electronics application. You must 
register at http://www.grants.gov to be able to submit your 
application. The General Section contains information submission 
requirements and procedures. Please carefully review the General 
Section before reading the program section so that you understand HUD's 
new electronic application process.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    Matching Contribution. You must provide a matching contribution of 
at least 25% of the requested grant sum. This may be in the form of 
cash, including private sector funding, or in-kind (non-cash) 
contributions or a combination of these sources. With the exception of 
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, Federal Revenue Sharing 
programs, or other programs which by statute allow their funds to be 
considered local funds and therefore eligible to be used as matching 
funds, Federal funds may not be used to satisfy the statutorily 
required 25 percent matching requirement. Federal funds may be used, 
however, for contributions above the statutory requirement. The 
signature of the authorized official on the Form SF-424 commits 
matching or other contributed resources of the applicant organization. 
A separate letter of commitment for the match from the applicant 
organization is not required; however, the applicant must submit a 
letter of commitment from each organization other than itself that is 
providing a match, whether cash or in-kind. The letter must describe 
the contributed resources that you will use in the program and their 
designated purpose.

C. Other

    1. Threshold Requirements. As an eligible applicant, you must also 
meet all of the threshold requirements in Section III. C of the General 
Section as well as the specific threshold requirements listed in this 
subsection. Applications will not be funded if they do not meet the 
threshold requirements.
    a. Applicants must provide a minimum of 25% of the grant funds 
requested as a matching contribution.
    b. Applicants must have at least 7,000 pre-1940 occupied rental 
housing units in order to apply under this NOFA. Failure to provide the 
number of pre-1940 occupied rental units in the Factor 2 Table will 
result in the application not being rated or ranked.
    c. Provide the actual number of children with documented elevated 
blood lead levels residing within the applicant's jurisdiction(s) for 
the most recent complete calendar year and identify the source of the 
data. Failure to provide these data will result in the application not 
being rated or ranked.
    d. State government and Native American tribal applicants must have 
an EPA approved State Program for certification of lead-based paint 
contractors, inspectors, and risk assessors in accordance with 40 CFR 
745 in effect on the application deadline date to be eligible to apply 
for Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant funds. The approval date 
in the Federal Register notice published by the EPA will be used in 
determining the Training and Certification status of the applicant 
state or Indian (Native American) Tribal government. If you do not have 
an EPA authorized program, the application will not be rated and 
ranked.
    2. Program Requirements.
    a. Environmental Requirements. Recipients of lead-based paint 
hazard reduction demonstration grants must comply with 24 CFR part 58,

[[Page 13899]]

``Environmental Review Procedures for Entities Assuming HUD 
Environmental Responsibilities.'' Recipients and other participants in 
the project are prohibited from committing or expending HUD and non-HUD 
funds on the project until HUD approves the recipient's Request for the 
Release of Funds (form HUD 7015.15) or the recipient has determined 
that the activity is either Categorically Excluded, not subject to the 
related Federal laws and authorities pursuant to 24 CFR 58.35(b) or 
exempt pursuant to 24 CFR 58.34. For part 58 procedures, see http://
www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/energyenviron/environment/index.cfm. For 
assistance, contact Karen Choi, the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead 
Hazard Control Environmental Officer at (213) 534-2458 (this is not a 
toll free-number) or the HUD Environmental Review Officer in the HUD 
Field Office serving your area. If you are a hearing-or speech-impaired 
person, you may reach the telephone number via TTY by calling the toll-
free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. Recipients of 
a grant under this funded program will be given additional guidance in 
these responsibilities.
    b. Executive Order 13202. Compliance with HUD regulations at 24 CFR 
5.108 that implement Executive Order 13202, ``Preservation of Open 
Competition and Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors' 
Labor Relations on Federal and Federally-Funded Construction 
Projects,'' is a condition of receipt of assistance under this NOFA.
    c. Lead Hazard Control work must be conducted in compliance with 
HUD's Lead-Safe Housing Regulation, 24 CFR part 35.
    d. Prohibited Practices. You must not engage in the following 
prohibited practices:
    (1) Open flame burning or torching;
    (2) Machine sanding or grinding without a high-efficiency 
particulate air (HEPA) exhaust control;
    (3) Uncontained hydro blasting or high-pressure wash;
    (4) Abrasive blasting or sandblasting without HEPA exhaust control;
    (5) Heat guns operating above 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit;
    (6) Chemical paint strippers containing methylene chloride or other 
volatile hazardous chemicals in a poorly ventilated space; and
    (7) Dry scraping or dry sanding, except scraping in conjunction 
with heat guns or around electrical outlets or when treating no more 
than two square feet in any one interior room or space, or totaling no 
more than 20 square feet on exterior surfaces.
    e. Written Policies and Procedures. You must have clearly 
established written policies and procedures for eligibility, program 
marketing, unit selection, expediting work on homes occupied by 
children with elevated blood lead levels, and all phases of lead hazard 
control, including risk assessment, inspection, development of 
specifications, pre-hazard control blood lead testing, financing, 
relocation, and clearance testing. Grantees, subcontractors, sub-
grantees, sub-recipients, and their contractors must adhere to these 
policies and procedures.
    f. Continued Availability of Lead-Safe Housing to Low-Income 
Families. Units in which lead hazards have been controlled under this 
program shall be occupied by and/or continue to be available to low-
income families for at least three years as required by Title X 
(Section 1011). You must maintain a publicly available registry 
(listing) of units in which lead hazards have been controlled and 
ensure that these units are affirmatively marketed to agencies and 
families as suitable housing for families with children under six years 
of age. The grantee must also notify the owner of the information that 
is collected so that the owner will comply with disclosure requirements 
under 24 CFR part 35, subpart A.
    g. Testing. In developing your application budget, include costs 
for lead paint inspection, risk assessment, and clearance testing for 
each dwelling that will receive lead hazard control, as follows:
    (1) General. All testing and sampling shall conform to the current 
HUD Guidelines and Federal, state, or tribal regulations developed as 
part of the appropriate contractor certification program whichever is 
more stringent. It is particularly important to provide this full cycle 
of testing for lead hazard control, including interim controls. Testing 
must be conducted according to the HUD Guidelines, located at http://
www.hud.gov/offices/lead/guidelines/hudguidelines/index.cfm, and the 
EPA lead hazard standards rule at 40 CFR part 745. All test results 
must be provided to the owner in a timely fashion, together with a 
notice describing the owner's legal duty to disclose the results to 
tenants and buyers under 24 CFR part 35, subpart A.
    (a) Lead-Based Paint and Lead-Based Paint Hazard Identification. A 
combined lead-based paint inspection and risk assessment is required. 
You should ensure that lead paint inspection and risk assessment 
reports are conducted in accordance with established protocols and 
sufficient to support hazard control decisions.
    (b) Clearance Testing. Clearance testing shall be completed in 
accordance with Chapter 15 of the HUD Guidelines and the EPA lead 
hazards standards rule at 40 CFR part 745 for abatement projects and 
the Lead-Safe Housing Regulation (24 CFR part 35) for lead hazard 
control activities or other abatement. In the case of multifamily 
housing for which random sampling of units for clearance is done after 
lead hazard control work, all units represented by the randomly 
selected units successfully cleared shall be credited toward the number 
of units controlled under this grant. The clearance standards shall be 
the more restrictive of those set by the local jurisdiction or by EPA 
or HUD.
    (c) Blood lead testing. Before lead hazard control work begins, 
each occupant who is under six years of age should be tested for lead 
poisoning within the six months preceding the housing intervention. Any 
child with an elevated blood lead level must be referred for 
appropriate medical follow-up. The standards for such testing are 
described in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
publications Preventing Lead Poisoning in Young Children (1991), and 
Screening Young Children for Lead Poisoning: Guidance for State and 
Local Public Health Officials (1997).
    h. Cooperation with Related Research and Evaluation. (1) You shall 
cooperate fully with any research or evaluation sponsored by HUD, CDC, 
EPA or other government agency associated with this grant program, 
including preservation of project data and records and compiling 
requested information in formats provided by the researchers, 
evaluators, or HUD. This may also include the compiling of certain 
relevant local demographic, dwelling unit, and participant data not 
contemplated in your original proposal. Participant data shall be 
subject to Privacy Act protection.
    (2) If your program includes conducting research involving human 
subjects in a manner which requires Institutional Review Board (IRB) 
approval and periodic monitoring, address how you will obtain such 
approval and your monitoring plan (before you can receive funds from 
HUD for activities that require IRB approval, you must provide an 
assurance that your study has been reviewed and approved by an IRB and 
evidence of your organization's institutional assurance). Describe how 
you will provide informed consent (e.g., from the subjects, their 
parents, or their guardians, as applicable) to help ensure their 
understanding of, and consent to,

[[Page 13900]]

the elements of informed consent, such as the purposes, benefits, and 
risks of the research. Describe how this information will be provided 
and how the consent will be collected. For example, describe your use 
of `plain language' forms, flyers, and verbal scripts, and how you plan 
to work with families with limited English proficiency or primary 
languages other than English, and with families which include persons 
with disabilities.
    i. Data collection. You will be required to collect and maintain 
the data necessary to document the various lead hazard control methods 
used and the cost of these methods.
    j. Section 3 Employment Opportunities. Please refer to Section 
III.C. of the General Section. The requirements of Section 3 of the 
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701u) are 
applicable to this program. In your application you should demonstrate 
how you will ensure that, to the greatest extent feasible, training, 
employment, and other economic opportunities will be directed to low- 
and very-low income persons, particularly those who are recipients of 
government assistance for housing, and business concerns that provide 
economic opportunities to low- and very low-income persons. If you are 
funded, you will be required to submit Form HUD-60002 annually.
    k. Replacing Existing Resources. Funds received under this grant 
program shall not be used to replace existing community resources 
dedicated to any ongoing project.
    l. Conducting Business in Accordance with HUD Core Values and 
Ethical Standards Refer to the General Section for information about 
conducting business in accordance with HUD's core values and ethical 
standards.
    m. Procurement of Recovered Materials. See the General Section for 
information concerning this requirement.
    3. DUNS Requirement. Refer to the General Section for information 
regarding the DUNS requirement. You will need to obtain a DUNS number 
to receive an award from HUD.

V. Application and Submission Information

A. Web Address To Access an Application Package

    Copies of this published NOFA and application forms for this 
program may be downloaded from the Grants.gov Web site at http://www.grants.gov. If you have difficulty accessing the information you 
may call the Grants.gov help line toll-free at (800) 518-GRANTS or e-
mailing [email protected]. Help line customer representatives will 
assist you in accessing the information. For further general 
information, you can contact the NOFA Information Center at (800) HUD-
8929. If you are hearing impaired, you may reach the numbers above 
through (800) HUD-2209 (TTY) (these are toll-free numbers).

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    1. The application must be submitted no later than June 14, 2005. 
See the General Section for specific instructions for application 
submissions procedures and timely filing.
    a. Applicant Information.
    (1) Application Format. The application narrative response to the 
Rating Factors from new and eligible prior grantees is limited to a 
maximum of 15 pages (excluding attachments and worksheets) of size 8\1/
2\'' x 11'' using a 12-point font with not less than \3/4\'' margins on 
all sides. Attachments should be referenced and discussed in the 
narrative response. Materials provided in the attachments should 
directly apply to the specific rating factor narrative. Information 
that is not referenced or does not directly apply to a specific 
narrative response will not be rated or ranked by reviewer.
    (The forms required for application submission and instructions can 
be found in the application at http://www.grants.gov. and in the 
General Section.)
    (2) Applicants are encouraged to use the following checklist to 
ensure that all required materials have been prepared and submitted. 
You are not required to submit this checklist with your application.

Checklist and Submission Table of Contents

Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program

    [sbull] Applicant Abstract (limited to a maximum of 2 pages).
    [sbull] Rating Factor Response (limited to a maximum of 15 pages).
    1. Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational 
Experience--Form HUD-96012.
    2. Needs/Extent of the Problem--Form HUD-96013.
    3. Soundness of Approach--Form HUD-96014; and Work Plan Development 
Worksheet with Minimum Benchmark Standards for 36 Months--Form HUD-
96008.
    4. Leveraging Resources--Form HUD-96015.
    5. Achieving Results and Program Evaluation--Form HUD-96010 Logic 
Model.
    [sbull] Required materials in response to rating factors (does not 
count towards 15-page limit).
    Form SF-424.
    Form SF-424 Supplemental.
    Form HUD-424CB.
    Form HUD-424CBW, Total Budget (Federal Share and Matching) with 
Supporting Narrative and Cost Justification.
    Form HUD-27300 Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of 
Regulatory Barriers, including any documentation required (note that 
currently validated Web site (URL) references to any such documents may 
be provided in place of providing copies of them in the application).
    Form HUD-2880 Disclosure and Update Report.
    Form HUD-2990 Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC-II 
Strategic Plan.
    Form HUD-2991 Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated 
Plan.
    Form SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities Required (if 
required).
    Form HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal to be used for faxing third 
party letters and other documents for your electronic application in 
accordance with the instructions in the General Section.
    HUD's Waiver from submitting electronically (if applicable).
    Form HUD-2993 Acknowledgment of Application Receipt (if waiver was 
granted).
    Form HUD-2994 Client Comments and Suggestions (completion of this 
form is optional).

Threshold Requirements

    Copy of Lead-Based Paint Element in Consolidated Plan.
    25 Percent Matching Contribution, including any documentation 
required.
    [sbull] Optional material in support of the Rating Factors (20 page 
limit).
    (3) The following are instructions on the items to be submitted as 
part of the application. See the General Section for instructions for 
submitting third party documents and electronic files:
    (a) Abstract Summary. An abstract describing the goals and 
objectives of your proposed program (2-page limit, single-spaced, 12-
point standard font, \3/4\-inch margins) must be included in the 
proposal. The abstract should include the title of your proposed 
project, the name, mailing address and telephone number of the 
principal contact person for the primary entity and the same 
information for sub-contractors, partners, etc.
    (b) Budget. A detailed budget (total budget is the Federal share 
and matching contribution (Form HUD

[[Page 13901]]

424CBW) with supporting narrative and cost justifications for all 
budget categories of your grant request. You must provide a separate 
estimate for the overall grant management element (Administrative 
Costs), which is more fully defined in Section IV.E.2. of this NOFA. 
The budget shall include not more than 10% for administrative costs and 
not less than 90% for direct project elements. Applicants are to 
identify the direct lead hazard control costs that meet this 
requirement. A detailed budget must also be provided for any 
subcontractors, subgrantees, or subrecipients receiving greater than 10 
percent of the Federal budget request. In the event of a discrepancy 
between grant amounts requested in various sections of the application, 
the amount you indicate on the SF-424 will govern as the correct value.
    (c) Matching Contribution. An itemized breakout (using the HUD 424 
CBW) of your required matching contribution, including:
    (i) Values placed on donated in-kind services;
    (ii) Letters or other evidence of commitment from donors; and
    (iii) The amounts and sources of contributed resources.
    (d) Application Forms. See unit IV.B.1.a.(2), above, for the list 
of application forms.
    (e) Grant Partners. Contracts, Memoranda of Understanding or 
Agreement, letters of commitment or other documentation describing the 
proposed roles of agencies, local broad-based task forces, 
participating grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, 
including faith-based organizations and other community or 
neighborhood-based groups or organizations, local businesses, and 
others working with the program.
    (f) Consolidated Plan Element. (This Consolidated Plan requirement 
does not apply to Native American Tribes.) If your jurisdiction has a 
current HUD-approved Consolidated Plan, you must submit, as an 
attachment (or a currently validated Web site (URL) reference, 
instead), a copy of the lead-based paint element included in the 
approved Consolidated Plan. You should include the discussion of any 
lead-based paint issues in your jurisdiction's Analysis of Impediments 
(AI) to fair housing, particularly as it addresses your target areas. 
If you (the applicant agency) also submitted an application as an 
eligible applicant for the fiscal year 2005 Lead Hazard Control Grant 
Program NOFA you may refer to this Consolidated Plan and AI material in 
your other application for proof of documentation, and you are not 
required to resubmit this material for this NOFA. If your jurisdiction 
does not have a currently approved Consolidated Plan, but it is 
otherwise eligible for this grant program, you must include your 
jurisdiction's abbreviated Consolidated Plan, which includes a lead-
based paint hazard control strategy developed in accordance with 24 CFR 
91.235.
    (g) Rating Factor Response. You should include a narrative 
statement addressing the rating factors for award. Number the pages of 
your narrative statement and include a header and a footer that 
provides the name of the applicant and the name of the program to which 
you are applying. Narrative statements provided as part of the 
application should be individually labeled to identify the rating 
factor to which the narrative is responding (e.g. Factor 1, Capacity, 
etc.). The overall response to the rating factors must not exceed a 
total of 15 pages including all rating factors (single-sided, single-
spaced, 12 point standard font, \3/4\-inch margins). Any pages in 
excess of this limit will not be read.
    (h) Objectives and Milestones Specific and measurable performance 
objectives and milestones to be developed in support of the work plan 
narrative include:
    (1) The overall objectives for lead hazard control activities 
including the total number of lead hazard evaluations, units projected 
to be completed and cleared, and the expenditure of Federal grant funds 
(HUD Agreement HUD-1044). Quarterly performance milestones are to be 
developed to achieve the overall objectives for these activities.
    (2) Performance benchmarks for the 36-month grants in this program 
that have been developed shall be used. The benchmark worksheet 
included in this NOFA can be downloaded from the HUD Web site at: 
http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. Development of 
your work plan must include and reflect these benchmark standards.
    b. Your application must contain all of the required information 
noted in this Program Section and the General Section. The forms 
required for application submission and instructions can be found in 
the application at http://www.grants.gov.

C. Submission Dates and Times

    1. Application Due Dates: Applications submitted through http://www.grants.gov must be received by Grants.gov no later than 11:59:59 
p.m. eastern time on June 14, 2005. All narrative files and any scanned 
documents must be submitted as a zip file, single attachment to the 
electronic application. Refer to the General Section for additional 
submission requirements including acceptable submission dates, times, 
methods, acceptable proof of application submission and receipt 
procedures, and other information regarding application submission. 
Materials associated to your electronic application submitted by 
facsimile transmission must also be received by 11:59:59 p.m. on the 
application submission date. Make sure you see the General Section for 
how to submit third party letters and other documents as part of your 
electronic submission utilizing form HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal. 
Applicants receiving a wavier of the electronic submission requirement 
must submit their application to the United States Postal Service for 
delivery no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the application 
due date.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    Not required.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Eligible Activities. HUD is interested in promoting lead hazard 
control approaches that result in the reduction of elevated blood lead 
levels in children for the maximum number of low-income families with 
children under six years of age, for the longest period of time, and 
that demonstrate techniques which are cost-effective, efficient, and 
replicable elsewhere. Copies of HUD's Lead-Safe Housing Regulation, and 
the companion publication ``Interpretive Guidance: The HUD Regulation 
on Controlling Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing Receiving Federal 
Assistance and Federally Owned Housing Being Sold,'' are available from 
the National Lead Information Clearinghouse at 1-800-424-LEAD (this is 
a toll-free number). If you are a hearing- or speech-impaired person, 
you may reach the telephone number via TTY by calling the toll-free 
Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. Copies are also 
available from the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Web 
site at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead.
    a. Not less than 90 percent of the funds made available shall be 
used exclusively for abatement and/or interim controls (with clearance 
testing), inspections, risk assessments, and temporary relocations. 
These include Direct Project Elements (1)-(5) listed below and 
undertaken directly or through sub-recipients:
    (1) Performing dust testing, combined lead-based paint inspections 
and risk assessments, and engineering and

[[Page 13902]]

architectural activities that are required for, and in direct support 
of, interim control and lead hazard abatement work of eligible housing 
units constructed prior to 1978 to determine the presence of lead-based 
paint and/or lead hazards from paint, dust, or soil through the use of 
acceptable testing procedures. The purchase or lease of a maximum of 
two X-ray fluorescence analyzers used by the grant program, if not 
already available, are eligible costs. All test results must be 
provided to the owner of the unit, together with a notice describing 
the owner's legal duty to disclose the results to tenants and buyers.
    (2) Conducting lead hazard control activities that may include any 
combination of the following:
    (a) Interim controls of lead-based paint hazards including lead-
contaminated soil in housing that must include specialized cleaning 
techniques to address lead dust, according to the HUD Guidelines, 
located at http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/guidelines/hudguidelines/
index.cfm.
    (b) Abatement. The complete abatement of all lead-based paint 
hazards in a unit or structure is acceptable if it is cost-effective. 
Abatement of lead-contaminated soil should be limited to areas with 
bare soil in the immediate vicinity of the structure, i.e. drip line or 
foundation of the unit being treated, and children's play areas. All 
lead hazards identified in a housing unit enrolled in this grant 
program must be controlled or eliminated by any combination of these 
strategies.
    (3) Carrying out temporary relocation of families and individuals 
to decent, safe and sanitary housing during the period in which hazard 
control is conducted and until the time the affected unit receives 
clearance for re-occupancy. If families or individuals are temporarily 
relocated in a project which utilizes Community Development Block Grant 
funds, the guidance and requirements of 24 CFR 570.606(b)(2)(i)(D)(1)-
(3) must be met. HUD recommends you review these regulations when 
preparing your proposal.
    (4) Undertaking minimal housing rehabilitation activities that are 
specifically required to carry out effective hazard control, and 
without which the hazard control could not be completed and maintained. 
These grant funds may be used for lead hazard control work done in 
conjunction with other housing rehabilitation programs. HUD encourages 
integration of this grant program with housing rehabilitation, 
maintenance, weatherization, and other energy conservation activities.
    (5) Conducting clearance dust-wipe testing and laboratory analysis 
(the laboratory must be recognized by the National Lead Laboratory 
Accreditation Program (NLLAP) as being capable of performing lead 
analyses of samples of paint, dust-wipes, and/or soil).
    2. Ineligible Activities. You may not use grant funds for:
    (1) Purchase of real property.
    (2) Purchase or lease of equipment having a per unit cost in excess 
of $5,000, except for the purchase of X-ray fluorescence analyzers.
    (3) Chelation or other medical treatment costs related to children 
with elevated blood lead levels. Non-federal funds used to cover these 
costs may be counted as part of the required matching contribution.
    (4) Lead hazard control activities in publicly owned housing, or 
project-based Section 8 housing (this housing stock is not eligible 
under Section 1011 of the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act).
    (5) Activities that do not comply with the Coastal Barrier 
Resources Act (16 U.S.C. 3501).
    (6) Hazard control of a building or manufactured home that is 
located in an area identified by the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency (FEMA) under the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 
U.S.C. 4001-4128), as having special flood hazards unless:
    (a) The community in which the area is situated is participating in 
the National Flood Insurance Program in accordance with the applicable 
regulations (44 CFR parts 59-79), or less than a year has passed since 
FEMA notification regarding these hazards; and
    (b) Where the community is participating in the National Flood 
Insurance Program, flood insurance on the property is obtained in 
accordance with section 102(a) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act (42 
U.S.C. 4012a(a)). You are responsible for assuring that flood insurance 
is obtained and maintained for the appropriate amount and term.
    d. Program Specific Requirements.
    (1) Work Activities. All lead hazard control activities must be 
conducted in compliance with the applicable requirements of HUD's Lead-
Safe Housing Regulation, 24 CFR part 35, and as clarified in HUD's 
Interpretive Guidance about the rule located at http://www.hud.gov/
offices/lead/guidelines/leadsaferule/index.cfm. Activities must also 
comply with any additional requirements in effect under a state or 
Tribal Lead-Based Paint Training and Certification Program that has 
been authorized by the EPA pursuant to 40 CFR 745.320.
    (2) Direct Lead Hazard Identification and Control Activities. Not 
less than 90 percent of the funds made available shall be used 
exclusively for abatement, inspections, risk assessments, temporary 
relocations, and interim control of lead-based hazards.
    (3) By September 30, 2006, applicants that received a Lead Hazard 
Reduction Demonstration grant under the FY 2005 competition are to 
participate in an established statewide or jurisdiction-wide strategic 
plan to eliminate childhood lead poisoning as a major public health 
problem by 2010, or are to assist in the development of such a plan 
(further guidance will be provided to grantees on developing the 
elimination plan). New applicants are encouraged to include an outline 
of the steps that they will take to participate in or develop a 
statewide or jurisdiction-wide strategic plan. Applicants are 
encouraged to collaborate with Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention grantees, which 
are now required to develop such plans. At a minimum, the plan must 
include the following elements:

(a) Mission Statement;
(b) Purpose and Background on Lead Poisoning Prevalence;
(c) Goals, Objectives, and Activities; and
(d) Evaluation Plan.

    2. Administrative Costs. There is a 10 percent maximum for 
administrative costs as specified in Section 1011(j) of the Residential 
Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 (Title X of the Housing 
and Community Development Act of 1992, Public Law 102-550). Additional 
information about allowable administrative costs is provided below.
    a. Purpose. The intent of this HUD grant program is to allow the 
Grantee to be reimbursed for the reasonable direct and indirect costs, 
for the overall management of the grant. In most instances the grantee, 
whether a State or a local government, principally serves as a conduit 
to pass funding to sub-grantees, which are to be responsible for 
conducting lead-hazard reduction work. Congress set a maximum of ten 
percent of the total grant sum for the grantee to perform the function 
of overall management of the grant program, including passing on 
funding to sub-grantees. The cost of that function, for the purpose of 
this grant, is defined as the ``administrative cost'' of the grant, and 
is limited to ten percent of the total grant amount. The balance of 
ninety percent or more of the total grant sum

[[Page 13903]]

is reserved for sub-grantees or other direct-performers of lead-hazard 
identification and reduction work including relocation. For purposes of 
the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program, lead 
hazard identification and reduction includes lead paint inspection/risk 
assessments, interim controls, abatement of lead hazards, clearance 
testing, and relocation.
    b. Administrative Costs: What They Are Not. For the purposes of 
this HUD grant program for States and local governments to provide 
support for the evaluation and reduction of lead-hazards in low- and 
moderate-income, private target housing, the term ``administrative 
costs'' should not be confused with the terms ``general and 
administrative cost,'' ``indirect costs,'' ``overhead,'' and ``burden 
rate.'' These are accounting terms usually represented by a government-
accepted standard percentage rate. The percentage rate allocates a fair 
share of an organization's costs that cannot be attributed to a 
particular project or department (such as the chief executive's salary 
or the costs of the organization's headquarters building) to all 
projects and operating departments (such as the Fire Department, the 
Police Department, the Community Development Department, the Health 
Department or this program). Such allocated costs are added to those 
projects' or departments' direct costs to determine their total costs 
to the organization.
    c. Administrative Costs: What They Are. For the purposes of this 
HUD grant program, ``Administrative Costs'' are the grantee's allowable 
direct costs for the overall management of the grant program plus the 
allocable indirect costs. The allowable limit of such costs that can be 
reimbursed under this program is ten (10) percent of the total grant 
sum. Should the grantee's actual costs for overall management of the 
grant program exceed ten percent of the total grant sum, those excess 
costs shall be paid for by the grantee. However, excess costs paid for 
by the grantee may be shown as part of the requirement for cost-sharing 
funds to support the grant.
    d. Administrative Costs Definition:
    (1) General. Administrative costs are the allowable, reasonable, 
and allocable direct and indirect costs related to the overall 
management of the HUD grant for lead-hazard reduction activities. Those 
costs shall be segregated in a separate cost center within the 
grantee's accounting system, and they are eligible costs for 
reimbursement as part of the grant, subject to the ten percent limit. 
Such administrative costs do not include any of the staff and overhead 
costs directly arising from specific sub-grantee program activities 
eligible under this NOFA, because those costs are eligible for 
reimbursement under a separate cost center as a direct part of project 
activities.
    The grantee may elect to serve solely as a conduit to sub-grantees, 
who will in turn perform the direct program activities eligible under 
this NOFA, or the grantee may elect to perform all or a part of the 
direct program activities in other parts of its own organization, which 
shall have their own segregated, cost centers for those direct program 
activities. In either case, not more than 10 percent of the total HUD 
grant sum may be devoted to administrative costs, and not less than 90% 
of the total grant sum shall be devoted to direct program activities. 
The grantee shall take care not to mix or attribute administrative 
costs to the direct project cost centers.
    (2) Specific. Reasonable costs for the grantee's overall grant 
management, coordination, monitoring, and evaluation are eligible 
administrative costs. Subject to the ten percent limit, such costs 
include, but are not limited to, necessary expenditures for the 
following goods, activities and services:
    (a) Salaries, wages, and related costs of the grantee's staff, the 
staff of affiliated public agencies, or other staff engaged in 
grantee's overall grant management activities. In charging costs to 
this category the recipient may either include the entire salary, 
wages, and related costs allocable to the program for each person whose 
primary responsibilities (more than 65% of their time) with regard to 
the grant program involve direct overall grant management assignments, 
or the pro rata share of the salary, wages, and related costs of each 
person whose job includes any overall grant management assignments. The 
grantee may use only one of these two methods during this program. 
Overall grant management includes the following types of activities:
    (i) Preparing grantee program budgets and schedules, and amendments 
thereto;
    (ii) Developing systems for the selection and award of funding to 
sub-grantees and other sub-recipients;
    (iii) Developing suitable agreements for use with sub-grantees and 
other sub-recipients to carry out grant activities;
    (iv) Developing systems for assuring compliance with program 
requirements;
    (v) Monitoring sub-grantee and sub-recipient activities for 
progress and compliance with program requirements;
    (vi) Preparing presentations, reports, and other documents related 
to the program for submission to HUD;
    (vii) Evaluating program results against stated objectives;
    (viii) Providing local officials and citizens with information 
about the overall grant program; however, a more general education 
program, helping the public understand the nature of lead hazards, lead 
hazard reduction, blood-lead screening, and the health consequences of 
lead poisoning is a direct project support activity);
    (ix) Coordinating the resolution of overall grant audit and 
monitoring findings; and
    (x) Managing or supervising persons whose responsibilities with 
regard to the program include such assignments as those described in 
paragraphs (a) through (i).
    (b) Travel costs incurred for official business in carrying out the 
overall grant management;
    (c) Administrative services performed under third party contracts 
or agreements, for services directly allocable to grant management such 
as: legal services, accounting services, and audit services;
    (d) Other costs for goods and services required for and directly 
related to the overall management of the grant program; and including 
such goods and services as telephone, postage, rental of equipment, 
renter's insurance for the program management space, utilities, office 
supplies, and rental and maintenance (but not purchase) of office space 
for the program.
    (e) The fair and allocable share of grantee's general costs that 
are not directly attributable to specific projects or operating 
departments such as salaries, office expenses and other related costs 
for local officials (e.g., mayor and city council members, etc.), and 
expenses for a city's legal or accounting department which are not 
charged back to particular projects or other operating departments. If 
a grantee has an established burden rate, it should be used; if not, 
the grantee shall be assigned a negotiated provisional burden rate, 
subject to final audit.
    3. Eligibility of HUD-Assisted Housing. The table, ``Eligibility of 
HUD-Assisted Housing,'' available at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm, lists the ``eligible'' housing units that may 
participate under the Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant Program

F. Other Submission Requirements: Other Submission Requirements

    Beginning in FY 2005, HUD requires applicants to submit 
applications electronically through Grants.gov. Applicants interested 
in applying for funding must submit their application

[[Page 13904]]

electronically via the Web site http://www.grants.gov unless you 
request and are granted a waiver to the electronic submission 
requirements. This site has easy to follow step-by-step instructions 
that will enable you to apply for HUD assistance. The http://www.grants.gov Web site includes a simple, unified application process 
to enable applicants to apply for grants online. See section IV.F of 
the General Section for additional information on the electronic 
process and how to request a waiver from the requirement.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

1. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (20 Points)
    This factor addresses your organizational capacity necessary to 
successfully implement the proposed activities in a timely manner. The 
rating of the ``applicant'' or the ``applicant's staff'' for technical 
merit or threshold compliance, unless otherwise specified, includes any 
grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, including faith-
based organizations sub-contractors, consultants, sub-recipients, and 
members of consortia that are firmly committed to your project. In 
rating this factor, HUD will consider:
    a. The applicant's recent, relevant and successful demonstrated 
experience (including working with governmental, parent groups, and 
grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, including faith-
based organizations and other community-based partners) to undertake 
eligible program activities. Applicants are to identify the 
organizations or entities that will assist the applicant in 
implementing the program. The applicant must describe the knowledge and 
experience of the current or proposed overall project director and day-
to-day program manager in planning and managing large and complex 
interdisciplinary programs, especially involving housing 
rehabilitation, public health, or environmental programs. The applicant 
must demonstrate that it has sufficient personnel or will be able to 
retain qualified experts or professionals, and be prepared to perform 
lead hazard evaluation, lead hazard control intervention work, and 
other proposed activities within 120 days of the effective date of the 
grant award. HUD reserves the right to terminate the grant if 
sufficient personnel or qualified experts are not retained within these 
120 days. In the narrative response for this factor, you should include 
information on your program staff, their experience, their commitment 
to the program, salary information, and position titles. Resumes (for 
up to three key personnel) or position descriptions for those key 
personnel to be hired, and a clearly identified organizational chart 
for the lead hazard control grant program effort (and for the overall 
organization) must be included in an appendix. Indicate the percentage 
of time that key personnel will devote to your project (see Factor 1 
Table--Key Personnel and Partners). The applicant's day-to-day program 
manager must be experienced in the management of housing rehabilitation 
or lead hazard control, childhood lead poisoning prevention, or similar 
work involving project management. Ideally, the program manager should 
be available at the inception of the program in order to implement this 
comprehensive program within the 120-day period after the effective 
date of the grant award. The applicant should provide a description of 
any previous experience in enrolling units and in completing lead 
hazard control work, housing rehabilitation or other work in a timely 
and effective manner. Describe how any other principal components of 
your agency, other public entities, or other organizations will 
participate in implementing or otherwise supporting or participating in 
the grant program. You may demonstrate capacity by thoroughly 
describing your prior experience in initiating and implementing lead 
hazard control efforts and/or related environmental, health, or housing 
projects. You should indicate how this prior experience will be used in 
carrying out your proposed comprehensive Lead Hazard Reduction 
Demonstration Grant Program.
    b. The applicant should discuss their plans to participate in or 
develop a statewide or jurisdiction-wide strategic plan to eliminate 
childhood lead poisoning as a major public health problem by 2010.
    c. If the applicant received any previous HUD Lead-Based Paint 
Hazard Control Grant funding, this past experience will be evaluated in 
terms of cumulative progress and achievements under the previous 
grant(s). Where the applicant has received multiple HUD Lead Hazard 
Control Grants, performance under the most recent grant award will be 
primarily evaluated. If you are a current or prior grantee, you must 
provide the detail necessary to assure HUD that you will implement the 
proposed work immediately and perform it concurrently with existing 
lead hazard control grant work. The applicant must provide a 
description of its progress and performance implementing the most 
recent grant award including the total number enrolled, assessed, and 
completed and cleared as a result of program efforts. The applicant 
must also describe outcomes, capacity building efforts and impediments 
experienced during a previous Lead Hazard Control Grant program. Other 
work plan activities and tasks associated with implementing HUD's Lead-
Safe Housing Regulation, integrating lead-safe work practices into the 
private market, and promoting effective education, outreach, and other 
training activities should be described. The applicant should also 
describe specific instances where the program has contributed positive 
impacts in the community, and indicate what activities were undertaken 
to develop, enhance or expand the local infrastructure through 
collaboration.
    HUD's evaluation process will consider an applicant's past 
performance record as reported to HUD in effectively organizing and 
managing their grant operations, in meeting performance and work plan 
benchmarks and goals, and in managing funds, including their ability to 
account for funds appropriately, the timely use of funds received 
either from HUD or other Federal, state or local programs, and meeting 
performance milestones. HUD may also use other information relating to 
these items from sources at hand, including public sources such as 
newspapers, Inspector General or Government Accounting Office Reports 
or Findings, hotline complaints, or other sources of information that 
have been proven to have merit. Applicants are to complete the Factor 1 
Table to support the narrative information submitted.
2. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (15 points)
    This factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for the 
proposed program to address a documented problem related to lead-based 
paint and lead-based paint hazards in your identified target area(s). 
An applicant will be scored in this rating factor based on their 
documented need as evidenced by thorough, credible, and appropriate 
data and information. The evaluation will be based only on the 
applicant's documentation of the data requested. The data submitted in 
response to this rating factor will be verified using data available 
from the Census, HUDuser, other data available to HUD and/or in 
cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 
applicant is to complete the Factor 2 Table--Need/Extent of the Problem 
in Section IV of this NOFA.

[[Page 13905]]

    A maximum of 15 Points will be awarded in this rating factor based 
on the information documenting the number of children under age 6 years 
with an elevated blood lead level (EBL, that is a level of 10 [mu]g/dL 
or more) and the number of pre-1940 occupied rental housing units in 
the applicant's jurisdiction.
    a. Documented Number of Children with an Elevated Blood Lead Level 
(EBL) (10 Points). Provide the actual number of children under age 6 
with an elevated blood lead level residing within the applicant's 
jurisdiction(s) for the most recent complete calendar year and identify 
the source of the data. Data prior to calendar year 2001 will not be 
accepted. States must report the number in the city, county, or other 
area where funds will actually be used. Consortia of local governments 
must report the number in the cities or counties making up the 
consortium. For the purposes of this application, a ``documented case'' 
of childhood lead poisoning is a child under six years of age with a 
blood lead level test result equal to or greater than 10 micrograms of 
lead per deciliter of blood, which was performed by a medical health 
care provider. The actual number of children with an elevated blood 
lead level (not an estimate) in the applicant's jurisdiction must be 
reported to HUD in order to be eligible for this grant program. Do not 
send the children's names or addresses or other identifiers. Failure to 
provide this number in the application means that the application will 
not be rated or ranked.
    (1) Applicants are to complete the Factor 2 Table to document the 
number of children with an elevated blood lead level. Points will be 
awarded based on the documented number of children with an elevated 
blood lead level according to the table, ``Points Awarded for Number of 
Children Under Age 6 Years with an Elevated Blood Lead Level in Target 
Area,'' that can be downloaded from http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. The table shows the number of points awarded 
based on the number of children with an elevated blood lead level in 
the grant target area(s).
    b. Housing market data relevant to the applicant's jurisdiction 
Housing Age (5 Points). Housing Age for the following sub-categories: 
pre-1940, 1940-1949, 1950-1959, 1960-1969, 1970-1979, and 1980 or 
newer, are to be provided using the Factor 2 Rating Factor Table 
provided in Section IV.B.c.
    (1) Points will be awarded for the number of pre 1940 occupied 
rental units in the applicant's jurisdiction according to the table, 
``Points Awarded for Number of Pre-1940 Occupied Rental Housing Units 
in Target Area,'' that can be downloaded from http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. The table shows the number of points 
awarded based on the number of pre-1940 occupied rental housing units 
in the grant target area(s).
3. Rating: Soundness of Approach/Work Plan/Budget (45 points).
    This factor addresses the quality and cost-effectiveness of your 
proposed work plan. Applicants should develop a work plan that includes 
specific, measurable, and time-phased objectives for each major program 
activity. The applicant's work plan should reflect benchmark standards 
for production, expenditures, and other activities that have been 
developed by the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. These 
benchmark standards, as well as policy guidance on developing work 
plans have been included in the Section IV of this NOFA and are 
available at the HUD Web site at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/lhc/
pgi/index.cfm. This policy guidance provides a sample format and 
outline for developing a Lead Hazard Reduction Demonstration Grant 
Program Work Plan.
    a. An applicant is to identify and describe specific methods, 
measures, and tools that you will use (in addition to HUD reporting 
requirements) to measure progress, evaluate program effectiveness, and 
identify program changes necessary to improve performance. Describe how 
you will obtain, document, and report the information. In evaluating 
this, HUD will consider how you have described outcome measures and 
benefits of your program including:
    b. How your program will be held accountable for meeting program 
goals, objectives, and the actions undertaken in implementing the grant 
program. Applicants should provide a description of the mechanism to 
assess progress and track performance in meeting the goals and 
objectives outlined in the work plan.
    c. Applicants should describe the proposed activities and provide 
HUD with measurable outcome results to be achieved with the requested 
funds. Measurable outcome results should be stated in terms relevant to 
the purpose of the program funds as a direct result of the work 
performed within the performance period of the grant (e.g., estimated 
number of units to be made lead-safe, estimated number of children 
living in units made lead-safe, and the basis for these estimates). 
Each proposed activity must be eligible as described in the NOFA and 
meet statutory requirements for assistance to low- and very low-income 
persons.
    (1) Lead Hazard Control Work Plan Strategy (20 points). Describe 
your work plan goals and specific time-phased strategy to complete work 
under the grant within the 36-month period of performance for your lead 
hazard control grant program. You should provide information on:
    (a) Implementing a Lead Hazard Control Program. Describe how you 
will implement the strategy for your proposed lead hazard control 
program. The description must include information on:
    (i) How the project will be organized, managed, and staffed. You 
must also identify the specific steps that will be taken to train and 
ensure the availability of enough lead-based paint contractors and 
workers to conduct lead hazard control interventions, and to perform 
other program activities. In addition, a detailed description of the 
selection process for sub-grantees, subcontractors or sub-recipients, 
and how assistance and funding will flow from the grantee to those who 
will actually perform the work under the grant.
    (ii) The overall number of eligible privately owned housing units 
scheduled for lead hazard control intervention work and the strategy 
for their identification, selection, prioritization, and enrollment in 
the selected target area(s). Discuss the eligibility criteria for unit 
selection and how the program will identify units that meet these 
criteria. Explain how you would target resources to maximize the return 
on investment from grant funding. As funding is a constraint for this 
program, it is imperative to maximize the impact of grant dollars. 
Include in this discussion your proposed technical approach and how 
this choice addresses local conditions and needs as well as attempting 
to maximize the number of children protected from lead hazards. As 
there are a variety of reduction techniques that grantees can apply to 
lead hazards, it is important too that HUD be able to assess the 
effectiveness of a grantee's choice of a technical strategy. Explain 
how referrals of eligible units will be obtained from childhood lead 
poisoning prevention programs, other health care or housing agencies, 
or health providers that serve children. Also discuss how referrals are 
made from the Section 8/Housing Choice Voucher programs and other 
agencies that provide housing assistance to low-income households with 
children including CDBG, HOME Investment Partnerships Program-funded 
housing programs, or other

[[Page 13906]]

sources. (Include as attachments any referral agreements, commitment 
letters or other documents from other entities that describe their 
participation recruiting eligible units in your program.
    (iii) The degree to which the work plan focuses on eligible 
privately owned housing units occupied by low-income families with 
children under six years of age. Describe your planned approaches to 
control lead hazards in vacant and/or occupied units before children 
are poisoned and your plans to ensure that the program will continue to 
affirmatively market and match these units made lead-safe with low-
income families with children under six years of age in the future. 
Discuss strategies to control lead hazards in units where children have 
already been identified with an elevated blood lead level (EBL), 
including your process for referring and tracking children with EBLs, 
and your capacity to rapidly complete lead hazard control work in their 
units. Provide estimates of the number of low-income children you will 
assist through this program.
    (iv) Discuss the lead hazard control financing strategy, including 
eligibility requirements, terms, conditions, dollar limits, and amounts 
available for lead hazard control work. Applicants must also describe 
how the program will recapture grant funds in the event that a 
recipient of grant funds fails to comply with any terms and conditions 
of the financing arrangement (e.g. affordability, sale of property, 
etc.). You must discuss the way assistance from the grant funds will be 
administered to or on behalf of property owners (e.g. use of grants, 
deferred loans and/or forgivable loans and the basis and schedule for 
forgiveness, and the role of other resources, such as private sector 
financing). You should identify the entity that will administer the 
financing process and describe how coordination and payment between the 
program and contractors performing the work will be accomplished. 
Describe matching requirements, if any, proposed for assistance to 
rental property owners.
    (v) Describe how your proposed program will satisfy the stated 
needs in the Consolidated Plan or Indian Housing Plan and eliminate 
impediments identified in the Analysis of Impediments (AI). Also 
describe how your proposed program will further and support the policy 
priorities of the Department: including promoting healthy homes and the 
quality of housing. Applicants should describe activities undertaken 
that remove barriers to affordable housing within their communities or 
support such efforts at the State and local level.
    (vi) Describe how, by September 30, 2006 you will participate in an 
established statewide or jurisdiction-wide strategic plan to eliminate 
childhood lead poisoning as a major public health problem by 2010, or 
will assist in the development of such a plan in states or localities 
which do not have such a strategic plan (7 points). (Further guidance 
will be provided to grantees on developing a strategic plan.) 
Applicants shall demonstrate the nature of their collaboration with 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded Childhood Lead 
Poisoning Prevention grantees, which are now required to develop such 
plans, and the local CDC subgrantee(s) where they exist for the grant's 
proposed target area(s). A list of CDC childhood lead poisoning 
prevention programs can be downloaded from http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/
lead/grants/contacts/keyContacts.htm. The CDC strategic elimination 
plans for state and local childhood lead poisoning prevention programs 
can be downloaded from http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/
Strategic%20Elim%20Plans/strategicplans.htm.
    (vii) Community-wide Learning Opportunity (3 points). The Lead-
Based Paint Hazard Control Grant provides an opportunity for learning 
by community members, including families, workers, small businesses and 
others, to help develop a strategic community health educational model 
that identifies lead-related health hazards and their solutions, and 
educates community members and affects wider efforts in the applicant's 
targeted area. Applicant shall discuss the opportunity-to-learn 
approach to educate children, parents, workers, businesspeople and 
other community members about lead poisoning prevention and lead hazard 
control. The applicant's proposed educational program shall continue to 
meet the needs of those children already living in units with eligible 
lead hazards.
    (viii) Coordination Among Critical Agencies. Submit documentation 
of the existence and nature of formal cooperation regarding childhood 
lead poisoning prevention programs among health agencies, housing 
agencies, community development agencies, and code enforcement agencies 
(or equivalent) for their target area(s) local jurisdiction(s), and, 
for state or tribal applicants, for their state or tribal health 
agencies, housing agencies, development agencies. and code enforcement 
agencies (or equivalent). Documentation shall include memoranda of 
agreement, memoranda of understanding, operating plans, or similar 
materials that describe the coordinated childhood lead poisoning 
prevention effort. Where local or state governments have combined two 
or more of these functions into a larger organization, the 
documentation may be from either the individual component entities or 
the larger organization. As part of this documentation, describe how 
the health department and the housing and/or development agency will 
consider enrolling housing units (or multifamily buildings) in which 
one or more children under age 6 years have elevated blood lead levels, 
with priority to housing where repeated and/or severe cases of 
childhood lead poisoning have occurred. (Because of the presence of a 
variety of priorities, it is not a requirement that units with lead-
poisoned children be enrolled, but the process for giving such units 
high priority should be described and implemented.)
    2. Technical Approach/Performance (20 pts.). Describe your process 
for the conduct of lead hazard evaluation (risk assessments and/or 
inspections) in units of eligible privately owned housing to confirm 
that there are lead-based paint hazards in the housing units where lead 
hazard control is undertaken.
    (1) Describe your testing methods, schedule, and costs for risk 
assessments, paint inspections, and clearance examinations to be used. 
If you propose to use a more restrictive standard than the HUD/EPA 
thresholds (e.g., less than 0.5 percent or 1.0 mg/ square centimeter 
for lead in paint, or less than 40, 250, 400 [mu]g/square foot for lead 
in dust on floors, sills and troughs, respectively); or 400 parts per 
million (ppm) in bare soil in children's play areas and 1200 ppm for 
bare soil in the rest of the yard), identify the standard(s) that will 
be used. All testing shall be performed in accordance with applicable 
regulations.
    (2) Describe the lead hazard control methods and strategies you 
will undertake and the number of units you will treat. In cases where 
only a few surfaces have lead hazards in a specific unit and complete 
abatement of all lead paint is cost-effective, the applicant must 
provide a detailed rationale for selecting complete abatement as a 
strategy. Provide an estimate of the per unit costs (and a basis for 
those estimates) and a schedule for initiating and completing lead 
hazard control work in the selected units. Discuss efforts to 
incorporate cost-effective lead hazard control methods. Explain your 
cost estimates, providing detail on how the estimates were developed, 
with particular references to cost

[[Page 13907]]

effectiveness. Research has shown that interim controls generally yield 
the best benefit/cost ratio among technological approaches for 
eliminating lead hazards. Applicants should assume that interim 
controls are the preferred approach for their strategies and project 
unit output targets accordingly. If applicants maintain that approaches 
other than interim controls are necessary for their jurisdiction, they 
should explain why this is the case. For example, abatement might be 
justified in an area where significant amounts of low-income housing 
stock are highly distressed or where lead hazard work is being combined 
with rehabilitation. Where highly distressed stock is present, 
applicants should explain why options for households to move to lead-
safe housing are not viable.
    (3) Schedule. Provide a realistic schedule for completing key 
activities, by quarter, so that all activities can be completed within 
the period of performance of the grant. Key production activities 
include enrollment of units, paint inspections/risk assessments, and 
completion/clearance of units. When developing the application, the 
applicant shall take into consideration previous experience and 
performance in administering similar kinds of lead hazard control or 
rehabilitation programs.
    (4) Time frames. Describe the estimated elapsed time frame for 
treating a typical unit that will receive lead hazard control, 
including referral/intake, enrollment (qualification of the unit as 
eligible), combined paint inspection/risk assessments, preparation of 
specifications or work write-up, selection of the contractor, lead 
hazard control intervention work activities, quality control and 
monitoring of work activities, and clearance. The time frame should 
include an estimate of the staff and contractor time required to treat 
a typical unit that will receive lead hazard control. Describe the 
schedule for emergency referrals (e.g., unit occupied by a child under 
six years of age with an elevated blood lead level). List the number of 
units projected in each of the following categories: Lead-based paint 
inspections/risk assessments, hazard control, and clearance 
inspections.
    (5) Workflow and Production Control. Provide guidelines and/or 
flowcharts showing agency/partner responsibilities for each step in the 
process (from intake to clearance) and describe/show how coordination 
and hand-offs will be handled. Discuss how the actual production status 
of units, from intake to final clearance, will be monitored, and how 
and when production bottlenecks will be identified, remedied, and 
monitored.
    (6) Describe your contracting process, including development of 
specifications or adoption of existing specifications for selected lead 
hazard control methods. Describe the management processes you will use 
to ensure the cost-effectiveness of your lead hazard control methods. 
Your application must include a discussion of the contracting process 
for the conduct of lead hazard control activities in the selected 
units, and requirements for coordination among lead hazard control, 
rehabilitation, weatherization, and other contractors.
    (7) Describe your plan for occupant protection or the temporary 
relocation of the occupants of units selected for lead hazard control 
work. Describe any plan to avoid overnight relocation in small-scale 
projects consistent with 24 CFR part 35.1345 (a)(2) and HUD's 
Interpretive Guidance of 24 CFR part 35, including J24, R18, and R19 
(see http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/guidelines/leadsaferule/
index.cfm). Your work plan should address the use of safe houses and 
other temporary housing arrangements, storage of household goods, 
stipends, incentives, etc. If families or individuals are temporarily 
relocated in a project which utilizes Community Development Block Grant 
funds, the guidance and requirements of 24 CFR 570.606(b)(2)(i)(D)(1)-
(3) must be met. HUD recommends you review these regulations when 
preparing your proposal.
    (8) Describe your strategy for involving neighborhood or including 
grassroots community-based non-profit organizations, including faith-
based organizations or other community-based organizations in your 
proposed activities. Priority activities should include increasing the 
enrollment of eligible privately owned housing units to receive lead 
treatments, but may also include inspection (including dust lead 
testing) and the conduct of lead hazard control activities. HUD will 
evaluate the proposed level of substantive involvement of such 
organizations during the review process.
    (9) Identify and discuss the specific methods you will use (in 
addition to HUD reporting requirements) to document activities, 
progress, program effectiveness, and how changes necessary to improve 
performance will be implemented. Describe how you will obtain, 
document, and report on information collected.
    (10) If you are a current or prior grantee or you have also applied 
to the fiscal year 2005 Lead Hazard Control Grant Program Notice of 
Funding Availability, you must describe the actions you will take to 
ensure that your proposed lead hazard control work will occur 
concurrently with other ongoing HUD lead hazard control grant work. 
Your application must provide the detail necessary to assure HUD that 
you will implement the proposed work immediately and perform it 
concurrently with other ongoing lead hazard control grant work.
3. Budget (5 points)
    Describe your budget within the 36-month (or less) period of 
performance for your lead hazard control grant program. You should 
provide information on:
    (1) Allocation of Funds. You should describe your detailed total 
budget (total budget is the federal share and matching contribution) 
with supporting narrative and cost justifications for all budget 
categories of your grant request. The budget shall include not more 
than 10 percent for administrative costs and not less than 90 percent 
for direct project elements. The applicant is to provide adequate 
details on the 90 percent of the Federal funds that are required for 
abatement, combined lead-based paint inspections and risk assessments, 
temporary relocations, and interim control of lead-based paint hazards. 
In addition, the applicant is to provide details on the activities that 
will be conducted with the remaining 10 percent of Federal funds.
4. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (10 points)
    This factor addresses your ability to obtain other community and 
private sector resources that can be combined with HUD's program 
resources to achieve program objectives. In evaluating this factor, HUD 
will consider the extent to which you have established working 
partnerships with other entities to get additional resources or 
commitments to increase the effectiveness of the proposed program 
activities. Resources may include cash or in-kind contributions of 
services, equipment, or supplies allocated to the proposed program. 
Resources may be provided by governmental entities, public or private 
organizations, and other entities partnering with you. Leveraging 
arrangements with rental property owners may have the benefits of 
increasing the efficiency of public lead hazard identification and 
control expenditures and creating a financial stake for rental property 
owners in the quality of lead hazard control work. Contractual or other 
formal relationships with grassroots community-based nonprofit 
organizations, including faith-based

[[Page 13908]]

organizations and other community-based organizations are a requirement 
for State and local government applicants. Documentation of 
relationships with grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, 
including faith-based organizations, and community-based organizations 
must be provided in this application either in the form of signed 
agreements or commitment letters. This requirement does not apply to 
Native American Tribe applicants. You also may partner with other 
program funding recipients to coordinate the use of resources in your 
target area(s).
    (1) You should detail any activities to increase the understanding 
of lead poisoning prevention in your community. This could include 
partnerships with childhood lead screening programs, collaboration with 
ongoing health, housing or environmental research efforts which could 
result in a greater availability of resources, and efforts to build 
capacity for lead-safe housing.
    (2) Matching funds must be shown to be specifically dedicated to 
and integrated into supporting the lead-based paint hazard control 
program. Refer to Section III. B. entitled, Cost Sharing or Matching 
Requirements for additional information. You may not include any 
federal funds as part of the 25 percent match, unless those funds are 
specifically permitted by statute to be used as matching funds, such as 
CDBG or Federal Revenue Sharing funds. Other resources from the private 
sector or other sources committed to the program that exceed the 
required 25 percent match will provide points for this rating factor. 
Contributions above the first 25 percent may include funds from other 
federally funded programs, and/or state, local, charity, and nonprofit 
or for-profit entities.
    Applicants will not receive full points under this rating factor if 
they do not submit evidence of a firm commitment and the appropriate 
use of leveraged resources under the grant program. Such evidence must 
be provided in the form of letters of firm commitment, memoranda of 
understanding, or other signed agreements to participate from those 
entities identified as partners in your application. Each letter of 
commitment, memorandum of understanding, or agreement to participate 
should include the organization's name, the proposed level of 
commitment and the responsibilities as they relate to your proposed 
program. The commitment must be signed by an official of the 
organization legally able to make commitments on behalf of the 
organization. Describe the role of nonprofit grassroots community-based 
organizations including faith-based organizations. and other community-
based organizations in specific program activities, such as: hazard 
evaluation and control; monitoring; and awareness, education, and 
outreach within the community. Describe how you will ensure that 
commitments to sub-grantees specified in your proposal will be honored 
and executed, contingent upon an award from HUD.
    The signature of the authorized official on the Form SF-424 commits 
matching or other contributed resources of the applicant organization. 
A separate letter from the applicant organization is not required; 
however, the applicant must submit a letter of commitment from each 
organization other than itself that is providing a match, whether cash 
or in-kind. Staff in-kind contributions should be given a monetary 
value based on the local market value of the staff skills; you are 
responsible for tracking the number of labor hours provided in the 
match for each labor category. If you do not provide letters from 
contributors specifying details and the amount of the actual 
contributions, those contributions will not be counted. Contributions 
required of rental property owners may be included as part of your 
match. You should document and provide the amount of the match from 
each resource.
5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (10 
Points)
    (A) This factor emphasizes HUD's commitment to ensuring that 
applicants achieve the goals outlined in their work plan and other 
benchmark standards and assess their performance to ensure performance 
goals are met (5 points). Achieving results means you, the applicant, 
have clearly identified the benefits, or outcomes of your program. 
Outcomes are ultimate goals. Benchmarks or outputs are interim 
activities or products that lead to the ultimate achievement of your 
goals.
    Program evaluation requires that you, the applicant, identify 
program outcomes, interim products or benchmarks, and performance 
indicators that will allow you to measure your performance. Performance 
indicators should be objectively quantifiable and measure actual 
achievements against anticipated achievements. Your Evaluation Plan 
should identify what you are going to measure, how you are going 
measure it and the steps you have in place to make adjustments to your 
work plan if performance targets are not met within established 
timeframes. The degree to which benefits are maximized relative to cost 
is important. In particular, different technical approaches vary widely 
in cost, but also produce different levels of benefits. Evaluation 
should explore how well the technical strategy meets the conditions and 
needs found in the grantee's jurisdiction.
    This rating factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
ethics, management and accountability. Applicants are required to 
complete the HUD 96010 Logic Form included in the General Section.
    (1) An applicant is to identify and describe specific methods, 
measures, and tools that you will use (in addition to HUD reporting 
requirements) to measure progress, evaluate program effectiveness, and 
identify program changes necessary to improve performance. Describe how 
you will obtain, document and report the information. In evaluating 
this factor, HUD will consider how you have described outcome measures 
and benefits of your program including:
    (a) The degree to which lead hazard control work will be done in 
conjunction with other housing-related activities (i.e., 
rehabilitation, weatherization, correction of code violations, and 
other similar work), or your plan for the integration and coordination 
of lead hazard control activities into those activities in the future.
    (b) Plans to develop public/private lending partnerships to finance 
lead hazard control as part of acquisition and rehabilitation financing 
such as the use of Community Reinvestment Act ``credits'' by lending 
institutions or other financing strategies.
    (c) Results of any specific plans and objectives established to 
implement and/or maintain a registry (listing) of lead-safe housing 
that is available to the public, or to incorporate the inclusion of the 
lead-safe status of properties in another publicly accessible address-
based property information system. Results could include how the 
information would be managed and affirmatively marketed to the public 
so that families (particularly low-income families with children under 
six years of age) can make informed decisions regarding their housing 
options. Prior grantee applicants must address any registry (listing) 
of lead-safe housing developed during the prior grant period by 
specifically discussing the availability, amount of information 
contained, and its maintenance.
    (d) The extent to which affirmatively furthering fair housing for 
all segments of the population is advanced by the proposed activities. 
(This section does not apply to Native American Tribes.)

[[Page 13909]]

Detail how your proposed work plan will support the community's efforts 
to affirmatively further affordable housing and how you will quantify 
results of affirmatively furthering fair housing activities. As part of 
the background for your fair housing element of your work plan under 
this grant, discuss the impact of prior activities that have 
contributed to enhanced lead-safe housing opportunities.
    (e) The resulting impact of plans to adopt or amend statutes, 
regulations, or policies that will more fully integrate lead hazard 
control into community policies and priorities.
    (f) Results of activities to coordinate and cooperate with other 
organizations that will lead to a reduction in lead risks to community 
residents (5 points). This could include documenting such activities 
as: Free training to create a workforce properly trained in lead safe 
work practices; lead-safe repainting and remodeling; promotion of 
essential maintenance practices; and provision of lead dust testing to 
low-income, privately-owned homes which may not receive lead hazard 
control assistance under this grant program. This factor should address 
the quantitative measures of the following:
    (1) Community outreach education that focuses on the outcomes of a 
workforce properly trained in lead safe work practices.
    (2) Effective outreach education aimed at families, health care 
members and other professional colleagues.
    (3) Effective outreach education assessing the needs of families 
and communities intended to receive lead hazard control assistance 
under this grant program.
    (g) How your program will be held accountable for meeting program 
goals, objectives, and the actions undertaken in implementing the grant 
program. Applicants should provide a description of the mechanism to 
assess progress and track performance in meeting the goals and 
objectives outlined in the work plan. Applicants should provide 
assurances that work plans and performance measures developed for the 
program will assist intended beneficiaries, and that work will be 
conducted in a timely and cost-effective manner.

B. Reviews and Selection Process

    1. Rating and Ranking. Please refer to the General Section of this 
SuperNOFA for details. Only those applications that meet the threshold 
review requirements will be rated and ranked. HUD intends to fund the 
highest ranked applications receiving a minimum score of 75 within the 
limits of funding.
    a. Remaining Funds. Refer to the General Section of this SuperNOFA 
for HUD's procedures if funds remain after all selections have been 
made within a category of the NOFA.
    2. Factors for Award Used to Rate and Rank Applications. The 
factors for rating and ranking applicants, and maximum points for each 
factor, are stated below.
    a. Implementing HUD's Strategic Framework and Demonstrating 
Results. HUD is committed to ensuring that programs result in the 
achievement of HUD's strategic mission. To support this effort, grant 
applications submitted for HUD programs will be rated on how well they 
tie proposed outcomes to HUD's policy priorities and Annual Goals and 
Objectives, and the quality of proposed Evaluation and Monitoring 
Plans.
    HUD is encouraging applicants to undertake specific activities that 
will assist the Department in implementing its policy priorities that 
are found in the General Section and applicable to the Lead Hazard 
Reduction Demonstration NOFA. Activities that promote the participation 
of including grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations 
including faith-based organizations and community organizations support 
HUD's policy priority for: Providing Full and Equal Access to 
grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, including faith-
based organizations. An applicant will be awarded one point under 
Rating Factor 3 d.(8) for activities undertaken that specifically 
address this policy priority. For initiatives that break down 
regulatory barriers that impede the production of affordable housing, 
an applicant will be awarded up to two points under Rating Factor 
3c(1)(a)(v) for activities that remove barriers to affordable housing 
within their communities or support such efforts at the state and local 
level. This priority relates to HUD's Strategic Goal for Increasing 
Homeownership Opportunities and Promoting Decent Affordable Housing. 
Applicants addressing this policy priority are to complete Form HUD-
27300--Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers, and are to include any documentation required. Note that 
currently validated Web site (URL) references to any such documents may 
be provided in place of providing copies of them in the application). 
Refer to the General Section for additional details pertaining to this 
policy priority.
    b. Bonus Points (2 Points).
    HUD's FY2005 NOFAs provide for the award of two bonus points for 
eligible activities/projects that the applicant proposes to locate in 
federally designated Empowerment Zones (EZs), Enterprise Communities 
(ECs), or Renewal Communities (RCs) designated by USDA in round II (EC-
IIs) (collectively referred to as RC/EZ/EC-IIs), and which will serve 
the residents of these communities. In order to be eligible for the 
bonus points, applicants must submit a completed Form HUD 2990.
    The maximum number of points to be awarded is 102. A minimum score 
of 75 is required for fundable applications.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Maximum
                        Rating factor                            points
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational              20
 Experience..................................................
2. Demonstrated Need/Extent of the Problem...................         15
3. Soundness of Approach/Work Plan (20 Points); Technical             45
 Approach (20 Points); Budget (5 Points).....................
4. Leveraging Resources......................................         10
5. Achieving Results and Program Evaluation..................         10
Bonus Points--RC/EZ/EC-IIs...................................          2
                                                              ----------
    Total....................................................        102
------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. Award Administration Information

    Refer to the General Section for additional details on award 
administration.

A. Award Notices

    1. Successful applicants will receive a letter from the Office of 
Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Grant Officer indicating that 
they have been selected for an award. This letter will provide 
additional details regarding the effective start date of the grant and 
any additional

[[Page 13910]]

data and information to be submitted to execute a grant agreement. This 
letter is not an authorization to begin work or incur costs under the 
grant. A fully executed grant agreement is the authorizing document. 
Unsuccessful applicants will also be notified that their application 
was not selected for an award and will be afforded an opportunity to 
request a debriefing on the unsuccessful application according to the 
procedures outlined in the SuperNOFA.
    2. Negotiation. Refer to the General Section for additional 
details.
    3. Adjustments to Funding.
    Refer to the General Section for additional details.
    4. Performance and Compliance Actions of Funding Recipients. HUD 
will measure and address the performance and compliance actions of 
funding recipients in accordance with the applicable standards and 
sanctions of their respective programs.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    Refer to the General Section for additional details regarding the 
Administrative and National Policy Requirements applicable to HUD 
Programs.
    1. Administrative Requirements.
    a. Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act (Title X of the Housing 
and Community Development Act of 1992). Section 1011 of Title X Section 
217 of Public Law 104-134 (the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and 
Appropriations Act of 1996, 110 Stat. 1321, approved April 26, 1996) 
amended Section 1011(a) of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard 
Reduction Act of 1992 (Title X) to read as follows:
    Sec. 1011. Grants for Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction in Target 
Housing
    (1) General Authority. The Secretary is authorized to provide 
grants to eligible applicants to evaluate and reduce lead-based paint 
hazards in housing that is not federally assisted housing, federally 
owned housing, or public housing, in accordance with the provisions of 
this section. Grants shall only be made under this section to provide 
assistance for housing which meets the following criteria--
    (a) for grants made to assist rental housing, at least 50 percent 
of the units must be occupied by or made available to families with 
incomes at or below 50 percent of the area median income level and the 
remaining units shall be occupied or made available to families with 
incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median income level, and in 
all cases the landlord shall give priority in renting units assisted 
under this section, for not less than 3 years following the completion 
of lead abatement activities, to families with a child under the age of 
six years, except that buildings with five or more units may have 20 
percent of the units occupied by families with incomes above 80 percent 
of area median income level;
    (b) for grants made to assist housing owned by owner-occupants, all 
units assisted with grants under this section shall be the principal 
residence of families with income at or below 80 percent of the area 
median income level, and not less than 90 percent of the units assisted 
with grants under this section shall be occupied by a child under the 
age of six years or shall be units where a child under the age of six 
years spends a significant amount of time visiting;
    For the purposes of complying with Section 1011(1)(b) above, a unit 
occupied by a pregnant woman meets the Congressional intent of 
promoting primary prevention and maybe assisted under this program.
    b. Certified and Trained Service Providers. Funded activities must 
be conducted by persons qualified for the activities according to 24 
CFR part 35 (possessing certification as abatement contractors, risk 
assessors, inspectors, abatement workers, or sampling technicians, or 
others having been trained in a HUD-approved course in lead-safe work 
practices).
    c. National Historic Preservation Act. The National Historic 
Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470) and the regulations at 36 CFR 
part 800 apply to the lead-based paint hazard control activities that 
are undertaken pursuant to this program. HUD and the Advisory Council 
for Historic Preservation have developed an optional Model Agreement 
for use by grantees and State Historic Preservation Officers in 
carrying out activities under this program. The Model Agreement may be 
obtained from the HUD Web site, http://www.hud.gov, or the Office of 
Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Web site, http://www.hud.gov/
offices/lead/grantfrm/pgi/95--06.pdf
    d. Waste Disposal. You must handle waste disposal according to the 
requirements of the appropriate local, state, and federal regulatory 
agencies. You must handle disposal of wastes from hazard control 
activities that contain lead-based paint, but are not classified as 
hazardous in accordance with state or local law or the HUD Guidelines 
for the Evaluation and Control of Lead-Based Hazards in Housing (HUD 
Guidelines). The Guidelines are available from the HUD Web site at: 
http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/guidelines/hudguidelines/index.cfm.
    e. Worker Protection Procedures. You must observe the procedures 
for worker protection established in the HUD Guidelines, as well as the 
requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration 
(OSHA) (29 CFR 1926.62, Lead Exposure in Construction), or applicable 
state or local occupational safety and health regulations, whichever 
are most protective. If other applicable requirements contain more 
stringent requirements than the HUD Guidelines, the more rigorous 
standards shall be followed.
    f. Davis-Bacon Act. The Davis-Bacon Act does not apply to this 
program. However, if you use grant funds in conjunction with other 
Federal programs in which Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates apply, then 
Davis-Bacon provisions would apply to the extent required under the 
other Federal programs.
    g. Work Plan. The work plan shall consist of the goals and specific 
time-phased objectives established for each of the major activities and 
tasks required to implement the program. These major activities and 
tasks are outlined in the Quarterly Progress Reporting System (Form-
HUD-96006) and include: (1) Program Management and Capacity Building 
including data collection and program evaluation; (2) Community 
Education, Outreach and Training; and (3) Lead Hazard Activities 
including testing, interventions conducted, and relocation.
    (1) The work plan narrative shall include:
    (a) The management plan that describes how the project will be 
managed, and the timeline for staffing the program, establishing a 
lead-based paint contractor pool, and obtaining HUD approval for the 
Release of Funds Request (Form HUD 7015.15);
    (b) A detailed description of how assistance and funding will flow 
from the grantee to the actual performers of the hazard reduction work;
    (c) The selection process for sub-grantees, sub-contractors and/or 
sub-recipients;
    (d) The identification, selection, and prioritization process for 
the particular properties where lead hazard control interventions are 
to be conducted;
    (e) A description of the financing mechanism used to support lead 
hazard control work in units (name of administering agency), 
eligibility requirements, type of financing (grant, forgivable or 
deferred loans, private sector financing, etc), any owner

[[Page 13911]]

contribution requirement, and the terms, conditions and amounts of 
assistance available (include affordability terms and forgiveness and 
recapture of funds provisions);
    (f) The inspection/risk assessment testing procedures using EPA 
standards to identify lead hazards and to conduct clearance testing. 
(Dust wipe samples, soil samples and any paint samples to be analyzed 
by a laboratory must be analyzed by a laboratory recognized by the EPA 
National Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program (NLLAP));
    (g) The process for developing work specifications and bids on 
properties selected for lead hazard control;
    (h) The levels of intervention and clearance procedures to be 
conducted for units enrolled;
    (i) The number of rental-occupied, vacant, and owner-occupied units 
proposed for each intervention level;
    (j) The relocation plan that will be carried out for residents 
required to be out of their homes during hazard control activities;
    (k) The evaluation process used to measure program performance.
    h. Privacy and Disclosure. All test results in pre-1978 housing 
related to lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards must be 
provided to the owner of the unit, together with a statement describing 
the owner's legal duty to disclose the results to tenants (before 
initial leasing, or before lease renewal with changes) and buyers 
(before sale) if the housing was constructed before 1978 (24 CFR part 
35, subpart A). This information provided to owners may only be used 
for purposes of remediation of lead-based paint and other hazards in 
the unit. Disclosure of other identified housing-related health or 
safety hazards to the owner of the unit, for purposes of remediation, 
is encouraged but not required. Submission of any information on the 
properties to databases (whether Web site, computer, paper, or other 
format) of addresses of identified, treated or cleared housing units is 
subject to the protections of the Privacy Act of 1974, and shall not 
include any personal information that could identify any child 
affected.
    i. Procurement of Recovered Materials. See the General Section for 
information concerning this requirement.

C. Reporting

    Successful applicants will be required to submit quarterly, annual, 
and final program and financial reports according the requirements of 
the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. Project benchmarks 
and milestones will be tracked using a benchmark spreadsheet that uses 
the benchmarks and milestones identified in the Logic Model form (Form 
HUD-96010; available in the General Section) approved and incorporated 
into your award agreement. For specific reporting requirements, see 
policy guidance: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead. Specific guidance and 
additional details will be provided to successful applicants.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

    For Further Information and Technical Assistance: You may contact 
Jonnette Hawkins, Director, Program Management and Assurance Division, 
Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, 451 Seventh Street 
SW., Washington, DC 20410-3000, or by telephone: (202) 755-1785, 
extension 126 (this is not a toll-free number), fax: (202) 755-1000; or 
e-mail: [email protected] (use underscores). If you are a 
hearing-or speech-impaired person, you may reach the above telephone 
number via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay 
Service at 1-800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

    For technical assistance in downloading the electronic application 
or for other questions regaining the electronic application, including 
registration with Grants.gov, please contact the Grants.gov Support 
Desk at 800-518-GRANTS. Also refer to the General Section.
    Other Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Information: 
For additional general, technical, and grant program information 
pertaining to the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, 
visit: http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead.
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

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[[Page 13920]]



Healthy Homes Demonstration Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Healthy Homes Demonstration Program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number is: FR-
4950-N-29. The OMB Paperwork approval number is 2539-0015.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 14.901 
Healthy Homes Demonstration Program.
    F. Dates: Your application submission date is June 15, 2005. See 
the General Section, Section IV, Application and Submission 
Information, regarding application submission procedures and timely 
filing requirements.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of the Program. The purpose of the Healthy Homes 
Demonstration Program is to develop, demonstrate, and promote cost-
effective, preventive measures to correct multiple safety and health 
hazards in the home environment that produce serious diseases and 
injuries in children of low-income families. Through the Healthy Homes 
Demonstration program, HUD will initiate projects to promote 
implementation of available risk reduction techniques for the control 
of key hazards described in Appendix B. Appendices B, C and D to this 
Healthy Homes Demonstration Program NOFA can be found on HUD's Web site 
at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. Appendix A, 
which contains required forms, is attached to this NOFA.
    2. Available Funds. HUD anticipates that approximately $5 million 
in fiscal year 2005 funds will be available.
    3. Number of Awards. Approximately four to six cooperative 
agreements or grants will be awarded, ranging from approximately 
$250,000 to $1,000,000. The average award in 2004 was $958,625.
    4. Eligible Applicants. Not-for-profit institutions and for-profit 
firms, located in the U.S. are eligible to apply. State and local 
governments, and federally recognized Indian Tribes are eligible to 
apply. For-profit firms are not allowed to propose a fee or profit in 
their cost proposal (i.e., no profit can be made from the project).
    5. Type of award. Cooperative Agreement or Grant.
    6. Match. None required, but strongly encouraged.
    7. Limitations. There are no limitations on the number of 
applications that each applicant can submit.
    8. Information on application. The applications for this NOFA can 
be found at http://www.grants.gov. The application is an electronic 
application. You must register at http://www.grants.gov to be able to 
submit your application. The General Section contains information about 
submission requirements and procedures. Please carefully review the 
General Section before reading the program section so that you 
understand HUD's new electronic application process. Information and 
procedures for completing an application are provided below.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Background

    The Healthy Homes Demonstration Program is a part of HUD's Healthy 
Homes Initiative (HHI). In April 1999, HUD submitted to Congress a 
preliminary plan containing a full description of the HHI. This 
description (Summary and Full Report) is available on the HUD Web site 
at: http://www.hud.gov; this site also contains additional information 
on the HHI and a link to its Web site.
    The HHI builds upon HUD's existing housing-related health and 
safety issues, including lead hazard control, building structural 
safety, electrical safety, and fire protection to address multiple 
childhood diseases and injuries, such as asthma, mold-induced illness, 
carbon monoxide poisoning, and other conditions related to housing in a 
coordinated fashion. The HHI departs from the more traditional approach 
of attempting to correct one hazard at a time (e.g., asbestos, radon). 
A coordinated effort is feasible because a limited number of building 
deficiencies contribute to multiple hazards. Substantial savings are 
possible using this approach, because separate visits to a home by an 
inspector, public health nurse, or outreach worker can add significant 
costs to efforts to eliminate hazards.
    In addition to deficiencies in basic housing facilities that may 
impact health, changes in the U.S. housing stock and more sophisticated 
epidemiological methods and biomedical research have led to the 
identification of new and often more subtle health hazards in the 
residential environment. While such health hazards will tend to be 
found disproportionately in housing that is substandard (e.g., 
structural problems, lack of adequate heat, etc.), such housing-related 
environmental health hazards may also exist in housing that is 
otherwise of good quality. Appendix B of this NOFA briefly describes 
the housing-associated health and injury hazards HUD considers key 
targets for intervention. Appendix C lists some of the references that 
serve as the basis for the information provided in the Healthy Homes 
Demonstration Program NOFA (appendices B-D to this NOFA are available 
at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm).

B. Healthy Homes Initiative Goals

    1. Mobilize public and private resources, involving cooperation 
among all levels of government, the private sector, and grassroots 
community-based nonprofit organizations, including faith-based 
organizations to develop the most promising, cost-effective methods for 
identifying and controlling housing-based health hazards;
    2. Build local capacity to operate sustainable programs that will 
prevent and control housing-based health hazards in low- and very low-
income residences when HUD funding is exhausted; and
    3. Affirmatively further fair housing and environmental justice.
    HUD is interested in promoting approaches that are cost-effective 
and efficient and that result in the reduction of health threats for 
the maximum number of residents and, in particular, for children in 
low-income families. In addition, HUD encourages applicants to 
undertake specific activities that will assist the Department in 
implementing its Policy Priorities. HUD's fiscal year 2005 Policy 
Priorities are discussed in the General Section.

C. Healthy Homes Demonstration Objectives

    HUD will support projects that implement housing assessment, 
maintenance, renovation and construction techniques to identify and 
correct housing-related illness and injury risk factors, disseminate 
healthy homes information and replicate successful interventions. The 
objectives of the Healthy Homes Demonstration Program include:
    1. Identification of target areas and homes where assessment and 
interventions will occur;
    2. Identification and evaluation of effective methods of health 
hazard abatement and risk reduction;
    3. Development of appropriately scaled, flexible, cost-effective 
and efficient assessment and intervention strategies that take into 
account the

[[Page 13921]]

range of unhealthy conditions likely to be encountered in housing, and 
that maximize the number of housing units that receive interventions;
    4. Development of methodologies for evaluating intervention 
effectiveness;
    5. Development of local capacity in target areas and training 
programs for target groups to operate sustainable programs to prevent 
and control housing-based health hazards, especially in low- and very 
low-income residences;
    6. Development of cost-effective protocols for identifying homes 
that are candidates for interventions, identifying health hazards in 
these homes, and screening out homes where structural or other factors 
(e.g., cost) make interventions impractical;
    7. Development and delivery of public outreach programs that 
provide information about effective methods for preventing housing-
related childhood diseases and injuries and for promoting the use of 
these interventions;
    8. Targeting, through education and outreach, specific high-risk 
communities and other identified audiences such as homeowners, 
landlords, health care deliverers, pregnant women, children, 
residential construction contractors, maintenance personnel, housing 
inspectors, real estate professionals, home buyers, and low-income 
minority families;
    9. Implementation of media strategies to use print, radio and 
television to increase public awareness of housing-related health 
hazards that threaten children, including the use of minority media, 
grassroots community based nonprofit organizations, including faith-
based organizations that work with persons with disabilities (including 
providing materials in alternative formats), advocates for racial and 
ethnic minorities (including providing materials in other languages for 
populations with Limited English Proficiency (LEP));
    10. Dissemination of tools currently used by the applicant and/or 
tools available from other sources and, as needed, tools to be 
developed, to inform parents and caregivers about housing-related 
health hazards and enable them to take prompt corrective action; and
    11. Development of training programs for Healthy Homes activities 
to emphasize assessment and intervention methods applicable to public 
and private housing in target areas.
    Specific project activities applicable to these objectives can be 
found under Rating Factor 3.1.b.

D. Authority

    The authority for this program is sections 501 and 502 of the 
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 and the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-477; approved December 8, 2004).

II. Award Information

A. Funding Available

    Approximately $5 million in fiscal year 2005 funds are available 
for the Healthy Homes Demonstration Program cooperative agreements or 
grants. Cooperative agreements or grants will be awarded on a 
competitive basis. HUD anticipates that approximately four to six 
cooperative agreements or grants will be awarded, ranging from 
approximately $250,000 to approximately $1,000,000. In fiscal year 
2004, the average award was $958,625. The rating factors and selection 
process are discussed in Section V.
    Abstracts of currently funded grants are available on the Healthy 
Homes Web site at: http://www.hud.gov/healthyhomes. Applicants may wish 
to review these for program content and may also contact Project 
Directors of currently funded projects for additional information.

B. Anticipated Start Date and Period of Performance for New Grants

    The start date for new Cooperative Agreements or Grants is expected 
to be October 1, 2005, with a period of performance not to exceed 36 
months. The proposed performance period should include adequate time 
for project components such as the Institutional Review Board process, 
the recruitment of study participants, and the development of new 
methods (e.g., survey forms, data base, etc), all of which have been 
found to delay projects in the past. Period of performance extensions 
for delays due to exceptional conditions beyond the grantee's control 
will be considered for approval by HUD in accordance with 24 CFR 
84.25(e)(2) or 85.30(d)(2), as applicable, and the Office of Healthy 
Homes and Lead Hazard Control (OHHLHC) Program Guide. Such extensions, 
when granted, are one time only, and for no longer than a period of one 
year. Applicants are encouraged to plan studies with shorter 
performance periods than 36 months. When developing your schedule you 
should consider the possibility that issues may arise that could cause 
delays.

C. Type of Award Instrument

    Awards in response to this NOFA will be made as cooperative 
agreements or grants. HUD will require quarterly reporting and will 
work closely with awardees to monitor projects.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Not-for-profit institutions and for-profit firms, located in the 
U.S. are eligible to apply. State and local governments, and federally 
recognized Indian Tribes are eligible to apply. For-profit firms are 
not allowed to propose a fee or profit in their cost proposal (i.e., no 
profit can be made from the project).

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    Cost sharing or matching is not required. In rating your 
application, however, HUD will award a higher score under Rating Factor 
4 (see Section V.A.2.d) if you provide evidence of significant cost 
sharing.

C. Other

    1. Threshold Requirements Applicable to all Applicants Under the 
SuperNOFA.
    As an applicant, you must meet all the threshold requirements 
described in the General Section. These requirements include the 
requirement to affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH). Applications 
that do not address the threshold items will not be funded. Cooperative 
agreements or grants will be awarded on a competitive basis following 
evaluation of all proposals according to the rating factors described 
in this NOFA. A minimum score of 75 out of a possible 102, which 
includes up to 2 bonus points for activities proposed to be located in 
RC/EZ/EC-II communities (see Section V.A.1, below), is required for 
award consideration.
    2. Eligible Activities.
    The following activities and support tasks are eligible under the 
Healthy Homes Demonstration Program.
    a. Performing evaluations of housing to determine the presence of 
housing-based health hazards (e.g., moisture intrusion, mold growth, 
pests and allergens, unvented appliances, exposed steam pipes or 
radiators, deteriorated lead-based paint) through the use of accepted 
assessment procedures.
    b. Conducting housing interventions to remediate existing housing-
based health hazards and address conditions that could result in their 
recurrence. Refer to the HUD Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control 
of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing (Guidelines) for information 
about conducting such remediation for lead-based paint hazards. The 
Guidelines and/or applicable regulations may be downloaded from HUD's 
Web site at http://www.hud.gov.

[[Page 13922]]

    c. Undertaking housing rehabilitation activities that are 
specifically required to carry out effective control of housing-based 
health hazards, and without which the intervention could not be 
completed and maintained. Funds under this program may also be used to 
control lead-based paint hazards; however, such controls may not be a 
principal focus of the cooperative agreement or grant. Lead hazard 
control activities are carried out under HUD's Lead-Based Paint Hazard 
Control Grant Program.
    d. Carrying out temporary relocation of families and individuals, 
when necessary, during the period in which the intervention is 
conducted and until the time the affected unit receives clearance for 
re-occupancy. See Section VI.B.5 for discussion of regulations that 
apply when relocating families.
    e. Conducting medical examinations, when such examinations of young 
children for conditions caused or exacerbated by exposure to 
residential hazards are demonstrated to be critical to the outcome of 
your project, and alternative sources to cover these costs are not 
available. If you budget for such costs, you must provide documentation 
to the effect that other resources, such as Medicaid, SCIP or 
neighborhood clinics are not available to conduct these examinations. 
See Section III C.3.b for information on Institutional Review Board 
approval and HIPAA authorization where applicable.
    f. Environmental sampling and medical testing recommended by a 
physician or applicable occupational or public health agency to protect 
the health of the intervention workers, supervisors, and contractors, 
unless reimbursable from another source.
    g. Conducting testing, analysis, and mitigation for lead, mold, 
carbon monoxide and/or other housing-related health hazards as 
appropriate, with respect to generally accepted standards or criteria, 
or if standards are unavailable, other appropriate levels justified in 
conjunction with the project. A laboratory recognized by the 
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) National Lead Laboratory 
Accreditation Program (NLLAP) must analyze clearance dust samples 
related to lead-based paint. It is recommended that samples to be 
analyzed for fungi be submitted to a laboratory accredited in the 
Environmental Microbiological Laboratory Accreditation Program (EMLAP), 
administered by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA).
    h. Carrying out architectural, engineering and work specification 
development and other construction management services to control and 
remediate existing housing-based health hazards.
    i. Providing training on Healthy Homes practices to homeowners, 
renters, painters, remodelers, and housing maintenance staff working in 
low- or very low- income housing.
    j. Providing cleaning supplies for hazard intervention and hazard 
control to grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, 
including faith-based organizations, for use by homeowners and tenants 
in low-income housing, or to such homeowners and tenants directly. (See 
the General Section for more information about grassroots community-
based nonprofit organizations, including faith-based organizations.)
    k. Providing modest incentives (financial or other, i.e. coupons 
for a video rental, coupons for groceries; stipends for completion of 
surveys, child care, cleaning kits, etc.) subject to approval by HUD, 
to encourage recruitment and retention in the interventions, 
participation in educational and training activities and other program-
related functions.
    l. Conducting general or targeted community education programs on 
environmental health and safety hazards. This activity would include, 
but not be restricted to, training on Healthy Homes maintenance and 
renovation practices. It would also include making materials available 
in alternative formats for persons with disabilities (e.g., Braille, 
audio, large type) upon request, and providing materials in languages 
other than English that are common in the community, consistent with 
HUD's published ``Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Recipient 
Guidance''.
    m. Securing liability insurance for housing-related health hazard 
evaluation and control activities to be performed. This is not 
considered an administrative cost.
    n. Supporting data collection, analysis, and evaluation of project 
activities. (As a condition of the receipt of financial assistance 
under this NOFA, all successful applicants will be required to 
cooperate with all HUD staff and contractors performing HUD funded 
research and evaluation studies.)
    3. Program Requirements.
    a. Work Activities. All lead hazard control activities must be 
conducted in compliance with the applicable requirements of HUD's Lead-
Safe Housing Rule, 24 CFR part 35, especially Sec.  35.1325 for 
abatement and Sec.  35.1330 for interim controls and as clarified in 
HUD's Interpretive Guidance about this rule. Grantees must also comply 
with any additional requirements in effect under a state or Native 
American Tribal Lead-Based Paint Training and Certification Program 
that has been authorized by the EPA pursuant to 40 CFR 745.320.
    b. Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval. In conformance with 
the Common Rule (Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, 
codified by HUD at 24 CFR 60.101), if your grant activities include 
research involving human subjects, your organization must provide an 
assurance (e.g., a letter signed by an appropriate official) that the 
research has been reviewed and approved by an IRB before you can 
initiate activities that require IRB approval. You must also provide 
the number for your organization's assurance (i.e., an ``institutional 
assurance'') that has been approved by the Department of Health and 
Human Service's Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP). For 
additional information on what constitutes human subject research or 
how to obtain an institutional assurance see the OHRP Web site at: 
http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp.
    c. HIPAA Authorization. The Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance 
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 requires covered entities 
that transmit health information electronically (health care providers, 
health plans, etc.) to protect that information. This may be 
accomplished by obtaining authorization from the patient or parent, 
obtaining a waiver of authorization from an IRB or HIPAA Privacy Board 
or de-identifying data. You should identify whether your proposal will 
fall under the HIPAA Privacy Rule and if so how you plan to address 
these requirements. Additional information on HIPAA and the Privacy 
Rule can be found at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa.
    d. Program Performance. Awardees shall take all reasonable steps to 
accomplish all healthy homes activities within the approved period of 
performance. HUD will closely monitor the awardee's performance with 
particular attention to completion of specified activities, 
deliverables and milestones, and number of units proposed to be 
assessed or to receive interventions within the approved period of 
performance. HUD reserves the right to terminate the cooperative 
agreement or grant prior to the expiration of the period of performance 
if the awardee fails to meet 25 percent of the milestones, including 
all deliverables, as scheduled in their work plan. Any previous 
requests for no cost extensions will be taken into account when 
evaluating the capacity of the

[[Page 13923]]

applicant to do the work under Rating Factor 1.
    e. Certified and Trained Providers. Lead hazard control activities 
must be conducted by persons qualified for these activities according 
to 24 CFR Part 35 (possessing certification as abatement contractors, 
risk assessors, inspectors, abatement workers, or sampling technicians, 
or others having been trained in a HUD-approved course in lead-safe 
work practices).
    f. Clearance Testing for Lead Hazard Control Activities. Clearance 
dust testing must be conducted according to the EPA Lead Hazards 
Standards Rule (40 CFR part 745) for abatement projects and the Lead-
Safe Housing Rule (24 CFR part 35) for lead hazard control activities 
other than abatement. These are available at: http://www.epa.gov/lead 
and http://www.hud.gov, respectively.
    g. All test results related to lead-based paint or lead-based paint 
hazards must be provided to the owner of the unit, together with a 
statement describing the owner's legal duty to disclose the results to 
tenants (before initial leasing, or before lease renewal with changes) 
and buyers (before sale) if the housing was constructed before 1978 (24 
CFR Part 35, subpart A). This information provided to owners may only 
be used for purposes of remediation of lead-based paint and other 
hazards in the unit. Disclosure of other identified housing-related 
health or safety hazards to the owner of the unit, for purposes of 
remediation, is encouraged but not required. Submission of any 
information on the properties to databases (whether Web site, computer, 
paper, or other format) of addresses of identified, treated or cleared 
housing units is subject to the protections of the Privacy Act of 1974, 
and shall not include any personal information that could identify any 
child affected.
    h. All pest control activities shall incorporate the principles and 
methods of integrated pest management (IPM). In technical terms, IPM is 
the coordinated use of pest and environmental information with 
available pest control methods to prevent unacceptable levels of pest 
damage by the most economical means and with the least possible hazard 
to people, property, and the environment. The IPM approach emphasizes a 
targeted use of pesticides that limits the possibility of human 
exposure (e.g., as opposed to wide-spread applications) and includes 
interventions based on the behavior of the target pest (e.g., 
preventing access to food or water). One source for information on IPM 
is Environmental Health Watch; you can download information from its 
Web site: http://www.ehw.org/Asthma/ASTH--Cockroach--Control.htm.
    i. Awardees collecting samples of settled dust from participant 
homes for environmental allergen analyses (e.g., cockroach, dust mite) 
will be required to use a standard dust sampling protocol, unless there 
is a strong justification to use an alternate protocol. The HUD 
protocol is posted on the OHHLHC Web site at: http://www.hud.gov/
offices/lead/hhi/hhiresources.cfm. Awardees conducting these analyses 
will also be required to include quality control dust samples, provided 
by OHHLHC at no cost, with the samples that are submitted for 
laboratory analyses. For the purpose of budgeting laboratory costs, 
assume that 5% of your total allergen dust samples would consist of QC 
samples.
    j. You must follow procedures for hazardous waste disposal as 
required by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) 
(e.g., 29 CFR part 1910 and/or 1926, as applicable), the EPA (e.g., 40 
CFR parts 61, 260-282, 300-374, and/or 700-799, as applicable), the 
Department of Transportation (e.g., 49 CFR parts 171-177), and/or 
appropriate state or local regulatory agencies and applicable EPA, HUD, 
state, and local regulatory agency guidance. You must handle disposal 
of wastes from hazard control activities that contain lead-based paint, 
but are not classified as hazardous in accordance with state or local 
law or the Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead-Based 
Hazards in Housing (HUD Guidelines). The Guidelines may be downloaded 
from the HUD Web site at: http://www.hud.gov.
    k. Worker Protection Procedures. You must comply with the 
procedures for worker protection established in the HUD Guidelines as 
well as the requirements of OHSA, e.g., 29 CFR part 1910 and/or 1926, 
as applicable, or the state or local occupational safety and health 
regulations, whichever are more stringent.
    l. Written Policies and Procedures. You must have written policies 
and procedures for all phases of interventions, including evaluation, 
development of specifications, financing, occupant relocation, 
independent project inspection, and clearance testing (e.g., for mold, 
lead, carbon monoxide or other hazards, as applicable). You and all 
your subcontractors, sub-recipients, and their contractors must comply 
with these policies and procedures.
    m. Data Collection and Provision. You must collect, maintain, and 
provide to HUD the data necessary to document the various approaches 
used to evaluate and control housing-based health hazards, including 
evaluation and control methods, building conditions, medical and 
familial information (with confidentiality of individually-identifiable 
information ensured) in order to determine the effectiveness and 
relative cost of these methods.
    n. Section 3 Employment Opportunities. Recipients of assistance in 
the Healthy Homes Demonstration Program must comply with Section 3 of 
the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 12 U.S.C. 1701u 
(Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons in 
Connection with Assisted Projects) and the HUD regulations at 24 CFR 
part 135, including the reporting requirements of subpart E. See 
Sec.V.c, Rating Factor 3.3, for recommendations for implementing 
Section 3 Employment Opportunities.
    o. Certifications and Assurances. By signing the SF-424 you are 
agreeing to the certifications and assurances listed in the General 
Section and this NOFA. A Certification of Consistency with the 
Consolidated Plan is not required for the Healthy Homes Demonstration 
NOFA.
    p. Conducting Business in Accordance with HUD Core Values and 
Ethical Standards. If awarded assistance under the Healthy Homes 
Demonstration NOFA, you will be required, prior to entering into a 
cooperative agreement or grant with HUD, to submit a copy of your code 
of conduct and describe the methods you will use to ensure that all 
officers, employees, and agents of your organization are aware of your 
code of conduct. If you previously submitted your Code of Conduct to 
HUD and it appears in the listing on HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm, you do not have to 
resubmit the information unless there has been a change in the legal 
name, address or authorizing official for your organization. See the 
General Section for information about conducting business in accordance 
with HUD's core values and ethical standards.
    4. DUNS Requirement.
    Refer to the General Section for information regarding the DUNS 
requirement.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    If you are interested in applying for funding under this program, 
please review carefully all sections in this Notice of Funding 
Availability.

[[Page 13924]]

A. Web Address To Access an Application Package

    Copies of this published NOFA and application forms for this 
program may be downloaded from the Grants.gov Web site at http://www.grants.gov. If you have difficulty accessing the information you 
may call the Grants.gov helpline toll-free at (800) 518-GRANTS or e-
mail [email protected]. Helpline customer representatives will assist 
you in accessing the information.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    The following provides instructions on the items to be submitted as 
part of the application. See the General Section for instructions for 
submitting third party documents and electronic files.
    1. An abstract describing the goals and objectives of your proposed 
program (2-page limit, single-spaced, 12-point standard font, \3/4\-
inch margins) must be included in the proposal. The abstract should 
include the title of your proposed project, the name, mailing address 
and telephone number of the principal contact person for the primary 
entity and the same information for sub-contractors, partners, etc.
    2. A narrative statement addressing the rating factors for award. 
Number the pages of your narrative statement and include a header and a 
footer that provides the name of the applicant and the name of the 
program to which you are applying. Narrative statements provided as 
part of the application should be individually labeled to identify the 
rating factor to which the narrative is responding (e.g. Factor 1, 
Capacity, etc.). The overall response to the rating factors must not 
exceed a total of 25 pages including all rating factors (single-sided, 
single-spaced, 12 point standard font, \3/4\-inch margins). Any pages 
in excess of this limit will not be read.
    3. The score for each rating factor will be based on the rating 
factor's numbered portion of your narrative statement, supplemented by 
materials referenced and discussed in that portion of your narrative 
statement; supplemental material that is not referenced and discussed 
within the narrative statements will not be rated.
    4. The position descriptions and resumes, if available, of your 
project director and project manager and up to three additional key 
personnel (in accordance with Rating Factor 1), not to exceed 3 pages 
each (single-spaced, 12-point font with \3/4\-inch margins). This 
information will not be counted toward the page limit.
    5. Any attachments, materials, references, or other relevant 
information that directly support the narrative must not exceed 20 
pages for your entire application. Any pages in excess of this limit 
will not be read. See the General Section for instructions for 
submitting third party documents or material not readily available in 
electronic format.
    6. A detailed budget with supporting justification for all budget 
categories of your funding request, in accordance with Rating Factor 3, 
(2)(b). This information will not be counted towards the page limits. 
In completing the budget forms and justification, you should address 
the following elements:
    a. Direct Labor costs should include all full- and part-time staff 
required for the planning and implementation phases of the project. 
These costs should be based on full time equivalent (FTE) or hours per 
year (hours/year) (i.e., one FTE equals 2,080 hours/year).
    b. You should budget for three trips to HUD Headquarters in 
Washington, DC, planning each trip for two people, assuming that the 
first trip will occur shortly after funding, for a stay of five or six 
days, depending on your location, and the remaining trips will have a 
stay of one or two days, depending on your location.
    c. A separate budget proposal should be provided for any sub-
recipients receiving more than 10 percent of the total Federal budget 
request.
    d. You should be prepared to provide supporting documentation for 
salaries and prices of materials and equipment upon request.
    e. Organizations that have a federally negotiated indirect cost 
rate should use that rate and the appropriate base. Other organizations 
should submit their proposal with their suggested indirect rate. If 
they are funded and HUD is the cognizant agency, it will set a rate; 
otherwise HUD will request the cognizant federal agency to set the 
rate.
    f. You should submit a copy of the negotiated rate agreements for 
fringe benefits and indirect costs, if applicable, as an attachment to 
the budget sheets.
    7. Applicants are encouraged to use the following checklist to 
ensure that all required materials have been prepared and submitted. 
You are not required to submit this checklist with your application.

Checklist for Healthy Homes Demonstration Program Applicants

    [sbull] Applicant Abstract (limited to 2 pages).
    [sbull] Rating Factor Responses (Total narrative response limited 
to 25 pages).

1. Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational Experience--
Form HUD 96012.
2. Need/Extent of the Problem-Form HUD-96013.
3. Soundness of Approach--Form HUD-96014.
4. Leveraging Resources--Form HUD-96015.
5. Achieving Results and Program Evaluation--Form HUD-96010 Logic 
Model.

    [sbull] Required materials in response to rating factors (does not 
count towards 25-page limit).

Form SF 424 Application for Federal Assistance.
Form HUD-424-CB Grant Application Detailed Budget.
Form HUD-CBW Budget Worksheet.
Form SF-424 Supplement Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for 
Applicants (to be completed by private nonprofit organizations only).
Form SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.
Form HUD-2880 Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report.
Form HUD-2990 Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC-II 
Strategic Plan (if applicable).
Form HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal to be used for faxing third party 
letters and other documents for your electronic application in 
accordance with the instructions in the General Section.
HUD's Waiver from submitting electronically (if applicable).
Form HUD-2993 Acknowledgment of Application Receipt (only if waiver 
from electronic submission has been obtained).
Resumes of Key Personnel (limited to 3 pages per resume).
Organizational Chart.
Letters of Commitment (if applicable).
Form HUD-2994 Client Comments and Suggestions (Optional).

    [sbull] Optional material in support of the Rating Factors (20 page 
limit).

C. Submission Dates and Times

    Electronic applications must be submitted and received by 
Grants.gov on or before 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on June 15, 2005. 
All narrative files and any scanned documents must be submitted as a 
zip file, single attachment to the electronic application. Refer to the 
General Section for additional submission requirements including 
acceptable submission dates, times, methods, acceptable proof of 
application submission and receipt procedures, and other information 
regarding application submission. Materials associated to your 
electronic application submitted by facsimile transmission must also be 
received by 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the application submission 
date.

[[Page 13925]]

    Applicants receiving a waiver to the electronic submission process 
must submit the required number of copies of the application by the 
application submission date to the identified address in Appendix C of 
the General Section.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    Not required for this submission.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Administrative Costs. There is a 10 % maximum allowance for 
administrative costs. Additional information about allowable 
administrative costs is provided in Appendix D of this NOFA at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    2. Purchase of Real Property is not permitted.
    3. Purchase or lease of equipment having a per unit cost in excess 
of $5,000 is not permitted, unless prior written approval is obtained 
from HUD.
    4. Medical costs, except as specified above in Section III.C.2, are 
not permitted.
    5. For-profit organizations cannot receive a fee or profit.
    6. You must comply with the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (16 
U.S.C. 3501).
    7. Hazard control of a building or manufactured home that is 
located in an area identified by the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency (FEMA) under the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 
U.S.C. 4001-4128), as having special flood hazards unless:
    (a) The community in which the area is situated is participating in 
the National Flood Insurance Program in accordance with the applicable 
regulations (44 CFR parts 59-79), or less than a year has passed since 
FEMA notification regarding these hazards; and
    (b) Where the community is participating in the National Flood 
Insurance Program, flood insurance on the property is obtained in 
accordance with section 102(a) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act (42 
U.S.C. 4012a(a)). You are responsible for assuring that flood insurance 
is obtained and maintained for the appropriate amount and term.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    Beginning in FY 2005, HUD requires applicants to submit 
applications electronically through http://www.grants.gov. Applicants 
interested in applying for funding must submit their application 
electronically via the Web site http://www.grants.gov unless you 
request and are granted a waiver to the electronic submission 
requirements. This site has easy to follow step-by-step instructions 
that will enable you to apply for HUD assistance. The http://www.grants.gov feature includes a simple, unified application process 
to enable applicants to apply for grants online. Refer to the General 
Section for other application submission requirements including 
instructions on how to request a waiver to the electronic application 
submission requirement.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. Rating and Ranking. Applications will be reviewed by an 
Application Review Panel (ARP) which will assign each application a 
numerical score based on the rating factors presented below. The ARP 
chairperson initially selects and provides at least one application to 
panel members to score during a calibration round to ensure that all 
panel members are consistent in their interpretation of the rating 
factors. When the calibration round is completed, each application is 
reviewed and scored by at least two panel members who will assign a 
score based on the rating factors presented in section V.A.2 below. 
Each factor is weighted as indicated by the number of points that are 
attainable for it. An average score is then computed for each 
application. The ARP chair may call upon an advisor to the ARP to 
review and comment on a proposal; however, the advisor does not score 
the application. Nonetheless, advisor comments will be documented and 
retained as a part of the record. The ARP holds a final meeting to 
identify the top-ranking applications to be recommended for funding. 
Awards will be made separately in rank order within the limits of 
funding availability. The maximum score that can be assigned to an 
application is 102 points. Applicants should be certain that these 
factors are adequately addressed in the project description and 
accompanying materials.
    a. Five rating factors:

Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational 
Experience (20 points);
Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (15 points);
Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (40 points);
Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (10 points);
Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (15 points);
RC/EZ/EC-II Bonus Points (2 points);
TOTAL: 102 points.
    Applicants are eligible to receive up to two bonus points for 
projects located within federally designated Renewable Communities 
(RCs), Empowerment Zones (EZs), or Enterprise Communities (ECs) 
designated by USDA in round II (EC-IIs) (collectively referred to as 
RC/EZ/EC-IIs), and which will serve the residents of these communities 
(see the General Section). In order to be eligible for the bonus 
points, applicants must submit a completed Form HUD-2990.
    2. Rating Factors. The factors for rating and ranking applicants, 
and maximum points for each factor, are provided below.
    a. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (20 Points).
    This factor addresses your organizational capacity necessary to 
successfully implement your proposed activities in a timely manner. The 
rating of you or your staff includes any grassroots community-based 
nonprofit organizations, including faith-based organizations, sub-
contractors, consultants, sub-recipients, and members of consortia that 
are firmly committed to your project. HUD strongly encourages the 
formation and development of consortia in implementing your project 
goals. Applicants that either are or propose to partner, fund, or sub-
contract with grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, 
including faith-based organizations, in conducting their work programs 
will receive higher rating points as specified in the General Section. 
In rating this factor, HUD will consider the four items listed below.
    (1) Capacity and Qualifications of Principal Investigator and Key 
Personnel. Describe your recent, relevant, and successful demonstrated 
experience in undertaking eligible program activities. You must 
describe the knowledge and experience of the proposed overall project 
director and day-to-day project manager in planning and managing large 
and complex interdisciplinary programs, especially those involving 
housing, public health, or environmental programs. In your narrative 
response for this factor, you should include information on your 
project staff, their experience with housing and health programs, 
percentage commitment to the project, and position titles. Resumes of 
up to three pages each and position descriptions for up to three key 
personnel in addition to the project director and project manager, and 
a clearly delineated organizational chart for the Healthy Homes project 
you propose, must be included in your application submission. Position 
descriptions and copies of job announcements (including salary range)

[[Page 13926]]

should be included for any key positions that are currently vacant or 
contingent upon an award. Indicate the name of the position, the 
percentage of time that proposed staff will devote to your project and 
any salary costs to be paid by funds from this program. Successful 
applicants must hire all key staff positions identified in the proposal 
as vacant or required in the award agreement within 120 days of award. 
Include descriptions of the experience and qualifications of 
subcontractors and consultants. You may find it useful to include a 
table indicating the name, position and percentage contribution of 
staff members, specifying organizational affiliation. This table may be 
incorporated into the text of your proposal or included with the 
supporting materials.
    (2) Qualifications of Applicant and Partner Organizations. Discuss 
your qualifications to carry out the proposed activities as evidenced 
by experience, academic background, training, and/or relevant 
publications of project staff. Document whether you have sufficient 
personnel, or will be able to quickly retain qualified experts or 
professionals to begin your proposed project immediately, and to 
perform your proposed activities in a timely and effective fashion. 
Describe how principal components of your organization will participate 
in, or support, your project and how you propose to coordinate with 
your partners. You should thoroughly describe capacity, as demonstrated 
by experience in initiating and implementing related environmental, 
health, or housing projects.
    (3) Past Performance of the Organization. This section refers to 
applicants who have any prior experience in another Healthy Homes or 
Lead Hazard Control grant, another grant related to environmental 
health and safety issues, or other experience in a similar program. 
Provide details about the nature of the project, the funding agency, 
and your performance, relative to performance measures and the 
achievement of desired housing- and health-related outcomes.
    (4) Performance as a Healthy Homes Grantee. If your organization is 
an existing Healthy Homes grantee, provide a description of the 
progress and outcomes achieved in that grant. Current grantees that are 
on or ahead of target, may earn one point based on their demonstrated 
ability to date. If you received previous Healthy Homes Demonstration 
funding, you will be evaluated in terms of cumulative progress and 
achievements under the previous grant.
    You must complete and submit the Factor 1, Table 1, Capacity of the 
Applicant and Relevant Organizational Experience, posted at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm, to support narrative 
information submitted. Include this table in supporting materials for 
your application. It will not be counted towards your page limit.
    b. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (15 Points).
    This factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for your 
proposed project activities to address documented problems related to 
healthy homes issues and housing-related hazards in your target area(s) 
and target group(s).
    (1) Specifically identify a target area for your proposed 
activities. Document a critical level of need for your proposed 
activities in this target area. You should pay specific attention to 
documenting the need as it applies to your target area(s), and provide 
statistics for this area, if available, rather than general statistics 
or information pertinent to a larger geographic area. As noted above, 
if your target area comprises a Renewal Community, Enterprise Community 
or Empowerment Zone, indicate the location of this area in the 
narrative for this rating factor and submit Form HUD-2990, found in the 
General Section. (2) bonus points are awarded if your target area is 
located in a Renewal Zone/Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community-II)
    (2) Your documentation should summarize available data linking 
housing-based health hazards to disease or injuries to children in your 
target area(s), if available. Examples of data that might be used to 
demonstrate need include:
    (a) Economic and demographic data relevant to your target area(s), 
including poverty and unemployment rates;
    (b) Rates of childhood illnesses (e.g., asthma, elevated blood lead 
levels) or injuries (e.g., falls, burns) among children residing in 
your target areas that could be caused or exacerbated by exposure to 
conditions in the home environment; and
    (3) For the areas targeted for your project activities, provide 
data available in your jurisdiction's currently approved Consolidated 
Plan and the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) or 
Indian Housing Plan or derived from current census data or from other 
sources. Provide and reference data that address the following:
    (a) The age and condition of housing;
    (b) The number and percentage of low- and very low-income families 
with incomes less than 50 percent and 80 percent of the median income, 
respectively, as determined by HUD, for the area. Statistics that 
describe low- and very-low income families are available at: http://
www.census.gov/housing/saipe/estmod00/est00ALL.dat. Additional census 
statistics are available at: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/
income00.html, http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/income00/
statemhi.html, and http://www.huduser.org/datasets/il/fmr00/index.html. 
Applicants should also consult local data sources, such as city 
government Web sites, for target area data.
    (c) To the extent that statistics and other data contained in your 
community's Consolidated Plan or AI support the extent of the problem, 
you should include references to the Consolidated Plan or AI in your 
response; and
    (d) Data documenting targeted groups that are traditionally 
underserved or have special needs. For a maximum score in this rating 
factor, data provided should specifically represent the target area. If 
the data presented in your response do not specifically represent your 
target area, you should discuss why the target areas are being 
proposed.
    c. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (40 Points).
    This factor addresses the quality and cost-effectiveness of your 
proposed work plan. You should present detailed information on the 
proposed approach for addressing housing-based health hazards and 
describe how proposed activities would help HUD achieve its goals for 
this program area. For you to receive maximum points for this factor, 
there must be a direct relationship between the proposed activities, 
documented and demonstrated community needs, and the purpose of the 
project. Your application will be evaluated according to the 
comprehensiveness of addressing activities that are applicable to your 
project. The response to this factor should include details about your 
technical approach and project activities. HUD is looking for a clear 
statement of activities, timeline for completing the work and expected 
deliverables.
    (1) Approach for Implementing the Project (25 points).
    (a) Technical Approach. Describe your overall technical approach 
for strategizing and implementing your proposed project. Your narrative 
response to this sub-factor will be used to assess how well your 
proposed project will be executed. In this factor, describe the 
methods, schedule, milestones, and quality assurance

[[Page 13927]]

activities that will be carried out to identify and control housing-
based health hazards and to achieve the desired project outcomes. 
Include summary information about the estimated numbers of clients to 
be contacted, clients enrolled, units to be assessed, units to receive 
interventions, individuals to be trained and individuals to be reached 
through education/outreach activities.
    (b) Project Activities. Your project description must include a 
discussion of specific planned project activities that address one or 
more of the following activities.
    (i) Describe in detail how you will identify, select, prioritize, 
and enroll units of housing in which you will undertake housing-based 
health hazard interventions, targeting low-income families with young 
children under six to the extent feasible, and how you will integrate 
safe work practices into housing maintenance, repair, and improvements. 
Describe impediments that you anticipate for recruitment, measures you 
will perform to sustain recruitment, including incentives, and the 
staff responsible for both monitoring recruitment status and 
implementing the measures identified to sustain recruitment. Discuss 
possible recruitment problems, probability of dropouts and plans to 
over-recruit to compensate for dropouts. If you anticipate the Health 
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to impact on your 
recruitment, discuss strategies to address these issues.
    (ii) Describe any assessment tools you would employ to establish 
baseline data. These tools include questionnaires, visual assessment 
protocols and environmental sampling and analysis. Include a 
description of the process you intend to follow for obtaining IRB 
approval, if necessary. In particular, describe how you will provide 
informed consent (e.g., from the subjects, and their parents and 
guardians, as applicable) to help ensure their understanding of, and 
consent to, the elements of informed consent, such as the purposes, 
benefits and risks of the research activities. Describe how this 
information will be provided and how the consent will be collected. For 
example, describe the use of ``plain language`` forms, flyers, and 
verbal scripts, and discuss your plans to work with persons with 
limited English proficiency and their families, and with families 
including persons with disabilities.
    (iii) Describe your process for evaluating units of housing in 
which you will undertake housing-based health hazard interventions. 
Provide the estimated total number of owner-occupied and/or rental 
units in which you will perform assessments and conduct interventions.
    (iv) Describe any specialized testing, if applicable, or visual 
assessment that you will conduct during assessment of units and provide 
a reference to source(s) of the protocol(s). Provide a description of 
protocols or include protocols with the supporting materials for your 
application.
    (v) Discuss efforts to incorporate cost-effective methods to 
address multiple environmental health and safety hazards, and describe 
the specific interventions you will employ to control housing-based 
health hazards before children are affected; and/or to control these 
hazards in units where children have already been treated for illnesses 
or injuries associated with housing-based health hazards (e.g., burns, 
lead poisoning, asthma). Provide an estimate of the cost of each 
intervention (material costs and labor costs associated with 
installation) and an estimate of costs projected per unit. Describe 
your management processes to be used to ensure the cost-effectiveness 
of the housing interventions.
    (vi) Describe the process to be followed for referring children for 
medical case management when needed, and indicate organizations that 
will be involved in this process.
    (vii) Describe your process for the development of work 
specifications for the selected interventions.
    (viii) Discuss your process to select and obtain contractors for 
conducting interventions in selected units and provide details about 
the competitive bidding process, if applicable.
    (ix) Describe your plan for the relocation of occupants of units 
selected for intervention, if temporary relocation is necessary. 
Describe criteria that will determine the need for relocation and 
identify staff that will make relocation decisions. Address the use of 
safe houses and other housing arrangements, storage of household goods, 
stipends, incentives, etc., and the source of funding for relocation.
    (x) Describe your plan for ensuring right of return and/or first 
referral for occupants of units selected for intervention who have had 
to move for intervention to occur.
    (xi) Describe how you will affirmatively further fair housing, 
which would include, but not be limited to: Affirmative marketing of 
the program to those least likely to apply based on race, color, sex, 
familial status, national origin, religion, disability, especially when 
persons in these demographic groups are generally not served by the 
grassroots community-based nonprofit organizations, including faith-
based organizations or other partner organizations; providing materials 
in alternative formats for persons with disabilities; providing 
materials in languages other than English for individuals with limited 
English proficiency and their families; assuring long-term residency by 
families currently living in the community; and assuring that priority 
for treated units go to those who need the features (treatment) of the 
unit.
    (xii) Describe the financing strategy, including eligibility 
requirements, terms, conditions, and amounts available, to be employed 
for conducting housing interventions. You must discuss the way funds 
will be administered (e.g., use of grants, deferred loans, forgivable 
loans, other resources, private sector financing, etc.) as well as the 
agency that will administer the process.
    (xiii) Describe your proposed methods for community and/or targeted 
education and training. These should include community awareness, 
education, training, and outreach programs that support your work plan 
and are culturally sensitive and targeted appropriately. Provide 
information about specific educational/outreach activities with 
quantitative data (number of individuals to be reached, etc.) and a 
description of the intended audience. Describe proposed activities to 
deliver culturally appropriate educational materials and methods to the 
target population and communities. Describe efforts to understand and 
incorporate culturally sensitive approaches to assessment and 
interventions.
    (xiv) Provide detailed information about training staff or other 
organizations to provide the knowledge and skills required to address 
Healthy Homes issues that are essential for successfully implementing 
your project (e.g., education, assessments and interventions). Include 
an outline of training curricula, a description of qualifications of 
trainers, and selection of individuals or groups who will receive the 
training. Discuss if Healthy Homes training programs will be expanded 
to include public housing agencies or Tribally Designated Housing 
Entities and other potential collaborators, such as grassroots 
community-based nonprofit organizations, including faith-based 
organizations, and if so, your plan for doing this.
    (xv) Describe your proposed involvement of grassroots community-

[[Page 13928]]

based nonprofit organizations, including faith-based organizations, in 
the proposed activities including the development of consortia. These 
activities may include outreach, community education, marketing, 
inspection, and housing evaluations and interventions.
    (xvi) Describe your proposed methods to reach high-risk groups and 
communities, vulnerable populations and persons traditionally 
underserved. Discuss how you will verify that participants reside in 
your target area, identified by socio-economic statistics, i.e. low or 
very low-income levels. Discuss your efforts to include families with 
children under six in your targeted interventions.
    (xvii) Indicate if, and describe how, you will address any of HUD's 
departmental policy priorities (see General Section for a fuller 
explanation of HUD's policy priorities). You will receive points under 
Rating Factor 3 for each of the applicable FY 2005 policy priorities 
that are adequately addressed in your application to a maximum of six 
points (see the General Section). Policy priorities that are applicable 
to the Healthy Homes Demonstration NOFA are: (1) Improving our Nation's 
Communities (focus on distressed communities); (2) Providing Full and 
Equal Access to Grassroots Community-based Nonprofit Organizations, 
including Faith-based Organizations in HUD Program Implementation; (3) 
Participation of Minority-Serving Institutions in HUD Programs; (4) 
Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing and (5) Promoting 
Energy Efficiency and Energy Star. (For information on Energy Star 
Programs and Appliances, see http://oaspub.epa.gov/webi/meta--first--
new2.try--these--first. HUD expects the applicant to implement Energy 
Star building techniques and utilize Energy Star appliances whenever 
activities of the grant afford the opportunity.
    Each policy priority is worth one point, except for policy priority 
(4), Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing, which is 
worth up to 2 points, provided the applicant responds to this policy 
priority as described in this NOFA and submits the required 
documentation as described in Form HUD 27300. Applicants may also 
provide a URL Web site address where the documentation can be readily 
found. Applicants that include work activities that specifically 
address one or more applicable policy priorities will receive higher 
rating scores than applicants that do not address these HUD priorities, 
up to a maximum of 6 points.
    (2) Approach for Managing the Project. (12 points). Describe your 
project goals and objectives and the strategy you will use in managing 
and executing the project. You should provide information on the 
general approach and overall plan employed.
    (a) Project Management Plan (10 points). Include a management plan 
that:
    (i) Incorporates appropriate performance goals;
    (ii) Lists the project objectives, major tasks and activities. All 
specific activities necessary to complete the proposed project must be 
included in the task.
    (iii) Provides a schedule for the assignment, tracking and 
completion of major tasks and activities, and a timeframe for delivery;
    (iv) Ensures that quality assurance activities and corrective 
actions are managed;
    (v) Designates resources and identifies responsible entities 
(project staff/ partner organizations);
    (vi) Describes the strategy and methods for coordination and 
communication between partners; and
    (vii) Describes the management processes to manage costs and ensure 
that cost-effective housing interventions will be implemented.
    (b) Budget Justification (2 points). Your proposed budget will be 
evaluated for the extent to which it is reasonable, clearly justified, 
and consistent with the project management plan and intended use of 
program funds. HUD is not required to approve or fund all proposed 
activities. Your detailed budget should be submitted using Form ``HUD-
CBW''. An electronic copy of this and other budgetary forms are 
available at: http://www.grants.gov. You must thoroughly document and 
justify all budget categories and costs (form HUD-424-CB) and all major 
tasks for yourself, sub-recipients, partners, major subcontractors, 
joint venture participants, or others contributing resources to the 
project. Include a 2-page narrative that describes clearly and in 
detail your budgeted costs for each required program element (major 
task) included in your overall plan. (You may include this narrative 
along with the budget forms; it will not count toward the 25-page limit 
of the narrative.) Include a separate, detailed budget for any sub-
grantee who receives 10% or more of the grant funding. HUD-424-CB and 
HUD 424 CBW are available at http://www.grants.gov in the electronic 
submission process.
    (3) Economic Opportunity (3 points). To the greatest extent 
feasible, your project should promote job training, employment, and 
other economic opportunities for low-income and minority residents and 
businesses which are owned by, and/or employ, low-income and minority 
residents as defined in 24 CFR 135.5. You should:
    (a) Describe how you or your partners will comply with Section 3 of 
the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701u) and 
HUD's implementing rules at 24 CFR part 135. Describe how you will 
accomplish this requirement by:
    (i) providing training and employment opportunities for low- and 
very low-income persons living within the awardee's jurisdiction, and 
by
    (ii) providing business opportunities to businesses owned by low- 
and very low-income persons living within the targeted jurisdiction; 
information about Section 3 requirements is available by searching 
HUD's Web site, http://www.hud.gov;
    (b) Describe how your proposed project will provide opportunities 
for self-sufficiency, particularly for persons enrolled in welfare-to-
work programs, or providing educational and job training opportunities; 
and
    (c) Describe the extent to which your proposed activities will 
occur within a federally designated Renewable Community (RC), 
Empowerment Zone (EZ), or Enterprise Community designated by USDA in 
round II (EC-II) as defined in the General Section.
    d. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (10 Points).
    This factor addresses your ability to secure other community 
resources (e.g., financing, supplies, or services) that can be combined 
with HUD's resources to achieve project purposes. These community 
resources may be contributions from organizations such as the 
applicant, partners, or other organizations not directly involved in 
the project.
    (1) In evaluating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to 
which you have developed partnerships or consortia to secure additional 
resources to increase the effectiveness of your proposed project. 
Describe how other organizations will participate in or support your 
project. Resources may include funding or in-kind contributions (e.g., 
labor, fringe benefits, services, supplies, or equipment) budgeted for 
your proposed project. Resources may be provided by state and local 
governmental entities, public or private organizations, or other 
partners.
    (2) The signature of the authorized official on the Form SF-424 
commits matching or other contributed resources of the applicant 
organization. A separate letter of commitment for the match from

[[Page 13929]]

the applicant organization is not required; however, the applicant must 
submit a letter of commitment from each organization other than itself 
that is providing a match, whether cash or in-kind. The letter must 
describe the contributed resource(s) that will be used in your project 
and the dollar value of each contribution. Staff and in-kind 
contributions should be given a market-based monetary value. If you 
fail to provide letters of commitment, from other organizations, with 
specific details, including the amount of the actual contributions, you 
will not get points for this factor. Each letter of commitment, 
memorandum of understanding, or agreement to participate shall include 
the organization's name and the proposed level of commitment and 
responsibilities as they relate to the proposed project. The commitment 
must be signed by an official legally able to make commitments on 
behalf of the organization. See the General Section for instructions on 
how to submit third party documents using the electronic submission 
process. Letters of support (letters that indicate support, but do not 
specify a monetary commitment to the project) will not be considered in 
the scoring of Rating Factor 4. Include information to address the 
following elements.
    (a) The extent to which you have coordinated your activities with 
other known organizations that are not directly participating in your 
proposed work activities, but with which you share common goals and 
objectives.
    (i) Describe your plan for integrating and coordinating housing-
based health hazard interventions with other housing-related activities 
(e.g., rehabilitation, weatherization, correction of code violations, 
and other similar work).
    (ii) Describe your plans to generate and use public subsidies or 
other resources, such as loan funds, to finance future interventions to 
prevent and control housing-based health hazards, particularly in 
families with children under six years of age living in low- and very 
low-income housing.
    (b) The extent to which your project exhibits the potential to be 
financially self-sustaining by decreasing dependence on federal funding 
and relying more on state, local and private funding to continue 
healthy homes activities after the funding period is completed.
    Applicants are to complete the Factor 4 table, Leveraging Resources 
that is posted at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    e. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (15 
points).
    This rating factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
ethics, management and accountability. HUD is committed to ensuring 
that applicants keep promises made in their applications and assess 
their performance to ensure that performance goals are met. Achieving 
results means you have clearly identified the benefits or outcomes of 
your program. Outcomes are ultimate goals. Benchmarks or outputs are 
interim activities or products that lead to the ultimate achievement of 
your goals.
    Program evaluation requires that you identify program outcomes, 
interim benchmarks, and performance indicators that will allow you to 
measure your performance. Performance indicators should be objectively 
quantifiable and measure actual achievements against anticipated 
achievements. Your Evaluation Plan should identify what you are going 
to measure, how you are going to measure it, and the steps you have in 
place to make adjustments to your work plan if performance targets are 
not met within established time frames.
    In your response to this rating factor, you are to discuss the 
performance goals for your project, and identify specific outcome 
measures. Identify and discuss the specific methods you will use to 
measure progress towards your goals, track and report results of 
assessments and interventions, and evaluate the effectiveness of 
interventions; identify important project milestones (e.g., the end of 
specific phases in a multi-phased project) and deliverables specific to 
your project timeline; and identify milestones that are critical to 
achieving project objectives (e.g., developing questionnaires or 
protocols, hiring staff, recruitment of participants, and IRB approval 
and/or HIPAA Authorization, if applicable); identify benchmarks such as 
number of units that received intervention, percent of interventions 
that occurred in high-risk communities, etc., that you will use to 
track the progress of your project.
    You should also identify how your project will be held accountable 
for meeting project goals, objectives, and the actions undertaken in 
implementing the program. You should provide assurances that work plans 
and performance measures developed for your project will be achieved in 
a timely and cost-effective manner.
    You must complete and return the Form HUD-96010, Logic Model, 
showing your proposed project long-term, mid-term, short-term, and 
final results, and how they support HUD's departmental goals and 
objectives. The Logic Model and instructions for completing the form 
are located in the General Section. Information about developing a 
Logic Model is available at: http://www.grants.gov.
    In evaluating Rating Factor 5, HUD will consider how you have 
described the benefits and outcome measures of your program. HUD will 
also consider the proposed objectives and performance objectives 
relative to cost and achieving the purpose of the program, as well as 
the evaluation plan, to ensure the project is on schedule and within 
budget.

B. Reviews and Selection Process

    Information on the review and selection process is provided in the 
General Section. The General Section also provides the procedures for 
correcting deficient applications.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    The anticipated award date for this NOFA is September 30, 2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    1. Applicants Selected for Award. Successful applicants will 
receive a letter from the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard 
Control Grant Officer. The letter will provide additional details 
regarding the effective start date of the cooperative agreement or 
grant and any additional data and information to be submitted to 
execute a cooperative agreement or grant. This letter is not an 
authorization to begin work or incur costs under the cooperative 
agreement or grant.
    HUD may require that all the awardees participate in negotiations 
to determine the specific terms of the cooperative agreement or grant 
and budget. In cases where HUD cannot successfully conclude 
negotiations with a selected applicant or a selected applicant fails to 
provide HUD with requested information, an award will not be made to 
that applicant. In this instance, HUD may offer an award, and proceed 
with negotiations with the next highest-ranking applicant. If you 
accept the terms and conditions of the cooperative agreement or grant, 
you must return your signed cooperative agreement or grant by the date 
specified during negotiation.
    After receiving the letter, additional instructions on how to have 
the cooperative agreement or grant account entered into HUD's Line of 
Credit Control System (LOCCS) payment system will be provided. Other 
forms

[[Page 13930]]

and program requirements will also be provided.
    In accordance with OMB Circular A-133 (Audits of States, Local 
Governments and Nonprofit Organizations), awardees will have to submit 
their completed audit-reporting package along with the Data Collection 
Form (SF-SAC) to the Single Audit Clearinghouse. The address can be 
obtained from their web site. The SF-SAC can be downloaded at: http://
harvester.census.gov/sac/.
    2. Debriefing. The General Section provides the procedures for 
unsuccessful applicants to request a debriefing.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    Refer to the General Section for additional details regarding the 
Administrative and National Policy Requirements applicable to HUD 
Programs.
    1. Environmental Requirements. Under the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2005, the provisions of section 305(c) of the 
Multifamily Housing Property Disposition Reform Act of 1994, 
implemented by HUD regulations at 24 CFR part 58, ``Environmental 
Review Procedures for Entities Assuming HUD Environmental 
Responsibilities,'' are applicable to properties assisted with Healthy 
Homes Demonstration Grant funds. In accordance with part 58, applicants 
under this NOFA that are States, units of general local governments or 
Indian Tribes must act as the responsible entity and assume the 
environmental review responsibilities for activities funded under this 
NOFA. Other applicants must arrange for the unit of general local 
government or Indian Tribe to act as the responsible entity. Under 24 
CFR 58.11, if a non-recipient responsible entity objects to performing 
the environmental review, or if a recipient that is not a responsible 
entity objects to the local or tribal government performing the 
environmental review, HUD may designate another responsible entity to 
perform the review or may perform the environmental review itself under 
the provisions of 24 CFR part 50. Healthy Homes Demonstration grant 
applicants and other participants in activities under this NOFA may not 
undertake, or commit or expend Federal or non-Federal funds (including 
HUD-leveraged or match funds) for, housing interventions, related 
rehabilitation or other physical activities until the responsible 
entity completes an environmental review and the applicant submits and 
obtains HUD approval of a request for release of funds and the 
responsible entity's environmental certification in accordance with 
part 58 (or until HUD has completed an environmental review under part 
50). The results of environmental reviews on individual projects may 
require that proposed activities be modified or proposed sites 
rejected. For assistance, contact Karen Choi, the Office of Healthy 
Homes and Lead Hazard Control Environmental Officer at (213) 534-2458 
(this is not a toll-free number) or the HUD Environmental Review 
Officer in the HUD Field Office serving your area. If you are a 
hearing-or speech-impaired person, you may reach the telephone number 
via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 
1-800-877-8339. Recipients of a cooperative agreement under this NOFA 
will be given guidance in these responsibilities.
    2. Executive Order 13202. Compliance with HUD regulations at 24 CFR 
5.108 that implement Executive Order 13202, ``Preservation of Open 
Competition and Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors' 
Labor Relations on Federal and Federally-Funded Construction Projects'' 
is a condition of receipt of assistance under a HUD Program NOFA.
    3. Procurement of Recovered Materials. See the General Section for 
information concerning this requirement.
    4. Relocation. Any person (including individuals, partnerships, 
corporations, or associations) who moves from real property or moves 
personal property from real property directly (1) because of a written 
notice to acquire real property, in whole or in part, or (2) because of 
the acquisition of the real property, in whole or in part, for a HUD-
assisted activity, is covered by federal relocation statutes and 
regulations. Specifically, this type of move is covered by the 
acquisition policies and procedures and the relocation requirements of 
the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition 
Policies Act of 1970 (URA), as amended, and the implementing government 
wide regulation at 49 CFR part 24. The relocation requirements of the 
URA and the government wide regulations cover any person who moves 
permanently from real property or moves personal property from real 
property directly because of acquisition, rehabilitation or demolition 
for an activity undertaken with HUD assistance. While the Healthy Homes 
Demonstration Grant Program is not HUD assistance, the grantee must 
relocate families to decent, safe and sanitary housing, and should use 
the URA as guidance for doing so. If families or individuals are 
temporarily relocated in a project which utilizes Community Development 
Block Grant funds, the guidance and requirements of 24 CFR 
570.606(b)(2)(i)(D)(1)-(3) must be met. HUD recommends you review these 
regulations when preparing your proposal. (They can be downloaded from 
the Government Printing Office Web site at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/
cfr/ by entering ``24CFR570.606'' in quotes without any spaces in the 
Quick Search box.) See Section III.C of the General Section for 
additional information about relocation.
    5. Davis-Bacon Act. The Davis-Bacon Act does not apply to this 
program. However, if program funds are used in conjunction with other 
federal programs in which Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates apply, then 
Davis-Bacon provisions would apply to the extent required under the 
other federal programs.
    6. Audit Requirements. Any grant recipient that spends $500,000 or 
more in federal financial assistance in a single year must meet the 
audit requirements established in 24 CFR part 84 or 85, as applicable, 
in accordance with OMB Circular A-133.

C. Reporting

    Successful applicants will be required to submit quarterly and 
final program and financial reports according the requirements of the 
Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. Specific guidance and 
additional details will be provided to successful applicants. The 
following items are a part of OHHLHC reporting requirements.
    1. Final Work Plan and Budget are due prior to the effective start 
of the cooperative agreement or grant.
    2. Quality Assurance Plan (QAP). Successful Healthy Homes 
Demonstration applicants that will be collecting housing, demographic 
or environmental data in a formalized manner for use in assessing 
effectiveness of the approaches being demonstrated under the 
cooperative agreement or grant will be required to submit a Quality 
Assurance Plan (QAP) to HUD prior to initiating work under the 
cooperative agreement or grant. This is a streamlined version of the 
format used by some other Federal agencies, and is intended to help 
ensure the accuracy and validity of the data that you will collect 
under the cooperative agreement or grant. (See the HUD Office of 
Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control's Internet site, http://
www.hud.gov/offices/lead, for the QAP template). Your proposed project 
activities should include developing

[[Page 13931]]

this QAP. The QAP will be submitted to HUD as a part of your work plan.
    3. Progress reports are due on a quarterly basis. Project 
benchmarks and milestones will be tracked using a benchmark spreadsheet 
that uses the benchmarks and milestones identified in the Logic Model 
form (HUD-96010) approved and incorporated into your award agreement. 
For specific reporting requirements, see policy guidance: http://
www.hud.gov/offices/lead.
    4. A final report is due at the end of the project period, which 
includes final project benchmarks and milestones achieved against the 
proposed benchmarks and milestones in the Logic Model (HUD-96010) 
approved and incorporated into your award agreement. Specific 
information on all reporting requirements will be provided to 
successful applicants.
    5. Racial and Ethnic Beneficiary Data. HUD does not require Healthy 
Homes Demonstration Grantees to report ethnic and racial beneficiary 
data as part of their initial application package. However, such data 
must be reported on an annual basis, at a minimum, during the 
implementation of your grant. You must use the Office of Management and 
Budget's Standards for the Collection of Racial and Ethnic Data to 
report these data, using Form HUD-27061, Racial and Ethnic Data 
Reporting Form, found on http://www.grants.gov, along with instructions 
for its use.

VII. Agency Contacts

    For questions related to the application process, you may contact 
the Grants.gov helpline at 800-518-GRANTS. For programmatic questions, 
you may contact by writing: Emily Williams, Director; Healthy Homes 
Division; Department of Housing and Urban Development; Office of 
Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control; 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 
P3206; Washington, DC 20410-3000; or by telephone by calling (336) 547-
4002, extension 2067 (this is not a toll-free number); or via e-mail 
at: [email protected]. For administrative questions, you may 
contact Curtissa L. Coleman, Grants Officer, at the address above or by 
telephone at: (202) 755-1785, extension 119 (this is not a toll-free 
number) or via e-mail at: [email protected]. If you are 
hearing or speech-impaired, you may reach the above telephone numbers 
via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 
800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

A. HUD Reform Act

    The provisions of the HUD Reform Act of 1989 that apply to this 
NOFA are discussed in the General Section. Refer to the General Section 
for details regarding other information on submitting a complete 
application that meets HUD requirements. For additional general, 
technical, and program information pertaining to the Office of Healthy 
Homes and Lead Hazard Control, visit: http://www.hud.gov/healthyhomes.

B. Appendices

    Appendix A, which contains forms that are required to be completed 
and submitted as part of your response to the rating factors that are 
discussed in Section V, and Appendices B through D to this Healthy 
Homes Demonstration Program NOFA, can be found and downloaded from 
HUD's Web site at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

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Operation Lead Elimination Action Program (LEAP)

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Operation Lead Elimination Action 
Program (LEAP).
    C. Announcement Type: Initial Announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: FR-4950-N-31, OMB Approval Number 
2539-0015.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 14.903, 
Operation Lead Elimination Action Program.
    F. Dates: For 2005, HUD is accepting electronic applications 
utilizing Grants.gov. The application submission date is June 9, 2005. 
See the General Section for specific instructions for application 
submissions procedures and timely filing.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of the Program. The purpose of the Operation Lead 
Elimination Action Program (LEAP) is to provide grants to private 
sector and nonprofit organizations to leverage funds for addressing 
lead hazards in privately owned housing units and eliminating lead 
poisoning as a major public health threat to young children.
    2. Available Funds. Approximately $8 million in fiscal year (FY) 
2005 funds.
    3. Eligible Applicants. To be eligible to apply for funding under 
this program, the applicant must be a tax-exempt nonprofit (501(c)(3)), 
or other non-profit or for-profit entity or firm. For-profit 
institutions are not allowed to earn a fee. Colleges and Universities 
are also eligible to apply. National and local parent groups are 
encouraged to apply. States and units of general local government and 
their departments are not eligible.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Program Description. Operation LEAP funds are for grants to private 
sector and non-profit organizations for activities that leverage 
additional funding for addressing lead hazards in eligible privately 
owned housing units and eliminating lead poisoning as a major public 
health threat to young children. HUD's authority for making funding 
available under this NOFA is the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 
(Pub. L. 108-447; approved December 8, 2004). Leveraged funds must be 
spent exclusively on addressing lead hazards in eligible privately 
owned housing units. Applicants are encouraged to employ creativity and 
initiative in mobilizing resources expeditiously for lead hazard 
control prevention efforts. Based upon the responses provided to the 
rating factors criteria described below, grants will be awarded to 
those entities that submit a detailed plan and strategy that 
demonstrates adequate capacity to implement the program and 
demonstrates the ability to generate and use private sector resources 
for lead hazard control prevention efforts.
    LEAP funds may also be used to eliminate lead-based paint hazards 
in low-income privately owned housing as well as implementing other 
lead hazard control strategies as defined by Title X of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 4851 et seq.). However, 
these activities are only eligible if they are tied directly to a 
leveraging strategy. For example, LEAP funds could be used to fund the 
replacement of windows that are determined to be a lead-based paint 
hazard, while leveraged funds from owners could be used to do paint 
stabilization elsewhere in the unit (or in other units) where lead-
based paint hazards are present.

II. Award Information

    Funding Available: Approximately $8 million in fiscal year (FY) 
2005 funds. The maximum award shall be $2 million per grant. HUD 
anticipates that approximately 4 to 6 grants will be awarded. The 
period of performance is 36 months. The first 18 months shall be used 
for obtaining the leveraged private sector resources. A period of 
performance extension for delays due to exceptional conditions beyond 
the grantee's control will be considered for approval by HUD in 
accordance with 24 CFR 84.25(e)(2) and the Office of Healthy Homes and 
Lead Hazard Control Program Guide. Only one extension will be provided 
for a period not to exceed 12 months.

III. Eligibility Information

    See the General Section for additional eligibility requirements 
applicable to HUD Programs.

A. Eligible Applicants

    To be eligible to apply for funding under this program, the 
applicant must be a tax-exempt nonprofit (501(c)(3)), or other non-
profit or for-profit entity or firm. For-profit institutions are not 
allowed to earn a fee. Colleges and Universities are also eligible. 
National and local parent groups are encouraged to apply. States and 
units of general local government and their departments are not 
eligible. Applicants who received awards under the fiscal year 2004 
Notice of Funding Availability published in the Federal Register on May 
14, 2004 are eligible to apply under this NOFA.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    There is no match requirement for this grant.

C. Other

    To be eligible for funding under this NOFA, the applicant must meet 
all federal statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to this 
program including 24 CFR part 84 and applicable OMB circulars (i.e., 
cost principal, uniform administrative requirements, audits). In 
addition, you will be required to comply with all state and local 
statutes, regulations or other applicable requirements.
    1. Threshold Requirements. As an applicant, you and any sub-
recipient must meet all of the threshold requirements in Section III.C 
of the General Section. Applications that do not address the threshold 
items will not be funded.
    2. Eligible Activities. Activities conducted for the purpose of 
developing and implementing local or regional strategies designed to 
leverage or mobilize resources from the private sector are eligible 
activities. These activities may include, but are not necessarily 
limited to:
    a. Providing technical lead safety training to workers or 
supervisors regarding lead safe work practices;
    b. Conducting outreach and related activities that are directly 
tied to a leveraging strategy, and that will result in increased lead 
hazard control activities in low-income privately owned or owner 
occupied housing with lead-based paint hazards.
    c. Lead hazard control activities tied directly to a leveraging 
strategy and conducted in low- and very low-income eligible privately-
owned rental and occupied housing units, including:
    (1) Performing dust, paint or soil testing, hazard screens, 
inspections, and risk assessments of eligible housing constructed 
before 1978 to determine the presence of lead-based paint and/or lead 
hazards from paint, dust, or soil;
    (2) Conducting lead hazard control, which may include interim 
control of lead based paint hazards in housing (which may include 
specialized cleaning techniques to address lead dust); or abatement of 
lead-based paint hazards, including soil and dust, by means of removal, 
enclosure, encapsulation, or replacement methods, where necessary. 
Unless there are only

[[Page 13938]]

a few surfaces coated with lead paint, complete abatement of all lead-
based paint or lead-contaminated soil is not usually acceptable as a 
cost-effective strategy unless justification is provided and 
subsequently approved by HUD. Abatement of lead-contaminated soil 
should be limited to areas with bare soil in the immediate vicinity of 
the structure, i.e., drip line or foundation of the structure being 
treated, and children's play areas. All hazard control activities must 
comply with 24 CFR part 35, subpart R, the HUD Guidelines for the 
Evaluation and Control of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Housing and all 
applicable Federal, state and local regulations; in the case of a 
conflict between any of the above, the more stringent shall apply;
    (3) Carrying out temporary relocation of families and individuals 
during the period in which lead hazard control is conducted and until 
the time the affected unit receives clearance for re-occupancy;
    (4) Performing blood lead testing and air sampling to protect the 
health of the hazard control workers, supervisors, and contractors; and
    (5) Undertaking minimal housing rehabilitation activities that are 
specifically required to carry out effective hazard control, and 
without which the hazard control could not be completed and maintained. 
Operation LEAP grant funds and leveraged funds may be used for lead 
hazard control work done in conjunction with other housing 
rehabilitation programs. HUD strongly encourages integration of this 
grant program with housing rehabilitation, weatherization, and other 
energy conservation activities.
    (6) Conducting clearance dust-wipe testing and associated 
laboratory analysis.
    (7) Purchasing or leasing no more than two (2) X-ray fluorescence 
analyzers for use by the Program, if not already available.
    d. Eligible costs that include providing all necessary 
administrative and indirect support, including rent, equipment, 
materials, travel expenses and logistics, and subcontractor/consultant 
costs necessary to carryout grant activities.
    3. Program Requirements. In general, applicants conducting lead 
hazard control activities must ensure that work is conducted in 
compliance with the applicable requirements of HUD's Lead-Safe Housing 
Regulation, 24 CFR part 35, and as clarified in HUD's Interpretive 
Guidance about the rule located at http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/
guidelines/leadsaferule/index.cfm.
    a. Eligible Housing Units. LEAP funds may be used to support lead 
hazard control work in eligible low- and very low-income privately 
owned rental and occupied housing units. Refer to Section III.C.5 below 
about downloading a list (Eligibility of HUD-Assisted Housing) of the 
HUD-associated housing programs that meet the definition of eligible 
housing under this program.
    b. Continued Availability of Lead-Safe Housing to Low-Income 
Families. Units in which lead hazards have been controlled under this 
program shall be occupied by and/or continue to be available to low-
income families for at least three years as required by Title X 
(Section 1011). Affirmative marketing to families (particularly low-
income families with children under six years of age) is encouraged, as 
described under Rating Factor 5. The grantee must also notify the owner 
of information on lead hazard evaluation and control generated during 
grant activities in the housing, so that the housing owner will comply 
with disclosure requirements under 24 CFR part 35, subpart A.
    c. Testing. For applicants conducting lead hazard control 
activities, all testing and sampling shall conform to the current HUD 
Guidelines and federal, state, or tribal regulations developed as part 
of the appropriate contractor certification program whichever is more 
stringent. Testing must be conducted according to the HUD Guidelines, 
located at http://www.hud.gov/offices/lead/guidelines/hudguidelines/
index.cfm, and the EPA lead hazard standards rule at 40 CFR part 745. 
All units undergoing lead hazard control must have clearance testing 
performed.
    (1) Lead-Based Paint and Lead-Based Paint Hazard Identification. 
For applicants conducting lead hazard control activities, an inspection 
or risk assessment is required. You should ensure that lead paint 
inspection and risk assessment reports are conducted in accordance with 
established protocols and sufficient to support hazard control 
decisions.
    (2) Clearance Testing. For applicants conducting lead hazard 
control activities, clearance testing shall be completed in accordance 
with Chapter 15 of the HUD Guidelines and the EPA lead hazards 
standards rule at 40 CFR part 745 for abatement projects and the Lead-
Safe Housing Rule (24 CFR part 35) for lead hazard control activities 
or other abatement. The clearance standards shall be the more 
restrictive of those set by the local jurisdiction or by EPA or HUD.
    (3) Blood Lead Testing: HUD recommends testing each occupant who is 
under six years of age for lead poisoning prior to proceeding with the 
housing intervention. Any child with an elevated blood lead level 
should be referred for appropriate medical follow-up. The standards for 
such testing are described in the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) publications Preventing Lead Poisoning in Young 
Children (1991), and Screening Young Children for Lead Poisoning: 
Guidance for State and Local Public Health Officials (1997).
    d. Written Policies and Procedures. For applicants conducting lead 
hazard control activities, you must have clearly established written 
policies and procedures for eligibility, program marketing, unit 
selection, expediting work on homes occupied by children with elevated 
blood lead levels, and all phases of lead hazard control, including 
risk assessment, inspection, development of specifications, pre-hazard 
control blood lead testing, financing, relocation, and clearance 
testing. Grantees, subcontractors, sub-grantees, sub-recipients, and 
their contractors must adhere to these policies and procedures.
    e. Prohibited Practices. For applicants conducting lead hazard 
control activities, you must not engage in the following prohibited 
practices:
    (1) Open flame burning or torching;
    (2) Machine sanding or grinding without a high-efficiency 
particulate air (HEPA) exhaust control;
    (3) Uncontained hydro blasting or high-pressure wash;
    (4) Abrasive blasting or sandblasting without HEPA exhaust control;
    (5) Heat guns operating above 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit;
    (6) Chemical paint strippers containing methylene chloride or other 
volatile hazardous chemicals in a poorly ventilated space; and
    (7) Dry scraping or dry sanding, except scraping in conjunction 
with heat guns or around electrical outlets or when treating no more 
than two square feet in any one interior room or space, or totaling no 
more than 20 square feet on exterior surfaces.
    f. Research. In conformance with the Common Rule (Federal Policy 
for the Protection of Human Subjects, codified by HUD at 24 CFR part 
60), for applicants conducting blood lead testing as part of a research 
effort, your organization must provide an assurance (e.g., a letter 
signed by an appropriate official) that the research has been reviewed 
and approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) before you can 
receive funds from HUD for activities that require IRB approval. Before 
receiving such funds, you must also provide the number for your

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organization's assurance (i.e., an ``institutional assurance'') that 
has been approved by the Department of Health and Human Service's 
Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP). For additional information 
on what constitutes human subject research or how to obtain an 
institutional assurance see the OHRP Web site at http://
ohrp.osophs.dhhs.gov/.
    g. Conducting Business in Accordance with HUD Core Values and 
Ethical Standards. Refer to the General Section for information about 
conducting business in accordance with HUD's core values and ethical 
standards.
    h. Applicants must also comply with HUD's Section 3 requirements as 
stated at 24 CFR 135.3(a)(2)(i).
    4. DUNS Requirement. Refer to the General Section for information 
regarding the DUNS requirement. You will need to obtain a DUNS number 
to receive an award from HUD.
    5. Eligibility of HUD-Assisted Housing. The chart ``Eligibility of 
HUD-Assisted Housing'' available at http://www.hud.gov, lists the 
``eligible'' housing units that may participate under LEAP when lead 
hazard control is tied directly to a leveraging strategy.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses To Request Application Package

    1. Application Submission. See the General Section for specific 
procedures for application submission and timely receipt procedures. Be 
advised there is no Application Kit for the Operation Lead Elimination 
Action Program. All the information required to submit an application 
is available in the application and instructions at http://www.grants.gov.
    a. Guidebook and Further Information. Copies of the General Section 
and this Program Section are also available from the NOFA Information 
Center at 800-HUD-8929 or 800-HUD-2209 (TTY). When requesting 
information, please refer to the name of the program you are interested 
in. Be sure to provide your name, address (including zip code), and 
telephone number (including area code).

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    1. Applicants should follow the submission requirements for the 
Operation Lead Elimination Action Program (LEAP). Applicants should 
follow the submission requirements described below.
    a. Application Information.
    (1) Application Format. The application narrative response to the 
Rating Factors are limited to a maximum of the equivalent of 15 pages. 
Your word processing response must be prepared as a single-sided 
document, using 8\1/2\'' x 11'' paper, using a 12-point font with not 
less than \3/4\'' margins on all sides. Additional materials should be 
referenced and discussed in the narrative response. These additional 
materials should directly apply to the rating factor narrative.
    (2) Application Checklist (voluntary). Your application must 
contain all of the required information noted in this Program Section 
and the General Section. See the General Section for specific 
procedures for application submission and timely receipt procedures. 
The ``Checklist and Submission Table of Contents'' below includes a 
listing of the required items needed for submitting a complete 
application and receiving consideration for funding. You are to 
assemble the application to include the items shown in the Checklist 
and Submission Table of Contents. For paper copy applications, 
inclusion of this Checklist and Submission Table of Contents with your 
proposal is recommended but not required.

Checklist and Submission Table of Contents Lead Elimination Action 
Program (LEAP)

    [sbull] Applicant Abstract (limited to a maximum of 2 pages).
    [sbull] Rating Factor Response (limited to a maximum of 15 pages).
    1. Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational 
Experience--Form HUD-96012.
    2. Need/Extent of the Problem--Form HUD-96013.
    3. Soundness of Approach--Form HUD-96014; and Work Plan development 
Worksheet--36 Month Period of Performance--Form HUD-96008;.
    4. Leveraging Resources.
    5. Achieving Results and Program Evaluation--Form HUD-96010 Logic 
Model.
    6. Certification of Consistency with RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan 
(HUD-2990) if applicable;.
    [sbull] Application Forms.
    SF-424.
    SF-424 Supplement.
    Facsimile Transmittal (HUD-96011).
    Form HUD-424CB.
    Form HUD-424CBW--Total Budget (Federal Share and Matching) with 
Supporting Narrative and Cost Justification.
    Form HUD-2880 Disclosure and Update Report.
    Form HUD-27300--Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of 
Regulatory Barriers (include any documentation required).
    Form SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities Required (if 
applicable).
    HUD's Waiver from submitting electronically (if applicable).
    Form HUD-2993 Acknowledgment of Application Receipt (only if wavier 
from electronic submission has been obtained).
    Form HUD-2994 Client Comments and Suggestions (completion of this 
form is optional).
    [sbull] Other Rating Factor Related Materials.
    The following are instructions on the items to be submitted as part 
of the application. See the General Section for instructions for 
submitting third party documents and electronic files.
    (a) Abstract Summary. Provide an abstract summary describing the 
goals and objectives of the proposed program (two-page maximum); 
including.
    (i) the total amount of the Federal request and the amount of the 
matching contribution for the entire period of performance;
    (ii) the specific activities that will be conducted;
    (iii) the organization(s) that will participate in the program; and
    (iv) your prior activities, experience and achievements in related 
work.
    (b) Forms. See the General Section for specific instructions for 
application submissions procedures and timely receipt. You can download 
Form HUD-96008, Work Plan Development Worksheet with Minimum Benchmark 
Standards for 36 Months, from http://www.hud.gov.
    (c) Budget. A total budget summary (total budget is the Federal 
share and leveraged contribution) with supporting narrative and cost 
justifications for all budget categories of your grant request. A 
maximum of ten percent of the Federal share can be for administrative 
costs. Provide a detailed budget with supporting cost justification for 
all budget categories of your funding request, in accordance with 
Rating Factor 3. This information will not be counted towards the page 
limits. A detailed budget must also be provided for any subcontractors, 
subgrantees, or subrecipients receiving greater than 10 percent of the 
Federal budget request. An itemized breakout (using the Form HUD-
424CBW) of leveraged contributions that are directly received by the 
project or sub recipients should be documented including:
    (i) Values placed on donated in-kind services;
    (ii) Letters or other evidence of commitment from donors; and
    (iii) The amounts and sources of contributed resources.

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    (d) Teaming. Contracts, Memoranda of Understanding or Agreement, 
letters of commitment or other documentation must describe the proposed 
roles of agencies, local broad-based task forces, participating faith-
based or other community- or neighborhood-based groups or 
organizations, local businesses, and others working with the program. 
For-profit entities and/or firms must clearly demonstrate and document 
how activities, including the lead-based paint hazard identification 
and control measures to be undertaken by the applicant, will be 
coordinated with local organizations, state(s) or units of general 
local government to carry out lead hazard control and other program 
activities.
    b. Other leveraged resources not received directly by the project 
and sub recipients but used to support program activities should be 
included in the narrative response to Rating Factor 3, but not on Form 
HUD-424-CBW. Applicants should describe their methodology for tracking 
leveraged resources not directly received by the project or sub 
recipients.
    c. Rating Factor Responses--Proposed Activities. All applications 
must respond to the rating factors for award, and numbered in 
accordance with each factor for award (Rating Factors 1 through 4).

C. Submission Dates and Times

    Application submission. The submission date is June 9, 2005. 
Electronic applications must be submitted and received by grants.gov on 
or before 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the submission date. All 
narrative files and any scanned documents must be submitted as a zip 
file, single attachment to the electronic application. Refer to the 
General Section for additional submission requirements including 
acceptable submission methods, acceptable proof of delivery and other 
information to assist the applicant. Materials associated to your 
electronic application submitted by facsimile transmission must also be 
received by 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the application submission 
date.
    Applicants receiving a waiver to the electronic submission process 
must submit the required number of copies of the application by the 
application submission date to the identified address in Appendix C of 
the General Section.

D. Intergovernmental Review

     Not applicable.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Ineligible Activities. You may not use grant funds for any of 
the following:
    a. Purchase of real property;
    b. Chelation or other medical treatment costs related to children 
with elevated blood lead levels; and
    c. Lead hazard abatement activities in public housing, or project-
based Section 8 housing.
    d. Activities that do not comply with the Coastal Barrier Resources 
Act (16 U.S.C. 3501).
    e. Lead-based paint hazard control of a building or manufactured 
home that is located in an area identified by the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency (FEMA) under the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 
1973 (42 U.S.C. 4001-4128), as having special flood hazards unless:
    (1) The community in which the area is situated is participating in 
the National Flood Insurance Program in accordance with the applicable 
regulations (44 CFR parts 59-79), or less than a year has passed since 
FEMA notification regarding these hazards; and
    (2) Where the community is participating in the National Flood 
Insurance Program, flood insurance on the property is obtained in 
accordance with section 102(a) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act (42 
U.S.C. 4012a(a)). You are responsible for assuring that flood insurance 
is obtained and maintained for the appropriate amount and term.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    Refer to the General Section for other application submission 
requirements.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    The factors for award used to evaluate and rate applications 
include:
    Rating Factor 1: Organizational Capacity--Form HUD 96012.
    Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem--Form HUD 96013.
    Rating Factor 3: Approach--Soundness of Approach--Form HUD 96014; 
and Work Plan Development Worksheet with Minimum Benchmark Standards 
for 36 Months--Form HUD-96008.
    Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources.
    Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation--Logic 
Model--Form HUD-96010.
    RC/EZ/EC-II--Bonus Points (2 Points).
    Applicants are encouraged to employ creativity and initiative in 
mobilizing resources expeditiously for lead hazard control prevention 
efforts. Based upon the responses provided to the rating factors 
described below, grants will be awarded to those entities who submit a 
detailed strategy that demonstrates adequate capacity to carry out the 
proposed use of funds and who demonstrate the ability to generate and 
use private sector resources for lead hazard control prevention 
efforts. The factors for rating and ranking applicants, and maximum 
points for each factor, are delineated below. The maximum number of 
points to be awarded is 102, which includes up to 2 bonus points for 
activities proposed to be located in RC/EZ/EC-II communities (See 
Section V.A.6. below).

1. Rating Factor 1: Organizational Capacity (20 points)

    This factor addresses the applicant's organizational capacity to 
successfully implement the proposed activities in a timely manner.
    a. Staff Experience (10 points).
    Describe the knowledge and experience of the staff responsible for 
the following functions: Executive Direction; Finance, Marketing; and 
Program Coordination. The applicant must have sufficient qualified 
personnel or be able to quickly retain qualified experts or 
professionals in financial/grant management, marketing, and/or lead-
based paint programs that will allow you to immediately begin your 
proposed work program and to perform your proposed activities within 
the 36 month period of performance (Form HUD-96008). The applicant's 
narrative should include information about your organizational and 
staff capacity in raising and/or leveraging funds, and in recent 
success in garnering private sector support (e.g., within the past five 
years). Include a discussion of staff knowledge and expertise in 
raising and/or leveraging funds, possessing the prerequisite 
organizational skills, and lead poisoning prevention activities.
    The discussion on capacity should include the depth, experience, 
the commitment of time to the program, salary information, and position 
titles of the program staff.
    Resumes or detailed job announcements for the above key positions 
must be included in your application. Indicate the percentage of time 
key personnel will devote to the proposed project. An applicant may 
demonstrate capacity by thoroughly describing prior experience in this 
type of activity and/or how the applicant will develop the necessary 
capacity to carry out proposed activities.
    b. Grants Management (4 points).
    Describe your agency's or organization's ability to manage grants

[[Page 13941]]

and leveraged program funds and activities.
    c. Team Expertise (4 points).
    Describe project knowledge and experience by participants and team 
members regarding lead poisoning as a public health threat to children, 
and/or lead-based paint issues and hazard control. Use of staff with 
more recent, relevant, and demonstrated successful experience will 
result in a higher rating.
    d. Removal of Barriers to Affordable Housing (2 points).
    A new applicant will be awarded up to two points under Rating 
Factor 1 for activities that remove barriers to affordable housing 
within their communities; support state and local efforts to streamline 
processes and procedures; and eliminate redundant requirements, 
statutes, regulations, and codes which impede the availability of 
affordable housing. This priority relates to HUD's Strategic Goals for 
Increasing Homeownership Opportunities and Promoting Decent Affordable 
Housing. For more details refer to section V.B.1.

2. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (10 points)

    This factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for the 
proposed program to address a documented problem related to lead-based 
paint and lead-based paint hazards in your identified target area(s). 
An applicant will be scored in this rating factor based on their 
documented need as evidenced by thorough, credible, and appropriate 
data and information. The evaluation will be based only on the 
applicant's documentation of the data submitted. The data submitted in 
response to this rating factor will be verified using data available 
from the Census, HUDuser, other data available to HUD and/or in 
cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 
applicant is to complete the Factor 2 Table--Need/Extent of the Problem 
in Section IV of this NOFA.
    A maximum of 10 Points will be awarded in this rating factor based 
on the information documenting the number of children with an elevated 
blood lead level, the number of pre-1978 housing units, and the number 
and percentage of families with incomes at or below 80% of the Area 
Median Income as determined by HUD within your target areas.
    a. Documented Number of Children with an Elevated Blood Lead (EBL) 
(3 Points Maximum).
    Provide the actual number of children documented as having an 
elevated blood lead (EBL) residing within the target area for the most 
recent complete calendar year and identify the source of the data. Data 
prior to calendar year 2001 will not be accepted. For the purposes of 
this application, the ``documented number of children'' with an EBL is 
based on the CDC level of concern. A child under six years of age with 
a blood lead level test result equal to or greater than 10 micrograms 
of lead per deciliter of blood, which was performed by a medical health 
care provider is considered to have an EBL. The actual number of 
children with an EBL (not an estimate) must be reported to HUD in order 
to receive points for this sub-factor. Do not send the children's names 
or addresses or other identifiers. Failure to provide this number in 
the application means that no points will be awarded for this sub-
factor. For you to receive maximum points for this rating factor there 
must be a direct relationship between your proposed lead hazard control 
activities and the documented community needs. Since an objective of 
the program is to prevent at-risk children from being poisoned, 
specific attention must be paid to documenting the identified need as 
it applies to any selected targeted area(s).
    Applicants are to use the Factor 2 Table to document the target 
area(s) need:
    Points will be awarded based on the documented number of children 
with an elevated blood lead level according to the table, ``Points 
Awarded for Number of Children Under Age 6 Years with an Elevated Blood 
Lead Level in Target Area,'' that can be downloaded from http://www.hud.gov. The table shows the number of points awarded based on the 
number of children with an elevated blood lead level in the grant 
target area(s).
    b. Housing market data relevant to the specified target area(s). 
Housing Age for the following sub-categories: Pre-1940, 1940-1949, 
1950-1959, 1960-1969, 1970-1979 and 1980 or newer (Census information 
includes 1970-1979 category). (3 Points Maximum). Points will be 
awarded for the number of pre 1940 occupied rental units in the 
applicant's jurisdiction according to the table, ``Points Awarded for 
Number of Pre-1940 Occupied Rental Housing Units in Target Area,'' that 
can be downloaded from http://www.hud.gov. The table shows the number 
of points awarded based on the number of pre-1940 occupied rental 
housing units in the grant target area(s).
    c. The number and percentage of very-low (income less than 50 
percent of the area median) and low- (income less than 80 percent of 
the area median) income families, as determined by HUD (http://
www.huduser.org), with adjustments for smaller and larger families 
(Very-Low and Low-Income Population) (4 Points Maximum). Points will be 
awarded for the number of very low and low-income percentages of 
families in the target area according to the table, ``Points Awarded 
for Number of Very Low and Low-Income Percentages of Families in Target 
Area,'' that can be downloaded from http://www.hud.gov. The table shows 
the number of points awarded based on the number of very low and low-
income percentages of families in target area(s).
    3. Rating Factor 3: Approach (40 points).
    This factor addresses the approach and strategy that the applicant 
intends to follow in meeting the goals and objectives of the program. 
This strategy should address the following:
    a. Selection Process for Team Organization (5 points).
    Describe the selection process for those organizations that are to 
conduct or coordinate work activities for lead hazard control, 
outreach, evaluation, etc and discuss how you intend to involve faith-
based or other community-based organizations in your proposed 
activities.
    b. Strategy and Approach (35 points).
    (1) Leveraging Strategy. Describe the proposed strategy for 
leveraging private sector resources including:
    (a) Target audiences/constituencies;
    (b) Use of contractors/subgrantees/team organizations and their 
method of selection;
    (c) Methods of outreach/promotion;
    (d) Types of leveraging to be employed;
    (e) Proposed use and distribution of funds/resources leveraged;
    (f) Overall project management and coordination; and
    (g) Proposed schedule of activities within the 36-month period of 
performance.
    (2) Work Plan Strategy. A successful applicant's award is 
contingent upon budget negotiation and approval of a work plan. The 
work plan strategy narrative shall include:
    (a) The management plan that describes how the project will be 
managed, and the timeline for staffing the program. Applicants should 
develop a work plan that includes specific, measurable and time-phased 
objectives for each major program activity. The applicant's work plan 
should reflect the benchmark standards with quarterly milestones for 
proposed program activities and expenditures, and should provide HUD 
with measurable outcome results to be achieved with the requested 
funds. Measurable outcome results should be stated in terms

[[Page 13942]]

relevant to the purpose of the program funds as a direct result of the 
work performed within the performance period of the grant.
    (b) A detailed description of how assistance and funding will flow 
from the grantee to the actual performers of the work;
    (c) The selection process for sub-grantees, sub-contractors and/or 
sub-recipients (if any);
    (d) The evaluation process used to measure program performance;
    (e) The overall objectives for activities. Quarterly performance 
milestones are to be developed to achieve the overall objectives for 
these activities;
    (f) Development of your work plan should include and reflect the 
benchmark standards referred to in Section III.C.5, above. The 
benchmark categories should be modified to reflect the activities 
proposed in your application and subsequent work plan. The LOCCS and 
Leveraged Funds categories are standard and may not be changed;
    (3) Strategies/Approaches. The applicant is encouraged to employ 
creativity and initiative in achieving the objectives of the program. 
Some examples of possible strategies/approaches include the following:
    (a) Enlisting the support and resource commitment of financial 
institutions, foundations, private industry, the general public, 
property owners, and others to make residential housing lead-safe and 
eliminate lead poisoning as a public health threat to children;
    (b) Soliciting the support of national building materials 
providers, building component manufacturers, and housing-related 
national retail outlets to donate money and/or materials to lead hazard 
control programs in housing and health departments, landlords and 
owner-occupants to eliminate lead-based paint hazards in privately 
owned low-income dwellings: For example, a window, wallboard, or paint 
manufacturer/retailer could donate or coordinate the donation and 
distribution of windows or paint to lead-based paint hazard control 
and/or lead hazard control elements of rehabilitation projects 
throughout the country. This strategy could also include the 
distribution of discount coupons for purchases of paint or other 
materials from national suppliers for lead-based paint hazard control 
projects;
    (c) Forming teams with banks or other mortgage or financial 
institutions willing to provide no or low-interest home improvement 
loans to finance lead hazard control activities and abatement measures 
among low-income recipients who would not otherwise be served. By 
participating, banks could fulfill a major element of their 
responsibilities under the Community Reinvestment Act;
    (d) Forming teams to facilitate the coordination and distribution 
of donated building materials, such as windows, trim molding, or paint, 
etc. to local projects involved in lead hazard control programs;
    (e) Identifying and facilitating the availability and use of 
temporary relocation facilities for families who need to move out of 
their dwellings while lead hazard control work is being undertaken. For 
example, hotel chains, colleges, and other lead-safe sites could be 
contacted to make housing available for the temporary relocation of 
families during lead hazard control;
    (f) Working with landlords, tenant groups and others to form 
consortia or otherwise engage landlords and owner-occupants to enroll 
their eligible housing units in local lead hazard control or 
rehabilitation programs. The applicant should obtain commitments from 
landlords to provide matching resources for work to be done on their 
units. For example, the lead hazard control program could offer 
landlords grant funds for replacement windows if the landlords 
contribute the cost of additional repairs (such as basic system 
upgrades, or other rehabilitation work including painting and 
maintenance) that is associated with lead hazard control. To encourage 
such commitments, efforts should be made to educate landlords about the 
primary benefits (effect on children's health) and supplementary 
benefits that can result from lead hazard reduction work such as 
improving an apartment's physical condition and marketability;
    (g) Expanding dust testing and clearance testing, especially in 
high-risk communities;
    (h) Promoting homebuilder, remodeler, or contractor associations to 
coordinate efforts to reduce lead hazards by contributing technical 
assistance, training, presentations and materials and/or labor to lead 
hazard control efforts;
    (i) Encouraging landscaping firms, nurseries, and landscape 
architects to contribute lead-safe soil, mulch, and other forms of 
vegetation cover and shrubbery designed to mitigate lead contamination 
of soil around the exterior/perimeter and play areas of affected 
housing units;
    (j) Working with health, housing, and community development 
organizations or other entities to conduct lead poisoning prevention 
activities, including efforts to plan, participate in, and/or 
facilitate or participate in strategic planning to eliminate lead 
poisoning as a public health threat to young children by 2010. As part 
of this effort, the applicant should describe the process for 
considering enrolling housing units (or multifamily buildings) in which 
one or more children under age 6 years have elevated blood lead levels, 
with priority to housing where repeated and/or severe cases of 
childhood lead poisoning have occurred. (Because of the presence of a 
variety of priorities, it is not a requirement that units with lead-
poisoned children be enrolled, but the process for giving such units 
high priority should be described and implemented.);
    (k) Working with grassroots nonprofit community organizations, 
including faith-based or other community-based organizations, that are 
committed to improving the quality of life of young children in high 
risk housing; and
    (l) Providing training for significant numbers of trades people to 
implement lead-safe work practices, such as window replacement and 
weatherization work.
    The applicant is to complete the Factor 3 Table--Soundness of 
Approach, and the Work Plan Development Worksheet with Minimum 
Benchmark Standards for 36 Months--Form HUD-96008.

4. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (20 points).

    This factor addresses the applicant's ability to obtain and use 
private sector resources or leverage private sector activities that can 
be combined with HUD and other program resources to achieve program 
objectives. Private funds/resources do not include any public sector 
funds, e.g., funds provided by states and units of general local 
government including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)/Home 
Investment Partnership (HOME) funds. Applicants are encouraged to use 
such funds as part of the program but these funds are not considered 
under this rating factor. Describe the types of private sector 
commitments, if any, currently available to devote to Operation LEAP 
grant program activities, and the anticipated future amounts to be 
generated. Based upon the estimated amount of funding anticipated for 
leveraging over the life of the award, identify the general geographic 
locations of the units that will be treated by this increased funding 
or leveraged resources. Also provide an estimate of the number of 
eligible housing units that can be expected to be treated and the 
number of low and very

[[Page 13943]]

low-income families that will benefit under LEAP. Generated resources 
may include cash or in-kind contributions of personnel, services, 
equipment, or supplies. In evaluating this factor, HUD will consider 
the extent to which the applicant has established working teams, 
memoranda of understanding and/or firm agreements with other identified 
entities for the commitment of additional resources. Resources may be 
provided by any private source, including contributions of investor-
owners. However, the donations of resources, goods and services 
considered as leveraged resources should be based on market values and 
documented. Applicants that do not have such teams at the time of 
application will be required to establish teams immediately following 
notification of grant award. Only contributions that have a stated 
monetary value with supporting documentation from the contributing 
organization/entity, signed by an official authorized to make such 
commitment will be counted as leveraged funds. Applications with firmly 
established commitments will be rated more highly than applications 
with just expressions of interest. The most advantageous agreements 
will be those not solely dependent on LEAP funding, including those 
that create long-term commitments for leveraged funds beyond the period 
of the LEAP grant. Therefore it is preferable that LEAP funds act as 
``seed'' funds so any future funding streams can be used to stimulate 
additional leveraging agreements and not simply support prior 
agreements. In evaluating this factor, HUD will examine the extent to 
which agreements provide for sustained contributions from non-public 
sources and allow for non-LEAP funds to support such leveraging in the 
future. Applicants that have targeted specific high-risk neighborhoods 
or geographic locations for leveraging/fundraising and hazard control 
activities will receive a higher number of rating points. Describe what 
the organization has done in the recent past (e.g., within the past 
five years) that gives evidence of its ability and experience to 
leverage substantial private sector resources. Describe specific 
activities, the amount of funds or resources leveraged, and what the 
leveraged funds will be used to support. If an applicant has experience 
in generating funds or resources for purposes similar to addressing 
lead paint abatement or control measures, the applicant should describe 
those activities and the results achieved.

5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation. (10 
Points).

    This factor emphasizes HUD's commitment to ensuring that applicants 
achieve the goals outlined in their work plan and other benchmark 
standards and assess their performance to ensure performance goals are 
met. Achieving results means you, the applicant, have clearly 
identified the benefits, or outcomes of your program. Outcomes are 
ultimate goals. Benchmarks or outputs are interim activities or 
products that lead to the ultimate achievement of your goals.
    Program evaluation requires that you, the applicant, identify 
program outcomes, interim products or benchmarks, and performance 
indicators that will allow you to measure your performance. Performance 
indicators should be objectively quantifiable and measure actual 
achievements against anticipated achievements. Your Evaluation Plan 
should identify what you are going to measure, how you are going to 
measure it and the steps you have in place to make adjustments to your 
work plan if performance targets are not met within established 
timeframes.
    Applicants are required to complete the HUD Logic Form to 
supplement the narrative response to this rating factor.
    a. An applicant is to identify and describe specific methods, 
measures, and tools that you will use (in addition to HUD reporting 
requirements) to measure progress, evaluate program effectiveness, and 
identify program changes necessary to improve performance. Describe how 
you will obtain, document and report the information. In evaluating 
this factor, HUD will consider how you have described outcome measures 
and benefits of your program including:
    (1) Ability to generate substantial private sector resources. The 
main objective of Operation LEAP is to leverage private sector 
resources to eliminate lead poisoning as a major public health threat 
to young children. The key terms here are ``leverage private sector 
resources.'' HUD is looking for those applicants that demonstrate the 
most realistic and successful fund raising and/or leveraging skills to 
mobilize substantial private sector resources for addressing lead 
hazards in housing.
    (2) Ability to demonstrate or develop a national and/or regional 
(multi-state) strategy for leveraging resources from the private sector 
is essential. Those resources should be realistic and achievable and 
made part of the work plan and benchmark activities of this proposal. 
The proposed budget should demonstrate how these leveraged funds will 
be used to address lead hazards in housing and make residential housing 
lead-safe and eliminate lead poisoning as a public health threat to 
children.
    (3) Results of any specific plans and objectives to implement and/
or maintain a registry (listing) of lead-safe housing available to the 
public, or to incorporate the inclusion of the lead-safe status of 
properties in another publicly accessible address-based property 
information system. Results could include how the information would be 
managed and affirmatively marketed to the public so that families 
(particularly low-income families with children under six years of age) 
can make informed decisions regarding their housing options.
    (4) The extent to which affirmatively furthering fair housing for 
all segments of the population is advanced by the proposed activities. 
Detail how the proposed work plan will support the community's efforts 
to affirmatively further affordable housing and discuss the impact of 
prior activities that have contributed to enhanced lead-safe housing 
opportunities.
    (5) How your program will be held accountable for meeting program 
goals, objectives, and the actions undertaken in implementing the grant 
program. Applicants should provide a description of the mechanism to 
assess progress and track performance in meeting the goals and 
objectives outlined in the work plan. Applicants should provide 
assurances that work plans and performance measures developed for the 
program will assist intended beneficiaries, and that work will be 
conducted in a timely and cost-effective manner.
    6. Bonus Points for Federally Designated Zones and Communities. In 
addition, applicants should describe whether any of the proposed 
activities will occur in an Empowerment Zone (EZ), Renewal Community 
(RC), or Enterprise Community, designated by USDA in round II (EC-IIs), 
that are intended to serve the residents of these areas, and that are 
certified to be consistent with the area's strategic plan or RC Tax 
Incentive Utilization Plan (TIUP), and how they will benefit the 
residents of those zones or communities.

B. Reviews and Selection Process

    1. HUD's Strategic Goals. HUD is encouraging applicants to 
undertake specific activities that will assist the Department in 
implementing its policy priorities. HUD's Strategic Goals and Policy 
Priorities applicable to the

[[Page 13944]]

Operation LEAP NOFA are outlined in the General Section. Applicants 
will be awarded up to two points under Rating Factor 1 for activities 
that remove barriers to affordable housing within their communities, 
support state and local efforts to streamline processes and procedures, 
eliminate redundant requirements, statutes, regulations, and codes 
which impede the availability of affordable housing. This priority 
relates to HUD's Strategic Goal for Increasing Homeownership 
Opportunities and Promoting Decent Affordable Housing. Refer to the 
General Section for additional details pertaining to this policy 
priority. Applicants addressing this policy priority are to complete 
Form HUD-27300--Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of 
Regulatory Barriers, and are to include any documentation required.
    2. Rating and Ranking. Please refer to the General Section for 
details. Only those applications that meet the threshold review 
requirements will be rated and ranked according to their response to 
the Rating Factor Criteria included in this NOFA. The maximum number of 
points to be awarded is 102. A minimum score of 75 is required for 
fundable applications.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                Maximum
                        Rating factor                            points
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rating Factor 1: Organizational Capacity.....................         20
Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem..................         10
Rating Factor 3: Approach....................................         40
Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources........................         20
Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation--           10
 Form HUD-96010 Logic Model..................................
RC/EZ/EC-II--Bonus Points....................................          2
    Total....................................................        102
------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    1. Successful applicants will receive a letter from the Office of 
Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Grant Officer indicating that 
they have been selected for an award. This letter will provide 
additional details regarding the effective start date of the grant and 
any additional data and information to be submitted to execute a grant 
agreement. This letter is not an authorization to begin work or incur 
costs under the grant. A fully executed grant agreement is the 
authorizing document. Unsuccessful applicants will also be notified 
that their application was not selected for an award and will be 
afforded an opportunity to request a debriefing on the unsuccessful 
application according to the procedures outlined in the General 
Section.
    2. Negotiation. Refer to the General Section for additional 
details.
    3. Adjustments to Funding. Refer to the General Section for 
additional details.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    1. Environmental Requirements. Under the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2005, the provisions of section 305(c) of the 
Multifamily Housing Property Disposition Reform Act of 1994, 
implemented by HUD regulations at 24 CFR part 58, ``Environmental 
Review Procedures for Entities Assuming HUD Environmental 
Responsibilities,'' are applicable to properties assisted with 
Operation LEAP funds. Under part 58, a responsible entity, usually the 
unit of general local government, must assume the environmental review 
responsibilities for activities funded under this NOFA. Under 24 CFR 
58.11, if a responsible entity or the recipient objects to the 
responsible entity performing the environmental review, HUD may 
designate another responsible entity to perform the review or may 
perform the environmental review itself under the provisions of 24 CFR 
part 50. Applicants and other participants in activities under this 
NOFA may not undertake, or commit or expend Federal or non-Federal 
funds (including HUD-leveraged or match funds) for, lead hazard 
control, related rehabilitation or other physical activities until the 
responsible entity completes an environmental review and the applicant 
submits and obtains HUD approval of a request for release of funds and 
the responsible entity's environmental certification in accordance with 
part 58 (or until HUD has completed an environmental review under part 
50). The results of the environmental reviews may require that proposed 
activities be modified or proposed sites rejected. For assistance, 
contact Karen Choi, the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control 
Environmental Officer at (213) 534-2458 (this is not a toll-free 
number) or the HUD Environmental Review Officer in the HUD Field Office 
serving your area. If you are a hearing- or speech-impaired person, you 
may reach the telephone number via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal 
Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. Recipients of a grant 
under this funded program will be given additional guidance in these 
responsibilities.
    2. HUD Reform Act. Applicants must comply with the requirements for 
funding competitions established by the HUD Reform Act of 1989 (42 
U.S.C. 3531 et seq.) as defined in the General Section.
    3. Executive Order 13202. Compliance with HUD regulations at 24 CFR 
5.108 that implement Executive Order 13202, ``Preservation of Open 
Competition and Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors' 
Labor Relations on Federal and Federally-Funded Construction 
Projects,'' is a condition of receipt of assistance under this NOFA.
    4. Other Requirements. Please review the General Section for 
information on Statutory and Regulatory Requirements, Affirmatively 
Furthering Fair Housing, ensuring the Participation of Small 
Businesses, Small Disadvantaged Businesses, and Women-Owned Businesses, 
OMB Circulars and Government-wide Regulations Applicable to Financial 
Assistance Programs, Conflicts of Interest, Prohibition Against 
Lobbying Activities, Accessible Technology, Improving Access to 
Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency, Compliance with 
Fair Housing and Civil Rights Laws, and Executive Orders pertaining to 
this NOFA.
    a. Participation in HUD Sponsored Program Evaluation. As a 
condition of the receipt of financial assistance under this NOFA all 
successful applicants will be required to cooperate with all HUD staff 
or contractors performing HUD funded research and evaluation studies.
    5. Privacy and Disclosure. All test results in pre-1978 housing 
related to lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards must be 
provided to the owner of the unit, together with a statement describing 
the owner's legal duty to disclose the results to tenants (before 
initial leasing, or before lease renewal with changes) and buyers 
(before sale) if the housing was constructed before 1978 (24 CFR part 
35, subpart A). This information provided to owners may only be used 
for purposes of remediation of lead-based paint and other hazards in 
the unit. Disclosure of other identified housing-related health or 
safety hazards to the owner of the unit, for purposes of remediation, 
is encouraged but not required. Submission of any information on the 
properties to databases (whether Web site, computer, paper, or other 
format) of addresses of identified, treated or cleared housing units is 
subject to the protections of the Privacy Act of 1974, and shall not 
include any personal information that could identify any child 
affected.

[[Page 13945]]

C. Reporting

    Successful applicants will be required to submit quarterly, annual, 
and final program and financial reports according the requirements of 
the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control. Specific guidance 
and additional details will be provided to successful applicants. All 
applicants must also report progress against the proposed benchmarks 
and milestones in the Logic Model (form HUD-96010) approved and 
incorporated into your award agreement part of each required report for 
the grant program.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

    For Further Information and Technical Assistance. You may contact 
Jonnette G. Hawkins, Director, Program Management and Assurance 
Division, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control, 451 Seventh 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20410-3000 or by telephone, fax, or e-mail: 
[email protected] (use underscores), Telephone: (202) 755-
1785, extension 126 (this is not a toll-free number), facsimile (FAX): 
(202) 755-1000. If you are a hearing-or speech-impaired person, you may 
reach the above telephone number via TTY by calling the toll-free 
Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

    Refer to the General Section for details regarding other 
information on submitting application that meets HUD requirements.
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

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[[Page 13951]]



Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI)

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Community Planning and Development.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Brownfields Economic Development 
Initiative.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number is FR-
4950-N-02. The OMB approval number is 2506-0153.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 
Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI), 14.246.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is June 17, 2005. 
Applications submitted through http://www.grants.gov must be received 
by grants.gov no later than 11:59:59 eastern time on the application 
submission date. Applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic 
submission requirement must submit their application to the United 
States Postal Service for delivery no later than 11:59:59 eastern time 
on the application submission date.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information: BEDI funds 
are used to enhance the security of a loan guaranteed by HUD under 
Section 108 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as 
amended, for the same brownfields economic development project, or to 
improve the viability of a brownfields economic development project 
financed with the Section 108-guaranteed loan, in order to stimulate 
economic development by local governments and private sector parties at 
brownfields sites and to return those sites to productive, economic 
reuse. All BEDI grants must be used in conjunction with a new Section 
108-guaranteed loan commitment.
    HUD encourages brownfields economic development projects that 
propose the redevelopment of a brownfield site through new investments 
by identified private sector parties in addition to BEDI/Section 108 
financing and that will directly result in new business or job 
creation, increases in the local tax base or other near-term, 
measurable economic benefits.
    Those interested in applying for funding under this program should 
review carefully the General Section and the following additional 
information.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Authority

    BEDI is authorized pursuant to Section 108(q), Title I, Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, (42 U.S.C. 5301); 24 CFR 
part 570.

B. Program Description

    BEDI is designed to help local governments redevelop brownfields, 
defined in this NOFA as abandoned, idled, or underutilized real 
property, including industrial and commercial facilities, where 
expansion or redevelopment is complicated by the presence or potential 
presence of environmental contamination. A BEDI grant award will be 
conditioned upon, and must be used in conjunction with, a new (i.e., 
not previously approved) Section 108-guaranteed loan commitment. Both 
Section 108 loan guarantee proceeds and BEDI grant funds are initially 
made available by HUD to units of general local government eligible for 
assistance under HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program 
(specifically, the Entitlement and State programs, certain 
jurisdictions in the state of Hawaii under the Small Cities program, 
and for the first time in Fiscal Year 2005, the insular areas of Guam, 
American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands). 
A local government may re-loan the Section 108 loan proceeds and 
provide BEDI funds to a business or other public entity eligible to 
carry out a specific approved brownfields economic development project, 
or the public entity may carry out the eligible project itself, as 
provided in the approved application. In either case, BEDI grant funds 
and the Section 108 proceeds must be used to support the same eligible 
BEDI project.
    Under this program, CDBG entitlement and nonentitlement grantees 
(and states for state-assisted nonentitlement jurisdictions) pledge 
their continuing CDBG allocations as security for the Section 108 loans 
guaranteed by HUD. BEDI grant funds are intended to reduce grantees' 
potential loss of future CDBG allocations by:
    1. Strengthening the economic feasibility of a project financed 
with Section 108 funds (and thereby increasing the probability that the 
project will generate enough cash to repay the guaranteed loan);
    2. Directly enhancing the security of the Section 108-guaranteed 
loan; or
    3. Employing a combination of these or other risk mitigation 
techniques.
    BEDI funds must be used as the stimulus for local governments and/
or private sector parties to commence redevelopment or continue phased 
redevelopment efforts of brownfields sites where contamination is 
present or potentially present and a redevelopment plan exists. HUD 
desires to see BEDI and Section 108 funds used to finance projects and 
activities that involve investment in the brownfields site by an 
identified private sector party that will provide near-term results and 
measurable economic benefits, such as job creation and increases in the 
local tax base.

C. Program Definitions

    Unless otherwise defined herein, terms defined in this NOFA shall 
have the same respective meanings as provided for in 24 CFR part 570.
    Act means Title I Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 
U.S.C. 5301 et seq.).
    Application means a single set of documents, including a request 
for Section 108 loan guarantee assistance, submitted by an eligible 
applicant for BEDI grant funds, in accordance with the provisions of 
this NOFA to finance a brownfields economic development project. 
Section IV.B.1(c) of this NOFA provides additional information on the 
nature and forms of Section 108 loan guarantee requests that must be 
submitted to HUD along with each BEDI application.
    Brownfields means abandoned, idled, or under-used real property 
(including industrial and commercial facilities) where expansion or 
redevelopment is complicated by the presence or potential presence of 
contamination.
    Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) funds means the 
appropriated funds made available for the competition under this NOFA 
from any available appropriation.
    Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) project or 
brownfields economic development project means a single activity, or a 
group of activities constituting a planned, continuous, single 
undertaking, that is eligible under Section 108(q) of the Act and under 
24 CFR 570.703 and projected to create or retain businesses or jobs, 
provide area or housing benefit to low- and moderate-income persons, 
redevelop blighted areas or sites, or otherwise lead to measurable 
economic benefits from redevelopment of one or more brownfields sites 
within five years.
    CDBG funds means those funds collectively so defined at 24 CFR 
570.3, including grant funds received pursuant to Section 108(q) and 
this NOFA.

[[Page 13952]]

    Economic Development Initiative (EDI) grant means the provision of 
economic development grant assistance under Section 108(q) of the Act, 
as authorized by Section 232 of the Multifamily Housing Property 
Disposition Reform Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 103-233, approved April 11, 
1994).
    EPA means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
    Firm Commitment means either a written agreement or letter of 
understanding by which an applicant or a third party:
    (1) Agrees to perform an activity or provide resources as specified 
in the application, and demonstrates their relationship to the proposed 
BEDI/Section 108 project;
    (2) Specifies the dollar value of the commitment and demonstrates 
that it has the financial and organizational capacity to deliver the 
resources necessary to successfully complete the activity; and
    (3) Irrevocably commits the resources to the activity either 
through cash or in-kind services or contributions; if any portion is to 
be financed through a grant or loan from another public or private 
organization, that institution's grant or loan commitment must be 
firmly committed as well.
    Any such agreement or letter of understanding shall be understood 
as being contingent upon receipt of the BEDI grant. Funds expended 
prior to the submission of the BEDI application will not be considered 
as firmly committed funds for purposes of this NOFA.
    Additional information related to firm commitments of other 
resources is provided in Section V.A.1 of this NOFA, Rating Factor 4 
(Leveraging of Other Financial Resources). See Section IV.F. of the 
General Section for instructions on how third party documents are to be 
submitted electronically.
    Showcase Community means an applicant chosen by the Federal 
government's Brownfields National Partnership for inclusion in the 
Federal government's Brownfields Showcase Communities program. A list 
of the federally designated Brownfield Showcase Communities is provided 
in Appendix C in Section VIII of this NOFA and is also available from 
the NOFA Information Center or through the HUD Web site, http://www.hud.gov.
    Strategic Plan means a strategy or course of action developed and 
agreed to by the nominating local government(s) and state(s) and 
submitted in partial fulfillment of the application requirements for an 
Empowerment Zone, Enterprise Community, or a Renewal Community, 
designated pursuant to 24 CFR parts 597, 598 or 599.

D. Program Background

    HUD has multiple programs that are intended to stimulate economic 
and community development and promote economic revitalization of 
distressed areas, and which can be effectively employed to address and 
remedy brownfields conditions. Primary among HUD's resources are the 
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and the Section 108 
loan guarantee program.
    1. CDBG. The CDBG program provides grant funds by formula to local 
governments (either directly or through states) to carry out community 
and economic development activities ($4.1 billion appropriated in 
FY2005). The Section 108 loan guarantee program provides CDBG-eligible 
communities with a source of financing for economic development, public 
facilities, and other eligible large-scale physical development 
projects. HUD is authorized pursuant to Section 108 to guarantee notes 
issued by CDBG entitlement communities and non-entitlement units of 
general local government eligible to receive funds under the CDBG 
States' program, as well as certain non-entitlement units of general 
local government in the state of Hawaii funded under 24 CFR part 570, 
subpart F. The Section 108 program is subject to the regulations 
applicable to the CDBG program at 24 CFR part 570 as described in 24 
CFR part 570, subpart M. BEDI grants must support Section 108 loan 
guarantees as generally described in this NOFA.
    2. Section 108 Loan Guarantees. For FY2005, the loan guarantee 
authority for the Section 108 program is estimated at $481 million 
including $258 million in loan guarantee authority for FY2005 and loan 
guarantee authority that is still available under the FY2004 
appropriation. The full faith and credit of the United States is 
pledged to the payment of all guarantees made under Section 108. Under 
this program, communities (states and insular areas, as applicable) are 
required to pledge their continuing CDBG allocations as security for 
loans guaranteed by HUD. The Section 108 program, however, does not 
require CDBG funds to be escrowed for loan repayment (unless such an 
arrangement is specifically negotiated as loan security and included in 
the applicable ``Contract for Loan Guarantee Assistance''). This means 
that a community can ordinarily continue to spend its existing 
allocation for other CDBG purposes, unless needed for loan repayment.
    3. Additional Security for Section 108 Loan Guarantees. Applicants 
should be aware of the need to provide additional security for the 
Section 108 loan guarantee pursuant to 24 CFR 570.705(b)(3). Although a 
public entity (and the corresponding state for a state-assisted 
nonentitlement entity) is required by the Act to pledge its current and 
future CDBG allocations as security for the Section 108 loan guarantee, 
it will usually be required to furnish additional collateral. In most 
cases, the additional collateral consists (in whole or in part) of the 
asset financed with the Section 108 loan funds (e.g., a loan made to a 
business as part of an economic development project and the related 
mortgage from the business). Applications proposing uses for BEDI 
funding that directly enhance the value of the assets securing the 
Section 108 loan will help ensure that the project-based asset(s) will 
satisfy the additional collateral requirements.
    4. Integration of Other Government Economic Development and 
Brownfields Programs. HUD encourages local governments which are 
assisted by (a) other Federal or state economic development programs, 
(b) other Federal brownfields programs (e.g., the federal Brownfields 
Showcase Community program, EPA's Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund 
Cleanup or Grant programs), or (c) state-supported brownfields 
programs, to integrate efforts arising from those programs in 
developing projects for assistance under HUD's BEDI and Section 108 
programs. Applicants should elaborate upon these ties in their response 
to the rating factors, where appropriate, in Section V.A.1 of this NOFA 
(e.g., ``Capacity of the Applicant,'' ``Soundness of Approach,'' or 
``Leveraging Resources,''--Rating Factors 1, 3, and 4, respectively.)

II. Award Information

A. Available Funds

    HUD has available approximately $24,458,130 for grant awards under 
this BEDI NOFA, consisting of $23,808,000 through appropriations under 
the FY2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 108-447, approved 
December 8, 2004); $500,000 of unobligated appropriated funds from the 
FY2001 HUD Appropriations Act under the ``Brownfields Redevelopment'' 
heading (Pub. L. 106-377, approved October 27, 2000); and $150,130 of 
unobligated appropriated funds under the ``Brownfields Redevelopment'' 
heading in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004 (Pub. L. 108-199, 
approved January 23,

[[Page 13953]]

2004, referred to as the FY2004 Appropriations Act). These funds are 
authorized by Section 108(q) of the Act (as described above). If any 
additional funds become available for the BEDI program during FY2005, 
including through the deobligation and recapture of previous BEDI 
awards, HUD may either fund additional applicants in accordance with 
this NOFA, or may add these funds to funds available for future 
competitions pursuant to Section 108(q) of the Act.

B. Maximum Award

    The maximum amount of a BEDI award under this competition is $2 
million per project. An application in excess of $2 million will be 
reduced to the extent HUD determines that such a reduction is 
appropriate and the project remains feasible.

C. Limitations on Grant Amounts

    1. Ratio of Section 108-Guaranteed Loan to BEDI Grant. HUD expects 
to approve BEDI grant amounts for approvable applications with a range 
of ratios of BEDI grant funds awarded to new Section 108-guaranteed 
loan commitments for the same project, but the minimum ratio must be 
$1.00 of Section 108-guaranteed loan commitments for every $1.00 of 
BEDI grant funds in order to receive consideration for funding. Section 
V.A.1, Rating Factor 4 (Leveraging of Resources), provides additional 
information on the required ratio of BEDI to Section 108 funds.
    2. Reduction or Deobligation of BEDI Grant Award.
    a. After selection, but prior to grant award, if HUD determines 
that an application can be funded at a lesser BEDI grant amount than 
requested and still be feasible and consistent with the proposed plan 
and the purposes of the Act, it reserves the right to reduce the amount 
of the BEDI award and/or increase the required Section 108 loan 
guarantee commitment.
    b. In the event a BEDI grant is awarded and has been reduced below 
the original request (e.g., the application contained some activities 
that were ineligible, exceeded the $2 million cap, or there were 
insufficient funds to fund the last competitive application at the full 
amount requested), the applicant will be required to modify the project 
plans and application to conform to the terms of HUD approval before 
HUD will execute a grant agreement.
    c. HUD also may proportionately reduce or deobligate the BEDI award 
if a grantee does not submit an approvable Section 108 loan guarantee 
application, issue Section 108-guaranteed obligations, and receive loan 
guarantee proceeds on a timely basis (including any extension 
authorized by HUD) in the amount required by the BEDI/108 leveraging 
ratio, which will be approved by HUD as a special condition of the BEDI 
grant award (see Section IV.B.1(c)(2) of this NOFA).
    3. Increased Request for Section 108 Loan Guarantee Assistance. In 
the case of a requested increase in guarantee assistance for a project 
with a previously approved Section 108 loan guarantee commitment (as 
further discussed in Section IV.B.1(c)(4) below), the BEDI assistance 
approved will be based only on the additional amount of Section 108 
loan guarantee assistance requested.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Any public entity eligible to apply for Section 108 loan guarantee 
assistance in accordance with 24 CFR 570.702, including Guam, the 
Northern Marianas, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands for FY 2005, 
may apply for BEDI grant assistance under Section 108(q). Eligible 
applicants are CDBG entitlement units of general local government and 
non-entitlement units of general local government eligible to receive 
loan guarantees under 24 CFR part 570, subpart M. Urban Counties, as 
defined at 24 CFR 570.3 and 570.307, are eligible applicants for BEDI 
funds; units of general local government that participate in an Urban 
County program are not independently eligible applicants. For non-
entitlement applicants other than those subject to 24 CFR part 570, 
subpart F (which applies only to the state of Hawaii), applicants are 
required to provide evidence in the BEDI application from an authorized 
official of the state agency responsible for administering the State 
CDBG program stating that it supports the related Section 108 loan with 
a pledge of its CDBG allocations pursuant to the requirements of 24 CFR 
570.705(b)(2). Such evidence must be provided by form HUD-40122, titled 
``Section 108 Loan Guarantee: State Certifications Related to 
Nonentitlement Public Entities.'' This form is included in Section VIII 
of this NOFA, or may be downloaded as part of the application package 
from the Internet at http://www.grants.gov. Non-entitlement public 
entities in 49 states and Puerto Rico are eligible to participate in 
the Section 108 and BEDI programs, with assistance of the state's or 
commonwealth's pledge of CDBG allocations. The nonentitlement entities 
in Hawaii are able to make their own repayment pledge since they now 
receive a fixed amount of annual CDBG funding.
    For application submission requirements, see Section IV.B. of this 
NOFA regarding mandatory submission requirements. See also Sections 
III.C.1 and IV.E. of this NOFA, respectively, regarding eligible and 
ineligible uses of grant funding.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    As described further in Section V.A.1 of this NOFA, under Rating 
Factor 4 (Leveraging of Resources), applications which evidence a 
greater level of other funds firmly committed to the BEDI project will 
receive more points under Rating Factor 4, to the extent consistent 
with the points available under Rating Factor 4. In addition, a BEDI 
grant must be used with at least an equal amount of Section 108 loan 
guarantee proceeds for the same brownfields economic development 
project.

C. Program Threshold Requirements

    1. Eligible Activities and National Objectives.
    a. As described further in Section V.A.1 of this NOFA, under Rating 
Factor 3 (Soundness of Approach), to be rated and ranked or considered 
for funding by HUD, applications for BEDI grant funds and Section 108 
loan guarantee funds must demonstrate that funds will be used for 
activities listed at 24 CFR 570.703 and carried out as part of a BEDI 
project as defined in this NOFA and meet the CDBG requirements at 24 
CFR Sections 570.200, 570.208 and 570.209, as applicable. All 
applicants must clearly identify in their narrative response to Rating 
Factor 3 (Soundness of Approach) in Section V.A.1 of this NOFA each of 
the eligible activities that will be carried out under 24 CFR 570.703.
    With respect to BEDI projects that include a housing component, 
applicants are cautioned that the eligible activities at 24 CFR 570.703 
do not allow BEDI and Section 108 funds to be used to finance the costs 
of the construction of housing, unless such construction is undertaken 
by a Community Based Development Organization (CBDO) as part of a 
community economic development project, in accordance with 24 CFR 
570.703(i)(2) and 24 CFR 570.204(a)(2). Provisions of 24 CFR 570.703(j) 
that authorized the use of BEDI or Section 108 funds for housing 
construction have expired and are no longer applicable, as the statute 
referenced therein is no longer in effect. For projects that include 
the construction of housing, BEDI and Section 108 funds may be used to 
finance activities necessary to

[[Page 13954]]

construct such housing, such as acquisition and related demolition and 
clearance on the acquired site, site improvements, public facilities 
and other eligible activities subject to each of the eligible activity 
provisions at 24 CFR 570.703; and
    b. As described in Section V.A.1 of this NOFA, in the response to 
Rating Factor 3 (Soundness of Approach), to be rated and ranked or 
considered by HUD, applicants must demonstrate that each activity 
assisted with Section 108 loan guarantee or BEDI funds will meet a 
national objective of the CDBG program as described in 24 CFR 570.208.
    All applicants must clearly identify in their narrative response to 
Rating Factor 3 (Soundness of Approach) in Section V.A.1 of this NOFA, 
the CDBG national objective to be achieved by the proposed project and 
provide the appropriate CDBG national objective regulatory citation 
found at 24 CFR 570.208. Applicants must also address, when applicable, 
how the proposed activities will comply with the public benefit 
standards of the CDBG program as reflected in the regulation at 24 CFR 
570.209.
    c. A grantee's aggregate use of its CDBG funds, including any 
Section 108 loan guarantee proceeds and Section 108(q) (BEDI) funds 
provided pursuant to this NOFA, must comply with the CDBG primary 
objective requirements as described in Section 101(c) of the Act and 24 
CFR 570.200(a)(3) for entitlement grantees, or 24 CFR 570.484 in the 
case of a recipient under a state's program, requiring that, over the 
period of time specified in the applicant's (or State's) CDBG 
certification, not less than 70 percent of the aggregate expenditures 
of CDBG funds be expended for activities benefiting low- and moderate-
income persons under the criteria of 24 CFR 570.208(a) or 570.208(d)(5) 
or (6).
    d. HUD may deny funding consideration to all applicants that fail 
to submit a full and complete Section 108 loan application pursuant to 
24 CFR 570.704(b) in connection with a prior award of BEDI or 
competitive EDI grants on or before the application submission deadline 
under this NOFA.
    2. Brownfields Redevelopment. As described further in Section V.A.1 
of this NOFA, in order to be rated and ranked or considered by HUD, in 
the narrative response to Rating Factor 3 (Soundness of Approach) in 
Section V.A.1 of this NOFA, applicants must: (1) Describe the nature 
and extent of the brownfields problem(s) actually or potentially 
affecting the site and/or structure(s) already on the site and; (2) how 
the proposed activities will contribute to redevelopment of the site 
and/or structures.
    3. General Section Threshold Requirements.
    a. Applications that fail to meet the threshold requirements found 
in Section III.C. of the General Section will not be eligible for an 
award under this program. Applicants for BEDI grant funds must comply 
with the statutory, regulatory, threshold, and public policy 
requirements listed in the General Section, except as otherwise 
specifically provided in this NOFA. In particular, applicants should 
carefully review those provisions that could result in the failure to 
receive funding, including the DUNS Number Requirement at Section 
III.C. of the General Section, Compliance with Fair Housing and Civil 
Rights Laws (Section III.C.), provisions relating to Delinquent Federal 
Debts (Section III.C.), and the Name Check Review (Section III.C.).
    b. The Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number 
Requirement. Refer to the General Section for information regarding the 
DUNS requirement. You will need to obtain a DUNS number to receive an 
award from HUD. You will also need a DUNS number to complete your 
Grants.gov registration, and Grants.gov registration is required for 
electronic submission. See the General Section also for a discussion of 
the Grants.gov registration process.
    c. The maximum number of points to be awarded under this NOFA is 
104. To be eligible for funding, a BEDI application must obtain a total 
score of at least 75 points. All applications meeting program and 
General Section threshold requirements will be rated under the 
selection criteria provided in Section V.A.1 below.
    4. Other Program Requirements.
    a. BEDI Funding Request. A single BEDI application must contain a 
request for funds for a single BEDI/108 project. The application must 
propose activities expected to result in redevelopment of one or more 
brownfields sites. An applicant may submit an additional application 
for each additional unrelated BEDI/108 project, but in no event will 
HUD rate and rank more than one BEDI project per application.
    b. Related Section 108 Loan Guarantee Request. Each BEDI 
application must be accompanied by a request for a new Section 108 loan 
guarantee assistance as described in Section IV.B.1(c) of this NOFA. 
The request for Section 108 Loan Guarantee assistance must provide for 
a minimum ratio of $1.00 of requested Section 108 loan guarantee 
commitments for every $1.00 of BEDI grant funds requested, or a higher 
ratio, as needed for the project.
    c. CDBG National Objectives and Eligible Activities. Each BEDI 
application must include citations to the specific regulatory 
subsections supporting eligibility of activities and compliance with 
National Objectives (See Section III.C.1 of this NOFA).
    d. Nonentitlement Applications. Applications submitted by 
nonentitlement public entities (except for those in Hawaii and the 
insular areas which now receive fixed amounts of CDBG funds annually) 
must provide for the state or commonwealth's certification agreeing to 
pledge its CDBG allocations to receive funding consideration, as 
evidenced by form HUD-40122, available in Section VIII, Appendix B, of 
this NOFA. See the General Section instructions for submission of third 
party documents.
    e. Narrative Response to Rating Factors. Each BEDI application must 
provide narrative statements in response to each of the rating factors 
below in Section V.A.1 of this NOFA.
    f. Time Frame for Submission of Section 108 Applications. All 
applications for Section 108 Loan Guarantee Assistance required for 
approved BEDI projects must be submitted within 60 days of written 
notice of BEDI selection, as provided for in Section IV.B.1(c)(2) of 
this NOFA.
    g. HUD Environmental Requirements. Beginning with the submission of 
a BEDI application through and after HUD's award of BEDI grant funds, 
pursuant to 24 CFR 570.604, each project or activity assisted under 
this program is subject to the provisions of 24 CFR part 58. This 
includes limitations on the commitment of HUD and non-HUD funds by the 
BEDI grantee and Section 108 public entity, as well as other 
participants in the development process, prior to the completion of 
environmental review, notification, and release of funds. Neither grant 
nor loan funds can be disbursed by HUD until a request for release of 
funds is submitted and the requirements of 24 CFR part 58 have been 
met. All public entities, including non-entitlement public entities, 
shall submit the request for release of funds and related 
certification, required pursuant to 24 CFR part 58, to the appropriate 
HUD field office for each project to be assisted.
    h. Compliance with Environmental and Other Laws. An award of BEDI 
funding does not, in any way, relieve the applicant or third party 
users of BEDI funds from compliance with all applicable federal, state, 
and local laws and regulations, particularly those

[[Page 13955]]

addressing the environment. Applicants are further advised that HUD may 
require evidence that any project involving remediation has been or 
will be carried out in accordance with applicable law, including 
voluntary clean up programs.
    i. CDBG Program Regulations. In addition to 24 CFR 570.701 
(Definitions), 570.702 (Eligible applicants), and 570.703 (Eligible 
activities), the CDBG regulatory requirements cited in 24 CFR 570.707, 
including subparts J (Grant Administration), K (Other Program 
Requirements), and O (Performance Reviews), also govern the use of BEDI 
funds, as applicable.
    j. Obligation to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing. All BEDI 
grantees are obliged to affirmatively further fair housing, even when 
the proposed activities do not appear to be directly related to 
housing. Therefore, applicants that propose to use BEDI funds must 
include in their applications an explanation of how they propose to 
further fair housing opportunities for persons on the basis of race, 
color, national origin, sex, religion, familial status, or disability. 
Applicants should respond to this requirement in Section V.A.1 of this 
NOFA, under Rating Factor 3, subfactor (1)(b). Affirmative activities 
include, but are not limited to: initial and periodic assessments of 
the extent to which affordable and accessible housing opportunities are 
provided or denied to persons by race, color, national origin, sex, 
religion, familial status, or disability; outreach to persons in 
underserved population groups or advocacy organizations representing 
such persons; affirmative fair marketing of job or housing 
opportunities; furthering housing choice; addressing environmental 
justice concerns; or ensuring that employment, housing and other 
benefits of the BEDI grant are made available to those individuals and 
families living at or near the brownfields site prior to its 
redevelopment.
    k. Policy Priorities. Applicants are reminded of the Department's 
Policy Priorities for FY2005 found in Section V.B. of the General 
Section, several of which apply to this NOFA, as described in Section 
V.A.1 of this NOFA below, under Rating Factor 5 (Achieving Results and 
Program Evaluation).
    l. Ineligible Sites. Applicants must propose sites that currently 
meet the definition of brownfields in this program section. Applicants 
may not propose projects on sites which are: (i) Listed or proposed to 
be listed on EPA's National Priority List (NPL); (ii) subject to 
unilateral administrative orders, court orders, administrative consent 
orders or judicial consent decrees issued or entered into by parties 
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
Liability Act of 1980, as amended (CERCLA); or (iii) subject to the 
jurisdiction, custody, or control of the United States Government. In 
order to be eligible to receive an award under this program, applicants 
will be required in Section V.A.1 of this NOFA, Rating Factor 3, 
Soundness of Approach, to indicate that the proposed BEDI project will 
not be undertaken at an ineligible site as provided herein.
    m. Prior Approved Section 108-Guaranteed Loans. BEDI grant 
assistance cannot be used to leverage a Section 108 loan guarantee 
approved prior to the date of HUD's announcement of a BEDI grant 
pursuant to this SuperNOFA, unless the applicant requests to deobligate 
previously approved commitment authority as provided in Section 
IV.B.1(c)(5) of this NOFA. In no event, however, may a previously 
approved Section 108 commitment to be used with a prior BEDI or EDI 
award be subject to such deobligation. In an instance where a pending 
application for Section 108 assistance is to be leveraged by the 
proposed BEDI grant, the BEDI grant may be awarded before HUD approval 
of the Section 108 commitment if HUD determines that such award will 
further the purposes of the Act.
    n. Use of Section 108 Solely for Security. A BEDI award will not be 
made if the Section 108 request contained in the application (See 
Section IV.B.1(c) of this NOFA) calls for the use of the Section 108-
guaranteed obligation solely as security for other financing on the 
project.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses To Request Application Package

    1. Copies of the published NOFAs and application forms for HUD 
programs announced through NOFA may be downloaded from the grants.gov 
Web site at http://www.grants.gov/Find; if you have difficulty 
accessing the information you may receive customer support from 
Grants.gov by calling their Support Desk at (800) 518-GRANTS, or 
sending an e-mail to [email protected]. The operators will assist you 
in accessing the information. If you do not have Internet access and 
you need to obtain a copy of the NOFA you can contact HUD's NOFA 
Information Center toll-free at (800) HUD-8929. Persons with hearing or 
speech impairments may also call toll-free at (800) HUD-2209.
    2. Satellite Broadcasts. HUD will hold informational broadcasts via 
satellite for potential applicants to learn more about the BEDI program 
and the preparation of BEDI application(s). For more information about 
the date and time of the broadcast, consult the Web site http://www.hud.gov.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    1. Content of Application.
    A complete application for a BEDI grant under this NOFA must 
contain the items listed below. The standard forms that are required 
for the BEDI application (and listed in Section IV.B.2 below), can also 
be found in the General Section. Applicants by signing the SF-424 are 
also agreeing to the Certifications and Assurances found in the General 
Section and this NOFA. Additional program forms, excluding such items 
as narratives or letters, etc. also referred to as the ``non-standard 
forms'', HUD-40122 and HUD-40123, are included with this NOFA. All 
forms required for application submission can be found in the 
application package and instructions on http://www.grants.gov for the 
Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) program.
    a. Checklist and Submission Table of Contents indicating the 
submission items included in the application can be found in Section 
VIII, Appendix A, of this NOFA. Applicants submitting an electronic 
application are not required to submit the Checklist. Applicants 
submitting a paper copy application are requested to include a copy of 
the checklist in their application submission.
    b. EDI/BEDI/Section 108 Funding Eligibility Statement. A completed 
BEDI Section 108 Funding Eligibility Statement (Exhibit D of form HUD-
40123).
    c. Request for Loan Guarantee Assistance. A request for loan 
guarantee assistance under Section 108, with the project name clearly 
identified (and the same as the name of the BEDI project being applied 
for), as further described below. Full application requirements for the 
Section 108 program are found at 24 CFR 570.704.
    Nonentitlement applicants (except those in Hawaii and the insular 
areas) must accompany this request with the State Certifications 
Related to Nonentitlement Public Entities (form HUD-40122) in order to 
be considered for BEDI funding.
    The request for loan guarantee assistance may take any of the five 
forms defined in paragraphs (1), (2), (3),

[[Page 13956]]

(4) or (5) below. Notwithstanding the form of the request for new 
Section 108 loan guarantee assistance, the applicant must include 
citations to the specific regulatory subsection supporting activity 
eligibility and National Objectives compliance for the Section 108 
funds described in the application. (See Section III.C.1 of this NOFA.) 
Both the BEDI and Section 108 funds must be used in conjunction with 
the same BEDI project. Applicants are encouraged to consult with HUD's 
Financial Management Division in Headquarters CPD (Paul Webster, 
Director, at (202) 708-1871, extension 4563) before submission of 108 
and/or BEDI applications if unsure of CDBG national objectives, 
eligibility of activities, program benefits citations and the tests 
thereof. The request for new Section 108 guarantee assistance may be 
presented through a:
    (1) Concurrent Application Submitted Under Separate Cover. A 
complete application for new Section 108 loan guarantee(s), including 
the documents listed at 24 CFR 570.704(b), submitted under separate 
cover in accordance with the procedures in Section IV.F.3 below. Any 
full application for loan guarantee assistance under Section 108 must 
also be submitted to the appropriate HUD field office concurrently with 
its submission to Headquarters. As described further in Section V.A.1, 
in Rating Factor 3 (Soundness of Approach), two points will be awarded 
for the submission of a full Section 108 loan guarantee application 
with a BEDI application.
    (2) Subsequent Application. A brief description (not to exceed 
three pages) of the project to be applied for in a subsequent new 
Section 108 loan guarantee application(s). Such a 108 application(s) 
shall be submitted within 60 days of written notice of BEDI selection, 
with HUD reserving the right to extend such period on a case-by-case 
basis where HUD determines there is evidence of good cause. BEDI awards 
will be conditioned on approval of actual Section 108 loan commitments 
and loan guarantee proceeds in a specific ratio of BEDI funds to 
Section 108 funds as approved by HUD in the BEDI award. The description 
provided in the BEDI application must be sufficient to support the 
basic eligibility of the proposed project and activities for Section 
108 assistance. (See Section III.C.1 of this NOFA.)
    (3) Pending, Unapproved Application. A request to use the BEDI 
grant award in conjunction with a pending, unapproved Section 108 loan 
guarantee application. The request must identify the project name 
associated with the pending application and the date of submission. Any 
proposed amendment to the pending Section 108 application must be 
submitted under separate cover, as provided for in Section IV.F.3 
below. An applicant's request to use the BEDI award in conjunction with 
a pending application shall be deemed by HUD to constitute a request to 
suspend separate processing of the Section 108 application. The Section 
108 application will not be approved until on or after the date of the 
related BEDI award.
    (4) Increase to a Project Assisted Under a Previously Approved 
Application. A request for Section 108 loan guarantee assistance 
(analogous to Section IV.B.1(c)(1) or (2) above of this section) that 
proposes new Section 108 guarantee assistance in addition to the amount 
of Section 108 assistance for a project assisted under a previously 
approved Section 108 application. However, any amount of Section 108 
loan guarantee authority approved before HUD's announcement of a BEDI 
grant for the same project is not eligible to be used in conjunction 
with a BEDI grant under this NOFA.
    (5) Deobligation of Previously Approved Section 108 Authority Plus 
a New Request. A request to deobligate a previous commitment of Section 
108 loan guarantee authority to the applicant that is no longer to be 
used by the applicant (except for an amount required as a condition of 
a previously approved BEDI or EDI award), combined with a new request 
or application for Section 108 loan guarantee assistance. Such request 
or application may be a full application as provided for in paragraph 
(1) above, a request for 108 assistance submitted within 60 days as 
provided for in paragraph (2) above, a pending unapproved application 
as provided for in paragraph (3) above, or an increase to a project 
assisted under a previously approved application as provided in 
paragraph (4) above.
    (6) In no event may a Section 108 loan guarantee amount that is 
required to be used in conjunction with a previously approved BEDI or 
EDI grant award as of the date of the submission of the application, 
whether or not the Section 108 loan guarantee has been approved as of 
the date of this NOFA, be used in conjunction with a new BEDI award 
under this NOFA. For example, if a public entity has a previously 
approved Section 108 loan guarantee commitment of $12 million, even if 
none of the funds have been utilized, or if the public entity had 
previously been awarded a BEDI grant of $1 million and had agreed to 
submit a Section 108 loan application for $10 million in support of 
that BEDI grant, the public entity's application under this NOFA must 
propose to increase the amount of its total Section 108 loan guarantee 
commitments beyond those amounts to which it has previously agreed 
(i.e., the $12 million or $10 million Section 108 loan guarantee 
commitments in this example).
    d. Narrative Responses to Factors for Award (not to exceed 15 
double-spaced, 8\1/2\ x 11 inch single-sided pages, with one inch 
margins on all sides, for all responses):
    (1) Rating Factor 1: Capacity and Relevant Organizational 
Experience. Provide a narrative indicating the capacity of the 
applicant's organization and staff and any known third parties to 
perform the work for which it is requesting funding.
    (2) Rating Factor 2: Need Statement Identifying the level of 
Distress/Extent of the Problem. Provide a narrative statement including 
any documentation supporting the statement of need, accompanied by a 
completed Exhibit A of form HUD-40123. (See the General Section for 
instructions for submitting documentation not in electronic format.)
    (3) Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach. Include the CDBG 
eligible activities, the CDBG National Objective, the source and nature 
of the present or potential environmental contamination, the budget, 
and the time frame for conducting activities and providing project 
benefits to address the needs identified in Rating Factor 2 in the 
narrative response, accompanied by Exhibits B and C of form HUD-40123.
    (4) Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources. The response to this 
factor should include any letters of firm commitment as defined in 
Section I.C of this NOFA, and any evidence of financial capacity or 
CDBG resolutions, as appropriate. Such letters, evidence or resolution 
must be submitted under the procedures provided for in Section IV.F of 
the General Section.
    (5) Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation. 
Provide a narrative response to this factor, accompanied by the logic 
model provided in the General Section (Form HUD-96010) and, if 
applicable, form HUD-27300, relating to the removal of regulatory 
barriers to affordable housing, with required documentation.
    2. Forms, Certifications, and Assurances.
    a. In addition to any forms submitted in response to Section IV.B.1 
above (which may be found in Section VIII, Appendix B, of this NOFA), 
the following forms and certifications must also be submitted in 
accordance with

[[Page 13957]]

the General Section and may be found in the General Section:
    (1) Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424);
    (2) Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report, HUD-2880; and, if 
applicable,
    (3) Certification of Consistency With RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan, 
HUD-2990, if applicable;
    (4) Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan (HUD-
2991) if applicable;
    (5) Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL); if applicable;
    (6) Acknowledgement of Application Receipt (HUD-2993) (For use with 
paper application submissions);
    (7) Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994) (Optional);
    (8) Program Outcome Logic Model (HUD-96010);
    (9) Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers (HUD-27300) with supporting documentation or URL references;
    (10) Facsimile Transmittal (HUD-96011) (For use with electronic 
applications to provide third party letters and other documentation in 
accordance with the instructions found in the General Section;
    (11) Section 108 Loan Guarantee (State Certifications Related to 
Nonentitlement Public Entities) (HUD-40122), if applicable, and
    (12) Responses to BEDI Application Rating Factors (HUD-40123, 
Exhibits A through D).

                                      Forms, Certifications, and Assurances
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          What to submit                Required content       Required form or format      When to submit it
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application:
    EDI/BEDI/Section 108 Funding   Described in Section       Exhibit D of Form HUD-    Applications submitted
     Eligibility Statement.         IV.B.1(b) of this NOFA.    40123, found in Section   through http://
                                                               VIII (Appendix B) of      www.grants.gov must be
                                                               this NOFA and available   received by Grants.gov
                                                               in the application        no later than 11:59:59
                                                               instructions on line at   eastern time on the
                                                               http://www.grants.gov     application submission
                                                               for the BEDI Program.     date.
                                                                                        Applicants receiving a
                                                                                         waiver of the
                                                                                         electronic submission
                                                                                         requirement must submit
                                                                                         their application to
                                                                                         the United States
                                                                                         Postal Service no later
                                                                                         than 11:59:59 on the
                                                                                         application submission
                                                                                         date. See the General
                                                                                         Section for detailed
                                                                                         application submission
                                                                                         and timely receipt
                                                                                         instructions.
    Request for Loan Guarantee     Described in Section       Described in Section
     Assistance.                    IV.B.1(c)of this NOFA.     IV.B.1.(c) of this
                                                               NOFA. Nonentitlement
                                                               applicants must also
                                                               submit form HUD-40122,
                                                               found in Section
                                                               (Appendix B) of this
                                                               NOFA and available in
                                                               the application
                                                               instructions on line at
                                                               http://www.grants.gov
                                                               for the BEDI Program.
    Narrative Responses to         Described in Section       Described in Section      ........................
     Factors for Award.             IV.B.1(d) of this NOFA.    V.A.1 of this
                                                               announcement and
                                                               accompanied by Exhibits
                                                               A, B and C of Form HUD-
                                                               40123, found in Section
                                                               VIII (Appendix B) of
                                                               this NOFA; form HUD
                                                               96010, and form HUD-
                                                               27300 (if applicable),
                                                               found in the General
                                                               Section and available
                                                               in the application
                                                               instructions on line at
                                                               http://www.grants.gov
                                                               for the BEDI Program.
    Standard Forms,                Described in Section       Forms SF-424, SF-LLL if   ........................
     Certifications and             IV.B.2 of this NOFA.       applicable, HUD-2994,
     Assurances.                                               HUD-96010 and HUD-2880;
                                                               also HUD-2990 and HUD-
                                                               2991, if applicable.
                                                               All above forms are
                                                               found in the General
                                                               Section and available
                                                               in the application
                                                               instructions on line at
                                                               http://www.grants.gov
                                                               for the BEDI Program.
    Facsimile Transmittal........  Described in the General   Form HUD-96011 is found
                                    Section for third party    in the General Section
                                    letters and required       and is available in the
                                    documentation to be        on-line application.
                                    submitted with an          Please carefully follow
                                    electronic application.    the instructions for
                                                               downloading and using
                                                               this form as part of
                                                               your electronic
                                                               application submittal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 13958]]

C. Submission Dates and Times

1. Application Submission Date
    Applications submitted through http://www.grants.gov must be 
received by Grants.gov no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on the 
application submission date of June 17, 2005. Applicants receiving a 
waiver of the electronic submission requirement must submit their 
application to the United States Postal Service for delivery no later 
than 11:59:59 on the application submission date. Please see the 
General Section for further information on application submission and 
timely receipt requirements.
    Be sure to provide a Project Name in Line 11 of the SF-424 
(Application for Federal Assistance), and all references to the related 
Section 108 application should use the same project title. Be sure to 
complete the SF-424 cover page first and then download the rest of the 
forms, as the information from the cover page will be pre-populated. In 
addition a brief (one or two paragraph) description of all the 
activities (not just those to be funded with BEDI and 108 funds) 
comprising the proposed project should be provided, preceding the 
narrative statements in response to the Rating Factors. This project 
description does not count against the 15-page overall limitation.
    2. Proof of Timely Submission. Please see Section IV.2 of the 
General Section for information regarding proof of timely submission.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    BEDI is not subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12372, 
``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Eligible CDBG Activities.
    Applicants shall not propose the use of BEDI and Section 108 funds 
for ineligible activities listed at 24 CFR 570.207, and as provided 
below. BEDI grant funds and Section 108 loan guarantee funds may be 
used only for activities listed at 24 CFR 570.703, provided such 
activities are carried out as part of a BEDI project as described in 
this NOFA and meet the CDBG requirements at 24 CFR 570.200, 570.207, 
570.208 and 570.209.
    2. Repayment of Section 108 Principal.
    The planned use of BEDI funds for the specific purpose of repayment 
of the principal amount of a Section 108-guaranteed loan is not an 
eligible activity under 24 CFR. 570.703 and therefore should not be 
proposed in a BEDI application. Under the ``debt service reserve'' 
eligible activity at 24 CFR 570.703(k), however, the planned use of a 
limited amount of BEDI funds for the repayment of the principal of a 
Section 108-guaranteed loan is permissible if justified and approved by 
HUD under a particular application. Such a debt service reserve may be 
justified in the context of a loan loss reserve set up to support a 
``loan pool'' consisting of a number of smaller third party loans. In 
that context, the corresponding principal amount of the Section 108 
loan might be repaid from a debt service reserve when a third party 
loan defaults and liquidation of security for the third party loan by 
or on behalf of the Section 108 borrower/BEDI grantee does not yield 
enough cash to redeem or defease the amount of Section 108 principal 
corresponding to the defaulted third party loan. A debt service reserve 
may also be proposed and set up in an amount reasonable to pay 
principal and/or interest on a Section 108-guaranteed loan for a 
limited period, such as the start up period for an assisted business, 
or a construction period, when the cash flow resulting from the primary 
Section 108 or BEDI-funded activity would not be sufficient to support 
repayment. In any case, HUD requires the applicant to provide 
information sufficient to support the reasonableness of the amount of a 
debt reserve in relation to its purpose. For any Section 108- and BEDI-
assisted project, HUD will have rights under the Section 108 Contract 
for Loan Guarantee Assistance to use undisbursed BEDI funds to make 
payment on, or to defease, the Section 108 loan if HUD deems that 
action necessary in order to avoid the need for HUD to make a payment 
under its Section 108 loan guarantee from non-CDBG funds.
    3. Subordination of Section 108 Obligations. Section 108 loan 
obligations may not be subordinated, directly or indirectly, to 
federally tax exempt obligations. Pursuant to Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) Circular A-129 (Rev.) Appendix A, Sections II.2.c. and d., 
(Policies for Federal Credit Programs and Non-Tax Receivables), Section 
108-guaranteed loan funds may not, directly or indirectly, support 
federally tax-exempt obligations.
    4. Remediation by Responsible Parties. BEDI grant funds shall not 
be used in any manner by grantees to provide public or private sector 
entities with funding to remediate conditions caused by their own 
actions, where the public entity (or other known prospective 
beneficiary of the proposed BEDI grant) has been determined responsible 
for causation and remediation by order of a court or a Federal, state, 
or local regulatory agency, or is responsible for the remediation as 
part of a settlement approved by such a court or agency. Applicants 
will be required in Section V.A.1 of this NOFA, Rating Factor 3, 
Soundness of Approach, to indicate that the proposed BEDI project will 
not be used to provide assistance as prohibited herein.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    1. Application Submission and Receipt Procedure. Beginning in 
FY2005, HUD requires applicants to submit applications electronically 
through http://www.grants.gov. Applicants interested in applying for 
funding must submit their applications electronically via the Web site 
http://www.grants.gov unless you request and are granted a waiver to 
the electronic submission requirements. This site has easy to follow 
step-by-step instructions that will enable you to apply for HUD 
assistance. The http://www.grants.gov feature includes a simple, 
unified application process to enable applicants to apply for grants 
online.
    Please read the General Section carefully and completely for the 
submission and receipt procedures for all applications because failure 
to comply may disqualify your application.
    2. Wavier of Electronic Submission Requirements. Please refer to 
Section IV.F of the General Section for instructions on how to seek a 
waiver to the electronic submission requirement.
    3. Submission of Concurrent Section 108 Application Under Separate 
Cover.
    Applicants that apply via Grants.gov should submit the Section 108 
Loan Guarantee application using the same procedures as those for 
applicants receiving a waiver of the electronic application 
requirement. The Section 108 Loan Guarantee application must be 
submitted using the mailing instructions below.
    a. The Section 108 Loan Guarantee application should have the 
Project Title in Box 11 of the SF-424 as the related BEDI project.
    b. Concurrent Section 108 Application Submission Date. Applicants 
choosing to submit a concurrent and complete Section 108 application as 
provided for in Section IV.B.1(c) of this NOFA above, must submit such 
application on or before the BEDI application submission date, to the 
addresses shown below, in order to receive points under Section V.A.1, 
Rating Factor 3, of this NOFA.

[[Page 13959]]

    The concurrent Section 108 application must be submitted no later 
than 11:59:59 p.m. to the United States Postal Service in accordance 
with the instructions in the General Section. The required number of 
copies should be sent to the locations indicated below. If HUD receives 
at least one completed concurrent Section 108 application at either HUD 
Headquarters or the appropriate HUD Field Office, HUD will utilize the 
complete application for its review purposes, provided it meets the 
deadline and timely submission requirements.
    c. Proof of Timely Submission. Proof of timely submission of a 
concurrent Section 108 application shall be determined under the 
provisions of the General Section related to mailed applications.
    d. Address for Submitting Concurrent Section 108 Applications to 
HUD Headquarters. Submit the concurrent Section 108 application to: HUD 
Headquarters; Robert C. Weaver Federal Building; 451 Seventh Street, 
SW., Room 7251; Washington, DC 20410, Attention: BEDI/Section 108 
Application.
    When submitting the concurrent Section 108 application, please 
specify BEDI/Section 108 Application on any label or mailing container, 
and include the applicant's name, mailing address (including zip code), 
street address (if different from mailing address), and zip code, and 
voice and facsimile telephone numbers (including area code), along with 
the contact person's name, and voice and facsimile telephone numbers 
(including area code), and email address, if available.
    e. Concurrent Section 108 Applications to HUD Field Offices. At the 
same time the concurrent Section 108 application is submitted to HUD 
Headquarters, an additional copy should be submitted to the Community 
Planning and Development Division of the appropriate HUD field office 
for the applicant's jurisdiction. A listing of CPD Offices and mailing 
addresses can be found on HUD's website at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    f. Concurrent Section 108 Application Submission Procedures. A 
concurrent Section 108 application submitted pursuant to this NOFA 
shall be subject to the application submission procedures for other 
mailed applications provided for in Section IV.F of the General 
Section. Proof of timely submission of a concurrent Section 108 
application shall be determined under the provisions of Section IV.F of 
the General Section related to mailed applications.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. Factors for Award Used to Evaluate and Rate Applications.
    a. Response to Factors for Award. The applicant must provide in 
narrative form responses to each of the rating factors below. HUD will 
evaluate all applications for funding assistance based on the following 
factors, the responses to which demonstrate the quality of the proposed 
project or activities, and the applicant's capacity and commitment to 
use the BEDI funds in accordance with the purposes of the Act. HUD 
local field offices may be consulted to verify information submitted by 
the applicant as part of the review of applications.
    b. Responses to Rating Factors 1-5. Responses to Rating Factors 1-5 
below shall not exceed 15 double-spaced, 8 \1/2\ x 11 inch single-sided 
pages, with one-inch margins on all sides, for all responses.

Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational 
Experience (20 Points Maximum)

    This Factor addresses the extent to which the applicant has the 
organizational resources necessary to successfully implement the 
proposed activities in a timely manner. The rating of the ``applicant'' 
or the ``applicant's organization and staff'' will include any 
subcontractors, consultants, and sub-recipients that are firmly 
committed (see definition in Section I.C above) to participate in the 
activities described in the application. In responding to subfactors 
(1) and (2) of this Factor, applications that merely summarize the 
amount of funds received, spent, or managed will receive fewer points 
than those providing specific measurable information on program 
activities undertaken, outcomes of these activities and their 
accomplishments. In rating this Factor, HUD will consider the 
following:
    (1) Applicant Capacity (Up to 10 points). The applicant should 
demonstrate that it has the organization, the staff, and the financial 
resources in place to implement the specific steps required to 
successfully carry out its proposed BEDI/Section 108 project. The 
applicant should offer evidence of this capacity through a description 
that includes:
    (a) Performance in the administration of its CDBG, HOME, or other 
HUD programs, including a description of successfully completed 
projects and other outcomes or accomplishments under these programs. In 
addition to citing specific projects, outcomes, or accomplishments, 
CDBG entitlement recipients must also indicate the extent to which the 
applicant has met the HUD standard that the total amount of its 
undisbursed entitlement grant funds may not be more than 1.5 times the 
entitlement grant amount for the current program year (see 24 CFR 
570.902(a)(1)(i). All applicants must also identify any unresolved 
monitoring or audit findings by HUD with respect to the applicant's 
administration of HUD programs.
    (b) Performance, if any, in carrying out economic development 
projects similar to that proposed, including brownfields economic 
development or redevelopment projects, if any, and if applicable, the 
ability to conduct prudent underwriting;
    (c) If applicable because the applicant has such designation, the 
capacity to achieve state and local commitments identified in its local 
implementation plan, including maximizing the federal tax benefits made 
available as a result of a Federal Renewal Community/Empowerment Zone/
Enterprise Community designation (including Enhanced Enterprise 
Community (EEC) designation). Applicants that have been designated as a 
Renewal Community (RC), Empowerment Zone (EZ), or Enterprise Community 
(EC/EEC) must respond to this subfactor even if the proposed 
brownfields economic development project is not to be located within 
the boundaries of the designated RC/EZ/EC-II; and
    (d) An applicant that has previously received a BEDI or a 
competitive EDI grant award or, within the past five years, a Section 
108-guaranteed loan commitment, must describe the status of the 
implementation of those project(s) assisted with any BEDI or 
competitive EDI funds or with any Section 108-guaranteed loan funds so 
approved within the last five years. An applicant must address any 
delays that have been encountered and the actions it is taking to 
overcome any such delays in carrying out the project(s) in a timely 
manner.
    If HUD has not applied the performance standard applicable to all 
previous BEDI grantees referenced in Section III.C.1.(d), then for any 
such previously funded BEDI or competitive EDI grant projects, or for 
those Section 108-guaranteed loan projects committed within the past 
five years, HUD will award more rating points for applications 
providing evidence of achievement of specific measurable outcomes in 
carrying out approved activities funded with such guaranteed loan or 
grant funds.
    If any of the rating criteria listed under (a) through (d) above do 
not apply

[[Page 13960]]

to an application, the rating for this subfactor (1) shall be based 
solely upon the other applicable criteria.
    (2) Partner Capacity (Up to 10 points). In response to this 
subfactor (2), the applicant should describe the experience and 
performance of subrecipients, private developers and other businesses, 
nonprofit organizations (including grassroots faith-based and other 
community-based organizations), and other entities, if any, that have a 
role in implementing the proposed BEDI/108 program. Applicants are 
encouraged to identify specific economic development or other projects 
undertaken by each entity, which reflect the capacity of each entity to 
fulfill its responsibilities under the proposed brownfields economic 
development project, including the location, scale, and timeframe for 
completion of other relevant projects. If there are no third parties 
participating with the applicant in the proposed project, the 10 points 
available under this subfactor (2) will be added to the 10 points 
available under subfactor (1), with a maximum of 20 possible points 
then available under subfactor (1).
    Experience will be judged in terms of recent (i.e., within the past 
5 years) and successful performance of activities relevant to those 
proposed in the BEDI application. The more recent and extensive the 
positive experience, the greater the number of points that will be 
awarded for this Factor.
    In addition to the application, HUD also may rely on information at 
hand or available from public sources such as newspapers, from 
performance and/or monitoring reports, Inspector General or Government 
Accounting Office reports or findings, hotline complaints that have 
been proven to have merit, audit reports, and other reliable public 
information in rating this Factor.

Rating Factor 2: Distress/Extent of the Problem (15 Points Maximum)

    This Factor addresses the extent to which there is need for funding 
the proposed activities based on levels of distress in both the 
jurisdiction of the public entity that is the applicant and the 
geographic or target area that will benefit from the project. 
Applications will be evaluated on the extent to which the level of 
distress for the target area is documented and compared with national 
data and data for the jurisdiction.
    In applying this Factor, HUD will consider current levels of 
distress in the target area, as defined in standard geographic terms by 
the applicant. This may be Census Tract(s) or Block Groups immediately 
surrounding the project site up to a radius of one-half mile, or it may 
be the target area to be served by the proposed project. HUD will also 
consider the current levels of distress in the applicant public 
entity's jurisdiction, if different from the target area. The applicant 
should describe the nature of the distress that the project is designed 
to address and the rationale for its definition of the area to be 
benefited. Examples of project beneficiaries may include: (a) Those 
receiving or using products or services produced by the project, and 
(b) those employed by the project.
    Notwithstanding the above, an applicant proposing a project to be 
located outside the target area for which benefit is claimed or the 
applicant's jurisdiction could still receive points under this Factor 
if a clear rationale is provided linking the proposed project location 
and the benefits to be derived by persons living in the target area or 
the applicant jurisdiction.
    To the extent that the applicant's Consolidated Plan, its Analysis 
of Impediments to Fair Housing choice (AI), and/or its Anti-Poverty 
Strategy found therein identify the level of distress in the 
jurisdiction and the target area in which the project is to be carried 
out, references to such documents should be included in preparing the 
response to this Factor. Applications that fail to reference these 
sources will receive fewer points under this Factor.
    Applicants should provide data that address the following specific 
indicators of distress:
    (1) Poverty Rate (Up to 5 points). Data should be provided in both 
absolute and percentage form (i.e., whole numbers and percents) for 
both the target area and the applicant's jurisdiction as a whole; an 
application that compares the local poverty rate in the following 
manner to the national average at the time of submission will receive 
points under this section as follows:
    (a) A poverty rate in the target area that is less than the 
national average, but that is greater than the rate for the applicant's 
jurisdiction: (2 points);
    (b) A poverty rate in the target area that is at least equal to, 
but less than twice, the national average: (3 points);
    (c) A poverty rate in the target area that is twice or more the 
national average: (5 points).
    (2) Unemployment Rate (Up to 5 points). An application that 
compares the local unemployment rate for the applicant's jurisdiction 
and the target area in the following manner to the national average at 
the time of submission will receive points under this subfactor as 
follows:
    (a) An unemployment rate in the target area that is less than the 
national average, but that is greater than the rate for the applicant's 
jurisdiction: (2 points);
    (b) An unemployment rate in the target area that is at least equal 
to, but less than twice, the national average: (3 points);
    (c) An unemployment rate in the target area that is twice or more 
the national average: (5 points).
    (3) Other Indicators of Social and/or Economic Decline (Up to 5 
points). Applicants should provide other indicators of social or 
economic decline that best capture the applicant's local situation. 
Examples that could be provided under this section include information 
demonstrating the target area and the jurisdiction's stagnant or 
falling tax base, including recent (within the last three years) 
commercial or industrial closings, downturns or layoffs; housing 
conditions, such as the number and percentage of substandard and/or 
overcrowded units; rent burden (defined as average housing cost divided 
by average income) for both the target area and jurisdiction; local 
crime statistics. The response to this subfactor (3) should paint a 
picture of the extent of need and distress in the target area and 
jurisdiction.
    HUD requires use of sound and reliable data (e.g., U.S. Census 
data, state statistical reports, university studies/reports that are 
verifiable) to support distress levels cited in each application. A 
source for all information along with the publication or origination 
date must also be provided. Updated Census data are available as 
follows for the listed indicators:
    Unemployment rate: Unemployment rates are estimated monthly for 
counties, with a two-month lag, while census tract unemployment rates 
are available through the 2000 U.S. Census;
    Poverty rate: Poverty rates are provided through the 2000 U.S. 
Census and are estimated every two years, with a three-year lag. Census 
and other relevant data can be accessed through www.ffiec.gov. In 
rating applications under this Factor, HUD reserves the right to 
consider sources of available objective data other than, or in addition 
to, those provided by applicants, in order to compare such data to 
those provided by applicants.

Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (35 Points Maximum)

    This Factor addresses the quality and cost-effectiveness of the 
proposed plan for the brownfields economic development project. 
Applications that do not propose the productive reuse of

[[Page 13961]]

a specific, identified site or sites and that do not result in near-
term, measurable economic benefits, such as projects that involve only 
the preparation of a site for potential future reuse by an unidentified 
party, or the capitalization of a loan pool for loans to unidentified 
borrowers, will receive fewer points under this Factor. The 
relationship between the proposed site or sites, the proposed eligible 
activities and the community needs and purposes of the program funding 
must be clearly described, as set forth below, in order to receive 
points for this Factor. In rating this Factor, HUD will consider the 
following:
    (1) Consistency/Appropriateness of Proposed Activities with 
Identified Needs (Up to 3 points). In response to this subfactor, the 
applicant should describe:
    (a) The extent to which the proposed plan for use of BEDI grant/
Section 108-guaranteed loan funds will address the needs described in 
Rating Factor 2 above regarding the distress and extent of the problem 
in the target area or area to be benefited and the long-term benefit 
for current residents of the target area. The applicant should provide 
a clear and quantified explanation of this relationship;
    (b) any unmet needs identified in the jurisdiction's Consolidated 
Plan and pursuant to Section III.C.4(j) of this NOFA, any impediments 
to fair housing identified in the jurisdiction's Analysis of 
Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, that will be directly addressed by 
the proposed project. See Section III.C.4(j) of this NOFA for examples 
of general affirmative fair housing actions that may be undertaken to 
address a jurisdiction's Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing 
Choice; and
    (c) the activities that will be carried out with the BEDI grant 
funds, and the nature and extent of the brownfields problem(s) actually 
or potentially affecting the site and/or structure(s) already on the 
site. This response must also indicate that the proposed assistance 
will not be used to provide funding to parties to remediate conditions 
caused by their own actions for which they have been determined to be 
legally responsible, and that the proposed brownfields site is not 
ineligible, as provided in Section IV.E.4 of this NOFA. This 
information relates to a threshold factor as well as a rating factor, 
as described in Section III.C.2 of this NOFA. Applications that fail to 
respond satisfactorily to this subfactor (c) shall not be receive 
funding consideration.
    (2) Eligible Activities and CDBG National Objectives (Up to 10 
points). The applicant must describe how the proposed uses of BEDI 
funds will qualify as eligible activities under 24 CFR 570.703 
governing the Section 108-guaranteed loan program, and also will meet 
the National Objectives of the CDBG program under 24 CFR 570.208. In 
describing how the proposed uses will meet the National Objectives of 
the CDBG program and the activity eligibility requirements of the 
Section 108 program, applications must also include citations to the 
specific regulatory subsections supporting eligibility of activities 
and compliance with National Objectives. (See Section III.C.1 of this 
NOFA). This information relates to a threshold factor as well as a 
rating factor, as described in Section III.C.1 of this NOFA. 
Applications that fail to respond satisfactorily to this subfactor (2) 
shall not receive funding consideration.
    (3) Project Readiness (Up to 10 points). In responding to this 
subfactor (2), the applicant should demonstrate the extent to which the 
redevelopment plan for the brownfields site is logical, feasible, and 
likely to achieve its stated purpose and the extent to which the 
project will directly result in the productive reuse of the site and 
the delivery of near-term, measurable economic benefits. The 
applicant's response should demonstrate the extent to which the project 
is likely to be completed within a maximum of five years from the date 
of the BEDI award and will produce near-term, measurable economic 
benefits. Points for this subfactor will be awarded based upon the 
extent to which the following critical benchmarks for the redevelopment 
plan have been met or are approaching completion. The applicant's 
response to this subfactor should address:
    (a) Environmental Investigation. This subfactor (a) will consider 
the extent to which the presence or potential presence of environmental 
contamination of the project site is known or understood. Proposed 
projects on sites where the nature and degree of environmental 
contamination is not well-quantified, where no environmental 
investigation has commenced, or that are the subject of on-going 
litigation or environmental enforcement actions will receive fewer 
points under this subfactor (a). Similarly, fewer points will be 
awarded to proposed projects at sites with exceptionally expensive 
contamination problems that may be beyond the scope of the BEDI and 
Section 108 programs' financial resources or other resources firmly 
committed to the project as described in the application, and sites 
subject to pending and current litigation that may not be available for 
remediation and development or redevelopment in a time frame that will 
produce near-term and measurable economic benefits through the use of 
BEDI and Section 108 funds. Alternatively, any applicant indicating the 
completion of environmental assessment or review and the issuance of 
HUD approval for a Request for Release of Funds for the project under 
24 CFR part 58 will receive more points under this subfactor.
    (b) Site Control. This subfactor (b) will consider the extent to 
which control of the proposed project site has been secured or is being 
sought. Points for this subfactor (b) will be awarded based upon the 
degree of site control secured by the applicant or its development 
partner. Projects, for instance, in which negotiation or litigation 
related to site control are underway or continuing will receive fewer 
points than projects in which an option to purchase has been secured. 
Projects in which the applicant or its development partner has secured 
site control through acquisition, long-term lease, eminent domain or 
other means at the time of application will receive full points under 
this subfactor (b). In responding to this subfactor (b), applicants are 
encouraged to accompany their narrative response with a map indicating 
the boundaries of the proposed site or sites on which BEDI-assisted 
improvements are proposed. Any map included as part of the application 
must be submitted in accordance with the submission procedures provided 
for in the General Section and will not be counted in the fifteen page 
limitation on the narrative response to the Rating Factors as provided 
in Section V.A.1(b) of this NOFA.
    (c) Legislative, Regulatory, and Other Approvals. This subfactor 
(c) will consider the extent to which any required local legislative 
approvals, regulatory permits, zoning classifications, environmental 
regulatory approvals, waivers, general, and special use permits, 
assessment district designations, public easements or rights-of-way, or 
other similar approvals have been secured or are being sought. The 
greater the number of outstanding legislative, regulatory, or other 
approvals required and not yet secured, the fewer points will be 
awarded. In the case of a CDBG entitlement unit of general local 
government, such as a county, proposing to undertake a BEDI project 
within the jurisdiction of another CDBG entitlement unit of general 
local

[[Page 13962]]

government, such as a city or other jurisdiction within that county, 
the applicant should also include a letter of support from the 
jurisdiction in which the BEDI project would be located.
    (d) User Agreements. This subfactor (d) will consider the extent to 
which any development agreements, tenant leases, memoranda of 
understanding, or other agreements integral to returning the site to 
productive reuse and producing near-term measurable economic benefits, 
have been secured or are being sought. Applicants proposing projects 
that do not provide for new investment by an identified, committed 
private entity and the return of a brownfields site to productive 
reuse, with accompanying near-term, measurable economic benefits, will 
receive fewer points under this subfactor (d).
    (e) Delivery of Economic Benefits. The response to this subfactor 
(e) must include the time frame in which the measurable economic 
benefits are to be delivered. For multi-phase projects, the response to 
this subfactor (e) must clearly delineate the different phases of the 
project and indicate whether or not they are to be funded by BEDI/
Section 108 funds. Brownfields economic development projects that 
provide near-term, measurable economic benefits directly through the 
creation or retention of jobs will receive a greater number of points 
under this subfactor (e). In response to this subfactor (2), the 
applicant should also provide a specific time schedule (with both 
beginning and end dates) for carrying out the project and identify all 
interim measurable benchmarks (acquisition, demolition, site 
improvements, relocation, construction, etc.) to be accomplished. The 
applicant should also include a proposed schedule for drawing down all 
funds necessary to complete the project, including BEDI and Section 108 
funds.
    A timeline form is provided in Appendix B to this NOFA for the 
purpose of illustrating the project schedule (Exhibit C of form HUD-
40123), but HUD will consider the timeline form only as an illustration 
of the narrative response to this subfactor (e).
    (4) Section 108 Application (Up to 2 points). BEDI applications 
accompanied by a request for new Section 108 Loan Guarantee assistance 
as evidenced by a full and complete Section 108 application as provided 
for in 24 CFR 570.704, and submitted concurrently under separate cover 
as provided for in Section IV.F.3 of the NOFA, will receive up to two 
points for this subfactor (4). BEDI applications accompanied by a 
request to use the BEDI grant award in conjunction with a currently 
pending but unapproved Section 108 loan guarantee application (together 
with any amendments needed for consistency with the BEDI application) 
for the same project described in the BEDI application, will also 
receive up to two points under this subfactor (4).
    (5) Financial Feasibility/Need (Up to 10 points). The applicant 
should demonstrate the economic necessity of the proposed BEDI and 
Section 108 funds and the extent to which the project is not 
financially feasible in the absence of such funds. In responding to 
this subfactor (5), applicants are encouraged to accompany their 
narrative response, as appropriate, with development and operating 
``pro formas'' or similar analyses of the proposed project financing. 
Such pro forma or other financial analysis will not be counted in the 
fifteen page limitation on the narrative response to the Rating Factors 
as provided in Section V.A.1(b) of this NOFA. In the narrative 
response, applicants must clearly address the question of why the BEDI 
funds are critical to the success of this project by providing the 
following items:
    (a) Use of BEDI and Section 108 Funds to Fill Financing Gaps. The 
applicant must provide an economic rationale that demonstrates how the 
use of the BEDI and Section 108 funds will directly impact the 
financial feasibility of the proposed project. The response should 
discuss the critical gaps that exist in financing the proposed project, 
why those gaps exist and how the BEDI and Section 108 funds will be 
used to fill those gaps. The narrative response, including any pro 
forma or similar analysis, should demonstrate how the proposed BEDI and 
Section 108 financing will yield economic benefits critical to the 
success of the project, including, for example, increased rates of 
return or debt coverage ratios, reduced rents or other similar 
financial outcomes necessary to attract private investment.
    (b) Project Costs and Financial Requirements. A funding sources and 
uses statement must also be provided that specifies the source of funds 
for each identified use or activity (Exhibit C of form HUD-40123), 
along with the derivation of project costs.

Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (15 Points Maximum)

    In evaluating this Factor, HUD will consider the extent to which 
the response demonstrates the likelihood that the project will leverage 
both Section 108 loan and other public or private funds as part of the 
total project resources. Points for this Factor will be awarded in two 
parts, for the following:
    (1) Leverage of Section 108 funds (Up to 8 points).
    The minimum ratio of Section 108 funds to BEDI funds in any project 
may not be less than 1:1. Points will be awarded based upon the extent 
to which the proposed project leverages an amount of Section 108 funds 
greater than a 1:1 ratio. If the application has a ratio of 1:1, it 
will not receive any points under this subfactor. The higher the ratio 
of additional new Section 108 funds to BEDI funds proposed in an 
application, the more points it will receive under this subfactor, 
consistent with the points available hereunder. (See Sections II.C.1 
and Section VI.B.1(a) of this NOFA regarding the conditioning of BEDI 
awards on achievement of a specific BEDI/Section 108 leveraging ratio.)
    (2) Leverage of Other Financial Resources (Up to 7 points).
    HUD will evaluate the extent to which other funds (public or 
private) are leveraged by BEDI grant funds, and the extent to which 
such other funds are firmly committed to the project. This could 
include the use of CDBG funds, other federal or state grants or loans, 
local general funds, project equity or commercial financing provided by 
private sources or funds from nonprofits or other sources. In order to 
receive points for other public and privately committed funds under 
this subfactor (2), letters of firm commitment, evidence of financial 
capacity and, for CDBG funds, the resolution of the local governing 
body, must be submitted for the proposed BEDI project in accordance 
with the submission procedures for third party documents provided in 
Section IV.F. of the General Section. In addition:
    (a) Applicants must provide evidence that such funds are ``firmly 
committed'' as defined in Section I.C. of this NOFA.
    (b) Each agreement or letter of commitment must include the name of 
the organization making the commitment, the proposed total level of 
commitment, and the responsibilities of the organization as they relate 
to the proposed BEDI project.
    (c) Each commitment--including the donation or purchase of real 
property or the provision of in-kind services--must be assigned a 
monetary value by the party making the commitment, accompanied by an 
indication of the basis for that assigned value.
    (d) The commitment must be signed by an official of the 
organization legally authorized to make commitments on behalf of the 
organization, with a statement confirming that authority, and

[[Page 13963]]

remain in effect for a period stated in the commitment.
    (e) If a commitment is to be self-financed, such as a commitment by 
a private developer to provide a specified amount of equity investment 
in the project, the party making that commitment must evidence its 
financial capacity through the submission of a corporate or personal 
financial statement or other appropriate means in order to receive 
points under this subfactor (2).
    (f) For Applicants Committing CDBG Funds: In order for an 
applicant's commitment of CDBG funds to be accepted by HUD as 
additional financing for a BEDI project, a resolution from the local 
governing body (e.g., city/borough council) authorizing the amount and 
permitted uses of the funds must be provided.
    All such funds may also be committed subject to completion of a 
satisfactory environmental review required under 24 CFR part 58 for the 
project for purposes of this section.

Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (15 Points 
Maximum)

    This Factor emphasizes HUD's commitment to ensuring that applicants 
maintain commitments made in their applications and assess their 
performance to ensure that performance goals are met. This Factor also 
evaluates the extent to which the results of the proposed BEDI project 
will address the policy priorities of the Department. In addition to a 
narrative response, applicants must complete the logic model provided 
in the General Section (form HUD-96010) in order to receive points 
under this Factor. Applicants seeking policy priority points for the 
removal of regulatory barriers to affordable housing as provided for in 
subfactor (2)(v) of this Factor, must also complete form HUD-27300 in 
order to receive points for that policy priority.
    (1) Performance Measurement Plan (Up to 12 points). HUD requires 
applicants to develop an effective, quantifiable, outcome oriented 
performance measurement plan for measuring performance and determining 
that BEDI project goals have been met. The applicant's response to this 
subfactor (1) should identify: (a) Each of the specific project 
outcomes for the proposed BEDI project; (b) all interim benchmarks or 
outputs of the project and the associated time frames for meeting each 
interim benchmark or output, i.e., the near-term measurable economic 
benefits to be achieved, such as the number of jobs created or retained 
and the time frame for creation or retention; and (c) the performance 
indicators selected by the applicant to measure its achievement of the 
identified project outputs and project outcomes. The performance 
indicators selected by the applicant should be objectively quantifiable 
and measure actual achievements against anticipated results. The 
response to this subfactor (1) should identify what will be measured, 
how it will be measured, and the procedures or plans that are in place 
to make adjustments to the project redevelopment plan if performance 
targets are not met within established time frames.
    In response to this subfactor (1), applicants should address any of 
the applicable outcomes or ultimate goals identified for the BEDI 
project. Examples of such outcomes or goals include increased property 
values, or home sales prices, as a result of a series of coordinated 
neighborhood activities; the amount of increased wages resulting from 
the creation or retention of jobs; increased business sales volume in 
revitalized neighborhoods; or the amount of any increased land value 
that results from the BEDI project. Applicants should propose 
quantifiable outcomes or goals related to the benefits expected for the 
neighborhood or for persons assisted, as part of the evaluation plan.
    (2) Policy Priorities (Up to 3 points). The applicant's response to 
this subfactor (2) should address how the project will address any of 
the following policy priorities of the Department, as further detailed 
in Section V.B. of the General Section. A maximum of three points shall 
be awarded to applicants that demonstrate how the proposed BEDI project 
addresses two or more of the following policy priorities, with the 
number of points afforded to each policy priority indicated below:
    (i) The extent to which the proposed project will improve the 
quality of life in the nation's communities, by bringing private 
capital to distressed communities (1 point);
    (ii) The extent to which the proposed project will finance business 
investments that will grow new businesses or maintain and expand 
existing businesses (1 point);
    (iii) The extent to which the proposed project will create decent 
jobs for low-income persons (1 point).
    (iv) The extent to which the project will increase affordable 
housing and homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income 
persons, persons with a disability, the elderly, minorities, and 
persons with limited English proficiency, whether through the provision 
of housing or employment which will enable residents to access 
affordable housing and have a choice of such housing in environmentally 
healthy and revitalized neighborhoods (1 point);
    (v) The extent to which the project will assist in breaking down 
regulatory barriers that impede the availability of affordable housing, 
accompanied by form HUD-27300). To receive points for this factor the 
applicant must submit the required documentation or reference to a 
URL(s) where the information can be found. (up to 2 points); and,
    (vi) The extent to which the project will utilize energy-efficient 
solutions in the design or operating phases, including the purchase and 
use of Energy Star-labeled products and/or combined heat and power 
(CHP, or cogeneration) in buildings, where applicable.) (See Section 
V.B of the General Section, Promoting Energy Efficiency and Adopting 
Energy Star, for more information (1 point).

Bonus Points

    An application may receive up to four bonus points, until the 
maximum of four points are achieved. Two bonus points may be awarded 
for each of the following:
    (1) Projects that are located either in federally designated 
Empowerment Zones (EZs), Enterprise Communities designated by USDA in 
Round II (EC-IIs), or Renewal Communities (RCs) (see Section V.A. of 
the General Section for advice on locating a list of designated 
communities) that are intended to serve the residents of these areas, 
and that are certified to be consistent with the area's strategic plan 
or RC Tax Incentive Utilization Plan (TIUP);
    (2) Projects that are located in Brownfields Showcase Communities 
designated by EPA. A list of the federally designated Brownfields 
Showcase Communities is listed in Appendix C of Section VIII of this 
NOFA and is also available from the SuperNOFA Information Center or 
through the HUD Web site, http://www.hud.gov.

B. Reviews and Selection Process

    1. Reviews and Selection Process. All applications meeting BEDI 
program and other threshold requirements will be rated under the 
selection criteria in Section V.A. of this NOFA. Applications will be 
selected for funding as follows:
    a. Fundable BEDI grant applications must meet the program threshold 
and submission requirements of this NOFA and the other threshold 
requirements stipulated in Section III.C. of the General Section or 
they will not be ranked.

[[Page 13964]]

    b. All BEDI grant applications that meet threshold requirements 
will be ranked separately in order of points assigned with the 
applications receiving more points ranked above those receiving fewer 
points.
    c. In the event two or more applications are given the same score, 
but there are insufficient funds to fund all of the tied applications, 
the application(s) with the highest score(s) on Rating Factor 3 
(Soundness of Approach) shall be selected. If there is still a tie, the 
following Factors will be considered sequentially, with the application 
having the high score on each Factor in the following order taking 
precedence until the tie is broken: Rating Factor 1 (Capacity and 
Experience), Rating Factor 2 (Distress/Extent of the Problem), Rating 
Factor 4 (Leveraging Resources), and Rating Factor 5 (Achieving Results 
and Program Evaluation).
    d. Fundable BEDI applications will be funded in rank order until 
the total aggregate amount of the approvable applications funded is 
equal to the maximum amount available in the competition (subject to 
the limitations described in Section II.C above).
    e. In the event an insufficient number of applications meeting the 
program thresholds are received to award the full amount of BEDI funds 
appropriated and available under this NOFA, HUD may consider for 
funding those applications that did not meet the performance standards 
found in Section III.C.1.(d) above.
    2. Corrections to Deficient Applications. Section V.B. of the 
General Section provides the procedures for corrections to deficient 
applications.

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    Historically, BEDI awardees have been notified of the approval of 
BEDI applications within approximately 90 days of the application 
deadline.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

1. Notice of Award and Obligation
    BEDI award recipients will receive written notice of approval of 
their applications and the related terms and conditions of the award. 
An authorized official of the applicant receiving a BEDI award will be 
required to sign and return an acceptance of the BEDI award. BEDI funds 
shall be obligated for an approved application upon the return of a 
signed acceptance of the award to HUD and a countersignature of that 
acceptance by an authorized HUD official.
2. Award Disbursements and Amendments
    a. Timing of Section 108 Approval and BEDI Grant Disbursements.
    (1) To the extent a full and complete Section 108 application is 
submitted with the BEDI grant application, HUD will evaluate the 
Section 108 application immediately following the competition for BEDI 
grant funds. Note that for those applicants that are granted a waiver 
to the electronic submission process, the 108 application must be 
submitted to the appropriate HUD field office concurrently with 
submission to Headquarters.
    (2) Notwithstanding any earlier obligation or award of BEDI funds 
to a grantee, or execution of a grant agreement, HUD will not permit 
the grantee to draw down BEDI funds before the issuance and at least 
partial funding of the obligations evidencing the related Section 108-
guaranteed loan.
    (3) Pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (under 
the ``Brownfields Redevelopment'' heading) and 31 U.S.C. 1552, FY2005 
BEDI funds must be obligated (i.e., awarded) by HUD by September 30, 
2006, and must be disbursed by HUD to the grantee by September 30, 
2011. FY2004 BEDI funds must be obligated by September 30, 2005, and 
must be disbursed by HUD to the grantee by September 30, 20010. HUD 
reserves the right, however, to require earlier disbursement under a 
BEDI grant agreement. Accordingly, a BEDI awardee must ensure the 
timely submission of its Section 108 Loan Guarantee application, the 
execution of the Section 108 Contract for Loan Guarantee Assistance and 
BEDI Grant Agreement, and the issuance of the Section 108 Loan 
Guarantee Note.
3. Applicant Debriefing
    Section VI.A. of the General Section provides information on 
applicant requests for a debriefing. Applicants requesting to be 
debriefed must send a written request to the contact person for the 
BEDI program, Mr. William Seedyke, at the address listed in Section VII 
of this NOFA.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

1. Terms and Conditions
    a. Ratio of BEDI to Section 108 Loan Guarantee Funds. Because the 
proposed ratio of BEDI funds to Section 108 funds presented in an 
approved BEDI application represents an applicant's financial 
commitment to a BEDI project, HUD will condition the BEDI grant award 
on the grantee's achievement of that specific ratio. The failure of the 
grantee to meet that condition by obtaining timely HUD approval of a 
commitment for, and issuance of, the required Section 108 guaranteed 
obligations ratio may result in the cancellation and recapture of all 
or a proportionate share of the BEDI grant award.
    b. Approval of Section 108 Loan Guarantee Application and 
Disbursement of Funds. As a condition of any award under this NOFA, if 
the related Section 108 application has not been submitted and approved 
within 10 months of written HUD notification of selection for potential 
funding under this NOFA, HUD may deobligate the BEDI funds. BEDI grant 
awards and grant agreements will contain conditions requiring grantees 
to adhere to time frames mutually agreed on by the applicant/grantee 
and HUD for implementing proposed projects and drawing Section 108 and 
BEDI funds. If BEDI grant funds and Section 108 loan proceeds are not 
disbursed to the applicant within the time frames specified in the BEDI 
grant agreement, HUD reserves the right to cancel the award and 
recapture all or a portion of the BEDI funds, as applicable under the 
grant agreement.
    c. BEDI Application Amendments. Any modifications or amendments to 
an application approved pursuant to this NOFA, whether requested by the 
applicant or by HUD, must be within the scope of the approved original 
BEDI application in all respects material to rating the application, 
unless HUD determines that the revised application remains within the 
competitive range and is otherwise approvable under this NOFA. In 
addition, if the applicant proposes an amendment after the period 
during which appropriated funds are available for obligation (for 
FY2054 BEDI funds, after September 30, 2006), HUD will be unable to 
approve any amendment which materially changes the scope, purpose, or 
need for the original award, as determined by HUD. In such a case, the 
unused BEDI funds must be deobligated and returned to the U.S. 
Treasury.
2. Environmental Justice
    a. Executive Order 12898 (Federal Actions to Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations) directs 
Federal agencies to develop strategies to address environmental 
justice. Environmental justice seeks to rectify the disproportionately 
high burden of environmental pollution that is often borne by low-
income, minority, and other disadvantaged communities, and to ensure 
community involvement in

[[Page 13965]]

policies and programs addressing this issue.
    b. HUD expects that projects presented for BEDI funding will 
integrate environmental justice concerns and provide measurable 
economic benefits for affected communities and their current residents 
for the long term.
3. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons (Section 
3)
    Recipients of assistance under this NOFA must comply with Section 3 
of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 12 U.S.C. 1701 
(Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons in 
Connection with Assisted Projects) and the HUD regulations at 24 CFR 
part 135, including the reporting requirements at subpart E. Section 3 
requires recipients to ensure that, to the greatest extent feasible, 
training, employment, and other economic opportunities will be directed 
to low- and very-low income persons, particularly those who are 
recipients of government assistance for housing, and business concerns 
that provide economic opportunities to low- and very low-income 
persons.
4. Other National Requirements
    BEDI applicants are directed to the Section III.C of the General 
Section, which provides the statutory, regulatory, threshold, and 
public policy requirements applicable to all HUD grantees. In 
particular, BEDI applicants should carefully review provisions relating 
to Executive Order 13202 (Preservation of Open Competition and 
Government Neutrality Toward Government Contractors' Labor Relations on 
Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects) and federal laws 
governing the procurement of recovered materials.

C. Reporting

    CDBG regulations at 24 CFR 570.507 (for metropolitan city and urban 
counties) and 24 CFR 570.491 (for state grantees) require the 
submission of a Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report 
(CAPER) describing the use of CDBG funds during the program year. 24 
CFR 570.3 defines CDBG funds to include BEDI grants, and accordingly, 
grantees must report specifically on the use of BEDI grant funds and 
Section 108 loan guarantee proceeds in the CAPER. CAPER requirements 
for the collection and reporting of racial and ethnic data also apply 
to the use of BEDI and Section 108 guaranteed loan proceeds. These data 
are to be reported in the CAPER using the Race and Ethnic Data 
Reporting form (HUD-27061). For each reporting period, as part of the 
required report to HUD, grant recipients must also include a completed 
Logic Model (form HUD-96010), which identifies output and outcome 
achievements.

VII. Agency Contact

    For technical assistance in completing your registration with 
Grants.gov or in using the electronic application, please contact the 
Grants.gov Support Desk by calling 800-518-GRANTS or sending an email 
to Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. For assistance with program related questions, 
please contact William Seedyke, BEDI Program Coordinator; Office of 
Economic Development; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; 
451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 7140; Washington, DC 20410; telephone 
(202) 708-3484, extension 4445 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Hearing or speech challenged persons may call the Federal Information 
Relay Service at 800-877-8339 (this is a toll-free number). Before the 
application submission date, HUD staff will be available to provide 
general guidance and assistance about this BEDI NOFA. However, HUD 
staff are not permitted to assist in preparing a BEDI application. 
Following selection of applicants, but before awards are made, HUD 
staff are available to assist in clarifying or confirming information 
that is a prerequisite to the offer of an award by HUD. In addition, 
the Section 108 Loan Guarantee program is not a competitive program and 
therefore is not subject to those provisions of the HUD Reform Act 
pertaining to competitions that do not permit HUD staff to assist in 
the preparation of applications. HUD staff are available to provide 
advice and assistance to develop Section 108 loan applications.

VIII. Other Information

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2506-0153. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to, a collection of information unless the collection displays 
a current OMB control number. Public reporting burden for the 
collection of information is estimated to average xx hours per annum 
per respondent for the application and grant administration. This 
includes the time for collecting, reviewing and reporting the data for 
the application and for the annual report. The information will be used 
for grantee selection and monitoring and the administration of funds. 
Response to this request for information is required in order to 
receive the benefits to be derived.

Appendices

BILLING CODE 4210-32-P

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Part II





Department of Housing and Urban Development





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Notice of HUD's Fiscal Year 2005 Notice of Funding Availability Policy 
Requirements and General Section to the SuperNOFA for HUD's 
Discretionary Programs; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 53 / Monday, March 21, 2005 / 
Notices  

[[Page 13976]]


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[[Page 13978]]



Youthbuild

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Community Planning and Development.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Youthbuild.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The OMB approval number for this 
program is 2506-0142. The Federal Register number for this NOFA is FR-
4950-N-04.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 14.243, 
Youthbuild Program
    F. Dates: The application submission date is on or before June 21, 
2005. Please see the General Section of the SuperNOFA (the General 
Section) for application submission and receipt procedures. Please note 
that this year, all applications must be submitted electronically using 
http://www.grants.gov, as described in Section IV.F of the General 
Section.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information: 1. Purpose of the 
Program. The purpose of the Youthbuild program is to assist 
disadvantaged young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 years of age 
in distressed communities to: (1) Complete their high school education; 
(2) provide on-site construction training experiences which result in 
the rehabilitation or construction of housing for homeless persons and 
low- and very low-income families; (3) foster leadership skills; (4) 
further opportunities for placement in apprenticeship programs; and (5) 
promote economic self-sufficiency for program participants.
    2. Available Funds. Approximately $56,444,800 in appropriated funds 
and carry over is available for Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, plus any funds 
available through recapture, minus any amount needed to correct errors.
    3. Eligible Applicants. Eligible applicants are public or private 
nonprofit organizations that include grassroots community-based 
organizations inclusive of faith-based organizations. For a definition 
of grass-roots community based organizations see Secretarial Policy 
Priority D. Providing Full and Equal Access to Grassroots, Faith-Based 
and other Community-Based Organizations in HUD Program Implementation 
found in the General Section. Other eligible applicants include state 
or local housing agencies or authorities, state or units of local 
government, or any entity eligible to provide education and employment 
training under other federal employment training programs, as further 
defined in HUD's regulation at 24 CFR 585.4.
    4. Match. None.
    If you are interested in applying for funding under this program, 
please carefully review the General Section and the following 
additional information.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    A. Program Description. The purposes of the Youthbuild Program are 
to:
    1. Provide economically disadvantaged young adults with 
opportunities to obtain an educational experience that will enhance 
their employment skills, as a means to achieving self-sufficiency;
    2. Foster the development of leadership skills and commitment to 
community;
    3. Expand the supply of permanent affordable housing for homeless 
and low- and very low-income persons by providing implementation grants 
for carrying out a Youthbuild program;
    4. Provide disadvantaged young adults with meaningful on-site 
training experiences in housing construction and rehabilitation that 
will enable them to render a service to their communities by helping to 
meet the housing needs of homeless persons and low-income families; and
    5. Give to the greatest extent possible, job training, employment, 
contracting, and other economic opportunities to low-income young 
adults.
    B. Desirable Elements of a Youthbuild Program. You should document 
the extent to which HUD's initiatives are furthered by the proposed 
activities. Such initiatives include:
    1. Providing increased homeownership and rental opportunities for 
low- and moderate-income persons, persons with disabilities, the 
elderly, minorities, and families with limited English proficiency;
    2. Improving our nation's communities;
    3. Encouraging accessible design features;
    4. Providing full and equal access to grassroots faith-based and 
other community based organizations in HUD program implementation; and
    5. Ending chronic homelessness.
    C. Definitions. The following definitions apply to the Youthbuild 
Program: Rural and Underserved areas are defined as follows:
    1. Rural Area. A rural area is defined in one of five ways:
    a. A non-urban place having fewer than 2,500 inhabitants (within or 
outside of metropolitan areas).
    b. A county or parish with an urban population of 20,000 
inhabitants or fewer.
    c. Territory, including its persons and housing units, in rural 
portions of ``extended cities.'' The Census Bureau identifies the rural 
portions of extended cities.
    d. Open country, which is not part of or associated with an urban 
area. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) describes 
``open country'' as a site separated by open space from any adjacent 
densely populated urban area. Open space includes undeveloped land, 
agricultural land or sparsely settled areas but does not include 
physical barriers (such as rivers and canals), public parks, commercial 
and industrial developments, small areas reserved for recreational 
purposes, and open space set aside for future development.
    e. Any place with a population not in excess of 20,000 and not 
located in a Metropolitan Statistical Area.
    2. Underserved Area. An underserved area is defined as an area 
comprised of census tracts with the following economic distress 
criteria:
    a. A census tract where the unemployment remains high (50 percent 
or more above the nation's unemployment rate) and
    b. A census tract where high rates of poverty (50 percent or more 
above the national average) persist.

II. Award Information

    A. Available Funds. Approximately $56,444,800 in funding is made 
available for this FY 2005 Youthbuild NOFA, which includes any carry 
over from previous appropriated funds, plus any FY 2005 funds 
appropriated by Congress. See the General Section for funding amounts 
and available funds.
    B. Authority. This program is authorized under subtitle D of title 
IV of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act, as added 
by section 164 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 
(Pub. L. 102-550, 106 Stat. 3723, 42 U.S.C. 12899). The Youthbuild 
Program regulations are found in 24 CFR part 585.
    C. Funding Categories. HUD will award up to $56,444,800 on a 
competitive basis. Funds will be divided among three categories of 
grants as described below. In each fiscal year, the Secretary shall 
reserve five percent of the amounts available for technical assistance 
activities under this subtitle pursuant to section 402 to carry out 
subsections (b) and (c) (Subtitle D-Hope

[[Page 13979]]

for Youth: Section 458 (42 U.S.C. 12899g)).
    1. Category 1 Grants. New Applicants. HUD will award up to 
$10,000,000 for new applicants that have not previously received 
implementation grants since the inception of the Youthbuild Program and 
that have elected not to apply under Category 2 or 3. The maximum 
amount that may be awarded to a successful applicant in this category 
is $400,000, for a period not to exceed 30 months.
    2. Category 2 Grants. Grants up to $700,000. HUD will award up to 
$37,516,800 for grants up to $700,000 for a period not to exceed 30 
months. The maximum amount that may be awarded to a successful 
applicant in this category is $700,000. Any eligible applicant can 
apply in Category 2.
    3. Category 3 Grants. Underserved and Rural Areas. HUD will award 
approximately $8,928,000 for grants to organizations serving clients in 
underserved and rural areas as defined in this NOFA for a period not to 
exceed 30 months. The maximum amount that may be awarded to a 
successful applicant in this category is $400,000.
    4. Selection of Category. Applicants must indicate in their project 
abstract which funding category they are applying for. For Category 3 
applicants, you must designate which definition(s) under Section I.C. 
is (are) applicable.
    5. Grant Period. You must expend funds awarded within 30 months of 
the effective date of the grant agreement.
    6. Maximum Awards. Under the competition established by this 
Youthbuild program section of the SuperNOFA, the maximum award for a 
Youthbuild grant is $700,000 for Category 2 grants. The maximum amount 
of award for Categories 1 and 3 grants is $400,000.

III. Eligibility Information

    A. Eligible Applicants. Eligible applicants are public or private 
nonprofit organizations which include grassroots community-based 
organizations inclusive of faith-based organizations. For a definition 
of grass-roots community based organizations, see Secretarial Policy 
Priority D. Providing Full and Equal Access to Grassroots, Faith-Based 
and Other Community-Based Organizations in HUD Program Implementation 
found in the General Section. Other eligible applicants include state 
or local housing agencies or authorities, states or units of local 
government, or any entity eligible to provide education and employment 
training under other federal employment training programs as further 
defined in HUD's regulation at 24 CFR 585.4.
    B. Cost Sharing or Matching. Under the Youthbuild program, there is 
no match required. Applicants that submit evidence of leveraging 
dollars under Rating Factor 4 ``Leveraging Resources'' will receive 
points under that Factor.
    C. Other. 1. Eligible Activities
    a. Work and activities associated with the acquisition, 
architectural and engineering work, rehabilitation or construction of 
housing, as defined in HUD's regulations at 24 CFR 585.309, 585.310, 
and 585.311.
    b. Relocation payments and other assistance required to comply with 
HUD's regulation at 24 CFR 585.308;
    c. Costs of ongoing training and technical assistance needs related 
to carrying out a Youthbuild program;
    d. Education, job training, counseling, employment, leadership 
development services, and optional activities that meet the needs of 
the participants including entrepreneurial training, driver education, 
apprenticeship opportunities, financial literacy, credit counseling, 
assistance programs for those with learning disabilities, and in-house 
staff training;
    e. Outreach to potential participants;
    f. Wages, benefits, and need-based stipends for participants; and
    g. Administrative costs must not exceed 10 percent of the grant 
award. HUD encourages you to use grant funds for outreach, recruitment, 
training, and other services for the participants that facilitate 
program implementation. Please refer to HUD's regulation at 24 CFR 
585.305 for further details on eligible activities.
    2. Threshold Requirements. All applicants must comply with the 
threshold requirements as defined in the General Section and the 
requirements listed below to receive an award. Applications that do not 
meet these requirements will be considered ineligible for funding and 
will be disqualified.
    a. Eligible Participants. Participants in a Youthbuild program must 
be very low-income high school dropouts between the ages of 16 and 24, 
inclusive, at the time of enrollment. Up to 25 percent of participants 
may be above very low-income, or may be high school graduates (or 
equivalent), but must have educational needs (such as lack of reading, 
writing, and communication skills) that justify their participation in 
the program.
    b. Youthbuild Program Components. Applications that receive 
assistance under this Youthbuild program section of the SuperNOFA must 
contain the three components described as follows:
    (1) Educational and job training services;
    (2) Leadership training, counseling, and other support activities; 
and
    (3) On-site training through actual housing rehabilitation and/or 
new construction work.
    (New construction may be subject to the accessible design and 
construction requirements of the Fair Housing Act [see the General 
Section], including the provision of alternative training experiences 
that are necessary as a reasonable accommodation for students with 
disabilities.)
    c. Identification of and Access to Property. Your application must 
identify the location of the site(s) or property(ies) (e.g., addresses, 
parcel numbers, etc.) that will be used for on-site construction. Your 
application MUST contain a letter from the property owner or property 
management company or companies allowing access to the housing site(s) 
for on-site construction training. HUD will deem as ineligible any 
application that fails to specifically identify the location of the on-
site construction, including evidence of site access. Guidance on 
evidence of site access is as follows:
    (1) If the applicant or joint applicant has a contract or option to 
purchase the property, you should include a copy of the contract or 
option; and
    (2) If a third party owns the property or has a contract or option 
to purchase, that third party must provide a letter to you stating the 
nature of the ownership and specifically providing you with access to 
the property for the purposes of the program and the time frame in 
which the property will be available. In the case of a contract or 
option, include a copy of the document.
    d. Minimum Score. In order to be considered eligible for funding, 
your application must receive a minimum score of 75, including a 
minimum of 10 points in Factor 1.
    e. DUNS Requirement. Refer to the General Section for information 
regarding the DUNS requirement. You will need to obtain a DUNS number 
to receive an award from HUD and submit your application on line using 
http://www.grants.gov.
    f. Civil Rights Threshold Requirement. Applicants must meet all of 
the applicable threshold requirements of Section III.C.2.c of the 
General Section regarding Fair Housing and Civil Rights laws, statutes, 
regulations and Executive orders and enumerated in 24 CFR 5.105(a).
    g. Potential Environmental Disqualification. HUD reserves the right 
to disqualify an application where one or more environmental thresholds 
are exceeded if HUD determines that it cannot conduct the environmental

[[Page 13980]]

review and satisfactorily complete the review within the HUD 
application review period. (See 24 CFR 585.307.) Environmental 
thresholds are explained in Appendix A of this program section of the 
SuperNOFA. Complete form 2C13a, 2C13b, or 2C13c and form 2C15 only if 
you are proposing to use Youthbuild funds for new housing construction, 
rehabilitation, lease or acquisition.
    h. Consistency with Consolidated Plan. You must provide the 
required certification that the proposed activities are consistent with 
the HUD-approved Consolidated Plan in accordance with 24 CFR part 91. 
See the General Section regarding the Certification of Consistency with 
the Consolidated Plan requirement.
    i. If you have received a Youthbuild grant and it is greater than 
24 months old and you have not drawn down at least 50 percent of the 
total HUD grant funds as of the application submission date for this 
NOFA, you will not be eligible to receive a FY 2005 Youthbuild grant.
    3. Program Requirements. In addition to the program requirements 
listed below, applicants must comply with the program requirements in 
Section III.C of the General Section.
    a. Locational Limitations. You may submit more than one application 
in the current competition if your program's participant recruitment 
and housing areas are in different jurisdictions. Each application you 
submit may only propose activities to carry out one Youthbuild program, 
i.e., to start a new Youthbuild program or to fund new classes of 
Youthbuild participants for an existing program.
    b. Site Selection. In determining the site or the location of a 
federally assisted facility, the applicant may not select sites that 
will exclude qualified persons with disabilities, or otherwise subject 
them to discrimination under the Youthbuild program.
    c. New Construction, Substantial Alterations,--Other Alterations. 
If the applicant undertakes to participate in New Construction, 
Substantial Alterations, or Other Alterations, it must conform to the 
accessibility standards outlined in the regulations implementing the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 at 24 CFR part 8, Sec. Sec.  8.22, 8.23(a) 
and Sec.  8.23(b).
    d. Training Requirement. Each program must be structured so that 50 
percent of each participant's time is spent in on-site training and the 
other 50 percent in educational training.
    e. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons 
(Section 3). Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 
1968, (12 U.S.C. 1701u) is applicable to the Youthbuild program. 
Section 3 requires recipients to ensure that, to the greatest extent 
feasible, training, employment, and other economic opportunities will 
be directed to low- and very-low income persons, particularly those who 
are recipients of government assistance for housing, and business 
concerns which provide economic opportunities to low- and very low-
income persons. The regulations may be found at 24 CFR part 135.
    f. Participation in Local Workforce Investment Act One-Stop Center. 
Youthbuild grantees are mandatory partners in one-stop centers 
authorized by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-220).
    g. First time applicants. If you are a first-time applicant 
applying for funding under Category 1, you must have a graduating class 
of not more than 20 participants.
    h. Environmental Reviews. Environmental procedures apply to HUD 
approval of grants when you propose to use Youthbuild funds to cover 
any costs for the lease, acquisition, rehabilitation, or new 
construction of real property proposed for housing project development. 
Environmental procedures do not apply to HUD approval of your 
application when you propose to use your Youthbuild funds solely to 
cover costs for classroom and/or on-the-job construction training and 
support services.
    If you propose to use your Youthbuild funds to cover any costs of 
the lease, acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction of real 
property, you must submit all relevant environmental information in 
your application to support HUD decisionmaking in accordance with the 
environmental procedures and standards set forth in HUD's regulation at 
24 CFR 585.307.

IV. Application and Submission Information: (See the General Section)

    A. Addresses to Request Application Package: There is no 
application kit for the FY2005 Youthbuild NOFA. This SuperNOFA clearly 
describes the requirements for completing a successful application and 
all forms and certifications needed to complete the application are 
included in the General and Youthbuild Sections of the SuperNOFA, which 
can be downloaded from http://www.Grants.gov/Apply. The Grants.gov web 
site contains the electronic forms and the NOFA which includes forms 
and other attachments. The NOFA and forms are contained in a zipped 
file found under instructions. You many call the Grants.gov Support 
Desk at 800-518-Grants or email the Support Desk at Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov 
for assistance in downloading the application and instructions. The 
Support Desk is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Time, 
except Federal holidays.
    B. Content and Form of Application Submission: Be sure to read the 
application submission instructions in the General Section and below 
carefully.
    1. Response to NOFA Page Limitation. The total narrative response 
to all factors identified in Section V of this program NOFA must not 
exceed 15 single sided pages of text based on an 8.5 by 11 inch paper, 
using a standard 12 point font, with lines double-spaced. Please note 
that submitting pages in excess of the page limit will not disqualify 
your application. However, HUD will not review or consider the 
information on any excess pages.
    2. Application Items. Your application must contain the items 
listed in this section below. These items include the standard forms, 
certifications, and assurances listed in the General Section that are 
applicable to this funding (collectively referred to as the ``standard 
forms''). The standard forms can be found in Appendix A to the General 
Section. The other items listed represent program specific forms or 
information needed to evaluate your application. General letters of 
support not associated with specific cash or in-kind commitments have 
no bearing on the rating of the applications for any rating factor.

[[Page 13981]]



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                      Required form or
         What to submit           Required content         format                   When to submit it
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project abstract...............  Category applying   ..................  Application submission date.
                                  for (if Category
                                  3, specify which
                                  definition(s)
                                  under ``rural and
                                  underserved''
                                  is(are)
                                  applicable);
                                  Amount of funds
                                  requested;
                                  Location of
                                  project,
                                  including census
                                  tract(s); Number
                                  of participants
                                  to be trained;
                                  Number of houses
                                  to be
                                  constructed;
                                  Number of houses
                                  to be rehabbed;
                                  Major partners.
Application Survey on Ensuring   ..................  SF-424, SF-424
 Equal Opportunity for                                supplement.
 Applicants.
Budget information.............  Total Youthbuild    Youthbuild Form 4A
                                  Grant Budget.
Rating Factors: Narrative        Described in
 addressing 5 rating factors.     Section V of this
                                  announcement.
Non-Housing Program Resources    ..................  Youthbuild Form 4B
 and accompanying letters of
 commitment for non-housing
 program resources.
Logic Model Form...............  ..................  HUD-96010.........
Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/  (Per required       HUD-2880..........
 Update Form.                     form).
Disclosure of Lobby Activities   ..................  SF-LLL............
 (if necessary).
Certification of Consistency     ..................  HUD-2990..........
 with RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic
 Plan.
Certification of Consistency     ..................  HUD-2991..........
 with Consolidated Plan.
Acknowledgment of Application    ..................  HUD-2993..........
 Receipt.
Client Comments and Suggestions  ..................  HUD-2994..........
Youthbuild Program Specific      ..................  HUD-40211.........  Application submission date.
 Forms/information (required
 for all applications) Exhibit
 2C (Housing Site Description).
Exhibit 2C10 (Individual
 Housing Project Site)
 Estimate.
Accompanying letters of
 commitment to cover costs of
 lease, acquisition,
 rehabilitation or new
 construction of real property.
Site Access Letter(s).
Youthbuild Program Specific      ..................  ..................  Application submission date.
 Forms (only if applicant
 proposes to use Youthbuild
 funds for lease, acquisition,
 rehabilitation, or new
 construction of real property).
Exhibit 2C13a (Housing Project
 Certifications for Residential
 Rental Units.
Exhibit 2C13b (Housing Project
 Certifications for
 Transitional Housing).
Exhibit 2C13c (Housing Project   ..................  ..................  Application submission date.
 Certifications for
 Homeownership).
Exhibit 2C15 (Environmental
 Threshold Information for a
 Property Proposed for YB
 Funding).
Questionnaire for HUD's          ..................  HUD-27300.........  Application submission date.
 Initiative on Removal of
 Regulatory Barriers.
Facsimile Transmittal..........  To be used when     HUD-96011.........  On or before the application submission
                                  submitting third                        date.
                                  party letters or
                                  other documents
                                  if you are unable
                                  to scan the
                                  documents and
                                  make them
                                  attachments to
                                  your electronic
                                  application.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    C. Submission Dates and Times: The application submission date is 
June 21, 2005. Applications must be received by Grants.gov no later 
than 11:59:59 PM Eastern time on the application submission date. 
Applicants that have requested and received a waiver to the electronic 
application submission requirement must submit their application to the 
United States Postal Service no later than 11:59:59 PM on the 
application submission date. Please see the General Section for 
application submission and timely receipt procedures.
    D. Intergovernmental Review. The Youthbuild is subject to 
Intergovernmental Review under Executive Order 12372, 
``Intergovernmental Review of Federal

[[Page 13982]]

Programs.'' See the General Section for further discussion of the 
Executive Order and HUD's implementing regulations.
    E. Funding Restrictions. Administrative costs must not exceed 10 
percent of the grant award.

V. Application Review Information

    The factors for rating and ranking applicants, and maximum points 
for each factor, are provided below. The maximum number of points for 
the program is 102. This includes two RC/EZ/EC-II and USDA designated 
Round II EC bonus points, as described in the General Section. The 
minimum fundable score is 75, including a minimum of 10 points in 
Factor 1.
    A. Rating Factor 1. Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (20 points, minimum 10 points). This factor 
addresses the qualifications and experience of the applicant and 
participating parties to implement a successful young adult education 
training program in accordance with your work plan as further described 
in Factor 3. HUD will review and evaluate information provided 
documenting recent capability. Experience within the last 5 years will 
be considered recent. In addition, as described in the General Section, 
HUD will take into account the applicant's past performance and may 
deduct points in this rating factor for previous inability to 
demonstrate performance. In reviewing this rating factor, HUD will 
evaluate the following sub-factors:
    1. Team Member Composition and Experience (5 points). Your 
experience and the experience of your project director, core staff 
competencies including your day-to-day program manager, consultants, 
and contractors. You must demonstrate that your program manager has the 
background, experience, and capacity to implement all of the program 
components of the proposed work plan, as evidenced by recent work 
experience (within the last 5 years) in managing projects of the same 
or similar size, dollar amount, types of activities, and beneficiaries 
as those proposed in your work plan. If any gaps exist in your 
experience or organizational structure to carry out the program, 
describe how you will fill those gaps including the hiring of 
consultants or other outside parties.
    2. Organizational Structure (5 points). The structure of your 
organization (include an organizational chart), management structure, 
including reporting relationships of key staff, a system for 
coordinating with outside contractors or third party service providers, 
a mechanism for an internal and external auditing relationship, and an 
accounting system which meets federal accounting system requirements. 
You should provide a clear description of how your organizational 
structure will operate to carry out your work plan.
    3. Achievement of Performance Outcomes (10 points). The objectives 
and accomplishments of your past experience in conducting similar 
activities. You must describe your past project objectives and 
accomplishments that are similar to those of your proposed work plan to 
show your effectiveness and timeliness in managing similar projects. If 
you have received similar grants including previous Youthbuild grants, 
you must describe the effectiveness of your administration, including 
timeliness and meeting performance results from performance reports. In 
addressing timeliness of reports, you must compare when your reports 
were due with when they were actually submitted. You must describe your 
achievements, including specific measurable outcome objectives: number 
of youths recruited, trained, and received GEDs; number of youths 
obtaining jobs (i.e., those that are a part of a career path or 
apprenticeship program); number of youths participating in 
apprenticeships and number of housing units rehabilitated or 
constructed and made available for low- and very low-income persons. 
Previously generated outcomes should include the following: (1) Percent 
entered employment or enrolled in education and/or training first 
quarter after program exit, (2) percent of participants that earned a 
diploma, GED, or certificate, (3) percent that have attained literacy 
and numeracy skills by participants, (4) annual cost per participant.
    Also, you must describe the extent to which you or participating 
partners have been successful in past education, training and 
employment programs and activities, including federally funded 
Youthbuild programs. In applying the rating criteria, HUD will take 
into consideration your performance (including meeting target dates and 
schedules) as reported. The more recent, relevant, and successful the 
experience of the proposed team members, organization and other 
participating entities in relation to the work plan, the greater the 
number of points that you will receive. For previous and existing 
Youthbuild grantees, applicants that can demonstrate a closer and 
greater linkage between the expected outcomes and the previously 
generated outcomes will receive a higher amount of points for this 
Factor. Applicants that have been slow to draw their funds and 
therefore appear to be not making progress in completing their program 
activities, will receive lower rating points than applicants that have 
a pattern and practice of drawing funds in a timely manner consistent 
with timely progress in meeting program activity goals and objectives.
    B. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (22 Points): This 
Factor addresses the extent to which there is need for funding the 
proposed activities based on levels of distress and an indication of 
the urgency of meeting the need/distress in the applicant's target 
area. In responding to this Factor, applications will be evaluated on 
the extent to which the level of need for the proposed activity and the 
urgency in meeting the need are documented and compared to the target 
area and national data.
    1. In applying this Factor, HUD will consider current levels of 
distress for the area (i.e., Census Tract(s) or Block Groups) 
immediately surrounding the project site or the target area to be 
served by the proposed project, and in the nation. This means that an 
application that provides data that show levels of distress in the 
target area expressed as a percent greater than the national average 
will be rated higher under this Factor.
    Notwithstanding the above, an applicant proposing a project to be 
located outside the target area could still receive points under the 
Distress Factor if a clear rationale and linkage is provided linking 
the proposed project location and the benefits to be derived by persons 
living in more distressed area(s) of the applicant's target area.
    2. Applicants should provide data that address indicators of 
distress, as follows:
    a. Poverty (5 points)--data should be provided in both absolute and 
percentage form (i.e., whole numbers and percentages) for the target 
area(s); an application that compares the local poverty rate in the 
following manner to the national average at the time of submission will 
receive points under this section as follows:
    (1) Less than the national average--0 points.
    (2) Equal to but less than twice the national average--1 points.
    (3) Twice but less than three times the national average--3 points.
    (4) Three or more times the national average--5 points.
    b. Unemployment (5 points)--for the project area;
    (1) Less than the national average--0 points.

[[Page 13983]]

    (2) Equal to but less than twice the national average--1 point.
    (3) Twice but less than three times the national average--2 points.
    (4) Three but less than four times the national average--3 points.
    (5) Four but less than five times the national average--4 points.
    (6) Five or more times the national average--5 points.
    c. High School Dropouts (9 points)--for the project area;
    (1) Less than the national average--0 points.
    (2) Equal to but less than twice the national average--2 points.
    (3) Twice but less than three times the national average--4 points.
    (4) Three but less than four times the national average--6 points.
    (5) Four but less than five times the national average-- 8 points.
    (6) Five or more times the national average--9 points.
    d. Concrete examples of social and/or economic decline that best 
capture the applicant's local situation (3 points). Examples that could 
be provided under this section are information on the community's 
stagnant or falling tax base, including recent commercial or industrial 
closings, housing conditions, such as the number and percentage of 
substandard and/or overcrowded units, rent burden (defined as average 
housing cost divided by average income) for the target area and urgency 
in addressing problems facing youth, local crime statistics, etc.
    3. In rating applications under this Factor, HUD reserves the right 
to consider sources of available objective data, such as the U.S. 
Census, other than, or in addition to, those provided by applicants, 
and to compare such data to those provided by applicants and local 
crime statistics for the project site.
    HUD requires use of sound and reliable data (e.g., U.S. Census 
data, state statistical reports, university studies/reports that are 
verifiable) to support distress levels cited in each application. A 
source for all information along with the publication or origination 
date must also be provided. Updated Census data are available as 
follows for the listed indicators:
    a. Unemployment rate-- estimated monthly, with a two-month lag;
    b. High School Dropout rate using the status rate-1999 data;
    c. Poverty rate--2000 Census data at the tract level.
    C. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (36 points): This Factor 
addresses the extent to which your proposed program is coordinated with 
other ongoing and related activities in the area you propose to serve 
and how well your program outcomes result in increased independence and 
empowerment to your beneficiaries at the conclusion of the grant 
period. HUD will evaluate the extent to which your application meets 
the following three elements:
    1. Coordination Elements: 5 points as distributed below.
    a. Coordination of activities (2 points). The extent to which you 
have coordinated your activities with other known organizations that 
are not directly in your proposed work activities, but with which you 
share common goals and objectives and are working toward meeting these 
objectives in a holistic and comprehensive manner. The goal of 
coordination is to ensure that programs do not operate in isolation. 
The more your activities are coordinated with other agencies in your 
service area, the more points you will receive. An example of 
coordination of activities would be the applicant's partnership with an 
existing child day care facility (which is not funded by program) that 
provides day care services to the Youthbuild participants during the 
hours they are being trained or receiving education.
    b. Self-Sufficiency (1 point). Describe how your program will 
provide Youthbuild participants the ability to achieve: independent 
living, economic empowerment, educational opportunities, housing choice 
or an improved environment that is free from environmental hazards such 
as lead hazards, brownfields, overcrowded housing, etc. An applicant 
that addresses this subfactor will receive one point.
    c. Sustainability (2 points). For applicants that have not received 
a prior Youthbuild award, describe how your program will be financially 
self-sustaining by decreasing dependence on Youthbuild funding and 
relying more on state, local, and private funding so your activities 
can be continued after your grant award is complete. For previous 
Youthbuild grantees, describe how your program demonstrates a 
progression of reduced reliance on HUD's Youthbuild funds, as either a 
reduced Youthbuild grant amount or increased overall program level with 
Youthbuild as a declining share of the total.
    2. Youthbuild Program Work Plan: For each component, HUD will 
consider the overall quality and feasibility of your proposed work plan 
and budget that must be consistent with the Youthbuild program as 
measured by your specific activities and outcomes. You will receive a 
greater number of points if the program components are consistent with 
the purpose of the Youthbuild program and your project goals and the 
resources provided. Letters describing specific resources or services 
to be contributed by non-applicant organizations must be included in 
your application.
    Specifically, HUD will consider the following categories when 
assessing your proposed work plan:
    a. Program Components. (15 points)
    (1) Outreach strategy, recruitment strategy, and selection 
activities. Points will be awarded based upon overall quality and 
feasibility of the outreach, recruitment and selection activities, the 
number and types of outreach activities, number of youths to be 
recruited including eligible participants who are harder to reach and 
comprehensiveness of the local selection process.
    In evaluating this category, HUD will consider your selection 
strategies and your specific outreach efforts to recruit or contact:
    (a) potential eligible participants who are unlikely to be aware of 
this program (because of race, color, national origin, religion, 
ethnicity, sex, or disability);
    (b) young women, young women with dependent children, and persons 
receiving public assistance; and
    (c) public agencies, courts, homeless shelters, local school 
systems, local workforce development systems, one-stop centers and 
community-based organizations, etc.
    (2) Educational and job training services and activities. Points 
will be awarded based upon the qualifications of instructors and 
proposed wages and stipends for youth participants. In evaluating this 
category, HUD will consider:
    (a) The types of in-class academic and vocational instruction you 
will provide;
    (b) The number and qualifications of program instructors and ratio 
of instructors to participants;
    (c) Scheduling plan for classroom and on-the-job training needed to 
meet program requirements and ensure timely completion of your program; 
and
    (d) Reasonable payments to participants of wages, stipends, and 
incentives. Wages or stipends for on-site construction training must be 
at least federal minimum wage.
    (3) Leadership development. Points will be awarded based upon your 
proposed leadership curriculum, qualifications of instructors, and the 
impact of the proposed leadership activities on the target area. You 
must describe the leadership development training you will offer to 
participants and strategies for providing the training

[[Page 13984]]

to build group cohesion and peer support.
    (4) Support services. You must assess the need for counseling and 
referral services during each stage of program implementation: outreach 
strategy, recruitment strategy, youths interviewed and not selected for 
the program, program participants, youths who drop out of the program, 
and graduates of the program. Describe how the participant needs will 
be addressed, document counseling and referral services to be offered 
to participants, the type of counseling, social services, and/or need-
based stipends you will provide.
    (5) Follow-up assistance and support activities to program 
graduates. You must describe the type of proposed assistance and 
support which should be based upon an assessment of the needs of the 
program graduates and should include continued linkage to the local 
Youthbuild program, counseling, and social service referral services.
    (6) On-site training. Points will be awarded based upon the 
experience of proposed instructors, number of youth to be trained, and 
wages or stipends for participants. HUD will consider:
    (a) The housing construction or rehabilitation activities 
participants will undertake at the site(s) to be used for the on-site 
training component of the program as provided in the training 
curriculum and methodology for carrying out on-site training;
    (b) The qualification and number of on-site supervisors;
    (c) The ratio of trainers to participants;
    (d) The number of participants per site; and
    (e) The amounts, wages, and/or stipends you will pay to 
participants during on-site work. Amounts must be at least federal 
minimum wage.
    b. Strategy for Job Placement. (2 points).
    (1) For applicants that have not received a prior Youthbuild award. 
HUD will evaluate the quality and feasibility of your proposed strategy 
to place youth participants in permanent jobs. You will be rated on the 
following factors: (a) proposed number of youth to obtain jobs that 
promote economic self-sufficiency (i.e., those that are a part of 
career paths or apprenticeship programs); (b) proposed number of youths 
who will continue post-secondary or secondary education; and (c) 
proposed number of youths to receive entrepreneurship training.
    (2) For Youthbuild grantees who have grants that are at least 24 
months old. In addition to the information in section V.C.2.b(1) above, 
provide the actual number of program participants that met each 
criterion in section V.C.2.b(1)(a), V.C.2.b(1)(b) and V.C.2.b(1)(c) as 
a percent of the total program participants served.
    c. Housing Program Priority: (10 points). HUD will assign Housing 
Program Priority points to all applications that contain evidence that 
housing resources from other federal, state, local, or private sources 
are available and firmly committed to cover all costs, in full, for the 
following housing activities for the proposed Youthbuild program: 
acquisition, architect and engineering fees, construction, and 
rehabilitation. Forms 2C, Housing Site Description, and 2C10, 
Youthbuild Grant Individual Housing Project Site Estimate, must be 
completed to receive the Housing Program Priority points. Applications 
that do not include proper documentation of firm financial commitments 
of non-Youthbuild resources or propose to use Youthbuild grant funds, 
in whole or in part, or do not evidence site control, for any one of 
the housing activities listed above will not be entitled to housing 
program priority points. For an applicant to receive the housing 
program priority points, each letter of commitment to cover the costs 
of the above activities must include the following:
    (1) The organization's name;
    (2) the applicant's name;
    (3) the proposed program;
    (4) the proposed amount of commitment and which housing 
activity(ies) (i.e., acquisition, architect and engineering fees, 
construction, and rehabilitation) the commitment represent(s);
    (5) a signature by an official of the organization legally able to 
make commitments on behalf of the organization with a statement 
confirming that the authority remains in effect for a period stated in 
the commitment.
    (6) If the contribution is cash, the applicant, the applicant's 
partner(s) or contributing entity must evidence its financial 
capability through a corporate or personal financial statement or other 
appropriate means. If any portion of the committed activity is to be 
financed through a lending institution, the participant must evidence 
the institution's commitment to fund the commitment.
    (7) Affirm that its investment is contingent only upon receipt of 
FY2005 Youthbuild funds and state a willingness on the part of the 
signatory to sign a legally binding commitment not earlier than the 
date this NOFA is published and (conditioned on HUD's environmental 
review and approval of a property, where applicable) upon award of the 
grant.
    d. Policy Priorities: (4 points). Policy Priorities are further 
defined in the General Section. Applicants should document the extent 
HUD's policy priorities are enhanced by the proposed activities. 
Applicants that include activities that can result in the achievement 
of these departmental policy priorities, as described in the General 
Section, will receive higher rating points in evaluating their 
application for funding. Three departmental policy priorities are 
listed below. Policy Priorities include:
    (1) Ending chronic homelessness (1 point);
    (2) Removal of regulatory barriers to affordable housing (up to 2 
points) (see the General Section for further explanation). You must 
complete Form HUD-27300, Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal 
of Regulatory Barriers and provide the requested documentation to 
receive points for this policy priority. See the General Section for a 
discussion of how points are allocated.
    (3) Participation in Energy Star (1 point). See the General Section 
for further explanation. Applicants must state how they incorporate 
this priority into their application in order to receive the one point.
    D. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging of Non-housing Resources (10 
Points). This Factor addresses the ability of the applicant to secure 
non-housing resources from its program partners. HUD will evaluate the 
extent to which firm commitments of resources are obtained from 
federal, state, local, private, and nonprofit sources. The applicant 
will receive points based upon the ratio of committed non-HUD resources 
for non-housing activities compared to the amount of Youthbuild funds 
requested in the application. (Exhibit 4B Non-Housing Program Resources 
must be completed and you must provide letters of firm commitment from 
the donor with the amount of cash or in-kind contribution). Applicants 
submitting letters of commitment without the Exhibit 4 completed, will 
not receive points for this Rating Factor. Each commitment described on 
Exhibit 4B for this Factor must have a firm commitment letter. In 
addition, the amount of the commitment in each letter must match the 
amount listed on the Form 4B.
    In assigning points for this criterion, HUD will consider the level 
of resources obtained for cash or in-kind contributions to cover the 
following kinds of areas:

[[Page 13985]]

    [sbull] Social services (i.e., counseling and training);
    [sbull] Use of existing vocational, adult, and bilingual 
educational courses;
    [sbull] Donation of labor, resource personnel, supplies, teaching 
materials, classroom, and/or meeting space.
    1. Firm commitment for non-housing resources. Each letter of 
commitment to cover the costs of the above activities must include the 
following:
    a. the organization's name;
    b. the applicant's name;
    c. the proposed program;
    d. the proposed amount of commitment and which non-housing 
activity(ies) the commitment represent(s);
    e. a signature by an official of the organization legally able to 
make commitments on behalf of the organization with a statement 
confirming that the authority remains in effect for a period stated in 
the commitment;
    f. an affirmation that its investment is contingent only upon 
receipt of FY2005 Youthbuild funds and a statement of willingness on 
the part of the signatory to sign a legally binding commitment not 
earlier than the date this NOFA is published.
    2. Resources from other federal, state, local governments, or 
private entities. HUD encourages use of existing federal, state, local 
governments, or private and nonprofit housing programs as part of your 
Youthbuild program. In addition, HUD encourages use of other non-
Youthbuild funds available for vocational, adult, and bilingual 
education programs, or for job training under the Workforce Investment 
Act and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation 
Act of 1996 (48 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).
    E. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (12 
Points). This factor emphasizes HUD's commitment to ensuring that 
applicants keep promises made in their application to rigorously assess 
their performance and ensure performance goals are met. Achieving 
results means you, the applicant, have clearly identified the benefits, 
or outcomes of your program. Outcomes are ultimate goals. Benchmarks or 
outputs are interim activities or products that lead to the ultimate 
achievement of your goals. Performance measurement requires that you, 
the applicant, identify program outcomes, interim products or 
benchmarks, and performance indicators that will allow you to assess 
your performance. Performance indicators must be quantified and measure 
actual achievements against anticipated achievements. You should 
identify what you are going to measure, how you are going to measure 
it, and the steps you have in place to make adjustments to your work 
plan if performance targets are not met within established timeframes. 
Applicants are required to address this factor as a narrative as well 
as complete the Logic Model form (see appendix to the General Section). 
This rating factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
ethics, management and accountability. HUD's evaluation of this rating 
factor will be based upon your Logic Model performance measures, 
results, and timeframes consistent with your program description, 
budget, resources, and program design.
    At a minimum, your Logic Model must include the following program 
outcomes:
    [sbull] Number of participants enrolled in the program;
    [sbull] Number of participants that graduate;
    [sbull] Number of housing units constructed;
    [sbull] Number of housing units rehabilitated;
    [sbull] Number and percent of GED's or certificates attained by 
participants (for percentage calculation, numerator: the number of 
participants who attain a diploma, GED or certificate; denominator: 
those who are participating in the Youthbuild program).
    [sbull] Number and percent of graduates placed in employment or 
education (for percentage calculation, numerator: the number of 
participants who have entered employment or enrolled in post secondary 
education; denominator: the number of graduates from the Youthbuild 
program); and
    [sbull] Number and percentage of graduates who made literacy and 
numeracy gains (measures the increase in literacy and numeracy skills 
of participants through a common assessment tool administered at 
program registration and regular intervals thereafter); for percentage 
calculation, numerator: the number of Youthbuild program participants 
who increase one or more education functioning levels; denominator: the 
number of Youthbuild program participants who have completed a year in 
the program).
    [sbull] Efficiency or annual cost per participant (numerator: grant 
amount; denominator: number of Youthbuild participants.)
    An applicant should agree to cooperate with any HUD-approved 
evaluation by making staff available for interview, providing lists of 
participants and their contact information, and making available files 
under appropriate assurance of confidentiality of records.

VI. Reviews and Selection Process

A. Rating and Ranking

    1. General. To review and rate applications, HUD may establish 
panels including officials from other federal agencies and outside 
experts or consultants to obtain certain expertise and other outside 
points of view.
    2. Rating. All applications for funding will be evaluated against 
the rating factors described in Section V. of this NOFA.
    3. Ranking. Applications will be ranked separately within each of 
the three funding categories. Applications will be selected for funding 
in accordance with their rank order in each category.
    4. Eligibility for Selection. To be eligible for funding, an 
application must have an overall minimum score of 75 points, including 
a minimum score of 10 points in Factor 1. If two or more applications 
are rated fundable and have the same score, but there are insufficient 
funds to fund all of them, HUD will select the application(s) with the 
highest score for Rating Factor 3 (Soundness of Approach). If two or 
more applications still have the same score, the highest score in the 
following factors will be selected sequentially until one highest score 
can be determined: Rating Factor 1 (Capacity of the Applicant and 
Relevant Organization); Rating Factor 4 (Leveraging of Resources) and 
Rating Factor 2 (Need/Extent of the Problem).
    5. Adjustments to Funding. HUD reserves the right to utilize this 
year's funding to fund previous years' errors prior to rating and 
ranking this year's applications. Any available funds that remain after 
all applications within funding range have been selected or obligated 
will be reallocated between categories 1 and 2 by rank order between 
applications at the discretion of the selecting official or designee. 
Category 3 funds are appropriated as a set-aside, and can not be 
reallocated.
    6. Corrections to Deficient Applications. The General Section 
provides the procedures for corrections to deficient applications.
    B. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates. HUD anticipates making 
award announcements no later than four months after the application 
submission deadline date.

VII. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    1. Notification of Approval or Disapproval. HUD will notify you

[[Page 13986]]

whether or not you have been selected for an award. If you are 
selected, HUD's notice to you of the amount of the grant award based on 
the approved application will constitute HUD's CONDITIONAL approval, 
subject to negotiation and execution of the grant agreement by HUD.
    2. Application Debriefing. Applicants who wish to have a debriefing 
of their application must send a written or email request (see the 
General Section) to: Mr. Mark A. Horwath, Director; Youthbuild Program; 
Office of Economic Development; Office of Community Planning and 
Development; 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 7149; Washington, DC 20410-
7000 or e-mail address [email protected]. Debriefing 
information can be found in the General Section of the SuperNOFA.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    1. Applicable OMB Circulars. Please refer to the General Section 
for information regarding applicable OMB Circulars.
    2. Applicable Executive Orders and Statutes. Please note that 
Executive Order 13202 may apply to your program (see the General 
Section) and Section 6002 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act covering the 
procurement of recovered materials may also be applicable (see the 
General Section.)
    3. Executive Order 13166, Improving Access To Services For Persons 
With Limited English Proficiency (LEP). Consistent with Executive Order 
13166, ``Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited 
Proficiency (LEP),'' issued on August 11, 2000, all HUD recipients 
should take reasonable steps to provide certain materials and 
information available in languages other than English. The 
determination as to what materials, languages, and modes of 
translation/interpretation services should be used shall be based upon:
    a. The specific needs and capabilities of the LEP populations among 
the award recipient's program beneficiaries and potential beneficiaries 
of assistance (e.g. tenants, community residents, counselees, trainees, 
etc.)
    b. The recipient's primary and major program purposes;
    c. Resources of the recipient and size of the program; and
    d. Local housing, demographic, and community conditions and needs. 
HUD's LEP recipient Guidance has been published in the Federal Register 
on December 19, 2003 and further guidance may be found at http://www.lep.gov.
    4. Reporting Requirements:
    a. Progress reports and Logic Model reporting. Youthbuild grantees 
are required to submit progress reports to the appropriate HUD field 
office in accordance with 24 CFR Part 585.403, using HUD Form 40201. 
Should you receive a FY 2005 Youthbuild award, you will be required to 
update your Logic Model periodically, addressing the time schedule, 
accomplishments to date and results and submit it to HUD in conjunction 
within the timeframes established for the Youthbuild progress reports.
    b. Racial and Ethnic Data reporting. HUD requires that funded 
recipients collect racial data and ethnic beneficiary data. It has 
adopted the Office of Management and Budget's Standards for the 
Collection of Racial and Ethnic Data. In view of these requirements, 
you should use form HUD-27061, Racial and Ethnic Data Reporting Form 
(instructions for its use), found on http://www.HUDclips.org., a 
comparable program form, or a comparable electronic data system for 
this purpose.

VIII. Agency Contact(s)

    For technical assistance in downloading an application package from 
Grants.gov/Apply, contact the Grants.gov help desk at 800-518-Grants or 
by sending an e-mail to [email protected].
    For programmatic information concerning the HUD Youthbuild program, 
contact Ms. Phyllis Williams, Community Planning and Development 
Specialist; Office of Economic Development; Office of Community 
Planning and Development; U. S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development; 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 7149; Washington, DC 20410-
7000; telephone (202) 708-2035 (this is not a toll-free number). 
Persons with speech or hearing impairments may access this number via 
TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 800-
877-8339. Prior to the application deadline, HUD's staff will be 
available to provide general guidance on the application submission 
process and location of information, but not guidance in preparing your 
application.
    A. Satellite Broadcast. HUD will hold an information broadcast via 
satellite for potential applicants to learn more about the program and 
preparation of an application. For more information about the date and 
time of this broadcast, you should consult the HUD Web site at http://www.hud.gov.
    B. Paperwork Reduction Act: The information collection requirements 
contained in this document have been approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB control number 2506.0142. In 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or 
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 
information unless the collection displays a currently valid OMB 
control number. Public reporting burden for the collection of 
information is estimated to average 45 hours per annum per respondent 
for the application and grant administration. This includes the time 
for collecting, reviewing, and reporting the data for the application, 
semi-annual reports, and final report. The information will be used for 
grantee selection and monitoring the administration of funds. Response 
to this request for information is required in order to receive the 
benefits to be derived.

Appendix A

Instructions for Completion of Youthbuild

Environmental Requirements

(Exhibit 2C(15))

A. Instructions to Applicants

    1. If you propose to use Youthbuild funds to cover any costs of 
the lease, acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction or real 
property, you shall submit all relevant environmental information in 
your application to support HUD decisionmaking in accordance with 
the environmental procedures and standards described in 24 CFR 
585.307. For each proposed Youthbuild property for which HUD 
environmental procedures apply, you are to prepare a separate 
Exhibit 2C(15) in which you supply HUD with environmental threshold 
information and letters from qualified data sources (see definition 
below) which support the information. HUD will review your 
submission and determine how, if necessary, HUD will comply with any 
federal laws and authorities that may be applicable to your property 
proposed for Youthbuild funding. If environmental procedures apply 
and Exhibit 2C(15) with supporting documentation is not included 
then the application will be deemed ineligible.
    You are to follow these instructions for preparing Exhibit 
2C(15). The instructions advise you on how to obtain and document 
certain information to be supplied to HUD in this exhibit. Before 
selecting a property for Youthbuild funding, you should read these 
instructions and be advised that HUD encourages you to select, to 
the extent practicable, properties and locations that are free of 
environmental hazards and problems discussed in these instructions. 
The responses to the environmental criteria in Exhibit 2C(15) will 
be used to determine environmental approval or disapproval by HUD of 
proposals for physical development of properties.
    2. After selecting a property for proposed Youthbuild funding, 
you are to determine the activities to be undertaken with your 
Youthbuild funds. You are to indicate in Section E whether the 
Youthbuild funds will be used for:

[[Page 13987]]

    a. Lease or purchase of a property;
    b. Minor rehabilitation;
    c. Major rehabilitation; or
    d. New construction of housing.
    The activities proposed for Youthbuild funding will determine 
the kind of data that you will need to obtain from a qualified data 
source in order to complete Exhibit 2C(15).
    3. Once you have selected a property and determined the 
activities for Youthbuild funding, you are advised to check with 
your city or county agency that administers HUD's Community 
Development Block Grant program and performs environmental reviews, 
or the local planning agency. This course of action is recommended 
in view of the fact that most, if not all of the data needed for 
preparing Exhibit 2C(15) is readily available from the local 
community development agency and the local planning agency. You are 
advised to ask the environmental staff of those agencies the 
following questions:
    a. Has the agency ever prepared an environmental review of the 
proposed Youthbuild property or the neighborhood in which the 
property is located, and if so, would it provide a copy to the 
applicant for use by HUD;
    b. Would the agency assist you in completing section G; or if 
the agency is not able to help complete any item in section G, would 
the agency advise you which local or state agency is the appropriate 
qualified data source for obtaining the information.
    Also, you should check with the local planning agency before 
proceeding elsewhere for the information.
    You are advised that the cost of preparing information and 
analyses needed for Exhibit 2C(15) is an eligible cost under the 
Youthbuild program and is reimbursable if you are approved for a 
grant.
    4. Key terms used in these instructions are defined in the 
following section. Most of the other terms are technical and their 
definition would be known to qualified data sources.
    a. Qualified data source means any federal, state, or local 
agency with expertise or experience in environmental protection 
(e.g., the local community development agency; the land planning 
agency; the state environmental protection agency; the State 
Historic Preservation Officer) or any other source qualified to 
provide reliable information on the particular subject. Please 
attach a letter supporting the information from each qualified data 
source to Exhibit 2C(15).
    b. Minor rehabilitation refers to proposed repairs and 
renovations to
    (1) A building for residential use (with one to four units):
    (a) Where the density is not increased beyond four units;
    (b) Where the land use is not changed; and
    (c) Where the footprint of the building is not increased in a 
floodplain or in a wetland; or
    (2) A multifamily residential building (with more than four 
units):
    (a) Where the unit density is not changed more than 20 percent;
    (b) Where the land use is not changed to non-residential; and
    (c) Where the estimated cost of rehabilitation is less than 75 
percent of the total estimated cost of replacement after 
rehabilitation.
    c. Major rehabilitation refers to proposed repairs and 
renovations to:
    (1) An existing building for residential use with one to four 
units:
    (a) Where the density is increased beyond four units;
    (b) That involves changes in land use; or
    (c) Where the footprint of the building is increased in a 
floodplain or in a wetland.
    (2) An existing multifamily building (with five or more units):
    (a) Where the estimated cost of the work is 75 percent or more 
of the estimated cost of replacement after completion;
    (b) That involves changes in land use from residential to 
nonresidential, or from nonresidential to residential; or
    (c) That increases unit density by more than 20 percent.
    d. Multifamily housing means any residential building that 
contains five or more apartments or rooming units.
    e. Single family housing means any residential building that 
contains one-to-four dwelling units.
    Because each federal environmental law or authority has 
compliance requirements that differ according to the type of 
proposed activity to be funded, you are required to supply 
information in Exhibit 2C(15) only for the type of activity for 
which the Youthbuild grant will be used.
    f. If you propose new construction or major rehabilitation of 
multifamily housing or major rehabilitation of single family 
housing, you must supply complete and reliable environmental 
threshold information for items 1 through 13 in section G.
    g. If you propose new construction of single family housing, you 
must supply complete and reliable environmental threshold 
information for items 1 through 12 in section G.
    h. If you propose minor rehabilitation of multifamily or single 
family housing, or the purchase or lease of a property, you must 
supply complete and reliable environmental threshold information for 
items 1 through 7 in section G.
    5. Applicants subject to HUD's environmental procedures are to 
submit Exhibit 2C(15) and accompanying documentation to HUD with the 
applications for grant assistance. Such applicants are prohibited 
from committing or expending state, local, or other funds in order 
to undertake property rehabilitation, construction (including 
demolition), or acquisition (including lease), until HUD and the 
grantee execute a grant agreement for the proposed Youthbuild 
project.
    6. HUD reserves the right to disqualify any application where 
one or more environmental thresholds are exceeded if HUD determines 
that the compliance review cannot be conducted and satisfactorily 
completed within the HUD review period for Youthbuild applications.

B. Environmental Threshold and Documentation Requirements

    The threshold and documentation requirements for each of the 
federal environmental laws and authorities are described below, 
following the same order as they appear in section G.

1. Site Within Designated Coastal Barrier Resources

    Threshold: Youthbuild applicants are prohibited by federal law 
from using federal financial assistance for properties if the 
properties are located within designated coastal barriers of the 
Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes (Coastal Barrier 
Resources Act, 16 U.S.C. 3501).
    * Documentation: You are to select either A or B for the 
condition that best describes the property and report the option 
selected in item 1 of section G.
    A. Your program operates in a community that does not contain 
any shores along the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, or the 
Great Lakes.
    B. Your program operates in a community that does contain shores 
along the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, or the Great Lakes. 
You must provide HUD with a finding made by a qualified data source 
stating that the proposed property is not located within a 
designated coastal barrier resource by citing the map panel number 
of the official maps issued by the Department of the Interior (DOI) 
on the basis of which the finding was made.

2. Site Contaminated With Toxic Chemicals and Radioactive Materials

    Threshold: Under HUD policy, as described in 24 CFR 50.3 (i), 
HUD will not approve the provision of financial assistance to 
residential properties on sites where contamination could affect the 
health and safety of occupants or conflict with the intended 
utilization of the property. Sites known or suspected to be 
contaminated by toxic chemicals or radioactive materials include, 
but are not limited to, sites: (i) listed on either an EPA Superfund 
National Priorities List (NPL) or CERCLA (Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) List, or 
equivalent state list; (ii) located within 3,000 feet of a hazardous 
or solid waste landfill site; or (iii) with an underground storage 
tank (which is not a residential fuel tank).
    * Documentation: You are to select either A or B for the 
condition that best describes property and report the option 
selected in item 2 of section G.
    A. You are providing HUD with a finding made by a qualified data 
source stating that the proposed Youthbuild property and any 
neighboring properties do not contain any sites known or suspected 
to be contaminated with toxic chemicals and radioactive materials.
    B. You are providing any site contamination data by a qualified 
data source in your letter for HUD's evaluation of contamination 
and/or suspicion of any contamination of a proposed property or any 
neighboring properties.

3. Site Affecting a Floodplain

    Threshold: A property located within a floodplain and proposed 
for funding is subject to Executive Order 11988, Floodplain 
Management. The Executive Order directs HUD to avoid, where 
practicable, proposed financial support for any floodplain property,

[[Page 13988]]

whenever HUD has options to approve properties in flood-free 
locations. The Order does not apply to existing single family 
properties proposed for purchase or lease except for: (a) Property 
that is located within a floodway or coastal high hazard area; and 
(b) substantial improvement. Substantial improvement for flood 
hazard purposes means any property rehabilitation which: (i) 
increases the unit density of the property; or (ii) equals or 
exceeds 50 percent of the market value of the property before 
rehabilitation, but excluding the costs for correcting health, 
sanitary, and safety code violations. Note: Proposed funding for 
substantial improvement and new construction are subject to the 
Executive Order decisionmaking process. This may result in a 
disqualification of your application (refer above to number 7 under 
``Instructions to Applicants'').
    * Documentation: You are to select A or B for the condition that 
best describes your property and report the option selected in item 
3 of section G.
    A. You are providing HUD with a finding made by a qualified data 
source stating that the property is not located within the Special 
Flood Hazard Area (SFHA).
    B. You are providing HUD with a finding made by a qualified data 
source that the property is located within the Special Flood Hazard 
Area (SFHA) and indicating if the property is located within a 
floodway or coastal high hazard area.
    The information for A and B must provide HUD with the flood map 
panel number obtained either from the official maps issued for the 
National Flood Insurance Program or from the property appraisal 
report used to make the finding.
    For all proposed rehabilitation of properties that are located 
within a SFHA, you must provide HUD with estimates of: (1) the 
property value before rehabilitation, and (2) the cost of the 
proposed rehabilitation. Provide the estimates in section F.
    If the property is found to be located within a SFHA, proceed to 
item 4 on flood insurance protection. Otherwise proceed to item 5.

4. Building Requiring Flood Insurance Protection

    Threshold: HUD will estimate the amount and period of flood 
insurance coverage that is to be made a condition of approval of any 
HUD financial assistance for a building located within a Special 
Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). The Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 
requires owners of HUD-assisted buildings to purchase and maintain 
flood insurance protection as a condition of approval of any HUD 
financial assistance for the proposed purchase, rehabilitation, or 
new construction of any SFHA building. The law prescribes the 
coverage period and dollar amount of flood insurance protection.
    Proof of Purchase of Flood Insurance Protection: You must 
provide HUD with proof of purchase of flood insurance protection for 
any proposed Youthbuild building located within the SFHA, whenever 
HUD funding is being used for property purchase, rehabilitation, or 
new construction. The standard documentation for compliance is the 
Policy Declarations form issued by the National Flood Insurance 
Program (NFIP) or issued by any property insurance company offering 
coverage under the NFIP. Whenever the requirement applies to 
coverage that extends to future years, the grant agreement will 
require that the insured have its insurer automatically forward to 
HUD, in the same manner as to the insured, an information copy of 
the Policy Declarations form, which is used to verify compliance.
    * Documentation: You are to select either A or B for the 
condition that best describes your property and report the option 
selected in item 4 of section G.
    A. You already own the property and attach a copy of the Policy 
Declarations form confirming that a current flood insurance policy 
is in effect and the policy provides adequate coverage for the 
building proposed for the Youthbuild project located within the 
Special Flood Hazard Area.
    B. After you have purchased (or constructed, in the case of 
proposed new construction) the Youthbuild property, you must obtain 
and maintain flood insurance protection. For the term and amount of 
coverage prescribed by law, you must provide HUD with a copy of the 
Policy Declarations form confirming that the flood insurance policy 
is in effect and the policy provides adequate coverage for the 
Youthbuild building located within the Special Flood Hazard Area.

5. Site Within Clear Zones or Accident Potential Zones of Airports and 
Airfields

    Threshold: HUD policy as described in 24 CFR part 51, subpart D 
applies to HUD approval of financial assistance to: (a) properties 
located within clear zones; and (b) in the case of new construction 
or major rehabilitation, properties located within accident 
potential zones.
    (a) Clear zones: New construction and major rehabilitation of a 
property that is located on a clear zone site is prohibited. HUD 
financial assistance in a clear zone is allowed only for the 
proposed lease, purchase, or minor rehabilitation of properties (24 
CFR 51.302(a)). For HUD funding approval for any property in a clear 
zone: (a) HUD will give advance written notice to the prospective 
property buyer in accord with 24 CFR 51.303(a)(3); and (b) a copy of 
the HUD notice signed by the prospective property buyer will be 
placed in the property file. The written notice informs the 
prospective property buyer of: (i) the potential hazards from 
airplane accidents, which studies have shown more likely to occur 
within clear zones than in other areas around the airport/airfield; 
and (ii) the potential acquisition by airport or airfield operators, 
who may wish to buy the property at some future date as part of a 
clear zone acquisition program.
    (b) Accident potential zones: For properties located within the 
accident potential zone (APZ), HUD shall determine whether the use 
of the property is generally consistent with Department of Defense 
``Land Use Compatibility Guidelines for Accident Potential Zones.''
    * Documentation: You are to select either A or B for the 
condition that best describes your property and report the option 
selected in item 5 of section G.
    A. The property is not located within 3,000 feet of a civil 
airport or military airfield.
    B. If your property is located within 3,000 feet of a civil 
airport or military airfield, you must provide HUD with a finding 
from the airport operator stating whether or not the property is 
located within a runway clear zone at a civil airport, or a clear 
zone or accident potential zone at a military airfield.
    For properties that are located within a runway clear zone or a 
clear zone or accident potential zone, if you propose to 
rehabilitate such a property you must provide HUD with estimates of: 
(i) the cost of the proposed rehabilitation, and (ii) the property 
value after completion of the rehabilitation. The estimates are to 
be provided in section F.

6. Site Is or Affects an Historic Property

    Threshold: Only if a property is proposed for rehabilitation or 
new construction must HUD in consultation with the State Historic 
Preservation Officer (SHPO), and following the Department of the 
Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Evaluation, make a 
determination whether the property is:
    a. Listed on or formally determined to be eligible for listing 
on the National Register of Historic Places;
    b. Located within or directly adjacent to an historic district; 
or
    c. A property whose area of potential effects includes an 
historic district or property.
    Historic properties and districts are subject by law to special 
protection and historic preservation processing, which HUD must 
perform to comply with the regulations of the Advisory Council on 
Historic Preservation (ACHP: 36 CFR part 800). Note: If you are 
using information from the SHPO as a qualified data source you need 
to allow sufficient time to obtain the information from the SHPO. 
You may wish to make special arrangements with the SHPO for rapid 
review of the proposed property where this is practicable. In 
addition, for properties determined to be historic properties, HUD 
will require 30 to 90 days in most cases for HUD to perform historic 
preservation compliance with the ACHP regulations. This may result 
in a disqualification of the application (refer above to number 7 
under ``Instructions to Applicants'').
    * Documentation: You are to select one of the following options 
that best describes the condition of your property and report the 
option selected in item 6 of section G.
    A. You propose financial assistance for rehabilitation or new 
construction, and are providing HUD with a SHPO's finding that the 
proposed Youthbuild activity:
    1. Is located within an area where there are no historic 
properties; or
    2. Will have no effect on historic properties; or
    3. Will have an effect on historic properties not considered 
adverse
    B. You propose financial assistance for rehabilitation or new 
construction, and are providing HUD with a SHPO's finding that the 
proposed Youthbuild activity will have an adverse effect on historic 
properties.
    C. You are providing HUD with a copy of a letter from the SHPO 
stating any reason for not being able to provide you with the 
requested information and finding.

[[Page 13989]]

7. Site Near Hazardous Industrial Operations

    Threshold: Properties that are located near hazardous industrial 
operations handling fuels or chemicals of an explosive or flammable 
nature are subject to HUD safety standards (24 CFR 51, subpart C). 
However, under the Youthbuild program, these standards would apply 
only if you propose: (a) Construction of a building; (b) conversion 
of a non-residential land use to a residential land use including 
making habitable a building condemned for habitation; or (c) 
rehabilitation that increases the density of a residential structure 
by increasing the number of dwelling or rooming units. In the case 
of tanks containing common liquid fuels, the requirement for an 
acceptable separation distance (ASD) calculation only applies to 
storage tanks that have a capacity of more than 100 gallons.
    * Documentation: You are to select one of the following options 
that best describes the condition of the property, and report the 
option selected in item 7 of section G.
    A. The proposed project does not include: (1) Construction of a 
building; (2) conversion of a non-residential land use to a 
residential land use including making habitable a building condemned 
for habitation; or (3) rehabilitation that increases the density of 
a residential structure by increasing the number of dwelling or 
rooming units.
    B. The proposed project includes: (1) Construction of a 
building; (2) conversion of a non-residential land use to a 
residential land use including making habitable a building condemned 
for habitation; or (3) rehabilitation that increases the density of 
a residential structure by increasing the number of dwelling or 
rooming units; and you are providing HUD with a finding by a 
qualified data source that the proposed property is not located 
within the immediate vicinity of hazardous industrial operations 
handling fuel or chemicals of an explosive or flammable nature by 
citing data used and the maps used.
    C. The applicant proposes: (1) Construction of a building; (2) 
conversion of a non-residential land use to a residential land use 
including making habitable a building condemned for habitation; or 
(3) rehabilitation that increases the density of a residential 
structure by increasing the number of dwelling or rooming units. The 
grantee provides HUD a finding made by a qualified data source 
stating: (1) That the proposed property is located within the 
immediate vicinity of hazardous industrial operations handling fuel 
or chemicals of an explosive or flammable nature; (2) the type and 
scale of such hazardous industrial operations; (3) the distance of 
such operations from the proposed property; (4) a preliminary 
calculation of the acceptable separation distance (ASD) between such 
operations and the proposed property; and (5) a recommendation as to 
whether it is safe to use the property in accord with 24 CFR part 
51, subpart C.

8. Site Near High Noise Source

    Threshold: For new construction that is to occur in high noise 
areas (i.e., exceeding 65 decibels), applicants shall incorporate 
noise attenuation features to the extent required by HUD 
environmental criteria and standards contained in subpart B (Noise 
Abatement and Control) of 24 CFR part 51. Approvals in a Normally 
unacceptable noise zone require a minimum of 5 decibels additional 
sound attenuation for buildings having noise-sensitive uses if the 
day-night average sound level is greater than 65 decibels but does 
not exceed 70 decibels, or a minimum of 10 decibels of additional 
sound attenuation if the day-night average sound level is greater 
than 70 decibels but does not exceed 75 decibels.
    Proposed housing sites with above 75 decibels are unacceptable 
and the noise attenuation measures require the approval of the 
Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development. In 
Unacceptable noise zones, HUD strongly encourages conversion of 
noise-exposed sites to non-housing land uses compatible with the 
high noise levels.
    For major rehabilitation projects involving five or more 
dwelling units located in the ``Normally Unacceptable'' and 
``Unacceptable'' noise zones, HUD actively seeks to have project 
sponsors incorporate noise attenuation features, given the extent 
and nature of the rehabilitation being undertaken and the level of 
exterior noise exposure.
    *Documentation: You are to select A or B for the condition that 
best describes their project and report the option selected in item 
8 of section G.
    A. You are providing HUD with a finding made by a qualified data 
source stating that the property proposed by the applicant for a 
major rehabilitation or new construction project involving five or 
more dwelling units is not located within: (1) 1,000 feet of a major 
noise source, road, or highway; (2) 3,000 feet of a railroad; or (3) 
1 mile of a civil or 5 miles of a military airfield.
    B. The applicant provides HUD with a finding made by a qualified 
data source: (1) stating that the plans for the property proposed by 
the applicant for a major rehabilitation or new construction project 
involving five or more dwelling units will incorporate noise 
attenuation features in accord with HUD environmental criteria and 
standards contained in subpart B (Noise Abatement and Control) of 24 
CFR part 51; (2) stating whether the property is located within a 
``Normally Unacceptable'' or ``Unacceptable'' noise zone; and (3) 
providing HUD plans and a statement of the anticipated interior 
noise levels.

9. Site Affecting Coastal Zone Management

    Threshold: Only for proposed activities involving new 
construction or major rehabilitation of multifamily housing does the 
Coastal Zone Management (CZM) authority apply. Projects that can 
affect the coastal zone must be carried out in a manner consistent 
with the approved state coastal zone management program under 
section 307 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended.
    *Documentation: You are to select either A or B for the 
condition that best describes the project and report the option 
selected in item 9 of section G.
    A. You state that your project is not located within a coastal 
zone, as defined by the States Coastal Zone Management Plan.
    B. If your project is located within a coastal zone, you are 
providing HUD with a finding made by the state coastal zone 
management agency that the project proposed by the applicant is 
consistent with the approved state coastal zone management program.

10. Site Affecting a Sole Source Aquifer

    Threshold: The sole source aquifer authority applies primarily 
to activities involving proposed new construction or conversion to 
housing of non-residential property. Projects that can affect 
aquifers designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
must be reviewed for impact on such designated aquifer sources. The 
Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 requires protection of drinking 
water systems that are the sole or principal drinking water source 
for an area and which, if contaminated, would create a significant 
hazard to public health.
    *Documentation: You are to select either A or B for the 
condition that best describes the project and report the option 
selected in item 10 of section G.
    A. You are providing HUD with a finding made by a qualified data 
source stating that the proposed property is not located on nor does 
it affect a sole source aquifer designated by EPA.
    B. If your project proposes new construction or conversion 
activities that are located on or may affect any sole source aquifer 
designated by the EPA, you are identifying the aquifer and providing 
HUD with an explanation of the effect on the aquifer from a 
qualified data source, and/or a copy of any comments on the proposed 
project that have been received from the EPA Regional Office as well 
as from any state or local agency with jurisdiction for protecting 
the drinking water system.

11. Site Affecting Endangered Species

    Threshold: The Endangered Species Protection (ESP) authority 
applies primarily to activities involving proposed new construction 
or conversion to housing of a non-residential property. Projects 
which can affect listed or proposed endangered or threatened species 
or critical habitats require consultation with the Department of the 
Interior or the Department of Commerce in compliance with the 
procedure of section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 
amended.
    *Documentation: You are to select either A or B for the 
condition that best describes the property and report the option 
selected in item 11 of section G.
    A. If your project proposes new construction or conversion 
activities, you are providing HUD with a finding made by a qualified 
data source that the project is not likely to affect any listed or 
proposed endangered or threatened species or critical habitat. The 
finding shall indicate whether the project is located within a 
critical habitat, and if so, explain why the project is not likely 
to affect the species or habitat.
    B. If your project proposes new construction or conversion 
activities that are likely to affect listed or proposed endangered

[[Page 13990]]

or threatened species or critical habitat, you are providing HUD 
with a statement from a qualified data source explaining the likely 
effect, and/or a finding made by the Fish and Wildlife Service of 
the Department of the Interior or the National Marine Fisheries 
Service of the Department of Commerce stating as acceptable the 
proposed mitigation that you will provide to protect any affected 
endangered or threatened species or critical habitat.

12. Site Affecting a Designated Wetland

    Threshold: New construction or conversion to housing of a non-
residential property located within a designated wetland is subject 
to Executive Order 11990, Protection of Wetlands. This Executive 
Order directs HUD to avoid, where practicable, financial support for 
new construction on wetland property. Note: Proposed funding for new 
construction or conversion is subject to the Executive Order 
decisionmaking process. This may result in a disqualification of the 
application (refer above to number 7 under ``Instructions to 
Applicants'').
    *Documentation: You are to select A or B for the condition that 
best describes the property and report the option selected in item 
12 of section G.
    A. You are providing HUD with a finding made by a qualified data 
source stating that the property is not located within a designated 
wetland where new construction or conversion is proposed.
    B. You are providing HUD with a finding made by a qualified data 
source that the property is located within a designated wetland, 
which applies only to property where new construction or conversion 
is proposed.
    The information for A and B must provide HUD with the wetland 
panel number obtained from official maps issued by the Department of 
the Interior on the basis of which the finding was made, or where 
the Department of the Interior has not mapped the area, a letter or 
other documentation from the Army Corps of Engineers, or other 
federal agency.

13. Significant Impact to the Human Environment.

    Threshold: HUD must perform an environmental assessment of any 
property proposed for either:
    a. Major rehabilitation of:
    (1) Multifamily residential buildings (with more than four 
units) that would: increase unit density by more than 20 percent, 
change the land use, or cost 75 percent or more of the total 
estimated cost of replacement after rehabilitation; or
    (2) Buildings for residential use (with one to four units) that 
would increase density beyond four units, change the land use, or 
increase the footprint of the building in a floodplain or in a 
wetland;
    b. New construction except for (A) an individual action on up to 
four dwelling units where there is a maximum of four units on any 
one site (The units can be four one-unit buildings or one four-unit 
building or any combination in between); and (B) an individual 
action on a project of five or more housing units developed on 
scattered sites, when the sites are more than 2,000 feet apart and 
there are not more than four housing units on any one site. It is 
the policy of the Department to reject proposals that have 
significant adverse environmental impacts and to encourage the 
modification of projects in order to enhance environmental quality 
and minimize environmental harm. This policy is authorized by the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the implementing 
regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality and HUD's 
Environmental regulations at 24 CFR part 50.
    *Documentation: You are to provide HUD with any information on 
any adverse environmental impacts that affect the property or that 
the project would create. You are to report these data on a separate 
sheet and attach it to Exhibit 2C(15). Examples of adverse impacts 
are: soil instability and erodibility; natural or person-made 
hazards and nuisances; air pollution; inadequate infrastructure 
(e.g., water supply, waste water treatment, storm water management, 
solid waste collection), inadequate public services (i.e., fire, 
police, health care, social services, schools, parks) and 
transportation; and encroachment on prime farmlands and wild and 
scenic river areas. You are to identify any significant impacts to 
the human environment.

APPENDIX B

    The following non-standard forms are required for your 
Youthbuild application. The Youthbuild forms were approved under OMB 
Approval No. 2506-0142 (expiration 12/31/06).

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[[Page 14001]]



Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency Program Coordinators

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Public and Indian Housing, Office of Public 
Housing and Voucher Programs.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-
Sufficiency (FSS) Program Coordinators.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number for this 
NOFA is FR-4950-N-17. The OMB approval number for this program is 2577-
0178.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 14.871, 
Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers.
    F. Dates: Application Deadline: The application submission date is 
May 20, 2005. Please see the General Section for application 
submission, delivery, and timely receipt requirements.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information: The purpose 
of the Housing Choice Voucher FSS program is to promote the development 
of local strategies to coordinate the use of assistance under the 
Housing Choice Voucher program with public and private resources to 
enable participating families to achieve economic independence and 
self-sufficiency. The FSS program and this FSS NOFA support the 
Department's strategic goals of increasing homeownership activities and 
helping HUD-assisted renters make progress toward self-sufficiency. The 
FSS program provides critical tools that can be used by communities to 
support welfare reform and help families develop new skills that will 
lead to economic self-sufficiency. As a result of their participation 
in the FSS program, many families have achieved stable, well-paid 
employment, which has made it possible for them to become homeowners. 
An FSS program coordinator assures that program participants are linked 
to the supportive services they need to achieve self-sufficiency.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    A. Authority and Program Description. The Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2005, allows funding for program coordinators under 
the Housing Choice Voucher FSS program. Through annual NOFAs, HUD has 
provided funding to public housing agencies (PHAs) that are operating 
Housing Choice Voucher FSS programs to enable those PHAs to employ 
program coordinators to support their Housing Choice Voucher FSS 
programs. In the Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 Housing Choice Voucher FSS 
Program Coordinator NOFA, HUD is again making funding available to PHAs 
to employ FSS program coordinators and FSS homeownership program 
coordinators for one year. Funding priority under this NOFA will be 
provided to applicants that demonstrate that their FSS families have 
made progress in moving to homeownership. HUD will accept applications 
from both new and renewal PHAs that have HUD approval to administer a 
Housing Choice Voucher FSS program. PHAs funded under the Housing 
Choice Voucher FSS NOFA in FY2004 are considered ``renewal'' PHAs in 
this NOFA. These renewal PHAs are invited to apply for funds to 
continue previously funded Housing Choice Voucher FSS program 
coordinator and FSS homeownership coordinator positions that they have 
filled. In addition, any renewal PHA that has demonstrated significant 
progress in expanding FSS homeownership opportunities may apply for an 
additional Housing Choice Voucher FSS homeownership coordinator to 
support Housing Choice Voucher FSS homeownership activities. For 
funding Category 1 of this NOFA only, eligible renewal PHA applicants 
include PHAs that received funding under the FY2003 FSS NOFA.
    Because of the importance of the FSS program in helping families 
increase earned income and develop assets, HUD will also accept 
applications from ``new'' PHAs, PHAs that do not qualify as renewal 
PHAs under this FSS NOFA. The maximum number of positions that a new 
applicant PHA, including new PHA joint applicants, may receive is one 
full-time FSS program coordinator. Preference in funding these ``new'' 
applicant PHAs will be given to applicants with documented home 
purchases by Housing Choice Voucher program participants and graduates. 
A definition of the Housing Choice Voucher Home Purchase Percentage 
that will be used for this preference is found in I.C.10 of this FSS 
NOFA.
    To support the Department's initiatives on Colonias, a selection 
preference is again included in this NOFA for ``new'' applicant PHAs 
that provide services and support to rural under-served communities in 
the Southwest Border regions of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and 
Texas. See Section III.C.3.c. of this NOFA for requirements that must 
be met to qualify for the Colonias preference.
    PHAs are encouraged to outreach to persons with disabilities who 
are Housing Choice Voucher program participants and might be interested 
in participating in the FSS program and to include agencies on their 
FSS Program Coordinating Committee (PCC) that work with and provide 
services for families with disabilities.
    Applicants must administer the FSS program in accordance with HUD 
regulations and requirements in 24 CFR part 984 which govern the 
Housing Choice Voucher FSS Program and must comply with the existing 
Housing Choice Voucher program requirements, notices and guidebooks.
    B. Number of Positions for Which Eligible PHAs May Apply. Eligible 
PHAs may apply for funding for Housing Choice Voucher FSS program 
coordinator positions under this NOFA as follows:
    1. Renewal PHAs. PHAs that qualify as eligible renewal PHAs under 
this NOFA, may apply for:
    a. Continuation of each FSS coordinator position, including 
homeownership coordinator positions, awarded under the Housing Choice 
Voucher FSS NOFA in FY2004 that has been filled by the PHA, and, for 
funding Category 1 of this NOFA only, continuation of eligible 
positions funded under the FY2003 FSS NOFA.
    b. New Position. Up to one additional full-time Housing Choice 
Voucher FSS homeownership program coordinator for renewal PHAs with 
qualifying homeownership programs.
    2. New PHAs. A PHA that meets the requirements for a new PHA under 
this FSS NOFA, may apply for Housing Choice Voucher FSS program 
coordinator positions as follows: a) Up to one full-time Housing Choice 
Voucher FSS coordinator position for a PHA with HUD approval to 
administer a Housing Choice Voucher FSS program of 25 or more FSS 
slots. b) Up to one full-time Housing Choice Voucher FSS coordinator 
position per application for joint PHA applicants that together have 
HUD approval to administer a total of at least 25 Housing Choice 
Voucher FSS slots.
    C. Definitions. The following definitions apply to the funding 
available under this NOFA.
    1. Renewal PHA Applicant. A PHA or PHAs that received funding under 
the Housing Choice Voucher FSS NOFA in FY2004. For purposes of Category 
1 applicants only, eligible renewal PHAs also include PHAs that 
received FSS funding in 2003.
    2. New PHA Applicant. PHAs that did not receive funding under the 
Housing Choice Voucher FSS NOFA in FY2004 that have HUD approval to 
administer a Housing Choice Voucher FSS program

[[Page 14002]]

of at least 25 slots or that fulfill the 25 slot minimum by applying 
jointly with one or more other PHAs.
    3. FSS Program Size. The total number of Housing Choice Voucher FSS 
program slots identified in the PHA's HUD-approved FSS Action Plan. The 
total may include both voluntary and mandatory Housing Choice Voucher 
FSS program slots.
    4. Qualifying FSS Homeownership Program. Qualifying programs 
include the Housing Choice Voucher program homeownership option or 
other programs administered by the PHA or other entities that prepare 
Housing Choice Voucher program FSS participants for making the 
transition from renting to homeownership.
    5. FSS Homeownership Percentage. A percentage that will be computed 
by HUD for the purpose of establishing the order of funding of eligible 
renewal applicants under this NOFA. It is the total number of an 
applicant's Housing Choice Voucher FSS homeownership families as a 
percentage of the PHA's Housing Choice Voucher FSS program 
participants.
    6. Total Number of FSS Homeownership Families. The total number of 
Housing Choice Voucher FSS homeownership families enrolled in the 
applicant's Qualifying Homeownership Programs as of the application due 
date of this NOFA, plus the number of its Housing Choice Voucher FSS 
graduates that moved to homeownership between October 1, 2000, and the 
application due date of this NOFA. Homeownership participation of 
families is reported to HUD on the FSS program coordinator application 
and on the form HUD-50058. These numbers are subject to audit.
    7. The Number of Housing Choice Voucher FSS Program Participants. 
The number that is used to calculate the FSS Homeownership Percentage 
of the applicant. It is the total number of families shown in HUD's PIC 
data system as enrolled in the applicant's Housing Choice Voucher FSS 
program on the application due date of this NOFA, plus the number of 
families that successfully completed their Housing Choice Voucher FSS 
contracts in the applicant's program between October 1, 2000, and the 
application due date of this NOFA.
    8. Percentage of Families with Positive FSS Escrow Balances. A 
percentage that will be computed by HUD and used to determine funding 
order under this NOFA. It is the number of Housing Choice Voucher FSS 
families with positive escrow balances as a percentage of Housing 
Choice Voucher FSS families with FSS progress reports submitted to HUD 
on the Form HUD-50058. The data source is HUD's PIC data system records 
of Form HUD-50058 Housing Choice Voucher FSS program progress reports 
that were effective between October 1, 2003, and the application due 
date of this NOFA.
    9. Housing Choice Voucher Program Size. The number of Housing 
Choice Vouchers in a PHA's voucher program as determined by HUD using 
baseline data.
    10. Housing Choice Voucher Program Home Purchase Percentage. A 
percentage calculated for new applicant PHAs that are eligible for 
funding under Category 3 of this FSS NOFA. It is the number of 
documented home purchases by Housing Choice Voucher program 
participants and graduates for the period from October 1, 2000 through 
the application due date of this NOFA as a percentage of the 
applicant's Housing Choice Voucher program size.

II. Award Information

A. Available Funds

    This NOFA announces the availability of approximately $45.6 million 
in FY2005 to employ FSS program and FSS homeownership coordinators for 
the Housing Choice Voucher FSS program. If additional funding becomes 
available during FY2005, HUD may increase the amount available for 
Housing Choice Voucher FSS Program coordinators and Housing Choice 
Voucher FSS homeownership coordinators under this NOFA. A maximum of 
$63,000 is available for each full-time coordinator position funded. 
Salaries are to be based on local comparables. The funding will be 
provided as a one-year Housing Choice Voucher funding increment under 
the PHA's Annual Contributions Contract (ACC). HUD reserves the right 
to adjust funding for renewal positions in order to ensure a fair and 
reasonable distribution of funding.

III. Eligibility Information

    A. Eligible Applicants. PHAs eligible to apply for funding under 
this NOFA are:
    1. Renewal PHAs. Those PHAs that received funding under the Housing 
Choice Voucher FSS NOFA in FY2004. To continue to qualify as renewal 
PHAs, the FY2005 application of joint applicants must include at least 
one PHA applicant that meets this standard. Joint applicants can change 
the lead PHA in their FY2005 application. A PHA that was originally 
funded as part of a joint application, that wishes to now apply 
separately would continue to be considered a renewal PHA applicant for 
funding purposes, but must be able to meet the FSS minimum program size 
requirement of a HUD-approved Housing Choice Voucher FSS program of at 
least 25 slots that applies to new applicant PHAs. For purposes of 
Category 1 applicants only, eligible renewal PHAs also include PHAs 
that received FSS funding in 2003.
    2. New PHAs. PHAs that were not funded under the Housing Choice 
Voucher FSS NOFA in FY2004. The new applicant PHA must be authorized 
through its HUD-approved FSS Action Plan to administer a Housing Choice 
Voucher FSS program of at least 25 slots, or be a PHA with HUD approval 
to administer Housing Choice Voucher FSS programs of fewer than 25 
slots that applies jointly with one or more other PHAs so that together 
they have HUD approval to administer at least 25 Housing Choice Voucher 
FSS slots. Joint applicants must specify a lead co-applicant that will 
receive and administer the FSS program coordinator funding.
    3. Moving to Work (MTW) PHAs. New and renewal PHAs that are under 
the MTW demonstration may qualify for funding under this NOFA if the 
PHA administers an FSS program. When determining the size of a MTW 
PHA's HUD-approved FSS program, the PHA may request that the number of 
FSS slots reflected in the PHA's MTW agreement be used instead of the 
number in the PHA's FSS Action Plan.
    4. Troubled PHAs. a. A PHA that has been designated by HUD as a 
troubled PHA under the Section 8 Management Assessment Program (SEMAP), 
or that has serious program management findings from Inspector General 
audits or serious outstanding HUD management review or Independent 
Public Accountant (IPA) audit findings for the PHA's Housing Choice 
Voucher or Moderate Rehabilitation programs that are resolved prior to 
application due date is eligible to apply under this NOFA. Serious 
program management findings are those that would cast doubt on the 
capacity of the PHA to administer its Housing Choice Voucher FSS 
program in accordance with applicable HUD regulatory and statutory 
requirements.
    b. The requirements that apply to a PHA whose SEMAP troubled 
designation has not been removed by HUD or the major program management 
findings or other significant program compliance problems that have not 
been resolved by the due date are stated in Section III.C.3.e. of this 
NOFA.
    B. Cost Sharing or Matching. None required.

[[Page 14003]]

    C. Other. 1. Eligible Activities. Funds awarded to PHAs under this 
FSS NOFA may only be used to pay salaries and fringe benefits of 
Housing Choice Voucher FSS program staff. Funding may be used to employ 
or otherwise retain for one year the services of Housing Choice Voucher 
FSS program coordinators and Housing Choice Voucher FSS homeownership 
coordinators. FSS coordinator support positions funded under previous 
FSS NOFAs that made funding available for such FSS positions may be 
continued. A part-time program coordinator may be retained where 
appropriate.
    2. Threshold Requirements. a. All Applicants.
    (1) Each applicant must qualify as an eligible PHA under Section 
III.A. of this NOFA and must have submitted their FSS application by 
the application due date and in the format required in Section IV. of 
this NOFA.
    (2) All applications must include a Dun and Bradstreet Universal 
Numbering System (DUNS) number. (See Section III.C. of the General 
Section for further information about the DUNS number requirement.)
    (3) Civil Rights Thresholds, Non-discrimination, Affirmatively 
Furthering Fair Housing. All applicants must comply with these 
requirements. Please see Section III.C. of the General Section for 
details. Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 
does not apply to this program.
    (4) The PHA must have a financial management system that meets 
federal standards. See Section III.C. of the General Section regarding 
those applicants that may be subject to HUD's arranging for a pre-award 
survey of an applicant's financial management system.
    (5) Applicants must comply with the requirements for funding 
competitions established by the HUD Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3531 
et seq.) and other requirements as defined in the General Section.
    b. Renewal Applicants. (1) Continued funding for existing 
coordinator positions. In addition to meeting the requirements of 
Section III.A.of this FSS NOFA, renewal PHA applicants must continue to 
operate a Housing Choice Voucher FSS program, have filled eligible FSS 
program coordinator positions for which they are seeking renewal 
funding, executed FSS contracts of participation with Housing Choice 
Voucher FSS program families and submitted reports on participant 
families to HUD via the form HUD-50058.
    (2) New position. Renewal PHAs applying for an additional Housing 
Choice Voucher FSS Homeownership Coordinator must meet all requirements 
in Section III.A. and III.C.2.a and b. above, and must administer or 
participate in a qualifying homeownership program that serves Housing 
Choice Voucher FSS program participants or graduates. Qualifying 
homeownership programs include the Housing Choice Voucher program 
homeownership option and other programs, which may be administer by the 
PHA or another entity, that prepare Housing Choice Voucher program FSS 
participants for making the transition from rental to homeownership.
    c. New Applicants. New applicants must meet the requirements of 
Section III.A. and Section III C.2.a of this FSS NOFA.
    3. Program Requirements. a. Salary Comparables. For all positions 
requested under this NOFA, evidence of salary comparability to similar 
positions in the local jurisdiction must be kept on file in the PHA 
office.
    b. FSS Action Plan. The requirements for the FSS Action Plan are 
stated in 24 CFR 984.201. For a new PHA applicant to qualify for 
funding under this NOFA, the PHA's initial FSS Action Plan or amendment 
to change the number of Housing Choice Voucher FSS slots in the PHA's 
previously HUD-approved FSS Action Plan, must be submitted to and 
approved by the PHA's local HUD field office prior to the application 
due date of this FSS NOFA. An FSS Action Plan can be updated by means 
of a simple one-page addendum that reflects the total number of Housing 
Choice Voucher FSS slots (voluntary and /or mandatory slots) the PHA 
intends to fill. New PHA applicants with previously approved Housing 
Choice Voucher FSS Action Plans may wish to confirm the number of HUD-
approved slots their local HUD field office has on record for the PHA. 
A MTW PHA may request that the number of FSS slots reflected in its MTW 
agreement be used instead of the number of slots in the PHA's FSS 
Action Plan.
    c. Colonias Preference. New applicant PHAs claiming the Colonias 
preference must meet the requirements of Section III.A. and Section 
III.C.2.a and III.C.2.c. of this FSS NOFA and must operate in a 
Southwest border area that contains Colonia communities and administer 
programs that include outreach to members of those Colonia communities. 
Attachment A of this NOFA provides a listing of PHAs in Arizona, 
California, New Mexico, and Texas that HUD has identified as operating 
in areas containing Colonia communities. PHAs not listed in Attachment 
A that are claiming the Colonias preference will be required to include 
in their application submission a written request that HUD determine 
their eligibility for the preference.
    d. Homeownership Preferences. See priority funding categories in 
Section V.B.2. of this FSS NOFA.
    e. Troubled PHAs. A PHA whose SEMAP troubled designation has not 
been removed by HUD or that has major program management findings or 
other significant program compliance problems that have not been 
resolved by the application due date, may apply if the PHA submits an 
application that designates another organization or entity that is 
acceptable to HUD that:
    (1) Includes an agreement by the other organization or entity to 
administer the FSS program on behalf of the PHA; and
    (2) In the instance of a PHA with unresolved major program 
management findings, includes a statement that outlines the steps the 
PHA is taking to resolve the program findings.
    Immediately after the publication of this NOFA, the Office of 
Public Housing in the local HUD field office will notify, in writing, 
those PHAs that have been designated by HUD as troubled under SEMAP, 
and those PHAs with unresolved major program management findings or 
other significant program compliance problems that are not eligible to 
apply without such an agreement. Concurrently, the local HUD field 
office will provide a copy of each such written notification to the 
Director of the Grants Management Center.
    f. Conducting Business in Accordance with Core Values and Ethical 
Standards. To reflect core values, all PHAs shall develop and maintain 
a written code of conduct in the PHA administrative plan that:
    (1) Requires compliance with the conflict of interest requirements 
of the Housing Choice Voucher Program at 24 CFR 982.161; and
    (2) Prohibits the solicitation or acceptance of gifts or 
gratuities, in excess of a nominal value, by any officer or employee of 
the PHA, or any contractor, subcontractor, or agent of the PHA. The 
PHA's administrative plan shall state PHA policies concerning PHA 
administrative and disciplinary remedies for violation of the PHA code 
of conduct. The PHA shall inform all officers, employees, and agents of 
its organization of the PHA's code of conduct.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses to Request Application Package

    1. Web site. A copy of this funding announcement for the Housing 
Choice

[[Page 14004]]

Voucher FSS Program may be downloaded from the following web site: 
http://www.grants.gov.
    2. Application Kit. There is no application kit for this NOFA. This 
announcement contains all the information necessary for the submission 
of your application for Housing Choice Voucher FSS program coordinator 
funding.
    3. Further Information. You may request general information, copies 
of the General Section and of a Program NOFA or NOFAs, from the NOFA 
Information Center (800-HUD-8929) or 800-HUD-2209 (TTY) between the 
hours of 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday, 
except on federal holidays. When requesting information, please refer 
to the name of the program you are interested in. The NOFA Information 
Center opens for business simultaneously with the publication of the 
SuperNOFA. You can also obtain information on this NOFA and download 
application information for this NOFA through the web site, http://www.grants.gov.
    4. Technical Assistance. See Section VII. of this FSS funding 
announcement.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    1. Content of Application. Each new and renewal PHA must complete 
the form SF-424, the SF-LLL, if appropriate, and the Form HUD-52651, 
the new FSS application form. In addition, the application must include 
a completed Logic Model (from HUD 96010) showing proposed performance 
measures. See the General Section for information on, and a copy of, 
the Logic Model. A copy of the HUD-52651 follows immediately after 
Attachment A of this NOFA. In completing the SF-424, renewal PHAs 
should select the continuation box on question 8, type of application. 
Both new and renewal PHA applicants should enter the proposed Annual 
Contributions Contract (ACC) amendment effective and ending dates for 
the FSS coordinator funding in 13 of the SF-424. In section 15 of SF-
424, estimated funding, complete only 15.a., which will be the amount 
requested from HUD in the FY2005 FSS application, and 15.g., Total.
    2. Forms, Certifications, and Assurances. See section IV.B. of the 
General Section.

C. Submission Date and Time

    Your completed application must be submitted and received by 
Grants.gov no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the application 
submission date of May 20, 2005. Applicants should carefully read the 
section titled ``APPLICATION and SUBMISSION INFORMATION'' in part IV. 
of the General Section regarding HUD's procedures pertinent to the 
submission of your application as they have changed significantly this 
year.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    Applicants submitting applications under this funding announcement 
are not subject to intergovernmental review; i.e., Executive Order (EO) 
12372, Intergovernmental Review of Federal Program.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Salary Cap. Awards under this NOFA are subject to a cap of 
$63,000 per year per full time coordinator position funded. Under this 
NOFA, if PHAs apply jointly, the $63,000 maximum amount that may be 
requested per position applies to up to one full time coordinator 
position for the application as a whole, not to each PHA separately.
    2. Limitation on Renewal Funding Increases. For renewal coordinator 
positions, PHAs will be limited to a one percent increase above the 
amount of the most recent award for the position unless a higher 
increase is approved by the local HUD field office after review of the 
PHA's written justification and at least three comparables that must be 
submitted to the field office by the PHA at the time they submit their 
FY2005 Housing Choice Voucher FSS Program Coordinator application to 
HUD. Examples of acceptable reasons for increases above one percent 
would be need for a coordinator with higher level of skills or to 
increase the hours of a part time coordinator to full time. Total 
positions funded cannot exceed the maximum number of positions for 
which the PHA is eligible under this NOFA.
    3. Ineligible Activities. a. Funds under this NOFA may not be used 
to pay the salary of an FSS coordinator for a public housing FSS 
program. A Housing Choice Voucher FSS program coordinator may only 
serve Housing Choice Voucher families while the public housing FSS 
program serves only public housing residents. In FY2005, funding for 
public housing FSS program coordinators is being made available through 
the Public Housing Resident Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) 
NOFA for Public Housing FSS Program Coordinators that is included in 
the FY2005 SuperNOFA.
    b. Funds under this FSS NOFA may not be used to pay for services 
for FSS program participants.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    1. Application Submission and Receipt Procedures. See IV.F of the 
General Section. Electronic application submission is mandatory unless 
an applicant requests, and is granted, a waiver to the requirement. 
Procedures for obtaining a waiver are contained in Section IV.F of the 
General Section.

V. Application Review Information

    A. Criteria. The funds available under this NOFA are being awarded 
based on demonstrated performance. Applications are reviewed by the 
local HUD field office and GMC to determine whether or not they are 
technically adequate based on the NOFA requirements. Field offices will 
provide to the GMC in a timely manner, as requested, information needed 
by the GMC to make its determination, such as the HUD-approved Housing 
Choice Voucher FSS program size of new PHA applicants and information 
on the administrative capabilities of PHAs. Categories of applications 
that will not be funded are stated in Section V.B.6. of this FSS NOFA.
    B. Reviews and Selection Process. 1. Technically Acceptable 
Applications. All technically adequate applications will be funded to 
the extent funds are available.
    2. Funding Priority Categories. If HUD receives applications for 
funding greater than the amount made available under this NOFA, HUD 
will divide eligible applications into priority categories as follows:
    Funding Category 1--Applications from eligible renewal PHAs with 
qualifying homeownership programs for continuation of previously funded 
eligible positions where the PHA has hired the funded FSS and 
homeownership coordinators and the PHA can demonstrate that a minimum 
of five (5) Housing Choice Voucher FSS program participants or 
graduates purchased homes between October 1, 2000 and the application 
due date of this FSS NOFA (that can be confirmed by homeownership 
information in the PIC data base from form HUD-50058) or as otherwise 
reported for Moving to Work (MTW) homeownership. For purposes of 
Category 1 applicants only, eligible renewal PHAs also include PHAs 
that received FSS funding in FY 2003.
    Funding Category 2--Eligible renewal PHAs with qualifying 
homeownership programs for continuation of previously funded eligible 
positions where the PHA has hired funded coordinators and completed one 
of the following: (a) As of the application due date of this FSS

[[Page 14005]]

NOFA, has successfully enrolled a minimum of twenty-five (25) Housing 
Choice Voucher FSS families into homeownership preparation activities, 
including homeownership counseling; or (b) Between October 1, 2000 and 
the application due date of this FSS NOFA, a minimum of one (1) Housing 
Choice Voucher FSS family completed purchase of a home as reported in 
the PIC data base or as otherwise reported for MTW homeownership 
closings.
    Funding Category 3--Applications from eligible new applicant PHAs 
that wish to initiate an FSS homeownership program that serves Housing 
Choice Voucher families. Those PHAs with documented home purchases by 
Housing Choice Voucher program participants and graduates and PHAs 
qualifying for the Colonias preference will receive preference.
    Funding Category 4--Applications from eligible renewal PHAs with 
qualifying homeownership programs that request funding for an 
additional Housing Choice Voucher FSS homeownership position to expand 
their FSS homeownership programs provided the applicant can document 
that a minimum of ten (10) Housing Choice Voucher FSS participants or 
graduates completed purchases of homes between October 1, 2000 and the 
application due date of this FSS NOFA.
    Funding Category 5--Applications from new applicant PHAs that have 
an existing Housing Choice Voucher FSS program and can demonstrate they 
have a minimum of ten (10) Housing Choice Voucher FSS families with 
existing positive escrow balances as of the application due date of the 
FSS NOFA or have had a minimum of 20 families that have graduated from 
the Housing Choice Voucher FSS program between October 1, 2000 and the 
application due date of this FSS NOFA.
    3. Order of Funding. Starting with Funding Category 1, HUD will 
first determine whether there are sufficient monies to fund all 
eligible positions requested in the funding category. If available 
funding is not sufficient to fund all positions requested in the 
category, HUD will fund applications in the following order:
    (a) Funding Category 1. HUD will calculate for each eligible 
applicant, the PHA's FSS Homeownership Percentage and Positive Escrow 
Percentage and will use these percentages in making funding decisions. 
Definitions and a description of the calculation of the FSS 
Homeownership Percentage and the Positive Escrow Percentage are 
included in Section I.C. of this NOFA.
    HUD will begin funding eligible Funding Category 1 applicants 
starting with the PHAs with the highest FSS Homeownership Percentage 
first. If monies are not sufficient to fund all applicants with the 
same FSS Homeownership Percentage, HUD will fund eligible applicants in 
order starting with those that have the highest Positive Escrow 
Percentage first. If funding is not sufficient to fund all applicants 
with the same FSS Homeownership Percentage and/or Positive Escrow 
Percentage, HUD will select among eligible applicants by Housing Choice 
Voucher program size starting with eligible applicants with the 
smallest Housing Choice Voucher program size first.
    (b) Funding Category 2. If funding remains after funding all 
Funding Category 1 applications, HUD will then process eligible Funding 
Category 2 applications. HUD will calculate the FSS Homeownership 
Percentage and Positive Escrow Percentage for Funding Category 2 
applicants as it did for Funding Category 1 applicants. If there are 
not sufficient monies to fund all Funding Category 2 applications, HUD 
will begin funding Funding Category 2 applications starting with 
applicants with the highest FSS Homeownership Percentage first. If 
there is not enough funding for all applicants with the same FSS 
Homeownership Percentage, HUD will use Positive Escrow Percentage to 
determine selection order, starting with applicants with the highest 
Positive Escrow Percentage. If monies are not sufficient to fund all 
applicants with the same FSS Homeownership Percentage and Positive 
Escrow Percentage, HUD will select eligible applicants by Housing 
Choice Voucher program size starting with eligible applicants with the 
smallest Housing Choice Voucher program size first.
    (c) Funding Category 3. If funding remains after funding all 
Funding Category 1 and 2 applications, HUD will then process requests 
of eligible Funding Category 3 applicant PHAs. HUD will first calculate 
the Housing Choice Voucher Program Home Purchase Percentage for all 
eligible Funding Category 3 applicants. This percentage is the number 
of documented home purchases by Housing Choice Voucher program 
participants and graduates for the period from October 1, 2000 through 
the application due date of this NOFA as a percentage of the 
applicant's Housing Voucher Program size. If there are not sufficient 
monies to fund all eligible positions requested, HUD will begin funding 
positions starting with PHAs eligible for the Colonias preference, 
starting with PHAs with the smallest Housing Choice Voucher program 
size first. If monies are still available, HUD will begin funding 
Category 3 applications from PHAs with the highest Housing Choice 
Voucher Program Home Purchase Percentage first. If there are not 
sufficient monies to fund all applications with the same percentage of 
documented home purchases, HUD will select eligible applicants in order 
by Housing Choice Voucher program size starting with eligible 
applicants with the smallest Housing Choice Voucher program size first.
    (d) Funding Category 4. If funds remain after funding all Category 
1 through 3 applicants have been funded, HUD will then process 
applications from eligible renewal applicants that have requested 
funding for an additional FSS coordinator position to support Housing 
Choice Voucher FSS homeownership activities. If there are not 
sufficient monies to fund all eligible positions requested, HUD will 
use the FSS Homeownership Percentage and the Positive Escrow Percentage 
that has been calculated for these PHAs and will begin funding eligible 
applications starting with applicants with the highest FSS 
Homeownership Percentage first. If monies are not sufficient to fund 
all applicants with the same FSS Homeownership Percentage, HUD will use 
Positive Escrow Percentage to determine selection order, starting with 
applicants with the highest Positive Escrow Percentage. If monies are 
not sufficient to fund all applicants with the same FSS Homeownership 
Percentage and Positive Escrow Percentage, HUD will select eligible 
applicants by Housing Choice Voucher program size starting with 
eligible applicants with the smallest Housing Choice Voucher program 
size first.
    (e) Funding Category 5. If funding remains after funding all 
Funding Category 1 through 4 applicants, HUD will then process 
applications from eligible Funding Category 5 applicants for an initial 
coordinator position. If there are not sufficient monies to fund all 
eligible Category 5 applicants, HUD will first fund applications from 
eligible Funding Category 5 applicants that qualify for the Colonias 
preference starting with the smallest Housing Choice Voucher programs 
first. If funding remains, HUD will calculate the Positive Escrow 
Percentage for all remaining Category 5 applications and will begin 
funding Category 5 applications starting with applicants with the 
highest Positive Escrow Percentage first. If monies are not sufficient 
to fund all applicants with the same Positive Escrow Percentage, HUD 
will select eligible applicants by Housing Choice Voucher program size

[[Page 14006]]

starting with eligible applicants with the smallest Housing Choice 
Voucher program size first.
    (f) Remaining Funds. If any funding remains, HUD will calculate the 
FSS Homeownership Percentage and Positive Escrow Percentage for all 
remaining eligible applicants and will begin funding any remaining 
eligible applications starting with those with the highest FSS 
Homeownership Percentage first. If funding remains, HUD will then begin 
funding any remaining unfunded applications starting with those with 
the highest positive escrow percentage.
    4. Based on the number of applications submitted, the GMC may elect 
not to process applications for a funding priority category where it is 
apparent that there are insufficient funds available to fund any 
applications within the priority category.
    5. Corrections to Deficient Applications. a. The General Section of 
the NOFA provides the procedures for corrections to deficient 
applications. An example of a correctable technical deficiency 
includes, but is not limited to: submission of a Form SF-424 or FSS 
application Form HUD-52651 with missing information.
    6. Unacceptable Applications. After the technical deficiency 
correction period (as provided in the General Section), the GMC will 
disapprove PHA applications that it determines are not acceptable for 
processing. Applications from PHAs that fall into any of the following 
categories are ineligible for funding under this NOFA and will not be 
processed:
    a. An application submitted by an entity that is not an eligible 
PHA as defined under Section III.A. and Section III.C. of this FSS NOFA 
or an application that does not comply with the requirements of Section 
IV.B. IV.C. and IV.F. of this FSS NOFA.
    b. An application from a PHA that does not meet the fair housing 
and civil rights compliance requirements of the General Section of the 
NOFA.
    c. An application from a PHA that does not comply with the 
prohibition against lobbying activities of this NOFA.
    d. An application from a PHA that as of the application due date 
has not made progress satisfactory to HUD in resolving serious 
outstanding Inspector General audit findings, or serious outstanding 
HUD management review or IPA audit findings for the Housing Choice 
Voucher program and/or Moderate Rehabilitation program or a 
``troubled'' rating under SEMAP, and has not designated another 
organization acceptable to HUD to administer the FSS program on behalf 
of the PHA as required in Section III.C.3.e. of this FSS NOFA.
    e. An application from a PHA that has been debarred or otherwise 
disqualified from providing assistance under the program.
    f. An application that did not meet the application due date and 
timely receipt requirements as specified in this NOFA and the General 
Section.
    g. Applications will not be funded which do not meet the Threshold 
requirements identified in this NOFA and the General Section.
    C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates. It is anticipated the 
announcement of Housing Choice Voucher FSS program coordinator awards 
will take place during either the months of July or August 2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

    A. Award Notices. Successful applicants will receive an award 
letter from HUD. Funding will be provided to successful applicants as 
an amendment to the Annual Contributions Contract (ACC) of the 
applicant PHA. In the case of awards to joint applicants, the funding 
will be provided as an amendment to the ACC of the lead PHA that was 
identified in the application.
    Unsuccessful applicants will receive a notification of rejection 
letter from that GMC that will state the basis for the decision. The 
applicant may request an applicant debriefing. Beginning not less than 
30 days after the awards for assistance are publicly announced in the 
Federal Register and for at least 120 days after awards for assistance 
are announced publicly, HUD will, upon receiving a written request, 
provide a debriefing to the requesting applicant. (See Section VI.A. of 
the General Section for additional information regarding a debriefing.) 
Applicants requesting to be debriefed must send a written request to: 
Iredia Hutchinson, Director; Grants Management Center; U. S. Department 
of Housing and Urban Development, 501 School Street, SW., Suite 800; 
Washington, DC 20024.
    B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements.
    1. Environmental Impact. No environmental review is required in 
connection with the award of assistance under this NOFA, because the 
NOFA only provides funds for employing a coordinator that provides 
public and supportive services, which are categorically excluded from 
environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321) and not subject to compliance actions for related 
environmental authorities under 24 CFR 50.19(b)(4) and (12).
    2. HUD's Strategic Goals. HUD is committed to ensuring that 
programs result in the achievement of HUD's strategic mission. The FSS 
program and this FSS NOFA support the Department's strategic goals of 
increasing homeownership activities and helping HUD-assisted renters 
make progress toward self-sufficiency by giving funding preference to 
PHAs whose FSS programs show success in moving families to self-
sufficiency and homeownership. You can find out about HUD's Strategic 
Framework and Annual Performance Plan at http://www.hud.gov/offices/cfo/reports/cforept.cfm.
    3. HUD Policy Priorities. This NOFA supports the HUD policy 
priority of providing increased homeownership opportunities to program 
participants. In this NOFA, funding priority is given to those PHA 
applicants that demonstrate that their FSS families have participated 
in homeownership programs. See Section V.B. of the General Section for 
a full discussion of HUD's policy priorities.
    C. Reporting. Successful applicants must report activities of their 
FSS enrollment, progress and exit activities of their FSS program 
participants through required submissions of the Form HUD-50058. HUD's 
assessment of the accomplishments of the FSS programs of PHAs funded 
under this NOFA will be based primarily on Public Housing Information 
Center (PIC) system data obtained from the Form HUD-50058. MTW PHAs 
that do not report to HUD on the Form HUD-50058 will be asked to submit 
an annual report to HUD with the same information on FSS program 
activities that is provided to HUD by non-MTW PHAs via the Form HUD-
50058. An applicant is also required to submit a completed Logic Model 
showing accomplishments against proposed outputs and outcomes as part 
of their annual reporting requirement to HUD. In addition, HUD requires 
that funded recipients collect racial and ethnic beneficiary data. It 
has adopted the Office of Management and Budget's Standards for the 
Collection of Racial and Ethnic Data. In view of these requirements, 
funded recipients should use Form HUD-27061, Racial and Ethnic Data 
Reporting Form (found on http://www.HUDclips.org), a comparable program 
form, or a comparable electronic data system for this purpose.

VII. Agency Contacts

    A. For Technical Assistance. For answers to your questions, you may 
contact the Public and Indian Housing Resource Center at 800-955-2232.

[[Page 14007]]

Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access this number via 
TTY (text telephone) by calling the Federal Information Relay Service 
at 800-877-8339. (These are toll-free numbers). Prior to the 
application deadline, staff at the numbers given above will be 
available to provide general guidance, but not guidance in actually 
preparing the application. Following selection, but prior to award, HUD 
staff will be available to assist in clarifying or confirming 
information that is a prerequisite to the offer of an award by HUD.
    B. Satellite Broadcast. HUD will hold an information broadcast via 
satellite for potential applicants to learn more about the Housing 
Choice Voucher FSS program and preparation of an application. For more 
information about the date and time of this broadcast, you should 
consult the HUD web site at http://www.hud.gov.

VIII. Other Information

    A. Paperwork Reduction Act: The information collection requirements 
contained in this document have been approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB control number 2577-0178. In 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or 
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 
information unless the collection displays a currently valid OMB 
control number. Public reporting burden for the collection of 
information is estimated to average one hour per annum per respondent 
for the application and grant administration. This includes the time 
for collecting, reviewing, and reporting the data for the application 
and other required reporting. The information will be used for grantee 
selection and monitoring the administration of funds. Response to this 
request for information is required in order to receive the benefits to 
be derived.
    B. Public Access, Documentation, and Disclosure. See Section VIII. 
F. of the General Section.

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Rural Housing and Economic Development Program Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Community Planning and Development, Office of Rural 
Housing and Economic Development.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Rural Housing and Economic 
Development (RHED) program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial Announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number is FR-
4950-N-34. The OMB approval number is 2506-0169.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: Rural 
Housing and Economic Development. The CDFA number is 14.250.
    F. Application Due Date: The application submission date is May 17, 
2005.
    G. Optional Additional Overview Information: 1. The purpose of the 
Rural Housing and Economic Development program is to build capacity at 
the state and local level for rural housing and economic development 
and to support innovative housing and economic development activities 
in rural areas. The funds made available under this program will be 
awarded competitively through a selection process conducted by HUD in 
accordance with the HUD Reform Act.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Background

    There has been a growing national recognition of the need to 
enhance the capacity of local rural nonprofit organizations, community 
development corporations, federally recognized Indian tribes, state 
housing finance agencies (HFAs) and state economic development and 
community development agencies to expand the supply of affordable 
housing and to engage in economic development activities in rural 
areas. A number of resources are available from the federal government 
to address these problems, including programs of the United States 
Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Economic Development 
Administration (EDA), the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the 
Department of Interior (for Indian tribes), and HUD. The Rural Housing 
and Economic Development program was developed to supplement these 
resources and to focus specifically on capacity building and promoting 
innovative approaches to housing and economic development in rural 
areas. In administering these funds, HUD encourages you to coordinate 
your activities with those supported by any of the agencies listed 
above.

B. Definitions

    1. Appalachia's Distressed Counties means those counties in 
Appalachia that the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has 
determined to have unemployment and poverty rates that are 150 percent 
of the respective U.S. rates and a per capita income that is less than 
67 percent of the U.S. per capita income, and have counties with 200 
percent of the U.S. poverty rate and one other indicator, such as the 
percentage of overcrowded housing. Refer to www.arc.gov for a list of 
ARC distressed counties and more information.
    2. Colonia means any identifiable, rural community that:
    a. Is located in the state of Arizona, California, New Mexico, or 
Texas;
    b. Is within 150 miles of the border between the U.S. and Mexico; 
and
    c. Is determined to be a Colonia on the basis of objective need 
criteria, including a lack of potable water supply, lack of adequate 
sewage systems, and lack of decent, safe, sanitary, and accessible 
housing.
    3. Farm Worker means a farm employee of an owner, tenant, labor 
contractor, or other operator raising or harvesting agricultural or 
aquacultural commodities; or a worker in the employment of a farm 
operator, handling, planting, drying, packing, grading, storing, 
delivering to storage or market, or carrying to market agricultural or 
aquacultural commodities produced by the operator. Seasonal farm 
workers are those farm employees who typically do not have a constant 
year-round salary.
    4. Firm Commitment means a letter of commitment from a partner by 
which an applicant's partner agrees to perform an activity specified in 
the application, demonstrates the financial capacity to deliver the 
resources necessary to carry out the activity and commits the resources 
to the activity, either in cash or through in-kind contributions. It is 
irrevocable, subject only to approval and receipt of a FY2005 Rural 
Housing and Economic Development grant. Each letter of commitment must 
include the organization's name and applicant's name, reference the 
Rural Housing and Economic Development program, and describe the 
proposed total level of commitment and responsibilities, expressed in 
dollar value for cash or in-kind contributions, as they relate to the 
proposed program. The commitment must be written on the letterhead of 
the participating organization, must be signed by an official of the 
organization legally able to make commitments on behalf of the 
organization, and must be dated no earlier than the date of publication 
of this NOFA. In documenting a firm commitment, the applicant's partner 
must:
    a. Specify the authority by which the commitment is made, the 
amount of the commitment, the proposed use of funds, and the 
relationship of the commitment to the proposed investment. If the 
committed activity is to be self-financed, the applicant's partner must 
demonstrate its financial capability through a corporate or personal 
financial statement or other appropriate means. If any portion of the 
activity is to be financed through a lending institution, the 
participant must provide evidence of the institution's commitment to 
fund the loan;
    b. Affirm that the firm commitment is contingent only upon the 
receipt of FY2005 Rural Housing and Economic Development funds and 
state a willingness on the part of the signatory to sign a legally 
binding agreement (conditioned upon HUD's environmental review and 
approval of a property where applicable) upon award of the grant.
    5. Federally Recognized Indian tribe means any tribal entity 
eligible to apply for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs by virtue of its status as an Indian tribe. The list of 
federally recognized Indian tribes can be found in the notice published 
by the Department of the Interior on December 5, 2003 (68 FR 68180) and 
is also available from HUD.
    6. Innovative Housing Activities means projects, techniques, 
methods, combinations of assistance, construction materials, energy 
efficiency improvements, or financing institutions or sources new to 
the eligible area or to its population. The innovative activities can 
also build upon and enhance a model that already exists.
    7. Local Rural Nonprofit Organization or Community Development 
Corporation means either of the following:
    a. Any private entity with tax-exempt status recognized by the 
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which serves the eligible rural area 
identified in the application (including a local affiliate of a 
national organization that provides technical and capacity building 
assistance in rural areas); or
    b. Any public nonprofit entity such as a Council of Governments 
that will serve specific local nonprofit organizations in the eligible 
area.

[[Page 14014]]

    8. Lower Mississippi Delta Region means the eight-state, 240-
county/parish region defined by Congress in the Lower Mississippi Delta 
Development Act, Public Law 100-460. Refer to www.dra.gov for more 
information.
    9. Eligible Rural Area means one of the following:
    a. A non-urban place having fewer than 2,500 inhabitants (within or 
outside of metropolitan areas).
    b. A county or parish with an urban population of 20,000 
inhabitants or less.
    c. Territory, including its persons and housing units, in the rural 
portions of ``extended cities.'' The U.S. Census Bureau identifies the 
rural portions of extended cities.
    d. Open country that is not part of or associated with an urban 
area. The USDA describes ``open country'' as a site separated by open 
space from any adjacent densely populated urban area. Open space 
includes undeveloped land, agricultural land, or sparsely settled 
areas, but does not include physical barriers (such as rivers and 
canals), public parks, commercial and industrial developments, small 
areas reserved for recreational purposes, or open space set aside for 
future development.
    e. Any place with a population not in excess of 20,000 and not 
located in a Metropolitan Statistical Area.
    10. State Community and/or Economic Development Agency means any 
state agency that has promotion of economic development statewide or in 
a local community as its primary purpose.
    11. State Housing Finance Agency means any state agency created to 
assist local communities and housing providers with financing 
assistance for development of housing in rural areas, particularly for 
low- and moderate-income people.

II. Award Information

A. Amount Allocated

    1. Available Funds. Approximately $24 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 
2005 funding (plus any additional funds available through recapture) 
are being made available through this NOFA.
    2. Funding Categories and Maximum Award Amounts. HUD will award up 
to approximately $24 million on a competitive basis in the following 
funding categories. Applicants must apply for funds in only one of the 
two categories: Category 1--Capacity Building, or Category 2--Support 
for Innovative Housing and Economic Development Activities.
    a. Category 1: Capacity Building. HUD will award up to 
approximately $10 million to applicants for capacity building 
activities. This amount will go directly to local rural nonprofit 
organizations or community development corporations or federally 
recognized Indian tribes to increase an organization's capacity to 
support innovative housing and economic development activities. The 
maximum amount awarded to a successful applicant in this category will 
be $150,000.
    b. Category 2: Support for Innovative Housing and Economic 
Development Activities. HUD will award up to approximately $14 million 
to federally recognized Indian tribes, state housing finance agencies 
(HFAs), state community and/or economic development agencies, local 
rural nonprofit organizations or community development corporations to 
support innovative housing and economic development activities in rural 
areas throughout the nation. The maximum amount awarded to a successful 
applicant in this category will be $400,000.

B. Grant Amount

    In the event, you, the applicant, are awarded a grant that has been 
reduced (e.g., the application contained some activities that were 
ineligible or budget information did not support the request), you will 
be required to modify your project plans and application to conform to 
the terms of HUD's approval before execution of the grant agreement.
    HUD reserves the right to reduce or de-obligate the award if 
suitable modifications to the proposed project are not submitted by the 
awardee within 90 days of the request. Any modifications must be within 
the scope of the original application. HUD reserves the right to not 
make awards under this NOFA.

C. Grant Period

    Recipients will have 36 months from the date of the executed grant 
agreement to complete all project activities.

D. Notification of Approval or Disapproval

    HUD will notify you whether or not you have been selected for an 
award. If you are selected, HUD's notice to you concerning the amount 
of the grant award (based on the approved application) will constitute 
HUD's conditional approval, subject to negotiation and execution of a 
grant agreement by HUD.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Eligible applicants for the Rural Housing and Economic Development 
program are local rural nonprofit organizations and community 
development corporations, federally recognized Indian tribes, state 
housing finance agencies and state community and/or economic 
development agencies. Also, you must meet all of the applicable 
eligibility requirements described in Section III.C of the General 
Section. Eligible applicants for each of the funding categories are as 
follows:
    1. For Capacity Building Funding. If you are a local rural 
nonprofit, including grassroots, faith-based and other community-based 
grassroots organization, community development corporation, or 
federally recognized Indian tribe, you are eligible for capacity 
building funding to carry out innovative housing and economic 
development activities that should lead to an applicant becoming self-
sustaining in the future.
    2. For Support for Innovative Housing and Economic Development 
Activities Funding. If you are a local rural nonprofit organizations, 
including grassroots, faith-based and other community-based grassroots 
organization, community development corporation, federally recognized 
Indian tribe, state HFA, or state economic development or community 
development agency, you may apply for funding to support innovative 
housing and economic development activities in rural areas.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    There is no match required under the Rural Housing and Economic 
Development program. Applicants that submit evidence of leveraging 
dollars under Rating Factor 4 ``Leveraging Resources'' will receive 
points according to the scale under that factor.

C. Other

    1. Eligible Activities. The following are examples of eligible 
activities under the Rural Housing and Economic Development program. 
These examples are illustrative and are not meant to limit the 
activities that you may propose in your application:
    a. For Capacity Building Funding. Capacity building for innovative 
Rural Housing and Economic Development involves the enhancement of 
existing organizations to carry out new functions or to perform 
existing functions more effectively. Permissible activities include, 
but are not limited to, the following:
    (1) Enhancement of existing functions or creation of new functions 
to provide affordable housing and economic development in rural areas;

[[Page 14015]]

    (2) Acquisition of additional space and support facilities;
    (3) Salaries for additional staff needed to conduct the work, 
including financial management specialists, and economic development 
specialists;
    (4) Training of staff in the areas of financial management, 
economic development financing, housing accessibility and visitability 
standards, fair housing issues, and complaint filing;
    (5) Development of business plans to help the organization become 
self-sustaining;
    (6) Development of Management Information Systems (MISs) and 
software to enable better and more accurate reporting of information to 
HUD and to other entities;
    (7) Development of feasibility studies and market studies;
    (8) Training in energy efficiency in construction for housing and 
commercial projects;
    (9) Housing counseling services, including fair housing counseling, 
information on budgeting, and information on credit and available 
federal programs;
    (10) Conducting conferences or meetings with other federal or state 
agencies to inform residents of programs, rights, and responsibilities 
associated with homebuying opportunities; and
    (11) Arranging for technical assistance to conduct needs 
assessments, conduct asset inventories, and develop strategic plans.
    b. For Support of Innovative Housing and Economic Development 
Activities. This category is intended to support other costs for 
innovative housing and economic development activities. Permissible 
activities may include, but are not limited to the following:
    (1) Cost of using new or innovative construction, energy 
efficiency, or other techniques that will result in the design or 
construction of innovative housing and economic development projects;
    (2) Preparation of plans or of architectural or engineering 
drawings;
    (3) Preparation of legal documents, government paperwork, and 
applications necessary for construction of housing and economic 
development activities to occur in the jurisdiction;
    (4) Acquisition of land and buildings;
    (5) Demolition of property to permit construction or rehabilitation 
activities to occur;
    (6) Development of infrastructure to support the housing or 
economic development activities;
    (7) Purchase of construction materials;
    (8) Job training to support the activities of the organization;
    (9) Homeownership counseling, including fair housing counseling, 
credit counseling, budgeting, access to credit, and other federal 
assistance available;
    (10) Conducting conferences or meetings with other federal or state 
agencies tribes, tribally designated housing entities (TDHE) or 
national or regional housing organizations, to inform residents of 
programs, rights, and responsibilities associated with homebuying 
opportunities;
    (11) Development of feasibility studies and market studies;
    (12) Development of Management Information Systems (MISs) and 
software to enable better and more accurate reporting of information to 
HUD and to other entities;
    (13) Establishing Community Development Financial Institutions 
(CDFIs), lines of credit, revolving loan funds, microenterprises, and 
small business incubators; and
    (14) Provision of direct financial assistance to homeowners/
businesses/developers, etc. This can be in the form of default 
reserves, pooling/securitization mechanisms, loans, grants, funding 
existing individual development accounts or similar activities.
    2. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements. To be eligible for 
funding under HUD NOFAs issued during FY2005, you, the applicant, must 
meet all statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to this NOFA 
as described in the General Section. HUD may also eliminate ineligible 
activities from funding consideration and reduce funding amounts 
accordingly.
    3. General HUD Threshold Requirements. You must meet all threshold 
requirements described in the General Section.
    a. Ineligible Applicants. HUD will not consider an application from 
an ineligible applicant.
    b. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons 
(Section 3). Recipients of assistance under this NOFA must comply with 
Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 12 U.S.C. 
1701u (Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons in 
Connection with Assisted Projects) and the HUD regulations at 24 CFR 
part 135, including the reporting requirements at subpart E. Section 3 
requires recipients to ensure that, to the greatest extent feasible, 
training, employment, and other economic opportunities will be directed 
to low- and very-low income persons, particularly those who are 
recipients of government assistance for housing, and business concerns 
that provide economic opportunities to low- and very low-income 
persons.
    4. Program-Specific Threshold Requirements.
    a. The application must receive a minimum rating score of 75 points 
to be considered for funding.
    b. HUD will only fund eligible applicants as defined in this NOFA 
under Section III.A.
    c. Applicants must serve an eligible rural area as defined in I. of 
this NOFA.
    d. Proposed activities must meet the objectives of the Rural 
Housing and Economic Development program.
    e. Applicants must demonstrate that their activities will continue 
to serve populations that are in need and that beneficiaries will have 
a choice of innovative housing and economic development opportunities 
as a result of the activities.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

    This section describes how you may obtain application forms. Copies 
of the published Rural Housing and Economic Development NOFA and 
application forms may be downloaded from the Grants.gov Web site at 
http://www.grants.gov/Apply. The web site contains the electronic forms 
and the NOFA which includes forms and other attachments. The NOFA and 
forms is a zip file found under instructions. You may call the 
Grants.gov support desk at 800-518-GRANTS, or email the support desk at 
Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov for assistance in downloading the application.
    You may request general information and paper copies of this NOFA 
from the NOFA Information Center (800-HUD-8929 or 800-HUD-2209 (TTY)) 
between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday 
through Friday, except on federal holidays. When requesting 
information, please refer to the name of the program you are interested 
in. Be sure to provide your name, address (including zip code), and 
telephone number (including area code).

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    1. Application Submission Requirements. Be sure to read and follow 
the application submission requirements carefully.
    a. Page Numbering. All pages of the application must be numbered 
sequentially if you are submitting a paper copy application. For 
electronic application submission you should

[[Page 14016]]

follow the directions in the General Section.
    b. Application Items. Your application must contain the items 
listed below.
    (1) An abstract that must include the category under which you are 
applying, the dollar amount requested, the category under which you 
qualify for demographics of distress special factor under Rating Factor 
2 ``Need and Extent of the Problem,'' which of the five definitions of 
the term ``rural area'' set forth in Section I B.9 of this NOFA applies 
to the proposed service area, and accompanying documentation as 
indicated on the form.
    (2) Table of Contents.
    (3) A signed SF-424 (application form).
    (4) SF-424 Supplement Survey on Equal Opportunity for Applicants 
(optional submission).
    (5) Facsimile Transmittal (HUD-96011).
    (6) Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL).
    (7) Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880).
    (8) Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994) (Optional)
    (9) Program Outcome Logic Model (HUD-96010).
    (10) A budget for all funds (federal and non-federal including HUD-
424CB and HUD 424-CBW).
    (11) Certification of Consistency with RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan 
(HUD-2990), if applicable.
    (12) Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan (HUD-
2991), if applicable.
    (13) Documentation of funds pledged in support of Rating Factor 4--
``Leveraging Resources'' (which will not be counted in the 15-page 
limitation). Documentation must be in the form of a ``firm commitment'' 
as defined in Section I.B.4. of this NOFA.
    (14) If you are a private nonprofit organization, a copy of your 
organization's IRS ruling providing tax-exempt status under section 501 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
    (15) Narrative response to Factors for Award (not to exceed 15 
pages).
    (a) A description of your organization and assignment of 
responsibilities for the work to be carried out under the grant (Rating 
Factor 1).
    (b) A description of the need and extent of the problem and 
populations to be served (Rating Factor 2).
    (c) A workplan that demonstrates your soundness of approach and the 
clear linkage between rural housing and economic development (Rating 
Factor 3). In addressing this submission requirement, you must:
    (i) Describe the activities you propose to undertake that address 
the needs, which have been identified, the linkage between rural 
housing and economic development, as well as the specific outcomes you 
expect to achieve.
    (ii) Include a management plan that identifies the specific actions 
you will take to complete the proposed activities on time and a budget 
in the format provided that explains the uses of both federal and non-
federal funds and the period of performance under the grant.
    (iii) Include a discussion of the process by which the work 
accomplished with the grant will be evaluated to determine if the 
objectives of the grant were met.
    (d) Identify the resources that will be leveraged by the amount of 
this grant's funding that you are requesting (Rating Factor 4). To 
receive the maximum number of points under Rating Factor 4 you must 
provide evidence of firm commitments.
    (e) You must describe the extent to which your program reflects a 
coordinated, community-based process of identifying needs and building 
a system to address these needs, providing program beneficiaries with 
outcomes that result in increased independence and empowerment, and the 
potential for your organization to become financially self-sustaining. 
You must also describe how your activities will achieve the program 
outcomes, as described in Rating Factor 5 (Achieving Results and 
Program Evaluation), namely, where applicable, the number of housing 
units constructed, the number of housing units rehabilitated, the 
number of jobs created, the number of jobs retained, the number of 
participants trained, the number of new businesses created and the 
number of existing businesses assisted, number of housing units 
rehabilitated that will be made available to low-to-moderate income 
participants, percentage change in earnings as a result of employment 
for those participants, the percent of trained participants who find a 
job, and annual estimated savings for low-income families as a result 
of energy efficiency improvements entered into the HUD Program Outcome 
Logic Model (form 96010) (Rating Factor 5).
    (f) The total narrative response to all factors should not exceed 
15 pages and be submitted in a format that equals to 8.5 x 11-inch 
single sided paper, with 12 point font and double lined spacing. Please 
note that although submitting pages in excess of the page limit will 
not disqualify your application, HUD will not consider or review the 
information on any excess pages, which may result in a lower score or 
failure to meet a threshold requirement. In addition, applicants should 
be aware that additional pages increase the size of the application and 
the length of time it will take to electronically submit the document 
and have it electronically received by Grants.gov. Large files result 
in slower delivery to Grants.gov.
    (16) Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers (HUD 27300). To get the points for this policy priority, you 
must include the documentation or references to URLs where the 
information can be found.

C. Submission Dates and Times

    1. Electronic Application Submission. Applications for the Rural 
Housing and Economic Development program must be submitted and received 
by Grants.gov no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time of the 
application submission date. Applicants are advised to allow time for 
transmitting their application to Grants.gov. You will receive an 
acknowledgement of receipt from Grants.gov when your application has 
been successfully received. Please see the General Section for more 
detailed information.
    2. Paper Copy Application Submission. Applicants receiving a waiver 
of the mandatory electronic applications submission requirement must 
submit the original and required number of paper copies of the 
application to the United States Postal Service no later than 11:59:59 
p.m. on the application submission date. No hand delivery or services 
other than the United States Post Office will be accepted.
    Applicants should be aware that large packages must be taken to a 
Post Office for delivery. The United States Postal Service in many 
areas of the country no longer will deliver large packages that are 
dropped in a mailbox for delivery. Applicants are advised to carefully 
read the application submission and timely receipt requirements in the 
General Section as they have changed from previous years.
    3. Only one application will be accepted from any given 
organization. If more than one application is submitted electronically, 
the last application submitted prior to the due date and time will be 
the one reviewed by HUD. HUD will not accept application addendums 
after the deadline unless HUD has specifically asked the applicant for 
a correction to a technical deficiency in the application. Responses to 
technical deficiencies must be received by HUD within the time 
allocated to cure the deficiency. Corrections to technical deficiencies 
are submitted directly to

[[Page 14017]]

HUD in accordance with the information provided by the program office 
in their cure notification.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           What to submit                 Required content     Required form or format      When to submit it
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application:
    Abstract........................                                                    May 20, 2005.
    Application Form................                           SF-424, SF 424
                                                                Supplement.
    Budget information..............  (Per required form)....  HUD-CB, HUD-CBW........
    Rating Factors: Narrative.......  Described in Section V.
                                       of this announcement.
    Disclosure Update...............                           HUD-2880...............
    Disclosure of Lobby.............                           SF-LLL.................
    Facsimile Transmittal...........                           HUD-96011..............
    Certification of RC/EZ/EC-II....                           HUD-2990...............
    Certification of Consistency                               HUD 2991...............
     with Consolidated Plan.
    Comments and Suggestions........                           HUD-2994...............
    Program Outcome Logic Model.....                           HUD-96010..............
Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative                             HUD-27300..............
 on Removal of Regulatory Barriers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D. Intergovernmental Agency Review

    Intergovernmental agency review is not required for this program.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Administrative Costs. Administrative costs for assistance under 
the Rural Housing and Economic Development program may not exceed 15 
percent of the total HUD Rural Housing and Economic Development grant 
award.
    2. Multiple Capacity Building Grants. If you have received two or 
more Rural Housing and Economic Development grants for capacity 
building since 1999, you are not eligible to apply under Category 1: 
Capacity Building.
    3. Ineligible Activities. RHED funds cannot be used for the 
following activities:
    a. Income payments to subsidize individuals or families;
    b. Political activities;
    c. General governmental expenses other than expenses related to the 
administrative cost of the grant; or
    d. Projects or activities intended for personal gain or private 
use.
    HUD reserves the right to reduce or deobligate the award if 
suitable modifications to the proposed project are not submitted by the 
awardee within 90 days of the request. Any modification must be within 
the scope of the original application. HUD reserves the right not to 
make awards under this NOFA.
    F. Other Submission Requirements. Carefully review the procedures 
presented in Section IV of the General Section. During FY 2005, HUD 
will only accept electronic applications submitted through 
www.grants.gov unless the applicant has received a waiver from the 
Department. Please see the General Section for detailed instructions 
and timelines for requesting a waiver of this requirement. Applicants 
receiving a waiver of the electronic submission requirement should send 
an original and two copies of the application to Department of Housing 
and Urban Development, Office of Community Planning and Development, 
Attn: Office of Rural Housing and Economic Development, Processing and 
Control Unit (Room 7251), 451 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20410-7000.

V. Application Review Information

    A. Criteria. Carefully review all the Application Review procedures 
in Section V of the General Section. In addition, the following Rating 
Factors will be used to review, evaluate, and rate your application.
    1. Rating Factor 1--Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience (25 points). This rating factor addresses the 
extent to which you have the organizational resources necessary to 
successfully implement your proposed work plan, as further described in 
Rating Factor 3, within the 36-month award period.
    a. Rating standards applicable to individual funding categories. 
The two funding categories have different objectives. Accordingly, in 
addition to the generally applicable rating standard discussed above, 
the different standards discussed below will be used to judge the 
experience and qualifications of the applicants for each of the two 
funding categories. HUD fully supports emerging organizations that 
desire to develop internal capacity. Therefore, the following 
categories will be evaluated:
    (1) For Capacity Building applications (25 points). Team members, 
composition, experience, organizational structure, and management 
capacity. Your response to this sub-factor should clearly state the 
need that your organization will address with the requested assistance. 
In addition, you should describe how the enhanced capacity realized 
through the assistance will fulfill that need. HUD will evaluate the 
experience (including its recentness and relevancy) of your project 
director, core staff, and any outside consultant, contractor, 
subrecipient, or project partner as it relates to innovative housing 
and economic development and to the implementation of the activities in 
your workplan. HUD also will assess the services that consultants or 
other parties will provide to fill gaps in your staffing structure to 
enable you to carry out the proposed workplan; the experience of your 
project director in managing projects of similar size, scope, and 
dollar amount; the lines of authority and procedures that you have in 
place for ensuring that workplan goals and objectives are being met, 
that consultants and other project partners are performing as planned, 
and that beneficiaries are being adequately served. In responding to 
this sub-factor, please indicate how the capacity building assistance 
will strengthen or otherwise affect your organization's current housing 
or economic development program portfolio or, if you are a new grantee, 
how the capacity assistance will ensure that you can carry out your 
proposed activities. In judging your response to this factor, HUD will 
only consider work experience gained within the last three years. When 
responding, please be sure to provide the dates, job titles and 
relevancy of the past experience to work to be undertaken by the 
employee or contractor under your Rural Housing and Economic 
Development program application. Failure to provide dates results in 
HUD assuming that the experience is earlier than the last three

[[Page 14018]]

years, and could result in a lower rating for the response. The more 
recent, relevant, and successful the experience of your team members is 
in relationship to the workplan activities, the greater the number of 
points you will receive.
    (2) For Support for Innovative Rural Housing and Economic 
Development Activities applications:
    (a) Team members, composition, and experience (10 points). HUD will 
evaluate the experience (including its recentness and relevancy) of 
your project director, core staff, and any outside consultant, 
contractor, subrecipient, or project partner as it relates to 
innovative housing and economic development and to the implementation 
of the activities in your workplan. HUD also will assess the services 
that consultants or other parties will provide to fill gaps in your 
staffing structure to enable you to carry out the proposed workplan; 
the experience of your project director in managing projects of similar 
size, scope, and dollar amount; the lines of authority and procedures 
that you have in place for ensuring that workplan goals and objectives 
are being met, that consultants and other project partners are 
performing as planned, and that beneficiaries are being adequately 
served. In judging your response to this factor, HUD will only consider 
work experience gained within the last seven years. When responding, 
please be sure to provide the dates, job titles and relevancy of the 
past experience to work to be undertaken by the employee or contractor 
under your proposed Rural Housing and Economic Development award. The 
more recent, relevant, and successful the experience of your team 
members are in relationship to the workplan activities, the greater the 
number of points that you will receive.
    (b) Organizational structure and management capacity (5 points). 
HUD will evaluate the extent to which you can demonstrate your 
organization's ability to manage a workforce composed of full-time or 
part-time staff, as well as any consultant staff, and your ability to 
work with community-based groups or organizations in resolving issues 
related to affordable housing and economic development. In evaluating 
this subfactor, HUD will take into account your experience in working 
with community-based organizations to design and implement programs 
that address the identified housing and economic development issues. 
The more recent, relevant, and successful the experience of your 
organization and any participating entity, the greater the number of 
points you will receive.
    (c) Experience with performance based funding requirements (10 
points). HUD will evaluate your performance in any previous grant 
program undertaken with HUD funds or other federal, state, local, or 
nonprofit or for-profit organization funds. In assessing points for 
this sub-factor, HUD reserves the right to take into account your past 
performance in meeting performance and reporting goals for any previous 
HUD award, in particular whether the program achieved its outcomes. HUD 
will deduct one point for each of the following activities related to 
previous HUD grant programs for which unsatisfactory performance has 
been verified: (1) mismanagement of funds, including the inability to 
account for funds appropriately; (2) untimely use of funds received 
either from HUD or other federal, state, or local programs; and (3) 
significant and consistent failure to measure performance outcomes. 
Among the specific outcomes to be measured are the increases in program 
accomplishments as a result of capacity building assistance and the 
increase in organizational resources as a result of assistance.
    (d) Past Rural Housing and Economic Development program 
performance. The past performance of previously awarded Rural Housing 
and Economic Development grantees will be taken into consideration when 
evaluating Rating Factor 1 ``Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Experience.'' Applicants who have been awarded Rural 
Housing and Economic Development program funds prior to FY2005 should 
indicate fiscal year and funding amount. HUD local field offices may be 
consulted to verify information submitted by the applicant as a part of 
the review of applications.
    2. Rating Factor 2--Need and Extent of the Problem (20 points). The 
Rural Housing and Economic Development program is designed to address 
the problems of rural poverty, inadequate housing and lack of economic 
opportunity. This factor addresses the extent to which there is a need 
for funding the proposed activities based on levels of distress and the 
urgency of meeting the need/distress in the applicant's target area. In 
responding to this factor, applications will be evaluated on the extent 
to which the level of need for the proposed activity and the urgency in 
meeting the need are documented and compared to target area and 
national data.
    a. In applying this factor, HUD will compare the current levels of 
need in the area (i.e., Census Tract(s) or Block Group(s) immediately 
surrounding the project site or the target area to be served by the 
proposed project and the national levels of need. This means that an 
application that provides data that show levels of need in the project 
area expressed as a percent greater than the national average will be 
rated higher under this factor. Applicants should provide data that 
address indicators of need as follows:
    (1) Poverty Rate (5 points)--Data should be provided in both 
absolute and percentage form (i.e., whole numbers and percents) for the 
target area(s). An application that compares the local poverty rate in 
the following manner to the national average at the time of submission 
will receive points under this section as follows:
    (a) Less than the national average = 0 points;
    (b) Equal to but less than twice the national average = 1 points;
    (c) Twice but less than three times the national average = 3 
points;
    (d) Three or more times the national average = 5 points.
    (2) Unemployment (5 points)--for the target area:
    (a) Less than the national average = 0 points;
    (b) Equal to but less than twice the national average = 1 points;
    (c) Twice but less than three times the national average = 2 
points;
    (d) Three but less than four times the national average = 3 points;
    (e) Four but less than five times the national average = 4 points;
    (f) Five or more times the national average = 5 points.
    (3) Other indicators of social or economic decline that best 
capture the applicant's local situation (5 points).
    (a) Data that could be provided under this section are information 
on the community's stagnant or falling tax base, including recent 
commercial or industrial closings; housing conditions, such as the 
number and percentage of substandard or overcrowded units; rent burden 
(defined as average housing cost divided by average income) for the 
target area; local crime statistics, falling property values, etc. To 
the extent that the applicant's statewide or local Consolidated Plan, 
its Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI), its Indian 
housing plan or its anti-poverty strategy identify the level of 
distress in the community and the neighborhood in which the project is 
to be carried out, references to such documents should be included in 
preparing the response to this factor.
    (b) In rating applications under this factor, HUD reserves the 
right to consider sources of available objective data other than or in 
addition to those provided by applicants, and to compare

[[Page 14019]]

such data to those provided by applicants for the project site. These 
may include U.S. Census data.
    (c) HUD requires use of sound, verifiable, and reliable data (e.g., 
U.S. Census data, state statistical reports, university studies/
reports, or Home Mortgage Disclosure Act or Community Reinvestment Act 
databases) to support distress levels cited in each application. See 
http://www.ffiec.gov/ or http://www.ffiec.gov/webcensus/ffieccensus. 
for census data. A source for all information along with the 
publication or origination date must also be provided.
    (d) Updated Census data are available for the following indicators:
    (i) Unemployment rate--estimated monthly for counties, with a two-
month lag;
    (ii) Population--estimated for incorporated places and counties, 
through 2000;
    (iii) Poverty rate--through 2000.
    (4) Demographics of Distress--Special Factors (5 points). Because 
HUD is concerned with meeting the needs of certain underserved areas, 
you will be awarded a total of five points if you are located in or 
propose to serve one or more of the following populations, or if your 
application demonstrates that 100 percent of the beneficiaries 
supported by Rural Housing and Economic Development funds are in one or 
more of the following populations. You must also specifically identify 
how each population will be served and that the proposed service area 
meets the definition of ``eligible rural area'' in Section I of this 
NOFA:
    (a) Areas with very small populations in non-urban areas (2,500 
population or less);
    (b) Seasonal farm workers;
    (c) Federally recognized Indian tribes;
    (d) Colonias;
    (e) Appalachia's Distressed Counties; or
    (f) The Lower Mississippi Delta Region (8 states and 240 counties/
parishes).
    For these underserved areas, you should ensure that the populations 
that you serve and the documentation that you provide are consistent 
with the information described in the above paragraph under this rating 
factor.
    3. Rating Factor 3--Soundness of Approach (20 points). This factor 
addresses the overall quality of your proposed workplan, taking into 
account the project and the activities proposed to be undertaken; the 
cost-effectiveness of your proposed program; and the linkages between 
identified needs, the purposes of this program, and your proposed 
activities and tasks. In addition, this factor addresses your ability 
to ensure that a clear linkage exists between innovative rural housing 
and economic development. In assessing cost-effectiveness, HUD will 
take into account your staffing levels; beneficiaries to be served; and 
your timetable for the achievement of program outcomes, the delivery of 
products and reports, and any anticipated outcome or product. You will 
receive a greater number of points if your workplan is consistent with 
the purpose of the Rural Housing and Economic Development program, your 
program goals, and the resources provided.
    a. Management Plan (13 points). A clearly defined management plan 
should be submitted that identifies each of the projects and activities 
you will carry out to further the objectives of this program; describes 
the linkage between rural housing and economic development activities; 
and addresses the needs identified in Factor 2, including needs that 
previously were identified in a statewide or local Analysis of 
Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) or Consolidated Plan. The 
populations that were described in Rating Factor 2 for the purpose of 
documenting need should be the same populations that will receive the 
primary benefit of the activities, both immediately and over the long 
term. The benefits should be affirmatively marketed to those 
populations least likely to apply for and receive these benefits 
without such marketing. Your timetable should address the measurable 
goals and objectives to be achieved through the proposed activities; 
the method you will use for evaluating and monitoring program progress 
with respect to those activities; and the method you will use to ensure 
that the activities will be completed on time and within your proposed 
budget estimates. Your management plan should also include the budget 
for your program, broken out by line item. Documented projected cost 
estimates from outside sources are also required. Applicants should 
submit their workplan on a spreadsheet showing each project to be 
undertaken and the tasks (to the extent necessary or appropriate) in 
your workplan to implement the project with your associated budget 
estimate for each activity/task. Your workplan should provide the 
rationale for your proposed activities and assumptions used in 
determining your project timeline and budget estimates. Failure to 
provide your rationale may result in your application receiving fewer 
points for lack of clarity in the proposed management plan.
    This subfactor should include information that indicates the extent 
to which you have coordinated your activities with other known 
organizations (e.g., through letters of participation or coordination) 
that are not directly participating in your proposed work activities, 
but with which you share common goals and objectives and that are 
working toward meeting these objectives in a holistic and comprehensive 
manner. The goal of this coordination is to ensure that programs do not 
operate in isolation. Additionally, your application should demonstrate 
the extent to which your program has the potential to be financially 
self-sustaining by decreasing dependence on Rural Housing and Economic 
Development funding and relying more on state, local, and private 
funding. The goal of sustainability is to ensure that the activities 
proposed in your application can be continued after your grant award is 
complete.
    b. Policy Priorities (7 Points). Policy priorities are outlined in 
detail in the General Section. You should document the extent to which 
HUD's policy priorities are furthered by the proposed activities. 
Applicants that include activities that can result in the achievement 
of these departmental policy priorities will receive higher rating 
points in evaluating their application for funding. Seven departmental 
policy priorities are listed below. When policy priorities are 
included, describe in brief detail how those activities will be carried 
out.
    The point values for policy priorities are as follows:
    (1) Providing increased homeownership and rental opportunities for 
low- and moderate-income persons, persons with disabilities, the 
elderly, minorities, and families with limited English proficiency=1 
point;
    (2) Improving our Nation's communities=1 point;
    (3) Encouraging accessible design features=1 point;
    (4) Providing full and equal access to grassroots faith-based and 
other community-based organizations in HUD program implementation=1 
point;
    (5) Ending chronic homelessness within ten years=1 point;
    (6) Removal of barriers to affordable housing= 2 points and;
    (7) Promoting Energy Efficiency and Adopting Energy Star = 1 point.
    4. Rating Factor 4--Leveraging Resources (10 points). This factor 
addresses the extent to which applicants for either of the two funding 
categories

[[Page 14020]]

have obtained firm commitments of financial or in-kind resources from 
other federal, state, local, and private sources. For every Rural 
Housing and Economic Development program dollar anticipated, you should 
provide the specific amount of dollars leveraged. In assigning points 
for this criterion, HUD will consider the level of outside resources 
obtained in the form of cash or in-kind goods or services that support 
activities proposed in your application. HUD will award a greater 
number of points based upon a comparison of the extent of leveraged 
funds with the requested Rural Housing and Economic Development award. 
This criterion is applicable to both funding categories under this 
NOFA. The level of outside resources for which commitments are obtained 
will be evaluated based on their importance to the total program. Your 
application must provide evidence of leveraging in the form of letters 
of firm commitment from any entity, including your own organization, 
which will be providing matching funds to the project. Each commitment 
described in the narrative of this factor must be in accordance with 
the definition of ``firm commitment,'' as defined in this NOFA. The 
commitment letter must be on letterhead of the participating 
organization, must be signed by an official of the organization legally 
able to make commitments on behalf of the organization, and must not be 
dated earlier than the date this NOFA is published.
    Points for this factor will be awarded based on the satisfactory 
provisions of evidence of leveraging and financial sustainability, as 
described above, and the ratio of leveraged funds to requested HUD 
Rural Housing and Economic Development funds as follows:
    a. 50% or more of requested HUD Rural Housing and Economic 
Development funds=10 points;
    b. 49-40% of requested HUD Rural Housing and Economic Development 
funds=8 points;
    c. 39-30% of requested HUD Rural Housing and Economic Development 
funds=6 points;
    d. 29-20% of requested HUD Rural Housing and Economic Development 
funds=4 points;
    e. 19-9% of requested HUD Rural Housing and Economic Development 
funds=2 points;
    f. Less than 9% of HUD requested Rural Housing and Economic 
Development funds =0 points.
    See the General Section for instructions for submitting third party 
letters and other documents with your electronic application.
    5. Rating Factor 5--Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (25 
points). This factor emphasizes HUD's commitment to ensure that 
applicants keep promises made in their application. This factor 
assesses their performance to ensure that rigorous and useful 
performance measures are used and goals are met. Achieving results 
means you, the applicant, have clearly identified the benefits or 
outcomes of your program. Outcomes are ultimate project end goals. 
Benchmarks or outputs are interim activities or products that lead to 
the ultimate achievement of your goals. Program evaluation requires 
that you, the applicant, identify program outcomes, interim products or 
benchmarks, and performance indicators that will allow you to measure 
your performance. Performance indicators should be objectively 
quantifiable and measure actual achievements against anticipated 
achievements. Your evaluation plan should identify what you are going 
to measure, how you are going to measure it, and the steps you have in 
place to make adjustments to your work plan if performance targets are 
not met within established time frames.
    Applicants must also complete the ``Logic Model'' HUD Form (HUD-
96010) included in the appendix to this NOFA and submit the completed 
form with their application. This rating factor reflects HUD's goal to 
embrace high standards of ethics, management, and accountability. HUD 
will hold a training broadcast via satellite for potential applicants 
to learn more about Rating Factor 5. For more information about the 
date and time of the broadcast, consult the HUD web site at 
www.hud.gov/grants/index.cfm.
    Program outcomes for the Rural Housing and Economic Development 
program must include where applicable:
    a. Number of housing units constructed;
    b. Number of housing units rehabilitated that will be made 
available to low-to-moderate-income participants;
    c. Number of jobs created;
    d. Percentage change in earnings as a result of employment for 
those participants;
    e. Number of participants trained;
    f. Percent of participants trained who find a job;
    g. Number of new businesses created;
    h. Number of existing businesses assisted; and
    i. Annual estimated savings for low-income families as a result of 
energy efficiency improvements.
    j. Increase in program accomplishments as a result of capacity 
building assistance (e.g. number of employees hired or retained, 
efficiency or effectiveness of services provided); and
    k. Increase in organizational resources as a result of assistance 
(e.g., dollars leveraged). If you receive an award of funds, you will 
be required to use the logic model to report progress against the 
proposed outcomes in your approved application and award agreement.
    Applicant must provide a breakdown of estimated dollar amount of 
the Rural Housing and Economic Development grant to be expended on each 
of the performance measures included on the HUD-96010 ``Logic Model'' 
and under the Rating Factor 5 section of your application.
    6. RC/EZ/EC-II bonus points (2 points). HUD will award two bonus 
points to all applications that include documentation stating that the 
proposed eligible activities/projects will be located in and serve 
federally designated RC/EZ/EC-II. A listing of federally designated RC/
EZ/EC-II is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov/grants/index.cfm.
    This notice contains a certification (HUD-2990) that must be 
completed for the applicant to be considered for Rural EZ/Round II EC 
bonus points.
    B. Review and Selection Process
    1. Application Selection Process
    a. Rating and Ranking
    (1) General. To review and rate applications, HUD may establish 
panels which may include outside experts or consultants to obtain 
certain expertise and outside points of view, including views from 
other federal agencies.
    (2) Rating. All applicants for funding will be evaluated against 
applicable criteria. In evaluating applications for funding, HUD will 
take into account an applicant's past performance in managing funds, 
including the ability to account for funds appropriately; its timely 
use of funds received either from HUD or other federal, state or local 
programs; its success in meeting performance targets for completion of 
activities; and the number of persons to be served or targeted for 
assistance. HUD may use information relating to these items based on 
information at hand or available from public sources such as 
newspapers, Inspector General or Government Accounting Office reports 
or findings, hotline complaints that have been found to have merit, or 
other such sources of information. In evaluating past performance, HUD 
will deduct points from rating scores as specified under Rating Factor 
1, Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational Experience.

[[Page 14021]]

    (3) Ranking. Applicants will be ranked separately within each of 
the two funding categories. Applicants will be selected for funding in 
accordance with their rank order in each category. An application must 
receive a minimum score of 75 points to be eligible for funding. If two 
or more applications are rated fundable and have the same score, but 
there are insufficient funds to fund all of them, the application(s) 
with the highest score for Rating Factor 2 (Need and Extent of the 
Problem) will be selected. If applications still have the same score, 
the highest score in the following factors will be selected 
sequentially until one highest score can be determined: Rating Factor 3 
(Soundness of Approach), Rating Factor 1 (Capacity and Experience), 
Rating Factor 5 (Achieving Results and Program Evaluation), and Rating 
Factor 4 (Leveraging Resources).
    a. Initial screening. During the period immediately following the 
application deadline, HUD will screen each application to determine 
eligibility. Applications will be rejected if they:
    (1) Are submitted by ineligible applicants;
    (2) Do not serve an eligible rural area as defined in Section III 
of this NOFA;
    (3) Do not meet the objectives of the Rural Housing and Economic 
Development program; or
    (4) Propose a project for which the majority of the activities are 
ineligible.
    b. Rating Factors for Award Used to Evaluate and Rate Applications. 
The factors for rating and ranking applicants and the maximum points 
for each factor are provided above. The maximum number of points for 
this program is 102. This includes 100 points for all five rating 
factors and two RC/EZ/EC-II bonus points, as described above.
    c. Environmental Review. Each application constitutes an assurance 
that the applicant agrees to assist HUD in complying with the 
provisions set forth in 24 CFR part 50. Selection for award does not 
constitute approval of any proposed site. Following selection for 
award, HUD will perform an environmental review of activities proposed 
for assistance under this part, in accordance with 24 CFR part 50. The 
results of the environmental review may require that proposed 
activities be modified or that proposed sites be rejected. Applicants 
are particularly cautioned not to undertake or commit HUD funds for 
acquisition or development of proposed properties (including 
establishing lines of credit that permit financing of such activities 
or making commitments for loans that would finance such activities from 
a revolving loan fund capitalized by funds under this NOFA) prior to 
HUD approval of specific properties or areas. Each application 
constitutes an assurance that you, the applicant, will assist HUD in 
complying with part 50; will supply HUD with all available relevant 
information to perform an environmental review for each proposed 
property; will carry out mitigating measures required by HUD or select 
alternate property; and will not acquire, rehabilitate, convert, 
demolish, lease, repair, or construct property, or commit or expend HUD 
or local funds for these program activities with respect to any 
eligible property until HUD approval of the property is received. In 
supplying HUD with environmental information, grantees must use the 
guidance provided in Notice CPD-99-01, entitled ``Field Environmental 
Processing for HUD Colonias Initiative (HCI) grants,'' issued January 
27, 1999. HUD's funding commitment is contingent upon HUD's site 
approval following an environmental review.
    d. Adjustments to Funding.
    (1) HUD will not fund any portion of your application that is 
ineligible for funding and does not meet the requirements of this NOFA, 
or is duplicative of other funded programs or activities from prior 
year awards or other selected applicants. Only the eligible non-
duplicative portions of your application may be funded.
    (2) HUD reserves the right to reallocate funds between categories 
to achieve the maximum allocation of funds in both categories.
    (3) If after all eligible applicants have been selected for funding 
in Category 1 and funds remain, the remaining funds will be allocated 
to Category 2 to fund additional eligible applications in that 
category. If a balance of funds remains, HUD reserves the right to 
utilize those funds toward the following year's awards.
    (4) Please see the Section VI.A.3 of the General Section for more 
information about funding.
    (5) Performance and Compliance Actions of Funding Recipients. HUD 
will measure and address the performance and compliance actions of 
funding recipients in accordance with the applicable standards and 
sanctions of the Rural Housing and Economic Development program.
    e. Corrections to Deficient Applications. After the application due 
date, HUD may not, consistent with its regulations in 24 CFR part 4, 
subpart B, consider any unsolicited information you, the applicant, may 
want to provide. HUD may contact you to clarify an item in your 
application or to correct technical deficiencies. HUD may not seek 
clarification of items or responses that improve the substantive 
quality of your response to any rating factors. In order not to 
unreasonably exclude applications from being rated and ranked, HUD may 
contact applicants to ensure proper completion of the application and 
will do so on a uniform basis for all applicants.
    Examples of curable (correctable) technical deficiencies include 
inconsistencies in the funding request, a failure to submit the proper 
certifications or failure to submit an application that contains a 
signature by an official able to make a legally biding commitment on 
behalf of the applicant. In the case of an applicant who received a 
waiver, the technical deficiency may include a failure to submit an 
application that contains an original signature. If HUD finds a curable 
deficiency in the application, HUD will notify you in writing by 
describing the clarification or technical deficiency. HUD will notify 
applicants by facsimile or by USPS, return receipt requested. 
Clarifications or corrections of technical deficiencies in accordance 
with the information provided by HUD must be submitted within 14 
calendar days of the date of receipt of the HUD notification. (If the 
due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday, your 
correction must be received by HUD on the next day that is not a 
Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday.) If the deficiency is not 
corrected within this time period, HUD will reject the application as 
incomplete and it will not be considered for funding. In order to meet 
statutory deadlines for the obligation of funds or for timely 
completion of the review process, Program NOFAs may reduce the number 
of days for submitting a response to a HUD clarification or correction 
to a technical deficiency. Please be sure to carefully read each 
Program NOFA for any additional information and instructions. An 
applicant's response to a HUD notification of a curable deficiency 
should be submitted directly to HUD in accordance with the instructions 
provided with request to cure the deficiency.

VI. Award Administration Information:

    A. Award Notice. Successful Rural Housing and Economic Development 
program applicants will be notified of grant award and will receive 
post-award instructions by mail.
    B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements. In addition to 
the requirements listed below, please review all requirements in 
Section III of the General Section.

[[Page 14022]]

    1. Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control. All property assisted under the 
Rural Housing and Economic Development program is covered by the Lead-
Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act (42 U.S.C. 4821-4846) and HUD's 
implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 35.
    2. Audit Requirements. Any grantee that expends $500,000 or more in 
federal financial assistance in a single year (this can be program year 
or fiscal year) must meet the audit requirements established in 24 CFR 
parts 84 and 85 in accordance with OMB A-133.
    3. Accounting System Requirements. The Rural Housing and Economic 
Development program requires that successful applicants have in place 
an accounting system that meets the policies, guidance, and 
requirements described in the following applicable OMB Circulars and 
Code of Federal Regulations:
    a. OMB Circular A-87 (Cost Principles for State, Local and Indian 
Tribal Governments);
    b. OMB Circular A-122 (Cost Principles for Non-Profit 
Organizations);
    c. OMB Circular A-133 (Audits of States, Local Governments, and 
Non-Profit Organizations);
    d. 24 CFR part 84 (Grants and Agreements with Institutions of 
Higher Education, Hospitals, and other Non-Profit Organizations); and
    e. 24 CFR part 85 (Administrative Requirements for Grants and 
Cooperative Agreements to State, Local, and Federally recognized Indian 
tribal governments).
    C. Reporting: Reporting documents apply to the award, acceptance 
and use of assistance under the Rural Housing and Economic Development 
program and to the remedies for noncompliance, except when inconsistent 
with HUD's Appropriation Act, or other federal statutes or the 
provisions of this NOFA.
    For each reporting period, as part of your required report to HUD, 
you must include a completed Logic Model (Form HUD 96010), which 
identifies output and outcome achievements. If you are reporting race 
and ethnic data, you must use Form HUD-27061, Race and Ethnic Data 
Reporting Form.
    D. Debriefing. See the General Section for information on how to 
obtain a debriefing on your application review and evaluation.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

    Further Information and Technical Assistance: For information 
concerning the HUD Rural Housing and Economic Development program, 
contact Mr. Thann Young, Program Specialist, or Ms. Linda L. Streets, 
Community Development Specialist, Office of Rural Housing and Economic 
Development, Office of Community Planning and Development, Department 
of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 7137, 
Washington, DC 20410-7000; telephone 202-708-2290 (this is not a toll-
free number). Persons with speech or hearing impairments may access 
this number via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay 
Service at 800-877-8339.
    Prior to the application deadline, Mr. Young or Ms. Streets will be 
available at the number above to provide general guidance and 
clarification of the NOFA, but not guidance in actually preparing your 
application. Following selection, but prior to award, HUD staff will be 
available to assist in clarifying or confirming information that is a 
prerequisite to the offer of an award by HUD.

VIII. Other Information

    1. Satellite Broadcast. HUD will hold an information webcast via 
satellite for potential applicants to learn more about the program and 
preparation of an application. For more information about the date and 
time of this webcast, consult the HUD web site at www.hud.gov.
    2. The Paperwork Reduction Act. The information collection 
requirements contained in this document have been approved by the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB control number 2506-
0169. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may not 
conduct or sponsor and a person is not required to respond to a 
collection of information, unless it displays a currently valid OMB 
control number. Public reporting burden for the collection of 
information is estimated to average 100 hours per annum per respondent 
for the application and grant administration. This includes the time 
for collecting, reviewing and reporting the data for the application, 
semi-annual reports, and final report. The information will be used for 
grantee selection and monitoring the administration of funds.

[[Page 14023]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN21MR05.183


[[Page 14024]]



Public Housing Neighborhood Networks Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Public and Indian Housing.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Public Housing Neighborhood Networks 
program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number for this 
NOFA is: FR-4950-N-24. The OMB approval number for this program is 
2577-0229.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 14.870.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is June 3, 2005. Please 
see the General Section of the SuperNOFA for application submission and 
timely receipt requirements.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information: 1. Purpose of 
Program: The purpose of the Public Housing Neighborhood Networks (NN) 
program is to provide grants to public housing authorities (PHAs) to: 
a) update and expand existing NN /community technology centers; or b) 
establish new NN centers. These centers offer comprehensive services 
designed to help public housing residents achieve long-term economic 
self-sufficiency.
    2. Funding Available: The Department plans to award approximately 
$23,888,000 ($13,888,000 in new appropriations plus $10,000,000 in 
carryover) under the Neighborhood Networks program in Fiscal Year 2005.
    3. Award Amounts: Awards will range from $150,000 to $6000,000.
    4. Eligible Applicants. Eligible applicants are PHAs only.
    Tribes and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs), nonprofit 
organizations, and resident associations are not eligible to apply for 
funding under the Public Housing Neighborhood Networks program.
    5. Cost Sharing/Match Requirement: PHAs are required to match at 
least 25 percent of the requested grant amount.
    6. Grant term. The grant term is three years from the execution 
date of the grant agreement.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Grant program                          Total funding                       Eligible applicants                  Maximum grant amount
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neighborhood Networks.......................  $23.8 Million..................  PHAs--existing centers.....................  $150,000 for PHAs with 1-780
                                                                                                                             units.
                                                                                                                            $200,000 for PHAs with 781-
                                                                                                                             2,500 units.
                                                                                                                            $250,000 for PHAs with 2,501-
                                                                                                                             7,300 units.
                                                                                                                            $300,000 for PHAs with 7,301
                                                                                                                             units or more.
                                                                               PHAs--new centers..........................  $300,000 for PHAs with 1-780
                                                                                                                             units.
                                                                                                                            $400,000 for PHAs with 781-
                                                                                                                             2,500 units.
                                                                                                                            $500,000 for PHAs with 2,501-
                                                                                                                             7,300 units.
                                                                                                                            $600,000 for PHAs with 7,301
                                                                                                                             units or more.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Definition of Terms

    1. Contract Administrator is a grant administrator or financial 
management agent that oversees the implementation of the grant and/or 
the financial aspects of the grant. See the ``Program Requirements'' 
and ``Threshold Requirements'' sections for more information.
    2. An existing computer center is: (1) A computer lab, or 
technology center owned and operated by a PHA which serves residents of 
public housing and has not received prior NN funding and therefore is 
not officially designated a HUD Public and Indian Housing (PIH) NN 
center; (2) a computer lab designated as a HUD PIH NN center, which 
seeks to expand its services; or (3) a computer lab which needs funding 
under this program to become operational and serve residents of public 
housing.
    3. A new NN center is one that will be established (i.e. there is 
no infrastructure, space, or equipment currently in use for this 
purpose) with NN grant funds. NOTE: An applicant previously funded 
under Neighborhood Networks may apply under the ``New Computer Center'' 
category only if it will develop a new center in a development which 
cannot be served by the applicant's existing NN center(s).
    4. Past Performance is a threshold requirement. Using Rating Factor 
1, HUD's field offices will evaluate applicants for past performance to 
determine whether an applicant has the capacity to manage the grant 
they are applying for. Field offices will evaluate the past performance 
of contract administrators for applicants that required one.
    5. Person with disabilities means a person who:
    a. Has a condition defined as a disability in section 223 of the 
Social Security Act;
    b. Has a developmental disability as defined in section 102 of the 
Developmental Disabilities Assistance Bill of Rights Act; or
    c. Is determined to have a physical, mental, or emotional 
impairment which:
    (1) Is expected to be of long-continued and indefinite duration;
    (2) Substantially impedes his or her ability to live independently; 
and
    (3) Is of such a nature that such ability could be improved by more 
suitable housing conditions.
    The term ``person with disabilities'' includes persons who have 
acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) or any conditions arising 
from the etiologic agent for AIDS. In addition, no individual shall be 
considered a person with disabilities solely based on drug or alcohol 
dependence.
    The definition provided above for persons with disabilities is the 
proper definition for determining program qualifications. However, the 
definition of a person with disabilities contained in section 504 of 
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its implementing regulations must be 
used for purposes of reasonable accommodations.
    6. Project Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the 
grantee's approved activities to ensure that grant goals and objectives 
are met. A qualified Project Coordinator is someone with at least two 
years of experience working on supportive services designed 
specifically for underserved populations. The Project Coordinator and 
grantee are both responsible for ensuring that all federal requirements 
are followed.
    7. Secretary means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
    8. Senior person means a person who is at least 62 years of age.

B. Program Description

    1. The Public Housing Neighborhood Networks program provides grants 
to PHAs to (1) update and expand existing NN/community technology 
centers; or (2) establish new (NN) centers.
    2. NN centers must be located within a public housing development, 
on PHA land, or within reasonable walking distance to the PHA 
development(s).

[[Page 14025]]

    3. HUD is looking for applications that implement comprehensive 
programs within the three year grant term which will result in improved 
economic self-sufficiency for public housing residents. HUD is looking 
for proposals that involve partnerships with organizations that will 
supplement and enhance the services offered to residents.
    4. NN centers provide computer and Internet access to public 
housing residents and offer a full range of computer and job training 
services. Applicants should submit proposals that will incorporate 
computer and Internet use to: provide job training for youths, adults 
and seniors; expand educational opportunities for residents; promote 
economic self-sufficiency and help residents transition from welfare to 
work; assist children with homework; provide guidance to high school 
students (or other interested residents) for post-secondary education 
(college or trade schools); and provide other services deemed necessary 
from resident input.
    5. All applicants must complete a business plan (see sample HUD-
52766 provided in the Appendix) covering the three-year grant term. 
Applicants' business plan and narrative must indicate how the centers 
will become self-sustaining after the grant term expires. Proposed 
grant activities should build on the foundation created by previous NN 
grants such as Resident Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) 
grants, or other federal, state and local self-sufficiency efforts.

C. Eligible Activities

    1. Hiring a Qualified Project Coordinator To Administer the Grant 
Program. A qualified Project Coordinator must have project management 
and information technology experience. The Project Coordinator should 
be hired for the entire term of your grant. The Project Coordinator is 
responsible for ensuring that the center achieves its proposed goals 
and objectives. In addition, the Project Coordinator is responsible for 
the following activities:
    a. Marketing the program to residents;
    b. Assessing residents' needs, interests, skills, and job-
readiness;
    c. Assessing residents' needs for supportive services, e.g. 
childcare, transportation;
    d. Designing and coordinating grant activities based on residents' 
needs and interests; and
    e. Monitoring the progress of program participants and evaluating 
the overall success of the program. For more information on how to 
measure performance, please see Rating Factor 5 in the ``Application 
Review Information'' section of this NOFA.
    2. Literacy training and GED preparation;
    3. Computer training, from basic to advanced;
    4. College preparatory courses and information;
    5. Job Training: Some examples of the job training skills 
encouraged are: oral and written communication skills; work ethic; 
interpersonal and teamwork skills; resume writing; interviewing 
techniques, creating job training and placement programs with local 
employers and employment agencies; and post-employment follow-up to 
assist residents who are new to the workplace.
    6. Physical improvements. Physical improvements must relate to 
providing space for a Neighborhood Networks center. Renovation, 
conversion, wiring, and repair costs may be essential elements of 
physical improvements. In addition, architectural, engineering, and 
related professional services required to prepare plans or drawings, 
write-ups, specifications or inspections may also be part of the cost 
of implementing physical improvements.
    a. Creating an accessible space for persons with disabilities is an 
eligible use of funds. Refer to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
Circular A-87, ``Cost Principles for State, Local and Indian Tribal 
Governments.''
    b. The renovation, conversion, or joining of vacant units in a PHA 
development to create space for the equipment and activities of a NN 
center (computers, printers, and office space) are eligible activities 
for physical improvement.
    c. The renovation or conversion of existing common areas in a PHA 
development to accommodate a NN center is eligible.
    d. If renovation, conversion, or repair is done off-site, the PHA 
must provide documentation with its application that it has control of 
the proposed property for at least five years. Control can be 
demonstrated through a lease agreement, ownership documentation, or 
other appropriate documentation.
    7. Maintenance and insurance costs. Includes installing and 
maintaining the hardware and software as well as insurance coverage for 
the space and equipment.
    8. Purchase of computers, printers, software and other peripheral 
equipment are eligible expenses. In addition, costs of computer 
hardware and software for the needs of persons with disabilities are an 
eligible cost for this funding category;
    9. Distance Learning Equipment. Distance learning equipment 
(including the costs for video casting and purchase/lease/rental of 
distance learning equipment) is an eligible use of funds. The proposal 
must indicate that the center will be working in a virtual setting with 
a college, university or other educational organization. Distance 
learning equipment can also be used to link one or more centers so that 
residents can benefit from courses being offered at only one site.
    10. Security and related costs. Includes space and minor refitting, 
locks, and other equipment for safeguarding the center.
    11. Hiring Residents. Grantees may hire residents to help with the 
implementation of this grant program.
    12. Administrative costs. Administrative costs may include, but are 
not limited to, purchase of furniture, office equipment and supplies, 
local travel, and utilities. Administrative costs may not be used to 
pay for salaries of any kind. For both new and existing NN centers, 
administrative costs must not exceed 10 percent of the total grant 
amount requested from HUD. Administrative costs must adhere to OMB 
Circular A-87. Please use HUD-424-CBW to itemize your administrative 
costs. You may attach an additional sheet of paper to the HUD-424-CBW 
form if necessary in order to fully itemize your administrative costs.

D. Regulations Governing the Neighborhood Networks Grant

    The Neighborhood Networks program is governed by regulations in 24 
CFR parts 905 and 968.

II. Award Information

    A. Total Funding. The Department expects to award approximately a 
total of $23,888,000 ($13,888,000 in new appropriations plus 
$10,000,000 in carryover) under the Neighborhood Networks program in 
Fiscal Year 2005. Awards will be made as follows:
    1. Forty percent of available funding for Neighborhood Networks 
will be used for updating and expanding existing computer technology 
centers. The other 60 percent will provide grants to establish and 
operate new Neighborhood Networks centers.
    2. PHAs must use the number of occupied public housing units as of 
September 30, 2004 per their budget. This is required so the PHA can 
determine the maximum grant amount they are eligible for in accordance 
with the categories listed below. PHAs should clearly indicate on the 
Fact

[[Page 14026]]

Sheet (HUD-52751) the number of units under management.
    a. Funding Levels for Existing Centers:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Number of conventional units                Maximum funding
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-780 units...............................  $150,000
781-2,500 units...........................  200,000
2,501-7,300 units.........................  250,000
7,301 or more units.......................  300,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    b. Funding Levels for New Centers:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Number of conventional units                Maximum funding
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-780 units...............................  $300,000
781-2,500 units...........................  400,000
2,501-7,300 units.........................  500,000
7,301 or more units.......................  600,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    B. Grant Period: Three years. The grant period shall begin the day 
the grant agreement and the form HUD-1044, ``Assistance Award/
Amendment'' are signed by the grantee and HUD.
    C. Grant Extensions. Requests to extend the grant term must be 
submitted in writing by the grantee to the local HUD field office. Such 
requests must be done prior to grant termination and with at least 30 
days notice to give the field office a reasonable amount of time to 
fully evaluate the request. Requests must explain why the extension is 
necessary, what work remains to be completed, and what work and 
progress was accomplished to date. Extensions may be granted one time 
only by the field office for no more than six months.
    D. Type of Award: Grant agreement.
    E. Subcontracting: Subcontracting is permitted. Grantees must 
follow the HUD federal procurement regulations found at 24 CFR 85.36.

III. Eligibility Information

    A. Eligible Applicants: Public Housing Authorities are eligible to 
apply for this funding category. Tribes/TDHEs, nonprofit organizations, 
and resident associations are not eligible to apply for this funding 
category.
    B. Cost Sharing or Matching: All applicants are required to obtain 
a 25 percent cash or in-kind match. The match is a threshold 
requirement. Applicants who do not demonstrate the minimum 25 percent 
match will fail the threshold requirement and will not receive further 
consideration for funding. Please see the section below on threshold 
requirements for more information on what is required for the match.
    C. Other: 1. Threshold Requirements: Applicants must respond to 
each threshold requirement clearly and thoroughly by following the 
instructions below. If your application fails one threshold requirement 
(regardless of the type of threshold) it will be considered a failed 
application. Applicants and grantees must also meet the threshold 
requirements contained in Section III.C. of the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA.
    a. Match. All applicants are required to commit a 25 percent match 
in cash or in-kind donations that are defined in this paragraph. Joint 
applicants must together have at least a 25 percent match. Applicants 
who do not demonstrate the minimum 25 percent match will fail this 
threshold requirement and will not receive further consideration for 
funding. If you are also applying for funding under the ROSS grant 
program, you must use different sources of match donations for each 
grant application and you must indicate which ROSS grant(s) you are 
applying for by attaching a narrative to your application. This 
narrative must state the sources and amounts of each of your match 
contributions for this application as well as any other HUD grant 
program to which you are applying.
    Match donations must be firmly committed. Firmly committed means 
that the amount of match resources and their dedication to Neighborhood 
Networks-funded activities must be explicit, in writing and signed by a 
person authorized to make the commitment. Letters of commitment and 
memoranda of understanding (MOU) must be on organization letterhead, 
and signed by a person authorized to make the commitment. The letters 
of commitment/MOUs must indicate the total dollar value of the 
commitment, be dated within two months of the application deadline, and 
indicate how the commitment will relate to the proposed program. The 
commitment should be available at time of award. Applicants proposing 
to use their own, non-HUD grant funds to meet the match requirement, 
must also include a letter of commitment indicating the type of match 
(cash or in-kind) and how the match will be used. Grant awards shall be 
contingent upon letters of commitment being submitted with your 
application. Please see the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
instructions for submitting the required letters with your electronic 
application.
    (1) Volunteer time and services shall be computed using the 
professional rate for the local area or the national minimum wage rate 
of $5.15 per hour (Note: applicants may not count their staff time 
towards the match.) If grantees propose to use volunteers for 
development or operations work that would otherwise be subject to 
payment of Davis-Bacon or HUD-determined prevailing wage rates 
(including construction, rehabilitation or maintenance) their services 
must be computed using the appropriate methodology. Additional 
information on these wage rates can be found at: www.hud.gov/, by 
contacting HUD Field Office Labor Relations staff, or from the PHA. 
Such volunteers must also meet the requirements of section 12(b) of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 and 24 CFR part 70;
    (2) In order for HUD to determine the value of any donated 
material, equipment, staff time, building, or lease, your application 
must provide a letter from the organization making the donation. The 
letter must state the value of the contribution.
    (3) Other resources/services that can be committed include: in-kind 
services such as administrative assistance provided to the applicant; 
funds from federal sources that are allowed by statute, for example 
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG); funds from any state or local 
government sources; and funds from private contributions. Applicants 
may also partner with other program funding recipients to coordinate 
the use of resources in the target area.
    b. Past Performance. HUD's field offices will evaluate data 
provided by applicants as well as their past performance to determine 
whether applicants have the capacity to manage the grant they are 
applying for. Field offices will evaluate the contract administrators' 
past performance for applicants required to have a contract 
administrator. Using Rating Factor 1, the field office will evaluate 
applicants' past performance. Applicants should carefully review Rating 
Factor 1 to ensure their application addresses all of the criteria 
requested. If applicants fail to address what is requested in Rating 
Factor 1, their application will not receive further consideration.
    c. Contract Administrator Partnership Agreement. PHAs that are 
troubled at time of application are required to submit a signed 
Contract Administrator Partnership Agreement. The agreement must be for 
the entire grant term. Grant awards must have a signed Contract 
Administrator Partnership Agreement included in the application. 
Applicants required to have a Contract Administrator Partnership 
Agreement that fail to submit one will fail this threshold requirement 
and will not receive further consideration for funding.

[[Page 14027]]

    Troubled PHAs are not eligible to be contract administrators. Grant 
writers who assist in the preparation of their Neighborhood Networks 
applications are also ineligible to be contract administrators.
    For more information on contract administrators, see the section 
``Program Requirements.''
    d. Minimum Score for All Fundable Applications. Applications that 
pass all threshold requirements and go through the ranking and rating 
process, must receive a minimum score of 75 in order to be considered 
for funding.
    e. The Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number 
Requirement. Refer to the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
information regarding the DUNS requirement. You will need to obtain a 
DUNS number to receive an award from HUD. You will need a DUNS number 
to complete your Grants.gov registration. Registration is required for 
electronic submission. See the General Section of the SuperNOFA for a 
discussion of the Grants.gov registration process.
    f. Applicants will not be considered for funding if their request 
exceeds the maximum amount they are eligible for.
    2. Program Requirements:
    a. Program Evaluations. A portion of grant funds should be reserved 
to ensure that evaluations can be completed for all participants who 
received training through this program. For example, applicants may 
propose to reserve one percent of grant funds for every 10 students 
they train for the purpose of evaluating students' success in the 
program.
    b. Physical Improvements. All renovations must meet appropriate 
accessibility requirements, including the requirements of Section 504 
of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 at 24 CFR part 8, Architectural 
Barriers Act at 24 CFR part 40, the Americans with Disabilities Act and 
the Fair Housing Act. Compliance with the Uniform Federal Accessibility 
Standards must comply with the requirements of 24 CFR 8.21, 8.22, 
8.232, and 8.25 with respect to buildings.
    c. Contract Administrator. The contract administrator must assure 
that the financial management system and procurement procedures that 
will be implemented during the grant term comply with 24 CFR part 85. 
CAs are expressly forbidden from accessing HUD's Line of Credit Control 
System (LOCCS) and submitting vouchers on behalf of grantees. Contract 
administrators must assist PHAs in meeting HUD's reporting 
requirements, see Section VI.C. ``Reporting'' for more information. 
Contract administrators may be: local housing agencies; community-based 
organizations such as community development corporations (CDCs), 
churches, temples, synagogues, mosques; nonprofit organizations; state/
regional associations and organizations. Troubled PHAs are not eligible 
to be contract administrators. Grant writers who assist applicants in 
preparing their Neighborhood Networks applications are also ineligible 
to be contract administrators. Organizations that the applicant 
proposes to use as the contract administrator must not violate the 
conflict of interest standards as defined in 24 CFR part 84 and 24 CFR 
part 85.
    d. Other Requirements Applicable to All Programs. All applicants, 
lead and non-lead, should refer to ``Other Requirements and Procedures 
Applicable to All Programs'' of the General Section of the SuperNOFA 
for other requirements to which they may be subject.
    3. Number of Applications Permitted:
    a. General. Applicants may submit only one application for a NN 
grant.
    b. Joint applications. Two or more applicants may join together to 
submit a joint application for proposed grant activities. Joint 
applications must designate a lead applicant. Only the lead applicant 
is subject to the threshold requirements outlined in this NOFA. 
However, both lead and non-lead applicants are subject to threshold 
requirements outlined in Section III. C. of the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA. The lead applicant must be registered with Grants.gov and 
submit the application using the Grants.gov portal. Applicants who 
submit joint applications cannot submit separate applications as sole 
applicants under this NOFA. NOTE: The lead applicant will determine the 
maximum funding amount the applicants are eligible to receive.
    4. Eligible Participants: All program participants must be 
residents of public housing or residents of other housing assisted with 
funding made available under the 2005 Appropriations Act (e.g., 
residents receiving tenant-based or project-based voucher assistance, 
as well as elderly and disabled residents).
    5. Compliance with Program Requirements. In addition to the 
specific NN program requirement, all applicants and grantees must also 
comply with the program requirements contained in Section III. C. of 
the General Section of the SuperNOFA.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    A. Address to Obtain an Application Package. There is no 
application kit this year. Please refer to the General Section for 
information on how to submit your application electronically. Copies of 
this published NOFA and application forms for this program may be 
downloaded from the grants.gov Web site at http://www.grants.gov/APPLY. 
If you have difficulty accessing the information you may call the 
Grants.gov help desk toll-free at (800) 518-GRANTS or sending an e-mail 
to Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. The operators will assist you in accessing the 
information.
    B. Content and Form of Application Submission: 1. Application 
Preparation: Before preparing an application for Neighborhood Networks 
funding, applicants should carefully review the program description, 
program requirements, ineligible activities, threshold requirements 
contained in this NOFA, and the General Section. Applicants should also 
review each rating factor found in the ``Application Review 
Information'' section before writing a narrative response. Applicants' 
narratives must be descriptive in order to ensure that every requested 
item is addressed. Applicants should make sure to include all requested 
information, according to the instructions found in this NOFA and the 
General Section. This will help ensure a fair and accurate review of 
your application.
    2. Content and Format for Submission: In order to be funded, 
applicants must propose programs which meet all the requirements and 
objectives of the Neighborhood Networks program described in this NOFA 
and follow the submission instructions for electronic filing and 
submitting third party letters and other documentation found in the 
General Section.
    3. Content of Application: Applicants must write narrative 
responses to each of the rating factors described in the section below. 
Their responses must demonstrate that they have the necessary capacity 
to successfully manage this grant program. Applicants should ensure 
that their narratives are written clearly and concisely so that HUD 
reviewers, who may not be familiar with the Neighborhood Networks 
program, fully understand the proposal. HUD encourages applicants to 
carefully review each rating factor, the regulations governing the 
Neighborhood Networks program, at 24 CFR parts 905 and 968, and the 
General Section prior to responding to the rating factors.
    4. Format of Application: (1) Applications may not exceed 35 
narrative pages. Narrative pages must be submitted as separate 
electronic files, formatted as double-spaced, single-sided documents. 
Each file should have

[[Page 14028]]

the pages numbered consecutively. Use Times New Roman font style and 
font size 12. Supporting documentation, required forms, and 
certifications will not be counted toward the 35 narrative page limit. 
See the General Section for information on how to submit documents that 
are not in electronic format. Applicants should make every effort to 
submit only what is necessary in terms of supporting documentation. 
Please see the General Section for instructions on how to submit 
supporting documentation with your electronic application.
    (2) The following checklist has been provided to guarantee that the 
applicants submit all of the required forms and information. Electronic 
application filers should make sure the file names for their narratives 
reflect the labels in the checklist. Each narrative must be in a 
separate file with all the files zipped together and sent as an 
attachment in the application submittal.

    (Note: Applicants who receive a waiver to submit paper 
applications, must submit their applications in a three-ring binder, 
with TABS dividing the sections as indicated below):

    TAB 1: Required Forms
    1. Acknowledgment of Application Receipt (HUD-2993), for paper 
application submissions only (you must have an approved waiver to 
submit a paper application);
    2. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424);
    3. SF-424 Supplement--Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for 
Applicants;
    4. Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers (HUD-27300);
    5. ROSS Fact Sheet (HUD-52751);
    6. Grant Application Detailed Budget (HUD-424-CB);
    7. Grant Application Detailed Budget Worksheet (HUD-424-CBW);
    8. Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880);
    9. Certification of Consistency with RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan 
(HUD-2990) if applicable;
    10. Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan (HUD-
2991) if applicable;
    11. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (HUD-SF-LLL)--if applicable;
    12. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities Continuation Sheet (HUD-SF-
LLL-A)--if applicable; and
    13. Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994). (Optional)
    14. Facsimile Transmittal (HUD-96011)
    TAB 2: Threshold Requirements
    1. Letters from Partners attesting to match;
    2. Letter from Applicant's organization attesting to match (if 
applicant is contributing to match); and
    3. Contract Administrator Partnership Agreement (required for 
troubled PHAs) (HUD-52755).
    TAB 3: Rating Factor 1
    1. Narrative
    2. Chart A: Program Staffing (HUD-52756)
    3. Chart B: Applicant/Administrator Track Record (HUD-52757)
    4. Resumes/Position Descriptions
    TAB 4: Narrative for Rating Factor 2
    TAB 5: Rating Factor 3
    1. Narrative
    2. Business Plan (see sample) (HUD-52766)
    TAB 6: Narrative for Rating Factor 4
    TAB 7: Narrative for Rating Factor 5 and NN Program Forms
    1. Narrative
    2. Logic Model (HUD-96010);
    3. Sample Performance measures/outcomes are attached for 
applicants' information
    C. Submission Dates and Times: 1. Due Dates: Electronic 
applications must be submitted and received by Grants.gov no later than 
11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on June 3, 2005. For applicants receiving a 
waiver to the electronic filing requirement, please see the General 
Section for waiver and mailing requirements.
    2. Proof of Timely Submission. Please see Section IV.F of the 
General Section for application submission, and timely receipt 
requirements. Applicants that fail to meet the deadline for application 
receipt will not receive funding consideration.
    D. Intergovernmental Review: Not applicable.
    E. Funding Restrictions: 1. Reimbursement for Grant Application 
Costs: Applicants who receive a NN award are prohibited from using 
these grant funds to reimburse any costs incurred while preparing their 
applications.
    2. Covered Salaries:
    a. Project Coordinator: The Neighborhood Networks program will fund 
up to $65,000 in combined annual salary and fringe benefits for a full-
time Project Coordinator. The Project Coordinator's salary and fringe 
benefits may not exceed 30 percent of the total grant amount. For audit 
purposes, applicants must have documentation on file demonstrating that 
the salary paid to the Project Coordinator is comparable to similar 
professions in their local area.
    b. Hiring Residents: Grantees may hire residents to help with the 
implementation of this grant program. No more than five percent of 
grant funds can be used for this purpose.
    c. NN funds may only be used for the types of salaries described in 
this section according to the restrictions described herein. NN funds 
may not be used to pay for salaries of any other kind.
    d. Neighborhood Networks grant funds cannot be used to hire or pay 
the services of a Contract Administrator.
    3. Administrative Costs. Administrative costs may include, but are 
not limited to, purchase of furniture, office equipment, supplies, 
local travel, and utilities. Administrative costs may not be used to 
pay for salaries. Administrative costs must not exceed 10 percent of 
the total grant amount requested from HUD. Administrative costs must 
adhere to OMB Circular A-87. Please use HUD-424-CBW to itemize your 
administrative costs.
    4. Ineligible Activities/Costs. Grant funds may not be used for 
ineligible activities:
    a. Payment of wages and/or salaries to participants for receiving 
supportive services and/or training programs;
    b. Purchase, lease, or rental of land;
    c. Purchase, lease, or rental of vehicles;
    d. Entertainment costs;
    e. Purchasing food;
    f. Service Coordinator salary and fringe benefits;
    g. Stipends;
    h. Cost of application preparation;
    i. Costs which exceed limits identified in the NOFA for the 
following: Project Coordinator, resident salaries, physical 
improvements (see below) and administrative expenses; and
    j. Any other costs not eligible under section 9(d)(1)(E) of the 
U.S. Housing Act of 1937. A copy of the regulation can be found at 
www.hud.gov/fundsavailable.
    k. NN funds cannot be used to hire or pay for the services of a 
Contract Administrator
    5. Physical Improvements. For new centers, expenses for physical 
improvements may not exceed 20 percent of the total grant amount 
requested from HUD. For existing centers, expenses for physical 
improvements may not exceed 10 percent of the total grant amount.
    F. Other Submission Requirements: a. Electronic Delivery. Beginning 
in FY2005, HUD requires applicants to submit applications 
electronically through www.grants.gov/Apply. Applicants interested in 
applying for funding must submit their applications electronically via 
the web site http://www.grants.gov/Apply. This site has simple 
instructions that will enable you to apply for HUD assistance. The 
www.grants.gov/Apply feature includes

[[Page 14029]]

a simple, unified application process to enable applicants to apply for 
grants online.
    b. Waivers to the Electronic Submission Process: Applicants may 
request a waiver to the electronic submission process (see Section IV.F 
of the General Section for more information). Applicants who are 
granted a waiver must submit their applications to: HUD Grants 
Management Center (GMC), Mail Stop: Neighborhood Networks, 501 School 
Street, SW., 8th floor, Washington, DC 20024. Please see the General 
Section for detailed mailing and delivery instructions as the 
procedures have changed significantly for this year.
    c. Number of Copies. Only applicants receiving a waiver to the 
electronic submission requirement may submit an original and two paper 
copies of the application. One paper copy must be sent to the area 
field office. See the chart in the General Section if you have received 
a waiver of the electronic submission requirement.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. Factors for Award Used To Evaluate and Rate Applications to the 
Neighborhood Networks Program: The factors for rating and ranking 
applicants and maximum points for each factor are provided below. The 
maximum number of points available for this program is 102. This 
includes two RC/EZ/EC bonus points. The SuperNOFA contains a 
certification that must be completed in order for the applicant to be 
considered for RC/EZ/EC-II bonus points. A listing of federally 
designated RC/EZ/EC-II is available on HUD's web site at: www.hud.gov/fundsdsavailable. The agency certifying to RC/EZ/EC-II status must be 
included in the listing on HUD's web site. Please see the General 
Section for details concerning RDC/EZ/EC-II bonus points. NOTE: 
Applicants should carefully review each rating factor before writing a 
response. Applicants' narratives must be descriptive and detailed in 
order to ensure every requested item is addressed. Applicants should 
make sure their narratives thoroughly address the Rating Factors below 
and include all requested information, according to the instructions 
found in this NOFA. This will help ensure a fair and accurate 
application review.
    a. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Staff (35 Points)
    This factor addresses whether the applicant has the organizational 
resources necessary to successfully implement the proposed activities 
within the grant period. In rating this factor, HUD will consider 
whether the proposal demonstrates that the applicant will have 
qualified and experienced staff. HUD will also bear in mind whether or 
not the proposed staff will be dedicated to administering the program.
    (1) Proposed Program Staffing (12 Points).
    (a) Staff Experience (4 Points). HUD is requesting details about 
the knowledge and experience of the proposed Project Coordinator, 
staff, and partners in planning and managing programs. Experience will 
be judged in terms of recent, relevant and successful experience of 
proposed staff to undertake program activities. In rating this factor, 
HUD will consider experience within the last 5 years to be recent; 
experience pertaining to the specific activities being proposed to be 
relevant; and experience producing specific accomplishments to be 
successful. Applicants will receive a greater amount of points if the 
proposed staff has recent and applicable experience. HUD is looking for 
staff to possess experience working with and successfully implementing 
similar projects. If proposed staff has experience in providing 
community technology services and in delivering social service programs 
to underserved populations, applicants will receive a maximum score of 
four points. If proposed staff has experience in only one area, 
applicants will receive two points. If proposed staff has experience in 
neither area, applicants will receive a score of 0 for this subfactor.
    The following information should be included in the application in 
order to provide HUD an understanding of the proposed staff's 
experience and capacity:
    (i) The number of staff years (one staff year = 2080 hours) to be 
allocated to the program by each employee as well as each of their 
roles in the program;
    (ii) The staff's relevant educational background and/or work 
experience;
    (iii) Relevant and successful experience running programs whose 
activities include social services and computer programs that are 
similar to the eligible program activities described in this NOFA;
    (b) Hiring Residents (3 points). Three points will be awarded if 
applicants commit to hiring one to three residents. Small PHAs should 
hire one person, medium PHAs should hire one to two people, and large 
PHAs should hire three people in order to get the maximum score. In 
order to receive points for this subfactor, applicants must explain in 
their narrative that they will hire residents and indicate the number 
of residents to be hired, and work they will be assigned.
    (c) Organizational Capacity (5 Points). Applicants will be 
evaluated based on whether they have, and/or whether their partners 
have sufficient qualified personnel to deliver the proposed activities 
in a timely and effective fashion. In order to enhance or supplement 
capacity, applicants should provide evidence of partnerships with 
nonprofit organizations or other organizations that have experience 
providing community technology services to typically underserved 
populations. Applicants' narrative must describe their ability to 
immediately begin the proposed work program. Applicants may scan 
resumes or position descriptions (where staff is not yet hired) for all 
key personnel so they become an electronic attachment to your 
Grants.gov application. Please see the General Section for instructions 
on how to submit the required information with your electronic 
application. (Resumes/position descriptions do not count toward the 35-
page limit.)
    (2) Past Performance of Applicant/Contract Administrator (6 
Points). Applicants' narrative must describe how they (or their 
Contract Administrator) successfully implemented grant programs 
(including those listed below) designed to promote resident self-
sufficiency or moving from welfare to work. Applicants' past experience 
may include, but is not limited to, running programs aimed at assisting 
residents of low-income housing achieve economic self-sufficiency; 
e.g., ROSS grants and Youthbuild. Applicants' narrative must indicate 
the grants they received and managed, the grant amounts, and grant 
terms (years) of the grants that they are counting towards past 
experience. Applicants will be evaluated according to the following 
criteria:
    (a) Benefits gained by participating residents. These must be 
measurable. Applicants should describe results their programs have 
obtained, (e.g., higher incomes, improved grades, higher rates of 
employment, increased savings, improved literacy, etc.);
    (b) Description of timely grant expenditure throughout the term of 
past grants. Timely means regular drawdowns throughout the life of the 
grant, i.e., quarterly drawdowns, with all funds expended by the end of 
the grant term;
    (c) Description of past leveraging. Applicants must describe how 
they have leveraged funding or in-kind services beyond what was 
originally proposed for past projects;

[[Page 14030]]

    (3) Program Administration and Fiscal Management (17 Points).
    (a) Program Administration (10 Points). Applicants should describe 
how they will manage the program; how HUD can be sure that there is 
program accountability; and provide a description of proposed staff's 
roles and responsibilities. Applicants should also describe how grant 
staff, and partners will report to the Project Coordinator and other 
senior staff.
    (b) Fiscal Management (7 Points) In rating this factor, applicants' 
skills and experience in fiscal management will be evaluated. If 
applicants have had any audit or material weakness findings in the past 
five years, they will be evaluated on how well they have addressed 
them. Applicants must provide the following:
    (i) A complete description of their fiscal management structure, 
including fiscal controls currently in place, which includes those of a 
Contract Administrator for applicants who required one. (i.e., troubled 
PHAs);
    (ii) Applicants must list any audit findings in the past five years 
(HUD Inspector General, management review, fiscal, etc.), material 
weaknesses and what has been done to address them;
    (iii) For applicants who are required to have a Contract 
Administrator, describe the skills and experience the Contract 
Administrator has in managing Federal funds.
    b. Rating Factor 2: Need (10 Points)
    This factor addresses the need for funding an applicant's proposed 
program. In responding to this factor, applicants will be evaluated on 
the extent to which they describe and document the level of need for 
their proposed activities.
    In responding to this factor, applicants must include:
    (1) Demonstrated Link Between Proposed Activities and Local Need. 
(10 points). Applicants' narrative must demonstrate a clear 
relationship between proposed activities, community needs and the 
purpose of the program's funding in order for points to be awarded for 
this factor.
    c. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (25 Points)
    This factor addresses both the quality and cost-effectiveness of 
applicants' proposed business plan. The business plan must indicate a 
clear relationship between proposed activities, the targeted 
population's needs, and the purpose of the program funding. Applicants' 
activities must address HUD's policy priorities outlined in this Rating 
Factor.
    In rating this factor HUD will consider:
    (1) Quality of the Business Plan (20 points). This factor evaluates 
both the applicants' business plan and budget which will be evaluated 
based on the following criteria:
    (a) Specific Services and/or Activities (9 points). Applicants' 
narrative must describe the specific services, course curriculum, and 
activities they plan to offer and who will be responsible for each. In 
addition to the narrative, applicants must also provide a business 
listing the specific services, activities, and outcomes they expect. 
The business plan must show a logical order of activities and progress 
and must tie to the outcomes and outputs applicants identify in the 
Logic Model (see Rating Factor 5). Please see a sample business plan in 
the Appendix (HUD-52766). Applicants' narrative must explain how their 
proposed activities will:
    (i) Involve community partners in the delivery of services (4 
points); and
    (ii) Offer comprehensive services versus a small range of services 
geared toward enhancing economic opportunities for residents. (5 
points).
    (b) Feasibility and Demonstrable Benefits (4 points). This factor 
examines whether applicants' business plan is logical, feasible and 
likely to achieve its stated purpose during the term of the grant. 
HUD's desire is to fund applications that will quickly produce 
demonstrable results and advance the purposes of the Neighborhood 
Networks program.
    (i) Timeliness. This subfactor evaluates whether applicants' 
business plan demonstrates that their project is ready to be 
implemented shortly after grant award. In addition, the timing of the 
application should not exceed three months following the execution of 
the grant agreement. The business plan must indicate timeframes and 
deadlines for accomplishing major activities.
    (ii) Description of the problem and solution. The business plan 
will be evaluated based on how well applicants' proposed activities 
address the needs described in Rating Factor 2.
    (c) Budget Appropriateness/Efficient Use of Grant (7 Points). The 
score in this factor will be based on the following:
    (i) Justification of expenses (4 Points). Applicants will be 
evaluated based on whether their expenses are reasonable, well 
explained, and support the objectives of their proposal.
    (ii) Budget Efficiency (3 Points). Applicants will be evaluated 
based on whether their application requests funds commensurate with the 
level of effort necessary to accomplish their goals and anticipated 
results.
    (d) Ineligible Activities. Two points will be deducted for each 
ineligible activity proposed in the application, as identified in 
Section IV(E). For example, you will lose 2 points if you propose costs 
that exceed the limits identified in the NOFA for a Project 
Coordinator.
    (2) Addressing HUD's Policy Priorities (5 points). HUD wants to 
improve the quality of life for those living in distressed communities. 
HUD's grant programs are a vehicle for long-term, positive change that 
can be achieved at the community level. Applicants' narrative and 
business plan will be evaluated based on how well they meet the 
following HUD policy priorities:
    (a) Improving the Quality of Life in Our Nation's Communities. (1 
points). In order to receive points in this category, applicants' 
narrative and business plan must indicate the types of activities, 
services, and training programs that will be offered. These programs 
should help residents successfully transition from welfare to work and 
earn higher wages, or for elderly/disabled residents, to continue to 
live independently.
    (b) Providing Full and Equal Access to Grassroots Faith-Based and 
Other Community-Based Organizations in HUD Program Implementation (1 
point). HUD encourages applicants to partner with grassroots 
organizations, e.g., civic organizations, grassroots faith-based and 
other community-based organizations. These grassroots organizations 
have a strong history of providing vital community services such as 
developing first-time homeownership programs, creating economic 
development programs, providing job training and other supportive 
services. In order to receive points under this factor, applicants' 
narrative and business plan must describe how applicants will work with 
these organizations and what types of services they will provide.
    (c) Policy Priority for Increasing the Supply of Affordable Housing 
Through the Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing (up to 
2 points).Under this policy priority, higher rating points are 
available to (1) governmental applicants that are able to demonstrate 
successful efforts in removing regulatory barriers to affordable 
housing, and (2) nongovernmental applicants undertaking activities in 
jurisdictions that have undertaken successful efforts in removing 
barriers. For applicants to obtain the policy priority points for 
efforts to successfully remove regulatory barriers, applicants should 
complete form HUD 27300, ``Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on 
Removal of Regulatory Barriers.'' A copy of HUD's Notice entitled 
America's Affordable Communities Initiative, HUD's Initiative

[[Page 14031]]

on Removal of Regulatory Barriers: Announcement of Incentive Criteria 
on Barrier Removal in HUD's 2004 Competitive Funding Allocations'' can 
be found on HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/grants/index.cfm. The 
information and requirements contained in HUD's regulatory barriers 
policy priority apply to this FY 2005 NOFA. A description of the policy 
priority and a copy of form HUD 27300 can be found in the General 
Section. Applicants are encouraged to read the Notice as well as the 
General Section to obtain an understanding of this policy priority and 
how it can impact their score. A number of questions expressly request 
the applicant to provide brief documentation with their response. Other 
questions require that for each affirmative statement made, the 
applicant must supply a reference, URL, or a brief statement indicating 
where the back-up information may be found, and a point of contact, 
including a telephone number or email address. The electronic copy of 
the HUD 27300 has space to identify a URL or reference that the 
material is being scanned and attached to the application as part of 
the submission or faxed to HUD following the facsimile submission 
instructions.
    (d) Energy Star (1 point). HUD has adopted a wide-ranging energy 
action plan for improving energy efficiency in all program areas. As a 
first step toward implementing the energy plan, HUD, the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DoE) have signed 
a joint partnership to promote energy efficiency in HUD's affordable 
housing efforts and programs. The purpose of the Energy Star 
partnership is to promote energy efficiency of the affordable housing 
stock, but also to help protect the environment. Applicants 
constructing, rehabilitating, or maintaining housing or community 
facilities are encouraged to promote energy efficiency in design and 
operations. They are urged especially to purchase and use Energy Star 
labeled products. Applicants providing housing assistance or counseling 
services are encouraged to promote Energy Star building by homebuyers 
and renters. Program activities can include developing Energy Star 
promotional and information materials, outreach to low- and moderate-
income renters and buyers on the benefits and savings when using Energy 
Star products and appliances, and promoting the designation of 
community buildings and homes as Energy Star compliant. For further 
information about Energy Star, see http://www.energystar.gov or call 1-
888-STAR-YES (1-888-782-7937) or for the hearing-impaired, 1-888-588-
9920 TTY. Applicants demonstrating that they will meet one or more 
provisions of this policy priority will receive one point.
    d. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (20 Points)
    (1) This factor addresses the applicant's ability to secure 
community resources that can be combined with HUD's grant resources in 
order to achieve program purposes. Applicants are required to create 
partnerships with organizations that can help achieve their program's 
goals. PHAs are required by section 12(d)(7) of the U.S. Housing Act of 
1937 (entitled ``Cooperation Agreements for Economic Self-Sufficiency 
Activities'') to make best efforts to enter into such agreements with 
relevant state or local agencies. In rating this factor, HUD will look 
at the extent to which applicants partner, coordinate and leverage 
their services and resources with other organizations serving the same 
or similar populations.
    (2) Additionally, applicants must have at least a 25 percent cash 
or in-kind match. The match is a threshold requirement. Joint 
applicants must have at least a 25 percent match. Applicants who do not 
demonstrate the minimum 25 percent match will fail the threshold 
requirement and will not receive further consideration for funding. 
Leveraging in excess of the 25 percent of the requested grant amount 
will receive a higher point value. In evaluating this factor HUD will 
consider the extent to which applicants have partnered with other 
entities to secure additional resources. This will increase the 
effectiveness of the proposed program activities. The additional 
resources and services must be firmly committed, must support the 
proposed grant activities and must, in combined amount (including in-
kind contributions of personnel, space and/or equipment, and monetary 
contributions) equal at least 25 percent of the grant amount requested 
in this application. ``Firmly committed'' means that the amount of 
resources and their dedication to Neighborhood Networks-funded 
activities must be explicit, in writing, and signed by a person 
authorized to make the commitment. Please see the section on Threshold 
Requirements for more information.
    (3) Points for this factor will be awarded based on the documented 
evidence of partnerships and firm commitments and the ratio of 
requested Neighborhood Networks funds to the total proposed grant 
budget.
    Points will be assigned based on the following scale:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Percentage of match                                                             Points awarded
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25.......................................  5 points (with partnerships) 3 points (without partnerships).
26-50....................................  10 points (with partnerships) 8 points (without partnerships).
51-75....................................  15 points (with partnerships) 13 points (without partnerships).
76 or above..............................  20 points (with partnerships) 18 points (without partnerships).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    e. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (10 
Points)
    (1) An important element in this year's NOFA is the development and 
reporting of performance measures and outcomes. This factor emphasizes 
HUD's determination to ensure that applicants meet commitments made in 
their applications and grant agreements. They are also required to 
assess their performance so they can measure performance goals. 
Applicants must demonstrate how they propose to measure their success 
and outcomes relating to the Department's Strategic Plan. HUD requires 
NN applicants to develop an effective, quantifiable, outcome-oriented 
plan for measuring performance and determining that goals have been 
met. Applicants must use the Logic Model form (HUD-96010) for this 
purpose.
    (2) Applicants must establish interim benchmarks, or outputs, for 
their proposed program that lead to the ultimate achievement of 
outcomes. ``Outputs'' are the direct products of a program's 
activities. Examples of outputs are: the number of eligible families 
that participate in supportive services, the number of new services 
provided, the number of residents, or the number of households using a 
technology center. Outputs should produce outcomes for your program. 
``Outcomes'' are benefits accruing to the residents, families and/or 
communities during or after participation in the NN program. Applicants 
must clearly identify the outcomes to be achieved and measured. 
Examples of outcomes are: increasing academic achievement in

[[Page 14032]]

youth, increasing residents' financial stability (e.g. increasing 
assets of a household through savings), or increasing employment 
stability (e.g., whether persons assisted obtain or retain employment 
for one or two years after job training completion). Outcomes are not 
the actual development or delivery of services or program activities.
    (3) This rating factor requires that applicants identify program 
outputs, outcomes, and performance indicators that will allow 
applicants to measure their performance. Performance indicators should 
be objectively quantifiable and measure actual achievements against 
anticipated achievements. Applicants' narrative, business plan, and 
Logic Model should identify what applicants are going to measure, how 
they are going to measure it, and the steps they have in place to make 
adjustments if performance targets begin to fall short of established 
benchmarks and timeframes. Applicants' proposals must also show how 
they will measure the performance of partners and affiliates. 
Applicants must include the standards, data sources, and measurement 
methods they will use to measure performance.
    In order to respond to this factor, applicants should use the 
sample performance measures located in the Appendix (HUD-52758) as a 
guide. Applicants will be evaluated based on how comprehensively they 
propose to measure their program's outcomes; e.g. whether the Logic 
Model tracks activities and outcomes resulting from the proposed 
activities, whether the Logic Model identifies evaluation tools and 
sources, and whether the Logic Model provides output and outcome 
information for the short, medium and long-term.
    B. Review and Selection Process: 1. Review Process. Four types of 
reviews will be conducted: a screening to determine if you are eligible 
to apply for funding under the Neighborhood Networks category; whether 
your application submission is complete, on time and meets threshold; a 
review by the field office to evaluate past performance; and a 
technical review to rate your application based on the five rating 
factors provided in this NOFA.
    2. Selection Process: The selection process is designed to achieve 
geographic diversity of grant awards throughout the country. HUD will 
first select the highest ranked application from each of the ten 
federal regions. After this ``round,'' HUD will select the second 
highest ranked application in each of the ten federal regions for 
funding (the second round). HUD will continue this process with the 
third, fourth, and so on, highest ranked applications in each federal 
region until the last complete round is selected for funding. If 
available funds exist to fund some but not all eligible applications in 
the next round, HUD will make awards to those remaining applications in 
rank order (by score). In this round, selections will be made 
regardless of region and will fully fund as many as possible with 
remaining funds. If remaining funds are too small to make an award, 
they will be applied to funding the fiscal year 2006 Neighborhood 
Networks program, assuming new funding is made available.
    3. Tie Scores. In the event of a tie between two applications, HUD 
will select the application that was received first.
    4. Deficiency Period. Applicants will have fourteen calendar days 
in which to provide missing information requested from HUD. For other 
information on correcting deficient applications, please see the 
General Section.

VI. Award Administration Information:

    A. Award Notices: HUD will make announcements of grant awards after 
the rating and ranking process is completed. Grantees will be notified 
by letter. The letter will contain instructions and the steps they must 
take to access funding and begin implementing grant activities. 
Applicants who are not funded will also receive letters via U.S. postal 
mail.
    B. Debriefings: Applicants who are not funded may request a 
debriefing. Applicants requesting to be debriefed must send a written 
request to: Iredia Hutchinson, Director, Grants Management Center, 501 
School Street, SW., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20024. Please refer to 
the General Section for additional information on debriefings.
    C. Administrative and National Policy Requirements:
    1. Applicable Requirements. Grantees are subject to regulations and 
other requirements found in:
    a. 24 CFR 85 ``Administrative Requirements for Grants and 
Cooperative Agreements to State, Local, and Federally Recognized Indian 
Tribal Governments'';
    b. 24 CFR Part 905 ``The Public Housing Capital Fund Program'';
    c. 24 CFR Part 968 ``Public Housing Modernization'';
    d. OMB Circular A-87 ``Cost Principles for State, Local, and Indian 
Tribal Governments''; and
    e. OMB Circular A-133 ``Audits of States, Local Governments, and 
Non-Profit Organizations''.
    2. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons 
(Section 3).
    Applicants and grantees must also comply with Section 3 of the 
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 12 U.S.C. 1701u and ensure 
that training, employment, and other economic opportunities shall, to 
the greatest extent feasible, be directed toward low and very low-
income persons, particularly those who are recipients of government 
assistance for housing and to business concerns which provide economic 
opportunities to low and very low-income persons.
    3. Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open Competition and 
Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors' Labor Relations 
on Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects. For further 
information see the General Section.
    4. Fair Housing and Civil Rights Laws. Applicants and their 
subrecipients must comply with all Fair Housing and Civil Rights laws, 
statutes, regulations, and Executive Orders as enumerated in 24 CFR 
5.105(a), as applicable. Please see the General Section for more 
information.
    5. Environmental Impact. Some activities under this Neighborhood 
Networks program section will be excluded and not subject to 
environmental review under 24 CFR 58.34(a)(3), (a)(8) or (a)(9), 
58.35(b)(2) or (b)(3), 50.19(b)(3), (b)(8), (b)(9), (b)(12), or 
(b)(13). Some will be subject to environmental review. Any applicant 
proposing any long-term leasing or physical development activities, and 
its partners, are prohibited from constructing, rehabilitating, 
converting, leasing, repairing or constructing property, or committing 
or expending HUD or non-HUD funds for these types of program 
activities, until the following has occurred:
    HUD has approved the grantee's Request for Release of Funds (HUD 
Form 7015.15) following a Responsible Entity's completion of an 
environmental review under 24 CFR part 58, where required, or if HUD 
has determined in accordance with 24 CFR 58.11 to perform the 
environmental review itself under 24 CFR part 50, HUD has completed the 
environmental review.
    6. Wage Rates. Laborers and mechanics employed in the development 
and operation of Neighborhood Networks facilities must be paid Davis-
Bacon or HUD-determined prevailing wage rates, respectively, unless 
they meet the qualifications of a volunteer (see Section III.C.1.a of 
this program section).

[[Page 14033]]

    7. Provision of Services to Individuals with Limited English 
Proficiency (LEP). Successful applicants and grantees must seek to 
provide access to program benefits and information to LEP individuals 
through translation and interpretive services in accordance with HUD's 
LEP Recipient Guidance 68 FR 70968.
    8. Communications. Successful applicants should ensure that notices 
of and communications during all training sessions and meetings be 
effective for persons who have hearing and/or visual disabilities 
consistent with Section 504, see 24 CFR 8.6.
    9. Procurement of Recovered Materials. State agencies or a 
political subdivision of a state that are using assistance under a HUD 
program NOFA, must comply with the requirements of Section 6002 of the 
Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act. In addition, any person contracting with such an agency 
with respect to work performed under an assisted contract, must comply 
with the requirements of Section 6002 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act, 
as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Please see 
the General Section for more information.
    D. Reporting:
    1. Semi-Annual Performance Reports. Grantees shall submit semi-
annual performance reports to the local HUD field office. These 
progress reports shall include financial reports (SF-269A) and a 
narrative describing milestones, business plan progress, problems 
encountered and methods used to address these problems. HUD anticipates 
that some of the reporting of financial status and grant performance 
will be through electronic or Internet-based submissions. Grantees 
shall use quantifiable data to measure performance against goals and 
objectives outlined in their business plan. Applicants that receive 
awards from HUD should be prepared to report on additional measures 
that HUD may designate at time of award. Performance reports are due to 
the field office on July 30 and January 31 of each year. If reports are 
not received by the due date, grant funds will not be advanced until 
reports are received.
    2. Final Report. All grantees shall submit a final report to their 
local field office. This reports must include a financial report (SF-
269A) and a narrative evaluating overall performance against their 
business plan. Grantees shall use quantifiable data to measure 
performance against goals and objectives outlined in their business 
plan. The financial report shall contain a summary of all expenditures 
made from the beginning of the grant agreement to the end of the grant 
agreement and shall include any unexpended balances. The final 
narrative and financial report shall be due to the field office 90 days 
after the termination of the grant agreement
    3. Logic Model. For each semi-annual reporting period, you must 
include a completed Logic Model (Form HUD 96010), which identifies 
output and outcome achievements. These semi-annual reporting periods 
are required. A completed Logic Model must also be provided with the 
final report showing cumulative outputs and outcomes for the entire 
award period.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

    For questions and technical assistance, applicants may call the 
Public and Indian Housing Information and Resource Center at 800-955-
2232. For the hearing or speech impaired, please call the Federal Relay 
Service at 800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

    A. Code of Conduct: See the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
more information.
    B. Transfer of Funds: HUD does not have the discretion to transfer 
funds for the Neighborhood Networks category to or from any other grant 
program.
    C. Paperwork Reduction Act: The information collection requirements 
contained in this document have been approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB control number 2577-0229. In 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or 
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 
information unless the collection displays a currently valid OMB 
control number. Public reporting burden for the collection of 
information is estimated to average ten hours per annum per respondent 
for the application and grant administration. This includes the time 
for collecting, reviewing, and reporting the data for the application, 
semi-annual reports and final report. The information will be used for 
grantee selection and monitoring the administration of funds. Response 
to this request for information is required in order to receive the 
benefits to be derived.
    D. Appendix of Forms: The forms specific to the Neighborhood 
Networks Program follow.

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[[Page 14055]]



Resident Service Delivery Models-Family, Resident Service Delivery 
Models-Elderly/Persons with Disabilities, and Homeownership Supportive 
Services Under the Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) 
Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Public and Indian Housing.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Resident Service Delivery Models-
Family, Resident Service Delivery Models-Elderly/Persons with 
Disabilities, and Homeownership Supportive Services under the Resident 
Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number for this 
NOFA is: FR-4950-N-22. The OMB approval number is: 2577-0229.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 
Resident Opportunity and Self Sufficiency, 14.870.
    F. Dates: Resident Service Delivery Models-Elderly/Persons with 
Disabilities: The application submission date is July 6, 2005. Please 
see the General Section of the SuperNOFA for application submission and 
timely receipt requirements.
    Resident Service Delivery Models-Family: The application submission 
date is July 25, 2005. Please see the General Section of the SuperNOFA 
for application submission and timely receipt requirements.
    Homeownership Supportive Services: The application submission date 
is May 26, 2005. Please see the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
application submission and timely receipt requirements.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of Program: The purpose of the Public and Indian Housing 
Resident Opportunity and Self Sufficiency (ROSS) program is to provide 
grants to public housing agencies (PHAs), tribes/tribally designated 
housing entities (TDHEs), Resident Associations (RAs), and nonprofit 
organizations, including grassroots, faith-based and other community-
based organizations for the delivery and coordination of supportive 
services and other activities designed to help public and Indian 
housing residents attain economic self-sufficiency and elderly 
residents and residents with disabilities continue to live 
independently.
    2. Funding Available: A total of approximately $58.1 million is 
available for ROSS in fiscal year 2005.
    3. Award Amounts: Awards, depending on the grant category, unit 
count and type of grantee, will range from $125,000 to $1,000,000. 
Please see each program description for more specific information about 
funding amounts.
    4. Eligible Applicants: Eligible applicants are PHAs; tribes/TDHEs; 
nonprofit organizations including grassroots faith-based and other 
community-based organizations that have resident support or the support 
of tribes; RAs; resident councils (RCs); resident organizations (ROs); 
City-Wide Resident Organizations (CWROs); Intermediary Resident 
Organizations (IROs); Jurisdiction-Wide Resident Organizations; 
Regional Resident Organizations; Resident Management Corporations 
(RMCs); Site-Based Resident Organizations; Statewide Resident 
Organizations (SRO); and Tribal/TDHE resident groups. The term 
``resident association'' or ``RA'' will be used to refer to all types 
of eligible resident organizations. Please see the section on 
``Definition of Terms'' for a complete definition of each type of 
eligible resident organization.
    Resident Associations are not eligible for the Homeownership 
Supportive Services program.
    See each program for more specific eligibility information.
    5. Cost Sharing/Match Requirement: At least 25 percent of the 
requested grant amount is required as a match. The match may be in cash 
and/or in-kind donations. The match is a threshold requirement.
    6. Grant term: The grant term for each funding category is three 
years from the execution date of the grant agreement.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Grant program                   Total funding         Eligible applicants      Maximum grant amount
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resident Service Delivery Models--     $22.9 million..........  PHAs...................  $250,000 for PHAs with
 Family.                                                                                  1-780 units. $350,000
                                                                                          for PHAs with 781-
                                                                                          2,500 units. $500,000
                                                                                          for PHAs with 2,501-
                                                                                          7,300 units.
                                                                                          $1,000,000 for PHAs
                                                                                          with 7,301 or more
                                                                                          units.
                                       .......................  Resident Associations..  $125,000.
                                       .......................  Non-profit entities....  $125,000 per RA;
                                                                                          Maximum award is
                                                                                          $375,000.
                                       .......................  Tribes/TDHEs...........  $250,000 for Tribes
                                                                                          with 1-780 units.
                                                                                          $350,000 for Tribes
                                                                                          with 781-2,500 units.
                                                                                          $500,000 for Tribes
                                                                                          with 2,501-7,300
                                                                                          units. $1,000,000 for
                                                                                          Tribes with 7,301 or
                                                                                          more units.
Resident Service Delivery Models--     $16.27 million.........  PHAs...................  $250,000 for PHAs with
 Elderly and Persons with                                                                 1-217 units. $350,000
 Disabilities.                                                                            for PHAs with 218-
                                                                                          1,155 units. $450,000
                                                                                          for PHAs with 1,156 or
                                                                                          more units.
                                       .......................  Resident Associations..  $125,000.
                                       .......................  Non-profit entities....  $125,000 per RA;
                                                                                          Maximum award is
                                                                                          $375,000.
                                       .......................  Tribes/TDHEs...........  $250,000 for Tribes
                                                                                          with 1-217 units.
                                                                                          $350,000 for Tribes
                                                                                          with 218-1,155 units.
                                                                                          $450,000 for Tribes
                                                                                          with 1,156 or more
                                                                                          units.
Homeownership Supportive Services....  $18.9 million..........  PHAs...................  $250,000 for PHAs with
                                                                                          1-780 units. $350,000
                                                                                          for PHAs with 781-
                                                                                          2,500 units. $500,000
                                                                                          for PHAs with 2,501-
                                                                                          7,300 units.
                                                                                          $1,000,000 for PHAs
                                                                                          with 7,301 or more
                                                                                          units.

[[Page 14056]]

 
                                       .......................  Non-profit entities....  $125,000 per RA;
                                                                                          Maximum award is
                                                                                          $375,000.
                                       .......................  Tribes/TDHEs...........  $250,000 for Tribes
                                                                                          with 1-780 units.
                                                                                          $350,000 for Tribes
                                                                                          with 781-2,500 units.
                                                                                          $500,000 for Tribes
                                                                                          with 2,501-7,300 units
                                                                                          $1,000,000 for Tribes
                                                                                          with 7,301 or more
                                                                                          units.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    A. Resident Services Delivery Models-Family (RSDM-Family): The 
purpose is to provide funding to assist PHAs, tribes/TDHEs, RAs, 
nonprofit organizations which include grassroots community based 
organizations, inclusive of faith-based organizations, create programs 
which will help residents achieve economic self-sufficiency. Applicants 
must submit proposals that will link residents with services such as 
job training and educational opportunities that facilitate self-
sufficiency.
    B. Resident Services Delivery Models-Elderly/Persons with 
Disabilities (RSDM-Elderly): This category is intended to provide PHAs, 
Indian tribes/TDHEs, RAs, and nonprofit organizations with the 
resources to provide and coordinate supportive services that will help 
elderly and/or disabled Public and Indian Housing residents continue to 
live independently.
    C. Homeownership Supportive Services (HSS): The HSS category 
provides funds for PHAs, tribes/TDHEs, and qualified nonprofit 
organizations to deliver homeownership training, counseling and 
supportive services for residents of Public and Indian housing who are 
participating or have participated in self-sufficiency programs, such 
as ROSS, Public Housing Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) or other federal, 
state, or local self-sufficiency programs. HSS is designed to enhance 
other self-sufficiency efforts by providing public housing residents 
with the necessary preparation and supportive services they need in 
order to move from subsidized rental housing to homeownership. PHAs, 
tribes/TDHEs, and nonprofit organizations specializing in homeownership 
training and counseling are eligible to apply.
    D. Definition of Terms:
    1. City-Wide Resident Organization consists of members from 
Resident Councils, Resident Management Corporations, and Resident 
Organizations who reside in public housing developments that are owned 
and operated by the same PHA within a city.
    2. Community Facility means a non-dwelling structure that provides 
space for multiple supportive services for the benefit of public or 
Indian housing residents and others eligible for the services provided. 
Supportive services may include but are not limited to:
    a. Job-training;
    b. After-school activities for youth;
    c. Neighborhood Networks (formerly Twenty/20 Education Communities 
(TECs), Campus of Learners activities);
    d. English as a Second Language (ESL) classes; and
    e. Child care.
    3. Contract Administrator means an overall grant administrator or a 
financial management agent (or both) that oversees the implementation 
of the grant and/or the financial aspects of the grant. (See the 
``Program Requirements'' and ``Threshold Requirements'' sections for 
more information.)
    4. Elderly person means a person who is at least 62 years of age.
    5. Jurisdiction-Wide Resident Organization means an incorporated 
nonprofit organization or association that meets the following 
requirements:
    a. Most of its activities are conducted within the jurisdiction of 
a single housing authority;
    b. There are no incorporated resident councils or resident 
management corporations within the jurisdiction of the single housing 
authority;
    c. It has experience in providing start-up and capacity-building 
training to residents and resident organizations; and
    d. Public housing residents representing unincorporated resident 
councils within the jurisdiction of the single housing authority must 
comprise a majority of the board of directors.
    6. Tribally Designated Housing Entity (TDHE) is an entity 
authorized or established by one or more Indian tribe to act on behalf 
of each such tribe authorizing or establishing the housing entity.
    7. Indian Tribe means any tribe, band, nation, or other organized 
group of a community of Indians, including any Alaska native village, 
regional, or village corporation as defined in or established pursuant 
to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and that is recognized as 
eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United 
States to Indians because of their status as Indians pursuant to the 
Indian Self Determination and Education Act of 1975.
    8. Intermediary Resident Organizations means jurisdiction-wide 
resident organizations, citywide resident organizations, statewide 
resident organizations, regional resident organizations, and national 
resident organizations.
    9. NAHASDA-assisted resident means a resident of a tribe (as 
defined above) who has been assisted by the Native American Housing 
Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) of 1996 .
    10. National Resident Organization (NRO) is an incorporated 
nonprofit organization or association for public housing that meets 
each of the following requirements:
    a. It is national (i.e., conducts activities or provides services 
in at least two HUD areas or two states);
    b. It has the capacity to provide start-up and capacity-building 
training to residents and resident organizations; and
    c. Public housing residents representing different geographical 
locations in the country are members of the board of directors.
    11. Nonprofit organization is an organization that is exempt from 
federal taxation. A nonprofit organization can be organized for the 
following purposes: charitable, religious, educational, scientific, or 
other similar purposes in the public interest. In order to qualify, an 
organization must be a corporation, community chest, fund, or 
foundation. An individual or partnership will not qualify. To obtain 
nonprofit status, qualified organizations must file an application with 
the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and receive designation as such by 
the IRS. For more information, go to www.irs.gov. Applicants who are in 
the process of applying for nonprofit status, but have not yet received 
nonprofit designation from the IRS, will not be considered nonprofit 
organizations. All nonprofit applicants

[[Page 14057]]

must submit their IRS determination letter to prove their nonprofit 
(e.g., 501(c)(3)) status. Please see the section on ``Threshold 
Requirements'' for more information. Nonprofit applicants must also 
provide letters of support as described in the ``Threshold 
Requirements'' section.
    12. National nonprofit organizations work on a national basis and 
have the capacity to mobilize resources on both a national and local 
level. All nonprofit applicants must submit their IRS determination 
letter to prove their nonprofit (e.g., 501(c)(3)) status. National 
nonprofit applicants must also provide letters of support as outlined 
in the ``Threshold Requirements'' section.
    13. Past Performance is a threshold requirement. Using Rating 
Factor 1, HUD's field offices will evaluate applicants for past 
performance to determine whether an applicant has the capacity to 
manage the grant for which they are applying. The area Office of Native 
American Programs (ONAP) will review past performance for tribal/TDHE 
submissions. Field offices will evaluate the past performance of 
contract administrators for applicants required to have a contract 
administrator.
    14. Person with disabilities means a person who:
    a. Has a condition defined as a disability in section 223 of the 
Social Security Act; or
    b. Has a developmental disability as defined in section 102 of the 
Developmental Disabilities Assistance Bill of Rights Act.
    The term ``person with disabilities'' does not exclude persons who 
have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) or any conditions 
arising from the etiologic agent for AIDS. In addition, no individual 
shall be considered a person with disabilities, for purposes of 
eligibility for low-income housing, solely on the basis of any drug or 
alcohol dependence.
    The definition of a person with disabilities contained in section 
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its implementing regulations 
must be used for purposes of reasonable accommodations.
    15. Project Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the 
grantee's approved activities to ensure that grant goals and objectives 
are met. A qualified project coordinator is someone with experience 
managing projects and preferably has experience working with supportive 
services. The project coordinator and grantees are responsible for 
ensuring that all federal requirements are followed.
    16. Resident Association (RA) means any or all of the forms of 
resident organizations as they are defined elsewhere in this 
Definitions section and includes Resident Councils (RC), Resident 
Management Corporations (RMC), Regional Resident Organizations (RRO), 
Statewide Resident Organizations (SRO), Jurisdiction-Wide Resident 
Organizations, and National Resident Organizations (NRO). The NOFA will 
use ``Resident Association'' or ``RA'' to refer to all eligible types 
of resident organizations. See 24 CFR 964.115 for more information.
    17. Regional Resident Organization (RRO) means an incorporated 
nonprofit organization or association for public housing that meets 
each of the following requirements:
    a. The RRO is regional (i.e., not limited by HUD Areas);
    b. The RRO has experience in providing start-up and capacity-
building training to residents and resident organizations; and
    c. Public housing residents representing different geographical 
locations in the region must comprise the majority of the board of 
directors.
    18. Resident Management Corporation (RMC) means an entity that 
proposes to enter into, or enters into a contract to conduct one or 
more management activities of a PHA and meets the requirements of 24 
CFR 964.120.
    19. Resident Organization (RO) for tribal entities means an 
incorporated or unincorporated nonprofit tribal organization or 
association that meets each of the following criteria:
    a. It shall consist of residents only, and only residents may vote;
    b. If it represents residents in more than one development or in 
all of the developments of the tribal/TDHE community, it shall fairly 
represent residents from each development that it represents;
    c. It shall adopt written procedures providing for the election of 
specific officers on a regular basis; and
    d. It shall have an elected governing board.
    20. Secretary means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
    21. Site-Based Resident Associations means resident councils or 
resident management corporations representing a specific public housing 
development.
    22. Statewide Resident Organization (SRO) is an incorporated 
nonprofit organization or association for public housing that meets the 
following requirements:
    a. The SRO is statewide;
    b. The SRO has experience in providing start-up and capacity-
building training to residents and resident organizations; and
    c. Public housing residents representing different geographical 
locations in the state must comprise the majority of the Board of 
Directors.
    23. Tribal/TDHE Resident Group means tribal/TDHE resident groups 
that are democratically elected groups such as IHA-wide resident 
groups, area-wide resident groups, single development groups, or 
resident management corporations (RMCs).
    E. Regulations Governing the ROSS Grant: Resident Service Delivery 
Models-Family, Resident Service Delivery Models-Elderly/Persons with 
Disabilities, and Homeownership Supportive Services are governed by 24 
CFR Part 964.

II. Award Information

A. Information for All Grant Categories and All Applicants

    1. Grant Period. Three years. The grant period shall begin the day 
the grant agreement and the form HUD-1044, ``Assistance Award/
Amendment'' are signed by both the grantee and HUD.
    2. Grant Extensions. Requests to extend the grant term beyond the 
originally established grant term must be submitted in writing by the 
grantee to the local HUD field office or area ONAP at least 90 days 
prior to the expiration of the grant term. Requests must explain why 
the extension is necessary, what work remains to be completed, and what 
work and progress was accomplished to date. Extensions may be granted 
only once by the field office for a period not to exceed six months.
    3. Type of Award. Grant agreement.
    4. Subcontracting. Subcontracting is permitted. Grantees must 
follow federal procurement regulations found in HUD regulations at 24 
CFR 84.40-84.48 and 24 CFR 85.36.

B. Resident Services Delivery Models--Family

    1. Total Funding. The Department expects to award $22,950,000 
($15,000,000 appropriated and $7,950,000 of carryover) under this 
category. Awards will be made as follows:
    a. PHAs must use the number of occupied conventional family public 
housing units as of September 30, 2004, per their budget to determine 
the maximum grant amount they are eligible for in accordance with the 
categories listed below. PHAs should clearly indicate on the Fact Sheet 
the number of units under their Annual Contributions Contract.

[[Page 14058]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Maximum
              Number of conventional units                    funding
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-780 units.............................................        $250,000
781-2,500 units.........................................         350,000
2501-7,300 units........................................         500,000
7,301 or more units.....................................       1,000,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    b. The maximum grant award is $125,000 for each RA.
    c. Nonprofit organizations that have resident support or the 
support of tribes or RAs are limited to $125,000 for each RA. A 
nonprofit organization may submit a single application for no more than 
three different RAs from the same PHA for a maximum grant award of 
$375,000. Nonprofit organizations may submit more than one application 
provided they target residents of distinct PHAs or tribes/TDHEs. In 
cases where nonprofit applicants are not able to obtain support from 
RAs, they must obtain letters of support from PHAs, tribes/TDHEs and 
they may also submit letters from one or more of the following: 
Resident Advisory Boards (RABs), local civic organizations, or units of 
local government. NOTE: All nonprofit applicants that do not include 
letters of support from RAs must include a letter of support from PHAs 
or tribes/TDHEs (please see Threshold Requirements for more 
information).
    Funding for nonprofit applicants that do not receive letters of 
support from RAs will be determined as follows (support letters from 
PHAs must indicate the developments to be served by the nonprofit 
organization as well as the number of occupied conventional family 
public housing units in those developments):

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Maximum
              Number of conventional units                    funding
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-2,500 units...........................................        $125,000
2501-7,300 units........................................         250,000
7,301 or more units.....................................         375,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applicants should see the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
instructions on submitting support letters and other documentation with 
their electronic application.
    d. Tribes/TDHEs should use the number of units counted as Formula 
Current Assisted Stock for Fiscal Year 2004 as defined in 24 CFR 
1000.316. Tribes/TDHEs are eligible for the same amounts as PHAs within 
each category in (a) above. Tribes that have not previously received 
funds from the Department under the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 should 
count housing units under management that are owned and operated by the 
Tribe and are identified in their housing inventory as of September 30, 
2004, for family units. Tribes should clearly indicate the number of 
units under management on the Fact Sheet.

C. Resident Services Delivery Models--Elderly/Persons with Disabilities

    1. Total Funding. The Department expects to award $16,272,000 
(10,672,000 appropriated and 5,600,000 of carryover funds) under this 
category.
    Awards will be made as follows:
    a. PHAs must use the number of occupied elderly and disabled 
conventional public housing units as of September 30, 2004, per their 
budget to determine the maximum grant amount they are eligible for in 
accordance with the categories listed below. PHAs should clearly 
indicate the number of units under their Annual Contributions Contract 
on the Fact Sheet.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Maximum
              Number of conventional units                    funding
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-217 units.............................................        $250,000
218-1,155 units.........................................         350,000
1,156 or more units.....................................         450,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    b. The maximum grant award is $125,000 for each RA.
    c. Nonprofit organizations that have resident support or the 
support of tribes or RAs are limited to $125,000 for each RA. A 
nonprofit organization may submit a single application for no more than 
three different RAs from the same PHA for a maximum grant award of 
$375,000. Nonprofit organizations may submit more than one application 
provided they target residents of distinct PHAs or tribes/TDHEs. In 
cases where nonprofit applicants are not able to obtain support from 
RAs, they must obtain letters of support from PHAs, tribes/TDHEs and 
they may also submit letters of support from one or more of the 
following: Resident Advisory Boards (RABs), local civic organizations, 
or units of local government. Note: All nonprofit applicants that do 
not include letters of support from RAs must include a letter of 
support from PHAs or tribes/TDHEs (please see Threshold Requirements 
for more information).
    Funding for nonprofit applicants that do not receive letters of 
support from RAs will be determined as follows (support letters from 
PHAs must indicate the developments to be served by the nonprofit 
organization as well as the number of occupied conventional elderly/
disabled public housing units in those developments):

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Maximum
              Number of conventional units                    funding
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-217 units.............................................        $125,000
218-1,155 units.........................................         250,000
1,156 or more units.....................................         375,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applicants should see the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
instructions on submitting support letters and other documentation with 
their electronic application.
    d. Tribes/TDHEs should use the number of units counted as Formula 
Current Assisted Stock for Fiscal Year 2004 as defined in 24 CFR 
1000.316. Tribes/TDHEs are eligible for the same amounts as PHAs within 
each category in (a) above. Tribes that have not previously received 
funds from the Department under the 1937 Housing Act should count 
housing units under management that are owned and operated by the Tribe 
and are identified in their housing inventory as of September 30, 2004, 
for elderly/disabled units. Tribes should clearly indicate the number 
of units under management on the Fact Sheet.

D. Homeownership Supportive Services

    1. Total Funding. The Department expects to award $18,900,000 
($12,400,000 appropriated and $6,500,000 of carryover funds) under this 
category. Awards will be made as follows:
    a. PHAs must use the number of occupied conventional family public 
housing units as of September 30, 2004, per their budget to determine 
the maximum grant amount they are eligible for in accordance with the 
categories listed below. PHAs should clearly indicate the number of 
units under their Annual Contributions Contract on the Fact Sheet.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Maximum
              Number of conventional units                    funding
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-780 units.............................................        $250,000
781-2,500 units.........................................         350,000
2501-7,300 units........................................         500,000
7,301 or more units.....................................       1,000,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    b. Nonprofit organizations that have resident support or the 
support of tribes or RAs are limited to $125,000 for each RA. A 
nonprofit organization may submit a single application for no more than 
three different RAs from the same PHA for a maximum grant award of 
$375,000. Nonprofit organizations may submit more than one application 
provided they target residents of distinct PHAs or tribes/TDHEs. In 
cases where nonprofit applicants are not able to obtain support from 
RAs, they must obtain letters of support from PHAs, tribes/TDHEs and 
they may also submit letters of support from one or more of

[[Page 14059]]

the following: Resident Advisory Boards (RABs), local civic 
organizations, or units of local government. Note: All nonprofit 
applicants that do not include letters of support from RAs must include 
a letter of support from PHAs or tribes/TDHEs (please see Threshold 
Requirements for more information).
    Funding for nonprofit applicants that do not receive letters of 
support from RAs will be determined as follows (support letters from 
PHAs must indicate the developments to be served by the nonprofit as 
well as the number of occupied conventional family public housing units 
in those developments):

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Maximum
              Number of conventional units                    funding
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-2,500 units...........................................        $125,000
2501-7,300 units........................................         250,000
7,301 or more units.....................................         375,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

RAs are not eligible to apply for funding under the HSS category.
    Applicants should see the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
instructions on submitting support letters and other documentation with 
their electronic application.
    c. Tribes/TDHEs should use the number of units counted as Formula 
Current Assisted Stock for Fiscal Year 2004 as defined in 24 CFR 
1000.316. Tribes/TDHEs are eligible for the same amounts as PHAs within 
each category in (a) above. Tribes that have not previously received 
funds from the Department under the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 should 
count housing units under management that are owned and operated by the 
Tribe and are identified in their housing inventory as of September 30, 
2004, for family units. Tribes should clearly indicate the number of 
units under management on the Fact Sheet.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    1. RSDM--Family. This funding category provides grants to PHAs, 
tribes/TDHEs, RAs, and nonprofit organizations supported by resident 
organizations or PHAs, tribes/TDHEs, and RABs, local civic 
organizations or units of local government.
    2. RSDM--Elderly/Persons with Disabilities. This funding category 
provides grants to PHAs, tribes/TDHEs, RAs, and nonprofit organizations 
supported by resident organizations or PHAs, tribes/TDHEs and RABs, 
local civic organizations or units of local government. PHAs that are 
recipients of the Elderly/Disabled renewal Service Coordinator grant 
are not eligible to apply for this ROSS funding category.
    3. Homeownership Supportive Services. This funding category 
provides grants to PHAs, tribes/TDHEs and qualified nonprofit 
organizations that have the support of resident organizations or PHAs, 
tribes/TDHEs and RABs, local civic organizations or units of local 
government. Resident Associations are not eligible to apply for funding 
under this category.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    Information for All Grant Categories and All Applicants: The match 
is a threshold requirement. Applicants who do not demonstrate the 
minimum 25 percent match will fail the threshold requirement and will 
not receive further consideration for funding. Please see the section 
below on threshold requirements for more information on what is 
required for the match.

C. Other

    1. Eligible Activities
    a. RSDM--Family. HUD is looking for applications that implement 
comprehensive programs within the three year grant term which will 
result in improved economic self-sufficiency for Public and Indian 
housing residents. HUD is looking for proposals that involve 
partnerships with organizations that will enhance grantees' ability to 
provide educational programs, housing counseling, including fair 
housing counseling, job training and other supportive services for 
residents. All applicants must complete a work plan (see sample work 
plans on HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm) covering the three-year grant term.
    The eligible activities are listed in four categories, from basic 
to advanced: Life-Skills Training; Job Training, Job Search and 
Placement Assistance; Post Employment Follow-up; and finally, 
Activities to Support Career Advancement and Long-term Economic Self-
Sufficiency. Applicants are not limited to choosing one category of 
activity, but rather should design their programs to address the 
specific needs of the population they are targeting. Applicants are 
encouraged to pull from all categories and activities listed. Funds may 
be used for the activities described below.
    (1) Hiring of a qualified project coordinator to run the grant 
program. A qualified project coordinator must have at least two years 
of experience managing programs and should have experience working on 
supportive services programs. The project coordinator should be hired 
for the entire three-year term of the grant. The project coordinator is 
responsible for:
    (a) Marketing the program to residents;
    (b) Assessing participating residents' skills and job-readiness;
    (c) Assessing participating residents' needs for supportive 
services, e.g., child care, transportation costs, etc.
    (d) Assisting a tribe or TDHE to create a resident group to promote 
self-sufficiency efforts on the reservation;
    (e) Designing and coordinating grant activities based on residents' 
needs and the local labor market; and
    (f) Monitoring the progress of program participants and evaluating 
the overall success of the program. A portion of grant funds should be 
reserved to ensure that evaluations can be completed for all 
participants who received training through this program. For more 
information on how to measure performance, please see Rating Factor 5 
in the ``Application Review Information'' section of this NOFA.
    (2) Life-skills Training (for Youth and Adults). Applicants' 
proposals can cover the following types of activities:
    (a) Credit. The importance of having good credit and how to 
maintain good credit.
    (b) Banking and Money Management. How to open a bank account; 
balance a checkbook; create a weekly spending budget and establish 
contingency plans for child care and transportation, etc.
    (c) Real Life Issues. Information on tax forms; voter registration; 
leases; car insurance; health insurance; long-term care insurance; etc.
    (d) Literacy training and GED preparation.
    (e) College preparatory courses and information.
    (f) Goal setting.
    (g) Mentoring.
    (h) Hiring residents to help with the implementation of this grant 
program. NOTE: Stipends and salaries serve different purposes. Resident 
salaries can only be used to hire residents to help grant program staff 
with the implementation of grant activities.
    (3) Job Training, Job Search and Placement Assistance. Eligible 
activities include:
    (a) Skills Assessment of participating residents.
    (b) Applying for a job. How to complete employment forms; 
highlighting skills employers are looking for; researching job 
opportunities in the area; calculating net wages.
    (c) Soft skills training including problem solving and other 
cognitive skills; oral and written communication skills; workplace 
norms (appropriate dress, punctuality, respectful communication, etc.), 
work ethic; interpersonal and teamwork skills.

[[Page 14060]]

    (d) Creating job training and placement programs.
    (e) Resume writing.
    (f) Interviewing techniques.
    (g) Employer linkage and job placement. Working with local 
employers and job placement providers to design and offer training that 
addresses local employers' needs, create a job placement program that 
refers trained residents to participating employers and other local 
area employers.
    (h) Career advancement and planning programs. Such programs should 
be designed to:
    (i) Career goal setting;
    (ii) Provide strategies such as finding a strong professional 
mentor within an organization residents may be working for and focusing 
on the organization's priorities.
    (iii) Reinforce welfare-to-work programs and focus efforts on 
increasing residents' earning capacity. Activities can include job 
counseling, helping residents secure better paying jobs or jobs in 
better work environments, preparing for work in a new job category, 
obtaining additional job skills and other job-related or educational 
training.
    (iv) Working with local employers, to create opportunities that 
combine education and skills training with jobs. Strategies that 
promote work-based learning can offer the most effective method for 
giving new workers the tools they need to move on to a career ladder 
and achieve upward mobility.
    (4) Post-employment follow-up. After placing residents in jobs, 
providing follow-up and ongoing support to newly hired residents can 
have a significant positive impact on long-term job retention.
    (5) Activities To Support Career Advancement and Long-term Economic 
Self-Sufficiency.
    (a) Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs). Applicants may create 
programs that encourage residents to save and contribute to match 
savings accounts such as Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). The 
programs should include financial counseling and education activities. 
ISAs may only be used for three purposes: (1) To purchase a first home 
that is existing or under construction when the purchase contract is 
signed; (2) to receive post-secondary education or training; or (3) to 
start a local business (other than acquiring, leasing, constructing, or 
rehabilitating real property in connection with the business). 
Applicants are encouraged to leverage RSDM funds by working with local 
financial organizations, which can also contribute to residents' ISAs. 
FSS escrow accounts may not be used as a match for RSDM-funded ISAs. 
Grantees shall consult the Internal Revenue Service regarding possible 
tax consequences of the ISAs to participating residents.
    (b) Housing Counseling. This can include information to help 
residents move to market rate rental housing and/or ``pre-purchase'' 
homeownership counseling and training. This may include training on 
such subjects as credit and financial management; credit repair; 
housing search; how to finance the purchase of a home; fair housing; 
Individual Savings Accounts, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act 
(RESPA); and home maintenance.
    (6) Stipends. Stipends are an eligible use of grant funds. Stipends 
may be used for reasonable out-of-pocket costs. Stipends may be used to 
reimburse such things as local transportation to and from job training 
and job interviews, supplemental educational materials, and child care 
expenses. Stipends must be tied to residents' successful performance 
and regular attendance.
    (7) Hiring of Residents. Grant funds may also be used to hire a 
resident(s) as program staff.
    (8) Supportive Services.
    (a) After school programs for school-age children to include 
tutoring, remedial training, educational programming using computers.
    (b) Provision of information on the Earned Income Tax Credit 
Program, Food Stamps, Child Tax Credit Program, Medicaid, the State 
Child Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), Student Loan Interest 
Deduction, tribal welfare programs, and other benefit programs that can 
assist individuals and families make a successful transition from 
welfare to work.
    (c) Transportation costs as necessary to enable participating 
families to receive services or commute to training or employment.
    (d) Child-care provision for ROSS-RSDM--Family program 
participants.
    (e) Parenting courses.
    (f) Nutrition courses.
    (g) Health care information and services including referrals to 
mental health providers, alcohol and other drug abuse treatment 
programs.
    (h) English as a second language (ESL) classes.
    (i) Creating and maintaining linkages to local social service 
agencies, such as employment agencies, health departments, 
transportation agencies, economic/community development agencies, 
community colleges, recreational and cultural services, and other 
community organizations such as Boys & Girls Clubs, 4H-Clubs, Boy 
Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc.
    b. RSDM--Elderly/Persons with Disabilities HUD is looking for 
applications that implement comprehensive programs within the three-
year grant term, which will result in improved living conditions for 
the elderly/persons with disabilities population. HUD is also looking 
for proposals that involve partnerships with organizations that will 
help grantees provide enhanced services to the elderly/persons with 
disabilities they will serve. All applicants must complete a work plan 
covering the three-year grant term.
    Proposed grant activities should build on the foundation created by 
previous ROSS grants or other federal, state, and local efforts to 
assist this population.
    Eligible activities include the following: (1) Hiring of a 
qualified project coordinator to run the grant program. A qualified 
project coordinator should have at least two years of experience 
managing programs and have experience working with supportive services. 
The project coordinator is responsible for:
    (a) Assessing participating residents' needs for supportive 
services (e.g., Medicaid, Medicare, physician care, food stamps, 
rehabilitation services, veterans disability, state-funded programs 
such as nurse case management, housekeeping, Meals-on-Wheels; 
transportation etc.);
    (b) Designing and coordinating grant activities based on residents' 
needs;
    (c) Monitoring the progress of program participants and evaluating 
the overall success of the program. A portion of grant funds should be 
reserved to ensure that evaluations can be completed for all 
participants who received assistance through this program. For more 
information on how to measure performance, please see Rating Factor 5 
in the ``Application Review Information'' section of this NOFA.
    (2) Coordination and set up of meal services;
    (3) Coordination and set-up of transportation services;
    (4) Wellness programs including, health and nutrition programs, 
preventive health education, referral to rehabilitation services, and 
services for the disabled and other community resources;
    (5) Personal emergency response;
    (6) Congregate services--includes supportive services that are 
provided in a congregate setting at a conventional public housing 
development; and
    (7) Case management.

[[Page 14061]]

    c. Homeownership Supportive Services
    HUD is looking for applications that implement comprehensive 
programs within the three year grant term which will result in 
increased rates of homeownership for residents of Public and Indian 
housing. Applicants should create linkages with HUD homeownership 
programs such as: the Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Program, the 
PHA Homeownership Program also known as Section 32 (formerly the 
Section 5(h) Homeownership Program) and homeownership programs and 
resources offered by other organizations or state or local 
homeownership programs.
    Tribes/TDHEs should create linkages with programs such as the 
Mutual Help Homeownership Opportunity Program, the Section 184 Program, 
and homeownership programs developed under the Indian Housing Block 
Grant Program such as mortgage assistance.
    All applicants must complete a work plan (see sample work plans on 
HUD's web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm) 
covering the three-year grant term.
    HUD is also looking for proposals that involve partnerships with 
organizations that will enhance the services grantees will offer. 
Applicants are strongly encouraged to partner with HUD-approved housing 
counseling agencies. For a list of HUD-approved housing counseling 
agencies, go to: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hccprof14.cfm. 
Applicants' programs should build on the foundation created by previous 
ROSS grants, or other state and local self-sufficiency efforts in which 
their target population may have participated.
    Under this funding category, applicants must develop homeownership 
training programs for the residents they intend to serve. Eligible 
activities include the following:
    (1) Hiring of a qualified project coordinator to run the grant 
program. A qualified project coordinator must have experience working 
on homeownership programs designed for typically underserved 
populations. The project coordinator is responsible for:
    (a) Assessing participating residents' needs;
    (b) Designing and coordinating grant activities based on residents' 
needs;
    (c) Monitoring the progress of program participants and evaluating 
the overall success of the program. A portion of grant funds should be 
reserved to ensure that evaluations can be completed for all 
participants who received assistance through this program. For more 
information on how to measure performance, please see Rating Factor 5 
in the ``Application Review Information'' section of this NOFA.
    (2) Training to include:
    (a) Asset building;
    (b) Credit counseling and credit scoring;
    (c) Financial literacy and management;
    (d) Selecting a real estate broker;
    (e) Choosing a lender;
    (f) Appraisals;
    (g) Home inspections;
    (h) Avoiding delinquency and predatory lending;
    (i) Foreclosure prevention;
    (j) Home maintenance and financial management for first-time 
homeowners;
    (k) Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA); and
    (l) Fair Housing Counseling.
    (3) Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs). You may create programs 
that encourage residents to save and contribute to match savings 
accounts such as Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). ISAs may be 
used only for (a) Escrow accounts, (b) down payment assistance and (c) 
closing costs to assist the resident to purchase an existing dwelling 
unit or a dwelling unit under construction. You are encouraged to 
leverage HSS funds by working with local financial organizations, which 
can also contribute to residents' ISAs. FSS escrow accounts may not be 
used as a match for HSS-funded ISAs. FSS residents are not eligible to 
participate in the ISA provision.
    2. Threshold Requirements. The criteria below apply to all grant 
categories and all applicants unless otherwise indicated:
    Applicants must respond to each threshold requirement clearly and 
thoroughly by following the instructions below. If your application 
fails one threshold requirement (regardless of the type of threshold) 
it will be considered a failed application and will not receive 
consideration for funding.
    a. Match. All applicants are required to have in place a firmly 
committed 25 percent match in cash or in-kind donations as defined in 
this NOFA. Joint applicants must together have at least a 25 percent 
match. Applicants who do not demonstrate the minimum 25 percent match 
will fail this threshold requirement and will not receive further 
consideration for funding. If you are applying for more than one ROSS 
grant, you must use different sources of match donations for each grant 
application and you must indicate which additional ROSS grant(s) you 
are applying for by attaching an additional page to HUD budget form 
424-CBW stating the sources and amounts of each of your match 
contributions for this application as well as any other HUD programs to 
which you are applying. Match donations must be firmly committed which 
means that the amount of match resources and their dedication to ROSS-
funded activities must be explicit, in writing, and signed by a person 
authorized to make the commitment. Letters of commitment, memoranda of 
understanding (MOU), or tribal resolution must be on organization 
letterhead, and signed by a person authorized to make the stated 
commitment whether it be in cash or in-kind services. The letters of 
commitment/MOUs/tribal resolutions must indicate the total dollar value 
of the commitment and be dated within two months of the application 
deadline, and indicate how the commitment will relate to the proposed 
program. The commitment should be available at time of award. 
Applicants proposing to use their own, non-ROSS grant funds to meet the 
match requirement in whole or in part, must also include a letter of 
commitment indicating the type of match (cash or in-kind) and how the 
match will be used. Please see the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
instructions for submitting the required letters with your electronic 
application.
    Leveraging in excess of the 25 percent of the grant amount will 
receive a higher point value.
    (1) Volunteer time and services shall be computed by using the 
normal professional rate for the local area or the national minimum 
wage rate of $5.15 per hour (Note: applicants may not count their staff 
time toward the match);
    (2) In order for HUD to determine the value of any donated 
material, equipment, staff time, building, or lease, your application 
must provide a letter from the organization making the donation stating 
the value of the contribution.
    (3) Other resources/services that can be committed include: in-kind 
services such as contributions of administrative services provided to 
the applicant; funds from federal sources (not including ROSS funds) as 
allowed by statute, including for example Community Development Block 
Grant (CDBG); funds from any state or local government sources; and 
funds from private contributions. Applicants may also partner with 
other program funding recipients to coordinate the use of resources in 
the target area.
    b. Past Performance. HUD's field offices will evaluate data 
provided by applicants as well as applicants' past performance to 
determine whether applicants have the capacity to manage

[[Page 14062]]

the grant for which they are applying. The area Offices of Native 
American Programs (ONAP) will review past performance for tribal and 
TDHE submissions. Field offices will evaluate the contract 
administrators' past performance for applicants required to have a 
contract administrator. In evaluating past performance HUD will look at 
the applicant's record of completing grant activities on time, within 
budget and the results achieved. Using Rating Factor 1, the field 
office/area ONAP will evaluate applicants' past performance. Applicants 
should carefully review Rating Factor 1 to ensure their application 
addresses each of the criteria requested therein. If applicants fail to 
address what is requested in Rating Factor 1, their application will 
fail this threshold and will not receive further consideration.
    c. Contract Administrator Partnership Agreement. All nonprofit 
applicants, all resident organizations, and PHAs that are troubled at 
time of application are required to submit a signed Contract 
Administrator Partnership Agreement. The agreement must be for the 
entire grant term. Grant awards shall be contingent upon having a 
signed partnership agreement included in your application. Applicants 
required to have a Contract Administrator Partnership Agreement that 
fail to submit one will fail this threshold requirement and will not 
receive further consideration for funding. Please see the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA for instructions for submitting the required 
information with your electronic application.
    Troubled PHAs are not eligible to be contract administrators. Grant 
writers who assist applicants with preparing their ROSS applications 
are also ineligible to be contract administrators. For more information 
on contract administrators, see the section ``Program Requirements.''
    d. Letters of Support for Nonprofit Applicants.
    (1) All nonprofit applicants must include letters of support from 
resident associations (RAs), Resident Advisory Boards (RABs), local 
civic organizations, or units of local government. In the event that 
RAs are inactive, or that applicants submit letters of support from 
other organizations such as RABs, nonprofit applicants must also submit 
letters from PHAs or tribes/TDHEs indicating support for their 
application. All letters of support must be signed by an authorized 
representative of the supporting organization and dated within two 
months of the application deadline.
    (2) Nonprofit applicants that do receive support from resident 
associations must submit form HUD-52754 ``List of Resident Associations 
Supporting Nonprofit Applicants.'' Submitting this form is not 
applicable where RAs are inactive or where applicants do not submit 
letters of support from RAs.
    (3) In cases where nonprofit organizations are applying to serve 
tribes/TDHEs, nonprofit applicants must submit letters of support from 
tribes/TDHEs. Nonprofit organizations must also use form HUD-52754 to 
list which tribes/TDHEs support their application.
    (4) Letters of support from RAs must describe to what extent they 
are familiar with the nonprofit applicant and indicate their support 
and understanding of the nonprofit organization's proposal/application. 
Letters from RAs must include contact information and the name and 
title of the person authorized to sign for the organization and should, 
whenever possible, be on RA letterhead.
    (5) Letters of support from RABs must describe to what extent the 
RAB is familiar with the nonprofit applicant and indicate its support 
and understanding of the nonprofit organization's proposal/application. 
Letters from RABs must include contact information and the name and 
title of the person authorized to sign for the organization, and should 
be on RAB or PHA letterhead.
    (6) Letters of support from civic organizations or units of local 
government must describe to what extent they are familiar with the 
nonprofit applicant and which programs the nonprofit applicant has 
operated or managed in the community that are similar to the 
applicant's proposal. Such letters of support must include contact 
information and the name and title of the person authorized to sign for 
the organization. The letter should be on organization letterhead.
    (7) All nonprofit applicants that do not provide letters of support 
from resident associations must provide letters of support from PHAs or 
tribes/TDHEs with jurisdiction over the developments the applicant 
proposes to serve. Letters from PHAs or tribes/TDHEs must describe the 
extent to which the nonprofit applicant is familiar with the needs of 
the community to be served, which programs the nonprofit applicant has 
operated or managed in the community that are similar to the 
applicant's proposal, and whether the nonprofit organization has the 
capacity to implement its proposed program. Letters from PHAs or 
tribes/TDHEs must also list the names of the developments to be served, 
the number of occupied conventional family or elderly/disabled public 
housing units (depending on the grant category) in those developments, 
certify that the units are conventional public housing, and identify 
the ROSS grant category to which the nonprofit organization is 
applying. PHA or tribe/TDHE letters of support must be signed by the 
Executive Director, tribal leader, or authorized designee and must be 
on PHA or tribe/TDHE letterhead. Please see the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA for instructions for submitting the required letters with 
your electronic application.
    (8) Applications from nonprofit organizations, which do not submit 
the information requested in this section will fail this threshold 
requirement and will not be considered for funding.
    e. Nonprofit status. All nonprofit applicants must submit their IRS 
determination letter to prove their nonprofit (e.g., 501(c)(3)) status. 
Applicants that fail to submit this letter will fail this threshold 
requirement and will not be considered for funding. Please see the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA for instructions for submitting the 
required documentation with your electronic application.
    f. Minimum Score for All Fundable Applications. Applications that 
pass all threshold requirements and go through the ranking and rating 
process, must receive a minimum score of 75 in order to be considered 
for funding.
    g. Funding Requests in Excess of Maximum Grant Amount. Applicants 
that request funding in excess of the maximum grant amount which they 
are eligible to receive will not receive funding consideration.
    h. Performance Standards for PHA Applicants to the Homeownership 
Supportive Services Program (applicable only to PHAs). PHA applicants 
to the Homeownership Supportive Services program that administer a 
Homeownership Voucher Program will be required to provide Homeownership 
Vouchers per year, according to the minimum amounts listed in the table 
below, to eligible families who successfully complete training under 
the Homeownership Supportive Services grant program. Additionally, 
applicants must commit to enrolling public housing residents in their 
homeownership supportive services program in accordance with the 
amounts listed in the table printed immediately below.

[[Page 14063]]



------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Minimum
                                     Maximum      Minimum    enrollments
   Number of conventional units      funding      vouchers     (over 3
                                                  (annual)    year term)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-780 units......................     $250,000           10           50
781-2,500 units..................      350,000           12           70
2501-7,300 units.................      500,000           14          100
7,301 or more units..............    1,000,000           16          200
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Those PHAs which administer a Housing Choice Voucher program but 
have not elected to provide assistance under the Homeownership Voucher 
option and receive funding under this category, will be required to 
implement the Homeownership Voucher Program and make Homeownership 
Vouchers available, in the amounts listed above, on an annual basis to 
eligible families who successfully complete training under this ROSS 
activity. PHA applicants as described in this section must provide a 
letter certifying that they will comply with this requirement.
    i. Tribal/TDHE applicants. Tribal/TDHE applicants to the HSS 
program must have a Low-income Homeownership Program outlined in their 
current Indian Housing Plan. Tribes/TDHEs will also be required to 
provide homeownership assistance to a minimum of 10 eligible families.
    j. The Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number 
Requirement. Refer to the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
information regarding the DUNS requirement. You will need to obtain a 
DUNS number to receive an award from HUD. You will need a DUNS number 
to complete your Grants.gov registration. Registration is required for 
electronic submission. See the General Section of the SuperNOFA for a 
discussion of the Grants.gov registration process.
    3. Program Requirements
    a. Contract Administrator. The contract administrator must assure 
that the financial management system and procurement procedures that 
will be in place during the grant term will fully comply with either 24 
CFR part 84 or 85, as appropriate. CAs are expressly forbidden from 
accessing HUD's Line of Credit Control System (LOCCS) and submitting 
vouchers on behalf of grantees. Contract administrators must also 
assist PHAs meet HUD's reporting requirements, see Section VI (C) 
``Reporting'' for more information. Contract administrators may be: 
Local housing agencies; community-based organizations such as community 
development corporations (CDCs), churches, temples, synagogues, 
mosques; nonprofit organizations; state/regional associations and 
organizations. Troubled PHAs are not eligible to be contract 
administrators. Grant writers who assist applicants prepare their 
applications are also ineligible to be contract administrators. 
Organizations that the applicant proposes to use as the contract 
administrator must not violate or be in violation of other conflicts of 
interest as defined in 24 CFR part 84 and 24 CFR part 85.
    c. Requirements Applicable to All Programs. All applicants, lead 
and non-lead, should refer to ``Other Requirements and Procedures 
Applicable to All Programs'' of the General Section of the SuperNOFA 
for requirements pertaining specifically to procurement of recovered 
materials and for information regarding other requirements to which 
they may be subject.
    4. Number of Applications Permitted. Except as otherwise noted, the 
criteria below apply to all grant categories and all applicants.
    a. General. Applicants including PHAs, tribes/TDHEs, RAs, and 
nonprofit organizations that have support from the resident 
associations they propose to serve or the support of tribes/TDHEs may 
submit one application for each ROSS funding category, however 
applicants must submit separate applications for each funding category. 
Nonprofit organizations may submit more than one application per 
funding category provided that they will be serving residents of 
distinct PHAs or Tribes/TDHEs.
    b. More than one application per development. Applications from 
PHAs, tribes/TDHEs, RAs, and nonprofit organizations targeting the same 
public housing development/population will not all be funded. HUD 
suggests that in these cases, applicants work together to submit one 
application. Otherwise, the highest scoring application will be funded.
    c. Joint applications. Two or more applicants may join together to 
submit a joint application for proposed grant activities. Joint 
applications must designate a lead applicant. The lead applicant must 
be registered with Grants.gov and submit the application using the 
Grants.gov portal. Lead applicants are subject to all threshold 
requirements. Non-lead applicants are subject to the following 
threshold requirements as applicable:
    (1) Letters of support for nonprofit applicants;
    (2) Evidence of nonprofit status as outlined under the section 
covering threshold requirements; and
    (3) Threshold requirements outlined in Section III. C. of the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    Joint applications may include PHAs, RAs, Tribes/TDHEs, and 
nonprofit organizations on behalf of resident organizations. Joint 
applications involving nonprofit organizations must also provide 
evidence of resident support or support from local civic organizations 
or from units of local government. PHAs, tribes/TDHEs, and resident 
organizations that are part of a joint application may not also submit 
separate applications as sole applicants under this NOFA.
    Note: The lead applicant will determine the maximum funding amount 
the applicants are eligible to receive.
    5. Eligible Participants. All program participants must be 
residents of conventional public housing or NAHASDA-assisted housing. 
Participants in the Public Housing Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) 
program (non-Housing Choice Voucher FSS Program) are also eligible to 
participate in activities funded under ROSS.
    6. Eligible Developments. Only conventional Public and Indian 
housing developments may be served by ROSS grant funds. Other housing/
developments, including, but not limited to private housing, federally 
insured housing, federally subsidized or assisted (i.e., assisted under 
Section 8, Section 202, Section 811, Section 236), and others are not 
eligible to participate in ROSS.
    7. Energy Star. HUD has adopted a wide-ranging energy action plan 
for improving energy efficiency in all program areas. As a first step 
toward implementing the energy plan, HUD, the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DoE) have signed a joint 
partnership to promote energy efficiency in HUD's affordable housing 
efforts and programs.

[[Page 14064]]

The purpose of the Energy Star partnership is to promote energy 
efficiency of the affordable housing stock, but also to help protect 
the environment. Applicants constructing, rehabilitating, or 
maintaining housing or community facilities are encouraged to promote 
energy efficiency in design and operations. They are urged especially 
to purchase and use Energy Star labeled products. Applicants providing 
housing assistance or counseling services are encouraged to promote 
Energy Star building by homebuyers and renters. Program activities can 
include developing Energy Star promotional and information materials, 
outreach to low- and moderate-income renters and buyers on the benefits 
and savings when using Energy Star products and appliances, and 
promoting the designation of community buildings and homes as Energy 
Star compliant. For further information about Energy Star, see http://www.energystar.gov or call 888-STAR-YES (888-782-7937) or for the 
hearing-impaired, 888-588-9920 (TTY).

IV. Application and Submission Information

    A. Address to Obtain an Application Package. There is no 
application kit this year. Please refer to the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA for information on how to submit your application 
electronically. You may also visit www.Grants.gov/Apply to obtain 
application information.
    B. Content and Form of Application Submission.
    1. Application Format Information for All Grant Categories and All 
Applicants. Before preparing an application to any ROSS funding 
program, applicants should carefully review the program description, 
ineligible activities, program and threshold requirements, and the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA. Applicants should also review each 
rating factor found in the ``Application Review Information'' section 
before writing a narrative response. Applicants' narratives should be 
as descriptive as possible, ensuring that every requested item is 
addressed. Applicants should make sure to include all requested 
information, according to the instructions found in this NOFA and where 
applicable, in the General Section of the SuperNOFA. This will help 
ensure a fair and accurate review of your application.
    2. Content and Format for Submission.
    a. Content of Application. Applicants must write narrative 
responses to each of the rating factors, which follow this section. 
Applicants will be evaluated on whether their responses demonstrate 
that they have the necessary capacity to successfully manage this grant 
program. Applicants should ensure that their narratives are written 
clearly and concisely so that HUD reviewers, who may not be familiar 
with the ROSS program, may fully understand your proposal.
    b. Format of Application. (1) Applications may not exceed 35 
narrative pages. Narrative pages must be typed, double-spaced, 
numbered, use Times New Roman font style, and font size 12. Supporting 
documentation, required forms, and certificates will not be counted 
toward the 35 narrative page limit. However, applicants should make 
every effort to submit only what is necessary in terms of supporting 
documentation. Please see the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
instructions on how to submit supporting documentation with your 
electronic application.
    (2) The following checklist has been provided to assist applicants 
ensure they submit all required forms and information. (Note: 
Applicants who receive a waiver to submit paper applications, must 
submit their applications in a three-ring binder, with TABS dividing 
the sections as indicated below):
    TAB 1: Required Forms from the General Section of the SuperNOFA and 
other ROSS forms:
    1. Acknowledgement of Application Receipt (HUD-2993), for paper 
application submissions only (you must have an approved waiver to 
submit a paper application);
    2. Application for Federal Financial Assistance (SF-24);
    3. SF-424 Supplement, Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for 
Applicants;
    4. Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers (HUD-27300);
    5. ROSS Fact Sheet (HUD-52751);
    6. Grant Application Detailed Budget (HUD-424-CB);
    7. Grant Application Detailed Budget Worksheet (HUD-424-CBW);
    8. Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880);
    9. Certification of Consistency with RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan 
(HUD-2990) if applicable;
    10. Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan (HUD-
2991) if applicable;
    11. Certification of Consistency with the Indian Housing Plan if 
applicable (HUD-52752);
    12. Certification of Resident Council Board of Election (not 
required for tribes/nonprofit organizations working on behalf of 
tribes) (HUD-52753);
    13. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL), if applicable;
    14. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities Continuation Sheet (SF-LLL-
A), if applicable;
    15. Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994); (Optional)
    16. Facsimile Transmittal Sheet (HUD-96011).
    TAB 2: Threshold Requirements:
    1. Letters from Partners attesting to match;
    2. Letter from Applicant's organization attesting to match (if 
applicant is contributing to match);
    3. Letters of Support from Resident Associations/ PHAs/tribes/
TDHEs/ Resident Advisory Boards/local civic organizations and/or units 
of local government Threshold requirement for all nonprofit 
applicants);
    4. Chart of Resident Associations Participating (required for 
nonprofit applicants but not applicable to applications from tribes/
TDHEs.) (HUD-52754);
    5. IRS nonprofit determination letter proving 501(c)(3) status 
(Threshold requirement for all nonprofit applicants); and
    6. Contract Administrator Partnership Agreement (required for 
nonprofit organizations, resident associations, and troubled PHAs) 
(HUD-52755).
    TAB 3: Narrative for Rating Factor 1 and ROSS Program Forms
    1. Narrative;
    2. Chart A: Program Staffing (HUD-52756);
    3. Chart B: Applicant/Administrator Track Record (HUD-52757);
    4. Resumes/Position Descriptions.
    TAB 4: Narrative for Rating Factor 2
    TAB 5: Rating Factor 3
    1. Narrative;
    2. Work plan (see relevant sample ROSS work plan HUD-52764).
    TAB 6: Narrative for Rating Factor 4
    TAB 7: Narrative for Rating Factor 5 and ROSS Program Forms
    1. Narrative;
    2. Logic Model (HUD-96010);
    3. Sample Performance measures/outcomes are attached for 
applicants' information.
    C. Submission Dates and Times: 1. Due Dates. a. Resident Service 
Delivery Models--Elderly/Persons with Disabilities: The application 
must be submitted and received by Grant.gov no later than 11:59:59 p.m. 
eastern time on July 6, 2005. For applicants receiving a waiver to the 
electronic filing requirement, please see the General Section for 
waiver and mailing requirements. Please carefully read the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA for

[[Page 14065]]

application submission, and timely receipt requirements.
    b. Resident Service Delivery Models-Family. The application must be 
submitted and received by Grant.gov no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern 
time on July 25, 2005. For applicants receiving a waiver to the 
electronic filing requirement, please see the General Section for 
waiver and mailing requirements. Please carefully read the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA for application submission, and timely receipt 
requirements.
    c. Homeownership Supportive Services. The application must be 
submitted and received by Grant.gov no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern 
time on May 26, 2005. For applicants receiving a waiver to the 
electronic filing requirement, please see the General Section for 
waiver and mailing requirements. Please carefully read the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA for application submission, and timely receipt 
requirements.
    2. Proof of Timely Submission. Please see the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA this information. Applicants that fail to meet the 
deadline for application receipt will not receive funding 
consideration.
    3. For Waivers Only. Applicants who have received waivers to submit 
paper applications (see the General Section of the SuperNOFA for more 
information), must submit their applications to: HUD Grants Management 
Center, Mail Stop: Name of ROSS Grant Category, 501 School Street, SW., 
8th floor, Washington DC 20024. Please see the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA for detailed mailing and delivery instructions.
    4. Number of Copies. Only applicants receiving a waiver to the 
electronic submission requirement may submit a paper copy application. 
Paper applications must be submitted in triplicate (one original and 
two identical copies). For all applicants (including tribal and TDHE 
applicants), the original and one identical copy must be sent to the 
Grants Management Center and an identical copy must be sent to your 
local field office in accordance with the submission and timely receipt 
requirements described in the General Section of this SuperNOFA.
    D. Intergovernmental Review: Not applicable.
    E. Funding Restrictions: 1. Reimbursement for Grant Application 
Costs. Applicants who receive an award under any ROSS funding category 
are prohibited from using ROSS grant funds to reimburse any costs 
incurred in conjunction with preparation of their ROSS grant 
application.
    2. Covered Salaries. Applicable to all grant categories and all 
applicants:
    a. Project Coordinator. All applicants may propose to hire a 
qualified project coordinator to run the grant program. The ROSS 
program will fund up to $65,000 in combined annual salary and fringe 
benefits for a full-time project coordinator. The project coordinator's 
salary and fringe benefits may not exceed 30 percent of the total grant 
amount. For audit purposes, applicants must have documentation on file 
demonstrating that the salary of the project coordinator is comparable 
to similar professions in their local area.
    b. Resident Salaries. Only the RSDM--Family category permits 
grantees to use grant funds for this purpose. No more than five percent 
of RSDM--Family funds may be used to pay for resident salaries.
    c. Types of Salaries. ROSS funds may only be used for the types of 
salaries described in this section according to the restrictions 
described herein. ROSS funds may only be used to pay for salaries of 
staff that provide direct services to residents. Direct services staff, 
for purposes of this NOFA, are defined as housing authority personnel 
who, as their primary responsibility, provide services directly to 
residents that participate in the activities described in this 
application e.g., case managers, van drivers, job trainers, childcare 
providers, among other positions. ROSS funds may not be used to pay for 
salaries for any other kind of staff.
    3. Administrative Costs. Administrative costs may include, but are 
not limited to, purchase of furniture, office equipment and supplies, 
local travel, and utilities. Administrative costs may not be used to 
pay for salaries of any kind. Nonprofit organizations only may use 
administrative funds to pay for rental of space. Administrative costs 
must not exceed 10 percent of the total grant amount requested from 
HUD. Administrative costs must adhere to OMB Circular A-87 or A-122 as 
appropriate. Please use HUD-424-CBW to itemize your administrative 
costs.
    4. Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs). ROSS RSDM--Family and 
Homeownership Supportive Services funds can be used as matching funds 
for ISAs but no more than 20 percent of total grant funds may be used 
for this purpose.
    5. Stipends. This applies to RSDM--Family only. No more than $200 
of the grant award may be used per participant per month for stipends 
for active trainees and program participants. Stipends may only be used 
to reimburse reasonable out-of-pocket expenses related to participation 
in training and other program-related activities. Receipts for such 
expenses must be provided by the resident in order to obtain 
reimbursement. Stipends are not considered an administrative expense 
and therefore are not subject to the 10 percent limitation on 
administrative costs.
    6. Ineligible Activities/Costs. Grant funds may not be used for 
ineligible activities. The following are ineligible activities/costs:
    a. Payment of wages and/or salaries to participants for receiving 
supportive services and/or training programs;
    b. Purchase, lease, or rental of land;
    c. New construction, costs for construction materials;
    d. Rehabilitation or physical improvements;
    e. Purchase, lease, or rental of vehicles;
    f. Entertainment costs; g. Purchasing food;
    h. Elderly/Disabled Service Coordinator salary and fringe benefits;
    i. Payment of wages and/or salaries to doctors, nurses or other 
staff (including health aids or companions) in relation to medical 
services provided to residents;
    j. Purchase of non-prescription or prescription medications;
    k. Stipends (Stipends are only allowed under RSDM--Family);
    l. Down payment assistance (Note: Participants may use their ISAs 
under the RSDM--Family and Homeownership Supportive Services program 
for this purpose);
    m. Revolving loan funds;
    n. Costs, which exceed limits, identified in the NOFA for the 
following: Project Coordinator, resident salaries, ISAs, stipends, 
administrative expenses, and long distance travel; and
    o. Cost of application preparation.
    p. For RSDM Elderly grant applicants--transportation costs of 
residents (grant funds may be used to pay for coordination and set-up 
of transportation services).
    q. Salaries for staff that are not direct services staff. Direct 
services staff, for purposes of this NOFA, are defined as housing 
authority personnel who, as their primary responsibility, provide 
services directly to residents that participate in the activities 
described in this application e.g., case managers, van drivers, job 
trainers, childcare providers, among other positions. ROSS funds cannot 
be used to hire or pay for the services of a Contract Administrator.
    7. ROSS funds cannot be used to hire or pay for the services of a 
Contract Administrator.
    8. Other Budgetary Restrictions. Some long distance travel may be 
necessary

[[Page 14066]]

during the term of the grant in order for professional grant staff to 
attend HUD-sponsored training conferences for ROSS grantees. Long 
distance travel costs for grant program staff may not exceed $5,000 for 
the life of the grant and must receive prior approval from the 
grantee's local HUD field office or area ONAP.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. Factors for Award Used To Evaluate and Rate Applications to the 
ROSS program. The factors for rating and ranking applicants and maximum 
points for each factor are provided below. The maximum number of points 
available for this program is 102. This includes two RC/EZ/EC-II bonus 
points. The SuperNOFA contains a certification that must be completed 
in order for the applicant to be considered for the RC/EZ/EC-II bonus 
points. A listing of federally designated RCs, EZs, and EC-IIs, is 
available at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. The 
agency certifying to RC/EZ/EC-II status must be contained in the 
listing of RC/EZ/EC-II organizations on HUD's Web site at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    Note: Applicants should carefully review each rating factor before 
writing a response. Applicants' narratives should be as descriptive as 
possible, ensuring that every requested item is addressed. Applicants 
should make sure their narratives thoroughly address the Rating Factors 
below. Applicants should include all requested information, according 
to the instructions found in this NOFA. This will help ensure a fair 
and accurate application review.
    a. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Staff (25 Points).
    This factor addresses whether the applicant has the organizational 
resources necessary to successfully implement the proposed activities 
within the grant period. In rating this factor HUD will consider the 
extent to which the proposal demonstrates that the applicant will have 
qualified and experienced staff dedicated to administering the program.
    (1) Proposed Program Staffing (7 Points).
    (a) Staff Experience (4 Points). The knowledge and experience of 
the proposed project coordinator, staff, and partners in planning and 
managing programs for which funding is being requested. Experience will 
be judged in terms of recent, relevant and successful experience of 
proposed staff to undertake eligible program activities. In rating this 
factor, HUD will consider experience within the last 5 years to be 
recent; experience pertaining to the specific activities being proposed 
to be relevant; and experience producing specific accomplishments to be 
successful. The more recent the experience and the more experience 
proposed staff members who work on the project have in successfully 
conducting and completing similar activities, the greater the number of 
points applicants will receive for this rating factor. The following 
information should be provided in order to provide HUD an understanding 
of proposed staff's experience and capacity:
    (i) The number of staff years (one staff year = 2080 hours) to be 
allocated to the proposed program by each employee or expert as well as 
each of their roles in the program;
    (ii) The staff's relevant educational background and/or work 
experience; and
    (iii) Relevant and successful experience running programs whose 
activities are similar to the eligible program activities described in 
the grant category to which you are applying.
    (b) Organizational Capacity (3 Points). Applicants will be 
evaluated based on whether they have, or their partners have sufficient 
qualified personnel to deliver the proposed activities in a timely and 
effective fashion. In order to enhance or supplement capacity, 
applicants should provide evidence of partnerships with nonprofit 
organizations or other organizations that have experience providing 
supportive services to typically underserved populations. Applicants' 
narrative must describe their ability to immediately begin the proposed 
work program. Provide resumes and position descriptions (where staff is 
not yet hired) for all key personnel. (Resumes/position descriptions do 
not count toward the 35-page limit.)
    (2) Past Performance of Applicant/Contract Administrator (6 
Points).
    (a) Applicants' past experience may include, but is not limited to, 
running and managing programs aimed at:
    (i) RSDM--Family: assisting residents of low-income housing achieve 
economic self-sufficiency;
    (ii) RSDM--Elderly: assisting elderly/persons with disabilities who 
reside in low-income housing to live independently;
    (iii) Homeownership: assisting residents of low-income housing 
achieve economic self-sufficiency and homeownership.
    (b) Applicants' narrative must indicate past grants they received 
and managed, the grant amounts, and grant terms (years) of the grants, 
which they are counting toward past experience.
    (c) Applicants' narrative must describe how they (or their Contract 
Administrator) successfully implemented past grant programs designed 
to:
    (i) RSDM--Family--promote resident self-sufficiency, moving from 
welfare to work, and/or helping residents move to market rate rental 
housing;
    (ii) RSDM--Elderly--assist elderly/persons with disabilities meet 
their daily living needs and enhance their access to needed services so 
they can continue to reside comfortably and productively in their 
current living environment;
    (iii) Homeownership--promote moving from subsidized housing to 
homeownership.
    (d) Applicants will be evaluated according to the following 
criteria:
    (i) Achievement of specific measurable outcomes and objectives in 
terms of benefits gained by participating residents. Applicants should 
describe results their programs have obtained, such as:
    (A) RSDM--Family: reduced welfare dependency, higher incomes, 
higher rates of employment, increased savings, moving from subsidized 
housing to market rate rental housing;
    (B) RSDM--Elderly: less emergency care, improved health conditions 
of assisted population, access to greater number of social services;
    (C) Homeownership: number of families in homeownership counseling 
pipeline, rates of homeownership achieved through training programs.
    (ii) Description of success in attracting and keeping residents 
involved in past grant-funded training programs. HUD wants to see that 
applicants' grant-funded programs benefited a significant numbers of 
residents;
    (iii) Description of timely expenditure of program funding 
throughout the term of past grants. Timely means regular drawdowns 
throughout the life of the grant, i.e., quarterly drawdowns, with all 
funds expended by the end of the grant term;
    (iv) Description of Past Leveraging. Applicants must describe how 
they have leveraged funding or in-kind services beyond amounts that 
were originally proposed for past projects;
    (3) Program Administration and Fiscal Management (12 Points).
    (a) Program Administration and Accountability (6 Points). 
Applicants should describe how they will manage the program; how HUD 
can be sure that there is program accountability; and provide a 
description of proposed staff's roles and responsibilities. Applicants

[[Page 14067]]

should also describe how grant staff and partners shall report to the 
project coordinator and other senior staff.
    (b) Fiscal Management (6 Points). In rating this factor, 
applicants' skills and experience in fiscal management will be 
evaluated. If applicants have had any audit or material weakness 
findings in the past five years, they will be evaluated on how well 
they have addressed them. Applicants must provide the following:
    (i) A complete description of their fiscal management structure, 
including fiscal controls currently in place including those of a 
Contract Administrator for applicants required to have a Contract 
Administrator, (i.e., troubled PHAs, resident associations, and 
nonprofit applicants);
    (ii) Applicants must list any audit findings in the past five years 
(HUD Inspector General, management review, fiscal, etc.), material 
weaknesses, and what has been done to address them;
    (iii) For applicants who are required to have a Contract 
Administrator, describe the skills and experience the Contract 
Administrator has in managing federal funds.
    b. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (10 Points).
    This factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for 
funding the proposed program. In responding to this factor, applicants 
will be evaluated on the extent to which they describe and document the 
level of need for their proposed activities and the urgency for meeting 
the need.
    In responding to this factor, applicants must include:
    (1) Socioeconomic Profile (5 points). A thorough socioeconomic 
profile of the eligible residents to be served by the program, 
including education levels, income levels, the number of single-parent 
families, economic statistics for the local area, etc.
    (2) Demonstrated Link Between Proposed Activities and Local Need (5 
points). Applicants' narrative must demonstrate a clear relationship 
between proposed activities, community needs and the purpose of the 
program funding in order for points to be awarded for this factor.
    c. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (30 Points) This factor 
addresses both the quality and cost-effectiveness of applicants' 
proposed work plan. The work plan must indicate a clear relationship 
between proposed activities, the targeted population's needs, and the 
purpose of the program funding. Applicants' activities must address 
HUD's policy priorities outlined in this Rating Factor.
    In rating this factor HUD will consider:
    (1) Quality of the Work Plan (18 points). This factor evaluates 
both the applicant's work plan and budget, which will be evaluated 
based on the following criteria:
    (a) Specific Services and/or Activities (8 points). Applicants' 
narrative must describe the specific services, course curriculum, and 
activities they plan to offer and who will be responsible for each. In 
addition to the narrative, applicants must also provide a work plan, 
which must list the specific services, activities, and outcomes they 
expect. The work plan must show a logical order of activities and 
progress and must tie to the outcomes and outputs applicants identify 
in the Logic Model (see Rating Factor 5). Please see a sample work plan 
in the Appendix. Applicants' narrative must explain how their proposed 
activities will:
    (i) Involve community partners in the delivery of services (4 
points);
    (ii) Offer comprehensive services versus a small range of services 
geared toward achieving the following (2 points):
    RSDM--Family: enhancing economic opportunities for residents;
    RSDM--Elderly: enhancing residents' quality of life;
    Homeownership: enhancing homeownership opportunities for residents; 
and
    (iii) Link to other ROSS-funded self-sufficiency programs (2 
points).
    (b) Feasibility and Demonstrable Benefits (4 points). This factor 
examines whether applicants' work plan is logical, feasible and likely 
to achieve its stated purpose during the term of the grant. HUD's 
desire is to fund applications that will quickly produce demonstrable 
results and advance the purposes of the ROSS program.
    (i) Timeliness. This subfactor evaluates whether applicants' work 
plan demonstrates that their project is ready to be implemented shortly 
after grant award, but not to exceed three months following the 
execution of the grant agreement. The work plan must indicate 
timeframes and deadlines for accomplishing major activities.
    (ii) Description of the problem and solution. The work plan will be 
evaluated based on how well applicants' proposed activities address the 
needs described in Rating Factor 2.
    (c) Budget Appropriateness/Efficient Use of Grant (6 Points) The 
score in this factor will be based on the following:
    (i) Justification of expenses. Applicants will be evaluated based 
on whether their expenses are reasonable and thoroughly explained, and 
support the objectives of their proposal.
    (ii) Budget Efficiency. Applicants will be evaluated based on 
whether their application requests funds commensurate with the level of 
effort necessary to accomplish their goals and anticipated results.
    (d) Ineligible Activities. Two points will be deducted for each 
ineligible activity proposed in the application, as identified in 
Section IV(E). For example, you will lose 2 points if you propose costs 
that exceed the limits identified in the NOFA for a Project 
Coordinator; or you will lose 2 points if you propose paying for 
salaries for staff that are not direct services staff.
    (2) Addressing HUD's Policy Priorities (12 points). HUD wants to 
improve the quality of life for those living in distressed communities. 
HUD's grant programs are a vehicle through which long-term, positive 
change can be achieved at the community level. Applicants' narrative 
and work plan will be evaluated based on how well they meet the 
following HUD policy priorities:
    (a) Applicants will respond to either (i) or (ii) below depending 
on what type of applicant they are, for a maximum of 5 points.
    (i) Improving the Quality of Life in Our Nation's Communities (For 
RSDM-Family and RSDM-Elderly Applicants only)(5 points). In order to 
receive points in this category, applicants' narrative and work plan 
must indicate the types of activities, service, and training programs 
applicants will offer which can help residents successfully transition 
from welfare to work and earn higher wages, or for elderly/disabled 
residents, to continue to live independently.
    (ii) Providing Increased Homeownership and Rental Opportunities for 
Low- and Moderate-Income Persons, Persons with Disabilities, the 
Elderly, Minorities, and Families With Limited English Proficiency (For 
Homeownership Applicants only) (5 points). In order to receive points 
in this category, applicants' narrative and work plan must indicate the 
types of activities and training programs they will offer which can 
help residents successfully transition from subsidized housing to 
market-rate rental housing or homeownership.
    (b) Providing Full and Equal Access to Grassroots Faith-Based and 
Other Community-Based Organizations in HUD Program Implementation (For 
all applicants) (5 points). HUD encourages applicants to partner with 
grassroots organizations, e.g., civic organizations,

[[Page 14068]]

grassroots faith-based and other community-based organizations that are 
not usually effectively utilized. These grassroots organizations have a 
strong history of providing vital community services such as developing 
first-time homeownership programs, creating economic development 
programs, providing job training and other supportive services. In 
order to receive points under this factor, applicants' narrative and 
work plan must describe how applicants will work with these 
organizations and what types of services they will provide.
    (c) Policy Priority for Increasing the Supply of Affordable Housing 
Through the Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing. (up 
to 2 points).
    Under this policy priority, higher rating points are available to: 
(1) Governmental applicants that are able to demonstrate successful 
efforts in removing regulatory barriers to affordable housing, and (2) 
nongovernmental applicants that are associated with jurisdictions that 
have undertaken successful efforts in removing barriers. For applicants 
to obtain the policy priority points for efforts to successfully remove 
regulatory barriers, applicants would have to complete form HUD 27300, 
``Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers.'' A copy of HUD's Notice entitled America's Affordable 
Communities Initiative, HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers: Announcement of Incentive Criteria on Barrier Removal in 
HUD's 2004 Competitive Funding Allocations'' can be found on HUD's Web 
site at http://www.hud.gov/grants/index.cfm. The information and 
requirements contained in HUD's regulatory barriers policy priority 
apply to this FY 2005 NOFA. A description of the policy priority and a 
copy of form HUD-27300 can be found in the application package posted 
to www.Grants.gov. Applicants are encouraged to read the Notice as well 
as the General Section of the SuperNOFA to obtain an understanding of 
this policy priority and how it can impact their score. A limited 
number of questions expressly request the applicant to provide brief 
documentation with their response. Other questions require that for 
each affirmative statement made, the applicant must supply a reference, 
URL, or a brief statement indicating where the back-up information may 
be found, and a point of contact, including a telephone number and/or 
email address. The electronic copy of the HUD 27300 has space to 
identify a URL or reference that the material is being scanned and 
attached to the application as part of the submission or faxed to HUD 
following the facsimile submission instructions.
    d. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (20 Points).
    This factor addresses the applicant's ability to secure community 
resources that can be combined with HUD's grant resources to achieve 
program purposes. Applicants are required to create partnerships with 
organizations that can help achieve their program's goals. PHAs are 
required by section 12(d)(7) of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 entitled 
``Cooperation Agreements for Economic Self-Sufficiency Activities'') to 
make best efforts to enter into such agreements with relevant state or 
local agencies. In rating this factor, HUD will look at the extent to 
which applicants partner, coordinate and leverage their services with 
other organizations serving the same or similar populations.
    Additionally, applicants must have at least a 25 percent cash or 
in-kind match. The match is a threshold requirement. Joint applicants 
must together have at least a 25 percent match. Applicants who do not 
demonstrate the minimum 25 percent match will fail the threshold 
requirement and will not receive further consideration for funding. 
Leveraging in excess of the 25 percent of the grant amount will receive 
a higher point value. In evaluating this factor HUD will consider the 
extent to which applicants have partnered with other entities to secure 
additional resources, which will increase the effectiveness of the 
proposed program activities. The additional resources and services must 
be firmly committed, must support the proposed grant activities and 
must, in combined amount (including in-kind contributions of personnel, 
space and/or equipment, and monetary contributions) equal at least 25 
percent of the grant amount requested in this application. ``Firmly 
committed'' means that the amount of resources and their dedication to 
ROSS-funded activities must be explicit, in writing and signed by a 
person authorized to make the commitment. Please see the section on 
Threshold Requirements for more information.
    Points for this factor will be awarded based on the documented 
evidence of partnerships and firm commitments and the ratio of 
requested ROSS funds to the total proposed grant budget.
    Points will be assigned based on the following scale:

                   Percentage of Match Points Awarded
25.....................................  5 points (with partnerships) 3
                                          points (without partnerships);
26-50..................................  10 points (with partnerships) 8
                                          points (without partnerships);
51-75..................................  15 points (with partnerships)
                                          13 points (without
                                          partnerships);
76 or above............................  20 points (with partnerships)
                                          18 points (without
                                          partnerships).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    e. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (15 
Points)
    (1) An important element in this year's NOFA is the development and 
reporting of performance measures and outcomes. This factor emphasizes 
HUD's determination to ensure that applicants meet commitments made in 
their applications and grant agreements and that they assess their 
performance so that they realize performance goals. Applicants must 
demonstrate how they propose to measure their success and outcomes as 
they relate to the Department's Strategic Plan.
    (2) HUD requires ROSS applicants to develop an effective, 
quantifiable, outcome-oriented plan for measuring performance and 
determining that goals have been met. Applicants must use the Logic 
Model form HUD-96010 for this purpose.
    (3) Applicants must establish interim benchmarks, or outputs, for 
their proposed program that lead to the ultimate achievement of 
outcomes. ``Outputs'' are the direct products of a program's 
activities. Examples of outputs are: the number of eligible families 
that participate in supportive services, the number of new services 
provided, the number of residents receiving counseling, or the number 
of households using a technology center. Outputs should produce 
outcomes for your program. ``Outcomes'' are benefits accruing to the 
residents, families and/or communities during or after participation in 
the ROSS program. Applicants must clearly identify the outcomes to be 
achieved and measured. Examples of outcomes are: increasing the 
homeownership rates among residents of a development or from a 
particular housing authority, increasing residents' financial stability 
(e.g., increasing assets of a household through savings), or increasing 
employment stability (e.g., whether persons assisted obtain or retain 
employment for one or two years after job training completion). 
Outcomes are not the actual development or delivery of services or 
program activities.
    (4) This rating factor requires that applicants identify program 
outputs, outcomes, and performance indicators

[[Page 14069]]

that will allow applicants to measure their performance. Performance 
indicators should be objectively quantifiable and measure actual 
achievements against anticipated achievements. Applicants' narrative, 
work plan, and Logic Model should identify what applicants are going to 
measure, how they are going to measure it, and the steps they have in 
place to make adjustments to their work plan and management practices 
if performance targets begin to fall short of established benchmarks 
and time frames. Applicants' proposal must also show how they will 
measure the performance of partners and affiliates. Applicants must 
include the standards, data sources, and measurement methods they will 
use to measure performance.
    (5) In order to respond to this factor, applicants can use the 
sample performance measures found at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. Applicants will be evaluated based on how 
comprehensively they propose to measure their program's outcomes.

B. Review and Selection Process

    1. Review Process for All Grant Categories and All Applicants. Four 
types of reviews will be conducted: a screening to determine if you are 
eligible to apply for funding under the ROSS grant category to which 
you are applying; whether your application submission is complete, on 
time and meets threshold; a review by the field office (or area ONAP 
office) to evaluate past performance; and a technical review to rate 
your application based on the five rating factors provided in this 
NOFA.
    2. Selection Process for All Grant Categories and All Applicants. 
The selection process is designed to achieve geographic diversity of 
grant awards throughout the country. For each grant category, HUD will 
first select the highest ranked application from each of the ten 
federal regions and DPONAP for funding. After this ``round,'' HUD will 
select the second highest ranked application in each of the ten federal 
regions and DPONAP for funding (the second round). HUD will continue 
this process with the third, fourth, and so on, highest ranked 
applications in each federal region and DPONAP until the last complete 
round is selected for funding. If available funds exist to fund some 
but not all eligible applications in the next round, HUD will make 
awards to those remaining applications in rank order (by score) 
regardless of region and DPONAP and will fully fund as many as possible 
with remaining funds. If remaining funds in one grant category are too 
small to make an award, they may be transferred to another category 
under the ROSS program.
    3. Tie Scores. In the event of a tie between two applications in 
the same category which target the same developments, HUD will select 
the application that was received first.
    4. Deficiency Period. Applicants will have 14 calendar days in 
which to provide missing information requested from HUD. For other 
information on correcting deficient applications, please see the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA.

VI. Award Administration Information

    A. Award Notices. HUD will make announcements of grant awards after 
the rating and ranking process is completed. Grantees will be notified 
by letter and will receive instructions for what steps they must take 
in order to access funding and begin implementing grant activities. 
Applicants who are not funded will also receive letters via U.S. postal 
mail.
    B. Debriefings. Applicants who are not funded may request a 
debriefing. Applicants requesting to be debriefed must send a written 
request to: Iredia Hutchinson, Director, Grants Management Center, 501 
School Street, SW., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20024.
    C. Administrative and National Policy Requirements. 1. 
Environmental Impact. In accordance with 24 CFR 58.34 (a)(3) or (a)(9), 
58.35(b)(2), (b)(4) or (b)(5), 50.19(b)(3), (b)(9), (b)(12), (b)(14), 
or (b)(15) activities under this ROSS program are categorically 
excluded from the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969 and are not subject to environmental review under related laws 
and authorities.
    2. Applicable Requirements. Unless specifically enumerated in this 
NOFA, all applicants, lead and non-lead applicants, are subject to the 
requirements specified in Section III.C. of the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA. Grantees are subject to regulations and other requirements 
found in:
    a. 24 CFR 84 ``Uniform Administrative Requirements for Grants and 
Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, Hospitals, and Other 
Nonprofit Organizations'';
    b. 24 CFR 85 ``Administrative Requirements for Grants and 
Cooperative Agreements to State, Local, and Federally Recognized Indian 
Tribal Governments'';
    c. 24 CFR 964 ``Tenant Participation and Tenant Opportunities in 
Public Housing'';
    d. OMB Circular A-87 ``Cost Principles for State, Local, and Indian 
Tribal Governments''
    e. OMB Circular A-110 ``Uniform Administrative Requirements for 
Grants and Other Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education, 
Hospitals and Other Non-Profit Organizations'';
    f. OMB Circular A-122 ``Cost Principles for Non-Profit 
Organizations''; and
    g. OMB Circular A-133 ``Audits of States, Local Governments, and 
Non-Profit Organizations''.
    3. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons 
(Section 3). Applicants and grantees must also comply with Section 3 of 
the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 12 U.S.C. 1701u and 
ensure that training, employment, and other economic opportunities 
shall, to the greatest extent feasible, be directed toward low and very 
low-income persons, particularly those who are recipients of government 
assistance for housing and to business concerns which provide economic 
opportunities to low and very low-income persons.
    4. Fair Housing and Civil Rights Laws. Applicants and their 
subrecipients must comply with all Fair Housing and Civil Rights laws, 
statutes, regulations, and Executive Orders as enumerated in 24 CFR 
5.105(a), as applicable. Please see the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA for more information.
    D. Reporting. 1. Semi-Annual Performance Reports. Grantees shall 
submit semi-annual performance reports to the field office or area 
ONAP. These progress reports shall include financial reports (SF-269A), 
a Logic Model (HUD-96010) showing achievements to date against outputs 
and outcomes proposed in the application and approved by HUD, and a 
narrative describing milestones, work plan progress, and problems 
encountered and methods used to address these problems. HUD anticipates 
that some of the reporting of financial status and grant performance 
will be through electronic or Internet-based submissions. Grantees 
shall use quantifiable data to measure performance against goals and 
objectives outlined in their work plan. Applicants that receive awards 
from HUD should be prepared to report on additional measures that HUD 
may designate at time of award. Performance reports are due to the 
field office on July 30 and January 31 of each year. If reports are not 
received by the due date, grant funds will be suspended until reports 
are received.
    2. Final Report. All grantees shall submit a final report to their 
local field

[[Page 14070]]

office or area ONAP that will include a financial report (SF-269A), a 
final Logic Model, and a narrative evaluating overall results achieved 
against their work plan. Grantees shall use quantifiable data to 
measure performance against goals and objectives outlined in their work 
plan. The financial report shall contain a summary of all expenditures 
made from the beginning of the grant agreement to the end of the grant 
agreement and shall include any unexpended balances. The final 
narrative, Logic Model, and financial report shall be due to the field 
office 90 days after the termination of the grant agreement.
    3. Final Audit. Grantees are required to obtain a complete final 
close-out audit of the grant's financial statements by a Certified 
Public Accountant (CPA), in accordance with generally accepted 
government audit standards. A written report of the audit must be 
forwarded to HUD within 60 days of issuance. Grant recipients must 
comply with the requirements of 24 CFR 84 or 24 CFR 85 as stated in OMB 
Circulars A-87, A-110, and A-122, as applicable.
    4. Logic Model. For each reporting period, as part of your required 
report to HUD, you must include a completed Logic Model (Form 96010), 
which identifies output and outcome achievements.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

    For questions and technical assistance, you may call the Public and 
Indian Housing Information and Resource Center at 800-955-2232. For 
persons with hearing or speech impairments, please call the toll-free 
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339. In the case of tribes/TDHEs, 
please contact DPONAP at 800-561-5913 or (303) 675-1600 (this is not a 
toll-free number).

VIII. Other Information

    A. Code of Conduct. Please see the General Section of the SuperNOFA 
for more information.
    B. Transfer of Funds. If transfer of funds from any of the ROSS 
programs does become necessary, HUD will give first priority to 
Homeownership Supportive Services, second priority to Family Self-
Sufficiency, third priority to RSDM--Family, and fourth priority to 
RSDM--Elderly/Persons with Disabilities.
    C. Paperwork Reduction Act. The information collection requirements 
contained in this document have been approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB control number 2577-0229. In 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or 
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 
information unless the collection displays a currently valid OMB 
control number. Public reporting burden for the collection of 
information is estimated to average ten hours per annum per respondent 
for the application and grant administration. This includes the time 
for collecting, reviewing, and reporting the data for the application, 
semi-annual reports and final report. The information will be used for 
grantee selection and monitoring the administration of funds. Response 
to this request for information is required in order to receive the 
benefits to be derived.
    Appendix of Forms. The forms specific to the ROSS Program follow.

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Public and Indian Housing Family Self-Sufficiency Program Under the 
Resident Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) Program

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Public and Indian Housing.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: This NOFA is for the Public and 
Indian Housing Family Self-Sufficiency program under the Resident 
Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) program.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number for this 
NOFA is: FR-4950-N-23. The OMB approval number is: 2577-0229.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 
Resident Opportunity and Self Sufficiency, 14.870.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is June 20, 2005. Please 
see the General Section for application

[[Page 14088]]

submission and timely receipt requirements.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information: 1. Purpose of 
Program: The purpose of the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program for 
Public Housing is to link participating families to the supportive 
services they need to achieve self-sufficiency and no longer need 
public assistance.
    2. Funding Available: The Department expects to award a total of 
approximately $22,950,000 ($15,000,000 of appropriations and $7,950,000 
of carryover) under the FSS program in Fiscal Year 2005.
    3. Award Amounts: Award amounts will be based on locality pay rates 
for professions similar to that of an FSS program coordinator. 
Individual award amounts will not exceed $65,000 to pay for the annual 
salary and fringe benefits of the program coordinator.
    4. Eligible Applicants: Eligible applicants are PHAs and tribes/
TDHEs that administer public housing programs. Renewal applicants and 
new applicants to the program must have an approved FSS Action Plan on 
file with their local HUD field office prior to this NOFA's application 
deadline. Please see the Threshold Requirements section for more 
information.
    Nonprofit organizations and resident associations are not eligible 
for funding under this program.
    5. Cost Sharing/Match Requirement: There is no match requirement 
under this funding program.
    6. Grant term: The grant term for FSS is one year from the 
execution date of the grant agreement.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Total
              Grant program                  funding        Eligible applicants          Maximum grant amount
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Public Housing Family Self-Sufficiency...  $22,950,000  PHAs, tribes/TDHEs only....  $65,000 maximum salary
                                                                                      amount
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Definition of Terms

    1. Action Plan describes the policies and procedures of the PHA or 
tribe/TDHE for operation of a local FSS program, and contains the 
following information (for a full description of the minimum amount of 
information the Action Plan must contain, please see 24 CFR 984.201):
    a. Family demographics. A description of the number, size, 
characteristics, and other demographics (including racial and ethnic 
data), and the supportive services needs of the families expected to 
participate in the FSS program;
    b. Estimate of participating families. A description of the number 
of eligible FSS families who can reasonably be expected to receive 
supportive services under the FSS program, based on available and 
anticipated federal, tribal, state, local, and private resources;
    c. Eligible families from other self-sufficiency programs. The 
number of families participating in other federal, state, or local 
self-sufficiency programs (provide program name and sponsoring 
organization) that are expected to participate in the FSS program.
    d. FSS Family selection procedures. A statement indicating the 
procedures to be utilized by select families participating in the FSS 
program.
    e. Incentives to encourage participation. Description of the FSS 
account and other incentives the PHA will offer participating families.
    f. Outreach efforts. The Action Plan must describe the efforts the 
PHA or tribe/TDHE will make to recruit FSS participants.
    g. FSS activities and supportive services consist of a description 
of the activities and supportive services that will be provided by 
public and private sources.
    h. Additional requirements. Additional requirements are contained 
in 24 CFR Part 984.
    2. Contract Administrator means an overall grant administrator and/
or a financial management agent used by a troubled PHA to oversee the 
implementation of the grant and/or the financial aspects of the grant.
    3. Indian Tribe (``tribe'') means any tribe, band, nation, or other 
organized group or a community of Indians, including any Alaska native 
village, regional, or village corporation as defined in or established 
pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and that is 
recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided 
by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians 
pursuant to the Indian Self Determination and Education Act of 1975, or 
any state-recognized tribe eligible for assistance under section 4 
(12)(C) of NAHASDA.
    4. NAHASDA-assisted resident means a tribal member living in 
housing assisted by the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
Determination Act (NAHASDA) of 1996.
    5. Past Performance is a threshold requirement. HUD's field offices 
will evaluate data provided by applicants and their past performance to 
determine whether an applicant has the capacity to manage the FSS grant 
program. The area Office of Native American Programs (ONAP) will review 
past performance for tribal/TDHE submissions. PHAs or tribes/TDHEs that 
have managed a HUD-funded FSS program for more than five years must be 
able to demonstrate that families who have participated in the FSS 
program for five years are actually achieving self-sufficiency and/or 
have significantly increased their earned income. Please see the 
section on Threshold Requirements for more information.
    6. Person with disabilities means a person who:
    (1) Has a condition defined as a disability in section 223 of the 
Social Security Act;
    (2) Has a developmental disability as defined in section 102 of the 
Developmental Disabilities Assistance Bill of Rights Act; or
    (3) Is determined to have a physical, mental, or emotional 
impairment which:
    (i) Is expected to be of long-continued and indefinite duration;
    (ii) Substantially impedes his or her ability to live 
independently; and
    (iii) Is of such a nature that such ability could be improved by 
more suitable housing conditions.
    The term ``person with disabilities'' does not exclude persons who 
have immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) or any conditions arising 
from the etiologic agent for AIDS. In addition, no individual shall be 
considered a person with disabilities, for purposes of eligibility for 
low-income housing, solely on the basis of any drug or alcohol 
dependence.
    The definition provided above for persons with disabilities is the 
proper definition for determining program qualifications. However, the 
definition of a person with disabilities contained in section 504 of 
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its implementing regulations must be 
used for purposes of reasonable accommodations.
    7. Program Coordinator under the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) 
program is someone responsible for linking FSS program participants to 
supportive services. Program Coordinators will work with the Program 
Coordinating Committee and local service providers to ensure that the 
necessary services and linkages to community resources are

[[Page 14089]]

being made; ensuring that the services included in participants' 
contracts of participation are provided on a regular, ongoing and 
satisfactory basis; making sure that participants are fulfilling their 
responsibilities under the contracts and that FSS escrow accounts are 
established and properly maintained for eligible families. FSS 
coordinators may also perform job development functions for the FSS 
program.
    8. Project is the same as ``low-income housing project'' as defined 
in section 3(b)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437 a (b)(1)) (1937 Act).
    9. Secretary means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
    10. Tribally Designated Housing Entity (TDHE) is an entity 
authorized or established by one or more Indian tribe to act on behalf 
of each such tribe authorizing or establishing the housing entity.

B. Program Description

    1. The FSS program provides funding for PHAs to pay for the salary 
and fringe benefits of a program coordinator who will link families to 
the supportive services they need to achieve self-sufficiency.
    2. A PHA administering the FSS program must use a Program 
Coordinating Committee (PCC) to secure the necessary resources to 
implement the FSS program. A PCC is made up of representatives of 
businesses, local government, job training and employment agencies, 
local welfare agencies, educational institutions, childcare providers, 
and nonprofit service providers, including faith-based and other 
community organizations. See 24 CFR 984.202 for more information.
    3. HUD is looking for applications that either build on existing 
FSS programs or propose to implement a new Public Housing FSS program. 
Applicants who propose to link to other ROSS-funded self-sufficiency 
programs will receive five additional points (see Rating Factor 3 at 
Section V.A.1.c. (1)(a)(i)).

C. Regulations Governing the FSS Program

    The FSS program is governed by 24 CFR Part 984.

II. Award Information

    A. Total Funding: The Department expects to award a total of 
approximately $22,950,000 ($15,000,000 of appropriations and $7,950,000 
of carryover) under the PH Family Self-Sufficiency program. Funding 
amounts for individual grantees will be contingent upon HUD field 
office approval.
    B. Grant Period: One year. The grant period shall begin the day the 
grant agreement and the form HUD-1044, ``Assistance Award/Amendment'' 
are signed.
    C. Grant Extensions. Requests to extend the grant term beyond the 
originally established term must be submitted in writing by the grantee 
to the local HUD field office. Such requests must be done prior to 
grant termination and with at least 60 days notice to give the field 
office a reasonable amount of time to fully evaluate the request. 
Requests must explain why the extension is necessary, what work remains 
to be completed, and what was accomplished to date. Extensions may be 
granted one time only by the field office for a period not to exceed 
six months.
    D. Type of Award: Grant agreement.

III. Eligibility Information

    A. Eligible Applicants: Eligible applicants are public housing 
agencies (PHAs), which administer public housing programs and tribes/
TDHEs. New and renewal applicants to the program must have an approved 
FSS Action Plan on file with their local HUD field office prior to this 
NOFA's application deadline.
    Nonprofit organizations and resident associations are not eligible 
for funding under this program.
    B. Cost Sharing or Matching: There is no match requirement under 
this funding program.
    C. Other: 1. Threshold Requirements. Applicants must respond to 
each threshold requirement clearly and thoroughly by following the 
instructions below. If your application fails one threshold requirement 
(regardless of the type) it will be considered a failed application. 
The following are threshold requirements that are applicable to this 
ROSS component:
    a. Past Performance. HUD's field offices will evaluate data 
provided by applicants and their past performance to determine whether 
an applicant has the capacity to manage the FSS program. The area 
Office of Native American Programs (ONAP) will review past performance 
for tribal/TDHE submissions. For applicants required to have a contract 
administrator, field offices will evaluate the contract administrator's 
past performance. Using Rating Factor 1, the field office will evaluate 
applicants' past performance. If applicants fail to address what is 
requested in Rating Factor 1, their application will fail this 
threshold and will not receive further consideration.
    b. Contract Administrator Partnership Agreement. PHAs that are 
troubled at the time of application are required to submit a signed 
Contract Administrator Partnership Agreement. The agreement must be for 
the entire grant term. The grant award shall be contingent upon having 
a signed Partnership Agreement included in the application. Troubled 
PHAs are not eligible to be contract administrators. Grant writers who 
assist applicants prepare their FSS applications are ineligible to be 
contract administrators. For more information on contract 
administrators, please see the section on Program Requirements below. 
Please see the General Section for instructions on how to submit the 
required information with your electronic application.
    c. FSS Action Plan. New applicants to the program must have a HUD 
approved FSS Action Plan on file with their local HUD field (or ONAP) 
office prior to this NOFA's application deadline. PHAs with previously 
approved Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) FSS Action Plans may either amend 
their HCV FSS Action Plan to include the FSS program or may submit a 
separate FSS Action Plan for HUD field office (ONAP) approval. New PH 
FSS Action Plans and amendments to existing Action Plans must be 
submitted to applicants' local HUD field office well enough in advance 
to ensure sufficient time for field office approval of the FSS Action 
Plan prior to the NOFA deadline. FSS Action Plans must comply with 24 
CFR 984.201.
    d. Minimum Score for All Fundable Applications. Applications that 
pass all threshold requirements and go through the ranking and rating 
process, must receive a minimum score of 75 in order to be considered 
for funding.
    e. The Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number 
Requirement. Refer to the General Section for information regarding the 
DUNS requirement. You will need to obtain a DUNS number to receive an 
award from HUD. You will need a DUNS number to complete your Grants.gov 
registration. Registration is required for electronic submission. See 
the General Section for a discussion of the Grants.gov registration 
process.
    2. Program Requirements:
    a. Hiring a FSS program coordinator. Funds awarded to PHAs under 
this NOFA may only be used to employ or retain the services of a FSS 
program coordinator for the one year grant term. A part-time program 
coordinator may be retained where appropriate. The FSS program 
coordinator must:
    (1) Work with the PCC and with local service providers to ensure 
that FSS

[[Page 14090]]

program participants are linked to the supportive services they need to 
achieve self-sufficiency.
    (2) Ensure that the services included in participants' contracts of 
participation are provided on a regular, ongoing and satisfactory 
basis, that participants are fulfilling their responsibilities under 
the contracts and that FSS escrow accounts are established and properly 
maintained for eligible families. All of these tasks should be ensured 
through case management. FSS coordinators may also perform job 
development functions for the FSS program.
    (3) Under normal circumstances, a full-time FSS program coordinator 
should be able to serve approximately 50 FSS program participants, 
depending on the coordinator's case management functions.
    (4) Monitor the progress of program participants and evaluate the 
overall success of the program. For more information on how to measure 
performance, please see Rating Factor 4 in the ``Application Review 
Information'' section of this NOFA.
    b. Outreach. Applicants are encouraged to reach out to persons with 
disabilities who are public/Indian Housing residents and might be 
interested in participating in the FSS program. Applicants should 
include agencies on their FSS PCC that work with and provide services 
for families with disabilities.
    c. Eligible families. Current residents of public/Indian housing 
are eligible. Eligible families who are currently enrolled or 
participating in local public/Indian housing self-sufficiency programs 
are also eligible.
    d. Contract of participation. Each family that is selected to 
participate in an FSS program must enter into a contract of 
participation with the PHA or tribe/TDHE that operates the FSS program. 
The contract shall be signed by the head of the FSS family.
    e. Contract term. The contract with participating families shall be 
for five years. During this time each family will be required to 
fulfill its contractual obligations. PHAs or tribes/TDHEs may extend 
contracts for no more than two years for any family that requests an 
extension of its contract provided the PHA or tribe/TDHE finds that 
good cause exists to provide an extension. This extension request must 
be in writing. See 24 CFR 984.303 for more information on contracts of 
participation.
    f. Escrow accounts for very low or low income participating 
families. Such accounts shall be computed using the guidelines set 
forth in 24 CFR 984.305. Note: FSS families who are not low-income are 
not entitled to an escrow/credit.
    g. Number of Program Coordinators.
    (1) Renewal Applicants.
    (a) Maintaining Program Size. Applicants that received funding from 
the Operating Fund or the 2004 FSS NOFA may apply for renewal of each 
FSS coordinator position(s) that has been filled by the applicant in 
either of the past two years under the Operating Fund or the 2004 FSS 
NOFA.
    Funding for more than one program coordinator position is 
contingent upon HUD field office approval. For renewal applicants, HUD 
will fund a one percent increase over the amount most recently funded 
but not to exceed $65,000 for the FSS program coordinator(s) salary and 
fringe benefits.
    (b) Expanding Program Size. Applicants wishing to expand their FSS 
program may in addition to requesting funds for their current FSS 
program coordinator(s), also request funds for one additional FSS 
coordinator. Note: Funding priority will be given to renewing existing 
staff positions for renewal applicants and to applicants wishing to 
implement a new program (see new applicants below). If sufficient 
funding is available to fund expanding applicant's existing programs, 
HUD will do so in accordance with the selection process under Section 
V(B).
    (2) New Applicants. A PHA or tribe/TDHE that has not received 
funding under the Operating Fund for a FSS Program Coordinator may 
apply for only one program coordinator position as follows:
    (a) Up to one full-time FSS coordinator position for a PHA or 
tribe/TDHE with HUD approval to administer an FSS program of 25 or more 
FSS slots.
    (b) Up to one full-time position per application for joint PHA/
tribe/TDHE applicants that have HUD approval to administer a total of 
at least 25 FSS slots between or among them.
    h. Contract Administrator. The Contract Administrator must assure 
that the financial management system and procurement procedures that 
will be in place during the grant term will fully comply with 24 CFR 
part 85. CAs are expressly forbidden from accessing HUD's Line of 
Credit Control System (LOCCS) and submitting vouchers on behalf of 
grantees. Contract administrators must also assist PHAs/tribes/TDHEs to 
meet HUD's reporting requirements, see Section VI.C. ``Reporting'' for 
more information. Contract administrators may be: Local Housing 
Agencies; community-based organizations such as Community Development 
Corporations (CDCs), churches, temples, synagogues, mosques; nonprofit 
organizations; State/Regional associations and organizations. Troubled 
PHAs are not eligible to be contract administrators. Grant writers who 
assist applicants in preparing their FSS applications are also 
ineligible to be contract administrators. Organizations that the 
applicant proposes to use as the contract administrator must not 
violate any conflicts of interest as defined in 24 CFR Part 84 or 24 
CFR Part 85.
    3. Number of Applications Permitted:
    a. General. Applicants may submit only one application under this 
category. Applicants may submit one application for each of the other 
funding categories under ROSS (Resident Service Delivery Models-Family, 
Resident Service Delivery Models-Elderly/Persons with Disabilities and 
Homeownership Supportive Services) and one application under the Public 
Housing Neighborhood Networks grant program (tribes/TDHEs are not 
eligible applicants for the Public Housing Neighborhood Networks grant 
program); however, applicants must submit separate applications for 
each funding category.
    b. Joint applications. Two or more PHAs or tribes/TDHEs may join 
together to submit an application under this NOFA. Joint applications 
must designate a lead applicant. Only the lead applicant is subject to 
threshold requirements as outlined in this NOFA, however both lead and 
non-lead applicants are subject to the Threshold requirements outlined 
in Section III. C. of the General Section. The lead applicant must be 
registered with Grants.gov and submit the application using the 
Grants.gov portal. The lead applicant must be registered with 
Grants.gov and submit the application using the Grants.gov portal. 
Applicants who submit joint applications may not also submit separate 
applications as sole applicants under this NOFA.
    4. Eligible Participants: All program participants must be 
residents of public/Indian housing or residents of other housing 
assisted with funding made available under the 2005 Appropriations Act 
(e.g., residents receiving tenant-based or project-based voucher 
assistance, as well as elderly and disabled residents).
    5. Compliance with Program Requirements. In addition to the program 
requirements specific to the FSS program, all applicants and grantees 
must comply with the program requirements contained in Section III.C. 
of the General Section.

[[Page 14091]]

IV. Application and Submission Information

    A. Obtaining an Application Package: There is no application kit 
this year. Please refer to the General Section for information on how 
to submit your application electronically. Copies of this published 
NOFA and application forms for this program may be downloaded from the 
grants.gov web site at http://www.grants.gov/APPLY. If you have 
difficulty accessing the information you may call the Grants.gov help 
desk toll-free at (800) 518-GRANTS or sending an email to 
Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. The operators will assist you in accessing the 
information.
    B. Content and Form of Application Submission: 1. Application 
Format: Before preparing an application to the FSS program, applicants 
should carefully review the program description, ineligible activities, 
threshold requirements, and the General Section. Applicants should also 
review each rating factor found in the ``Application Review 
Information'' section before writing a narrative response. Applicants' 
narratives should be as descriptive as possible, ensuring that every 
requested item is addressed. Applicants should make sure to include all 
requested information, according to the instructions found in this NOFA 
and where applicable, in the General Section. This will help ensure a 
fair and accurate review of your application.
    2. Content and Format for Submission:
    a. Content of Application: Applicants must write narrative 
responses to each of the rating factors described in this section. 
Applicants responses must demonstrate that they have the necessary 
capacity to successfully manage this grant program. Applicants should 
ensure that their narratives are written clearly and concisely so that 
HUD reviewers, who may not be familiar with the FSS program, may fully 
understand your proposal. HUD encourages applicants to carefully review 
each rating factor, the regulations governing the FSS program, 24 CFR 
part 984, and the General Section prior to responding to each rating 
factor.
    b. Format of Application: (1) Applications may not exceed 35 
narrative pages. Narrative pages must be submitted as separate 
electronic files, formatted as double-spaced, single-sided documents. 
Each file should have the pages numbered consecutively. Use Times New 
Roman font style, and font size 12. Supporting documentation, required 
forms, and certifications will not be counted toward the 35 narrative 
page limit. See the General Section for information on how to submit 
documents that are not in electronic format. Applicants should make 
every effort to submit only what is necessary in terms of supporting 
documentation. Please see the General Section for instructions on how 
to submit supporting documentation with your electronic application.
    (2) The following checklist has been provided to assist applicants 
ensure they submit all required forms and information. Electronic 
application filers should make sure the file names for their narratives 
reflect the labels in the checklist. Each narrative must be in a 
separate file with all the files zipped together and sent as an 
attachment in the application submittal. (Note: Applicants who receive 
a waiver to submit paper applications, must submit their applications 
in a three-ring binder, with TABS dividing the sections as indicated 
below):
    TAB 1: Required Forms:
    1. Acknowledgement of Application Receipt (HUD-2993), for paper 
application submissions only (you must have an approval waiver to 
submit a paper application);
    2. SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance;
    3. SF-424 Supplement, Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for 
Applicants;
    4. Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers (HUD-27300);
    5. HUD-52751ROSS Fact Sheet
    6. HUD-424 CB Grant Application Detailed Budget;
    7. Grant Application Detailed Budget Worksheet (HUD-424-CBW);
    8. HUD-2880 Applicant Disclosure/Update Report;
    9. HUD-2990 Certification of Consistency with RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic 
Plan (if applicable);
    10. HUD-2991 Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated 
Plan (if applicable);
    11. Certification of Consistency with the Indian Housing Plan if 
applicable (HUD-52752);
    12. SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if applicable);
    13. SF-LLL-A Disclosure of Lobbying Activities Continuation Sheet 
(if applicable);
    14. HUD-2994 Client Comments and Suggestions (optional); and
    15. Facsimile Transmittal (HUD-96011).
    TAB 2: Threshold Requirements:
    [sbull] Contract Administrator Partnership Agreement (required for 
troubled PHAs) (HUD-52755)
    TAB 3: Rating Factor 1 and ROSS Program Forms
    1. Narrative.
    2. Chart A: HUD 52756 Program Staffing.
    3. Chart B: HUD 52757 Applicant/Administrator Track Record.
    4. Resume(s)/Position Description(s).
    TAB 4: Narrative for Rating Factor 2.
    TAB 5: Rating Factor 3.
    1. Narrative.
    2. HUD 52767 Family Self-Sufficiency Funding Request Form.
    TAB 6: Rating Factor 4 and ROSS Program Forms.
    1. Narrative.
    2. HUD 96010 Logic Model.
    C. Submission Dates and Times: 1. Due Dates: The application 
submission date is June 20, 2005. Please see the General Section for 
application submission and timely receipt requirements.
    2. Proof of Timely Submission. Please see the General Section for 
this information. Applicants that fail to meet the deadline for 
application receipt will not receive funding consideration.
    D. Intergovernmental Review: Not applicable.
    E. Funding Restrictions: 1. Reimbursement for Grant Application 
Costs: Applicants who receive an award under this program cannot use 
FSS grant funds to pay for any costs incurred with the preparation of 
their FSS grant application.
    2. Covered Salaries: a. Program Coordinator: All applicants may 
hire a qualified program coordinator to run the grant program. The FSS 
program will fund up to $65,000 in combined annual salary and fringe 
benefits for a full-time program coordinator. For audit purposes, 
applicants must have documentation on file demonstrating that the 
salary they pay the program coordinator is comparable to similar 
professions in their local area.
    b. Contract Administrator: FSS funds cannot be used to hire or pay 
for the services of a Contract Administrator.
    c. Eligible Salaries. FSS funds may only be used for the types of 
salaries described in this section according to the restrictions 
described herein. FSS funds may not be used to pay for salaries of any 
other kind.
    3. Administrative Costs. FSS funds cannot be used to pay for 
administrative costs.
    4. Ineligible Activities. Grant funds may not be used for 
ineligible activities. Ineligible activities include:
    a. The salary of an FSS coordinator for the Housing Choice Voucher 
FSS program;
    b. Services for FSS program participants;
    c. Elderly/Disabled Service Coordinator salary and fringe benefits;

[[Page 14092]]

    d. Wages and/or salaries to participants for receiving supportive 
services and/or training programs;
    e. The purchase of food;
    f. The purchase, lease, or rental of land;
    g. New construction, materials costs;
    h. Rehab or physical improvements;
    i. Entertainment costs; j. Purchase, lease, or rental of vehicles;
    k. Stipends;
    l. Cost of application preparation; and
    m. Costs that exceed limits identified in the NOFA for the 
following: Program Coordinator.
    n. FSS funds cannot be used to hire or pay for the services of a 
Contract Administrator.
    F. Other Submission Requirements: a. Electronic Delivery. Beginning 
in FY2005, HUD requires applicants to submit applications 
electronically through www.grants.gov/Apply. Applicants interested in 
applying for funding must submit their applications electronically via 
the Web site http://www.grants.gov/Apply. This site has easy to follow 
step-by-step instructions that will enable you to apply for HUD 
assistance. The www.grants.gov/Apply feature includes a simple, unified 
application process to enable applicants to apply for grants online.
    b. Waivers to the Electronic Submission Process: Applicants may 
request a waiver to the electronic submission process (see Section IV.F 
of the General Section for more information). Applicants who are 
granted a waiver must submit their applications to: HUD Grants 
Management Center (GMC), Mail Stop: Public Housing FSS Program, 501 
School Street, SW., 8th floor, Washington, DC 20024. Please see the 
General Section for detailed mailing and delivery instructions as the 
procedures have changed significantly for this year.
    c. Number of Copies. Only applicants receiving a waiver to the 
electronic submission requirement must submit an original and two paper 
copies of the application. One of the copies must be sent to the area 
field office. See Section IV and Appendix C of the General Section for 
requirements for waiver and paper copy application submission 
requirements.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. Factors for Award Used To Evaluate and Rate Applications to the 
FSS program: The factors for rating and ranking applicants and maximum 
points for each factor are provided below. The maximum number of points 
available for this program is 102. This includes two RC/EZ/EC-II bonus 
points. The SuperNOFA contains a certification that must be completed 
in order for the applicant to be considered for RC/EZ/EC-II bonus 
points. A listing of federally designated Empowerment Zones (EZs), 
Renewal Communities (RCs), or Enterprise Communities, designated by 
USDA in round II (EC-IIs), is available on HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. The agency certifying to 
RC/EZ/EC-II status must be identified in the listing on HUD's Web site.

    Note: Applicants should carefully review each rating factor 
before writing a response. Applicants should make sure their 
narratives thoroughly address the Rating Factors below and to 
include all requested information, according to the instructions 
found in this NOFA. This will help ensure a fair and accurate 
application review.

    a. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Staff (45 Points)
    In rating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which the 
proposal demonstrates that the applicant will have qualified and 
experienced program coordinator(s) dedicated to administering the 
program.
    (1) Proposed Program Staffing (10 Points).
    (a) Staff Experience (5 Points). The knowledge and experience of 
the proposed program coordinator(s) in planning and managing programs 
for which funding is being requested. Experience will be judged in 
terms of recent, relevant and successful experience of the program 
coordinator(s) to undertake eligible program activities. In rating this 
factor, HUD will consider experience within the last 5 years to be 
recent; experience similar to the functions of an FSS program 
coordinator to be relevant; and experience producing specific 
accomplishments to be successful. A greater amount of points will be 
received based on recent and related experience proposed staff have in 
successfully completing similar tasks. The following information should 
be provided in order to provide HUD an understanding of proposed 
staff's experience and capacity:
    (i) The staff's relevant educational background and/or work 
experience; and
    (ii) Relevant and successful experience running programs whose 
activities are similar to the FSS Program.
    (b) Staff Capacity (5 Points). Applicants will be evaluated based 
on whether they have staff in place or will be able to quickly access 
qualified professional(s), to administer the FSS program in a timely 
and effective fashion. Applicants' requesting to implement a new FSS 
program or to expand their existing program must describe their ability 
to immediately begin implementing an FSS program. Applicants may scan 
resumes (or position descriptions where staff is not yet hired) for the 
program coordinator position so they become an electronic attachment to 
your Grants.gov application. Please see the General Section for 
instructions on how to submit the required information with your 
electronic application. (Resume(s)/position description(s) do not count 
toward the 35-page limit.)
    (2) Past Performance of Applicant/Contract Administrator (25 
Points). Applicants' narrative must describe how they (or their 
contract administrator) achieved actual results in assisting low-income 
families and individuals in achieving economic self-sufficiency or 
moving from welfare to gainful employment. Renewal applicants should 
include facts and statistics in their narrative from past annual 
performance reports and/or the FSS addendum to HUD Form 50058. 
Applicants that have managed a HUD-funded FSS program for more than 
five years must be able to demonstrate that families who have 
participated in the FSS program for five years are actually achieving 
self-sufficiency and/or have significantly increased their earned 
income.
    Applicants will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
    (a) Achievement of specific, measurable participant outcomes in 
terms of benefits gained by participating residents. (15 Points). 
Applicants should describe and clearly demonstrate results their 
participants have achieved through the FSS program, for example: Higher 
incomes, higher rates of employment, increased savings; and moving out 
of subsidized housing to market-rate housing.
    (b) Describe success in attracting and keeping residents involved 
in past grant-funded training programs (5 Points). HUD wants to see 
that applicants' grant-funded programs benefited significant numbers of 
participating residents/families;
    (c) Description of timely fund expenditure throughout the term of 
past grants (5 Points). Timely means regular drawdowns throughout the 
life of the grant, i.e. quarterly drawdowns, with all funds expended by 
the end of the grant term;
    (3) Program Administration and Fiscal Management (10 Points).
    (a) Program Administration and Accountability (5 Points). 
Applicants

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should describe how they will manage the program and how HUD can be 
sure that there is program accountability.
    (b) Fiscal Management (5 Points). In rating this factor, 
applicants' skills and experience in fiscal management will be 
evaluated. If applicants have had any audit or material weakness 
findings in the past five years, they will be evaluated on how well 
they have addressed them. Applicants must provide the following:
    (i) A complete description of their fiscal management structure, 
including fiscal controls currently in place including those of a 
contract administrator for applicants required to have a contract 
administrator, (troubled PHAs);
    (ii) Applicants must list any audit findings in the past five years 
(HUD Inspector General, management review, fiscal, etc.), material 
weaknesses and what has been done to address them;
    (iii) Applicants who are required to have a contract administrator, 
must describe the skills and experience the contract administrator has 
in managing federal funds.
    b. Rating Factor 2: Need (10 Points)
    In responding to this factor, you will be evaluated on the extent 
to which you describe and document the level of need for an FSS program 
coordinator in the communities you serve.
    In responding to this factor, you must include:
    (1) Socioeconomic Profile (5 points). A socioeconomic profile of 
the eligible residents to be served by your program, including 
education levels, income levels, the number of single-parent families, 
etc.
    (2) Number of People to Be Served (5 points). Renewal applicants 
must provide the number of people being served and whether they will 
fill slots left by graduating participants. New applicants must provide 
the number of slots they will fill. Applicants applying to expand their 
FSS program, must provide the number of slots they will add to their 
program.
    c. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (30 Points)
    In rating this factor HUD will consider:
    (1) Quality of Your Proposal (26 points). This factor evaluates 
your application based on the following criteria:
    (a) Scope of Services (12 points). Your narrative should refer to 
the FSS Action Plan submitted to your local HUD field office and it 
must describe how many people you plan to serve, whether you will 
expand your program over time, and how your program will:
    (i) Link with other ROSS-funded self-sufficiency programs; (5 
points)
    (ii) Involve community partners in the delivery of services; (4 
points) and
    (iii) Link to comprehensive services versus a small range of 
services geared toward enhancing economic opportunities for residents 
(3 points).
    (b) Feasibility and Demonstrable Benefits (10 points). This factor 
examines whether your proposal is logical, feasible and likely to 
achieve its stated purpose during the term of the grant. HUD's desire 
is to fund applications that will quickly produce results and advance 
the purposes of the FSS program.
    (i) Timeliness (5 Points). This subfactor evaluates whether your 
proposal is ready to be implemented shortly after grant award, but not 
to exceed three months following the execution of the grant agreement. 
Your proposal must indicate timeframes and deadlines for accomplishing 
major activities.
    (ii) Description of the problem and solution (5 Points). Your 
proposal will be evaluated based on how well your proposal and approach 
to case management address the needs described in Rating Factor 2.
    (c) Salary Appropriateness/Efficient Use of Grant (4 Points). You 
will be evaluated based on whether the salary you propose for the 
program coordinator is comparable to similar professions in your local 
area. In addition, your narrative must justify the salary you propose 
to pay the program coordinator by using local pay rates for comparable 
professions.
    (d) Ineligible Activities. Two points will be deducted for each 
ineligible activity proposed in the application, as identified in 
Section IV (E). For example, you will lose 2 points if you propose 
costs that exceed the limits identified in the NOFA for a Project 
Coordinator.
    (2) Addressing HUD's Policy Priorities (4 points). HUD wants to 
improve the quality of life for those living in distressed communities. 
HUD's grant programs are a vehicle through which long-term, positive 
change can be achieved at the community level. Your proposal will be 
evaluated based on how well it meets the following HUD policy 
priorities:
    (a) Improving the Quality of Life in Our Nation's Communities (1 
point). In order to receive points in this category, your narrative 
must indicate how your FSS program will help residents successfully 
transition from welfare to work and earn higher wages.
    (b) Providing Full and Equal Access to Grassroots Faith-Based and 
Other Community-Based Organizations in HUD Program Implementation (1 
point). HUD encourages applicants to partner with grassroots 
organizations, e.g., civic organizations, grassroots faith-based and 
other community-based organizations. These grassroots organizations 
have a strong history of providing community services such as 
developing first-time homeownership programs, creating economic 
development programs, providing job training and other supportive 
services. In order to receive points under this factor, your narrative 
must describe how you will work with these organizations and what types 
of services they will provide.
    (c) Policy Priority for Increasing the Supply of Affordable Housing 
Through the Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing (up to 
2 points). Under this policy priority, higher rating points are 
available to: (1) Governmental applicants that demonstrate successful 
efforts in removing regulatory barriers to affordable housing, and (2) 
nongovernmental applicants undertaking activities in jurisdictions that 
have carried out successful efforts in removing barriers. For 
applicants to obtain the policy priority points for efforts to 
successfully remove regulatory barriers, applicants would have to 
complete form HUD 27300, ``Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on 
Removal of Regulatory Barriers.'' A copy of HUD's Notice entitled 
America's Affordable Communities Initiative, HUD's Initiative on 
Removal of Regulatory Barriers: Announcement of Incentive Criteria on 
Barrier Removal in HUD's 2004 Competitive Funding Allocations'' can be 
found on HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/grants/index.cfm. The 
information and requirements contained in HUD's regulatory barriers 
policy apply to this FY 2005 NOFA. A description of the policy priority 
and a copy of form HUD 27300 can be found in the General Section 
Applicants are encouraged to read the Notice as well as the General 
Section to obtain an understanding of this policy priority and how it 
can impact their score. A number of questions expressly request the 
applicant to provide brief documentation with their response. Other 
questions require that for each affirmative statement made, the 
applicant must supply a reference, URL, or a brief statement indicating 
where the back-up information may be found, and a point of contact, 
including a telephone number and/or e mail address. The electronic copy 
of the HUD 27300 has space to identify a URL or reference that the 
material is being scanned and

[[Page 14094]]

attached to the application as part of the submission or faxed to HUD 
following the facsimile submission instructions.
    d. Rating Factor 4: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (15 
Points)
    (1) An important element in this year's NOFA is the development and 
reporting of performance measures and outcomes. This factor emphasizes 
HUD's determination to ensure that applicants meet commitments made in 
their applications to help families achieve true self-sufficiency. 
Applicants must demonstrate how they propose to measure their success 
and outcomes as they relate to the Department's Strategic Plan.
    (2) HUD requires FSS applicants to develop an effective, 
quantifiable, outcome-oriented plan for measuring performance and 
determining that goals have been met. Applicants must use the Logic 
Model form (HUD-96010) for this purpose.
    (3) Applicants must establish interim benchmarks, or outputs, for 
their proposed program that lead to the ultimate achievement of 
outcomes. ``Outputs'' are the direct products of a program's 
activities. Examples of outputs are: the number of eligible families 
that participate in supportive services, the number of families 
enrolled, the number of families with increased earned income, the 
number of families who have left assisted housing altogether, or the 
number of households that develop an escrow account. ``Outcomes'' are 
benefits that the residents, families and/or communities have accrued 
during or after participation in the FSS program. Applicants must 
clearly identify the outcomes to be achieved and measured. Examples of 
outcomes are: increasing residents' financial stability (e.g., 
increasing assets of a household through savings or escrow), increasing 
the number of FSS graduates, or increasing employment stability (e.g., 
whether persons assisted obtain or retain employment for one or two 
years after job training completion). Outcomes are not the actual 
development or delivery of services or program activities.
    (4) This rating factor requires that applicants identify program 
outputs, outcomes, and performance indicators that will allow HUD and 
applicants to measure performance and accountability. Performance 
indicators should be objectively quantifiable and measure actual 
achievements against anticipated achievements. Applicants' narrative 
and Logic Model should identify what applicants are going to measure, 
how they are going to measure it, and the steps they have in place to 
make adjustments to their work or management practices if performance 
targets begin to fall short of established benchmarks and timeframes. 
Applicants must include the standards, data sources, and measurement 
methods they will use to measure performance.
    (5) In order to respond to this factor, applicants should use the 
sample performance measures (HUD-52758) located in the Appendix as a 
guide. Applicants will be evaluated based on how they propose to 
measure their program's outcomes, e.g. whether the Logic Model tracks 
activities and outcomes resulting from the proposed activities, whether 
the Logic Model identifies evaluation tools and sources, and whether 
the Logic Model provides output and outcome information for the short, 
medium and long-term.

B. Review and Selection Process

    1. Review Process: Four types of reviews will be conducted: a 
screening to determine if you are eligible to apply for funding under 
the FSS grant category; whether your application submission is 
complete, on time and meets the threshold requirements; a review by the 
field office (or ONAP) to evaluate past performance and whether there 
is an approved FSS Action Plan on file with the field office; and a 
technical review to rate your application based on the four rating 
factors provided in this NOFA.
    2. Selection Process: The selection process is designed to achieve 
geographic diversity of grant awards throughout the country. HUD will 
first select the highest ranked application from each of the ten 
federal regions and DPONAP for funding. After this ``round,'' HUD will 
select the second highest ranked application in each of the ten federal 
regions (the second round). HUD will continue this process with the 
third, fourth, and so on, highest ranked applications in each federal 
region and DPONAP until the last complete round is selected for 
funding. If available funds exist to fund some but not all eligible 
applications in the next round, HUD will make awards to those remaining 
applications in rank order (by score) regardless of region and DPONAP 
and will fully fund as many as possible with remaining funds. If 
remaining funds are too small to make an award, they may be transferred 
to another ROSS funding category.
    3. Tie Scores. In the event of a tie between two applications from 
the same region, HUD will select the application that was received 
first.
    4. Deficiency Period. Applicants will have fourteen calendar days 
to provide missing information requested from HUD. For other 
information on correcting deficient applications, please see the 
General Section.

VI. Award Administration Information

    A. Award Notices: HUD will make announcements of grant awards after 
the rating and ranking process is completed. Grantees will be notified 
by letter and will receive instructions for the steps they must take to 
access funding and begin implementing grant activities. Applicants who 
are not funded will also receive letters via U.S. postal mail.
    B. Debriefings: Applicants who are not funded may request a 
debriefing. Applicants requesting to be debriefed must send a written 
request to: Iredia Hutchinson, Director, Grants Management Center, 501 
School Street, SW., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20024. See the General 
Section for additional information on debriefings.
    C. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: 1. 
Environmental Impact. No environmental review is required in connection 
with the award of assistance under this NOFA. The reason being the NOFA 
only provides funds for employing a coordinator who provides public and 
supportive services and/or a contract administrator who provides 
administrative and management services. Theses services listed above 
are categorically excluded from environmental review under the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321) and not subject to 
compliance actions for related environmental authorities under 24 CFR 
50.19(b)(3), (4) and (12).
    2. Applicable Requirements. Grantees are subject to regulations and 
other requirements found in:
    a. OMB Circular A-87 ``Cost principles for State, Local, and Indian 
Tribal Governments'';
    b. OMB Circular A-133 ``Audits of States, Local Governments, and 
Non-Profit Organizations'';
    c. HUD Regulations 24 CFR Part 984 ``Section 8 and Public Housing 
Family Self-Sufficiency Program''; and
    d. HUD Regulations 24 CFR Part 85 ``Administrative Requirements for 
Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State, Local, and Federally 
Recognized Indian Tribal Governments''.
    3. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons 
(Section 3). Applicants and grantees must also comply with Section 3 of 
the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 12 U.S.C. 1701u and 
ensure that training, employment, and other economic opportunities 
shall, to the greatest extent feasible, be directed toward low and very 
low-income persons, particularly those who are recipients of government 
assistance for housing and

[[Page 14095]]

to business concerns which provide economic opportunities to low and 
very low-income persons.
    4. Fair Housing and Civil Rights Laws. Applicants and their 
subrecipients must comply with all Fair Housing and Civil Rights laws, 
statutes, regulations, and Executive Orders as enumerated in 24 CFR 
5.105(a), as applicable. Please see the General Section for more 
information.
    5. Provision of Services to Individuals with Limited English 
Proficiency (LEP). Successful applicants and grantees must seek to 
provide access to program benefits and information to LEP individuals 
through translation and interpretive services in accordance with HUD's 
LEP Recipient Guidance 68 FR 70968.
    6. Communications. Successful applicants should ensure that notices 
of and communications during all training sessions and meetings be 
effective for persons who have hearing and/or visual disabilities 
consistent with Section 504, see 24 CFR Part 8.6.
    D. Reporting: 1. Semi-Annual Performance Reports. Grantees shall 
submit semi-annual performance reports to the field office. These 
progress reports shall include financial reports (SF-269A or its 
successor), the Logic Model showing achievements to date against 
proposed outputs and outcomes, and your evaluation procedures and 
activities undertaken to ensure that the project remains on schedule, 
within budget and that you are achieving the goals established. A 
narrative describing milestones, work plan progress, and problems 
encountered and methods used to address these problems must also be 
included. HUD anticipates that some of the reporting of financial 
status and grant performance will be through electronic or Internet-
based submissions. Grantees shall use quantifiable data to measure 
performance against goals and objectives outlined in their Logic Model. 
Applicants that receive awards from HUD should be prepared to report on 
additional measures that HUD may designate at time of award. 
Performance reports are due to the field office on July 30 and January 
31 of each year. If reports are not received by the due date, grant 
funds will be suspended until reports are received.
    2. Reporting Using HUD-50058 Addendum. Grantees must also report on 
PH FSS program participants to PIC using the HUD-50058 addendum to 
report on the enrollment, progress, and exit of individual families. 
Failure to report to PIC is a violation of the program and may result 
in grant termination.
    3. Final Report. All grantees shall submit a final report to their 
local field office. This will include a financial report (SF-269A or 
its successor) and a narrative evaluating overall performance against 
goals. Grantees shall use quantifiable data to measure performance 
against goals and use the Logic Model as part of their final report 
submission. The financial report shall contain a summary of salary 
expenditures made from the beginning of the grant agreement to the end 
of the grant agreement and shall include any unexpended balances. The 
final narrative, Logic Model, and financial report shall be due to the 
field office 90 days after the termination of the grant agreement.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

    For questions and technical assistance, you may call the Public and 
Indian Housing Information and Resource Center at 800-955-2232. For 
persons with hearing or speech impairments, please call the toll-free 
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

    A. Code of Conduct: See the General Section for more information.
    B. Transfer of Funds. If transfer of funds from any of the ROSS 
programs does become necessary, HUD will give first priority to 
Homeownership Supportive Services, second priority to Family Self-
Sufficiency, third priority to RSDM--Family, and fourth priority to 
RSDM--Elderly/Disabled. HUD does not have the discretion to transfer 
funds for the Neighborhood Networks program to any other funding 
category under ROSS.
    C. Paperwork Reduction Act: The information collection requirements 
contained in this document have been approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB control number 2577-0229. In 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or 
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 
information unless the collection displays a currently valid OMB 
control number. Public reporting burden for the collection of 
information is estimated to average eight hours per annum per 
respondent for the application and grant administration. This includes 
the time for collecting, reviewing, and reporting the data for the 
application, semi-annual reports and final report. The information will 
be used for grantee selection and monitoring the administration of 
funds. Response to this request for information is required in order to 
receive the benefits to be derived.
    D. Appendix of Forms. The forms specific to the FSS under the ROSS 
Program follow.

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Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) Overview 
Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD), Office 
of HIV/AIDS Housing.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Housing Opportunities for Persons 
With AIDS (HOPWA).
    C. Announcement Type: Initial Announcement

[[Page 14110]]

    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number for this 
NOFA is: FR-4900-N-14. The OMB approval number for this program is 
2506-0133.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Numbers: 14.241 
Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS Program.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is on May 27, 2005 for 
the Renewal of expiring HOPWA permanent supportive housing projects and 
for New and Continuing HOPWA applications. Refer to the General Section 
for application submission and timely receipt requirements.
    G. Additional Overview Information:
    1. Purpose of the Program: To provide States and localities with 
the resources and incentives to devise Long-term comprehensive 
strategies for meeting the housing and related supportive service needs 
of low-income persons with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired 
Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and their families. Grant 
recipients will measure client outcomes to assess how housing 
assistance results in creating or maintaining stable housing, reduces 
risks of homelessness, and improves access to healthcare and other 
needed support. States, units of general local government, and 
nonprofit organizations interested in applying for funding under this 
grant program should carefully review the General Section and detailed 
information listed in this Program NOFA. There is no separate 
Application Kit for this Program NOFA.
    2. Available Funds. Approximately $27,925,000 in FY2005 funding is 
made available along with approximately $9,052,000 in remaining FY2004 
funds. These amounts may be adjusted based on the approved 
appropriations for the Department's HOPWA program for Fiscal Year 2005. 
The Department's 2004 SuperNOFA, published on May 14, 2004, stated that 
HUD would issue a Notice at a later date to award any remaining 2004 
HOPWA competitive funds for new and continuing projects. The selection 
of the 2004 Renewals for permanent supportive housing projects was made 
on October 25, 2004 for the award of $20,175,475 to 22 eligible 
projects. The remaining amount of approximately $9,052,000 is being 
made available through this Notice.
    This Notice makes available funding for three types of HOPWA 
competitive grants: (1) Renewals of expiring HOPWA projects that 
conduct permanent supportive housing activities (Renewals); (2) new 
awards for permanent supportive housing activities to be conducted by 
States and units of general local government that are not eligible to 
receive HOPWA formula allocations (Long-term projects); and (3) awards 
for new and continuing Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) 
demonstration projects that will undertake new housing service delivery 
models or housing project activities that include plans to provide 
HOPWA clients with permanent housing assistance by the end of the 
operating period.
    Remaining FY2004 funds will be made available for new long-term 
projects and, if funds remain, for new and continuing SPNS 
demonstration projects, in the order of their ranking in their category 
of grants.
    FY2005 funds will be made available in the following priority 
order: (1) Renewal of expiring HOPWA grants providing permanent 
supportive housing as described in Renewal of Permanent Supportive 
Housing Grants; (2) and if FY2005 funds remain, new awards for long-
term projects; and (3) then awards for new and continuing Special 
Projects of National Significance (SPNS) demonstration projects.
    3. Eligible Applicants. States, units of general local government, 
and nonprofit organizations may apply for HOPWA competitive funding 
under this Program NOFA. Eligibility requirements are contained below.
    4. Match. There are no cost sharing or matching requirements for 
applications under this program NOFA. However, requests to fund 
projects under this Program NOFA will be reviewed for leveraging, see 
Section IV.B.
    5. Authorities. If you are interested in applying for funding under 
this program, please review carefully the General Section and the 
following sections of this Program NOFA. For more information on 
eligible activities under the HOPWA Program, see the HOPWA program 
regulations at 24 CFR part 574 and the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act (42 
U.S.C. 12901-12912), which govern the program.

Full Text of Announcement

Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Description

    1. Renewal of Permanent Supportive Housing Grants. Under the 
Department's Appropriations Act, the Secretary is required to renew 
qualifying expiring contracts for permanent supportive housing. HUD 
will renew previously funded competitive grants that meet the 
eligibility requirements below and all program requirements. 
Applications will be reviewed on a pass/fail threshold review system 
and are not required to address the Department policy priorities 
described in the General Section.
    2. New Long-Term Projects for Permanent Supportive Housing. HUD 
will award funds for permanent supportive housing activities through a 
competitive selection process for new Long-term projects that provide 
housing and related supportive services to low-income persons living 
with HIV/AIDS and their families in areas that are not eligible for 
HOPWA formula allocations.
    3. New and Continuing SPNS Demonstration Grants. HUD will award new 
and continuing Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) 
demonstration grants through a competitive selection process. SPNS 
demonstration projects will undertake new housing service delivery 
models or housing project activities that include plans to provide 
HOPWA clients with permanent housing assistance by the end of the 
operating period under the award. Consistent with the selection 
considerations established at 42 U.S.C. 12903(c)(3)(C), demonstration 
projects will help show program successes or lessons learned in 
planning, operating and evaluating an innovative type of service 
delivery model for the purposes of demonstrating potential 
replicability in the HOPWA program, in addition to other housing 
programs throughout the nation.
    For purposes of this Program NOFA, ``New and Continuing projects'' 
refers to new Long-term projects and new and continuing SPNS 
demonstration projects collectively.
    4. Definitions for all HOPWA grants.
    a. Chronically Homeless Person. A chronically homeless person is 
defined as an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling 
condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more 
OR has had at least 4 episodes of homelessness in the past 3 years. A 
disabling condition is defined as a diagnosable substance abuse 
disorder, serious mental illness, developmental disability, or chronic 
physical illness or disability, including the co-occurrence of two or 
more of these conditions.
    b. Long-term Project. The term ``Long-term Project'' refers to 
projects established by State or local government applicants that are 
part of Long-term Comprehensive Strategies (Long-term) which provide 
housing and related supportive services for low-income persons living 
with HIV/AIDS and their families in areas that are not eligible for 
HOPWA formula allocations.
    c. SPNS Demonstration Grant or Project. The term SPNS demonstration 
grant refers to Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) awards 
for

[[Page 14111]]

new housing project activities or service delivery models for providing 
housing assistance to eligible persons. In conjunction with these 
activities, SPNS demonstration projects must include specific plans to 
provide HOPWA clients with permanent housing assistance by the end of 
the operating period under the award. SPNS demonstration grants will 
only be awarded to transitional, short-term and emergency housing 
projects. Funding for SPNS demonstration projects is provided on a one-
time only basis. These projects do not provide permanent supportive 
housing and, therefore, will not be eligible for renewal under the 
current criteria for permanent supportive housing projects. HOPWA 
support for participants is expected to terminate as they become more 
self-sufficient, move to or benefit from permanent housing programs, or 
establish stable permanent housing through other means.
    d. Expiring Grant is defined by the end date in the grant agreement 
signed with HUD on the existing project (including any amendment or 
extension approved by HUD) which results in an existing agreement 
expiring in Federal Fiscal Year 2005 (i.e., from October 1, 2004 to 
September 30, 2005), or will expire within 18 months after the date of 
the publication of this Program NOFA.
    e. Lease or Occupancy Agreement. In establishing that an eligible 
person has obtained permanent supportive housing and a legal right to 
continue in that housing unit, the lease or occupancy agreement must be 
for a term of at least one year. The lease or occupancy agreement must 
also be automatically renewable upon expiration, except on reasonable 
prior notice by either the tenant or the landlord.
    f. Nonprofit Organization. Non-profit organization means any non-
profit organization (including a State or locally chartered, nonprofit 
organization) that: (1) Is organized under State or local laws; (2) Has 
no part of its earnings inuring to the benefit of any member, founder, 
contributor or individual; (3) Has a functioning accounting system that 
is operated in accordance with generally accepted accounting 
principles, or has designated an entity that will maintain such an 
accounting system; and (4) Has among its purposes significant 
activities related to providing services or housing to persons with 
acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or related diseases, as clarified to 
include infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
    g. Permanent Supportive Housing. Permanent supportive housing is 
defined as housing in which the eligible person has a continuous legal 
right to remain in the unit and which provides the eligible person 
ongoing supportive services through qualified providers. HUD will 
consider a grant to provide permanent supportive housing if 51 percent 
or more of HOPWA program activity funds are used: (1) To provide for 
the development or operation of permanent housing or rental assistance 
for permanent housing units where ongoing supportive services are made 
available through other leveraged resources; and (2) to provide for 
supportive services for residents in permanent housing; or (3) in some 
combination of these.
    As provided in Section III.C.2.(i), ``Grant Purpose and Agreements 
to Operate Eligible Permanent Supportive Housing Grants'', you must 
include in your grant files a copy of the standard lease form or 
occupancy agreement used for residents of the project. The lease or 
occupancy agreement must meet the definition for such agreements 
provided above. Failure to maintain this project documentation of the 
client's lease or occupancy agreement will constitute a grant default. 
The requirements governing termination of housing are located in 24 CFR 
574.310(e).
    h. Transitional Housing. For purposes of this notice, the term 
``transitional housing'' means housing, the purpose of which is to 
facilitate the movement of eligible person(s) to permanent housing 
within 24 months. The eligible person(s) may remain in transitional 
housing for a longer period if permanent housing for the eligible 
person(s) has not been located or the eligible person(s) requires 
additional time to prepare for independent living. However, no more 
than half of the eligible persons may remain in that project longer 
than 24 months. Failure to observe this requirement may constitute a 
grant default, which could result in grant sanctions (including 
deobligation).

B. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements

    If you are interested in applying for funding under this program, 
please review carefully the General Section and this Program NOFA. For 
more information on the HOPWA program, including eligible uses of 
funds, see the HOPWA program regulations at 24 CFR part 574 and the 
AIDS Housing Opportunity Act (42 U.S.C. 12901-12913), which govern the 
program.

C. Availability of Other HOPWA Resources

    1. Formula Allocations. Applicants are advised to also consider 
seeking funds from the formula component of the HOPWA program and from 
other resources. Ninety percent of the HOPWA program is allocated by 
formula to eligible States and qualifying cities. In FY2005, HUD 
expects that the approximately $251 million in HOPWA funds will be 
distributed by formula to the qualifying cities for 83 eligible 
metropolitan statistical areas (EMSAs) and to 39 eligible States for 
areas outside of EMSAs. The formula amounts are subject to the amounts 
approved by Congress for Fiscal Year 2005. Recipients of formula funds 
must follow HUD's Consolidated Plan process. Information on 
consolidated planning, including HOPWA formula programs and 
descriptions of previously awarded competitive grants, is available on 
the HUD Web site at www.hud.gov/grants.
    2. National HOPWA Technical Assistance. To apply for funding to 
serve as a provider of HOPWA technical assistance, you must submit an 
application for funds under the Community Development Technical 
Assistance (CDTA) part of the SuperNOFA. The CDTA notice makes HOPWA 
funds available to organizations qualified to provide technical 
assistance support to HOPWA grantees and project sponsors. 
Organizations seeking help in managing their HOPWA project, such as 
advice or other help needed in planning, operating, reporting to HUD 
and evaluating HOPWA programs, can request technical assistance by 
contacting their State or area CPD office.

II. Award Information

    A. Total. Approximately $27,925,000 in FY2005 funding along with 
approximately $9,052,000 in carry-over FY2004 funds will be awarded 
under this HOPWA Program NOFA.
    B. Number and Timing of Awards. HUD anticipates that projects 
awarded under this Notice will be announced by August 30, 2005. It is 
expected that selected Renewal Projects will continue program 
activities under a new grant agreement for an additional three years. 
The start date for the new agreement shall be immediately following the 
end date of the existing agreement so there is continuity of service. 
The period of performance for new Long-term projects is three years, 
with the potential for HUD approval of a one-time extension of up to 12 
months. These grants may be eligible for Renewal as expiring permanent 
supportive housing projects.

[[Page 14112]]

The period of performance for new and continuing SPNS demonstration 
projects is three years, with the potential for HUD approval of a one-
time extension of up to 12 months. These grants do not provide 
permanent supportive housing and, therefore, will not be eligible for 
Renewal under the current criteria for permanent supportive housing 
projects.
    C. Maximum Grant Award. In order to fairly distribute available 
funding, the maximum grant award that you may receive is:
    1. For program activities: $1,300,000 (e.g., activities that 
directly benefit eligible persons);
    2. For grant administrative costs of the grantee: 3 percent of the 
awarded grant amount (e.g., an additional $39,000 if the maximum grant 
is awarded);
    3. For grant administrative costs for project sponsors: 7 percent 
of the amounts received by the project sponsor under the grant (e.g., 
an additional $91,000 if the maximum grant is awarded);
    4. Total maximum grant amount for all categories of grant awards 
under this NOFA is: $1,430,000.
    D. Average Grant Award. Based on the results of the 2004 HOPWA 
competition, the average grant award for the 22 grants selected was 
$916,600.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    1. Eligibility for Funding to Nonprofit Organizations. If you are a 
nonprofit organization, you must also satisfy the nonprofit 
requirements established in the definition for eligible nonprofit 
organization found in 24 CFR 574.3 and in the definitions section of 
this Program NOFA. In the case that a nonprofit organization is being 
added to your Renewal project in your application, or a sponsor's legal 
status has changed due to merger or other action, you will also need to 
submit the related required information described in Section IV.B of 
this Program NOFA.
    2. General Eligibility for Renewal of Expiring Grants for Permanent 
Supportive Housing. Eligible applicants are States, units of general 
local government, and nonprofit organizations that have been awarded 
funds under a previous HOPWA national competition and operated their 
projects under a signed grant agreement with HUD. To be eligible, your 
project must provide permanent supportive housing to eligible persons 
under an expiring grant and meet the threshold requirements established 
under this Program NOFA to continue to receive funding for your 
project.
    3. Additional Eligibility for Renewal and Continuing Projects. To 
be eligible for a Renewal or continuing grant, you must be operating 
your existing HOPWA competitive project in a manner that meets program 
requirements. This is evidenced by not having a record of poor 
performance or unresolved grants management issues with your existing 
project. HUD will consider any evidence of poor performance taking 
place up to the date of the public announcement of awards under this 
NOFA. Unresolved problems may include: HUD knowledge that planned 
activities remain significantly delayed in their implementation; a 
significant number of planned housing units are vacant; required annual 
progress reports are not timely filed with HUD; unresolved actions 
pending under a HUD notice of default on your current grant or 
significant citizen complaints are unresolved or not responded to with 
justified reasons. Weak performance may also be evident if more than 50 
percent of grant funds remain recorded as unexpended as of the 
application due date for Renewals under this Program NOFA, as measured 
by reimbursements filed with HUD's financial system.
    4. General Eligibility on New and Continuing Applicants and 
Sponsors. States, units of general local government, and nonprofit 
organizations may apply under the Special Projects of National 
Significance (SPNS) demonstration grants category to propose new or 
continuing projects which will provide residents with permanent housing 
assistance by the end of their operating period.
    However, States and units of general local government are 
encouraged to apply under the ``Long-term'' category, if the project 
entails new permanent supportive housing activities in areas that did 
not receive HOPWA formula allocations in FY2004 or are not designated 
to receive allocations in FY2005. Applicants under the Long-term 
category of grants will be reviewed, rated, and ranked with other 
applications under this funding category. Nonprofit organizations are 
not eligible to apply directly for Long-term grants, but may serve as a 
project sponsor for an eligible State or local government applicant.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    There are no cost sharing or matching requirements for applications 
under this program NOFA. However, requests to fund projects under this 
Program NOFA will be reviewed for leveraging, see Section IV.B. 
paragraphs 3.e. for renewals and 4.f. for new and continuing projects.

C. Other Eligibility Requirements

    1. Threshold Requirements for All Applications. Applicants must 
meet the Threshold requirement identified in the General Section. HUD 
will also review your application to determine that you are eligible 
for funding, as follows:
    a. Eligible Applicant. (1) Your application is consistent with the 
requirements of Section III of this Program NOFA for eligibility based 
on applicant requirements, project sponsor requirements and the lack of 
any unresolved management issues for Renewal and continuing grants; and
    (2) Your application complies with the Dun and Bradstreet Data 
Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number Requirement. Beginning in 
Federal Fiscal Year 2004, any applicant seeking funding directly from 
HUD must obtain a DUNS number and include it in their SF-424 
Application for Federal Assistance submission. Failure to provide a 
DUNS number can prevent you from obtaining an award. This policy is 
pursuant to OMB Policy issued in the Federal Register on June 27, 2003 
(68 FR 38402). The Grants.gov registration process for applying on line 
requires the applicant have a DUNS number to be authenticated. More 
information on the requirement of the DUNS Number can be found in the 
General Section.
    b. Expiring Grants. For a Renewal or continuing grant, your 
application is consistent with the definition for a HOPWA expiring 
grant in Section I.A. of this Program NOFA.
    c. Permanent Supportive Housing Projects. For a Renewal or new 
Long-term project, your application is consistent with the definition 
for a HOPWA permanent supportive housing grant in Section I.A of this 
Program NOFA.
    d. Eligible Project Sponsors. Your application is consistent with 
the requirements for eligibility of project sponsors, as follows:
    If the project sponsor is a nonprofit organization, that 
organization must also satisfy the nonprofit requirements established 
in the definition of eligible nonprofit organization found in 24 CFR 
574.3 and in the definition section of this Program NOFA. In the case 
that the organization's nonprofit status has changed since the time of 
your original application to HUD under the prior competition, or a 
nonprofit organization is being added to your Renewal or New and 
Continuing project, you will need to submit the required information

[[Page 14113]]

described in Section IV.B. of this Program NOFA.
    To the maximum extent possible, the Renewal project should continue 
with the same project sponsors, as documented in the prior HOPWA award 
or amendments to that award as approved by HUD. HUD will consider the 
merits for changing a project sponsor as sufficient if the new sponsor 
evidences the capacity to enhance project operations or improve 
responsiveness to eligible persons. Such examples for changing a 
project sponsor may be that a new project sponsor has greater 
management, financial, or program service delivery capacity to conduct 
program activities or a prior project sponsor is no longer in 
operation, had evidence of inefficient or unresponsive behavior under 
their prior service, or has merged with another entity.
    2. Program Requirements. All grant recipients must also meet the 
following program requirements, including performance goals and 
operational benchmarks and conduct project activities in a consistent 
and ongoing manner over the approved grant operating period. If a 
selected project does not meet the appropriate requirement, HUD 
reserves the right to cancel or withdraw the grant funds.
    a. General Provisions. The provisions outlined within the General 
Section apply to the HOPWA program unless otherwise stated within this 
Program NOFA. Specifically, you are encouraged to review, Section 
III.C., Other: Requirements and Procedures Applicable to All Programs.
    b. Environmental Requirements. All HOPWA assistance is subject to 
the National Environmental Policy Act and applicable related Federal 
environmental authorities. While some eligible activities, such as 
tenant-based rental assistance, supportive services, operating costs, 
and administrative costs, are excluded from environmental review 
because of the lack of environmental impact, other activities require 
environmental review. All new facility-based projects must undergo an 
environmental review. In accordance with Section 856(h) of the AIDS 
Housing Opportunities Act and the HOPWA regulations at 24 CFR 574.510, 
environmental reviews for HOPWA activities are to be completed by 
responsible entities (including units of general local government, 
States, Indian tribes, and Alaska Native villages) in accordance with 
24 CFR part 58. Applicants or grantees that are not a responsible 
entity must request the unit of general local government to perform the 
environmental review. HOPWA grantees and project sponsors may not 
commit or expend any grant or non-federal funds on project activities 
until HUD has approved a ``Request for Release of Funds and 
Certification'' (RROF), form HUD-7015.15, on compliance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act and implementing regulations at 24 
CFR part 58 (Environmental Review Procedures for Entities Assuming HUD 
Environmental Responsibilities) and the environmental certification 
from the responsible entity (other than those listed in 24 CFR 
58.22(f), 58.34 or 58.35 (b) for which the responsible entity documents 
its findings of exemption or exclusion for the environmental review 
record (24 CFR 58.34 (b) or 24 CFR 58.35 (d)). The recipient, its 
project partners and their contractors may not acquire, rehabilitate, 
convert, lease, repair, dispose of, demolish, or construct property for 
a project, or commit or expend HUD or local funds for such eligible 
activities, until the responsible entity (as defined in 58.2) has 
completed the environmental review procedures required by 24 CFR part 
58 and the environmental certification and RROF have been approved. HUD 
will not release grant funds if the recipient or any other party 
commits grant funds (i.e., incurs any costs or expenditures to be paid 
or reimbursed with such funds) before the recipient submits and HUD 
approves its RROF (where such submission is required). The recipient 
shall supply all available, relevant information necessary for the 
responsible entity to perform, for each property, any environmental 
review required.
    c. Required HOPWA Performance Goals. Grant recipients must conduct 
activities consistent with their planned annual housing assistance 
performance output goals, objectively measure actual achievements 
against anticipated achievements, and report on their actual 
performance housing outputs and client outcomes. Applicants are 
requested to use the HOPWA Budget Form found in the appendices in this 
Program NOFA for recording the funding for housing assistance 
activities that are associated with these performance outputs, 
including any funding request for HOPWA funds and/or your commitment to 
use other funds for this purpose. Applicants must establish a 
reasonable client outcome goal on achieving housing stability to be 
quantified after each year of operation to demonstrate client outcomes. 
HUD expects that each HOPWA grantee will show that at least half of the 
beneficiaries achieve stable housing in their program during the 
operating year, as shown by stable housing arrangements for the 
household at the end of each operating year. The grantee will assist in 
establishing a baseline on annual performance to help measure how 
future efforts lead to the achievement of higher levels of housing 
stability. On a national basis, HUD has established the goal that over 
80 percent of clients will be shown to be in stable housing situations 
by 2008.
    (1) Required Output. The projected number of low-income households 
with persons living with HIV/AIDS expected to benefit from HOPWA 
assistance by the type of housing support to be provided through your 
project during each operating year.
    (2) Required Outcome. Through the use of HOPWA housing assistance 
and related supportive services, the number of eligible persons shown 
annually to have established or maintained housing stability, along 
with reduced risks of homelessness, and improved access to healthcare, 
and other support for eligible persons.
    d. Optional Program Performance Goals. (1) Optional Outputs. In 
addition to required performance goals described in the paragraph 
above, you may include other measures or annual indicators, such as the 
projected numbers of persons, client contacts by service, the number of 
permanent housing client plans established by case managers, the number 
of jobs created through a job training or skills development program or 
other measures of the numbers to be served through each activity during 
each project operating year.
    (2) Optional Outcomes. In addition, you may establish other outcome 
goals, such as: increase the access to permanent housing for eligible 
persons to enable these households to become more self-sufficient as 
evidenced by increase in income or reduced need for housing or other 
Federal or non-federal subsidies and support. In addition, outcomes 
should also address the challenge of homelessness for persons living 
with HIV/AIDS and their families, including persons who are chronically 
homeless, by enabling them to move from transitional housing to 
permanent housing with appropriate supportive services assistance.
    e. HUD Logic Model. To illustrate the planning for the use of 
resources, project activities, required outputs and outcomes, and other 
grantee identified goals, and for reporting on annual accomplishments, 
you must use the Logic Model (Form HUD-96010) in the General Section to 
meet these application requirements. Applicants

[[Page 14114]]

must make use of the required elements in paragraph (a) in this form.
    f. HOPWA Facility Use Period Requirement. Any building or structure 
assisted with amounts under this part will be maintained as a facility 
to provide assistance for eligible persons: (1) For not less than 10 
years in the case of assistance involving new construction, substantial 
rehabilitation or acquisition of a building or structure; and (2) for 
not less than three years in cases involving substantial rehabilitation 
or repair of a building structure.
    g. Grant Purpose and Agreements to Provide Permanent Supportive 
Housing. As a requirement for the receipt of these Federal funds, the 
grant applicant agrees to maintain project eligibility and related 
documentation on the following:
    (1) Agreement to Continue the Provision of Permanent Housing. For 
projects providing permanent housing, your application constitutes an 
agreement that you will continue to provide permanent supportive 
housing support to HOPWA eligible persons over the operating period of 
this grant. This agreement must insure that at least 51 percent of the 
HOPWA program activity funds awarded to your project are used for this 
purpose and any new funds and related commitment of other funds will 
continue to provide permanent supportive housing to eligible persons 
for the planned annual outputs.
    (2) Agreement to Continue the Use of Other Resources. If your 
project will rely on other State, local, Federal, or private resources 
to provide the permanent housing or supportive services portion of your 
project as documented and approved by HUD in commitment letters for 
leveraging, you must ensure that the other resources will continue to 
be available for that purpose for project beneficiaries throughout 
their commitment periods under the term of the grant. Failure to use 
committed resources as documented and approved by HUD for leveraging 
will constitute a grant default which could result in grant sanctions, 
including the reduction in amounts awarded for supportive services for 
which the commitment is not evidenced in grant operations.
    (3) Agreement on Permanent Client Occupancy. For projects providing 
permanent housing, excluding short-term mortgage, rent, and utility 
payments projects, you must agree to maintain evidence that the client 
has a continuous legal right to remain in the unit or property and has 
access to ongoing supportive services provided through qualified 
providers. You must include in your grant files a copy of the standard 
lease form or occupancy agreement used for residents of the project. 
The lease or occupancy agreement must be for a term of at least one-
year. The lease or occupancy agreement must also be automatically 
renewable upon expiration, except on reasonable prior notice by either 
the tenant or the landlord. The requirements governing termination of 
housing are located in 24 CFR 574.310(e). Failure to maintain this 
project documentation of the client's lease or occupancy agreement will 
constitute a grant default.
    h. Execution of Grant Agreement and Obligation of Awards. HOPWA 
grants are obligated upon execution of the grant agreement Applicants 
selected for receiving FY2005 funding must execute grant agreements, as 
soon as practicable but no later than six months after the notice of 
selection. For applicants selected for receiving FY2004 funding under 
this competition, the grant agreement must be executed as soon as 
practicable, but by no later than September 15, 2005, consistent with a 
statutory requirement for the obligation of the FY2004 funds.
    i. Disbursement of Funds. Under this Program NOFA, grant recipients 
must fully expend their grant in a consistent and ongoing manner, and 
complete the use of the funds by no later than three years following 
the effective date or the operation start date in the grant agreement, 
unless HUD has approved a one-time extension of the grant agreement 
term of an additional 12 months or less. A time limit on grant 
expenditures, that is established in the National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 1991, requires the expenditure of all HOPWA funds 
awarded under the FY2004 Appropriations Act by September 30, 2010, and 
HOPWA funds awarded under the FY2005 Appropriations Act by September 
30, 2011. After September 30, 2010 (for FY04 funds) and September 30, 
2011 (for FY05 funds), any unexpended funds shall be canceled and, 
thereafter, shall not be available for obligation or expenditure for 
any purpose.
    j. Site Control through Acquisition or Lease. If you acquire or 
lease a site for housing activities, you are required to gain site 
control within one year from the date of your notice of selection by 
HUD.
    k. Rehabilitation or New Construction. If you propose to use HOPWA 
funds for rehabilitation or new construction activities for housing 
projects, you must agree to begin the rehabilitation or construction 
within 18 months, and all rehabilitation or construction work must be 
complete within the terms of your grant agreement with HUD.
    l. Project Operations. If funds are used for operating costs of 
existing housing facilities, you must agree to begin to use these funds 
within six months, consistent with the terms of your grant agreement 
with HUD. If funds for a New and Continuing project, are to be used for 
operating costs, in connection with the new construction or substantial 
rehabilitation of housing facilities, the amount of funds designated 
for operating costs must be limited to the amount to be used during the 
portion of the planned three-year period for your grant agreement for 
which the facility will be operational and assisting eligible persons. 
Delays in the project's development activities, such as the planned 
completion of the construction or rehabilitation activities, could 
result in the loss of funds designated for operating costs, if such 
funds remain in excess after the authorized use period for this award. 
For example, if you expect to take two years to complete the 
rehabilitation of the facility, any operating costs could only be 
requested for use in the remaining one-year of the planned three-year 
operating period for this award.
    3. Eligible Activities. a. Renewal Project Guidelines.
    (1) The activities to be renewed must be ongoing forms of support 
over three years.(2) The Renewal application may also establish a 
reasonable level of operating costs for a permanent supportive housing 
facility that involved the use of HOPWA funding for its acquisition, 
new construction, leasing or rehabilitation in the prior or original 
grant. Subject to standards set forth in applicable OMB Circulars, you 
may establish your request for operating costs based on current costs 
for operating your project (or a housing project of a similar type and 
size) as the reasonable and necessary operating costs for maintaining 
the investment in these permanent housing projects over the term of the 
Renewal grant.
    (3) Administrative costs for grantees and project sponsors, which 
must include the use of funds for data collection on project outcomes, 
are available as part of your Renewal budget request. HUD expects that 
the use of administrative funds for data collection will help to ensure 
strong program management and result in accurate reporting of outputs 
and outcomes.
    b. General Guidelines on Eligible Activities Applying to All 
Projects
    (1) Proposed Project Activities. In your application, you must 
specify the activities and budget amounts for which

[[Page 14115]]

HOPWA funds are being requested, consistent with the eligible 
activities found in the HOPWA regulations at 24 CFR 574.300-340. For 
SPNS demonstration grants, activities are limited to those entailing 
transitional, short-term and emergency housing assistance. A copy of 
the regulations may be downloaded from www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/aidshousing/lawsregs/index.cfm. You are encouraged to review the HOPWA 
regulations before seeking funding. HUD will not approve proposals that 
depend on a prospective determination as to how program funds will be 
used. For example, a proposal to establish a local request-for-proposal 
process to select either activities, or to select project sponsors, and 
other similar proposals that have the effect of delaying the obligation 
of funds due to the unplanned use of HOPWA funds, will not be approved.
    (2) Additional Guidance on Use of Program Funds.
    (a) Housing Assistance.
    (i) HOPWA projects must demonstrate that housing assistance is the 
main focus of their project. Please indicate if you propose to use 
HOPWA funds to provide permanent supportive housing (as defined in 
Section I.A.1.a). If you are proposing emergency or transitional 
housing assistance, your plan must include linkages to permanent 
supportive housing. As found at 24 CFR 574.300(b)(8), operating costs 
for housing include the day-to-day operating costs for the housing 
project, including costs for maintenance, security, operations, 
insurance, utilities, furnishings, equipment, supplies, and other 
incidental costs for the housing activities, such as costs for staff 
involved in the housing functions of this project.
    (ii) As addressed in the rating criteria for New and Continuing 
projects, to receive the maximum points under the rating criteria, your 
project must clearly address the housing needs of eligible persons 
through the direct use of HOPWA funds for eligible housing costs.
    (b) Supportive Services. Many of the eligible persons who will be 
served by HOPWA may need other support in addition to housing. It is 
important that you design programs that enhance access to those 
existing mainstream resources through community wide strategies to 
coordinate assistance to eligible persons. These mainstream programs 
include: healthcare; AIDS drug assistance, and other services funded 
through the Ryan White CARE Act; other Federal programs such as 
Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program, Temporary Assistance for 
Needy Families, Food Stamps, Mental Health Block Grant, Substance Abuse 
Block Grant, Workforce Investment Act, and the Welfare-to-Work grant 
program; and other State, local and private sources. Further, to help 
ensure that selected projects address housing related purposes, no more 
than 35 percent of the proposed budget for program activities 
undertaken by New and Continuing project recipients, and no more than 
35 percent of the maximum grant amount for program activities for a 
Renewal grant, can be designated for supportive services costs. 
Applications will be reviewed for leveraging resources, including 
commitments to provide additional supportive services in an amount 
equal to or greater than the total amount requested for supportive 
services, as described in Section IV.B.5. In addition, HUD will not 
award funds for the acquisition, lease, rehabilitation, or new 
construction of a supportive services-only facility. Additional 
restrictions and limitations that apply to supportive services such as 
healthcare costs can be found at 24 CFR 574.300. HUD will not provide 
funds for medications. Costs for staff engaged in delivering the 
supportive service is part of the supportive service activity cost, and 
should not be listed as operating costs or ``other'' costs in the 
application's proposed budget.
    (c) Permanent Housing Placement Assistance. Permanent housing 
placement services at 574.300(b)(7) may also be used in connection with 
the provision of housing support provided under these awards. Permanent 
housing placement costs may involve costs associated with helping 
eligible persons establish a new residence where ongoing occupancy is 
expected to continue, including rental application fees, related credit 
checks and reasonable security deposits necessary to move persons to 
permanent housing, provided such deposits do not exceed two months of 
rent. Leveraged resources could involve other forms of move-in support, 
such as essential housing supplies, smoke alarms, standard furnishings, 
minor repairs to the unit associated with move-in, and other incidental 
costs for occupancy of the housing unit. While these items are not 
eligible as permanent housing placement costs, grantees may make use of 
other leveraged funds for these costs. Applicants should note that 
permanent housing placement is a type of supportive service and, 
therefore, the leveraging guidelines described in Section IV.B.5, will 
apply to requests for such assistance.
    (d) Other HUD-Approved Activities. You may propose other activities 
not already authorized at 24 CFR 574.300(b), subject to HUD's approval. 
Your proposal should address the expected beneficial impact of this 
alternative activity in addressing housing needs of eligible persons by 
describing the project impact and the identified performance output and 
client outcome measures for this activity.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses To Request Application Package

    Copies of the published NOFAs and application forms for HUD 
programs announced through NOFA may be downloaded from the Grants.gov 
Web site at http://www.grants.gov/Apply or, if you have difficulty 
accessing the information, you may receive customer support from 
Grants.gov by calling their Support Desk at (800) 518-GRANTS or sending 
an e-mail to [email protected]. The operators will assist you in 
accessing the information. If you do not have internet access and need 
to obtain a copy of the NOFA, you can contact HUD's NOFA Information 
Center toll-free at (800) HUD-8929. Persons with hearing or speech 
impairments may also call toll-free at (800) HUD-2209.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    HOPWA applicants are not required to provide the forms, 
certifications, and assurances listed in the General Section unless 
stated below. The following certifications must be included with your 
application. All certifications and forms, except those found in the 
General Section, are included in the appendices in this Program NOFA.
    1. Required and Optional Forms: Applicants are requested to submit 
the following information:
    a. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424).
    b. Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants (SF-424 
Supplement).
    c. Program Outcome Logic Model (HUD-96010).
    d. Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan (HUD-
2991).
    e. Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan 
(HUD-2990)--if applicable to the service area of your project.
    f. Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report (HUD-2880).
    g. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL), if applicable.

[[Page 14116]]

    h. HOPWA Application Budget Summary, including HOPWA Applicant 
Certifications (form HUD-40110-B).
    i. Acknowledgement of Application Receipt (HUD-2993), if applicable 
due to an approved waiver of the electronic submission requirement.
    j. Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994) (Optional).
    2. Additional HOPWA guidance on forms.
     a. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424). In completing the 
SF-424, a number of items in other required forms may be completed or 
automatically populated though the use of the electronic Grants.gov 
application. In applying for HOPWA grant funds, the applicant's 
signature on the SF-424 will also show agreement for following the 
Program Requirements found at III.C.2., including all of the items 
under paragraph f. HOPWA Facility Use Period Requirement. For the HOPWA 
program, the following items on the SF-424 would be completed as 
follows:

--Item 7--The applicable letters are ``A'' for State; ``B, C, or D'' 
for a unit of local government; or ``O'' for Nonprofit;
--Item 9--Grants.gov will enter U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development or HUD;
--Item 10--Grants.gov will enter 14.241 and the title ``Housing 
Opportunities for Persons With AIDS Program'' or ``HOPWA'' for the 
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance;
--Item 15--You must complete the budget on page 1 along with more 
detailed information on the HOPWA Application Budget Summary form 
described below. Please make sure that both the Total Amount on page 1 
and the ``Total Budget'' section on the Budget form are the same. In 
the event that the total budgets are in conflict, HUD will refer to the 
HOPWA Application Budget Summary form.
--Item 16--Check ``No''.

    b. HOPWA Application Budget Summary (form HUD-40110-B). Please 
complete the HOPWA Application Budget Summary (form HUD-40110-B) that 
will provide a summary of the total budget for this project, the annual 
HOPWA amounts to be used in each of the three years of operation and 
description budget by project sponsor of the HOPWA funds to be used by 
each sponsor. On this form, you must provide a short narrative which 
outlines each of your requested budget line items and how the funds 
will be used, including the amount of requested funding by line item 
for you and your project sponsors. The summary items will be more fully 
described in the applicable narrative sections of your application.
    c. Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan (HUD-
2991). Except as stated below, you must include a Consolidated Plan 
certification from the applicable State or local government official 
for submitting the appropriate plan for the areas in which activities 
are targeted to be carried out. The authorizing official from the State 
or local government must sign this certification. If your project will 
be carried out on a national basis or will be located on a reservation 
of an Indian tribe, or in one of the U.S. Territories of Guam, the 
Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or the Northern Mariana Islands, you 
are not required to include a Consolidated Plan certification from 
these areas with your application.
    3. Application Content for Renewal Applications. The following 
provides the applicant with an overview of the information required for 
Renewal Applications. The criteria that the Renewal Application will be 
reviewed and rated on can be found in Section V.A.1, of this Program 
NOFA. For your narrative responses, please number the pages and include 
a header and a footer that provides the name of the applicant, the 
program name, and type of application (i.e., Renewal).
    a. Executive Summary and Synopsis. On no more than five double-
spaced pages, please provide an Executive Summary of the proposed 
Renewal project, beginning with a two or three sentence synopsis of the 
focus or special purposes of your project. The summary should provide 
an overview of the main components of your planned HOPWA project, 
including any updated elements from the original project application 
and your annual housing output for your next operating year. In the 
Executive Summary, please provide the name of the grantee and any 
project sponsors, along with contact names, phone numbers, and e-mail 
addresses.
    b. Organizational Capacity Narrative. If a new project sponsor(s) 
is added to the Renewal proposal, please describe the capacity of the 
project sponsor(s) to conduct program activities. Follow the procedures 
in the General Section for submitting this documentation. You must 
submit documentation of the organization's nonprofit status and HIV/
AIDS purposes, as described in Section III.A. on eligibility with your 
HOPWA application and maintain a copy in your project files in order to 
able to produce them upon request. In your statement, please address 
the extent to which the project sponsor(s) have the past organizational 
experience and knowledge: in serving persons with HIV/AIDS and their 
families; in programs similar to those proposed in your application; in 
monitoring and evaluating program performance and disseminating 
information on project outcomes; and, in achieving the purpose for 
which funds were provided, as measured by expenditures and measurable 
progress in operating the project. Please provide this narrative 
information on no more than two double-spaced typed pages. If you are 
adding more than one project sponsor, you may include up to two 
additional pages per project sponsor.
    c. Provision of Current Permanent Supportive Housing Narrative. On 
no more than four double-spaced pages, demonstrate how your project 
provides permanent supportive housing through HOPWA and/or other 
resources, and report on how the project has been meeting housing 
assistance outputs compared to planned and approved number of 
households or units of housing under the current grant. Include the 
type of assistance and number of housing units being provided and a 
description of the supportive services provided. Additionally, your 
description should outline how HOPWA and other funding, if applicable, 
work together to provide permanent supportive housing, including any 
efforts that have helped clients achieve greater self-sufficiency 
through access to other ongoing housing options, which do not depend on 
HOPWA funds. Describe how your project has been meeting planned 
performance benchmarks, as appropriate, in program development and 
operation; in meeting project performance goals, such as, that the 
number of persons assisted is comparable to the number that was planned 
at the time of the application; and is expending funds consistent with 
the existing agreement with HUD. Also describe how you evaluated 
project data on performance, adjusted program activities and shared 
information that you have gained from your lessons learned on these 
past activities.
    d. Achieving New Results and Program Evaluation Narrative. On no 
more than three double-spaced pages identify the housing benefits or 
outcomes of your Renewal program including your activities, related 
project benchmarks, and performance output indicators over the next 
three grant operating years. Your application should address your 
evaluation plan or method for collecting data on HUD program measures 
to evidence achievement of your project's goals and objectives and to 
establish a baseline for

[[Page 14117]]

client outcomes. You must also complete and submit as part of your 
application the Logic Model Form (HUD-96010) to illustrate your plans 
for the use of resources, project activities, outputs, outcomes, and 
goals.
    e. Documentation of Leveraging for Supportive Services for Renewal 
Projects. If your Renewal project requests funding for supportive 
services, your application will be reviewed for leverage. As described 
in paragraph 5 of this section, you must demonstrate evidence of 
commitments from other State, local, Federal, or private resources to 
provide additional supportive services for project beneficiaries of an 
equal or at a greater value in order to qualify for an increase in any 
budget line item (BLI) above 100 percent of the approved BLI for your 
existing grant up to the 120 percent limit. You must follow 
instructions for documenting leveraging as established in paragraph 5 
of this section. The total of all leveraged resources to provide 
supportive services must at least equal the requested totals for HOPWA 
supportive service funds in Line 10 and Line 11 of the Application 
Budget Summary in order to qualify the application for an increase in 
any budget line item (BLI) above 100 percent of the approved BLI for 
the existing grant up to the 120 percent limit. Attempts to falsify or 
failure to maintain and produce these letters of commitment upon 
request could lead to the termination of the awarded grant. Note that 
if your Renewal application does not request funds for supportive 
services and this is a change to your existing grant, you must continue 
to utilize other sources to provide a reasonable level of supportive 
services that is similar to that previously provided.
    f. Proof of Nonprofit Status and AIDS Purpose. In the case that a 
project sponsor is being added, or a sponsor's legal status has changed 
due to merger or other action, you will also need to submit the related 
required information described in Section IV.B.4.b of this Program 
NOFA.
    4. Application Content for New Long-term, and New and Continuing 
SPNS Demonstration Project Applications. The following is an overview 
of the information required for applications for new Long-term 
projects, and for new and continuing Special Projects of National 
Significance (SPNS) demonstration grants. Long-term projects provide 
permanent housing and related supportive services to low-income persons 
living with HIV/AIDS and their families in areas that are not eligible 
for HOPWA formula allocations. New and continuing SPNS demonstration 
projects will undertake new housing service delivery models or housing 
project activities that include plans to provide HOPWA clients with 
permanent housing assistance by the end of the operating period under 
the award. The review criteria for Long-term, and new and continuing 
SPNS demonstration applications can be found in Section V.A.2 of this 
Program NOFA. For your narrative responses, please number the pages and 
include a header and a footer that provides the name of the applicant, 
the program name and type of application (i.e. Long-term or SPNS 
demonstration project).
    a. Executive Summary and Synopsis. On no more than five double-
spaced pages, please provide an Executive Summary of the proposed 
project, beginning with a two to three sentence synopsis of the focus 
or special purposes of your project. The summary should provide an 
overview of the main components of your planned HOPWA project and the 
annual housing output for the first year or operations. In the 
Executive Summary, please provide the name of the grantee and any 
project sponsors, along with contact names, phone numbers, and e-mail 
address. For projects involving sites, for example, a structure where 
HOPWA funds will be used for construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, 
leasing, operating costs, and/or project-based rental assistance, 
please provide the address of the site and describe any other resources 
that are needed to complete the development of this housing facility. 
Please identify if the site is a Confidential Site (HUD will not 
release the address of the site) or is a Public Site (HUD may release 
the address to inform clients and the public).
    Please indicate which of the following special populations your 
project will serve by operating a project that intentionally targets 
assistance, such as the provision of housing and related supportive 
services, client outreach and assessment of the needs, and any project 
evaluation activities on the assistance provided to this population of 
persons with special needs. Please indicate the number of special 
population households likely to be assisted through the housing 
assistance planned in your project (note: your responses will be used 
by HUD to respond to public inquiries):
    [sbull] Chronically Homeless and/or other homeless persons
    [sbull] Veterans
    b. Proof of Nonprofit Status and AIDS Purpose. Excluding situations 
where nonprofit documentation was submitted to HUD under prior SPNS 
applications and there has been no change in project sponsor(s), all 
applicants must provide a copy of the nonprofit documentation for each 
sponsor that is a non-profit organization consistent with the standards 
under paragraph (1). Applicants must also provide documentation 
consistent with paragraph (2) below to demonstrate that each sponsor's 
organizational documents include a purpose of significant activities 
related to providing housing or services to persons with HIV/AIDS. For 
submission of the documentation in paragraphs (1) and (2) on paper 
forms, you should follow the directions in the General Section.
    (1) HUD will accept as evidence of your nonprofit status:
    (a) A copy of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ruling providing 
tax-exempt status under Section 501(c) (3), (4), (6), (7), (9) or (19) 
of the IRS code; or
    (b) A ruling from the Treasury Department of the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico granting income tax exemption under section 101 of the 
Income Tax Act of 1954, as amended (13 LPRA 3101); or
    (c) Documentation that the applicant is a certified United Way 
agency; or
    (d) Copy of your most recent completed tax statement, Form IRS-990 
or Form 990-EZ; or
    (e) All of these:
    (i) a certification by the appropriate official of the jurisdiction 
where the nonprofit was organized that your organization was so 
organized and is in good standing;
    (ii) a certification from a designated official of the organization 
that no part of the net earnings of the organization inures to the 
benefit of any member, founder, contributor, or individual; that the 
organization has a voluntary board; and that the organization practices 
nondiscrimination in the provision of assistance in accordance with 
applicable program requirements; and
    (iii) an opinion letter from an independent public accounting (IPA) 
firm that the nonprofit has a functioning accounting system that 
provides for each of these (the letter must mention all of them).
    (A) Accurate, current, and complete disclosure of the financial 
results of each federally funded project;
    (B) Records that identify adequately the source and application of 
funds for federally funded activities;
    (C) Effective control over and accountability for all funds, 
property and other assets;
    (D) Comparison of outlays with budget amounts;
    (E) Written procedures to minimize the time elapsing between the 
transfer of

[[Page 14118]]

funds to the recipient from the U.S. Treasury and the use of funds for 
program purposes;
    (F) Written procedures for determining reasonableness, allocable, 
and allowable costs; and
    (G) Accounting records including cost accounting records that are 
supported by source documentation.
    (2) We will accept as evidence of your organization's HIV/AIDS-
related purpose, a copy of the organization's articles of incorporation 
and by-laws, mission statement, program management plan, or other 
organizational policy document which evidences the organization's 
activities or objectives related to providing services or housing to 
persons with HIV/AIDS.
    c. Capacity of Applicant and Project Sponsors and Relevant 
Organizational Experience Narrative. On no more than five double-spaced 
typed pages for the Applicant, and no more than two double-spaced pages 
per additional sponsor, demonstrate the extent to which you and any 
project sponsors have the organizational resources necessary to 
successfully implement your proposed activities in a timely manner.
    d. Need/Extent of the Problem Narrative. On no more than five 
double-spaced typed pages define your planned service area and 
demonstrate the need for funding eligible activities in the area to be 
served.
    e. Soundness of Approach: Model Qualities and Responsiveness/
Coordination Narrative. On no more than twenty double-spaced typed 
pages address the method by which your plan meets your identified 
needs. Demonstrate how your project will provide its planned activities 
through HOPWA and other resources, and how it will serve as a model 
with exemplary qualities to address the ongoing housing and supportive 
service needs of eligible persons within a replicable operational 
framework.
    f. Documentation of Leveraged Resources. As described in paragraph 
5 of this section, to receive a leverage score for your project, please 
provide evidence of commitments that demonstrate your ability to secure 
community resources for housing, supportive services and other program-
related activities that can be combined with HUD's funds to achieve 
program purposes and assist eligible persons in addressing their 
supportive housing needs. To receive a maximum score for leverage, you 
must: (1) Demonstrate leveraged resources of equal or greater value to 
the total amount being requested for program activities (excluding 
administrative costs); and (2) if the project requests funds for 
supportive services, demonstrate leveraged resources that include 
commitments to provide additional supportive services that are of equal 
or greater value to the total amount requested for supportive services. 
To meet leveraging criterion (2), the total of all leveraged resources 
for additional supportive services must at least equal the requested 
totals for HOPWA supportive service funds in Line 10 and Line 11 of the 
Application Budget Summary. If you do not request funding for 
supportive services, your application will be reviewed and rated based 
on leveraging criterion (1). If you request funding for supportive 
services, you must meet both leveraging criteria to receive the maximum 
leveraging score. You must follow instructions for documenting 
leveraging as established in paragraph 5 of this section. Attempts to 
falsify or failure to maintain and produce these letters of commitment 
upon request could lead to the termination of the awarded grant.
    g. Achieving Results and Program Evaluation Narrative. On no more 
than five double-spaced typed pages demonstrate your commitment to 
ensuring that the goals that you set forth and your performance will be 
assessed in a clear and effective manner. Address how you will 
implement the HOPWA program goals and identify the benefits or outcomes 
of your program including your activities, benchmarks, and interim 
activities or performance indicators. Provide an evaluation plan that 
will objectively measure actual achievements against anticipated 
achievements.
    5. Application Content on Leveraging for All Types of Applications. 
To receive consideration for leveraged resources as noted in paragraphs 
3.e. and 4.f. of this section, all types of applications must be 
supported by evidence of commitments from other State, local, Federal, 
or private entities to provide additional support to project 
beneficiaries. To receive maximum scores for leveraging, any New and 
Continuing project must: (1) Demonstrate leveraged resources that are 
of equal or greater value to the total amount being requested for 
program activities (excluding administrative costs); and (2) if the 
project requests funds for supportive services, demonstrate leveraged 
resources that include commitments to provide additional supportive 
services that are of equal or greater value to the amount requested for 
supportive services. For any Renewal project requesting funds for 
supportive services, in order to receive any budget line increases for 
the project, the Renewal must show leveraged resources that include 
commitments to provide additional supportive services that are of equal 
or greater to the amount requested for supportive services.
    Applicants must document the commitment of leveraged resources as 
provided in this section. This section requests that the applicant 
provide a list or chart for the commitments and include: (1) The name 
of the organization or entity that will contribute leveraged resources 
for the activities to be undertaken to support project beneficiaries 
and note if the organization will serve as a project sponsor; (2) a 
description of the work to be accomplished, such as the type of housing 
assistance or supportive service activities to be undertaken to support 
the project; and (3) a statement of the value of the leveraged 
contribution; (4) the submission of an electronic copy or facsimile 
transmittal of these letters of commitment with your HOPWA application; 
and (5) retention of a copy in your project files in order to enable 
you to produce them upon request. The letter of commitment must 
evidence that the use of any leveraged funds will be used during the 
operating period for the award, identify the value of the commitment, 
and be signed by an authorized representative of the organization 
making the commitment of the resource. Other HOPWA funds, such as 
formula allocations, may not be used for this purpose in determining 
leveraging.
    The commitment of resources must be evidenced by use the 
appropriate language as described below:
    (i) Applicant or Third Party Cash Resources. If this proposal is 
funded, (applicant name or third party name) commits $(amount) (of its 
own funds, if applicant, or to applicant name, if third party) for 
(type of activity) to be made available to the HOPWA program. These 
funds will be available from (date) to (date). (Signature and Title of 
authorized representative and date).
    (ii) Non-Cash Resources. If this proposal is funded, 
(organization's name) commits to make available (type of resource) 
valued at $(amount) to the HOPWA program proposed by (applicant name). 
These resources will be made available to the HOPWA program from (date) 
to (date). (Signature and Title of authorized representative and date) 
The donation of a third party professional service should be valued at 
the professional's customary charge. The value of materials to be 
contributed to the project by a third party or by the applicant may 
also be counted as leveraging.

[[Page 14119]]

    (iii) Volunteer Time. If this proposal is funded, (name of the 
organization or of self), commits to provide (number of hours) of 
volunteer time from (date) to (date) to provide (type of activity) to 
the HOPWA program proposed by (applicant name). The total value of 
these services, based on $10.00 per hour, is $(amount). (Signature and 
Title, and date) Time to be contributed to the project by volunteers 
should be valued at $10.00 per hour. In the case of individuals 
volunteering their time directly to the applicant, the applicant should 
list itself as the organization.
    (iv) Contribution of a Building. If this proposal is funded, 
(applicant name) pledges the building at (site address) to the HOPWA 
program. The building has a fair market value of $(amount). A licensed 
independent real estate appraiser made this appraisal, which is based 
on comparable properties in the area. (Signature of applicants 
authorized representative and date) Ownership of a building or portion 
of a building to be used in the project may be counted as leveraging. 
The fair market value of the building or portion of the building being 
contributed may be counted. Do not send an appraisal to HUD, but keep 
documentation of fair market value on file. The contribution of land 
(as a leveraged resource for new construction) should be treated the 
same as contribution of a building. You will need to keep documentation 
of the fair market value on file, particularly if it is improved land 
and you wish to include the value of the improvements in the 
contribution.
    (v) Contribution of a Building to be Acquired with HOPWA Funds. If 
this proposal is funded, (applicant name) commits the building at (site 
address) for the HOPWA program. The building has a fair market value of 
$(amount). A licensed independent real estate appraiser made this 
appraisal, which is based on comparable properties in the area. The 
HOPWA request for the building is $(amount). Therefore, the 
contribution is the difference between the fair market value and the 
HOPWA request, or $(amount). (Signature of applicants authorized 
representative and date) The difference between the documented fair 
market value and the portion paid for with HOPWA funds may be counted 
as leveraging. Maintain documentation of fair rental value on file.
    (vi) Contribution of Leasehold Interest. If this proposal is 
funded, (applicant name) commits the leasehold interest at (site 
address) for the HOPWA program. The fair rental value of this site is 
$(amount) annually, and at constant value will amount to $(amount) over 
(term of the lease, up to three years). An appropriate independent 
third party made this appraisal, which is based on comparable 
properties in the area. The total leasing cost over the term of the 
lease to be paid with HOPWA funds is $(amount). Therefore, the 
contribution is the difference between the HOPWA leasing cost and the 
fair rental value, or $(amount). (Signature of applicants authorized 
representative and date) The difference between the fair rental value 
(for a term up to three years) and the cost of the lease to be paid for 
with HOPWA funds may be counted as leveraging.
    The Department will periodically monitor the use of your 
commitments by requiring the collection of information in annual 
progress reports to establish that the leveraged resources are being 
used, as committed, in undertaking the project. Failure to provide 
evidence of these additional resources could result in a notice of 
default and affect the project's continued access to federal funds 
awarded under this Program NOFA.

C. Submission Dates

    Application Submission Date. Your completed application must be 
submitted and received electronically by Grants.gov no later than 
11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on May 27, 2005. Failure to meet the 
appropriate submission and receipt date requirements will result in the 
application being ineligible for funding under this NOFA. Please follow 
the application submission and timely receipt requirements for the 
electronic submission of your application that are established in the 
General Section. All documentation submitted as part of the application 
must be received by the application submission date. All parts of an 
electronic application must be submitted via the Grants.gov portal with 
additional documentation as called for in this NOFA provided via 
electronic facsimile transmittal in accordance with the requirements 
stated in the General Section. For electronic applications, HUD will 
not accept parts of an application submitted through the mail. For 
applications receiving a waiver of the electronic application 
submission requirements, the entire application must be submitted in 
hard paper copy format with the required number of copies.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    The HOPWA program is not subject to Executive Order (EO) 12372, 
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Limitations on Maximum Grant Amounts. Your request for Renewal 
funding or for New and Continuing funding must be consistent with the 
following limitations on maximum grant amounts:
    a. For program activities (e.g., activities that directly benefit 
eligible persons): A maximum of no more than $1,300,000, subject to the 
limitations in this section;
    b. For grant administrative costs of the grantee: A maximum of no 
more than an additional $39,000, subject to the limit on administrative 
costs of three percent of the amount requested for project activities 
in your application for grantees.
    c. For grant administrative costs for project sponsors: A maximum 
of no more than an additional $91,000, subject to the limit on 
administrative costs of seven percent of the amount requested for 
project activities to be conducted by project sponsors in your 
application.
    d. Total for maximum grant amount: $1,430,000, subject to 
applicable limitations in this section and if funds are requested for a 
term of less than three years, HUD reserves the right to reduce these 
amounts in a proportionate manner.
    2. Limitation on Supportive Services. Your request for the 
supportive services line item in program activities must be consistent 
with the program limits of not more than 35 percent of the proposed 
budget for program activities undertaken by New and Continuing project 
recipients, and not more than 35 percent of the maximum grant amount 
for program activities for a Renewal grant program activity costs for a 
Renewal grant (i.e., not more than $455,000 over a three-year period). 
Consistent with the standards described in Section IV.B.5, on 
Leveraging, of this Program NOFA, requests for supportive services must 
be leveraged with commitments to provide supportive services in order 
to: (1) Qualify a Renewal grant applicant for an increase in any budget 
line item (BLI) above 100 percent of the approved BLI for their 
existing grant up to the 120 percent limit; or (2) qualify a New and 
Continuing applicant for the maximum leveraging score.
    3. Limitation on Prospective Determinations. HUD will not approve 
proposals that depend on a prospective determination as to how program 
funds will be used. More specifically, proposals to establish a local 
request-for-proposal process to select either activities or project 
sponsors, and other

[[Page 14120]]

similar proposals that have the effect of delaying the obligation of 
funds due to the unplanned use of HOPWA funds, will not be approved.
    4. Additional Limitation on Renewal Grants. If applying for a 
Renewal project the following funding restrictions apply:
    a. Your request for program activity costs may not include a 
request for funds for acquisition, new construction, or for 
rehabilitation costs, or costs involving new housing facility sites, 
such as operating costs or leasing.
    b. Your request for program activity costs must request amounts for 
continuing a previously approved project at about the same level of 
housing provided in the previous grant. If your Renewal application 
does not request funds for supportive services and this is a change to 
your existing grant, you must continue to utilize other sources to 
provide a reasonable level of supportive services that is similar to 
that previously provided. If the application is consistent with the 
leveraging guidelines, the amounts may exceed 100 percent but must not 
be more than 120 percent of the amount awarded or approved by HUD in 
the current grant for an activity, including any amendments affecting 
this amount that were approved by HUD, prior to the publication of this 
Program NOFA, except as provided in the following paragraph. If an 
application fails to provide leverage for supportive services in an 
amount at least equal to the amount of the request for supportive 
services, the funding by BLI for all activities will be restricted to 
100 percent of the BLI for the approved existing project.
    c. In the case of a permanent supportive housing project in which 
acquisition, new construction, or rehabilitation was a major component 
of the original project, a reasonable amount of operating funds may be 
requested for a housing project which exceed the 120 percent budget 
line item limit of the previous paragraph. The amount requested must be 
based on information for the current cost of operating the housing 
project (or a housing project of a similar type and size) but the 
request may not exceed the limit on maximum for program activities 
established in paragraph (1)(a) above. HUD reserves the right to adjust 
requests under this paragraph to the scale of projects of similar size 
and purpose.
    d. Funds for acquisition, new construction or for rehabilitation 
costs will not be renewed. These capital development activities are not 
ongoing or available for additional sites. If you wish to undertake 
additional capital development activities, significantly expand your 
activities (beyond the allowance in this notice for requests up to 120 
percent of the existing budget line item), continue a project that is 
not eligible as a permanent supportive housing project, or to add 
funding for new activities, you must apply and compete for funding as a 
New and Continuing project.
    5. Limitation on Ineligible Activities. HUD will not provide funds 
under this notice for the purposes of conducting resource 
identification activities to establish, coordinate and develop housing 
assistance resources, and/or technical assistance for community 
residence activities, since these types of activities are funded 
through the national HOPWA technical assistance funds being made 
available under the Community Development Technical Assistance (CDTA) 
NOFA. HUD will not provide additional funds for data collection on 
project outcomes, as such activities in collecting performance data and 
reporting to HUD are required as a central grants management function, 
which is already covered under administrative costs. Further, eligible 
HOPWA costs do not involve costs for personal items, such as grooming, 
clothing, pets, financial assistance, consumer credit payments, 
entertainment activities, personal vehicle maintenance and repairs, 
property taxes, condominium fees and other non-housing-related costs. 
Eligible costs are also subject to additional HOPWA standards at 24 CFR 
part 574.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    1. Electronic Delivery. Beginning in FY2005, HUD requires 
applicants to submit applications electronically through 
www.grants.gov. Applicants interested in applying for funding must 
submit their applications electronically via the web site http://www.grants.gov. This site has easy to follow step-by-step instructions 
that will enable you to apply for HUD assistance. The www.grants.gov/Apply feature includes a simple, unified application process to enable 
applicants to apply for grants online. Please see Section IV.F. of the 
General Section for instructions for submitting leveraging 
documentation, certifications, and other required forms.
    2. Waivers to the Electronic Submission Process: Applicants may 
request a waiver to the electronic submission process (see Section IV.F 
of the General Section for more information). Applicants who are 
granted a waiver must submit their applications to the address 
identified in Appendix C of the General Section. Please see the General 
Section for detailed mailing and delivery instructions as the 
procedures have changed significantly for this year.
    3. Number of Copies. Only applicants receiving a waiver to the 
electronic submission requirement may submit a paper copy application. 
See the General Section for more information about waiver of the 
electronic submission requirement.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

1. Renewal Project Applications
    a. General. HUD will conduct a threshold review of all Renewal 
applications based on the requirements found under Section III.C. to 
determine eligibility for the Renewal of HOPWA grants that provide 
permanent supportive housing under an expiring grant.
    b. Criteria on New Sponsors. In the case that a project sponsor is 
being added, or a sponsor's legal status has changed due to merger or 
other action, HUD will conduct a substantive review of the project 
sponsor's ability to develop and operate your proposed program and a 
pass/fail review based on the requirements for an eligible project 
sponsor established in Section III.
    (1) With regards to new project sponsor(s), HUD will consider the 
organization's past experience and knowledge: in serving persons with 
HIV/AIDS and their families; in programs similar to those proposed in 
your application; in monitoring and evaluating program performance and 
disseminating information on project outcomes; and in achieving the 
purpose for which funds were provided, as measured by expenditures and 
measurable progress in operating the project. A proposed sponsor that 
fails to meet the conditions established for adding a sponsor or fails 
to demonstrate sufficient capacity will be ineligible to receive 
program funds.
    (2) In reviewing the elements of organizational capacity as stated 
above, HUD will rate the proposed sponsor on the basis of 20 points, 
with a minimum of 14 points required for selection of this sponsor as 
eligible in demonstrating sufficient capacity. HUD will consider the 
extent to which your proposal demonstrates the following capacity, and 
will award the highest points (20 to 16 points) to those with direct, 
extensive, clear and satisfactory experience, moderate scores (15 to 10 
points) to those with direct but not as extensive experience or where 
the experience covers most but not all of these items; and lower scores 
(9 to 2 points) if the experience is limited,

[[Page 14121]]

indirect, on only some of the items or for which only limited or no 
information is provided. An organization with unresolved management 
issues affecting their HOPWA proposal will be scored at the lowest 
level (1 point):
    (a) The knowledge and experience of the proposed project director 
and staff, including the day-to-day program manager, consultants, and 
contractors in planning and managing the kind of activities for which 
you are requesting funds. The project sponsor will be reviewed in terms 
of recent, relevant, and successful experience of staff to undertake 
eligible program activities, including experience and knowledge in 
serving low-income persons with HIV/AIDS and their families.
    (b) The project sponsor's experience in managing complex 
interdisciplinary programs, especially those involving housing and 
community development programs directly relevant to the work activities 
proposed and carrying out grant management responsibilities.
    (c) If the project sponsor received funding in previous years in 
the program area for which you are currently seeking funding, the 
sponsor's past experience will be reviewed in terms of its ability to 
attain demonstrated measurable progress in the implementation of the 
grant award. Measurable progress is defined as: meeting performance 
benchmarks, as applicable, in program development and operation; 
meeting project goals and objectives, such as, that the number of 
persons assisted was comparable to the number that was planned at the 
time of application; submitting timely performance reports; and 
expending prior funding as outlined in the prior proposal with no 
outstanding audit or monitoring issues.
2. Criteria for New and Continuing Projects Applications
    a. Departmental Policy Priorities. As outlined in Section V of the 
General Section, HUD has identified policy priorities that New and 
Continuing project applicants are encouraged to address through their 
proposed project plans. HUD has identified four Departmental policy 
priorities as being applicable for new HOPWA projects. Applications for 
HOPWA funding will receive rating point(s) for each applicable 
Department policy priority initiative addressed through the proposed 
program activities and performance goals and objectives. Applicants 
must demonstrate how these priorities will be addressed through the 
Soundness of Approach of the application as outlined under Rating 
Factor 3. Under the points available for Rating Factor 3, one or two 
Rating Points, as specified below, will be awarded for each of the 
following addressed priorities:
    (1) In accordance with Section V of the General Section, for 
applicants seeking HOPWA funds for capital development activities, 
including rehabilitation or new construction, for one rating point 
under project soundness of approach, you are encouraged to: Institute 
visitability and universal design standards in these activities 
undertaken with HOPWA funds. Visitability standards allow a person with 
mobility impairments access into the home, but do not require that all 
features be made accessible; and such standards incorporate universal 
design in the construction or rehabilitation of housing undertaken with 
HOPWA funds. Universal design provides housing that is usable by all 
without the need for adaptation or specialized design.
    (2) For one rating point under project soundness of approach, you 
are encouraged to propose projects in which the grantee, or the project 
sponsor(s), fulfills the policy priority for being a nonprofit 
grassroots community-based organization, including faith-based 
organizations, as defined in Section V of the General Section.
    (3) For one rating point under project soundness of approach, you 
are encouraged to propose applications in which the grantee, or project 
sponsor(s), commits to follow the Energy Star standard in any new 
construction or rehabilitation activity to be undertaken in the 
proposed project with HOPWA or other funds. The Energy Star standard is 
as defined in Section V of the General Section.
    (4) For up to two rating points under project soundness of 
approach, you are encouraged to propose an application in which the 
grantee, or project sponsor(s), if it is a State or local government 
agency, as defined in Section V of the General Section, completes the 
regulatory barriers policy questionnaire and provides the required 
documentation or provides a Web site URL where the information can be 
readily found.
    b. Program Policies--Target Population. Prior to the award of other 
New and Continuing projects, HUD reserves the right to select the two 
highest rated applications (but not any that are rated at less than 75 
points) that demonstrate that the planned HOPWA activities and 
activities supported by leveraged funds will serve the special 
population of HOPWA eligible person who are chronically homeless 
persons with HIV/AIDS. A chronically homeless person is defined as ``an 
unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has 
either been continuously homeless for a year or more OR has had at 
least 4 episodes of homelessness in the past 3 years.'' Persons who are 
infected with HIV are more likely to be able to follow complex 
treatment regimens if they have a reliable address where they can be 
reached by care providers, a safe place to keep medications, 
refrigeration for drugs that require it, and other necessities that 
many of us take for granted. HUD is encouraging applications that 
strive to create additional models for permanent housing for eligible 
persons living with HIV/AIDS that are experiencing chronic 
homelessness. Applicants must work collaboratively with the local 
Continuum of Care Plans to create these models for persons living with 
HIV/AIDS and their families and demonstrate a plan for the integration 
of HOPWA activities with those systems such as the use of HMIS. HMIS 
participation is required for all recipients of award funding under 
this Program NOFA whose projects intentionally target HOPWA eligible 
persons who are homeless or chronically homeless. In a number of 
Continuum of Care communities, HOPWA projects are directly involved in 
providing outreach, assessment, housing and supportive services to 
HOPWA eligible persons who are homeless at the time they enter into 
program support. HMIS activities or the use of related information 
technology systems may already be operating to support the delivery of 
housing information services to these HOPWA clients.
    c. Application Selection Process for New and Continuing Projects.

Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Project Sponsors and 
Relevant Organizational Experience (20 Points) (Minimum for Funding 
Eligibility--14 points)

    Address the following factor using not more than five (5) double-
spaced, typed pages. For each project sponsor, you may add two 
additional pages. This factor addresses the extent to which you and any 
project sponsor have the organizational resources necessary to 
successfully implement your proposed activities in a timely manner. If 
you will be using project sponsor(s) in your project, you must identify 
each project sponsor in your application. HUD will award up to 20 
points based on your and any project sponsor's ability to develop and 
operate your proposed

[[Page 14122]]

program in relation to which entity is carrying out an activity.
    a. With regards to both you and your project sponsor(s), you should 
demonstrate:
    (1) Past experience and knowledge in serving persons with HIV/AIDS 
and their families;
    (2)Past experience and knowledge in programs similar to those 
proposed in your application including HOPWA formula funding;
    (3)Experience and knowledge in monitoring and evaluating program 
performance and disseminating information on project outcomes; and
    (4)Past experience as measured by expenditures and measurable 
progress in achieving the purpose for which funds were provided.
    b. In reviewing the elements of the paragraph above, HUD will 
consider:
    (1) The knowledge and experience of the proposed project director 
and staff, including the day-to-day program manager, consultants, and 
contractors in planning and managing the kind of activities for which 
you are requesting funds. You and any project sponsor will be judged in 
terms of recent, relevant, and successful experience of staff in 
undertaking eligible program activities.
    (2) Your and/or the project sponsor's experience in managing 
complex interdisciplinary programs, especially those involving housing 
and community development programs directly relevant to the work 
activities proposed and carrying out grant management responsibilities.
    (3) If you and/or the project sponsor received funding in previous 
years in the program area for which you are currently seeking funding, 
you and your project sponsor's past experience will be evaluated in 
terms of the ability to attain demonstrated measurable progress in the 
implementation of your grant awards. Measurable progress is defined as:
    (a) Meeting applicable performance benchmarks in program 
development and operation;
    (b) Meeting project goals and objectives, such as the HOPWA output 
for number of homeless assisted in comparison to the number that was 
planned at the time of the application;
    (c) Submitting timely performance reports; and
    (d)Expending prior funding as outlined in the existing HOPWA grant 
agreement with HUD with no outstanding audit or monitoring issues.
    Applicants must receive a minimum of 14 points in Rating Factor 1: 
Capacity of the Applicant and Project Sponsors and Relevant 
Organizational Experience to be eligible for funding under this Program 
NOFA.

Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (15 Points)

    Address the factor using not more than five (5) double-spaced, 
typed pages. Up to 15 points will be awarded for this factor.
    (a) AIDS Cases (5 Points). You must define your planned service 
area. HUD will obtain AIDS surveillance information pertinent to that 
area from the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention. Up to five points will then be awarded based on the 
relative numbers of AIDS cases and per capita AIDS incidence within 
your service area, in metropolitan areas of over 500,000 population and 
in areas of a state outside of these metropolitan areas, in the state 
for proposals involving state-wide activities, and in the nation for 
proposals involving nation-wide activities.
    (b) Description of Unmet Housing Need (10 Points). Up to ten points 
will be awarded based on demonstration of need for funding eligible 
housing activities in the area to be served. To receive the maximum 
points, demonstrate that substantial housing and related service needs 
of eligible persons and/or the target population, as outlined in 
Section V.A., are not being met in the project area and that reliable 
statistics and data sources (i.e. Census, health department statistics, 
research, scientific studies, and Needs Analysis of Consolidated Plan 
and /or Continuum of Care documentation) show this unmet need. To 
receive the maximum points, show that your jurisdiction's Consolidated 
Plan and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, Continuum of 
Care Homeless Assistance plans (if homeless persons are to be served), 
and comprehensive HIV/AIDS housing plans are applicable to your project 
and identify the level of the problem and the urgency of the need.
    (1) If you apply for a SPNS demonstration grant, you must describe 
a housing need that is not currently addressed by other projects or 
programs in the area including reference to the area's existing HOPWA 
programs and how the planned activity will complement these in a manner 
that is consistent with the community's plan for a comprehensive and 
coordinated approach to housing needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS 
which establishes stable housing for clients and helps foster greater 
self sufficiency and independence. Also, describe any unresolved or 
emerging issues and the need to provide new or alternative forms of 
assistance that, if provided, would enhance your area's programs for 
housing and related care for persons living with HIV/AIDS and their 
families. You must also describe how your project will enhance the 
community's Consolidated Plan strategies for providing affordable 
housing and access to related mainstream services to HOPWA eligible 
persons; or
    (2) If you apply as a Long-term project, you must describe the 
housing need that is not currently addressed by other projects or 
programs in the area including any HOPWA competitive grants and how the 
planned activity will complement these in a manner that is consistent 
with the community's plan for a comprehensive and coordinated approach 
to housing needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS. You must also 
describe any unresolved or emerging issues and/or the need to provide 
forms of assistance that enhances the community's strategy for 
providing housing and related services to eligible persons.
    HUD will evaluate your presentation of statistics and data sources 
based on soundness, reliability, and the specificity of information to 
the target population and the area to be served. If you propose to 
serve a subpopulation of eligible persons on the basis that these 
persons have been traditionally and are currently underserved (e.g., 
persons with multiple disabilities including AIDS or chronically 
homeless eligible persons), your application must demonstrate the need 
for this targeted effort through statistics and data sources that 
support the need of this population in your service area. Programs may 
serve a qualified subpopulation of persons with AIDS based on the 
presence of another disability or group of disabilities, only if doing 
so is necessary to provide this subpopulation with as effective 
housing, benefits, aid, or services as that provided to others. See 24 
CFR 8.4(b)(1)(iv).

Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach: Responsiveness, Coordination 
and Public Policy Priorities, and Model and Demonstration Qualities (45 
Points)

    Address this factor on not more than twenty (20) double-spaced, 
typed pages. Include the HOPWA Budget Forms found in Appendix A. This 
factor addresses the method by which your plan meets your identified 
needs. HUD will award up to 45 points (15 for responsiveness, 5 for 
coordination, 5 for public policy priorities, and 20 for model 
qualities) based on the extent to which your plan evidences a sound 
approach for conducting the HOPWA activities in a manner that is 
responsive

[[Page 14123]]

to the needs of eligible persons and that your plan for project 
coordination will offer model qualities in providing supportive housing 
opportunities for eligible persons with access to mainstream health and 
human welfare services, when compared to other applications and 
projects funded under previous HOPWA competitions.
    a. Responsiveness, Coordination, and Public Policy Priorities (25 
Points). HUD will award up to 25 points (Responsiveness--15 Points and 
Coordination--5 Points and Public Policy Priorities--5 Points) based on 
how well your project plans respond to the unmet needs in housing and 
related supportive services for the eligible population, including 
target populations outlined under Section V.A. You should demonstrate 
the extent to which you have coordinated your activities and the 
activities of your project sponsors with other organizations that are 
not directly participating in your proposed work activities. This 
involves organizations with which you share common goals and objectives 
in assisting eligible persons. In order to ensure that resources are 
used to their maximum effect within the community, it is important that 
you demonstrate collaboration and leveraging of other resources from 
state, local, and private funding resources.
    (1) Responsiveness (15 Points). To receive the highest rating in 
this element your application must address:
    [sbull] The projected number of persons to be served through each 
activity for each year of your program; The projected number of housing 
units, by type, to be provided through your project, by year, over a 3-
year period; and
    [sbull] The specific organizations, either through an agreement 
with your organization or through funding from your project, that will 
provide housing, and agreements with organizations that will provide 
mainstream supportive services, or other activities.
    Include a description of the roles and responsibilities of your 
project sponsors and/or other organizations within your project plan 
and how these will be coordinated in conducting eligible activities. To 
receive the maximum points for your project plan, you must explain and 
describe the eligible housing activities you or your project sponsor 
intend to conduct, where these activities will take place (either on 
site or at another location), and how those activities will benefit 
eligible persons. Please describe:
    (a) Housing Activities. You must demonstrate how the emergency, 
transitional, or permanent housing needs of eligible persons will be 
addressed through one or more of the HOPWA eligible activities and 
through any other resources and how such activities are coordinated 
with other available housing assistance. Your plan for housing 
assistance must include:
    (i) Access to permanent supportive housing for Long-term 
applicants. If you propose a new Long-term Project for Permanent 
Supportive Housing, you must describe how eligible persons will access 
permanent housing options through your project and through any specific 
commitments with other community housing providers, even if your 
project involves some initial emergency or transitional assistance for 
clients, to achieve housing stability goals for clients.
    (ii) Access to supportive housing for new or continuing SPNS 
Demonstration Grant applicants. If you propose a new or continuing SPNS 
demonstration project, you must describe how eligible persons will 
access emergency, short-term and transitional housing support options 
through your project and through any specific commitments with other 
community housing providers. Consistent with the definition of a SPNS 
Demonstration Grant or Project, this description must include specific 
plans to provide HOPWA clients with permanent housing assistance by the 
end of the operating period under this award, including plans to 
facilitate the movement of eligible persons receiving transitional 
housing support to independent living arrangements within 24 months.
    (iii) Description of Housing Site. You must describe any 
appropriate site features including use of universal design, 
accessibility, visitability, and access to other community amenities 
associated with your project.
    (iv) Development and Operations Plan. You must describe a 
development and/or operations plan for the emergency, transitional, or 
permanent housing assistance you are proposing to provide. For rental 
assistance programs, this will include your plan for providing rental 
assistance, proposed housing sites if project-based, and length of stay 
if less than ongoing permanent supportive housing. If you are proposing 
to use HOPWA funds for the acquisition, rehabilitation, or new 
construction of a housing facility, your plan must also document that 
you have secured other funding sources, including plans for 
coordinating the use of other resources that are committed to meeting 
leveraging, have identified and secured a site(s), and must provide 
rehabilitation/construction timelines consistent with the three year 
use of grant funds. HOPWA funds are not intended for use as the initial 
or sole funding source for capital development housing projects.
    (v) Operational Procedures. Describe your outreach, intake, and 
assessment procedures, as well as how eligible persons will receive 
housing support with access to medical care and other supportive 
services provided by other organizations. Describe the use of housing 
being funded from other sources, and how your project provides for 
ongoing assessments of the housing service benefits received by 
eligible persons. Include a description of how a client moves through 
the housing program from outreach, intake, client assessment, the 
delivery of housing services, the use of emergency, transitional, or 
permanent housing, and when appropriate, the outplacement to more self-
sufficient independent housing.
    (b) Supportive Service Activities. You must describe how the 
supportive service needs of eligible persons will be addressed with 
HOPWA assistance (subject to applicable limitations) and the use of any 
additional leveraged resources by describing the type of supportive 
services that will be offered directly by the program and/or how 
agreements and project plans will assure that services will be accessed 
and coordinated from other mainstream health and human welfare sources. 
Explain the connection of these services in helping eligible persons 
obtain and/or maintain stable housing. Supportive service costs may 
represent no more than 35 percent of your proposed budget for program 
activities. In describing your supportive services delivery plan 
explain:
    (i) How agreements provide that eligible persons will have access 
to mainstream programs that offer healthcare and other supportive 
services, as discussed in Section III.C.4;
    (ii) How project plans ensure that eligible persons will 
participate in decision making in the project operations and 
management; and
    (iii) Your plan for delivering supportive services through a 
comprehensive plan that shows how agreements provide that eligible 
persons access medical care and other mainstream supportive services to 
address their needs.
    (c) Additional Activities. You must describe your plan for 
utilizing other requested HOPWA funds (described at 24 CFR 574.300(b)). 
Explain how these activities will be integrated into your overall plan 
in the provision of housing and related supportive services to eligible 
persons.

[[Page 14124]]

    (d) Other Activities. As authorized by statute and in addition to 
the activities at 24 CFR 574.300(b), you may propose other activities 
in your application, which can be undertaken only if approved by HUD 
due to their relevance in addressing the housing needs of eligible 
persons. You must describe the reason for the need to request 
authorization for ``other activities'' and the benefits likely to 
occur, if the activities are authorized. Also address how the project 
would operate, or not, if such request were not approved.
    (2) Coordination (5 Points). You should demonstrate the extent to 
which you have coordinated your activities and the activities of your 
project sponsors with other organizations that are not directly 
participating in your proposed work activities. This involves 
organizations for which you share common goals and objectives. You will 
be rated on the extent to which you demonstrate you have:
    (a) Coordinated your proposed activities with those of other groups 
or organizations within the community or region prior to submission, to 
best complement, support, and coordinate all housing and supportive 
service activities including specific reference to how the proposal is 
coordinated with existing HOPWA programs in that area (formula and 
competitive) and how the planned efforts complement the existing 
programs;
    (b) Developed your project through consultation with other 
organizations, groups, or consumers involved with area HIV/AIDS housing 
and service planning, including planning under the Ryan White CARE Act 
and other federal planning. The highest rated applicant will 
demonstrate that the project is closely and fully integrated with HUD's 
planning processes, such as the jurisdiction's Consolidated Planning 
process or the community's Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance 
planning process (if homeless persons are to be served by proposed 
activities and related use of Homeless Management Information Systems 
(HMIS) to coordinate benefits for clients);
    (c) Coordinated with other HUD-funded programs outside of the 
Consolidated Planning process, for example, accessing additional 
housing resources through a local public housing authority; and
    (d) Coordinated with mainstream resources including private, other 
public, and mainstream services and housing programs. To achieve the 
maximum points, applicants must evidence explicit agency strategies to 
coordinate client assistance with mainstream health, social service and 
employment programs for which eligible persons may benefit.
    (3) Public Policy Priorities (5 points). Applications for HOPWA 
funding will receive rating point(s) for each applicable Department 
policy priority initiative addressed through the proposed program 
activities and performance goals and objectives. Applicants must 
demonstrate how these priorities will be addressed:
    (a) In accordance with Section V of the General Section, for 
applicants seeking HOPWA funds for capital development activities, 
including rehabilitation or new construction, for one rating point 
under project soundness of approach, your application describes the use 
of universal design and visitability standards in these development 
activities undertaken with HOPWA funds and incorporate universal design 
in the construction or rehabilitation of housing undertaken with HOPWA 
funds. Visitability standards allow a person with mobility impairments 
access into the home, but do not require that all features be made 
accessible. Universal design provides housing that is usable by all 
without the need for adaptation or specialized design.
    (b) For one rating point under project soundness of approach, your 
application involves participation as the grantee, or as a project 
sponsor(s), by a non-profit grassroots community-based organization, 
including faith-based organizations, as defined in Section V of the 
General Section.
    (c) For one rating point under project soundness of approach, your 
application involves a housing development activity and the grantee, or 
project sponsor(s), commits to promote energy efficiency by adopting 
the Energy Star standard in any new construction or rehabilitation 
activity to be undertaken in the proposed project with HOPWA or other 
funds. The Energy Star standard is as defined in Section V of the 
General Section.
    (d) For two rating points under project soundness of approach, your 
application involves an state or local government agency as the 
grantee, or as a project sponsor(s), and that agency completes the 
regulatory barriers policy questionnaire, including providing the 
required documentation, as defined in Section V of the General Section.
    b. Model and Demonstration Qualities (20 Points). HUD will award up 
to 20 points based on your service delivery plan and how well it will 
serve as a model for a New and Continuing project by the end of the 
operating period. HUD expects the proposed project to show exemplary 
and/or innovative qualities that address the ongoing permanent housing 
needs (with access to supportive services) of eligible persons within a 
replicable operational framework. To receive the maximum points, you 
must offer a housing plan that describes the following:
    (1) Policy Priorities. If applicable to your application, describe 
how you will meet the Departmental policy priorities for assisting the 
special population of HOPWA eligible persons who are chronically 
homeless persons with HIV/AIDS. HUD is encouraging applications that 
strive to create additional models for permanent housing for persons 
living with HIV/AIDS that are experiencing chronic homelessness. 
Applicants addressing this population must work collaboratively with 
the local Continuum of Care Plans to create this permanent housing for 
persons living with HIV/AIDS and their families.
    (2) Project Management and Oversight. Describe your method for 
managing and overseeing activities, including those of your 
organization, your project sponsor, and any other organization. 
Identify staff members who are responsible for management and oversight 
of the project and activity implementation and sustainability plans.
    (3) Evaluation Plan. In addition to required HOPWA outputs and 
outcomes your evaluation plan should identify what you are going to 
measure, how you are going to measure it, the steps you have in place 
to make adjustments to your work plan if performance targets are not 
met within established timeframes, and how you plan to share successes 
and lessons learned in undertaking your activities with other 
communities.
    (4) Model and Demonstration Features. Describe how the planned 
efforts for the type of proposed project, Long-term or SPNS 
demonstration, will represent model or exemplary qualities in service 
delivery, management, or other features in connection with other HOPWA 
funded projects in your community including any local assessment of 
these features. For a Long-term project, the features must involve 
permanent supportive housing activities to be undertaken in a non-
formula area. A SPNS demonstration project must involve a plan and 
commitments to place residents in permanent housing by the end of the 
operating period by showing exemplary and/or innovative qualities. If 
you propose a new program, or an alternative method of meeting the 
needs of your eligible population, describe how the innovative 
qualities of your activities will result in knowledge gained or lessons 
learned for achieving

[[Page 14125]]

greater housing opportunities and supportive services for persons 
living with HIV/AIDS. HUD will rate your application higher if you 
provide strong evidence that your methods will yield qualities that 
will benefit or expand knowledge in serving eligible persons, when 
compared to other applications and HOPWA projects. In order to learn 
about qualities of previously funded and ongoing HOPWA projects, you 
may review the HOPWA Executive Summaries for HOPWA grantees at http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/aidshousing.
    (5) Descriptive Budget. HUD will review your budget in describing:
    (a) How each amount of requested funding for you and your project 
sponsors will be used and the related use of leveraged resources;
    (b) How each line item will relate to your description of planned 
eligible HOPWA activities, as defined in Section III.A of this Program 
NOFA; and
    (c) The clarity and completeness of your summary statement of the 
planned activities for your project by budget line item and the use of 
any leveraged funds or other resources by the grantee and sponsor(s).
    You must complete the HOPWA Project Budget Form as described above. 
Please note that only the forms are required in connection with your 
narrative under this Model Qualities section.

Rating Factor 4: Leverage and Sustainability (10 Points)

    This factor addresses your ability to secure community resources 
that can be combined with HUD's funds to achieve program purposes and 
to ensure sustainability of the housing efforts once HOPWA funds are 
expended. HUD will award up to 5 points based on the extent to which 
resources from other public or private sources have been committed at 
the time of application to support your project, including the use of 
leveraged resources to provide additional supportive service activities 
and other housing and program support for eligible persons if 
documentation is provided that is consistent with the standards 
described in Section IV.B.5, on Leveraging. Also up to 5 points will be 
awarded based on your demonstrated sustainability, which addresses the 
extent to which your program exhibits a plan with identified resources 
to be financially self-sustaining by decreasing dependence on Federal 
funding and relying more on state, local and private funding so your 
activities can be continued after your Federal grant award period is 
complete. The efforts to sustain programs may also involve other 
management changes, such as consolidation or merger of administrative 
functions to improve efficiencies and reduce overhead or program costs, 
in order to better maintain the housing efforts.
    a. In establishing leveraging, HUD will not consider other HOPWA-
funded activities, entitlement benefits inuring to eligible persons, or 
conditional commitments that depend on future fund-raising or actions. 
In assessing the use of acceptable leveraged resources, HUD will 
consider the likelihood that State and local resources will be 
available and continue during the operating period of your grant and 
sustain activities beyond that period of Federal support. In evaluating 
this factor, HUD will also consider:
    (1) The extent to which you document leveraged resources, such as 
funding and/or in-kind services from governmental entities, private 
organizations, resident management organizations, educational 
institutions, or other entities to achieve the ongoing purposes of the 
project for which you are requesting HOPWA funds;
    (2) The extent to which the agreements for documented resources 
evidence that you have partnered with other entities to make more 
effective use of available public or private resources. Partnership 
arrangements may include funding or in-kind services from local 
governments or government agencies, nonprofit or for-profit entities, 
private organizations, educational institutions, or other entities that 
are willing to partner with you on proposed activities, or partnering 
with other program funding recipients to make more effective use of 
resources within the geographic area covered by your award.
    b. To receive any points under this criterion, you must document in 
your application the commitment of resources that will be used in the 
project during its operation and the efforts to sustain activities 
beyond the period of HOPWA support. If you request funding for 
supportive services, you must document (1) the commitment of other 
leveraged resources that at least equal the amount of the HOPWA request 
for program activities (not including administrative costs); and (2) 
leveraging for additional supportive services that at least equals the 
amount requested for supportive services activities in order to receive 
the highest leveraging points. If you do not request supportive 
services, to receive the highest leveraging points, you must document 
the commitment of other leveraged resources that at least equal the 
amount of the HOPWA request for program activities (not including 
administrative costs).

Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (Maximum 10 Points)

    Address this factor on not more than five (5) double-spaced, typed 
pages. Under this factor, HUD will award 10 points based on how well 
your application demonstrates a commitment to ensuring that the goals 
that you set forth and your performance will be assessed in a clear and 
effective manner. HUD will analyze how well you have clearly 
implemented the required HOPWA program output and outcome goals and 
identified other stated benefits or outcomes of your program including 
your activities, benchmarks, and interim activities or performance 
indicators with timelines. HUD will award the highest points to 
applications that demonstrate an evaluation plan that will objectively 
measure actual achievements against anticipated achievements.
    Benchmarks or outputs that are identified in your application 
should be measurable indicators of actual achievements that help 
achieve the program outcome goals for the HOPWA Program. These outcome 
goals must include ``a'' that is listed below and may include but not 
be limited to:
    a. Under the standard required HOPWA outcome measure, increase the 
amount of housing assistance provided to eligible persons, to establish 
or maintain housing stability, reduce the risks of homelessness for 
eligible persons, and improve access to healthcare and other support;
    b. Increase the access to permanent housing for low-income eligible 
persons, to enable these households to become more self-sufficient 
(optional);
    c. Improve the housing conditions in which low-income and homeless 
eligible persons and their families live, to increase the number of 
persons living in housing that is safe, decent, and sanitary 
(optional); and
    d. Address the challenge of homelessness for persons living with 
HIV/AIDS and their families, including persons who are chronically 
homeless, by helping them more to permanent housing with appropriate 
support, with coordinated homeless assistance effort (optional).
    Program output measures for your application for the HOPWA Program 
must include ``a'' which is listed below and may include but not 
limited to:
    a. Under the standard required HOPWA output measure, the projected 
number of households to be assisted in HOPWA supported housing units by 
type (tenant-based rental assistance, STRMU payments and assistance in

[[Page 14126]]

housing facilities) to be provided to eligible households through your 
project during each project-operating year; and
    b. The projected number of households including single persons to 
be served through each activity during each project-operating year 
(optional).
    Your application should also address your evaluation plan for the 
New and Continuing project. Evaluation is defined as your method for 
collecting data on HUD program measures to evidence achievement of your 
project's goals and objectives. HUD will assess your method for 
reviewing this data and your basis for making relative adjustments in 
project implementation based on outcomes and lessons learned. Your 
evaluation plan must include how you propose to utilize administrative 
costs or other leveraged support to conduct this activity. HUD will 
award a greater number of points for projects that also provide for a 
plan for the dissemination of information from the lessons learned from 
your proposed activities. Your application must include the Logic Model 
Form (HUD-96010). In addition to using the required HOPWA output 
measures, applicants may create their own set of activities, other 
outputs, and project outcomes.

B. Reviews and Selection Process

1. Renewal of Permanent Supportive Housing Project Applications
    a. Selection of Renewal Applications. To the degree that funds are 
available up to the amount made available under the Department's FY2005 
appropriation for this competition, the Department will select for 
funding all Renewal requests from applicants that meet program 
requirements (including passing a threshold review for a need for 
Renewal). HUD will also review requests and adjust funding consistent 
with funding restrictions found in Section IV. If the amount of the 
approvable request for Renewal activities for all eligible applicants 
is greater than the amount made available by this notice up to the 
amount of Fiscal Year 2005 funds, HUD will select all of the approvable 
Renewal applications and allocate awards to each based on a pro rata 
reduction to the amount available under this notice. This action will 
help to ensure that all eligible and performing Renewal grants receive 
funding that allows their continued operation.
    b. HUD Reviews. HUD staff will conduct this review, including staff 
from Community Planning and Development at Headquarters and HUD's State 
and area field offices.
    c. Policy Priorities. Applicants seeking Renewal funding under this 
Program NOFA are not required to address HUD's policy priorities. 
Applicants are also encouraged to review and voluntarily address 
relevant HUD's policy priorities as outlined in the General Section. 
Please note in your application if you undertake any of these optional 
program efforts.
2. HOPWA New and Continuing Project Applications
    a. Threshold Reviews. HUD will review your HOPWA application to 
ensure that it meets the threshold requirements found in Section 
III.C.2 of the General Section and Section III.C of this Program NOFA 
pertaining to a request for a new Long-term project or a SPNS 
demonstration project.
    b. HUD Reviews. HUD staff will conduct this review, including staff 
from Community Planning and Development at Headquarters and HUD's State 
and area field offices.
    c. Procedures for the Rating and Selection of Applications. HUD 
will rate all HOPWA applications based on the factors listed above. The 
points awarded for the factors total 100. In addition, up to 2 bonus 
points for projects in RC/EZ/EC-II areas may be available under Section 
V.A of the General Section.
    Whether your HOPWA application is conditionally selected will 
depend on your overall ranking compared to other applications within 
each of the two categories of assistance, Long-term projects, or SPNS 
demonstration projects. Funds made available from federal fiscal year 
2004 will be used to fund the highest rated applications in the order 
of their ranking that propose new Long-term projects, and if any such 
funds remain after these selections, for new or continuing SPNS 
demonstration projects. Funds made available from Federal fiscal year 
2005 will be used to fund the priority selection of expiring Renewal 
projects that undertake permanent supportive housing activities. If any 
such 2005 funds remain after these selections, then the funds will be 
used to fund additional New and Continuing projects that are the next 
highest rated applications in the order of their ranking that propose: 
(a) Additional new Long-term projects, if applicable after the 
selections made above with 2004 funds, and then (b) additional new or 
continuing SPNS demonstration projects. HUD will select applications in 
rank order in each category of assistance to the extent that funds are 
available, except as outlined in this Program NOFA, where HUD reserves 
the right to select applications that target the priority eligible 
populations to ensure selection of two projects addressing the housing 
needs of persons who are chronically homeless. In allocating amounts to 
the categories of assistance, HUD reserves the right to ensure that 
sufficient funds are available for the selection of at least one 
application with the highest ranking under each category of assistance. 
HUD will not select an application that is rated below 75 points, nor 
will an application be funded if it receives a Rating Factor 1--
Capacity score lower than 14 points.
    In the event of a tie between applications in a category of 
assistance, HUD reserves the right to break the tie by selecting the 
proposal that was scored higher on a rating criterion in the following 
order: Soundness of Approach; Responsiveness and Model Qualities 
(Rating Factor 3); Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (Rating 
Factor 5); Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational 
Experience (Rating Factor 1); Need/Extent of the Problem (Rating Factor 
2); and Leveraging Resources (Rating Factor 4).

C. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

    The anticipated announcement of the projects selected under this 
notice is no later than August 30, 2005.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    1. Applicant Notification. HUD will notify the eligible applicants 
of their conditional selection or rejection for awards by email or by a 
letter to be mailed to the applicant's authorized official at the 
address or e-mail address provided in your application. For 
conditionally selected applicants, the CPD Division of HUD's State or 
area office will provide a second letter with a copy of a proposed 
grant agreement along with instructions on any adjustments to the grant 
amount requested and other conditions identified during the review for 
conducting planned activities and on the close out of the current 
grant.
    2. Award Modifications. After reviewing each application, HUD 
reserves the right to take each of the following actions:
    a. HUD reserves the right to make award adjustments as outlined in 
Section IV.A.2, Adjustments to Funding, of the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA.
    b. In the event that a conditionally-selected applicant is unable 
to meet any conditions for funding within the specified time, HUD 
reserves the right to not make an award to that applicant. In

[[Page 14127]]

the event that a conditionally-selected applicant is continuing to 
operate under the prior grant, and has sufficient funds to continue 
current operations for at least six months following the date of 
notification of selection, HUD may take any of the following actions: 
(i) Follow procedures to terminate the prior grant and recapture 
remaining funds after this date, consistent with the terms of the 
applicable grant agreement and 24 CFR 574.500(c); or (ii) adjust the 
amount of the new award by the amount of funds remaining after this 
date in the prior grant.
    c. In making awards to New and Continuing projects, HUD may offer 
less then the full amount requested to applicants that have received 
sufficient points to be selected, but for which there are insufficient 
funds remaining to provide the full funding request. HUD may also use 
funds from an award reduced under item b, above, to restore amounts to 
a funding request that had been reduced in this competition due to the 
application's lower rating status;
    d. If an applicant turns down an award, an award is not made, or if 
there are sufficient award adjustments to make additional awards 
feasible, HUD reserves the right to: (a) Offer an award to the next 
highest rated application(s) in this competition in their rank order; 
(b) add remaining or recaptured amounts to the funds that become 
available for a future competition; or (c) restore amounts to a funding 
request that had been reduced in this competition.
    3. Applicant Debriefing. Applicants requesting to be debriefed must 
send a written request to: Department of Housing and Urban Development; 
Attention: Office of HIV/AIDS Housing; 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 
7212; Washington, DC 20401-7000. Telephone number is (202) 708-1934. 
Persons with hearing or speech challenges may access the above number 
via TTY (text telephone) by calling the Federal Information Relay 
Service at 800-877-8339 (this is a toll-free number). Additional 
information regarding debriefing can be found in the General Section.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    1. Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open Competition and 
Government Neutrality Toward Government Contractors' Labor Relations on 
Federal and Federally Funded Contract Projects. See Section III.C. of 
the General Section for the information on how to meet this 
requirement.
    2. Procurement of Recovered Materials. See Section III.C. of the 
General Section for the information on how to meet this requirement.

C. Reporting

    1. Six-Month Report. For any new project, you must provide an 
initial report to the Field Office and HUD Headquarters on the startup 
of the planned activities within six months of your selection. Your 
report must outline your accomplishments and identify any barriers or 
issues for which the Department may provide assistance on the start-up 
on your new award. Renewal and continuing projects are not required to 
file this report.
    2. Measuring Performance. You must report after each year of 
operation on the annual accomplishments of your projects under the 
HOPWA Annual Progress Report (form HUD-40110-B), including the required 
performance measures described in Section III.C.2.c. of this Program 
NOFA on Required HOPWA Performance Goals including reporting on annual 
housing outputs and client outcomes in achieving housing stability, 
reduced risks of homelessness, and improved access to healthcare and 
other needed support. For each reporting period, you must provide a 
completed Logic Model showing progress to date against projected 
outputs and outcomes contained in your approved grant agreement. HUD 
will use these reports and information obtained from HUD financial 
systems, along with any remote or on-site monitoring, to measure your 
progress and achievements in evaluating your performance on your HOPWA 
grant.
    3. Beneficiary Information. HUD requires that funded recipients 
collect racial and ethnic beneficiary data. It has adopted the Office 
of Management and Budget's Standards for the collection of Racial and 
Ethnic Data. In view of these requirements, you should use one of the 
following:
    [sbull] HUD-27061, Racial and Ethnic Data Reporting Form 
(instructions for its use) found on www.HUDclips.org;
    [sbull] A comparable program form (HOPWA--Annual Performance Report 
(APR) form HUD-40110-C); or
    [sbull] A comparable electronic data system for this purpose.

VII. Agency Contacts

    A. For Further Information and Technical Assistance (TA). For 
technical assistance in downloading an application package from 
Grants.gov/Apply, contact the Grant.gov help desk at 800-518-Grants or 
by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. For programmatic 
information, you may contact the HUD field office serving your area. 
You can find the telephone number for the State or Area Office of 
Community Planning and Development on HUD's Web site: www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. HUD staff may assist with program 
questions, but may not assist in preparing your application. Persons 
with hearing or speech challenges may access the above number via TTY 
(text telephone) by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay 
Service at 800-877-8339.
    B. Seeking Technical Assistance (TA) in Developing a HOPWA 
Application. HOPWA TA providers may not provide technical assistance in 
the drafting of responses to HUD's NOFA due to the unfair advantage 
such assistance gives to one organization over another. If HUD 
determines that HOPWA technical assistance has been used to draft a 
HOPWA application, HUD reserves that right to reject the application 
for funding. If, after your application has been selected for an award, 
HUD determines that HOPWA technical assistance was used to draft your 
application, the award will be withdrawn and you may be liable to 
return to HUD any funds already spent.
    C. Satellite Broadcast. HUD will hold information broadcasts via 
satellite for potential applicants to learn more about the program and 
preparation of the application. For more information about the date and 
time of the broadcast, you should consult the HUD Web site at 
www.hud.gov/grants.

VIII. Other Information

    A. Paperwork Reduction Act. The information collection requirements 
contained in this document have been approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB control number 2506-0133. In 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or 
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 
information unless the collection displays a currently valid OMB 
control number. Public reporting burden for the collection of 
information is estimated to average 413 hours per annum per respondent 
for the application and grant administration. This includes the time 
collecting, reviewing, and reporting the data for the application, 
semi-annual reports and final report. The information will be used for 
grantee selection and monitoring the administration of funds. Response 
to this request for information is required

[[Page 14128]]

in order to receive the benefits to be derived.
    B. Instructions on Filling Out Required HOPWA Application Budget 
Form (HUD-40110-B).
    Complete a separate ``Detailed Project Budget and Housing Outputs'' 
page (Section B) for the Grantee and for each Project Sponsor receiving 
HOPWA funds under this application. Specific instructions:
    1. Name of Organization: Enter the complete legal name of the 
organization (grantee or project sponsor). (If you are completing an 
electronic application, this data element is pre-populated after you 
have completed the SF 424 information.)
    2. Zip Code: Enter the zip code of the local headquarters of the 
grantee or sponsor. (For electronic applications, this information is 
pre-populated once you enter the information on the SF 424.
    3. Type: Mark if you are completing this form for the grantee or 
project sponsor, as applicable.
    4. Grassroots: Indicate if the grantee or sponsor is a grassroots 
faith-based or other community-based grassroots organization (see 
General Section for definitions).
    5. Eligible Activity Description: Provide a brief description in 
each of the appropriate ``Eligible Activity'' categories for each 
activity for which you are seeking funding. This description should be 
a 1-2 line summary of the activity.
    Example 1: Tenant-Based Rental Assistance Description: ``Provide 
Long-term, tenant-based rental assistance through the ``Rent 
Project'' to 25 individuals and 10 families per year over a three-
year grant period (average $5,000 per household per year).''
    Example 2: Supportive Services Description: ``One employee 
(0.5FTE) will provide case management, nutritional services, and 
mental health counseling to 45 individuals in the AIDS Housing 
facility each year for the three years of the grant term.''
    Example 3: Permanent Housing Placement Description: ``Funds for 
first months rent and security deposits and help in completing 
housing forms for 25 households per year to move them to permanent 
rental housing at $60,000 for the three years of the grant term.''
    6. Budget: For each HOPWA Eligible Activity (lines 1-15), enter the 
amount of requested HOPWA funds in the ``Totals'' column. In the 
columns labeled ``Yr. 1'', ``Yr. 2'' and ``Yr. 3'', indicate in whole 
dollars how you plan to spend the total funds over each of the project 
years. If you are a submitting a new application and requesting funds 
for Facility Development (lines 1-3), do not allocate Facility 
Operations funds (lines 4-6) until the facility is developed and 
operational.
    7. # of Housing Units / # of Households: Indicate the number of 
housing units or households, as applicable, that will be assisted 
during each program year for which you are seeking funds.
    8. Total HOPWA Request: Total the ``Budget'' amounts at the bottom 
of the page.
    C. Instructions on Completing HUD's Logic Model (Form HUD-96010). 
(Note: Below are specific instructions for completing HUD's Logic Model 
for the HOPWA program. Refer to the General Instructions for further 
guidance on completing the Logic Model.)
    The HOPWA program is intended to achieve the overall outcome that 
persons assisted have been enabled to establish and/or better maintain 
a stable living environment in housing that is safe, decent and 
sanitary and to reduce the risks of homelessness and improve access to 
healthcare and other supportive services. In addition, output is 
measured each year on the number of units of housing/households 
supported with HOPWA funds. Projects may also show how efforts foster 
greater self-sufficiency and independence for clients from public 
support. The outcomes and outputs on the Logic Model will be used as a 
guide to assist HUD and grant recipients to measure the impact of the 
HOPWA program in achieving HUD's objectives. At the end of each year of 
assistance, HOPWA recipients should consider the effects of their 
efforts and compare results to the planned outputs and the prior year's 
outcome baseline on stable housing as part of an assessment of program 
success. These assessments will help inform the community as well as 
HUD in assessing past performance and helping to direct future efforts. 
For example, if an assessment shows that some activities are not 
helping beneficiaries achieve the desired outcome, recipients should 
consider what alternatives or enhancements to program efforts might 
better meet this goal. By its nature, short-term housing support is 
expected to provide a temporary and unstable housing outcome if persons 
remain dependent on this type of assistance.
    Specific Instructions:
    Program Name: Enter ``HOPWA''(For electronic application filers 
this information is pre-populated once you have completed the SF 424 
information).
    Component Name: ``New'' or ``Continuing'' or ``Renewal'', as 
applicable.
    Strategic Goals: Enter ``2,4'' which conform to HUD's strategic 
goals to ``Promote decent affordable housing'' and ``Ensure equal 
opportunity in housing''
    Policy Priorities: Below are HUD's policy priorities. HOPWA efforts 
are established under item 1 in providing housing support and item 6 in 
helping to end chronic homelessness. In addition to those items 
(whichever is appropriate), applicants could add to attainment of the 
other items. In the Policy Priorities column, enter the numbers which 
best identify the priorities that apply to your application, including 
1 and/or 6 along with any optional addition priority.
    1. Provide increased homeownership and rental opportunities for low 
and moderate-income persons, persons with disabilities, the elderly, 
minorities and families with limited English proficiency. (HOPWA 
included)
    2. Improving our nation's communities
    3. Encourage accessible design features
    4. Provide full and equal access to grassroots faith-based and 
other community-based organizations in HUD program implementation
    5. Participation of minority-serving institutions in HUD programs
    Ending chronic homelessness (HOPWA funded homeless projects 
included).
    6. Removal of regulatory barriers to affordable housing.
    7. Participation in Energy Star.
    Problem, Need or Situation: Provide a general statement of need 
that provides the rationale for the proposed service or activity (i.e., 
describe the problem that you are addressing with your HOPWA 
application program).
    Service or Activity: Identify the services that you are providing 
to address the Problem, Need or Situation identified above.
    Output Goal: Using the figures from the `` of Units'' and 
`` of Households'' section of the ``Detailed Project Budget 
and Housing Outputs'' section of form 40110-B, identify the Short-Term, 
Intermediate and Long-term output goals of your project.
    For example: a short-term output goal might be ``to provide 14 
units of housing for persons with HIV/AIDS and their families,'' an 
intermediate output goal might be ``to assist 20 family members to find 
jobs,'' and a Long-term output goal might be ``to assist 4 households 
to purchase a home.''
    Output Result:1 Do not complete this column in the application--
this will be used in annual progress reporting.
    Achievement Outcome Goals: Identify the number of households who 
will be able to:
    (a) Establish and/or better maintain stable housing,

[[Page 14129]]

    (b) Reduce their risks of homelessness or
    (c) Improve their access to healthcare and other needed support.
    The achievement of stable housing for HOPWA beneficiaries is 
defined as the number of clients who will remain in residence in the 
housing program or who leave the program through outplacement to other 
permanent housing options, including private resources, and those with 
a reasonable expectation of self sufficiency and independence after 
their HOPWA assistance.
    End Results: Do not complete this section.
    Measurement Reporting Tools: Refer to general instructions on the 
Logic Model.
    Evaluation Process: Refer to general instructions on the Logic 
Model.

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[[Page 14136]]



Housing for People who are Homeless and Addicted to Alcohol

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Community Planning and Development
    B. Title: Housing for People Who Are Homeless and Addicted to 
Alcohol
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number is FR-
4950-N-33; the OMB approval number is pending.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 14.235
    F. Dates: The application submission date is May 19, 2005.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Applicants for funding should carefully review the requirements 
identified in this Program NOFA and the General Section. Unless 
otherwise stated in this Program NOFA, the requirements of the General 
Section apply.
    2. This NOFA announces the availability of approximately $10 
million to award approximately ten two-year grants ranging up to 
approximately $1 million per award. This two-year, competitive 
demonstration program, developed in consultation with the Interagency 
Council on Homelessness as required in Public Law 108-7, is designed to 
provide supportive housing assistance to chronically homeless persons 
who have been living on the streets for at least three hundred sixty-
five (365) days over the last five (5) years and have a long term 
addiction to alcohol, otherwise known as serial inebriates. Clients 
served by these funds will have been living on the streets at the time 
of initial contact and will have no history of living in transitional 
or permanent housing over the last five years. Grantees will partner 
with local law enforcement and court systems and other relevant 
institutions to identify eligible clients for this program. Grantees 
will demonstrate existing relationships with service providers, 
including grassroots community-based organizations including faith-
based organizations, to ensure the comprehensive supportive services 
needs of the clients are addressed (through other funds). The project 
must be located within a Continuum of Care that has at least 100 people 
who are chronically homeless and unsheltered, according to the 
Continuum of Care or a recent official count.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    A. Background. Research suggests that as many as 150,000 people 
experience chronic homelessness in this country. People experiencing 
chronic homelessness frequently suffer from addiction to alcohol or 
other disabling conditions, and they are homeless for extended periods 
of time or experience multiple episodes of homelessness. For the most 
part, persons who are chronically homeless get help for a short time 
but soon fall back to the streets and shelters. Because the long-term 
needs of these persons are not comprehensively addressed, they cycle 
through the homeless system and consume a significant portion of 
available emergency resources. When persons who are chronically 
homeless have access to basic assistance, like housing and treatment, 
research suggests a reduction in the costs of expensive emergency 
interventions.
    People who have been living on the streets for a very long time 
with a primary diagnosis of alcoholism are a particularly difficult to 
serve homeless sub-population. Research indicates that 38 percent of 
the overall homeless population experiences problems with alcohol. 
Since evidence has shown that in certain communities alcoholism among 
the homeless population is a major problem, including high utilization 
of public resources, emergency medical services and the court system, 
this demonstration targets this very difficult to serve population.
    B. Program Description. This demonstration targets chronically 
homeless persons who have been living on the streets for at least three 
hundred and sixty-five (365) days over the last five (5) years and have 
a long-term addiction to alcohol, otherwise described as serial 
inebriates. Clients served by these funds will have been living on the 
streets at the time of initial contact and will have no history of 
living in transitional or permanent housing over the last five years. 
It is the intent of Congress that funds awarded under this NOFA support 
innovative solutions, which frequently result when local community 
organizations work together. Building upon existing collaborations, 
grantees are expected to work in conjunction with local law enforcement 
agencies and courts, including the police department, sheriffs 
department, superior court, city attorney, and/or city council, to 
identify and refer eligible clients to projects funded by this program. 
After clients are identified as having a long-term addiction to alcohol 
and having lived on the streets for at least 365 days over the last 
five years, the provider will determine, on a case-by-case basis, if 
they need to be stabilized in programs (not funded through this 
initiative), such as a residential treatment center, detoxification 
center or other jail diversion program, for up to six months prior to 
being placed into permanent supportive housing (funded through this 
initiative).
    Once the grantee, working in conjunction with the relevant 
supportive service providers and the homeless client, determines that 
the client is ready, grant funds for this initiative may be used to 
provide permanent supportive housing for the client. Up to five percent 
of the funds are available for providers to help clients identify and 
obtain permanent supportive housing. HUD expects that approximately 
half of the projects awarded will provide grants for leasing that are 
project-based projects, and the other half will provide grants that are 
tenant-based projects. Comprehensive alcoholism treatment services, 
along with other relevant services, must be provided in a manner deemed 
appropriate by the grantee and are subject to requirements of the 
Supportive Housing Program regulations and other applicable laws and 
regulations. Clients must be assisted in accessing relevant mainstream 
service delivery systems, Food Stamps, Supplemental Security Income 
(SSI), and Medicaid, for example.
    Following this demonstration period, funded projects may be 
eligible to apply, on a competitive basis, as a renewal project through 
the Continuum of Care for Supportive Housing Program--Permanent Housing 
(SHP-PH).
    C. Authority. Public Law 108-7, approved February 20, 2003 (111 
Stat. 494) authorizes this two-year demonstration program. The 
Supportive Housing Program is authorized by Title IV, Subtitle C, of 
the Stewart B. McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento 
Act), 42 U.S.C. 11381.
    D. Definitions. 1. Chronic homelessness refers to an unaccompanied 
homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been 
continuously homeless for a year or more OR has had at least four (4) 
episodes of homelessness in the past three (3) years. To be considered 
chronically homeless, persons must have been sleeping in a place not 
meant for human habitation (e.g., living on the streets) and/or in an 
emergency shelter during that time. An episode is a separate, distinct, 
and sustained stay on

[[Page 14137]]

the streets and/or in an emergency homeless shelter.
    2. For the purpose of this NOFA, disabling condition is defined as 
``a diagnosable substance use disorder, serious mental illness, 
developmental disability, or chronic physical illness or disability, 
including the co-occurrence of two or more of these conditions. A 
disabling condition limits an individual's ability to work or perform 
one or more activities of daily living.''
    3. A serial inebriate is defined as a chronically homeless person 
who has been living on the streets for at least 365 days over the last 
five years and who has a long-term addiction to alcohol. (To be 
eligible for this program, clients served by these funds will be living 
on the streets at the time of initial contact and will have no history 
of living in transitional or permanent housing over the last five 
years.)

II. Award Information

    This NOFA announces the availability of approximately $10 million 
to award approximately ten grants ranging up to approximately $1 
million per award.

III. Eligibility Information

    A. Eligible Applicants. Eligible applicants are States, local 
government, other government agencies, and public and private nonprofit 
organizations that are part of a Continuum of Care in jurisdictions 
that have at least 100 people who are chronically homeless and 
unsheltered.
    B. Eligible Activities. Eligible activities are limited to leasing 
of housing and limited housing search and administrative expenses. For 
the purpose of this NOFA, housing activities include only leasing and 
housing search.
    C. Other. 1. Eligible clients. Eligible clients are chronically 
homeless persons who have been living on the streets for at least 365 
days over the last five years and who have a long-term addiction to 
alcohol. (To be eligible for this program, clients served by these 
funds will be living on the streets at the time of initial contact and 
will have no history of living in transitional or permanent housing 
over the last five years.)
    2. Threshold Requirements.
    a. Ineligible Applicants. HUD will not consider an application from 
an ineligible applicant.
    b. Applicants, and Sub-grantees, must meet the Threshold 
Requirements in the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    c. Compliance With Fair Housing and Civil Rights Laws.
    (1) Applicants must comply with all applicable fair housing and 
civil rights requirements in 24 CFR 5.105(a). In addition to these 
requirements, there may be program-specific threshold requirements 
identified in the individual Program NOFAs.
    (2) If you, the applicant:
    (a) Have been charged with an ongoing systemic violation of the 
Fair Housing Act; or
    (b) Are a defendant in a Fair Housing Act lawsuit filed by the 
Department of Justice alleging an on-going pattern or practice of 
discrimination; or
    (c) Have received a letter of findings identifying ongoing systemic 
noncompliance under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or Section 109 of the Housing 
and Community Development Act of 1974; and
    (d) The charge, lawsuit or letter of findings referenced in subpart 
(a), (b), or (c) above has not been resolved to HUD's satisfaction 
before the application deadline, then you are ineligible and HUD will 
not rate and rank your application.
    (2) Examples of actions that would normally be considered 
sufficient to resolve the matter include, but are not limited to:
    (a) A voluntary compliance agreement signed by all parties in 
response to a letter of findings;
    (b) A HUD-approved conciliation agreement signed by all parties;
    (c) A consent order or consent decree; or
    (d) An issuance of a judicial ruling or a HUD Administrative Law 
Judge's decision.''
    d. Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. Under Section 808(e)(5) 
of the Fair Housing Act, HUD has a statutory duty to affirmatively 
further fair housing. HUD requires the same of its funding recipients. 
If you are a successful applicant, you will have a duty to 
affirmatively further fair housing opportunities for classes protected 
under the Fair Housing Act. Protected classes include race, color, 
national origin, religion, sex, disability, and familial status. The 
application should include specific steps to:
    (1) Overcome the effects of impediments to fair housing choice that 
were identified in the jurisdiction's Analysis of Impediments (AI) to 
Fair Housing Choice;
    (2) Remedy discrimination in housing; or
    (3) Promote fair housing rights and fair housing choice.
    Further, you, the applicant, have a duty to carry out the specific 
activities provided in your responses to the rating factors that 
address affirmatively furthering fair housing.
    3. Program Requirements. a. Applicants must be a part of a 
Continuum of Care. Please provide as documentation a copy of the 
Continuum of Care Planning Process Organization that was submitted in 
the most recent Continuum of Care competition.
    b. The project must be located within a Continuum of Care that has 
at least 100 people who are chronically homeless and unsheltered, 
according to the Continuum of Care or a recent official count. Please 
identify by program year and date of submission the most recent 
Continuum of Care documentation submitted to HUD, so HUD staff can 
confirm that the jurisdiction has identified the required 100 people.
    c. All clients are expected to receive necessary supportive 
services from the time they are identified and as long as necessary 
after they are placed into permanent supportive housing.
    d. Grantees shall derive all supportive services funds, including 
substance abuse treatment, from other public or private sources, 
including community-based organizations, inclusive of faith-based 
organizations.
    e. Funds made available under this NOFA are subject to the program 
regulations at 24 CFR part 583.
    f. Grantees currently operating facilities or activities that serve 
homeless persons may only receive SHP funding if the project proposes 
to increase the number of homeless persons served.
    g. Safeguarding Resident/Client Files. In maintaining resident 
files, HUD funded recipients shall observe state and local laws 
concerning the disclosure of records that pertain to individuals. 
Further, recipients are required to adopt and take reasonable measures 
to ensure that resident/client files are safeguarded.
    h. Environmental Impact. Activities under this NOFA are subject to 
the environmental review provisions set out at 24 CFR 583.230. A 
recipient, its project partners and their contractors may not commit or 
expend any assistance or nonfederal funds on project activities (other 
than those listed in 24 CFR 58.22(c), 58.34 or 58.35(b)) until HUD has 
approved a Request for Release of Funds and environmental certification 
from the responsible entity. The expenditure or commitment of 
assistance or nonfederal funds for such activities prior to this HUD 
approval may result in the denial of assistance for the project under 
consideration.
    D. Match. For the purposes of this two-year demonstration program, 
applicants must match all funds provided through this initiative on at

[[Page 14138]]

least a dollar for dollar basis with cash for supportive services. Cash 
already claimed as leverage or match as part of the Continuum of Care 
activities may not be claimed to offset this match requirement. 
Grantees shall derive services funds from public or private sources, 
including community-based organizations, inclusive of faith-based 
organizations, but shall not derive services funds from other HUD-
funded homeless assistance grants. Refer to 24 CFR 84.23 (for 
nonprofits) and 85.24 (for state and local governments) for information 
governing matching funds, but note that the cash requirements of this 
two-year demonstration program are more restrictive than the 
requirements that may apply to other grant programs.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    A. Addresses to Request Application Package. Applicants may 
download the NOFA from the Grants.gov Web site at http://www.grants.gov. If you have difficulty accessing the information you 
may call the grants.gov help desk at 800-518-GRANTS. The operator will 
assist you in accessing the information. Please see the General Section 
for information on electronic application submission, procedures for 
requesting a waiver, and timely submission and receipt requirements.
    B. Content and Form of Application Submission. 1. Required 
Materials. There is no separate application kit. This notice contains 
all the information necessary for submission of your application.
    a. In addition to the required narratives, please include in your 
application each item in the order listed below:
    (1) SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance.
    (a) Every section should be completed.
    (b) When completing box 15, the component selected should be 
either:
    i. Permanent Housing for Persons with Disabilities, or
    ii. Safe Havens--Permanent (Safe haven projects have the 
characteristics of permanent housing and will require participants to 
execute a lease agreement.)
    (2) HUD-2991, Certification of Consistency with Consolidated Plan.
    (3) SF-424-SUPP, Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for 
Applicants.
    (4) HUD 27300, America's Affordable Communities Initiative.
    (5) HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal.
    (6) HUD-96010, Program Outcome Logic Model.
    (7) SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying, if applicable.
    (8) HUD 40112.1, Program Project Information.
    (9) HUD 40112.2, Number of Beds and Participants Charts. (The 
period of performance for all grants awarded through this NOFA will be 
up to two-years.)
    (a) This section is composed of two charts:
    (i) Chart 1 is for recording the number of beds/bedrooms in the 
project.
    (ii) Chart 2 is for recording the number of participants to be 
served.
    (b) Instructions for Completing Chart 1 and Chart 2. Note: If your 
project is funded, you will be responsible for achieving the numbers 
submitted.
    (i) In the first column, please enter the requested information for 
all items at a point in time (a given night). You should only fill out 
this column if you propose to use existing facilities to serve the 
homeless. If not, enter ``N/A'' in this column.
    (ii) In the second column, enter the new number of beds and persons 
served at a point in time if this project is funded.
    (iii) In the third column, enter the projected level (columns 1 and 
2 added together) that your project will attain at a point in time.
    (iv) In the fourth column, enter the number of persons to be served 
over the grant term.
    (10) HUD 40112.3, Leasing Information.
    (a) Leasing Units for Housing.
    (i) Housing space may be in the form of scattered-site leased 
units, or within a structure. The structures to be leased may be 
structures currently configured for, or structures to be converted to 
provide, supportive housing and/or supportive services.
    (ii) If you propose to lease units in more than one metropolitan or 
non-metropolitan area, fill in the appropriate number of tables for 
each area with a different FMR or actual rent. Please submit multiple 
copies of this Chart as needed to accommodate projects using more than 
one FMR or actual rent.
    (iii) Enter the number of unit(s) by the bedroom size to be leased 
and the lower of the actual rent or the FMR as published in the Federal 
Register on October 1, 2004. (FMRs may be found using this WEB site: 
http://www.huduser.org/datasets/fmr.html) The space to be leased may be 
scattered-site (e.g., one-bedroom apartments in five different 
apartment complexes) or contained within a structure (e.g., a group 
home with six bedrooms).
    (iv) Multiply the number of units by the FMR or actual rent, 
whichever is lower, by the length of the grant ( of units x 
FMR or actual rent x months based on grant term) and enter the result 
in the total column.
    (v) Please note that the FMR for a single room occupancy (SRO) unit 
is equal to 75 percent (0.75) of the 0-bedroom FMR. The FMRs for unit 
sizes larger than 4-bedrooms are calculated by adding 15 percent to the 
4-bedroom FMR for each extra bedroom. For example, the FMR for a 5-
bedroom unit is 1.15 times the 4-bedroom FMR, and the FMR for a 6-
bedroom unit is 1.30 times the 4-bedroom FMR.
    (vi) Chart A should be filled out only if you will lease individual 
units or structures that are currently configured for housing and/or 
services and, therefore, an FMR or actual rent can be used. If you have 
negotiated an actual rent (s) which is lower than the FMR, please use 
that amount instead of the FMR. The actual rent may not exceed the FMR.
    (vii) If your project has been approved for exception rents use 
those amounts when completing these charts AND submit your current 
approval letter with this document.
    (b) Leased Structure(s) for Housing
    (i) If you will lease a structure or portion of a structure for 
housing, fill out Chart B below using a monthly leasing cost that is 
comparable to and no more than the rents being charged for similar 
space in the area. This applies to structures already configured for 
housing and for those that will be converted. If your project has more 
than one structure, reproduce Chart B and fill it out starting with 
structure 2.
    (ii) Multiply the monthly leasing costs by the number of months 
requested for funding and enter the result in the total column.
    (iii) Chart B should be filled out only if you will lease a 
structure or portion of a structure for which an FMR is not applicable.
    (11) HUD 40112.4, Additional Key Information. HUD needs the 
information in this form to respond to public and Congressional 
inquiries about program benefit.
    (12) SF 424A, Budget Information--Non-Construction. Only Complete 
Sections A and C.
    (a) In Section A, column (a) which is labeled ``Grant Program 
Function or Activity'', the applicant must list the activities that 
will be funded through this grant and provided as cash match:
    i. Row 1 should state leasing;
    ii. Row 2 should state housing search assistance;
    iii. Row 3 should state administration.

[[Page 14139]]

    iv. Row 4 should state services.
    (b) Columns (b), (c) and (d) of Section A should be left blank.
    (c) In column (e) of Section A, list the funds you are requesting 
through this NOFA in rows 1 through 3. NOTE: Although column (e) is 
labeled ``Federal,'' do not enter all Federal Funds in this column. 
Enter only those funds requested from this NOFA.
    (d) Use column (f) of Section A to indicate the other funds you are 
committing to this project. Note: Although column (f) is labeled ``Non-
Federal,'' use this column to show all funds, Federal and non-federal, 
other than the SHP funds listed in column (e), which will support this 
project. Column (g) is a calculated field and should equal your total 
project budget.
    (e) Column (a) of Section C, Non-Federal Resources, contains 
calculated fields and will list leasing, housing search assistance, 
administration and services in rows one through four.
    (f) Use columns (b) Applicant, (c) State and (d) Other of Section C 
should to show the non-federal cash match for each of the activities 
listed in rows one through four.
    (g) Column (e) of Section C should total the amount of cash match 
for each of the activities. Note: Column (e) row 12 must be equal to or 
greater than your total grant request shown in Section A column (e) row 
5 in order to satisfy the match requirement.
    (13) Budget Narrative. A one-page narrative must be submitted that 
explains how the applicant arrived at the cost estimates for any line 
items, including match items.
    2. Required Certifications. By signing the SF-424 cover page:
    a. The governing body of your organization has duly authorized the 
application for federal assistance. In addition, by signing and/or 
electronically submitting your application, you certify that the 
Authorized Organization Representative signing the application:
    (1) has the legal authority to apply for Federal assistance and the 
institutional, managerial, and financial capacity (including funds to 
pay for any non-federal share of program costs) to plan, manage and 
complete the program as described in the application; and will provide 
HUD any additional information it may require; and
    (2) will administer the award in compliance with requirements 
identified and contained in the Notice of Funding Availability as 
applicable to the program for which funds are awarded and in accordance 
with requirements applicable to the program.
    b. No appropriated Federal funds have been paid or will be paid, by 
or on behalf of the applicant to any person for influencing or 
attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a Member 
of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress, in connection with 
this application for Federal assistance or any award of funds resulting 
from the submission of this application for Federal assistance, or its 
extension, renewal, amendment, or modification. If funds other than 
Federal appropriated funds have been or will be paid for influencing or 
attempting to influence the persons listed above, the applicant agrees 
to complete and submit Standard Form LLL, Disclosure Form to Report 
Lobbying, as part of its applications submission package. The applicant 
further agrees to and certifies that it will require all subawards at 
all tiers including subgrants and contracts to similarly certify and 
disclose accordingly.
    C. Submission Date and Times. Applications must be submitted to and 
received by Grants.gov on or before 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on May 
19, 2005. Please be sure to read the General Section for timely 
submission and receipt requirements as submission requirements have 
substantially changed this year. Failure to follow the submission 
requirements and procedures may affect your ability to receive an award 
of funds.
    D. Intergovernmental Review.

This program is excluded from an Intergovernmental Review.

    E. Funding Restrictions. 1. Housing funds available through this 
initiative may only be used to provide grants for leasing, limited 
housing search assistance and administration.
    2. No more than 5 percent of each project award may be used for 
housing search assistance.
    3. No more than 5 percent of each project award may be used for 
administrative costs, such as accounting, preparing HUD reports, 
obtaining audits, and other costs associated with administering the 
grant.
    4. Costs for new construction, rehabilitation, acquisition, 
operating costs, and supportive services are not allowable costs for 
reimbursement under this NOFA.
    5. Under no circumstances may SHP leasing funds be used to lease 
units or structures owned by the project sponsor, the selectee, or 
their parent organizations. This includes organizations that are 
members of a general partnership where the general partnership owns the 
structure.
    6. Activities undertaken to benefit populations other than the 
target population as defined in Section I.B, above, will not be funded.
    7. Clients served by these funds must be living on the streets at 
the time of initial contact and will have no history of living in 
transitional or permanent housing over the last five years.
    F. Other Submission Requirement. Applicants receiving a waiver to 
the electronic submission requirement may submit a paper copy 
application. Applicants that have received a waiver of the electronic 
submission requirement should consult the General Section for 
application submission instructions including Appendix C for the 
correct mailing address and number of copies.

V. Application Review Information.

    A. Criteria. The following are descriptions of the rating factors 
upon which the application will be scored. The total number of pages 
allotted to each rating factor is specified. Additional narrative or 
lists, other than those specified in the rating factors below, will not 
be considered. Lists that are requested in a rating factor are not 
included in the page limit.
    1. Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational Staff 
(Points 20). Up to 20 points will be awarded based on the following 
questions (two pages total):
    a. What experience does the applicant have in providing supportive 
housing and collaborating with agencies that provide an array of needed 
supportive services to persons who have been living on the streets for 
at least 365 days over the last five years and who have a long-term 
addiction to alcohol.
    b. What existing relationships does the applicant have with law 
enforcement agencies, courts, substance abuse service systems and other 
supportive services organizations, sub-contractors, consultants, sub-
recipients, and members of consortia that are firmly committed to the 
project?
    c. How have the applicant and partner agencies demonstrated the 
management and organizational capability to manage this collaboration?
    d. What is the applicants' past performance in managing public or 
private funds and the timely use of funds received from Federal, State 
or local sources?
    2. Need/Extent of Problem (Points 10). (one page total):
    This factor addresses the extent to which (a) there is a need for 
funding the proposed activities described in the applicant's work plan, 
and (b) the degree to which the applicant's work

[[Page 14140]]

plan substantively addresses departmental policy priorities. Please 
note, there must be at least 100 people who are chronically homeless 
and unsheltered in your Continuum of Care.
    a. Needs Data (5 points).
    Please provide in the response, the extent to which the community 
the applicant serves has documented the extent of homelessness and the 
presence of persons who are chronically homeless and addicted to 
alcohol in its Continuum of Care, Consolidated Plan, Analysis of 
Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI), or other planning documents.
    Briefly describe where the target population will come from and the 
outreach plan to bring them into the project. Please describe the 
approach in identifying the needs of the target population. Higher 
points will be awarded to applicants that can quantify the number/
percent reduction in overall homelessness and chronic homelessness to 
be achieved by the proposed work plan.
    b. Departmental Policy Priorities (5 points).
    The Departmental policy priorities are described in detail in the 
General Section. The following four priorities apply for the purpose of 
this NOFA. Indicate if, and describe how, the applicant's work plan 
substantively addresses each of these departmental policy priorities. 
Applicants are advised to review the policy priorities in the General 
Section, to assure they fully understand the meaning of each, prior to 
responding to this sub-factor.
    In scoring this section, the applicant will receive one point for 
each of the departmental policy priorities (1)--(3) that the work plan 
substantively addresses. Up to 2 points are available for priority (4). 
The activities the applicant proposes in its projected work plan, 
detailed in Factor 3 of this NOFA, must address the policy priorities 
for priorities (1)-(3) in order to receive rating points. Points will 
only be awarded to applicants for policy priority (4) if the submission 
includes the required documentation or URL sites where the 
documentation can be found.
    (1) Providing Full and Equal Access to Grassroots, Faith-Based and 
Other Community-Based Organizations in HUD Program Implementation. 
Please describe how the applicant encourages the involvement of faith-
based and community-based organizations in developing and implementing 
the proposed project, and the extent to which these groups participate 
in developing their work plans.
    (2) Ending Chronic Homelessness. Please describe how the program 
meets this policy priority. The applicant should be mindful of the 
requirements of the regulations implementing Section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act, in particular, 24 CFR 8.4(b)(1)(iv), 8.4(c)(1) and 
8.4(d).
    (3) Participation in Energy Star. To obtain the policy priority 
points for energy star, the applicant must set quantitative goals for 
activities such as replacing worn products or facilities such as light 
bulbs, water heaters, furnaces, etc., with Energy Star products to 
reduce operating costs.
    (4) Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing. To obtain 
the policy priority points for efforts to successfully remove 
regulatory barriers, applicants must complete form HUD-27300, 
``Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers.'' Copies of HUD's notices published on this issue, can be 
found on HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    Under this policy priority, higher rating points are available to:
    (a) Governmental applicants that are able to demonstrate successful 
efforts in removing regulatory barriers to affordable housing and
    (b) Nongovernmental applicants that are associated with 
jurisdictions that have undertaken successful efforts in removing 
barriers.
    3. Soundness of Collaborative Approach (Points 40). Up to 40 points 
will be awarded based on the extent to which the applicant collaborates 
with the identified partners to accomplish the goals described in 
response to this rating factor. (10 pages total):
    a. The applicant should provide memoranda of agreement that clearly 
specify the roles and signatures of the partners involved in this 
collaboration, including, but not limited to, law enforcement agencies, 
courts, substance abuse service systems and other supportive services 
organizations, sub-contractors, consultants, sub-recipients, and 
members of consortia. The memoranda are not included in the page 
limitation.
    b. How will the applicant work with the partners identified in the 
memoranda, the local Continuum of Care and partner agencies to develop 
and implement this program? How does this program support existing 
homeless and housing plans in the jurisdiction?
    c. What role will the police department, sheriffs department, 
superior court, city attorney, city council, and/or local hospitals 
have in identifying eligible clients? How will clients be referred to 
the program?
    d. How will the applicant and partners determine that the clients 
have lived on the streets for at least 365 days over the past five 
years and are addicted to alcohol? How will the applicant and partners 
determine that the clients have been living on the streets at the time 
of initial contact and have no history of living in transitional or 
permanent housing over the last five years?
    e. How will the applicant and partner providers determine if 
clients need to be stabilized in programs, such as residential 
treatment centers, detoxification centers or other jail diversion 
programs (for up to six months) before being placed into permanent 
housing? What role will the clients have in this determination?
    f. How will participants be assisted both to obtain and remain in 
permanent housing? How will housing be identified and how will the 
client be assisted in finding housing? What role will the limited 
housing search assistance provided through this initiative have in 
identifying suitable housing for the clients? What role will the 
clients have in selecting the permanent housing?
    g. What type of housing will be provided? How do the TYPE (e.g., 
apartments, group home) and SCALE (e.g. number of units, number of 
persons per unit) of the proposed housing will fit the needs of the 
participants? Will existing structures be utilized? If this will be an 
expansion of an existing project, what new housing will be available as 
a result of this initiative? How will the housing be accessible to 
persons with disabilities in accordance with applicable laws?
    h. Where will the housing be located? To what extent will the 
project integrate both the grantees and clients into the community 
being served?
    i. Has the applicant set goals to reduce operating costs through 
energy efficiency when selecting housing providers, treatment centers, 
and other community facilities? How will the applicant work with 
partner treatment centers, and housing providers to undertake program 
activities and capital maintenance planning, to replace worn products 
or facilities such as light bulbs, water heaters, furnaces, etc., with 
Energy Star products to reduce operating costs?
    j. If the applicant selected the permanent housing for persons with 
disabilities component where more than 16 persons will reside in a 
structure, what local market conditions necessitate the development of 
a project of this size and how the housing will be integrated into the 
neighborhood?
    k. If the applicant selected the innovative supportive housing 
component projects, explain how the

[[Page 14141]]

project represents an approach that is new to the area, is a sensible 
model for others, and can be replicated in other communities.
    l. What basic COMMUNITY AMENITIES (e.g., medical facilities, 
grocery store, recreation facilities, schools, etc.) will be readily 
ACCESSIBLE (e.g., walking distance, bus, etc.) to the clients?
    m. What supportive services (not funded through this grant) will 
the participants receive? Applicants must demonstrate how the 
comprehensive substance abuse treatment services will be made available 
for the clients through other public or private sources. Demonstrate 
for each of the following:
    (1) How the TYPE (e.g., case management, job training) and SCALE 
(e.g., the frequency and duration) of the supportive services proposed 
will fit the needs of the participants.
    (2) WHERE the supportive services will be provided and what 
TRANSPORTATION will be available to participants to access those 
services.
    (3) The details of the plan to ensure that all homeless clients 
will be individually assisted to identify, apply for and obtain 
benefits under which of the following mainstream health and social 
services programs for which they are eligible: SSI, TANF, Medicaid, 
Food Stamps, SCHIP, Workforce Investment Act and Veterans Health Care 
programs.
    n. How will participants be assisted both to increase their incomes 
and to maximize their ability to live independently and achieve self-
sufficiency? Please describe how services and treatment will be linked 
to housing so that the target population will be able to achieve his or 
her own degree of self sufficiency or quality of life.
    o. How is the proposed program a cost-effective approach to meeting 
the needs of the target population? In the attached budget, please 
indicate the housing, housing search assistance and administration 
(funded through this initiative) and services (not funded through this 
initiative), with the appropriate partner match.
    p. How is the proposed program innovative, as defined by the 
applicant? How is the program different from any other program in the 
community and is the program replicable?
    q. How will the project be sustained once the term of the grant has 
expired?
    4. Leveraging Resources (Points 20). Up to 20 points will be 
awarded based on the applicants' answers to the following (two pages 
total):
    a. What resources are the applicant and its partners bringing to 
the collaboration to achieve the goals and objectives?
    b. Please describe the expectations regarding federal grant support 
and maximization of other (non-grant) revenue relative to the proposed 
plan, including a description of leveraging resources.
    c. What is the total grant dollars per client/unit and total cost 
per client/unit?
    5. Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (Points 10). Applicants 
are required to complete HUD-96010, Program Outcome Logic Model. Up to 
10 points will be awarded to the extent that the applicant provides the 
following: (one page total):
    a. Goals, output and outcome measures that are clearly specified 
and measurable;
    b. Contact information for the lead entity responsible for each 
measure;
    c. Reasonable benchmarks to achieve the tasks with an accompanying 
timeline;
    d. Reasonable plan for measurement and timely adjustment if the 
applicant is not meeting the specific outcomes within the established 
timeframes;
    e. The extent to which performance feedback and continuous 
improvement are integral to the design of the proposed project;
    f. A plan for evaluating the effectiveness of the program.

B. Reviews and Selection Process

    Personnel of the Department of Housing and Urban Development will 
review Grant applications internally. The Assistant Secretary for 
Community Planning and Development will select the applications for 
award.
    1. Ranking: The score for all ranking factors will be summed to 
obtain a total score for each project submitted under this NOFA.
    2. Selection and Adjustments to Funding: a. Selection. Projects 
will be awarded based on national ranking as described above and 
according to the provisions for diversity described below. The awarding 
of funds may be conditional upon receipt of further information, as 
requested. When insufficient funds remain to fund all projects 
requesting funding that receive the same total score, ties will be 
broken among such projects by comparing scores received by the projects 
for each of the following scoring factors, in the order shown: 
Soundness of Collaborative Approach, Capacity, and Leveraging 
Resources. Please see section IV.A of the General Section for more 
information about award administration.
    b. Adjustments to Funding. In order to ensure maximum geographic 
diversity in the awards, no individual project applicant and no one 
unit of general local government will be awarded more than 10 percent 
of the total amount of available resources under this NOFA. HUD 
reserves the right to make selections out of rank order to provide for 
geographic distribution of funds.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    1. Selected Applicants. Selected applicants will be notified in 
writing. As necessary, selected applicants will subsequently be 
requested to submit additional project information, which may include 
documentation to show the project is financially feasible; 
documentation of firm commitments for cash match; documentation showing 
site control; information necessary for the performance of an 
environmental review, where applicable; and such other documentation as 
specified in writing to the applicant that confirms or clarifies 
information provided in the application. Selected applicants will be 
notified of the deadline for submission of additional information. If a 
selected applicant is unable to meet any conditions for fund award 
within the specified timeframe, those funds may be withdrawn and 
instead used to select the next highest ranked application(s) from the 
competition for which there are sufficient funds available.
    2. Corrections to Deficient Applications. See the General Section.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    Additional Non-discrimination and Other Requirements. You, the 
applicant, and your subrecipients must comply with:
    a. Civil Rights Laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act 
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.), the Age Discrimination Act of 1974 
(42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.) and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act 
of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.).
    b. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons 
(Section 3). Certain programs to be issued during FY2005 require 
recipients of assistance to comply with Section 3 of the Housing and 
Urban Development Act of 1968 (Section 3), 12 U.S.C. 1701u (Economic 
Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons in Connection with 
Assisted Projects) and the HUD regulations at 24 CFR part 135, 
including the reporting requirements at subpart E. Section 3 requires 
recipients to ensure that, to the greatest extent

[[Page 14142]]

feasible, training, employment, and other economic opportunities will 
be directed to low- and very-low income persons, particularly those who 
are recipients of government assistance for housing, and business 
concerns that provide economic opportunities to low- and very low-
income persons.
    c. Ensuring the Participation of Small Businesses, Small 
Disadvantaged Businesses, and Women-Owned Businesses. See the General 
Section.
    d. Executive Order 13166, ``Improving Access to Services for 
Persons With Limited English Proficiency (LEP).'' Executive Order 13166 
seeks to improve access to federally assisted services, programs and 
benefits for individuals with limited English proficiency. Applicants 
obtaining an award from HUD must seek to provide access to program 
benefits and information to LEP individuals through translation and 
interpretive services in accordance with LEP Guidance published on 
December 19, 2003 (68 FR 70968). For assistance and information 
regarding your LEP obligation, go to http://www.LEP.gov.
    e. Executive Order 13279, ``Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-
Based and Community Organizations.'' See the General Section.
    f. Accessible Technology. See the General Section.
    g. Procurement of Recovered Materials. See the General Section.
    h. Participation in HUD-Sponsored Program Evaluation. See the 
General Section.
    i. Salary Limitation for Consultants. See the General Section.
    j. OMB Circulars and Government-wide Regulations Applicable to 
Financial Assistance Programs. See the General Section.
    k. Conflicts of Interest. See the General Section.
    l. Relocation. The SHP program is subject to the requirements of 
the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition 
Policies Act of 1970, as amended (URA). If activities under this grant 
result in displacement or relocation, grantees must comply with URA. 
See General Section.
    m. Public Access, Documentation, and Disclosure. See the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA for more information on this topic.

C. Reporting

    See the General Section for more information. The applicant shall 
submit semiannual reports and a final report to HUD. For each reporting 
period, as part of your required report to HUD, you must include a 
completed Logic Model (Form 96010). HUD will use this information to 
determine progress of the grantees toward meeting their goals. Grantee 
performance will be measured by the number of persons who are serial 
inebriates that moved off the streets and were placed into permanent 
housing. It is expected that local evaluations will include measuring 
progress toward accomplishing the tasks described in the grant 
application and providing for collection of quantitative and 
qualitative data that permits measurement of progress toward achieving 
the outputs and outcomes envisioned by the goals and objectives 
contained in the application. Grantees must collect outcome information 
on clients served to be compared against benchmarks throughout the term 
of the grant.

VII. Agency Contact

    You may contact Marianne Nazzaro, Office of Special Needs, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Room 7208, 451 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410-7000; telephone (202) 708-1590, 
extension 2076 (this is not a toll-free number); e-mail [email protected]. This number can be accessed via TTY by calling the 
toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

    Paperwork Reduction Act Statement. The information collection 
requirements in this NOFA have been submitted to OMB for approval under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and approval 
is pending. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, an agency may not 
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a 
collection of information unless the collection displays a valid 
control number.

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BILLING CODE 4210-32-C

Assisted Living Conversion Program (ALCP) for Eligible Multifamily 
Housing Projects

Overview Information

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Housing Assistance and Grant Administration.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: The Assisted Living Conversion 
Program for Eligible Multifamily Projects.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The OMB Approval Number is: 2502-
0542. The Federal Register number for this NOFA is: FR-4950-N-06.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: The 
Assisted Living Conversion Program for Eligible Multifamily Housing 
Projects is 14.314.
    F. Dates: Application Deadline Date: The application must be 
submitted to HUD on June 22, 2005.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information: The purpose 
of this program is to provide grants for the conversion of some or all 
of the dwelling units in an eligible project into assisted living 
facilities (ALFs) for frail elderly persons. Private nonprofit owners 
of eligible developments interested in applying for funding under this 
grant program should carefully review the General Section and the 
detailed information listed in this program NOFA. Funding will only be 
provided for those items related to the conversion. There is no 
separate Application Kit for this NOFA.
    The ALCP will fund those applications that may impact Federal 
problem solving and policymaking and that are relevant to HUD's policy 
priorities and annual goals and objectives. (Refer to the General 
Section for discussion of these priorities and annual goals and 
objectives).

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Program Description. Assisted living facilities (ALFs) are designed 
to accommodate frail elderly persons and people with disabilities who 
need certain support services (e.g., assistance with eating, bathing, 
grooming, dressing, and home management activities). ALFs must provide 
support services such as personal care, transportation, meals, 
housekeeping, and laundry. Frail elderly person means an individual 62 
years of age or older who is unable to perform at least three 
activities of daily living (ADLs) as defined by the regulations for 
HUD's Section 202 Program (Supportive Housing for the Elderly) at 24 
CFR 891.205. Assisted living is defined in section 232(b)(6) of the 
National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715w).
    The ALCP provides funding for the physical costs of converting some 
or all of the units of an eligible multifamily development into an ALF, 
including unit configuration and related common and services space and 
any necessary remodeling, consistent with HUD or the state's statute/
regulations (whichever is more stringent). Typical funding will cover 
basic physical conversion of existing project units, as well as related 
common and services space. There must be sufficient community space to 
accommodate a central kitchen or dining facility, lounges, recreation, 
and other multiple-areas available to all residents of the project, or 
office/staff spaces in the ALF. When food is prepared at an off-site 
location, the preparation area of the facility must be of sufficient 
size to allow for the installation of a full kitchen, if necessary. You 
must provide supportive services for the residents either directly or 
through a third party. Your application must include a firm commitment 
for the supportive services to be offered within the ALF as part of the 
application. You may charge assisted living residents for meals and/or 
service fees. Residents may contract with third party agencies directly 
for nursing, therapy, or other services not offered by the ALF.
    The Assisted Living Conversion Program is authorized by Section 
202(b) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q-2) and the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Public Law 108-447, approved 
December 8, 2004. The FY2005 Appropriations Act provides $24,800,000 
which reflects a .008 percent across-the-board rescission pursuant to 
Public Law 108-447) for grants under Section 202b of the Housing Act of 
1959 for the conversion of eligible projects to assisted living or 
related use and for emergency capital repairs. The Department has set-
aside $25 million for emergency capital repairs. The eligibility 
requirements for obtaining funding for emergency capital repairs are 
described in a separate HUD Notice. Any unused funds from the emergency 
capital repairs set-aside will be returned to the funds allocated for 
eligible multifamily assisted projects.

II. Award Information

A. Available Funds

    This NOFA makes available approximately $35 million including 
carryover funds. Approximately $5,000,000 will be provided for the 
conversion of one unused or underutilized commercial property to an 
Assisted Living Facility. The remaining $30,000,000 will be fair shared 
and used for the physical conversion of eligible multifamily assisted 
housing projects or portions of projects to ALFs.
    The allocation formula used to fair share the $30,000,000 for the 
ALCP reflects demographic characteristics of age and incidence of 
frailty that would be expected for program participants. The FY2005 
formula consists of one data element from the 2000 decennial census: 
The number of non-institutional elderly population aged 75 years or 
older with a disability. A fair share factor for each state was 
developed by taking the sum of the persons aged 75 or older with a 
disability within each state as a percentage of the sum of the same 
number of persons for the total United States. The resulting percentage 
for each state was then adjusted to reflect the relative difference in 
the cost of providing housing among the states. The total of the grant 
funds available was multiplied by the adjusted fair share percentage 
for each state, and the resulting funds for each state were totaled for 
each Hub.
    The ALCP grant funds fair share allocations, based on the formula 
above, to the 18 multifamily Hubs are as shown on the following chart:

B. FY2005 Allocation

 FY 2005 Allocation for the Assisted Living Conversion Program (ALCP) of
                 Eligible Assisted Multifamily Projects
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Hub                            Grant authority
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boston...............................................      $1,588,725.95
Buffalo..............................................         746,836.56
New York.............................................       1,606,125.87
Philadelphia.........................................       3,065,533.23
Baltimore............................................       1,198,041.27
Greensboro...........................................       1,241,678.78
Atlanta..............................................       2,360,579.84
Jacksonville.........................................       3,173,145.72
Chicago..............................................       2,017,999.24
Columbus.............................................       1,301,531.19
Detroit..............................................       1,036,426.41
Minneapolis..........................................         985,420.01
Fort Worth...........................................       2,756,098.28
Kansas City..........................................       1,996,643.65
Denver...............................................         647,769.64
Los Angeles..........................................       1,649,145.84
San Francisco........................................       1,720,039.06

[[Page 14150]]

 
Seattle..............................................         908,259.47
                                                      ------------------
    Total............................................     $30,000,000.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The ALCP Grant Agreement, when fully executed, obligates and 
contracts the HUD funds. This Agreement establishes the legal 
relationship between HUD and the ALCP award recipient. The period of 
performance will be based on the scope of work but shall not exceed 18 
months.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Only private nonprofit owners of eligible multifamily assisted 
housing developments specified in section 683(2) (B), (C), (D), (E), 
(F), and (G) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (Pub. 
L.102-550, approved October 28, 1992) and private nonprofit owners of 
an unused or underutilized commercial property may apply for and become 
the recipient of an ALCP grant.

    Note: If your eligibility status changes during the course of 
the grant term, making you ineligible to receive the grant (e.g., 
prepayment of mortgage, sale/TPA of property, opting out of a 
Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contract, or the transfer 
of the grant to a single asset entity), HUD retains the right to 
terminate the grant and recover funds made available through this 
NOFA.


    1. Ineligible Applicants. Ineligible applicants are:
    a. Owners of developments designed specifically for people with 
disabilities.
    b. Owners of Section 232 developments.
    c. Property management companies and agents of property management 
companies.
    d. Limited dividend partnerships.
    e. Nonprofit Public Agencies.
    f. Owners of unused/underutilized hospitals or other health-related 
facility which are considered to be eleemosynary institutions rather 
than commercial enterprises.
    2. Eligible Developments. Eligible projects must be owned by a 
private, nonprofit entity and designated primarily for occupancy by 
elderly persons. Projects must have been in occupancy for at least five 
years from the date the form HUD-92485, Permission to Occupy Project 
Mortgage, was approved by HUD's Construction Manager as Chief 
Architect, and have completed final closing. Additionally, eligible 
projects must meet one of the following criteria:
    a. Section 202 direct loan projects with or without Section 8 
rental assistance,
    b. Section 202 capital advance projects receiving rental assistance 
under their Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC),
    c. Section 515 rural housing projects receiving Section 8 rental 
assistance,
    d. Other projects receiving Section 8 project-based rental 
assistance,
    e. Projects subsidized with Section 221(d)(3) below-market interest 
mortgage,
    f. Projects assisted under Section 236 of the National Housing Act.
    g. Unused and underutilized commercial properties owned by a 
private nonprofit.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    No matching required.

C. Other

    1. Eligible conversion activities are:
    a. Retrofitting to meet Section 504 accessibility requirements, 
minimum property standards for accessibility and/or building codes and 
health and safety standards for ALFs in that jurisdiction.
    Examples are items such as addition of:
    (1) Sprinkler systems;
    (2) An elevator or upgrades thereto;
    (3) Lighting upgrades;
    (4) Major physical or mechanical systems of projects necessary to 
meet local code or assisted living requirements;
    (5) Upgrading to accessible units for the ALF with moveable 
cabinetry, accessible appliances, sinks, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, 
closets, hardware and grab bars, widening of doors, etc.;
    (6) Upgrades to safety and emergency alert systems;
    (7) Addition of hallway railings; and
    (8) Medication storage and workstations;
    b. Retrofitting to add, modify and/or outfit common space, office 
or related space for ALF staff including a service coordinator and file 
security, and/or a central kitchen/dining facility to support the ALF 
function (e.g., outfit lounge/common space/dining furniture, kitchen 
equipment for cooking/serving and dishware).
    c. Retrofitting to upgrade a regular unit to an accessible unit for 
a person/family with disabilities who is being displaced from an 
accessible unit in the portion of the project that is being converted 
to the ALF, where another accessible unit is not available.
    d. Temporary relocation (not applicable to commercial property).
    e. Consultant, architectural, and legal fees.
    f. Vacancy payments not more than 30 days after conversion to an 
ALF.
    g. Any excess Residual Receipts (over $500/unit) and Reserve for 
Replacement funds (over $1000/unit) in Project Accounts that are not 
approved for another use at the time of application to HUD under this 
NOFA are considered available funds and must be applied toward the cost 
of conversion activities. Before making this determination, however, 
HUD staff will consider the extent of repair/replacement needs 
indicated in the most recent Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) 
physical inspection and not yet approved and any ongoing commitments 
such as non-grant-based service coordinator or other funding, where 
existing, deduct the estimated costs of such items from the reserve for 
replacement and residual receipts balances to determine the extent of 
available residual receipts and reserve for replacement funds for the 
ALCP. (This paragraph is not applicable to commercial properties.)
    2. Threshold Requirements. In addition to the threshold criteria 
outlined in the General Section, applicants must meet the following 
requirements to receive funding for this program.
    a. Be an eligible applicant. HUD will only award funding to 
eligible applicants.
    b. You cannot request more funds than allocated for your 
jurisdiction. (See the allocation chart above in Section II.B.)
    c. You must provide commitment and funding support letters from the 
appropriate funding organizations and the appropriate licensing 
agency(ies). HUD will reject your application if the commitment and 
support letter(s) from the appropriate funding organizations and the 
appropriate licensing agency(ies):
    (1) Are not submitted by the application submission date as part of 
your application for financial assistance;
    (2) Indicate that the ALF units, facilities, meals and supportive 
services to be provided are not designed to meet the special needs of 
the residents who will reside in the ALF as defined in this NOFA.
    (3) Do not show commitment for funding the meals and supportive 
services proposed; or
    (4) Indicate that the project as proposed will not meet the 
licensing requirements of the appropriate state/local agency(ies).

[[Page 14151]]

    d. You must comply with all applicable statutory requirements to 
the project specified in Section 202(b) and statutory requirements 
under Section 232(b)(6).
    e. Minimum Size Limits for an ALF. An ALF must be economically 
feasible. Consistent with HUD Handbook 4600.1, CHG-1, the minimum size 
for an ALF is five units.
    f. You must submit an original and four copies of your completed 
ALCP application, if you requested and received a waiver of the 
electronic submission requirement.
    3. Program Requirements. a. Have a residual receipts account 
separate from the Reserve for Replacement account, or agree to 
establish this account as a condition for getting an award(s).
    b. You must be in compliance with your Loan Agreement, Capital 
Advance Agreement, Regulatory Agreement, Housing Assistance Payment 
contract, Project Rental Assistance Contract, Rent Supplement or LMSA 
contract, or any other HUD grant or contract document. (Not applicable 
to applicants of unused and underutilized commercial property.)
    c. You must file a form HUD-2530 for all construction contractors, 
architects, consultants, and service provider organizations under 
direct contract with you that will be engaged under this NOFA.
    d. Your project must meet HUD's Uniform Physical Conditions 
Standards at 24 CFR part 5, subpart G. Meeting these standards as 
described, means that the project, based on the most recent REAC 
physical inspection report and responses thereto, must have a 
``satisfactory'' rating as evidenced by a score of 60 or better or a 
HUD-approved and on schedule repair plan for developments scoring less 
than 60. Additionally, the project must have no uncorrected and 
outstanding Exigent Health and Safety violations. Finally, the project 
must not have on file a management review with a rating of ``minimally 
satisfactory'' or ``unsatisfactory'' with open and unresolved findings. 
(Not applicable to applicants of unused or underutilized commercial 
property)
    e. You must submit an agreement to pursue appropriate ALF licensing 
in a timely manner.
    f. Meals and Supportive Services. You must develop and submit a 
Supportive Services Plan (SSP) for the services and coordination of the 
supportive services, which will be offered in the ALF to the 
appropriate state or local organization(s), which are expected to fund 
those supportive services. (See below in Section IV.B.8.for 
information, which must be in the SSP.) You must submit one copy of 
your SSP to each appropriate state or local service funding 
organizations well in advance of the application deadline, for 
appropriate review. The state or local funding organization(s) must 
return the SSP to you with appropriate comments and an indication of 
the funding commitment, which you will then include with the 
application you submit to HUD.
    g. Licensing Requirements. You must ALSO submit the SSP to the 
appropriate organization(s), which license ALFs in your jurisdiction. 
The licensing agency(ies) must approve your plan, and must also certify 
that the ALF and the proposed supportive services identified in your 
SSP, are consistent with local statute and regulations and well 
designed to serve the needs of the frail elderly and people with 
disabilities who will reside in the ALF portion of your project.
    h. Your ALF facility must be licensed and regulated by the state 
(or if there is no state law providing such licensing and regulation, 
by the municipality or other subdivision in which the facility is 
located). Each assisted living unit must include its own kitchen, 
bathroom, bedroom, living/dining area (1 bedroom unit) or kitchen, 
bathroom, bedroom/living/dining area (efficiency unit) and must meet 
the state and/or local licensing, building, zoning, and other 
requirements for an ALF.
    i. Your ALF must be available to qualified elderly persons and 
persons with disabilities, consistent with the rules and payment plans 
of the state, who need and want the supportive services in order to 
remain independent and avoid premature institutionalization.
    j. Your ALF's residents must be tenants or residents of the 
multifamily project and must comply with the requirements applicable to 
the project. Thus, you cannot charge additional rent over what is 
charged to residents in the non-ALF portion of the project. All 
admissions to the ALF must be through the applicable project admissions 
office. However, persons accepted into the ALF also must sign an ALF 
admissions agreement, which shall be an addendum to the applicable 
project lease. (Not applicable to applicants of unused or underutilized 
commercial property.)
    k. At a minimum, your ALF must provide room, board, and continuous 
protective oversight (CPO). CPO involves a range of activities and 
services that may include such things as awareness by management and 
staff of the occupant's condition and location as well as an ability to 
intervene in a crisis for dependent and relatively independent 
occupants on a 24-hour basis.
    The two occupant groups in an ALF are:
    (1) Independent Occupants. Awareness by management and staff of the 
occupant's condition and whereabouts as well as the availability of 
assistance for the occupants as needed.
    (2) Dependent occupants. Supervision of nutrition, assistance with 
medication and continuous responsibility for the occupants' welfare.
    l. Anyone moving into an ALF unit must agree to accept as a 
condition of occupancy the board and services required for the purpose 
of complying with state and local law and regulation.

m. Your ALF must provide three meals per day to each resident.

    (1) Residents whose apartments have kitchens must take at least the 
number of meals a day provided by the facility, per their mandatory 
meals requirement, or as required by state or local rules, if more 
stringent. If the facility does not have a mandatory meals plan, then 
state and local rules govern.
    (2) Residents in projects which were originally constructed without 
kitchens in their units must take such meals as required by their 
mandatory meals agreement, or by the state's mandated requirements if 
more stringent (e.g., two meals, two snacks daily).
    In either case, ALF management must coordinate meal requirements 
with the needs of residents who are out part of the day (e.g., in day 
care). The meal program may not be operated at a profit by the project 
owner.
    n. Priority admissions for ALF units are as follows: (Not 
applicable to applicants of unused or underutilized commercial 
structures.)
    (1) Current residents desiring an ALF unit and meeting the program 
requirements (no resident can be required to accept an ALF unit).
    (2) Qualified individuals or families needing ALF services who are 
already on the project's waiting list;
    (3) Qualified individuals or families in the community needing ALF 
services wanting to be added to the project's waiting list.
    (4) Qualified disabled non-elderly persons needing assisted living 
services are eligible to occupy these units on the same basis as 
elderly persons, except for section 202 project rental assistance 
contracts (PRAC) projects and unused/underutilized commercial 
properties.
    o. The management of the project must set up a separate waiting 
list for ALF units. ALF units must be for

[[Page 14152]]

eligible residents who meet the admissions/discharge requirements as 
established for assisted living by state and local licensing, or HUD 
frailty requirements under 24 CFR 891.205 if more stringent.
    p. Upon receipt of a grant under this program, all project owners 
participating in the ALCP must provide a Declaration of Restrictive 
Covenants (DRC), which will be recorded with the land, to retain the 
low income character of the housing, and to maintain the project 
(including the ALF), as a moderate-, low-, or very low-income facility 
(as appropriate) for at least 20 years beyond the current 40-to 50-year 
term of the mortgage loan or capital advance. Recipients of grant funds 
to convert unused or underutilized commercial property must provide a 
DRC for at least 20 years or for the term of the mortgage on the 
property whichever is longer.
    q. The ALCP requires service coordination for linking the ALF to 
available services in the community for low-income persons. All 
projects funded under this NOFA must have sufficient service 
coordination in place, or request additional funds, if appropriate, to 
ensure that services meeting licensing requirements are available to 
ALF residents on an ongoing basis. Service coordination must be 
described in the application (see Section IV.B.8.b. and c. of this 
NOFA). If you need to enhance an existing service coordination program 
or add one where it does not exist, you may apply for funding through 
the Service Coordinator NOFA, published elsewhere in the SuperNOFA, and 
attach a copy of the form SF-424 indicating the request to the ALCP 
application. Alternatively, you may show evidence that funding for the 
enhanced service coordination is provided by other sources and indicate 
such funding on the form SF-424 which is exhibit 10(a) of your ALF 
application. If you are funded under this NOFA and requested new or 
enhanced service coordination you will be funded first under the 
service coordinator NOFA.
    (1) The ALF must be staffed either directly or through coordination 
with local agencies, depending on state regulations or local 
requirements. These may also serve non-ALF residents of the project on 
a time available and appropriate fee basis.
    (2) If you are a Section 202 PRAC project owner or an owner with 
unused or underutilized commercial properties, you are NOT eligible to 
request funding under the service coordinator NOFA. Section 202 PRAC 
owners can pay for the service coordinator out of PRAC funds.
    (3) The ALF may cater to the special needs of residents depending 
on their condition or diagnosis, such as Alzheimer's disease. If it 
does so, the design/environment of such facilities must accommodate 
those needs, e.g., dementia special care unit. However, the ALF cannot 
provide a service it is not licensed by the state or locality to 
provide.
    (4) Owners of Section 202/PRAC projects are reminded that they may 
include a PRAC payment of up to $15/unit/month not to exceed 15 percent 
of the total program cost, consistent with 24 CFR 891.225(b)(2) to 
cover part of the cost of meals and/or supportive services for frail 
elderly residents, including residents of the ALF.
    (5) Training for ALF staff is an eligible project cost under 
existing operating procedures.
    For further information on ALFs, please refer to Handbook 4600.1, 
CHG-1, ``Mortgage Insurance for Residential Care Facilities,'' Chapter 
13. This Handbook and recent ALF program Notices are accessible through 
HUDCLIPS on HUD's Web site. The URL for the HUDCLIPS Database Selection 
Screen is http://www.hudclips.org/cgi/index.cgi. These notices are in 
the Handbooks and Notices--Housing Notices database. Enter only the 
number without the letter prefix (e.g., 99-16) in the ``Document 
number'' to retrieve the program notice.
    For further guidance on service coordinators, please refer to 
Handbook 4381.5 REV-2, CHANGE-2, Chapter 8, ``The Management Agent's 
Handbook,'' which is also available through the HUDCLIPS database.
    r. Your ALF's operation must be part of the project owner's 
management organization. Some or all of its functions may be contracted 
out. The ALF must predicate its budget on a two-tiered structure under 
which board and supportive service income and expenses must be 
maintained separately and independently from the regular income and 
expenses of the applicable project. The two components of ALF costs 
are:
    (1) Charges/payment for board, which may be on a sliding scale or 
any other equitable fee system; and
    (2) Charges/payment for necessary supportive services, which may 
include a combination of resident fees, Medicaid and/or other third 
party payments.
    s. Prohibition Against Lobbying Activities. The Byrd Amendment 
prohibits ALCP recipients of Federal contracts, grants, or loans from 
using appropriated funds for lobbying activities. (Refer to Section 
III.C. of the General Section for further instructions regarding this 
requirement.)
    4. Additional Non-discrimination and Other Requirements. Comply 
with the requirements of the Fair Housing Act, Executive Order 11063, 
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, 
Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 
1701u) and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 135, the 
affirmative fair housing marketing requirements of 24 CFR part 200, 
subpart M, and the implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 108, which 
requires that the project be marketed to those least likely to apply, 
including those who are not generally served by the agency 
administering the program, and other applicable federal, state, and 
local laws prohibiting discrimination and promoting equal opportunity, 
including affirmatively furthering fair housing, and other 
certifications listed in the application. (Refer to Section III.C.4.of 
the General Section for additional requirements and information.)
    a. Comply with section 232 of the National Housing Act, as 
applicable; the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (24 CFR 40.7); 
section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and HUD's implementing 
regulations at 24 CFR part 8; and the Americans with Disabilities Act 
of 1990 for all portions of the development physically affected by this 
proposal.
    b. Comply with the Davis-Bacon requirements and the Contract Work 
Hours and Safety Standards Act as applied to this program. While it has 
been determined that Davis-Bacon does not apply statutorily to the 
ALCP, the Department has administratively determined that Davis-Bacon 
standards and overtime rates in accordance with the Contract Work Hours 
and Safety Standards Act will be adhered to in any ALCP conversion 
grant in which the total cost of the physical conversion to an ALF (and 
including any additional renovation work undertaken at the same time) 
is $500,000 or more (this includes ALCP grant funds, owner funds, or 
any third party funds loaned or granted in support of the conversion or 
other renovation for the project associated with this grant), AND in 
which the ALF portion of the project is 12 units or more.
    c. Ensuring the Participation of Small Business, Small 
Disadvantaged Businesses, and Woman-Owned Businesses. HUD is committed 
to ensuring that small businesses, small disadvantage businesses, and 
woman-owned businesses participate fully in HUD's direct contracting 
and in

[[Page 14153]]

contracting opportunities generated by HUD's financial assistance. 
(Refer to the General Section for further instructions regarding this 
requirement.)
    d. Executive Order 13166, Improving Access to Persons with Limited 
English Proficiency (LEP). ALCP applicants must seek to improve access 
to persons with limited English proficiency by providing materials and 
information in languages other than English.
    e. Executive Order 13279, Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-
Based and Community Organizations. HUD has undertaken a review of all 
policies and regulations that have implications for faith-based and 
community organizations, and has established a policy priority to 
provide full and equal access to grassroots faith-based and other 
community-based organizations. (Refer to Section III.C. of the General 
Section for specific instructions regarding this requirement.)
    f. Accessible Technology. The Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 
apply to all electronic information technology (EIT) used by an ALCP 
recipient for transmitting, receiving, using, or storing information to 
carry out the responsibilities of the ALCP awards. (Refer to Section 
III.C. of the General Section for specific instructions regarding this 
requirement.)
    g. Participation in HUD-Sponsored Program Evaluation. As a 
condition of the receipt of ALCP funds, successful applicants are 
required to cooperate with all HUD staff or contractors performing HUD-
funded research and evaluation studies.
    h. Comply with Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open 
Competition and Government Neutrality toward Government Contractors' 
Labor Relations on Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects. 
(Refer to the General Section for additional information on this 
requirement).
    i. OMB Circulars and Government-wide Regulations Applicable to 
Financial Assistance. ALCP applicants are subject to the Administrative 
Requirements of OMB Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments 
and Non-Profit Organizations; OMB Circular A-122, Cost Principles for 
Non-Profit Institutions; the administrative requirements of 24 CFR part 
84; and the procurement requirements of 24 CFR 84.44. (Refer to the 
General Section for additional information on this requirement).
    j. Environmental Requirements. Your ALCP application is subject to 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and applicable related 
federal environmental authorities. (See 24 CFR part 50, as applicable.) 
An environmental review will be completed by HUD before awarding any 
grant under this program. ALCP projects are 'critical actions' for 
purposes of 24 CFR part 55 and must comply with requirements applicable 
to 'critical actions.' Including floodplain management review 
requirements, if proposed to be carried out in the 500-year floodplain.
    k. Make applications and other materials available in languages 
other than English that are common in the community, if speakers of 
these languages are found in significant numbers and come into frequent 
contact with the program. For further guidance on serving persons with 
Limited English Proficiency (LEP) in HUD assisted programs, see the 
recently published HUD LEP guidance, 'Notice of Guidance to Federal 
Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National 
Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons,'' 
68 FR 70968 (December 19, 2003) or Section III of the General Section.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses to Request Application Package

    All information for requesting an application is included in this 
NOFA and Section IV. A. of the General Section. The application for the 
ALCP is available on the Internet from the grants.gov Web site at 
http://www.grants.gov/FIND. If you have difficulty accessing the 
information, you can receive customer support from Grants.gov by 
calling the help line at (800) 518-Grants or by sending an e mail to 
[email protected]. If you do not have access, you may obtain an ALCP 
application by calling the NOFA Information Center at (voice) 800-HUD-
8929 (800-483-8929). Persons with a hearing or speech impairment may 
call the Center's TTY number at 800-HUD-2209. Please be sure to provide 
your name, address (including zip code), and telephone number 
(including area code).
    1. Application Kits. There is no application kit for the ALCP. All 
the information you need to apply for this program is available in this 
NOFA and available on http://www.grants.gov/Apply. (Refer to Section 
IV. A. of the General Section for further information.)
    2. For Technical Assistance. Before the ALCP application due date, 
HUD staff will be available to provide you with general guidance and 
technical assistance. However, HUD staff is not permitted to assist in 
preparing your application. For technical support for downloading the 
ALCP application or submitting the application, call the toll free 
Grants.gov Customer Support line at 1-800-518-Grants or send an email 
message to [email protected].

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    There are ten required exhibits under the ALCP, including 
prescribed forms and certifications. In cases where your articles of 
incorporation and by-laws have NOT changed since the project was 
originally approved by HUD, your signature on the SF-424 signifies that 
you are self-certifying to that effect--that the documents on file with 
HUD are current--is sufficient. Exhibits for which self-certification 
of currency is possible are denoted below by double asterisks (**.)
    In addition to the relief of paperwork burden, you will not have to 
submit certain new/recent information and exhibits you have previously 
prepared. See individual item descriptions, below to identify such 
items. An example of such an item may be the FY2003 Annual Financial 
Statement. Your application must include all of the information, 
materials, forms, and exhibits listed below (Please see the General 
Section for instructions on how to submit third party and other 
documents such as Articles of Incorporation; by-laws; copies of 
original plans; evidence of financial commitment; letter(s) from zoning 
officials; etc. ):
    1. Application Summary for the Assisted Living Conversion Program, 
Form HUD-92045, and evidence that you are a private nonprofit 
organization or nonprofit consumer cooperative and have the legal 
ability to operate an ALF program, per the following:
    a. Articles of Incorporation, constitution, or other organizational 
documents, or self-certification of these documents if there has been 
no change in the Articles since they were originally filed with HUD** 
and
    b. By-laws, or self-certification of by-laws, if there has been no 
change in the by-laws since they were originally filed with HUD**
    2. A description of your community support:
    a. A description of your links to the community at large and to the 
minority and elderly communities in particular; and
    b. A description of your efforts to involve elderly persons, 
including minority elderly persons and persons with disabilities in:
    (1) The development of the application;

[[Page 14154]]

    (2) The development of the ALF operating philosophy;
    (3) Review of the application prior to submission to HUD; and
    (4) Your intent whether or not to involve eligible ALF residents in 
the operation of the project.
    c. A description of your involvement in your community's 
Consolidated Planning and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing (AI) 
processes including:
    (1) An identification of the lead/facilitating agency(ies) that 
organizes and/or administers the process;
    (2) A listing of the Consolidated Plan/AI issue areas in which you 
participate; and
    (3) The level of your participation in the process, including 
active involvement with any neighborhood-based organizations, 
associations, or any committees that support programs and activities 
that enhance projects or the lives of residents of the projects, such 
as the one proposed in your application.
    If you are not currently active, describe the specific steps you 
will take to become active in the Consolidated Planning and AI 
processes. (Consult the local HUD office for the identification of the 
Consolidated Plan community process for the appropriate area.)
    d. A description of how the assisted living facility will implement 
practical solutions that will result in assisting residents in 
achieving independent living and improved living environment. The 
description should include a discussion of performance goals with 
performance indicators (refer to Section V.B. of the General Section 
for further detail).
    e. A description of how you have supported state and local efforts 
to streamline processes and procedures in the removal of regulatory 
barriers to affordable housing. To obtain up to 2 points for this 
policy priority you must complete the Form HUD-27300, Questionnaire for 
HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory Barriers and provide the 
required documentation. See Rating Factor 3 in Section V.A.3 of this 
NOFA for more details
    3. Evidence of your project being occupied for at least five years 
prior to the date of application to HUD. (Not applicable to applicants 
of unused or underutilized commercial property.)
    4. A market analysis of the need for the proposed ALF units, 
including information from both the project and the housing market, 
containing:
    a. Evidence of need for the ALF by current project residents: (Not 
applicable to applicants of unused or underutilized commercial 
property.)
    (1) A description of the demographic characteristics of the elderly 
residents currently living in the project, including the current number 
of residents, distribution of residents by age, race, and sex, an 
estimate of the number of residents with frailties/limitations in 
activities of daily living, and an estimate of the number of residents 
in need of assisted living services. (Not applicable to applicants of 
unused or underutilized commercial property.)
    (2) A description of the services currently available to the 
residents and/or provided on or off-site and what services are lacking; 
(Not applicable to applicants of unused or underutilized commercial 
property.)
    b. Evidence of the need for ALF units by very low-income elderly 
and disabled households in the market area; a description of the trend 
in elderly and disabled population and household change; data on the 
demographic characteristics of the very low-income elderly in need of 
assisted living services (age, race, sex, household size, and tenure) 
and extent of residents with frailty/limitations in existing federally 
assisted housing for the elderly (HUD and Rural Housing Service); and 
an estimate of the very low-income elderly and disabled in need of 
assisted living taking into consideration any available state or local 
data.
    c. A description of the extent, types, and availability and cost of 
alternate care and services locally, such as home health care; adult 
day care; housekeeping services; meals programs; visiting nurses; on-
call transportation services; health care; and providers of supportive 
services who address the needs of the local low income population.
    d. A description of how information in the community's Analysis of 
Impediments to Fair Housing Choice was used in documenting the need for 
the ALF (covering items in c. above.
    5. A description of the physical construction aspects of the ALF 
conversion, including the following:
    a. How you propose to carry out the physical conversion (including 
a timetable and relocation planning). Completion of Exhibit 10(i.) 
Logic Model will assist in completing your response to this Exhibit.
    b. A short narrative stating the number of units, special design 
features, community and office space/storage, dining and kitchen 
facility and staff space, and the physical relationship to the rest of 
the project. Also, you must describe how this design will facilitate 
the delivery of services in an economical fashion in the most 
integrated setting appropriate to the needs of the participating 
residents with disabilities and accommodate the changing needs of the 
residents over at least the next 10 years.
    c. A description on how the project will promote energy efficiency, 
including any plans to incorporate energy efficiency features in the 
design and operation of the ALF through the use of Energy Star labeled 
products and appliances. Applicants that meet this policy priority will 
receive two points under Rating Factor 3 in Section V.A.3 of this NOFA. 
Refer to the General Section for further information on this 
requirement or for further information about Energy Star see http://www.energystar.gov.
    d. A copy of the original plans for all units and other areas of 
the development, which will be included in the conversion. (If you are 
applying to convert an unused or underutilized commercial facility to 
assisted living, provide a copy of the original plans of the facility 
as well as a copy of the plans of the facility as most recently 
operated, if different).
    e. A description of the conversion must clearly address how the 
units will conform to the accessibility requirements described in the 
Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS). (For example, all door 
openings must have a minimum clear opening of 32 inches; and, all 
bathrooms and kitchens must be accessible to and functional for persons 
in wheelchairs.)
    f. Architectural sketches of the conversion to a scale of \1/4\ 
inch to one foot that indicate the following:
    (1) All doors being widened;
    (2) Typical kitchen and bathroom reconfiguration: show all 
wheelchair clearances, wall reinforcing, grab bars, and elevations of 
counters and work surfaces;
    (3) Bedroom/living/dining area modification, if needed;
    (4) Any reconfigured common space;
    (5) Added/reconfigured office and storage space;
    (6) Monitoring stations, and
    (7) The kitchen and dining facility.
    All architectural modifications must meet section 504 and ADA 
requirements as appropriate.
    g. A budget showing estimated costs for materials, supplies, 
fixtures, and labor for each of the items listed in Section IV.B.5.f, 
items (1) through (7), above.
    h. Include firm financial commitment letters with specific dollar 
amounts from appropriate organization(s) for conversion needs (within 
the scope of the ALF conversion NOFA) which will be supported by non-
HUD funding.

[[Page 14155]]

    i. A description of any relocation of current tenants including a 
statement that: (Not applicable to applicants of unused or 
underutilized commercial property.)
    (1) Indicates the estimated cost of temporary relocation payments 
and other related services;
    (2) Identifies the staff organization that will carry out the 
relocation activities; and
    (3) Identifies all tenants that will have to be temporarily moved 
to another unit within the development OR from the development during 
the period that the physical conversion of the project is under way.

    Note: If any of the relocation costs will be funded from sources 
other than the alcp grant, you must provide evidence of a firm 
financial commitment of these funds. When evaluating applications, 
HUD will consider the total cost of proposals (i.e., cost of 
conversion, temporary relocation, service coordinator, and other 
project costs).


    6. A description of any retrofit or renovation that will be done at 
the project (with third party funds) that is separate and distinct from 
the ALF conversion. With such description, include as part of your 
application submission firm commitment letters from third party 
organizations in specific dollar amounts that will cover the cost of 
any work outside the scope of this NOFA.
    7. A letter from the local zoning official indicating evidence of 
permissive zoning. Also, showing that the modifications to include the 
ALF into the project as proposed are permissible under applicable 
zoning ordinances or regulations.
    8. A supportive services plan (SSP), a copy of which must be 
submitted to the appropriate state and/or local agency as instructed in 
Section III.C.3.f. above in this NOFA. For those applicants needing to 
contact state Medicaid offices, a list is provided on the Internet at 
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicaid. The SSP must include:
    a. A description of the supportive services needed for the frail 
elderly the ALF is expected to serve. This must include at least (1) 
meals and such other supportive services required locally or by the 
state, and (2) such optional services or care to be offered on an ``as 
needed'' basis.
    Examples of both mandatory and optional services (which will vary 
from state to state) are: two meals and two snacks or three meals 
daily; 24-hour protective oversight; personal care; housekeeping 
services; personal counseling, and transportation.
    b. A description of how you will provide the supportive services to 
those who are frail and have disabilities (i.e., on or off-site or 
combination of on or off-site), including an explanation of how the 
service coordination role will facilitate the adequate provision of 
such services to ALF residents, and how the services will meet the 
identified needs of the residents. Also indicate how you intend to fund 
the service coordinator role.
    c. A description of how the operation of your ALF will work. 
Address: (1) General operating procedures; (2) ALF philosophy and how 
it will promote the autonomy and independence of the frail elderly and 
persons with disabilities; (3) what will the service coordination 
function do and the extent to which this function already exists, or 
will be augmented or new; (4) ALF staff training plans; and (5) the 
degree to which and how the ALF will relate to the day-to-day 
operations of the rest of the project.
    d. The monthly individual rate for board and supportive services 
for the ALF listing the total fee and components of the total fee for 
the items required by state or local licensing, and list the 
appropriate rate for any optional services you plan to offer to the ALF 
residents. Provide an estimate of the total annual costs of the 
required board and supportive services you expect to provide and an 
estimate of the amount of optional services you expect to provide.
    e. List who will pay for the board and supportive services and the 
amount. For example, include such items as:
    (1) Meals by sponsors--$20.
    (2) Housekeeping services by the City government--$30.
    (3) Personal care by State Department of Health--$60.
    (4) Service paid for by state program--$40.
    (5) Fees paid by tenants--$83.
    The amounts and commitments from both tenants and/or providers must 
equal the estimated amounts necessary to cover the monthly rates for 
the number of people expected to be served. If you include tenant fees 
in the proposal, list and show any proposed scaling mechanism. All 
amounts committed/collected must equal the annualized cost of the 
monthly rates calculated by the expected percentage of units filled.
    f. A support/commitment letter from EACH listed proposed funding 
source per paragraph e. above, for the planned meals and supportive 
services listed in the application. The letter must cover the total 
planned annual commitment (and multiyear amount total, if different), 
length of time for the commitment, and the amounts payable for each 
service covered by the provider/paying organization. There must be a 
letter from EACH participating organization listed in paragraph e, 
above.
    g. A support letter from EACH governmental agency that provides 
licensing for ALFs in that jurisdiction.
    h. A description of your relevant experience in arranging for and/
or delivering supportive services to frail residents. (If you are 
applying to convert an unused or underutilized commercial facility to 
assisted living, provide information on your relevant experience in 
arranging for and/or delivering supportive services to frail elderly 
persons). The description should include any supportive services 
facilities owned/operated; your past or current involvement in any 
project-based programs that demonstrates your management capabilities. 
The description should include data on the facilities and specific 
meals and/or supportive services provided on a regular basis, the 
racial/ethnic composition of the populations served, if available, and 
information and testimonials from residents or community leaders on the 
quality of the services.

    Note: If a funds request for service coordination for the ALF 
and/or the whole project is included as part of this application, 
the Form SF-424, indicating the dollars requested must be attached 
as Exhibit 10(a). Do NOT attach the whole service coordinator 
application.


    9. A description of your project's resources: (Items (9)(a)-(b) are 
not applicable to applicants of unused or underutilized commercial 
property.)
    a. A copy of the most recent project Reserve and Replacement 
account statement, and a Reserve for Replacement analysis showing plans 
for its use over the next five years, and any approvals received from 
the HUD field office to date.
    b. A copy of the most recent Residual Receipts Account statement. 
Indicate any approvals for the use of such receipts from the field 
office for over $500/unit.
    c. Annual Financial Statement (AFS). If your FY2005 AFS was due to 
REAC more than 120 days BEFORE the due date for this application, in 
the interest of reducing work burden, only include the date that it was 
sent to REAC. If the AFS was due to REAC 120 days or less from the due 
date of this application, you MUST include a paper copy of your AFS. 
For commercial properties, submit the most recent financial statement 
or annual report.

[[Page 14156]]

    10. Forms and Certifications. The following exhibits, forms, 
certifications, and assurances are required:
    a. Form SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance*, and compliance 
with Executive Order 12372 (a certification that you have submitted a 
copy of your application, if required, to the state agency (Single 
Point of Contact) for state review in accordance with Executive Order 
12372 (refer to the General Section for instructions in submitting this 
form).
    b. SF-424 Supplement, Survey for Ensuring Equal Opportunity for 
Applicants*.
    c. Form HUD-424-CB, Grant Applications Detailed Budget*.
    d. Form HUD-424-CBW, Grant Application Detailed Budget worksheet*.
    e. Form HUD-2880, Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report*, 
including Social Security and Employment Identification numbers. A 
disclosure of assistance from other government sources received in 
connection with the project.
    f. Form HUD-2991, Certification of Consistency with the 
Consolidated Plan* for the jurisdiction in which the proposed ALF will 
be located. The certification must be made by the unit of general local 
government if it is required to have, or has, a complete Plan. 
Otherwise, the certification may be made by the state, or by the unit 
of general local government if the project will be located within the 
jurisdiction of the unit of general local government authorized to use 
an abbreviated strategy, and if it is willing to prepare such a Plan.
    All certifications must be made by the public official responsible 
for submitting the plan to HUD. The certifications must be submitted by 
the application submission deadline date set forth herein. The Plan 
regulations are published in 24 CFR part 91.
    g. Form HUD-2530, Previous Participation Certification. This form 
will provide HUD with a report of all your previous participation in 
HUD multifamily projects. This is in addition to the ``Name Check 
Review'' process. Refer to the General Section for information on this 
requirement under ``Name Check Review''.
    h. Standard Form-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities*.
    i. Form HUD-96010, Program Outcome Logic Model*.
    j. Form HUD-27300, Removal of Regulatory Barriers* (and supporting 
documentation).
    k. Certification of Consistency with RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan 
(HUD-2990), if applicable.
    l. Form HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal Cover Page. This form must 
be used as part of the electronic application to transmit third party 
documents and other information as described in the General Section as 
part of your electronic application submittal (if applicable).
    *Copies of these forms may be found in the General Section. The 
electronic version of the NOFA contains all forms required for 
submitting the ALCP application. The form SF-424-B, Assurances and 
Certifications, is no longer required as a separate submission. Refer 
to the General Section for further information on this requirement.

C. Submission Date and Time

    1. Application Submission Date. Beginning this year, and unless you 
received a waiver to the electronic application submission 
requirements, your completed ALCP application must be submitted through 
the http://www.grants.gov/Apply and must be received by Grants.gov no 
later than 11:59:59 Eastern Time on the application submission date. 
(Refer to Section IV.F. of the General Section for further instructions 
on the delivery and receipt of applications.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    1. Executive Order 12372. ALCP applicants are subject to the 
Executive Order 12372 process. Standard Form 424, Application for 
Federal Assistance, includes compliance with Executive Order 12372 (a 
certification that you have submitted a copy of your application, if 
required, to the state agency (Single Point of Contact) for state 
review. (Also, refer to Section IV.D. of the General Section for 
instructions on the intergovernmental review process.)
    2. You must submit a Supportive Services Plan (SSP) for the 
services and coordination of the supportive services that will be 
offered in the assisted living facility (ALF) to the appropriate state 
or local organization(s), which are expected to fund those supportive 
services. You must submit one copy of your SSP to each appropriate 
state or local service funding organizations well in advance of the 
application deadline, for appropriate review. The state or local 
funding organization(s) must return the SSP to you with appropriate 
comments and an indication of the funding commitment, which you will 
then include with the application you submit to HUD.
    You must ALSO submit the SSP to the appropriate organization(s) 
that license ALFs in your jurisdiction. The licensing agency(ies) must 
approve your plan, and must also certify that the ALF and the proposed 
supportive services identified in your SSP, are consistent with local 
statute and regulations and well designed to serve the needs of the 
frail elderly and people with disabilities who will reside in the ALF 
portion of your project.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Costs of meals and supportive services are NOT covered by this 
HUD grant. These items must be paid for through other sources (e.g., a 
mix of resident fees and/or third party providers). Evidence of third 
party commitment(s) must be included as part of the application. The 
assisted living supportive services program must promote independence 
and provide personal care assistance based on individual needs in a 
home-like environment. In accordance with Section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and HUD's regulations at 24 CFR 8.4(d), the 
project must deliver services in the most integrated setting 
appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities.
    2. This program does NOT allow permanent displacement of any 
resident living in the project at the time the application was 
submitted to HUD. (HUD will only provide temporary relocation costs for 
current tenants if they must vacate their unit while conversion work is 
underway (normal temporary relocation costs include increases in rent, 
reconnection of telephones, moving costs, and appropriate out-of-pocket 
expenses). (Not applicable to applicants of commercial property.)
    3. Ineligible Activities. You may not use funds available through 
this NOFA to:
    a. Add additional dwelling units to the existing project (not 
applicable to applicants of commercial property);
    b. Pay the costs of any of the necessary direct supportive services 
needed to operate the ALF;
    c. Purchase or lease additional land;
    d. Rehabilitate (see definition at 24 CFR 891.105) the project for 
needs unrelated directly to the conversion of units and common space 
for assisted living.
    e. Use the ALCP to reduce the number of accessible units in the 
project that are not part of the ALF (not applicable to applicants of 
commercial property);
    f. Permanently displace any resident out of the project (permanent 
relocation is prohibited under this program)
    g. Increase the management fee.
    h. Cover the cost of activities not directly related to the 
conversion of the units and common space. (i.e., if an

[[Page 14157]]

applicant is applying to convert 24 units on 2 floors of a 5-story 
elderly housing development and the inspection by the Fire Marshal 
reveals that sprinklers must be installed in the entire building, ALCP 
funds will be used only to install sprinklers for the 24 units on the 2 
floors requested in the application. The cost to install sprinklers in 
the remaining units must be paid for out of other resources.
    i. Transfer the ALCP grant to any other entity. If you are awarded 
an ALCP grant, you are expected to be the recipient of the grant and to 
carry out the conversion activities. The Department will not approve 
the transfer of the ALCP grant to any other entity.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    Application Submission and Receipt Procedures. HUD has implemented 
new procedures that impact application submission procedures. Refer to 
Section IV.F. of the General Section for specific procedures for the 
mailing of applications.
    1. Electronic Delivery. Beginning in fiscal year 2005, ALCP 
applicants must submit their applications electronically through http:/
/www.grants.gov/Apply, unless a waiver is granted.
    a. The http://www.grants.gov/Apply offer a simple, unified 
application process. There are six ``Get Started'' steps to complete at 
the http://www.grants.gov Web site. ALCP applicants should read the Get 
Started steps carefully. Also, the site contains registration 
checklists to help you through the process. Refer to Section IV. F of 
the General Section for further details on this requirement.
    b. DUNS requirement. All ALCP applicants must have a DUN and 
Bradstreet Universal Data Numbering Systems (DUNS) number. The DUNS 
number must be included in the data entry field labeled 
``organizational DUNS'' on the form SF-424. Instructions for obtaining 
a DUNS number can be found at either http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/duns.cfm or http://www.Grants.gov/GetStarted.
    c. Central Contractor Registry and Credential Provider 
Registration. In addition to having a DUNS number, ALCP applicants 
applying electronically through Grants.gov must register with the 
Federal Central Contractor Registry and with a Credential Provider. 
Refer to the General Section on how to meet this requirement.
    d. Electronic signature. ALCP applications submitted through 
grants.gov constitute submission as an electronically signed 
application. Refer to the General Section for further details on this 
requirement.
    2. Instructions on how to submit an electronic application to HUD 
via grants.gov/Apply: Grants.gov has a full set of instructions on how 
to apply for funds on its Web site at http://www.grants.gov/CompleteApplication. Refer to the General Section on how to meet this 
requirement.
    3. Waiver of Electronic Submission Requirement. HUD will only 
accept electronic applications submitted through http://www.grants.gov 
unless the ALCP applicant has received a waiver. Refer to the General 
Section for further instructions on this requirement.
    4. Proof of Timely Submission. ALCP applicants must submit their 
applications to http://www.grants.gov in time for receipt at Grants.gov 
by 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the application submission date of 
June 22, 2005. (Refer to the General Section for specific procedures 
regarding proof of timely submission of applications.)

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    HUD will rate ALCP applications that successfully complete 
technical processing using the Rating Factors set forth below and in 
accordance with the application submission requirements identified in 
Section IV.B. above. The maximum number of points an application may 
receive under this program is 102. This includes two RC/EZ/EC-II bonus 
points, as described in the General Section and Section V.A.6. below.
    HUD wants to make its programs more effective, efficient, and 
accessible by expanding opportunities for grassroots organizations to 
participate in developing solutions for their own neighborhood. The 
Department encourages applicants to partner, fund, or sub-contract with 
grassroots organizations, including faith-based and other community-
based organizations in conducting their work programs. (Refer to the 
policy priorities contained in the General Section for the definition 
of ``grassroots organizations'').
    1. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Staff (20 Points). This factor addresses your capacity 
to carry out the conversion in a timely, cost-conscious and effective 
manner. It also addresses your experience at providing the proposed 
supportive services you intend to make available at the ALF for elderly 
residents, especially in such areas as meals, 24-hour staffing and on-
site health care. Submit information responding to this factor in 
accordance with Application Submission Requirements in Sections 
IV.B.5.a. and b. and 8.a. through c and h. of this NOFA.
    In rating this factor, HUD will consider the extent to which your 
application demonstrates your ability to carry out a successful 
conversion of the project and to implement the plan to deliver the 
supportive services on a long-term basis, considering the following:
    a. (9 points). The time frame planned for carrying out the physical 
conversion of the development to the ALF.
    b. (10 points). Your past experience in providing or arranging for 
supportive services either on or off site for those who are frail. (If 
you are applying to convert an unused or underutilized commercial 
facility to assisted living and you do not own or operate a project 
with frail elderly residents, you must provide information on any past 
experience in providing or arranging supportive services for those who 
are frail.) Examples are: Meals delivered to apartment of resident or 
in a congregate setting (2 points), arranging for or providing personal 
care (3 points), providing 24-hour staffing (1 point), providing or 
making available on-site preventive health care (2 points) and other 
support services (2 points).
    c. (1 point). The Department will provide 1 point to those 
applicants who currently or propose to partner, fund, or subcontract 
with grassroots organizations. HUD will consider an organization a 
``grassroots organization'' if the organization is headquartered in the 
local community and has a social services budget of $300,000 or less; 
or has six or fewer full-time equivalent employees. (Refer to the 
General Section for further information on policy priority points for 
activities related to grassroots organizations.)
    2. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (20 Points). This 
factor addresses the extent to which the conversion is needed by the 
categories of elderly persons and persons with disabilities that the 
ALF is intended to serve (very low-income elderly persons and persons 
with disabilities who have limitations in three or more activities of 
daily living). The application must include evidence of current needs 
among project residents (not applicable to applicants proposing to 
convert unused or underutilized commercial facilities) and needs of 
potential residents in the housing market area for such persons 
including economic and demographic information on very low-income, 
frail, elderly, and persons with disabilities and information on 
current

[[Page 14158]]

assisted living resources in the market area.
    The factor also addresses your inability to fund the repairs or 
conversion activities from existing financial resources. In making this 
determination, HUD will consider project financial information or the 
organization's financial information for unused or underutilized 
commercial facilities. Submit information responding to this factor in 
accordance with Application Submission Requirements in Sections 
IV.B.2.c., 4.a. through d., and 9.a. through c. of this NOFA. In 
evaluating this factor, HUD will consider:
    a. (7 points). The need for assisted living among the elderly and 
disable residents of the project taking into consideration those 
currently in need and the depth of future needs given aging in place. 
(Not applicable to applications to convert unused or underutilized 
commercial facilities to assisted living.)
    b. (3 points (10 points for applications to convert unused or 
underutilized commercial facilities to assisted living.)). The need for 
assisted living among very low-income elderly persons and persons with 
disabilities in the housing market area.
    c. (9 points). Insufficient funding for any needed conversion work, 
as evidenced by the project's financial statements and specifically the 
lack of excess Reserve for Replacement dollars and residual receipts. 
If the available Reserve for Replacement and residual receipts are less 
than 10 percent of the total funds needed = 9 points; if the available 
Reserve for Replacement and residual receipts are 10-50 percent of need 
= 5 points; and, if the available Reserve for Replacement and residual 
receipts are 51 percent or more of the total funds needed = 0 points). 
For commercial properties, if the available working capital is 10 
percent or more of the total conversion = 5 points; if the working 
capital is less than 10 percent of the total conversion = 9 points.
    d. (1 point). The Department will provide one point to those 
applications which establish a connection between the proposed ALF and 
the community's Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) or 
other planning document that analyzes fair housing issues and is 
prepared by a local planning or similar organization.
    3. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (40 Points). This factor 
addresses the quality and effectiveness of your proposal in addressing 
the proposed conversion, effectiveness of service coordination and 
management planning and the meals and supportive services which the ALF 
intends to provide, whether the jurisdiction in which the ALF is 
located has taken successful efforts to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing, whether you will incorporate energy efficiency in 
the design and operation of the assisted living facility and the extent 
to which you have evidenced general support for conversion by 
participating in your community's Consolidated Planning Process, 
involving the residents in the planning process (not applicable to 
applications proposing to convert unused or underutilized commercial 
facilities). There must also be a relationship between the proposed 
activities, the project's and the community's needs and purposes of the 
program funding for your application to receive points for this factor. 
Submit information responding to this factor in accordance with 
Application Submission Requirements in Sections IV.B.2.a. through c. 
and e., IV.B.4.e., IV.B.5.b. through e., IV. B.8.a. through e., g., and 
h. of this NOFA. In evaluating this factor, HUD will consider the 
following:
    a. (11 points). The extent to which the proposed ALF design will 
meet the special physical needs of frail elderly persons or persons 
with disabilities expected to be served at reasonable cost (consider 
the ALF design: meets needs = 11 points; ALF design partially meets 
needs = 5 points; and ALF design does not meet needs = 0 points).
    b. (11 points). The extent to which the ALF's proposed management 
and operational plan ensures that the provision of both meals and 
supportive services planned will be accomplished over time. (Consider 
ALF design/management plan: meets needs of management operations = 11 
points; ALF design/management plan partially meets needs of management 
operations = 5 points; and ALF design/management plan does not meet 
needs of management operations = 0 points.)
    c. (7 points). The extent to which the proposed supportive services 
meet the anticipated needs of the frail elderly and disabled residents 
(does meet = 7 points; partially meets needs = 4 points; and, does not 
meet needs = 0 points); and
    d. (7 points). The extent to which the service coordination 
function is addressed and explained as onsite and sufficient, onsite 
and augmented or new, and addresses the ongoing procurement of needed 
services for the residents of the ALF (does meet = 7 points, partially 
meets = 4 points, does not meet = 0 points).
    e. (2 points). The steps you have taken which support State and 
local efforts in streamlining processes and procedures that eliminate 
redundant requirements, statutes, regulations and codes which impede 
the availability of affordable housing. To receive points for removal 
of regulatory barriers, applicants must include in their response the 
completed Questionnaire HUD Form 27300. (Refer to the General Section 
for further information.
    f. (2 points). Describe how you plan to incorporate energy 
efficiency activities in the design or the operation of the assisted 
living facility through the use of Energy Star labeled products and 
appliances.
    4. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (10 Points). This factor 
addresses your ability to secure other community resources that can be 
combined with HUD's grant funds to achieve program purposes. For the 
ALCP to succeed, you must generate local funding for the necessary 
supportive services to operate the ALF. HUD also encourages local 
funding for some of the necessary conversion work, or other work needed 
in the project (e.g., general modernization) which is NOT specifically 
linked to the ALF).
    Submit information responding to this factor in accordance with 
Application Submission Requirements in Section IV.B.5.h. and i., B.6., 
and B.8.e. through g. of this NOFA.
    a. (5 points). The extent to which there are commitments for the 
funding needed for the meals and the supportive services planned for 
the ALF and that the total cost of the estimated budget of the ALF is 
covered. Consider 90 percent or more commitment of the total budget 
with no more than 10 percent for meals and services = 5 points; 80-89.9 
percent with no more than 20 percent for meals and services = 4 points; 
65-79.9 percent with no more than 35 percent for meals and services = 3 
points; 40-64.9 percent with no more than 60 percent for meals and 
services = 2 points; less than 40 percent commitment of the total 
budget with no more than 60 percent support for meals and services = 0 
points.
    b. (3 points). The extent of local organizations' support, which is 
firmly committed to providing at least 50 percent of the total cost of 
ALF conversion (consider 50% or more = 3 points, 20-49.9 percent = 2 
points, and under 20 percent = 0 points).
    c. (2 points). The extent of local organizational support which is 
firmly committed to providing funds for additional repair or retrofit 
necessary for the project NOT specifically directed to activities 
eligible under this NOFA (funds firmly committed = 2 points, funds not 
committed = 0 points).

[[Page 14159]]

    5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (10 
Points). This factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
ethics, management and accountability. This factor emphasizes HUD's 
commitment to ensure that promises you make in the application are 
kept; and to ensure performance goals with outcomes are established and 
are met (refer to Section V.B. of the General Section for more detail). 
Outcomes may include the extent to which your project will implement 
practical solutions that will result in assisting residents in 
achieving independent living and an improved living environment, as 
well as the extent to which the project will be viable absent HUD funds 
but rely more on state, local, and private funds. Submit information 
responding to this factor in accordance with Application Submission 
Requirements in Section IV.B.2.d., 5.a. through g., and 8.a. through e. 
of this NOFA. Completion of the Form HUD-96010, Program Outcome Logic 
Model will assist you in completing your response to this requirement.
    a. (4 points). Describe the extent to which your conversion time 
frame reflects the length of time it will take to convert the units 
describing how residents will benefit from the conversion of the units; 
and how the converted units will result in ALF residents being able to 
age in place;
    b. (2 points). Describe the extent to which your assisted living 
facility will implement practical solutions that will result in 
assisting residents in achieving independent living and improved living 
environment.
    c. (2 points). Demonstrate how the project will be viable absent 
HUD funds while relying more on state, local, and private funds.
    d. (2 point). Describe the extent to which the ALFs operating 
philosophy promotes the autonomy and independence of the frail elderly 
persons it is intended to serve (is fully addressed = 2 points, no or 
not addressed = 0 points).
    6. Bonus Points (2 bonus points). The project to be converted is 
located in an RC/EZ/EC-II area, as described in the General Section.

B. Reviews and Selection Process

    1. The ALCP will fund those applications that may impact federal 
problem solving and policymaking and that are relevant to HUD's policy 
priorities and annual goals and objectives. (Refer to the General 
Section for discussion of these priorities and annual goals and 
objectives). For the Assisted Living Conversion Program, applicants who 
include work activities that specifically address the policy priorities 
of removing barriers to affordable housing and promoting energy 
efficiency in the design and operation of the ALF will receive 
additional points. For information pertaining to the removal of 
barriers to affordable housing see http://www.hud.gov/grants/index.cfm 
and for information about Energy Star see http://www.energystar.gov.
    2. Review for Curable Deficiencies. You should ensure that your 
application is complete before submitting it to HUD electronically 
through the http://www.grants.gov/Apply Web site. If you received a 
waiver of the electronic submission requirement, you must submit an 
original and four copies to the appropriate HUD Hub Office. Submitting 
fewer than the original and four copies of the application is not a 
curable deficiency and will cause your application to be considered 
non-responsive to the NOFA and returned to you.
    HUD will screen all applications received by the deadline for 
curable deficiencies. With respect to correction of deficient 
applications, HUD may not, after the application due date and 
consistent with HUD's regulations in 24 CFR part 4, subpart B, consider 
any unsolicited information an applicant may want to provide. HUD may 
contact an applicant to clarify an item in the application or to 
correct curable deficiencies. Please note, however, that HUD may not 
seek clarification of items or responses that improve the substantive 
quality of a response to any rating factors. In order not to 
unreasonably exclude applications from being rated and ranked, HUD may 
contact applicants to ensure proper completion of the application and 
will do so on a uniform basis for all applicants. A curable deficiency 
is a missing Exhibit or portion of an Exhibit that will not affect the 
rating of the application. In each case, under this NOFA, the 
appropriate HUD Multifamily Hub office will notify you in writing by 
describing the clarification or curable deficiency. You must submit 
clarifications or responses to curable deficiencies in accordance with 
the information provided by the Hub office within 14 calendar days of 
the date of HUD notification. (If the due date falls on a Saturday, 
Sunday, or Federal holiday, your correction must be received by HUD on 
the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday.) If 
the deficiency is not corrected within this time period, HUD will 
reject the application as incomplete, and it will not be considered for 
funding. The following is a list of the deficiencies that will be 
considered curable in ALCP applications:

Exhibits

    [sbull] * Application Summary.
    [sbull] * Articles of Incorporation, or certification of 
Articles of Incorporation.
    [sbull] * By-laws, or certification of by-laws.
    [sbull] Evidence of occupancy for at least five years (not 
applicable to commercial facilities).
    [sbull] Original project plans.
    [sbull] Relocation Plan (not applicable to commercial property).
    [sbull] Evidence of Permissive Zoning.
    The appropriate Hub office will notify you in writing if your 
application is missing any of the exhibits listed above and you will be 
given 14 days from the date of the HUD notification to submit the 
information required to cure the noted deficiencies. The exhibits 
identified by an asterisk (*) must be dated on or before the 
application deadline date. If not so dated the application will be 
rejected.
    After the completeness review, HUD staff will review your 
application to determine whether the application meets the threshold 
requirements.
    3. Threshold Review. Only those ALCP applications that meet all 
threshold requirements will be eligible to receive an award. 
Applications that do not pass threshold will be rejected. (See Section 
III.C 2. above of this NOFA for threshold requirements).
    4. Appeal Process. Upon rejection of an ALCP application, HUD must 
send a letter to the Owner outlining all reasons for rejection. The 
Owner has 14 calendar days from the date of the letter to appeal the 
rejection. If the Owner submits an appeal, which causes the rejection 
to be overturned, the application is then rated, ranked, and submitted 
to the selection panel for consideration. If the Owner does not appeal 
or does appeal but the rejection is not overturned, the application 
remains a reject.
    5. Review Panels. The Office of Housing's Multifamily Hubs will 
establish panels to review all eligible applications that have passed 
threshold.
    6. Rating of Applications (See paragraph below for selection of 
applications for commercial properties).
    HUD staff teams will review and rate ALCP applications in 
accordance with the Ranking and Selection procedures outlined below. 
All applications will be either rated or technically rejected at the 
end of technical review. If your application meets all program 
eligibility requirements after completion of

[[Page 14160]]

technical review, it will be rated according to the rating selection 
factors in Section V.A. above of this NOFA. HUD reserves the right to 
reduce the amount requested in the application if any proposed 
components are ineligible or if the cost of items is not deemed 
reasonable. HUD will NOT reject an ALCP application based on technical 
review without notifying you of that rejection with all the reasons for 
the rejection, and providing you an opportunity to appeal. As discussed 
above, you will have 14 calendar days from the date of HUD's written 
notice to appeal a technical rejection to the Multifamily Hub where the 
applications were sent originally. HUD staff will make a determination 
on an appeal before finalizing selection recommendations.
    7. Ranking and Selection Procedures. (Paragraphs (5)(a)-(d) are not 
applicable to applications from owners of commercial properties.)
    Applications submitted in response to this NOFA that are eligible, 
pass threshold and have a total score of 75 points (or more) are 
eligible for ranking and selection. (Applications for the conversion of 
commercial properties with a score of at least 75 points will not be 
ranked but will be submitted to HUD Headquarters for selection.)
    a. Hub staff teams will be established for ALCP review in each Hub 
to do the application ratings.
    b. From within rank order, Hub staff teams in each of the 18 Hubs 
will select the highest ranked applications from within that Hub in 
rank order, which can be funded from within the dollars available. Each 
Hub will select applications based on rank order up to and including 
the last application that can be funded out of each Hub's allocation. 
Hubs must not skip over any applications in order to select one based 
on the funds remaining.
    c. After making the initial selections, however, Hubs may use any 
residual funds to select the next rank-ordered application by reducing 
the dollars requested by no more than 10 percent and reducing the 
number of units proposed, but in no case reducing the number of units 
below the financial threshold feasibility of five ALF units.
    d. Funds remaining after these processes are completed will be 
returned to HUD Headquarters. HUD Headquarters will use these funds to 
restore units to any project reduced as a result of using the residual 
grant funds in a Hub. Finally, HUD will use these funds for selecting 
one or more additional applications based on the Hubs rating and 
rankings, beginning with the highest rated application within the 18 
Hubs. Only one application will be selected per Hub from the national 
residual amount. If there are no approvable applications in other Hubs, 
the process will begin again with the selection of the next highest 
rated application within the remaining Hubs. This process will continue 
until all approvable applications are selected using the available 
remaining funds. If there is a tie score between two or more 
applications, and there are insufficient residual funds to cover all 
tied applications, HUD Headquarters staff will choose the winning 
application(s) by lottery and/or reduction of grant requests consistent 
with the instructions above.
    e. Only one application will be selected using the $5 million set-
aside to provide grant funds to a private nonprofit applicant proposing 
to convert an unused or underutilized commercial property into assisted 
living. HUD Multifamily Hubs will review applications for commercial 
properties for completeness and compliance with the eligibility 
criteria set forth in Section III. of this NOFA. Hub staff will forward 
applications to Headquarters providing the application was received by 
the deadline date, meets all eligibility criteria, proposes reasonable 
costs for eligible activities, includes all technical corrections by 
the designated deadline date and must have received a score of 75 
points or more. Headquarters will select only one on a first-come, 
first-served basis that can be funded within the money available.

    Note: Only one application that can be fully funded will be 
selected. Any remaining funds after this selection process will be 
returned to the funds allocated for eligible multifamily assisted 
projects.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    1. The Grant Agreement, and the Form HUD-1044, signed by both the 
Recipient and Grant Officer, shall serve as the authorizing award 
documents. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified, by mail, within 30 
days of the announcement of the awards.
    2. Adjustments to Funding. a. HUD will not fund any portion of your 
application that is not eligible for funding under specific program 
statutory or regulatory requirements; does not meet the requirements if 
this notice; or may be duplicative of other funded programs or 
activities. Only the eligible portion of your application will be 
funded.
    3. Applicant Debriefing. All requests for debriefing must be made 
in writing and submitted to the local Hub in which you applied for 
assistance. Materials provided to you during your debriefing will 
include the final scores you received for each rating factor, final 
evaluator comments for each rating factor, and the final assessment 
indicating the basis upon which assistance was provided or denied. 
Information regarding this procedure may be found in the General 
Section.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements. See Section III.C. 
of this NOFA and the General Section.

C. Reporting

    1. Recipients of funding under this program NOFA shall submit a 
progress report every six months after the effective date of the Grant 
Agreement. Progress reports shall include reports on performance using 
the Logic Model (form HUD 90610) approved in your award agreement and 
financial progress.

VII. Agency Contacts

A. For Further Information and Technical Assistance

    You should contact the Multifamily Hub where you will be mailing 
your ALCP Application. (Please refer to Hub telephone numbers in 
Appendix 1 of this NOFA.)
    You also may contact Faye Norman, Housing Project Manager at (202) 
708-3000, extension 2482 or Aretha Williams, Director, Grant Policy and 
Management Division, Room 6138 at (202) 708-3000, extension 2480 for 
questions regarding the ALF grant award process. These are not toll-
free numbers. Ms. Norman can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] and Ms. Williams at [email protected]. Both 
Ms. Norman and Ms. Williams are located at the U.S. Department of 
Housing and Urban Development; 451 Seventh Street, SW.; Washington, DC 
20410.
    If you have a hearing or speech impairment, you may access the 
telephone number via TTY by calling the Federal Information Relay 
Service at 800-877-8339.
    Application. All information for the submission of your application 
is included in this NOFA and the General Section. You may also obtain 
an ALCP application by calling the NOFA Information Center at (voice) 
800-HUD-8929 (800-483-8929). Persons with a hearing or speech 
impairment may call the Center's TTY number at 800-HUD-2209. Please be 
sure to provide your name, address (including zip code), and telephone 
number (including area code). The application is also available on the 
Internet through the HUD Web site at http://www.hud.gov.grants/
index.cfm.


[[Page 14161]]


    Note: There is a separate application for service coordinator 
funds (which is necessary for those needing to enhance or add 
service coordination per Section III. of this NOFA).

VIII. Other Information

A. Paperwork Reduction Act.

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (4 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2502-0542. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public 
reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to 
average 2,550 hours per annum per respondent for the application and 
grant administration. This includes the time for collecting, reviewing, 
and reporting data for the application, semi-annual reports, and final 
report. The information will be used for grantee selection and 
monitoring the administration of funds. Response to this request for 
information is required in order to receive the benefits to be derived.

B. Appendices

    Appendix 1 presents the list of HUD offices. Appendix 2 to this 
NOFA provides the forms that are specific to this NOFA.

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BILLING CODE 4210-32-C

Service Coordinators in Multifamily Housing

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal 
Housing Commissioner.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Service Coordinators In Multifamily 
Housing.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number for this 
NOFA is FR-4950-N-21. The OMB approval number for this program is 2502-
0447.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 14.191, 
Multifamily Housing Service Coordinators.
    F. Dates: The application submission date is June 24, 2005. (All 
applications must be submitted and received by http://www.grants.gov no 
later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the application submission 
date. See submission details in the General Section.)
    G. Optional Additional Overview Information: 1. Available Funds. 
Approximately $49.6 million in fiscal year 2005 funds is available for 
the Service Coordinator program. Of these funds, approximately $10 
million is available in this NOFA for funding new Service Coordinator 
programs.
    2. Purpose of the program: The Service Coordinator program allows 
multifamily housing owners to assist elderly individuals and nonelderly 
people with disabilities living in HUD-assisted housing and in the 
surrounding area to obtain needed supportive services from the 
community, to enable them to continue living as independently as 
possible in their homes.
    3. Eligible Applicants: Only owners of eligible multifamily 
assisted developments may apply for and become the recipient of grant 
funds.
    Full Text of Announcement:

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. The Service Coordinator Program

    The Service Coordinator Program provides funding for the employment 
and support of Service Coordinators in insured and assisted housing 
developments that were designed for the elderly or nonelderly persons 
with disabilities and continue to operate as such. Service Coordinators 
help residents obtain supportive services from the community that are 
needed to enable independent living and aging in place.
    A Service Coordinator is a social service staff person hired or 
contracted by the development's owner or management company. The 
Service Coordinator is responsible for assuring that elderly residents, 
especially those who are frail or at risk, and those non-elderly 
residents with disabilities are linked to the supportive services they 
need to continue living independently in their current homes. All 
services should meet the specific desires and needs of the residents 
themselves. The Service Coordinator may not require any elderly 
individual or person with a disability to accept any specific 
supportive service(s).
    You may want to review the Management Agent Handbook 4381.5 
REVISION-2, CHANGE-2, Chapter 8 for further guidance on service 
coordinators. This Handbook is accessible through HUDCLIPS on HUD's Web 
site at http://www.hudclips.org. The Handbook is in the Handbooks and 
Notices--Housing Notices database. Enter the Handbook number in the 
``Document Number'' field to retrieve the Handbook.

B. Authority

    Section 808 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing 
Act (Pub. L. 101-625, approved November 28, 1990), as amended by 
sections 671, 674, 676, and 677 of the Housing and Community 
Development Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102-550, approved October 28, 1992), 
and section 851 of the American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity 
Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-569, approved December 27, 2000).

C. Definition of Terms Used in This Program NOFA

    1. ``Activities of daily living (ADLs)'' means eating, dressing, 
bathing, grooming, and household management activities, as further 
described below:
    a. Eating--May need assistance with cooking, preparing, or serving 
food, but must be able to feed self;
    b. Bathing--May need assistance in getting in and out of the shower 
or tub, but must be able to wash self;
    c. Grooming--May need assistance in washing hair, but must be able 
to take care of personal appearance;
    d. Dressing--Must be able to dress self, but may need occasional 
assistance; and
    e. Home management activities--May need assistance in doing 
housework, grocery shopping, laundry, or getting to and from activities 
such as going to the doctor and shopping, but must be mobile. The 
mobility requirement does not exclude persons in wheelchairs or those 
requiring mobility devices.
    2. ``At-risk elderly person'' is an individual 62 years of age or 
older who is unable to perform one or two ADLs, as defined in the above 
paragraph.
    3. ``Frail elderly person'' means an individual 62 years of age or 
older who is unable to perform at least three ADLs as defined in the 
above paragraph.
    4. ``People with disabilities'' means those individuals who:
    a. Have a disability as defined in Section 223 of the Social 
Security Act;
    b. Have a physical, mental, or emotional impairment expected to be 
of long, continued, and indefinite duration that substantially impedes 
the individual's ability to live independently; or
    c. Have a developmental disability as defined in Section 102 of the 
Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000, 
(42 U.S.C. Section 15002).
    5. ``Reasonable costs'' mean that costs are consistent with 
salaries and administrative costs of similar programs in your Field 
office's jurisdiction.
    D. Functions of a Service Coordinator.
    The major functions of the Service Coordinator include the 
following:
    1. Refer and link the residents of the development to supportive 
services provided by the general community. Such services may include 
case management, personal assistance, homemaker, meals-on-wheels, 
transportation, counseling, occasional visiting nurse, preventive 
health screening/wellness, and legal advocacy.
    2. Educate residents on service availability, application 
procedures, client rights, etc.
    3. Establish linkages with agencies and service providers in the 
community. Shop around to determine/develop the best ``deals'' in 
service pricing, to assure individualized, flexible, and creative 
services for the involved resident. Provide advocacy as appropriate.
    4. Provide case management when such service is not available 
through the general community. This might include evaluation of health, 
psychological and social needs, development of an individually tailored 
case plan for services, and periodic reassessment of the resident's 
situation and needs. Service Coordinators can also set up a 
Professional Assessment Committee (PAC) to assist in performing initial 
resident assessments. (See the guidance in the Congregate Housing 
Services Program (CHSP) regulations at 24 CFR 700.135 (or 1944.258 for 
Rural Housing developments).
    5. Monitor the ongoing provision of services from community 
agencies and keep the case management and provider agency current with 
the progress of the

[[Page 14169]]

individual. Manage the provision of supportive services where 
appropriate.
    6. Help the residents build informal support networks with other 
residents, family and friends.
    7. Work and consult with tenant organizations and resident 
management corporations. Provide training to the development's 
residents in the obligations of tenancy or coordinate such training.
    8. Create a directory of providers for use by both development 
staff and residents.
    9. Educate other staff of the management team on issues related to 
aging in place and Service Coordination, to help them to better work 
with and assist the residents.

E. Basic Qualifications of Service Coordinators and Aides

    1. Service Coordinator qualifications include the following:
    a. A Bachelor of Social Work or degree in Gerontology, Psychology 
or Counseling is preferable; a college degree is fully acceptable. You 
may also consider individuals who do not have a college degree, but who 
have appropriate work experience.
    b. Knowledge of the aging process, elder services, disability 
services, eligibility for and procedures of federal and applicable 
state entitlement programs, legal liability issues relating to 
providing Service Coordination, drug and alcohol use and abuse by the 
elderly, and mental health issues.
    c. Two to three years experience in social service delivery with 
senior citizens and/or people with disabilities. Some supervisory or 
management experience may be desirable if the Service Coordinator will 
work with aides.
    d. Demonstrated working knowledge of supportive services and other 
resources for senior citizens and/or non-elderly people with 
disabilities available in the local area.
    e. Demonstrated ability to advocate, organize, problem-solve, and 
provide results for the elderly and people with disabilities.
    2. Aides working with a Service Coordinator should have appropriate 
education or experience in working with the elderly and/or people with 
disabilities. An example of an aide position could be an internship or 
work-study program with local colleges and universities to assist in 
carrying out some of the Service Coordinator's functions.

II. Award Information

A. Available Funding

    The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447, 
approved December 8, 2004) provides approximately $50 million to fund 
Service Coordinators and the continuation of existing Congregate 
Housing Services Program (CHSP) grants. (The $50 million appropriation 
is subject to a 0.80 percent across-the-board rescission pursuant to P. 
Law 108-447.) Approximately $10 million of the available $49.6 million 
will be used to fund new Service Coordinator programs. The remaining 
amount of $39.6 million will be used to fund one-year extensions to 
expiring Service Coordinator and CHSP grants.

B. Maximum Grant Award

    There is no maximum grant amount. The grant amount you request will 
be based on the Service Coordinator's salary and the number of hours 
worked each week by that Service Coordinator (and/or aide). You should 
base your determination of the appropriate number of weekly work hours 
on the number of people in the development who are frail or at-risk 
elderly or non-elderly people with disabilities. Under normal 
circumstances, a full-time Service Coordinator should be able to serve 
about 50-60 frail or at-risk elderly or non-elderly people with 
disabilities on a continuing basis. Your proposed salary must also be 
supported by evidence of comparable salaries in your area. Gather data 
from programs near you to compare your estimates with the salaries and 
administrative costs of currently operating programs. HUD Field staff 
can provide you with contacts at local program sites.
    HUD provides funding in the form of three-year grants. HUD may 
renew grants subject to the availability of funds and the grantee's 
acceptable performance and compliance with program requirements. HUD 
will determine performance based on the information given in the 
grantee's semi-annual performance, financial status reports and 
periodic Logic Model forms submitted throughout the course of the grant 
term.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants.

    1. You must meet all of the applicable threshold requirements of 
Section III.C of the General Section.
    2. You must be an owner of a development assisted under one of the 
following programs:
    a. Section 202 Direct Loan;
    b. Project-based Section 8 (including Section 8 Moderate 
Rehabilitation), or
    c. Section 221(d)(3) below-market interest rate, and 236 
developments that are insured or assisted.
    3. You must be approved to conduct new business with the 
Department, based on HUD's evaluation of the applicant's previous 
participation activities as reported on the ``Previous Participation 
Certification'', form HUD-2530.
    4. Additionally, developments listed in paragraph III.A.2, above, 
are eligible only if they meet the following criteria:
    a. Have frail or at-risk elderly residents and/or non-elderly 
residents with disabilities who together total at least 25 percent of 
the building's residents. (For example, in a 52-unit development, at 
least 13 residents must be frail, at-risk, or non-elderly people with 
disabilities.)
    b. Were designed for the elderly or persons with disabilities and 
continue to operate as such. This includes any building within a mixed-
use development that was designed for occupancy by elderly persons or 
persons with disabilities at its inception and continues to operate as 
such, or consistent with title VI, subtitle D of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102-550). If not so 
designed, a development in which the owner gives preferences in tenant 
selection (with HUD approval) to eligible elderly persons or nonelderly 
persons with disabilities, for all units in that development.
    c. If FHA insured or financed by a Section 202 Direct Loan, are 
current in mortgage payments or are current under a workout agreement.
    d. Meet HUD's Uniform Physical Conditions Standards (codified in 24 
CFR part 5, subpart G), based on the most recent physical inspection 
report and responses thereto, as evidenced by a score of 60 or better 
on the last physical inspection or by an approved plan for developments 
scoring less than 60.
    e. Are in compliance with their regulatory agreement, Housing 
Assistance Payment (HAP) Contract, and any other outstanding HUD grant 
or contract document.
    f. Have no available project funds (i.e., Section 8 operating 
funds, residual receipts, excess income, or surplus cash) that could 
pay for a Service Coordinator program. (``Available funds'' are those 
that require HUD approval for their use and are not needed to meet 
critical project needs.) Field office staff will make this 
determination based on financial records maintained by the Department 
and information provided

[[Page 14170]]

by the applicant in the grant application.
    5. If your eligibility status changes during the course of the 
grant term, making you ineligible to receive a grant (e.g., due to 
prepayment of mortgage, sale of property, or opting out of a Section 8 
HAP contract), HUD has the right to terminate your grant.
    6. Ineligible Applicants and Developments. a. Property management 
companies, area agencies on aging, and other like organizations are not 
eligible applicants for Service Coordinator funds. Such agents may 
prepare applications and sign application documents if they provide 
written authorization from the owner corporation as part of the 
application. In such cases, the owner corporation must be indicated on 
all forms and documents as the funding recipient. If an agent is 
preparing the application for an owner, the owner must authorize the 
agent as the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) in the 
Grants.gov Registration process. If you are applying in paper copy 
format, you must provide a letter from the owner authorizing the 
submission by the agent on their behalf. Refer to Section IV.F.2 of the 
General Section for more detailed registration information.
    b. Developments not designed for the elderly, nonelderly people 
with disabilities, or those no longer operating as such;
    c. Section 221(d)(4) and Section 515 developments without project-
based Section 8 assistance;
    d. Section 202 and 811 developments with a Project Rental 
Assistance Contract (PRAC). Owners of Section 202 PRAC developments may 
obtain funding by requesting an increase in their PRAC payment 
consistent with Handbook 4381.5 REVISION-2, CHANGE-2, Chapter 8;
    e. Conventional public housing, as such term is defined in section 
3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937), and units assisted by 
project-based Housing Choice Vouchers, as set forth in 24 CFR Part 983.
    f. Renewals of existing Section 8 Service Coordinator subsidy 
awards or grants. HUD currently provides one-year extensions to these 
subsidy awards and grants through a separate funding action.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

    None required.

C. Other

    1. Eligible Activities. a. Service Coordinator Program grant funds 
may be used to pay for the salary, fringe benefits, and related support 
costs of employing a service coordinator. Support costs may include 
quality assurance, training, travel, creation of office space, purchase 
of office furniture, equipment, and supplies, computer hardware, 
software, and Internet service, and indirect administrative costs.
    b. You may use grant funds to pay for Quality Assurance (QA) in an 
amount that does not exceed ten percent of the Service Coordinator's 
salary. Eligible QA activities are those that evaluate your program to 
assure that the position and program are effectively implemented. A 
qualified, objective third party must perform the program evaluation 
work and must have work experience and education in social or health 
care services. Your QA activities must identify short and long term 
program outcomes and performance indicators that will help you measure 
your performance. On-site housing management staff cannot perform QA 
and you may not augment current salaries of in-house staff for this 
purpose.
    c. You may propose reasonable costs associated with setting up a 
confidential office space for the Service Coordinator. Such expenses 
must be one-time only start-up costs. Such costs may involve 
acquisition, leasing, rehabilitation, or conversion of space. The 
office space must be accessible to people with disabilities and meet 
the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) requirements of 
accessibility. HUD field office staff must approve both the proposed 
costs and activity and must perform an environmental assessment on such 
proposed work prior to grant award.
    d. You may use funds to augment a current Service Coordinator 
program, by increasing the hours of a currently employed Service 
Coordinator, or hiring an additional Service Coordinator or aide on a 
part-or full-time basis. Likewise, Assisted Living Conversion Program 
(ALCP) applicants may apply for new or augmented Service Coordinator 
costs to serve Assisted Living residents and/or all residents of the 
development.
    e. You may use funds to continue a Service Coordinator program that 
has previously been funded through other sources. In your application, 
you must provide evidence that this funding source has already ended or 
will discontinue within six months following the application deadline 
date and that no other funding mechanism is available to continue the 
program. This applies only to funding sources other than the subsidy 
awards and grants provided by the Department through program Notices 
beginning in FY1992. HUD currently provides one-year extensions to 
these subsidy awards and grants through a separate funding action.
    f. You may provide service coordination to low-income elderly 
individuals or nonelderly people with disabilities living in the 
vicinity of an eligible development. Community residents should come to 
your housing development to meet with and receive service from the 
Service Coordinator, but you must make reasonable accommodations for 
those individuals unable to travel to the housing site.
    2. Threshold Requirements. a. At the time of submission, grant 
applications must contain the materials in Section IV.B.2.a and e of 
this Program NOFA in order to be considered for funding. If any of 
these items is missing, HUD will immediately reject your application.
    b. In cases where field office staff request information in 
response to technical deficiencies in applications, applicants must 
submit the response by the designated deadline date. If requested 
responses are not received by this date, HUD will reject the 
application.
    c. DUN and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number 
Requirement. Refer to the General Section for information regarding the 
DUNS requirement. You will need to obtain a DUNS number to receive an 
award from HUD.
    3. Program Requirements. In managing your Service Coordinator 
grant, you must meet the requirements of this Section. These 
requirements apply to all activities, programs, and functions used to 
plan, budget, and evaluate the work funded under your program.
    a. You must make sufficient separate and private office space 
available for the Service Coordinator and/or aides to meet with 
residents, without adversely affecting normal activities.
    b. The Service Coordinator must maintain resident files in a 
secured location. Files must be accessible ONLY to the Service 
Coordinator, unless residents provide signed consent otherwise. These 
policies must be consistent with maintaining confidentiality of 
information related to any individual per the Privacy Act of 1974.
    c. Grantees must ensure that the Service Coordinator receives 
appropriate supervision, training, and ongoing continuing education, 
consistent with statutory and HUD administrative requirements. This 
includes 36 hours of training in age-

[[Page 14171]]

related and disability issues during the first year of employment, if 
the Service Coordinator has not received recent training in these 
areas, and 12 hours of continuing education each year thereafter.
    d. Grantees are responsible for any budget shortfalls during the 
three-year grant term.
    e. As a condition of receiving a grant, Section 202 developments 
without a dedicated residual receipts account must amend their 
regulatory agreement and open such an account, separate from their 
Reserve for Replacement account.
    f. Subgrants and Subcontracts. You may directly hire a Service 
Coordinator or you may contract with a qualified third party to provide 
this service.
    g. Environmental Requirements. It is anticipated that most 
activities under this program are categorically excluded from the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and related environmental 
authorities under 24 CFR 50.19(b)(3), (4), (12), or (13). If grant 
funds will be used to cover the cost of any activities which are not 
exempt from environmental review requirements--such as acquisition, 
leasing, construction, or building rehabilitation, HUD must perform an 
environmental review to the extent required by 24 CFR part 50, prior to 
grant award. HUD Field office staff will determine the need for an 
environmental assessment, based on the proposed program activities.
    4. Submission Information. a. Single Applications. (1) You may 
submit one application that contains one or more developments that your 
corporation owns. submitting one application for each project you own 
will increase your chances of selection in the lottery. You may also 
submit one application that contains multiple projects you own, to 
reduce preparation time and resources.
    Each application must propose a stand-alone program at separate 
developments. The developments must all be located in the same field 
office jurisdiction.
    (2) If you wish to apply on behalf of developments located in 
different field office jurisdictions, you must submit a separate 
application to each field office.
    b. Joint Applications. You may join with one or more other eligible 
owners to share a Service Coordinator and submit a joint application. 
In the past, joint applications have been used by small developments 
that joined together to hire and share a part or full-time Service 
Coordinator.
    c. Application Submission Requirements for ALCP Applicants. (1) If 
you are an ALCP applicant and you request new or additional Service 
Coordinator funds specifically for your proposed Assisted Living 
Program, you must submit an application containing all required 
documents listed in Section IV.B of this Program NOFA. You may include 
a copy of all standard forms submitted as part of your ALCP 
application.
    (2) If you currently do not have a Service Coordinator working at 
the development proposed in your ALCP application and your ALCP 
application is selected to receive an award, HUD will fund a Service 
Coordinator to serve either ALCP residents only or all residents of the 
development dependent upon your request. If your development currently 
has a Service Coordinator, you may request additional hours for the 
Service Coordinator to serve the Assisted Living residents. If you 
request additional hours, you must specify the number of additional 
hours per week and provide an explanation based on the anticipated 
needs of the Assisted Living residents. If you request Service 
Coordinator funding to serve all residents of your development, 
indicate whether or not your request should be entered into the 
national lottery if your ALCP application is not selected to receive an 
award. Provide this information in your related narrative, pursuant to 
paragraph IV.B.2.e(6) of this NOFA.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses to Request Application Package

    Applicants may download the Instructions to the application found 
on the grants.gov Web site at http:// www.Grants.gov./Apply. The 
instructions contain the General Section and Program Section of the 
published NOFA as well as forms that you must complete and attach as a 
zip file to your application submission. If you have difficulty 
accessing the information you may call the Grants.gov Support desk toll 
free 800-518-GRANTS or e-mailing your questions to Grants.gov">Support@Grants.gov. 
The Support Desk staff will assist you in accessing the information. 
Please remember that you must be registered to submit an application 
utilizing Grants.gov. Your registration allows you to electronically 
sign the application and Grants.gov to authenticate that the 
application was submitted by the appropriate organization staff with 
legal authority to submit the application on behalf of the applicant. 
Please see the General Section for information regarding the 
registration process or ask for registration information from the 
Grants.gov Support Desk. Please be aware that the registration process 
is a separate process from requesting e-mail notification of funding 
opportunities and should be done as soon as you download the 
application from the grants.gov Web site. If you are not sure if you 
are already registered, the Grants.gov Support Desk can assist in 
verifying whether you are or are not registered.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    Your application must contain the items listed in paragraphs 1 and 
2, below. These items include the standard forms listed in Section IV.B 
of the General Section that are applicable to this funding Notice 
(collectively referred to as the ``standard forms''). The standard 
forms and other required forms are part of the electronic application 
found at www.grants.gov/Apply. The items are as follows:
    1. Standard Forms.
    a. Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)
    b. SF-424 Supplement--Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for 
Applicants.
    c. If engaged in lobbying, the Disclosure Form Regarding Lobbying 
(SF-LLL)
    d. Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report Form (HUD-2880)
    e. Logic Model, (HUD-90610)
    f. Acknowledgment of Application Receipt (HUD-2993), not required 
for electronic applications
    g. Client Comments and Suggestions (HUD-2994), optional
    h. Facsimile Transmittal Cover Page (HUD-96011). This form must be 
used as part of the electronic application to transmit third party 
documents and other information as described in the General Section as 
part of your electronic application submittal (if applicable).
    2. Other Application Items. All applications for funding under the 
Service Coordinator Program must include the following documents and 
information:
    a. Service Coordinator First-Time Funding Request, form HUD-91186.
    b. Previous Participation Certification, form HUD-2530.
    c. If more than one owner is proposing to share a Service 
Coordinator, one agency must designate itself the ``lead''. When the 
legal signatory for the owner corporation signs the application, the 
owner indicates agreement to administer grant funds for all the housing 
developments listed in the application.
    d. Evidence of comparable salaries in your local area.

[[Page 14172]]

    e. Narrative Statements Describing Your Program.
    (1) Explain your method of estimating how many residents of your 
development are frail or at-risk elderly or non-elderly people with 
disabilities. Please document that individuals meeting these criteria 
make up at least 25 percent of your resident population. (Do not 
include elderly individuals or people with disabilities who do not live 
in the eligible developments included in your application.)
    (2) Explain how you will provide on-site private office space for 
the Service Coordinator, to allow for confidential meetings with 
residents. If construction is planned, also include a plan and a cost-
estimate.
    (3) Your quality assurance program evaluation activities and 
itemized list of estimated expenses for this activity if included in 
your request for funding. Indicate the type of professional or entity 
that will perform the work if known at this time or the criteria you 
will use to select the provider.
    (4) If you wish to augment an existing program, describe your 
program's needs and explain how the additional staff hours requested 
will help meet these needs.
    (5) A description of your plan to address community resident needs, 
if applicable to your program.
    (6) If you are applying for an ALCP grant in conjunction with your 
Service Coordinator application, describe how the new or additional 
Service Coordinator hours will support your proposed assisted living 
program. Indicate if you want your Service Coordinator application 
entered into the lottery if your ALCP application is not selected to 
receive an award.
    f. Evidence that no project funds are available to fund a Service 
Coordinator program. You must include a copy of your development's most 
recent bank statement, showing the project's current residual receipts 
or excess income balance (if any). It is incumbent upon the applicant 
to demonstrate that no such project funds are available.
    g. If applicable, provide evidence that prior funding sources for 
your development's Service Coordinator program are no longer available 
or will expire within six months following the application deadline 
date.
    h. If an agent is preparing the application for an owner, the owner 
must authorize the agent as the Authorized Organization Representative 
(AOR) in the Grants.gov Registration process. If you are applying in 
paper copy format, you must provide a letter from the owner authorizing 
the submission by the agent on their behalf.
    i. A DUNS number. Refer to the General Section for information 
regarding the DUNS requirement.

C. Submission Dates and Times

    Applicants must follow the submission requirements discussed in 
Section IV.C of the General Section.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    Intergovernmental review is not applicable to this program.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Alternative Funding for Service Coordinators. If your 
development has available Section 8 operating funds, residual receipts, 
or excess income, not needed for critical project expenses, you must 
use these project funds prior to receiving grant monies. Owners may 
submit requests to use Section 8 operating funds, residual receipts, or 
excess income pursuant to instructions in Housing's Management Agent 
Handbook 4381.5, REVISION-2, CHANGE-2, Chapter 8 and Housing Notice H 
02-14. HUD field staff may approve use of these project funds at any 
time, consistent with current policy. You should discuss these 
alternative-funding options with your field office staff prior to 
submitting a grant application.
    2. Ineligible Activities and Program Costs. a. You may not use 
funds available through this NOFA to replace currently available 
funding from other sources for a Service Coordinator or for some other 
staff person who performs service coordinator functions.
    b. Owners with existing service coordinator subsidy awards or 
grants may not apply for renewal or extension of those programs under 
this NOFA. HUD will provide extension funds through a separate funding 
process.
    c. You cannot hire an additional part or full-time Service 
Coordinator for the sole purpose of serving community residents.
    d. Grant recipients may not use grant funds to pay for supervision 
performed by property management staff. (Management fees already pay 
for such supervision.)
    e. Cost overruns associated with creating private office space and 
usual audit and legal fees are not eligible uses of grant funds.
    f. The cost of application preparation is not eligible for 
reimbursement.
    g. Grant funds cannot be used to increase a project's management 
fee.
    h. Grant funds may not cover the cost of Service Coordinator-
related training courses for members of a development's management 
staff who do not directly provide Service Coordination. Owners must use 
their management fees to pay this expense.
    i. Owners/managers cannot use Reserve for Replacement funds to pay 
costs associated with a Service Coordinator program.
    j. Congregate Housing Services Program grantees may not use these 
funds to meet statutory program match requirements and may not use 
these funds to replace current CHSP program funds to continue the 
employment of a service coordinator.
    k. Grantees cannot use grant funds to pay PAC members for their 
services.
    l. The grant amount allowed for QA may not exceed ten percent of 
the Service Coordinator's salary.
    3. Prohibited Service Coordinator Functions. During work hours paid 
for by this grant, Service Coordinators may not perform the following 
activities:
    a. Act as a recreational or activities director;
    b. Provide supportive services directly;
    c. Act as a Neighborhood Networks program director or coordinator, 
and
    d. Perform property management work, regardless of the funding 
source used to pay for these activities.

F. Other Submission Requirements

    1. Application Submission and Receipt Procedures. Carefully review 
the procedures presented in Section IV.F of the General Section. All 
applicants submitting Service Coordinator applications must submit 
applications electronically. Please pay particular attention to the 
portion of Section IV.F. of the General Section that explains how to 
submit Third Party Letters, Certifications or Narrative Statements 
electronically as part of your application.
    2. Waiver of Electronic Submission Requirement. During FY2005, HUD 
will only accept electronic applications submitted through 
www.grants.gov unless the applicant has received a waiver from the 
Department. Please see the General Section for detailed instructions 
and timelines for requesting a waiver of the mandatory electronic 
submission requirement.
    3. Application Copies. Applicants submitting electronic 
applications must submit just one application to http://www.grants.gov. 
Applicants who receive a waiver for electronic submission must submit 
an original and two copies to the field office with jurisdiction over 
the housing developments included in your application.
    4. Field Office Addresses. If you are granted a waiver to the 
electronic application submission requirement,

[[Page 14173]]

you must submit an original and two hard copies of your application to 
the field office with jurisdiction over the housing developments 
identified in your application. If you send your application to the 
wrong local HUD Office, it will be rejected. Therefore, if you are 
uncertain as to which local HUD Office to submit your application, you 
are encouraged to contact the local HUD Office that is closest to your 
project's location to ascertain the Office's jurisdiction and ensure 
that you submit your application to the correct local HUD Office. For a 
list of field office addresses, see HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    1. HUD will not award Service Coordinator Program grant funds 
through a rating and ranking process. Instead, the Department will hold 
one national lottery for all applications determined to be eligible by 
Multifamily Hub and Multifamily Program Centers.
    2. Threshold Eligibility Review. HUD Multifamily field office staff 
will review applications for completeness and compliance with the 
eligibility criteria set forth in Section III of this NOFA. Field 
office staff will deem an application eligible if the electronic 
application was submitted and received by http:\\www.Grants.gov no 
later than 11:59:59 p.m. on June 24, 2005. For applicants who submitted 
a paper copy of their application, the application was submitted by the 
deadline date and meets the application timely receipt requirements for 
paper copy submission in the General Section. To be eligible for the 
lottery, in addition to meeting the timely submission requirement, an 
applicant must meet all eligibility criteria; propose reasonable costs 
for eligible activities, and, if technical corrections are requested 
during the review process, provide the technical correction(s) by the 
timeframe stated in the request.

B. Review and Selection Process

    1. Funding Priorities.
    a. Prior to the lottery, HUD will fund Service Coordinator 
applications submitted by FY2005 ALCP applicants, whose ALCP 
applications are selected for funding under that program's NOFA. HUD 
estimates that approximately $500,000 will be used to fund ALCP Service 
Coordinator applications. Any funds not used by the ALCP program to 
fund service coordinators will be added to the funds available for the 
National Lottery.
    b. After setting aside funds for ALCP applicants, and prior to the 
lottery, HUD will next fund all applications submitted by owners who 
are applying for grant funds to continue a currently operating program 
previously funded by project funds. As stated in paragraph III.A.4.f of 
this NOFA, such applications are eligible only if project funds are no 
longer available to continue the program.
    2. Selection Process.
    a. HUD will use remaining funds to make grant awards through the 
use of a national lottery. A computer program performs the lottery by 
randomly selecting eligible applications.
    b. HUD will fully fund as many applications as possible with the 
given amount of funds available. After all fully fundable applications 
have been selected by lottery, HUD may make an offer to partially fund 
the next application on the lottery's list, in order to use the entire 
amount of funds allocated. If the applicant selected for partial 
funding turns down the offer, HUD will make an offer to partially fund 
the next application on the lottery list. HUD will continue this 
process until an applicant accepts the partial funding offer.
    3. Reduction in Requested Grant Amount. HUD may make an award in an 
amount less than requested, if:
    a. HUD determines that some elements of your proposed program are 
ineligible for funding;
    b. There are insufficient funds available to make an offer to fully 
fund the application;
    c. HUD determines that reduced grant amount would prevent 
duplicative Federal funding.
    4. Corrections to Deficient Applications. Section V.B.4 of the 
General Section provides the procedures for corrections to deficient 
applications.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    HUD field staff will send, by postal or overnight mail, selection 
letters and grant agreements to the award recipient organization. The 
grant agreement is the obligating document and funds are obligated once 
the HUD grant officer signs the agreement. Field staff will send non-
selection letters during this same period of time. If your application 
is rejected, field staff may notify you by letter any time during the 
application review process.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    None.

C. Reporting

    All award recipients must submit the following reports on a yearly 
basis:
    1. Two Semi-Annual Financial Status Reports (SF-269-A), for each 
half-year period of the Federal fiscal year;
    2. Two Semi-Annual Service Coordinator Performance Reports, (HUD-
92456), for each half-year period of the Federal fiscal year;
    3. Two completed Logic Model forms, HUD-96010, submitted as an 
attachment to each Semi-Annual Performance Report. The Logic Model must 
present performance information on a short term basis, corresponding to 
each six-month reporting period; on an intermediate basis, i.e. 
annually, and in the long-term, reporting results for the entire grant 
term showing progress related to program outputs and outcomes as 
specified in your approved Logic Model incorporated into your grant 
agreement. The objectives of the Service Coordinator program are to 
enhance a resident's quality of life and ability to live independently 
and to age in place. The data that HUD collects on the performance 
report and Logic Model measures, in a quantitative form, the grantee's 
success in meeting these intended program outcomes.
    4. Periodic reimbursement requests (i.e., Payment Voucher, form 
HUD-50080-SCMF), providing program expenses for the associated time 
period, and submitted in accordance with the due dates stated in the 
grant agreement. Grantees must request grant payments directly 
following the end of each agreed-upon time period and the funds must 
reimburse those program costs already incurred.
    5. If your grant includes Quality Assurance activities, you must 
provide a copy of at least one annual report that your QA provider 
submits to you each year. You must submit this copy along with the 
semi-annual financial and performance reports that are due on October 
30 of each year. The QA provider's report that you submit to HUD must 
include the following information: who performed the QA work, when the 
review(s) was conducted, and the results of the evaluation. The results 
should include such information as how many residents were served, the 
types of services they receive, the training sessions attended by the 
Service Coordinator, and the extent of resident satisfaction with the 
program. HUD will use this report, in tandem with other reports and 
performance data, to determine a grantee's acceptable program 
performance.

[[Page 14174]]

VII. Agency Contacts

    You may contact your local HUD field office staff for questions you 
have regarding this NOFA and your application. Please contact the 
Multifamily Housing Resident Initiatives Specialist or Service 
Coordinator contact person in your local office. If you are an owner of 
a Section 515 development, contact the HUD field office that monitors 
your Section 8 contract. If you have a question that the field staff is 
unable to answer, please call Carissa Janis, Housing Project Manager; 
Office of Housing Assistance and Grants Administration; Department of 
Housing and Urban Development; 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 6146; 
Washington, DC 20410-8000; (202) 708-3000, extension 2487 (this is not 
a toll-free number). If you are hearing-or speech-impaired, you may 
access this number via TTY by calling the Federal Information Relay 
Service at 800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

A. Satellite Broadcast

    HUD will hold an information program for potential applicants via 
satellite broadcast to learn more about the program and preparation of 
the application. For more information about the date and time of the 
broadcast, you should contact your local field office staff or consult 
the HUD Web site at http://www.hud.gov.

B. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2502-0477. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public 
reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to 
average 50.25 hours per annum per respondent for the application and 
grant administration. This includes the time for collecting, reviewing, 
and reporting the data for the application, semi-annual reports and 
final report. The information will be used for grantee selection and 
monitoring the administration of funds. Response to this request for 
information is required in order to receive the benefits to be derived.

C. Appendices

    Appendix A to this NOFA presents the list of HUD offices. Appendix 
B to this NOFA provides the forms that are specific to this NOFA.

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[[Page 14188]]



Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program (Section 202 
Program)

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Housing.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Section 202 Supportive Housing for 
the Elderly.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number for this 
NOFA is FR-4950-N-19. The OMB Approval Number for this program is 2502-
0267.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 14.157, 
Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly.
    F. Dates: Application Submission Date: The application submission 
date is on or before May 31, 2005. Refer to Section IV of this NOFA and 
to the General Section for information on application submission 
requirements.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of the Program. This program provides funding for the 
development and operation of supportive housing for very low-income 
persons 62 years of age or older.
    2. Available Funds. Approximately $462.9 million in capital advance 
funds, plus associated project rental assistance contract (PRAC) funds 
and any carryover funds available.
    3. Types of Funds. Capital advance funds will cover the cost of 
developing the housing. PRAC funds will cover the difference between 
the HUD-approved operating costs of the project and the tenants' 
contributions toward rent (30 percent of their adjusted monthly 
income).
    4. Eligible Applicants. Private nonprofit organizations and 
nonprofit consumer cooperatives. (See Section III.C.3.k of this program 
NOFA for further details and information regarding the formation of the 
Owner corporation).
    5. Eligible Activities. New construction, rehabilitation, or 
acquisition (with or without rehabilitation) of housing. (See Section 
III.C.1. below of this program NOFA for further information.
    6. Match Requirements. None required.
    7. Local HUD Offices. The local HUD office structure, for the 
purpose of implementing the Section 202 program, consists of 18 
Multifamily Hub Offices. Within the Multifamily Hubs, there are 
Multifamily Program Centers with the exception of the New York Hub, the 
Buffalo Hub, the Denver Hub and the Los Angeles Hub. All future 
references shall use the term ``local HUD office'' unless a more 
detailed description is necessary as in Limitations on Applications and 
Ranking and Selection Procedures, below.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    A. Program Description. HUD provides capital advances and contracts 
for project rental assistance in accordance with 24 CFR part 891. 
Capital advances may be used for the construction or rehabilitation of 
a structure, or acquisition of a structure with or without 
rehabilitation (including structures from the Federal Deposit Insurance 
Corporation (FDIC)). Capital advance funds bear no interest and are 
based on development cost limits in Section IV.E.3. Repayment of the 
capital advance is not required as long as the housing remains 
available for occupancy by very low-income elderly persons for at least 
40 years.
    PRAC funds are used to cover the difference between the tenants' 
contributions toward rent (30 percent of adjusted income) and the HUD-
approved cost to operate the project. PRAC funds may also be used to 
provide supportive services and to hire a service coordinator in those 
projects serving frail elderly residents. The supportive services must 
be appropriate to the category or categories of frail elderly residents 
to be served.
    B. Authority. The Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly 
Program is authorized by section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 
U.S.C. 1701q), as amended by section 801 of the Cranston-Gonzalez 
National Affordable Housing Act (Pub. L. 101-625; approved November 28, 
1990); the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (Pub. L. 102-
550; approved October 28, 1992), the Rescissions Act (Pub. L. 104-19; 
enacted on July 27, 1995); the American Homeownership and Economic 
Opportunity Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-569; approved December 27, 2000); 
and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447, 
approved December 8, 2004).
    C. Calculation of Fund Reservation. If selected, you will receive a 
fund reservation that will consist of both a reservation of capital 
advance funds and a reservation of contract authority (one year) and 
budget authority (five years) for project rental assistance.
    1. Capital Advance Funds. The reservation of capital advance funds 
is based on a formula which takes the development cost limit for the 
appropriate building type (elevator, non-elevator) and unit size(s) and 
multiplies it by the number of units of each size (including a unit for 
a resident manager, if applicable) and then multiplies the result by 
the high cost factor for the area. The development cost limits can be 
found in Section IV.E.3. of this program section of the SuperNOFA.
    2. PRAC Funds. The PRAC contract authority is determined by 
multiplying the number of revenue units for elderly persons by the 
appropriate operating cost standard. The PRAC budget authority is 
determined by multiplying the PRAC contract authority by 5 (years). The 
operating cost standards will be published by Notice.

II. Award Information

A. Available Funds.

    For FY2005, approximately $462.9 million is available for capital 
advances for the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly 
Program. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447, 
approved December 8, 2004) provides $747,000,000 for capital advances, 
including amendments to capital advance contracts, for supportive 
housing for the elderly as authorized by section 202 of the Housing Act 
of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q), as amended by section 801 of the Cranston-
Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (Pub. L. 101-625, approved 
November 28, 1990), for project rental assistance, amendments to 
contracts for project rental assistance, and $3 million for the renewal 
of expiring contracts for such assistance for up to a one-year term, 
for supportive housing for the elderly under section 202(c)(2) of the 
Housing Act of 1959 as well as the amount of $450,000 to be transferred 
to the Working Capital Fund, all of which is subject to a .8 percent 
across-the-board rescission pursuant to Public Law 108-447. 
Additionally, of the amount appropriated, $50 million is provided for 
service coordinators and the continuation of congregate services 
grants, up to $25 million is provided for assisted living conversion 
grants and emergency capital repairs, and $18 million is provided for a 
Section 202 Demonstration Planning Grant program.
    The announcement of the availability of the funds for the service 
coordinators and the continuation of congregate services as well as the 
Assisted Living Conversion program is covered elsewhere in this 
SuperNOFA.
    The announcement of the availability of funds for emergency capital 
repairs and the Section 202 Demonstration Planning Grant program will 
be addressed in a future Federal Register.

[[Page 14189]]

    In accordance with the waiver authority provided in the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, the Secretary is waiving the 
following statutory and regulatory provision: The term of the project 
rental assistance contract is reduced from 20 years to 5 years. HUD 
anticipates that at the end of the contract terms, renewals will be 
approved subject to the availability of funds. In addition to this 
provision, HUD will reserve project rental assistance contract funds 
based on 75 percent rather than on 100 percent of the current operating 
cost standards for approved units in order to take into account the 
average tenant contribution toward rent.
    The allocation formula used for Section 202 reflects the ``relevant 
characteristics of prospective program participants,'' as specified in 
24 CFR 791.402(a). The FY2005 formula consists of one data element from 
the 2000 Census: number of one-person elderly renter households 
(householder age 62 and older) with incomes at or below the applicable 
Section 8 very low-income limit, and with housing conditions. Housing 
conditions are defined as paying more than 30 percent of income for 
gross rent, or occupying a unit lacking some or all kitchen or plumbing 
facilities, or occupying an overcrowded unit (1.01 persons per room or 
more).
    Under Section 202, 85 percent of the total capital advance amount 
is allocated to metropolitan areas and 15 percent to nonmetropolitan 
areas. In addition, each local HUD office jurisdiction receives 
sufficient capital advance funds for a minimum of 20 units in 
metropolitan areas and 5 units in nonmetropolitan areas. The total 
amount of capital advance funds to support these minimum set-asides are 
subtracted from the respective (metropolitan or nonmetropolitan) total 
capital advance amounts available. The remainder is fair shared to each 
local HUD office jurisdiction whose fair share exceeds the minimum set-
aside based on the allocation formula fair share factors described 
below.

    Note: The allocations for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan 
portions of the local HUD office jurisdictions reflect the 
definitions of metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas as of the 2000 
Census, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget at that 
time.

    A fair share factor is developed for each metropolitan and 
nonmetropolitan portion of each local HUD office jurisdiction by 
dividing the number of elderly renter households in the respective 
metropolitan and nonmetropolitan portion of the jurisdiction by the 
total number of elderly rental households in the metropolitan and 
nonmetropolitan portions of the United States. The resulting percentage 
for each local HUD office jurisdiction is then adjusted to reflect the 
relative cost of providing housing among the local HUD office 
jurisdictions. The adjusted needs percentage for the applicable 
metropolitan or nonmetropolitan portion of each jurisdiction is then 
multiplied by the respective total remaining capital advance funds 
available nationwide. Based on the allocation formula, HUD has 
allocated the available capital advance funds as shown on the following 
chart:

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B. Type of Award

    Capital Advance and Project Rental Assistance Contract Funds for 
new Section 202 applications.

C. Type of Assistance Instrument

    The Agreement Letter stipulates the terms and conditions for the 
Section 202 fund reservation award as well as the submission 
requirements following the fund reservation award. The duration of the 
fund reservation award for the capital advance is 18 months from the 
date of issuance of the fund reservation.

D. Anticipated Start and Completion Date

    Immediately upon your acceptance of the Agreement Letter, you are 
expected to begin work toward the submission of a Firm Commitment 
Application, which is the next application submission stage. You are 
required to submit a Firm Commitment Application to the local HUD 
office within 180 days from the date of the Agreement Letter. Initial 
closing of the capital advance and start of construction of the project 
are expected to be accomplished within the duration of the fund 
reservation award period as indicated in the above paragraph regarding 
the Type of Assistance Instrument. Final closing of this capital 
advance is expected to occur

[[Page 14193]]

no later than six months after completion of project construction.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    Private nonprofit organizations and nonprofit consumer cooperatives 
who meet the threshold requirements contained in the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA and Section III.C. 2. of this NOFA are the only eligible 
applicants under this Section 202 program. Neither a public body nor an 
instrumentality of a public body is eligible to participate in the 
program.
    Applicant eligibility for purposes of applying for a Section 202 
fund reservation under this NOFA has not changed; i.e., all Section 202 
Sponsors and Co-Sponsors must be private nonprofit organizations and 
nonprofit consumer cooperatives. However, the Owner corporation, when 
later formed by the Sponsor, may be (1) a single-purpose private 
nonprofit organization that has tax-exempt status under Section 
501(c)(3) or Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 
(2) nonprofit consumer cooperative, or (3) for purposes of developing a 
mixed-finance project pursuant to the statutory provision under Title 
VIII of the American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 
2000, a for-profit limited partnership with a private nonprofit 
organization as the sole general partner.
    See Section IV.E.2. regarding limits on the total number of units 
and projects for which you may apply for funding.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching

    No cost sharing or match is required; however, you are required to 
make a commitment to cover the estimated start-up expenses, the minimum 
capital investment of one-half of one percent of the HUD-approved 
capital advance, not to exceed $10,000 or for a national Sponsor not to 
exceed $25,000, and any funds required in excess of the capital 
advance, including the estimated cost of any amenities or features (and 
operating costs related thereto) which are not covered by the capital 
advance. You make such a commitment by signing the Form HUD-92042, 
Sponsor's Resolution for Commitment to Project in Exhibit 8(g) of the 
application found in Section IV.B.

C. Other

    1. Eligible Activities. Section 202 capital advance funds must be 
used to finance the development of housing through new construction, 
rehabilitation, or acquisition with or without rehabilitation. Capital 
advance funds may also be used in combination with other non-Section 
202 funding sources leveraged by a for-profit limited partnership (of 
which a single-purpose private nonprofit organization is the sole 
general partner) to develop a mixed-finance project, including a mixed-
finance project for additional units over and above the Section 202 
units. The development of a mixed-use project in which the Section 202 
units are mortgaged separately from the other uses of the structure is 
not considered a mixed-finance project. Project rental assistance funds 
are provided to cover the difference between the HUD-approved operating 
costs and the amount the residents pay (each resident pays 30 percent 
of adjusted income) as well as to provide supportive services to frail 
elderly residents.

    Note: For purposes of approving Section 202 capital advances, 
HUD will consider proposals involving mixed-financing for additional 
units over and above the Section 202 units. However, you must obtain 
funds to assist the additional units with other than PRAC funds. HUD 
will not provide PRAC funds for non-Section 202 units.

    A portion of the PRAC funds (not to exceed $15 per unit/per month) 
may be used to cover some of the cost of any supportive services for 
those frail elderly or those elderly determined to be at-risk of being 
institutionalized. The balance of the cost for services must be paid 
for from sources other than the capital advance or PRAC funds. Also, 
the cost of employing a service coordinator for those projects serving 
principally the frail elderly (when at least 25 percent of the 
residents will be frail or determined to be at-risk of being 
institutionalized) is an eligible use of PRAC funds. Section 202 
projects receiving Congregate Housing Services assistance under Section 
802 of the National Affordable Housing Act are not eligible to use 
capital advance or PRAC funds for supportive services or the cost of a 
service coordinator.
    2. Threshold Requirements for Funding Consideration. In addition to 
the threshold criteria outlined in the General Section of the SuperNOFA 
(such as the inclusion of a DUN and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering 
System (DUNS) Number on the SF-424), the following threshold 
requirements must be met:
    a. Non-Responsive Application. Your application will be considered 
non-responsive to the NOFA and will not be accepted for processing if 
you:
    (1) submit less than the required number of copies (an original and 
four copies are required if you requested and received approval for a 
waiver of the electronic submission requirement). Refer to the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA for information on application submission and 
receipt procedures;
    (2) request more units than were allocated in either the 
metropolitan or nonmetropolitan allocation category to the local HUD 
office that will be reviewing your application or 125 units, whichever 
is less (see the allocation chart in Section II.A. above); or
    (3) request less than the minimum number of 5 units per site.
    (4) request assistance for housing that you currently own or lease 
that is already occupied by elderly persons.
    b. Other Criteria.
    (1) You, or a Co-Sponsor, must have experience in providing housing 
or services to elderly persons.
    (2) You and any Co-Sponsor must be eligible private nonprofit 
organizations or nonprofit consumer cooperatives with tax exempt status 
under Internal Revenue Service code.
    (3) Your application must contain acceptable evidence of site 
control (see Exhibit 4(d)(i) of the application in Section IV.B. of 
this program section of the SuperNOFA).
    (a) Evidence of Site Control. You must provide evidence of site 
control as described in this section and Exhibit 4(d)(i) of Section 
IV.B. of this program section of the SuperNOFA).
    (b) Historic Preservation. You are required to send a letter to the 
State/Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO/THPO) that attempts to 
initiate consultation with their office and requests their review of 
your determinations and findings with respect to the historical 
significance of your proposed project. Appendix B to this program 
section of the SuperNOFA contains a sample letter to the SHPO/THPO that 
you may adapt for your use, if you so choose. You must include a copy 
of your letter to the SHPO/THPO in your application. You must also 
include in your application either:
    (i) The response letter(s) from the SHPO/THPO, or
    (ii) A statement from you that you have not received a response 
letter(s) from the SHPO/THPO.
    (c) Contamination. HUD must determine if a proposed site contains 
contamination and, if so, HUD must be satisfied that it is eliminated 
to the extent necessary to meet non site-specific Federal, State or 
local health standards. You must assist HUD by doing the following:
    (i) Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA). You must submit a 
Phase I ESA, prepared in accordance with the ASTM Standards E 1527-00, 
as amended, completed or updated no

[[Page 14194]]

earlier than six months prior to the application deadline date. The 
Phase I ESA must be completed and submitted with the application. 
Therefore, it is important that you start the Phase I ESA process as 
soon after publication of the SuperNOFA as possible. To help you choose 
an environmentally safe site, HUD invites you to review the document 
``Choosing an Environmentally Safe Site'' which is available on HUD's 
Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm and 
the ``Supplemental Guidance, Environmental Information'', in Appendix C 
to this program section of the SuperNOFA.
    (ii) Phase II ESA. If the Phase I ESA indicates the possible 
presence of contamination and/or hazards, you must decide whether to 
continue with this site or choose another site. Should you choose 
another site, the same Phase I ESA process identified above must be 
followed for the new site. However, if you choose to continue with the 
original site on which the Phase I ESA indicated contamination or 
hazards, you must undertake a detailed Phase II ESA by an appropriate 
professional. In order for your application to be considered for review 
under this FY2005 funding competition, the Phase II must be received by 
the local HUD office on or before June 30, 2005.
    (iii) Clean-up.--If the Phase II ESA reveals site contamination, 
the extent of the contamination and a plan for clean-up of the site 
must be submitted to the local HUD office. The plan for clean-up must 
include a contract for remediation of the problem(s) and an approval 
letter from the applicable Federal, State, and/or local agency with 
jurisdiction over the site. In order for your application to be 
considered for review under this FY2005 funding competition, this 
information must be received by the local HUD office on or before June 
30, 2005.

    Note: Clean-up could be an expensive undertaking. You must pay 
for the cost of any clean-up and/or remediation. If the application 
is approved, clean-up must be completed prior to initial closing. 
Completion of clean-up means that HUD must be satisfied that the 
contamination has been eliminated to the extent necessary to meet 
non site-specific federal, state or local health standards, with no 
active or passive remediation still taking place, no capping over of 
any contamination, and no monitoring wells. However, it is 
acceptable if contamination remains solely in groundwater that is at 
least 25 feet below the surface.

    (d) Asbestos. Asbestos is a hazardous substance commonly used in 
building products until the late 1970s. Therefore, you must submit one 
of the following with your application:
    (i) If there is no pre-1978 structure on the site, a statement to 
this effect, or
    (ii) If there is a pre-1978 structure on the site, an asbestos 
report which is based on a thorough inspection to identify the location 
and condition of asbestos throughout any structures. In those cases 
where suspect asbestos is found, it would either be assumed to be 
asbestos or would require confirmatory testing. If the asbestos report 
indicates the presence of asbestos or the presence of asbestos is 
assumed, and if the application is approved, HUD will condition the 
approval on an appropriate mix of asbestos abatement and an asbestos 
Operations and Maintenance Plan.
    (4) There must be a market need for the number of units proposed in 
the area of the project location.
    (5) You are required to include a Supportive Services Plan that 
describes the supportive services proposed to be provided to the 
anticipated occupants, including a description of the public or private 
funds that are expected to fund the proposed services and the manner in 
which the services will be provided to the proposed residents (see 
Exhibit 5 in Section IV.B. of this program section of the SuperNOFA). 
You must not require residents to accept any supportive services as a 
condition of occupancy or admission.
    (6) Delinquent Federal Debt. Refer to the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA for information regarding delinquent Federal debt.
    3. Program Requirements. By signing Form HUD-92015-CA, Supportive 
Housing for the Elderly Section 202, Application for Capital Advance 
Summary Information, you are certifying that you will comply with all 
program requirements listed in the General Section of the SuperNOFA as 
well as the following requirements:
    a. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements. In addition to the 
statutory, regulatory, threshold and public policy requirements listed 
in the General Section of this SuperNOFA, you must comply with all 
statutory and regulatory requirements listed in Sections I and III of 
this program NOFA.

b. Application/Project Size Limits.

    (1) Application Limits Applicable to Sponsors or Co-Sponsors. A 
Sponsor or Co-sponsor may not apply for more than 200 units of housing 
for the elderly in a single Hub or more than 10 percent of the total 
units allocated to all HUD offices. Affiliated entities (organizations 
that are branches or offshoots of a parent organization) that submit 
separate applications are considered a single entity for the purpose of 
this limit.
    (2) Maximum Project Size. No single application may propose the 
development of a project for more than the number of units allocated to 
a local HUD office (in either the metropolitan or nonmetropolitan 
allocation category, depending on the location of your proposed 
project) or 125 units, whichever is less. For example, the local HUD 
office, which has jurisdiction over the area of your proposed project, 
was allocated 80 units (metropolitan) and 20 units (nonmetropolitan) 
for a total of 100 units. You cannot apply for more than 80 units if 
your proposed project is in a metropolitan area and no more than 20 
units if the project is in a nonmetropolitan area.
    (3) Minimum Project Size. The minimum number of units that can be 
applied for in one application is five units. If the proposed project 
will be a scattered-site development, the five-unit minimum requirement 
will apply to each site.
    c. Minimum Capital Investment. If selected, you must provide a 
minimum capital investment of one-half of one percent of the HUD-
approved capital advance amount, not to exceed $10,000 in accordance 
with Sec.  891.145, with the following exception. If you, as Sponsor or 
Co-Sponsor, have one or more Section 202 or one or more Section 811 
project(s) under reservation, construction, or management in two or 
more different HUD geographical regions (Hubs), the minimum capital 
investment shall be one half of one percent of the HUD-approved capital 
advance amount, not to exceed $25,000.
    d. Accessibility. Your project must meet accessibility requirements 
published at 24 CFR 891.120, 24 CFR 891.210, and Section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and, if new construction, the design and 
construction requirements of the Fair Housing Act and HUD's 
implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 100. In addition, 24 CFR 
8.4(b)(5) prohibits the selection of a site or location which has the 
purpose or effect of excluding persons with disabilities from the 
federally assisted program or activity. HUD will award higher points to 
applications that add accessible design features beyond those required 
under civil rights laws and regulations. Refer to Section V.A. below 
and the General Section of the SuperNOFA for information regarding the 
policy priority of encouraging accessible design.
    e. Conducting Business in Accordance with HUD Core Values and 
Ethical Standards. You are not subject to the

[[Page 14195]]

requirements of 24 CFR parts 84 and 85 as outlined in the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA, except that the disposition of real property 
may be subject to 24 CFR part 84. However, you are still subject to the 
core values and ethical standards as they relate to the conflict of 
interest provisions in 24 CFR 891.130. To ensure compliance with the 
program's conflict of interest provisions, you are required to sign a 
Conflict of Interest Resolution and include it in your Section 202 
application. Further, if awarded a Section 202 fund reservation, the 
officers, directors, board members, trustees, stockholders and 
authorized agents of the Section 202 Sponsor and Owner entities will be 
required to submit to HUD individual certifications regarding 
compliance with HUD's conflict of interest requirements.
    f. National Environmental Policy Act. You must comply with the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321) and 
applicable related environmental authorities at 24 CFR 50.4, HUD's 
programmatic implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 50 and 24 CFR 
891.155(b), especially, but not limited to, the provision of 
information to HUD at 24 CFR 50.31(b) and you must comply with any 
environmental ``conditions and safeguards'' at 24 CFR 50.3(c).
    Under 24 CFR part 50, HUD has the responsibility for conducting the 
environmental reviews. HUD cannot approve any site unless it first 
completes the environmental review. In rare cases where HUD is not able 
to complete the environmental review, it is due to a complex 
environmental issue that could not be resolved during the time period 
allocated for application processing. Thus, HUD requires you to attempt 
to obtain comments from the State/Tribal Historic Preservation Officer 
(see Exhibit 4(d)(ix) of Section IV.B. below) to help HUD complete the 
environmental review on time. It is also why HUD may contact you for 
additional environmental information. So that you can review the type 
of information that HUD needs for its preparation of the environmental 
review as well as the type of information requests that HUD may make to 
you, you are invited to go to the following Web site to view the HUD 
form 4128, including the Sample Field Notes Checklist, which HUD uses 
to record the environmental review: www.hud.gov/utilities/intercept.cfm?/offices/cpd/energyenviron/environment/compliance/forms/4128.pdf.
    g. Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open Competition and 
Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors' Labor Relations 
on Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects. Refer to the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA for information regarding Executive 
Order 13202.
    h. Fair Housing Requirements. Refer to the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA for information regarding fair housing requirements.
    i. Economic Opportunities for Low and Very Low-Income Persons 
(Section 3). You must comply with Section 3 of the Housing and Urban 
Development Act of 1968, 12 U.S.C. 1701u (Economic Opportunities for 
Low and Very Low-Income Persons) and its implementing regulations at 24 
CFR part 135. You must ensure that training, employment and other 
economic opportunities shall, to the greatest extent feasible, be 
directed toward low and very low-income persons, particularly those who 
are recipients of government assistance for housing and to business 
concerns which provide economic opportunities to low and very low-
income persons. To comply with Section 3 requirements you are hereby 
certifying that you will strongly encourage your general contractor and 
subcontractors to participate in local apprenticeship programs or 
training programs registered or certified by the Department of Labor's 
Office of Apprenticeship, Training, Employer and Labor Services or 
recognized State Apprenticeship Agency.
    j. Design and Cost Standards. You must comply with HUD's Section 
202 design and cost standards (24 CFR 891.120 and 891.210), the Uniform 
Federal Accessibility Standards (24 CFR 40.7), Section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and HUD's implementing regulations at 24 CFR 
part 8, and for covered multifamily dwellings designed and constructed 
for first occupancy after March 13, 1991, the design and construction 
requirements of the Fair Housing Act and HUD's implementing regulations 
at 24 CFR part 100, and, where applicable, the Americans with 
Disabilities Act of 1990.
    HUD has adopted a wide-ranging energy action plan for improving 
energy efficiency in all program areas. As a first step in implementing 
the energy plan, HUD, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the 
Department of Energy (DoE) have signed a joint partnership to promote 
energy efficiency in HUD's affordable housing efforts and programs. The 
purpose of the Energy Star partnership is to promote energy efficiency 
of the affordable housing stock, but also to help protect the 
environment. Although it is not a requirement, you are nonetheless 
encouraged to promote energy efficiency in design and operations and 
your application will receive one (1) point if you describe your plans 
for doing so in the proposed project. You are urged especially to 
purchase and use Energy Star-labeled products. Program activities can 
include developing Energy Star promotional and information materials, 
outreach to low- and moderate-income renters on the benefits and 
savings when using Energy Star products and appliances, and promoting 
the designation of community buildings and homes as Energy Star 
compliant. For further information about Energy Star, see http://www.energystar.gov or call 1-888-STAR-YES (1-888-782-7937) or for the 
hearing-impaired, 1-888-588-9920 TTY.
    k. Formation of Owner Corporation. You must form an Owner entity 
(in accordance with 24 CFR 891.205) after issuance of the capital 
advance fund reservation and must cause the Owner entity to file a 
request for determination of eligibility and a request for capital 
advance, and must provide sufficient resources to the Owner entity to 
ensure the development and long-term operation of the project, 
including capitalizing the Owner entity at firm commitment processing 
in an amount sufficient to meet its obligations in connection with the 
project over and above the capital advance amount.
    l. Davis-Bacon. You must comply with the Davis-Bacon requirements 
(12 U.S.C. 1701q(j)(5)) and the Contract Work Hours and Safety 
Standards Act in accordance with 24 CFR 891.155(d).

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Addresses to Request Application Package

    All information required to complete and return a valid application 
is included in the General Section and this program section of the 
SuperNOFA, including appendices. Copies of the General Section, this 
program section, and the required forms and appendices are available 
and may be downloaded from the Grants.gov Web site at http://www.grants.gov.
    You may request general information, copies of the General Section 
and program section of the SuperNOFA (including appendices), and 
required forms from the NOFA Information Center (800-HUD-8929 or 800-
HUD-2209 (TTY)) Monday through Friday, except on federal holidays. When 
requesting information, please refer to the name of the program you are 
interested in. Be sure to provide your name, address (including zip 
code), and telephone number (including area code).

[[Page 14196]]

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

    The exhibits to be included in your application are contained in 
the body of this program section of the SuperNOFA. There will not be a 
separate Application Kit provided this year. Before preparing your 
application, you should carefully review the requirements of the 
regulations (24 CFR part 891) and general program instructions in 
Handbook 4571.3 REV-1, Section 202 Capital Advance Program for Housing 
the Elderly. Note: Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code 
(Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure, 72 Stat. 967) applies to all 
information supplied in the application submission. (18 U.S.C. 1001, 
among other things, provides that whoever knowingly and willfully makes 
or uses a document or writing containing any false, fictitious, 
fraudulent statement or entry, in any matter within the jurisdiction of 
any department or agency of the United States, shall be fined not more 
than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.)
    The Application for a Section 202 Capital Advance consists of four 
parts with a total of eight Exhibits. Included with the eight Exhibits 
are prescribed forms, certifications and resolutions. The components of 
the Application are:

Part 1--Application Form for Section 202 Supportive Housing--Capital 
Advance (Exhibit 1).
Part 2--Your Ability to Develop and Operate the Proposed Project 
(Exhibits 2 and 3).
Part 3--The Need for Supportive Housing for the Target Population in 
the Area to be Served, Site Control and Suitability of Site, Adequacy 
of the Provision of Supportive Services and of the Proposed Project 
(Exhibits 4 and 5).
Part 4--General Application Requirements, Certifications and 
Resolutions (Exhibits 6 through 8).
Appendix A--Listing of Local HUD Offices.
Appendix B--Letter Requesting SHPO/THPO Review.
Appendix C--Supplemental to Choosing an Environmentally Safe Site.

    Your application must include all of the information, materials, 
forms, and exhibits listed below (unless you were selected for a 
Section 202 fund reservation within the last three funding cycles). If 
you qualify for this exception, you are not required to submit the 
information described in Exhibits 2(a), (b), and (c), which are the 
articles of incorporation, (or other organizational documents), by-
laws, and the IRS tax exemption, respectively. If there has been a 
change in any of these documents since your previous HUD approval, you 
must submit the updated information in your application. The local HUD 
office will verify your indication of previous HUD approval by checking 
the project number and approval status with the appropriate local HUD 
office based on the information submitted.
    In addition to this relief of paperwork burden in preparing 
applications, you will be able to use information and exhibits 
previously prepared for prior applications under Section 202, Section 
811, or other funding programs. Examples of exhibits that may be 
readily adapted or amended to decrease the burden of application 
preparation include, among others, those on previous participation in 
the Section 202 or Section 811 programs, your experience in the 
provision of housing and services, supportive services plans, community 
ties, and experience serving minorities.
    For programmatic information, you MUST contact the appropriate 
local HUD office about the submission of applications within the 
jurisdiction of that Office.

    Note: You may propose a scattered site project in one 
application, in which case the minimum unit requirement per site and 
the maximum number of units per application as specified in Section 
III.C.3.b. above apply.

    Please submit your application using the following format provided 
in this program section of the SuperNOFA. Unless you received a waiver 
of the electronic application submission, you must number the pages of 
each file, narratives and other attached files. Include the name of 
your organization and your DUNS number on the header of each document.
    1. Table of contents (This is also to be used as a checklist to 
assist you in submitting a complete application. For applicants who 
received a waiver of the electronic application submission, after your 
application is complete, you must insert the page number after each 
Exhibit or portion of the Exhibit item listed below.)
a. Part I--Application Form for Section 202 Supportive Housing--Capital 
Advance
    (1) Exhibit 1: Form HUD-92015-CA, Supportive Housing for the 
Elderly Section 202, Application for Capital Advance Summary 
Information.
    b. Part II--Your Ability to Develop and Operate the Proposed
Project
    (1) Exhibit 2: Your Legal Status.
    (a) Articles of Incorporation (or other organizational documents).
    (b) By-laws.
    (c) IRS Tax Exemption Ruling.

[Exception: see exhibit to determine if you may be exempt from 
submitting these documents.]

    (2) Exhibit 3: Your purpose, community ties and experience:
    (a) Purpose(s), current activities, how long you have been in 
existence.
    (b) Ties to the community at large, to the target population, and 
description of geographic areas served.
    (c) Local government support for project.
    (d) Letters of support for your organization and for the proposed 
project.
    (e) Housing and/or supportive services experience.
    (f) Efforts to involve target population.
    (g) Description of practical solutions to be implemented.
    (h) Project Development Timeline.
    (i) Description of how project will remain viable.
    (i) if service funds are depleted.
    (ii) for state-funded services, if state changes policy.
    (iii) if the need for project changes.
    (j) Description of efforts to remove barriers to affordable 
housing.
c. Part III--The need for supportive housing for the target population 
in the area to be served, site control and suitability of site, 
adequacy of the provision of supportive services and of the proposed 
project
    (1) Exhibit 4: Project information including:
    (a) Evidence of need for project.
    (b) How project will benefit target population and community.
    (c) A narrative description of the project, including:
    (i) Building design.
    (ii) Whether and how project will promote energy efficiency.
    (iii) If applicable, description of plans and actions to create a 
mixed-finance project for additional units and the number of additional 
units.
    (d) Evidence of site control and permissive zoning.
    (i) Site control document(s).
    (ii) Evidence site is free of limitations, restrictions, or 
reverters.
    (iii) Evidence of permissive zoning or statement of proposed action 
required to make project permissible.
    (iv) Evidence of compliance with the Uniform Relocation Assistance 
and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, as amended (URA) 
site notification requirement.
    (v) Narrative topographical/demographic description of site/area

[[Page 14197]]

suitability, how site will promote greater housing opportunities for 
minorities/target population.
    (vi) Racial composition/concentration map of site.
    (vii) Phase I Environmental Site Assessment.
    (viii) Asbestos Statement or Report.
    (ix) Letter to State/Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO/
THPO).
    (x) Response from SHPO/THPO or statement that SHPO/THPO failed to 
respond.
    (2) Exhibit 5: Supportive Services Plan.
    LV. (a) Description of services.
    (b) Public/private funding sources for proposed services.
    (c) Manner in which services will be provided.
d. Part IV--General application requirements, certifications and 
resolutions
    (1) Exhibit 6: Other Applications.
    (a) A list of applications, if any, you are submitting to any other 
local HUD Office in response to the FY 2005 Section 202 or Section 811 
NOFA, and required information about each.
    (b) A list of all FY 2004 and prior year Section 202 or Section 811 
projects to which you are a party and the required information about 
each.
    (2) Exhibit 7: A statement that:
    (a) Identifies all persons occupying property on application 
submission date.
    (b) Indicates estimated cost of relocation payments/other services.
    (c) Identifies staff organization that will carry out relocation 
activities.
    (d) Identifies all persons who have moved from site within past 12 
months.
    (3) Exhibit 8: Certifications and Resolutions:
    (a) Standard Form 424, Application for Federal Assistance.
    (b) Standard Form 424 Supplement, Survey on Ensuring Equal 
Opportunity for Applicants.
    (c) Standard Form LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities, if 
applicable.
    (d) Form HUD-2880, Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report.
    (e) Form HUD-2991, Certification of Consistency with the 
Consolidated Plan.
    (f) Form HUD-92041, Sponsor's Conflict of Interest Resolution.
    (g) Form HUD-92042, Sponsor's Resolution for Commitment to Project.
    (h) Form HUD-2990, Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC-
II Strategic Plan.
    (i) Form HUD-2530, Previous Participation Certification.
    (j) Form HUD-96010, Logic Model.
    (k) Form HUD-27300, Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal 
of Regulatory Barriers.
    (l) Form HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal to be used for faxing 
third party letters and other documents for your electronic application 
in accordance with the instructions in the General Section.

2. General Applications Requirements.

a. Part I--Application Form for Section 202 Supportive Housing--Capital 
Advance
    (1) Exhibit 1--Form HUD-92015-CA, Supportive Housing for the 
Elderly Section 202, Application for Capital Advance Summary 
Information. Refer to Section IV.B.3. of this program section for a 
copy of this form.
b. Part II--Your ability to develop and operate the proposed project.
    (1) Exhibit 2--Evidence of your legal status (Private nonprofit or 
nonprofit consumer cooperative (If another organization(s) is co-
sponsoring the application with you, each Co-Sponsor must also submit 
the following):
    (a) Articles of Incorporation, constitution, or other 
organizational documents;
    (b) By-laws;
    (c) IRS tax exemption ruling (this must be submitted by all 
Sponsors, including churches).

[Exception: if you received a Section 202 fund reservation within 
the last three funding cycles, you are not required to submit the 
documents described in (a), (b), and (c) above. instead, submit the 
project number of the latest application and the local hud office to 
which it was submitted. if there have been any modifications or 
additions to the subject documents, indicate such, and submit the 
new material.]

    (2) Exhibit 3--Your purpose, community ties and experience:
    (a) A description of your purpose(s), current activities, and how 
long you have been in existence.
    (b) A description of your ties to the community in which your 
project will be located and to the minority and elderly communities in 
particular, including a description of the specific geographic area(s) 
in which you have served.
    (c) A description of local government support for the project 
(including financial assistance, donation of land, provision of 
services, etc.).
    (d) Letters of support for your organization and for the proposed 
project from organizations familiar with the housing and supportive 
services needs of the target population that you expect to serve in the 
proposed project.
    (e) A description of your housing and/or supportive services 
experience. The description should include any rental housing projects 
and/or supportive services facilities that you sponsored, own and/or 
operate, your past or current involvement in any programs other than 
housing that demonstrates your management capabilities (including 
financial management) and experience, your experience in serving the 
target population (the elderly and/or families and minorities); and the 
reasons for receiving any increases in fund reservations for developing 
and/or operating previously funded Section 202 or Section 811 projects. 
The description should include data on the facilities and services 
provided, the racial/ethnic composition of the populations served, if 
available, and information and testimonials from residents or community 
leaders on the quality of the activities. Examples of activities that 
could be described include housing counseling, nutrition and food 
services, special housing referral, screening and information projects.
    (f) A description of your efforts to involve members of the target 
population (elderly persons, including minority elderly persons) in the 
development of the application as well as your intent to involve the 
target population in the development and operation of the project.
    (g) A description of the practical solutions you will implement 
which will enable residents of your project to achieve independent 
living. In addition, describe the educational opportunities you will 
provide for the residents and how you will provide them. This 
description should include any activities that will enhance the quality 
of life for the residents. And, finally, describe how your proposed 
project will be an improved living environment for the residents when 
compared to their previous place of residence.
    (h) Describe your plan for completing the proposed project. Include 
a project development timeline which lists the major development stages 
for the project with associated dates that must be met in order to get 
the project to initial closing and start of construction within the 18-
month fund reservation period as well as the full completion of the 
project, including final closing. Completion of Exhibit 8(j), Logic 
Model, will assist you in completing your response to this Exhibit.
    (i) Describe how you will ensure that your proposed project will 
remain viable as housing with the availability of supportive services 
for the target population for the 40-year capital advance period. This 
description should address the measures you would take should any of 
the following occur:

[[Page 14198]]

    (i) funding for any of the needed supportive services becomes 
depleted;
    (ii) if, for any state-funded services for your project, the state 
changes its policy regarding the provision of supportive services to 
projects such as the one you propose; or
    (iii) if the need for housing for the population you will be 
serving wanes over time, causing vacancies in your project.
    (j) A description of the successful efforts the jurisdiction in 
which your project will be located has taken in removing regulatory 
barriers to affordable housing. To obtain up to 2 points for this 
policy priority, you must complete the optional Form HUD-27300, 
``Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers'' in Exhibit 8(k) of the application AND provide the necessary 
URL references or submit the documentary evidence.
c. Part III--The need for supportive housing for the target population, 
site control and suitability of site, adequacy of the provision of 
supportive services and of the proposed project.
    (1) Exhibit 4--Need and Project Information.
    (a) Evidence of need for supportive housing. Include a description 
of the category or categories of elderly persons the housing is 
intended to serve and evidence demonstrating sustained effective demand 
for supportive housing for that population in the market area to be 
served, taking into consideration the occupancy and vacancy conditions 
in existing federally assisted housing for the elderly (HUD and the 
Rural Housing Service (RHS)) e.g., public housing, state or local data 
on the limitations in activities of daily living among the elderly in 
the area; aging in place in existing assisted rentals; trends in 
demographic changes in elderly population and households; the numbers 
of income eligible elderly households by size, tenure and housing 
condition; the types of supportive services arrangements currently 
available in the area; and the use of such services as evidenced by 
data from local social service agencies or agencies on aging. Also, a 
description of how information in the community's or (where applicable) 
the state's Consolidated Plan, Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing 
Choice (AI) or other planning document that analyzes fair housing 
issues was used in documenting the need for the project.
    (b) A description of how the proposed project will benefit the 
target population and the community in which it will be located.
    (c) Description of the project.
    (i) Narrative description of the building design including a 
description of the number of units with bedroom distribution, any 
special design features, including any features that incorporate 
visitability standards and universal design, amenities, and/or 
commercial and community spaces, and how this design will facilitate 
the delivery of services in an economical fashion and accommodate the 
changing needs of the residents over the next 10-20 years.

    Note: If the community spaces, amenities, or features do not 
comply with the project design and cost standards of 24 CFR 
891.120(a) and (c) and the special standards of 24 CFR 891.210, you 
must demonstrate your ability and willingness to contribute both the 
incremental development cost and continuing operating cost 
associated with the community spaces, amenities, or features;

    (ii) Describe whether and how the project will promote energy 
efficiency (in accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 
III.C.3.j. of this program NOFA), including any plans to incorporate 
energy efficiency features in the operation of the project through the 
use of Energy Star labeled products and appliances and, if applicable, 
innovative construction or rehabilitation methods or technologies to be 
used that will promote efficient construction.
    (iii) If you are proposing to develop a mixed-finance project by 
developing additional units (i.e., in addition to the 202 units), a 
description of any plans and actions you have taken to create such a 
mixed-finance project with the use of Section 202 capital advance 
funds, in combination with other funding sources. Provide the number of 
non-Section 202 units to be included in the mixed-finance project (also 
provide the number of additional units in the appropriate space on Form 
HUD-92015-CA). Also, provide copies of any letters you have sent 
seeking outside funding for the non-Section 202 units and any responses 
thereto. Your response to this Exhibit will be used to rate your 
application for Rating Factor 4.c., under Leveraging Resources.

    Notes: (1) A proposal to develop a mixed-finance project for 
additional units must occur at the application for fund reservation 
stage. You cannot decide after selection that you want to do a 
mixed-finance project for additional units. (2) If you propose to 
develop a mixed-finance project for additional units, you must 
complete the development of such a proposal. If you are later unable 
to develop a mixed-finance project for additional units, you will 
not be permitted to proceed with a Section 202 project without 
additional units and your fund reservation will be canceled. This is 
due to the fact that the project would have received points in the 
rating of the application in consideration of the additional units 
and, if selected for funding, a later change in the proposal to 
exclude the additional units would alter the fairness of the 
competition. (3) Section 202 capital advance amendment money will 
not be approved for projects proposing mixed-financing for 
additional units. (4) If approved for a reservation of capital 
advance funds, you will be required to submit with your Firm 
Commitment Application, the additional documents required by HUD for 
mixed-finance proposals. (5) A mixed-finance project does not 
include the development of a mixed-use project in which the Section 
202 units are mortgaged separately from the other uses of the 
structure.

    (d) Evidence of site control and permissive zoning.
    (i) Acceptable evidence of site control is limited to any one of 
the following:
    (A) Deed or long-term leasehold which evidences that you have title 
to or a leasehold interest in the site. If a leasehold, the term of the 
lease must be at least 50 years with renewable provisions for 25 years, 
except for sites on Indian trust land, in which case, the term of the 
lease must be at least 50 years with no requirement for extensions;
    (B) Contract of sale for the site that is free of any limitations 
affecting the ability of the seller to deliver ownership to you after 
you receive and accept a notice of Section 202 capital advance. (The 
only condition for closing on the sale can be your receipt and 
acceptance of the capital advance.) The contract of sale cannot require 
closing earlier than the Section 202 closing;
    (C) Option to purchase or for a long-term leasehold, which must 
remain in effect for six months from the date on which the applications 
are due, must state a firm price binding on the seller, and be 
renewable at the end of the six-month period. The only condition on 
which the option may be terminated is if you are not awarded a fund 
reservation;
    (D) If the site is covered by a mortgage under a HUD program, 
(e.g., a previously funded Section 202 or Section 811 project or an 
FHA-insured mortgage) you must submit evidence that consent to release 
the site from the mortgage has been obtained or has been requested from 
HUD (all required information in order for a decision on the request 
for a partial release of security must have been submitted to the local 
HUD office) and from the mortgagee, if other than HUD. Approval to 
release the site from the mortgage must be done before the local HUD 
office makes its selection recommendations to HUD Headquarters. Refer 
to Chapter 16 of HUD Handbook

[[Page 14199]]

4350.REV-1, Multifamily Asset Management and Project Servicing, for 
instructions on submitting requests to the local HUD office for partial 
release of security from a mortgage under a HUD program; or
    (E) For sites to be acquired from a public body, evidence is needed 
that the public body possesses clear title to the site and has entered 
into a legally binding agreement to lease or convey the site to you 
after you receive and accept a notice of Section 202 capital advance. 
Where HUD determines that time constraints of the funding round will 
not permit you to obtain all of the required official actions (e.g., 
approval of Community Planning Boards) that are necessary to convey 
publicly-owned sites, you may include in your application a letter from 
the mayor or director of the appropriate local agency indicating that 
conveyance or leasing of the site is acceptable without imposition of 
additional covenants or restrictions, and only contingent on the 
necessary approval action. Such a letter of commitment will be 
considered sufficient evidence of site control.

    Note: For this funding cycle, the existing installment contract 
between the Village of Hanna City, Illinois and the General Services 
Administration is deemed sufficient to constitute site control for 
the purposes of the Section 202 program.

    (ii) Whether you have title to the site, a contract of sale, an 
option to purchase, or are acquiring a site from a public body, you 
must provide evidence (a title policy or other acceptable evidence) 
that the site is free of any limitations, restrictions, or reverters 
which could adversely affect the use of the site for the proposed 
project for the 40-year capital advance period under HUD's regulations 
and requirements (e.g., reversion to seller if title is transferred). 
If the title evidence contains restrictions or covenants, copies of the 
restrictions or covenants must be submitted with the application. If 
the site is subject to any such limitations, restrictions, or 
reverters, the application will be rejected. Purchase money mortgages 
that will be satisfied from capital advance funds are not considered to 
be limitations or restrictions that would adversely affect the use of 
the site. If the contract of sale or option agreement contains 
provisions that allow a Sponsor not to purchase the property for 
reasons such as environmental problems, failure of the site to pass 
inspection, or the appraisal is less than the purchase price, then such 
provisions are not objectionable and a Sponsor is allowed to terminate 
the contract of sale or the option agreement.

    Note: A proposed project site may not be acquired or optioned 
from a general contractor (or its affiliate) that will construct the 
Section 202 project or from any other development team member.

    (iii) Evidence that the project, as proposed, is permissible under 
applicable zoning ordinances or regulations or a statement of the 
proposed action required to make the proposed project permissible and 
the basis for the belief that the proposed action will be completed 
successfully before the submission of the firm commitment application 
(e.g., a summary of the results of any requests for rezoning and/or the 
procedures for obtaining special or conditional use permits on land in 
similar zoning classifications and the time required for such rezoning, 
or preliminary indications of acceptability from zoning bodies, etc.).
    (iv) Evidence of compliance with the URA requirement that the 
seller has been provided, in writing, with the required information 
regarding a voluntary, arm's length purchase transaction (i.e., (1) 
applicant does not have the power of eminent domain and, therefore, 
will not acquire the property if negotiations fail to result in an 
amicable agreement, and (2) of the estimate of the fair market value of 
the property).

    Note: This information should have been provided before making 
the purchase offer. However, in those cases where there is an 
existing option or contract, the seller must be provided the 
opportunity to withdraw from the agreement or transaction, without 
penalty, after this information is provided.

    (v) Narrative describing topographical and demographic aspects of 
the site, the suitability of the site and area (as well as a 
description of the characteristics of the neighborhood), how use of the 
site will promote greater housing opportunities for minority elderly 
and elderly persons with disabilities, and how use of the site will 
affirmatively further fair housing.

    Note: You can best demonstrate your commitment to affirmatively 
furthering fair housing by describing how your proposed activities 
will assist the jurisdiction in overcoming impediments to fair 
housing choice identified in the applicable jurisdiction's Analysis 
of Impediments (AI) to Fair Housing Choice, which is a component of 
the jurisdiction's Consolidated Plan or any other planning document 
that addresses fair housing issues. The applicable Consolidated Plan 
and AI may be the community's, the county's, or the state's, to 
which input should have been provided by local community 
organizations, agencies in the community and residents of the 
community. Alternatively, a document that addresses fair housing 
issues and remedies to barriers to fair housing in the community 
that was previously prepared by a local planning, or similar 
organization, may be used. Applicable impediments could include the 
need for improved housing quality and services for elderly minority 
families, lack of affirmative marketing and outreach to minority 
elderly persons, and the need for quality eldercare services within 
areas of minority concentration when compared with the type and 
quality of similar services and housing in nonminority areas.

    (vi) A map showing the location of the site, the racial composition 
of the neighborhood, and any areas of racial concentration.

    Note: For this competition, when determining the racial and 
ethnic composition of the neighborhood surrounding the proposed 
site, use data from the 2000 Census of Population. Data from the 
2000 Census may be found at: www.factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet.

    (vii) A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), in accordance 
with the ASTM Standards E 1527-00, as amended, must be completed and 
submitted with the application. In order for the Phase I ESA to be 
acceptable, it must have been completed or updated no earlier than six 
months prior to the application deadline date. Therefore, it is 
important to start the site assessment process as soon after the 
publication of the NOFA as possible. If the Phase I ESA indicates 
possible presence of contamination and/or hazards, you must decide 
whether to continue with this site or choose another site. Should you 
choose another site, the same Phase I ESA process identified above must 
be followed for the new site. If the property is to be acquired from 
the FDIC/RTC, include a copy of the FDIC/RTC prepared Transaction 
Screen Checklist or Phase I ESA and applicable documentation, per the 
FDIC/RTC Environmental Guidelines. If you choose to continue with the 
original site on which the Phase I ESA indicated contamination or 
hazards, you must undertake a detailed Phase II ESA by an appropriate 
professional. If the Phase II Assessment reveals site contamination, 
you must submit the extent of the contamination and a plan for clean-up 
of the site including a contract for remediation of the problem(s) and 
an approval letter from the applicable federal, state, and/or local 
agency with jurisdiction over the site to the local HUD office. The 
Phase II and any necessary plans for clean-up do not have to be 
submitted with the application but must be received by the local HUD 
office by June 30, 2005. If it is not received by that date, the 
application will be rejected.


[[Page 14200]]


    Note: You must pay for the cost of any clean-up or remediation 
which can be very expensive. See Note at Section 
III.C.2.B(3)(c)(iii).

    (viii) You must submit one of the following:
    (A) If there is no pre-1978 structure on the site, a statement to 
this effect, or
    (B) If there is a pre-1978 structure on the site, an asbestos 
report which is based on a thorough inspection to identify the location 
and condition of asbestos throughout any structures.

    Note: In those cases where suspect asbestos is found, it would 
either be assumed to be asbestos or would require confirmatory 
testing. If the asbestos report indicates the presence of asbestos, 
or the presence of asbestos is assumed, and if the application is 
approved, HUD will condition the approval on an appropriate mix of 
asbestos abatement and an asbestos Operations and Maintenance Plan.

    (ix) The letter you sent to the State/Tribal Historic Preservation 
Officer (SHPO/THPO) initiating consultation with their office and 
requesting their review of your determinations and findings with 
respect to the historical significance of your proposed project. 
Appendix B to this program section of the SuperNOFA contains a sample 
letter that you may adapt and send to the SHPO/THPO.
    (x) The SHPO/THPO response to your letter or a statement that you 
have not received a response letter from the SHPO/THPO.
    (2) Exhibit 5--Supportive Services Plan.
    (a) A detailed description of the supportive services proposed to 
be provided to the anticipated occupancy.
    (b) A description of public or private sources of assistance that 
reasonably could be expected to fund the proposed services.
    (c) The manner in which such services will be provided to such 
persons (i.e., on or off-site), including whether a service coordinator 
will facilitate the adequate provision of such services, and how the 
services will meet the identified needs of the residents.

    Note: You may not require residents, as a condition of admission 
or occupancy, to accept any supportive services.

d. Part IV--General Application Requirements, Certifications and 
Resolutions
    (1) Exhibit 6: Other Applications.
    (a) A list of the applications, if any, you are submitting to any 
other local HUD office in response to the FY 2005 Section 202 or 
Section 811 NOFA. Indicate by local HUD office, the proposed location 
by city and state and the number of units requested for each 
application.
    (b) Include a list of all FY2004 and prior year Section 202 and 
Section 811 capital advance projects to which you are a party. Identify 
each by project number and local HUD office and include the following 
information:
    (1) whether the project has initially closed and, if so, when;
    (2) if the project was older than 24 months when it initially 
closed (specify how old) or if older than 24 months now (specify how 
old) and has not initially closed, provide the reasons for the delay in 
closing;
    (3) whether amendment money was or will be needed for any project 
in (2) above; and,
    (4) those projects which have not been finally closed.
    (2) Exhibit 7: A statement that:
    (a) identifies all persons (families, individuals, businesses and 
nonprofit organizations) by race/minority group, and status as owners 
or tenants occupying the property on the date of submission of the 
application for a capital advance.
    (b) indicates the estimated cost of relocation payments and other 
services.
    (c) identifies the staff organization that will carry out the 
relocation activities.
    (d) identifies all persons that have moved from the site within the 
past 12 months.

    Note: If any of the relocation costs will be funded from sources 
other than the Section 202 Capital Advance, you must provide 
evidence of a firm commitment of these funds. When evaluating 
applications, HUD will consider the total cost of proposals (i.e., 
cost of site acquisition, relocation, construction and other project 
costs).

    (3) Exhibit 8: Certifications and Resolutions. With the exception 
of Form HUD-424CB and Form HUD-424CBW listed in the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA, and OMB Circulars A-87 and A-21, you are required to 
submit copies of the following:
    (a) Standard Form 424--Application for Federal Assistance, 
including a DUNS number, an indication of whether you are delinquent on 
any Federal debt, and compliance with Executive Order 12372 (a 
certification that you have submitted a copy of your application, if 
required, to the State agency (Single Point of Contact) for state 
review in accordance with Executive Order 12372). A copy of this form 
and instructions on how to obtain a DUNS number are contained in the 
online application and the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    (b) Standard Form 424 Supplement, Survey on Ensuring Equal 
Opportunity for Applicants. Although the information on this form will 
not be considered in making funding decisions, it will assist the 
federal government in ensuring that all qualified applicants have an 
equal opportunity to compete for federal funding. A copy of this form 
is contained in the online application and the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA.
    (c) Standard Form LLL--Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if 
applicable). A disclosure of activities conducted to influence any 
federal transactions. A copy of this form is contained in the online 
application and the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    (d) Form HUD-2880, Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report, 
including Social Security and Employee Identification Numbers. A 
disclosure of assistance from other government sources received in 
connection with the project. A copy of this form is contained in the 
online application and the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    (e) Form HUD-2991, Certification of Consistency with the 
Consolidated Plan (Plan) for the jurisdiction in which the proposed 
project will be located. The certification must be made by the unit of 
general local government if it is required to have, or has, a complete 
Plan. Otherwise, the certification may be made by the state or by the 
unit of general local government if the project will be located within 
the jurisdiction of the unit of general local government authorized to 
use an abbreviated strategy, and if it is willing to prepare such a 
Plan. All certifications must be made by the public official 
responsible for submitting the Plan to HUD. The certifications must be 
submitted as part of the application by the application submission 
deadline date set forth in the program section of the SuperNOFA. The 
Plan regulations are published in 24 CFR part 91. A copy of this form 
is contained in the online application and the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA.
    (f) Form HUD-92041, Sponsor's Conflict of Interest Resolution. A 
certified Board Resolution that no officer or director of the Sponsor 
or Owner has or will have any financial interest in any contract with 
the Owner or in any firm or corporation that has or will have a 
contract with the Owner, including a current listing of all duly 
qualified and sitting officers and directors by title and the beginning 
and ending dates of each person's term. Refer to Section IV.B.3. for a 
copy of this Resolution.
    (g) Form HUD-92042, Sponsor's Resolution for Commitment to Project. 
A certified Board Resolution acknowledging responsibilities of

[[Page 14201]]

sponsorship, long-term support of the project(s), your willingness to 
assist the Owner to develop, own, manage and provide appropriate 
services in connection with the proposed project, and that it reflects 
the will of your membership. Also, it shall indicate your willingness 
to fund the estimated start-up expenses, the Minimum Capital Investment 
(one-half of one-percent of the HUD-approved capital advance, not to 
exceed $10,000 or for national Sponsors, not to exceed $25,000), and 
the estimated cost of any amenities or features (and operating costs 
related thereto) that would not be covered by the approved capital 
advance. Refer to Section IV.B.3. for a copy of this Resolution.
    (h) Form HUD-2990, Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC-
II Strategic Plan. A certification that the project is consistent with 
the RC/EZ/EC-IIs strategic plan, is located within the RC/EZ/EC-II, and 
serves RC/EZ/EC-II residents. (This certification is not required if 
the project site(s) will not be located in an RC/EZ/EC-II.) A copy of 
the RC/EZ/EC-II Certification form is contained in the online 
application and the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    (i) Form HUD-2530, Previous Participation Certification. This form 
must be submitted for the Sponsor and all of the Officers and Directors 
of the Board of the Sponsor, including any Co-Sponsor, if applicable. 
This form provides HUD with a certified report of all your previous 
participation in HUD multifamily housing projects. The information is 
used to determine if you meet the standards established to ensure that 
all principal participants in HUD projects will honor their legal, 
financial, and contractual obligations and are acceptable risks from 
the underwriting standpoint of an insurer, lender or governmental 
agency. Refer to Section IV.B.3. below for a copy of this form.
    (j) Form HUD-96010, Logic Model. In addition to the Project 
Development Timeline to be submitted in Exhibit 3(h) above, the 
information provided in the Logic Model will be used in rating your 
application for Rating Factor 5, Achieving Results and Program 
Evaluation. A copy of this form is contained in the online application 
and the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    (k) Form HUD-27300, Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal 
of Regulatory Barriers. This form requires you to supply a reference, 
URL or brief statement documenting the successful efforts in removing 
barriers to affordable housing by the jurisdiction in which your 
project will be located. This Questionnaire will be considered in the 
rating of your application for Rating Factor 3.j. A copy of this form 
is contained in the online application and the General Section.
    (l) Form HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal to be used for faxing 
third party letters and other documents for your electronic application 
in accordance with the instructions in the General Section.
    3. Required Forms. In addition to the required forms that are found 
in the General Section as specified above, the following required forms 
(HUD-92015-CA, HUD-92041, HUD-92042, and HUD-2530) are specific to the 
Section 202 program.

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C. Submission Dates and Time

    Your application must be submitted and received electronically by 
Grants.gov no later than 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on May 31, 2005, 
unless a waiver of the electronic delivery process has been approved by 
HUD. Please refer to the General Section for instructions on applying 
for a waiver. If a waiver is granted, you must submit an original and 
four copies of your application on the application submission date 
following the mailing and timely receipt instructions in the General 
Section and Appendix A of this program NOFA. These instructions have 
changed from the 2004 SuperNOFA.

D. Intergovernmental Review

    1. State Review. This funding opportunity is subject to Executive 
Order (EO) 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.'' You 
must contact your State's Single Point of Contact (SPOC) to find out 
about and comply with the state's process under EO 12372. The names and 
addresses of the SPOCs are listed in the Office of Management and 
Budget's home page at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html. 
If required by the state, the submission to the state needs to occur 
before the Section 202 application submission date. It is recommended 
that you provide the state with sufficient time to review the 
application. Therefore, it is important that you consult with the SPOC 
for State review timeframes and take that into account when submitting 
the application.
    2. HUD/RHS Agreement. HUD and the Rural Housing Service (RHS) have 
an agreement to coordinate the administration of the agencies' 
respective rental assistance programs. As a result, HUD is required to 
notify RHS of applications for housing assistance it receives. This 
notification gives RHS the opportunity to comment if it has concerns 
about the demand for additional assisted housing and possible harm to 
existing projects in the same housing market area. HUD will consider 
RHS' comments in its review and application selection process.

E. Funding Restrictions

    1. Ineligible Activities. Section 202 funds may not be used for:
    a. Nursing homes;
    b. Infirmaries;
    c. Medical facilities;
    d. Mobile homes;
    e. Community centers;
    f. Headquarters for organizations for the elderly;
    g. Nonhousekeeping accommodations (e.g., central dining, but 
without private kitchens and/or bathrooms in the residential units);
    h. Refinancing of sponsor-owned facilities without rehabilitation,
    i. Housing that you currently own or lease that is occupied by 
elderly persons; and
    j. Projects licensed or to be licensed as assisted living 
facilities.

    Note: You may propose to rehabilitate an existing currently-
owned or leased structure that does not already serve elderly 
person, except that the refinancing of any federally-funded or 
assisted project or project insured or guaranteed by a Federal 
agency is not permissible under this Section 202 NOFA. HUD does not 
consider it appropriate to utilize scarce program resources to 
refinance projects that have already received some form of 
assistance under a federal program. (For example, Section 202 or 
Section 202/8 direct loan projects cannot be refinanced with capital 
advances and project rental assistance.)

    2. Application Limits (Units/Projects). Refer to Section III.C.3.b. 
of this program section of the SuperNOFA for information applicable to 
the limitations on the number of units you may apply for in a single 
application and the project sizes.
    3. Development Cost Limits. a. The following development cost 
limits, adjusted by locality as described in Section IV.E.3.b. below 
must be used to determine the capital advance amount to be reserved for 
projects for the elderly. Note: The capital advance funds awarded for 
this project are to be considered the total amount of funds that the 
Department will provide for the development of this project. Amendment 
funds will only be provided in exceptional circumstances (e.g., to 
cover increased costs for construction delays due to litigation or 
unforeseen environmental issues resulting in a change of sites) that 
are clearly beyond your control. Otherwise, you are responsible for any 
costs over and above the capital advance amount provided by the 
Department as well as any costs associated with any excess amenities 
and design features.
    (1) The capital advance amount for the project attributable to 
dwelling use (less the incremental development cost and the capitalized 
operating costs associated with any excess amenities and design 
features and other costs you must pay for) may not exceed:
    Non-elevator structures: $42,980 per family unit without a bedroom; 
$49,557 per family unit with one bedroom; $59,766 per family unit with 
two bedrooms.
    For elevator structures: $45,232 per family unit without a bedroom; 
$51,849 per family unit with one bedroom; $63,049 per family unit with 
two bedrooms.
    (2) These cost limits reflect those costs reasonable and necessary 
to develop a project of modest design that complies with HUD minimum 
property standards; the accessibility requirements of Sec.  891.120(b); 
and the project design and cost standards of Sec.  891.120 and Sec.  
891.210.
    b. Increased development cost limits.
    (1) HUD may increase the development cost limits set forth above, 
by up to 140 percent in any geographic area where the cost levels 
require, and may increase the development cost limits by up to 160 
percent on a project-by-project basis. This increase may include 
covering additional costs to make dwelling units accessible through 
rehabilitation.

    Note: In applying the applicable high cost percentage, the local 
HUD Office may use a percentage that is higher or lower than that 
which is assigned to the local HUD Office if it is needed to provide 
a capital advance amount that is comparable to what it typically 
costs to develop a Section 202 project in that area.

    (2) If HUD finds that high construction costs in Alaska, Guam, the 
Virgin Islands, or Hawaii make it infeasible to construct dwellings, 
without the sacrifice of sound standards of construction, design, and 
livability, within the development cost limits provided in sections 
IV.E.3.a.(1) and IV.E.3.b.(1) above, the amount of the capital advances 
may be increased to compensate for such costs. The increase may not 
exceed the limits established under this section (including any high 
cost area adjustment) by more than 50 percent.
    4. Commercial Facilities. A commercial facility for the benefit of 
the residents may be located and operated in the Section 202 project. 
However, the commercial facility cannot be funded with the use of 
Section 202 capital advance or PRAC funds. The maximum amount of space 
permitted for a commercial facility cannot exceed 10 percent of the 
total project cost. An exception to this 10 percent limitation is if 
the project involves acquisition or rehabilitation and the additional 
space was incorporated in the existing structure at the time the 
proposal was submitted to HUD. Commercial facilities are considered 
public accommodations under Title III of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), and thus must comply with all the 
accessibility requirements of the ADA.
    5. Expiration of Section 202 Funds. The Consolidated Appropriations 
Act, 2005, requires HUD to obligate all Section 202 funds appropriated 
for FY

[[Page 14211]]

2005 by September 30, 2008. Under 31 U.S.C. Section 1551, no funds can 
be disbursed from this account after September 30, 2013. Under Section 
202, obligation of funds occurs for both capital advances and project 
rental assistance upon fund reservation and acceptance. If all funds 
are not disbursed by HUD and expended by the project Owner by September 
30, 2013, the funds, even though obligated, will expire and no further 
disbursements can be made from this account. In submitting an 
application you need to carefully consider whether your proposed 
project can be completed through final capital advance closing no later 
than September 30, 2013. Furthermore, all unexpended balances, 
including any remaining balance on PRAC contracts, will be cancelled as 
of October 1, 2013. Amounts needed to maintain PRAC payments for any 
remaining term on the affected contracts beyond that date will have to 
be funded from other current appropriations.
    F. Other Submission Requirements:
    1. Address for Submitting Applications. Applications must be 
submitted electronically through the http://www.grants.gov Web site, 
unless the applicant receives a waiver from the electronic application 
submission requirement. See the General Section, Application Submission 
and Receipt Procedures, for information on applying online and 
requesting a waiver from the electronic application requirement. If you 
apply for and receive a waiver from the electronic application 
requirement, you must submit an original and four copies of your 
completed application to the Director of the appropriate local HUD 
office listed in Appendix A below.

    Note: Do not use the listing in Attachment B to the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    Policy Priorities. HUD encourages applicants to undertake specific 
activities that will assist the Department in implementing its policy 
priorities and which help the Department achieve its strategic goals 
for FY 2005. Refer to the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
information regarding HUD's Strategic Goals and Policy Priorities. For 
the Section 202 program, applicants who include work activities that 
specifically address the policy priorities of encouraging accessible 
design features by incorporating visitability standards and universal 
design, removing barriers to affordable housing, and promoting energy 
efficiency in design and operations will receive additional points. A 
Notice pertaining to the removal of barriers to affordable housing was 
published in the Federal Register and may be downloaded from the HUD 
Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    Rating Factors. HUD will rate applications that successfully 
complete technical processing using the Rating Factors set forth below 
and in accordance with the application submission requirements in this 
program Section of the SuperNOFA. The maximum number of points an 
application may receive under this program is 102. This includes two 
(2) RC/EZ/EC-II bonus points, as described in the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA and Section V.A.6. below.
    1. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Staff (25 Points).
    This factor addresses the extent to which you have the 
organizational resources to successfully implement the proposed 
activities in a timely manner. Submit information responding to this 
factor in accordance with Application Submission Requirements in 
Exhibits 3(a), 3(b), 3(e), 5 and 6 of Section IV.B. of this program 
section of the SuperNOFA. In rating this factor, HUD will consider the 
extent to which your application demonstrates your ability to develop 
and operate the proposed housing on a long-term basis, considering the 
following:
    a. (15 points). The scope, extent, and quality of your experience 
in providing housing or related services to those proposed to be served 
by the project and the scope of the proposed project (i.e., number of 
units, services, relocation costs, development, and operation) in 
relationship to your demonstrated development and management capacity 
as well as your financial management capability.
    b. (10 points). The scope, extent and quality of your experience in 
providing housing or related services to minority persons or families 
and your ties to the community at large and to the minority and elderly 
communities in particular.
    (1) (5 points). The scope, extent, and quality of your experience 
in providing housing or related services to minority persons or 
families.
    (2) (5 points). The scope, extent, and quality of your ties to the 
community at large and to the minority and elderly communities in 
particular.
    To earn the maximum number of points under sub-criteria (b)(1) 
above, you must describe both your relationships over time with the 
minority community and significant previous experience in providing 
housing and/or supportive services to minorities generally and to 
minority elderly in particular. For the purpose of this competition, 
``significant previous experience'' means that the previous housing 
assistance or related services to minorities, i.e., the percentage of 
minorities being provided housing or related services in your current 
developments, was equal to or greater than the percentage of minorities 
in the jurisdiction where the previous housing or services occurred. To 
earn the maximum number of points under sub-criteria (b)(2) above, you 
should submit materials that demonstrate your efforts to make housing 
available to the community at large and the minority and elderly 
communities in particular. Examples of documents that may be submitted 
to earn the maximum number of points under sub-criteria (b)(2) include 
copies of your affirmative marketing plan and the advertising/outreach 
materials you utilize to attract minority communities (including 
limited English proficient communities), elderly community and the 
community at large. Regarding your advertising/outreach materials, you 
should identify when advertising/outreach materials are circulated, 
whom they are circulated to, where they are circulated and how they are 
circulated. Descriptions of other advertising/outreach efforts to the 
minority (including limited English proficient communities) and elderly 
communities and the dates and places of such advertising/outreach 
efforts should also be included.
    c. (-3 to -5 points). HUD will deduct (except if the delay was 
beyond your control) 3 points if a fund reservation you received under 
either the Section 202 Program of Supportive Housing for the Elderly or 
the Section 811 Program of Supportive Housing for Persons with 
Disabilities in FY 2000 or later has been extended beyond 24 months, 4 
points if beyond 36 months, and 5 points if beyond 48 months. Examples 
of such delays beyond your control include, but are not limited to, 
initial closing delays that are: (1) Directly attributable to HUD, (2) 
directly attributable to third party opposition, including litigation, 
and (3) due to a disaster, as declared by the President of the United 
States.
    d. (-1 point). HUD will deduct 1 point if amendment money was 
required as a result of the delay (except if the delay was beyond your 
control).
    2. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (13 Points).
    This factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for 
funding the proposed activities to address a documented problem in the 
target area.

[[Page 14212]]

Submit information responding to this factor in accordance with 
Application Submission Requirements in Exhibits 4(a) and 4(b) of 
Section IV.B. of this program section of the SuperNOFA. HUD will take 
into consideration the following in evaluating this factor:
    The extent of the need for the project in the area based on a 
determination by the local HUD Office. In making this determination, 
HUD will consider your evidence of need in the area, as well as other 
economic, demographic, and housing market data available to the local 
HUD office. The data should include a general assessment of the current 
conditions in the market for the type of housing proposed, an estimate 
of the demand for additional housing of the type proposed in the 
applicable housing market area; as well as, information on the numbers 
and types of existing comparable Federally assisted housing units for 
the elderly (HUD and RHS), current occupancy in such housing and recent 
market experience, comparable assisted housing for the elderly under 
construction or for which fund reservations have been issued, and, in 
accordance with an agreement between HUD and RHS, comments from RHS on 
the demand for additional comparable subsidized housing and the 
possible harm to existing projects in the same housing market areas. 
The Department will also review more favorably those applications that 
establish a connection between the proposed project and the community's 
Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) or other planning 
document that analyzes fair housing issues and is prepared by a local 
planning or similar organization. You must show how your proposed 
project will address an impediment to fair housing choice described in 
the AI or meet a need identified in the other type of planning 
document.
    For all Section 202 projects that are determined to have sufficient 
demand, HUD will rate your application based on the ratio of the number 
of units in the proposed project to the estimate of unmet need for 
housing assistance by the income eligible elderly households with 
selected housing conditions. Unmet need is defined as the number of 
very low-income elderly one-person renter households age 75 and older 
with housing conditions problems, as of the 2000 Census minus the 
number of project-based subsidized rental housing units (HUD, RHS, or 
LIHTC) that are affordable to very low-income elderly provided in the 
area since 1999. Units to be occupied by resident managers are not 
counted. After HUD determines the estimate of unmet need and whether a 
connection has been made between the project and community's 
Consolidated Plan, Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, or 
other planning document, HUD will rate your application as follows:
    a. (10 points). The area of the project has an unmet needs ratio of 
15 percent or less; OR (5 points). The area of the project has an unmet 
needs ratio of greater than 15 percent; OR (0 points). The area of the 
proposed project has no unmet needs for housing assistance.
    b. (3 points). The extent that a connection has been established 
between the project and the community's Consolidated Plan, Analysis of 
Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) or other planning document that 
analyzes fair housing issues and is prepared by a local planning or 
similar organization.
    3. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach ( 45 Points).
    This factor addresses the quality and effectiveness of your 
proposal and the extent to which you involved elderly persons, 
including elderly minority persons, in the development of the 
application and will involve them in the development and operation of 
the project, whether the jurisdiction in which your project will be 
located has undertaken successful efforts to remove regulatory barriers 
to affordable housing, and whether you will promote energy efficiency 
in the design and operation of the proposed housing. There must be a 
clear relationship between your proposed design, proposed activities, 
the community's needs and purposes of the program funding for your 
application to receive points for this factor. Submit information 
responding to this factor in accordance with Application Submission 
Requirements in Exhibits 3(f), 3(j), 4(c)(i), 4(c)(ii), 4(c)(iii), 
4(d)(iii), 4(d)(v), 4(d)(vi), 5, and 8(k) of Section IV.B. of this 
program section of the SuperNOFA. In evaluating this factor, HUD will 
consider the following:
    a. (20 points). The proximity or accessibility of the site to 
shopping, medical facilities, transportation, places of worship, 
recreational facilities, places of employment, and other necessary 
services to the intended occupants; adequacy of utilities and streets; 
freedom of the site from adverse environmental conditions; compliance 
with site and neighborhood standards (24 CFR 891.125(a), (d) and (e)).
    b. (-1 point). The site(s) is not permissively zoned for the 
intended use.
    c. (10 points). The suitability of the site from the standpoints of 
promoting a greater choice of housing opportunities for minority 
elderly persons/families, and affirmatively furthering fair housing. In 
reviewing this criterion, HUD will assess whether the site meets the 
site and neighborhood standards at 24 CFR 891.125(b) and (c) by 
examining relevant data in your application or in the local HUD Office. 
Where appropriate, HUD may visit the site.
    (1) The site will be deemed acceptable if it increases housing 
choice and opportunity by expanding housing opportunities in non-
minority neighborhoods (if located in such a neighborhood). The term 
``nonminority area'' is defined as one in which the minority population 
is lower than 10 percent; or contributing to the revitalization of and 
reinvestment in minority neighborhoods, including improvement of the 
level, quality and affordability of services furnished to minority 
elderly. You should refer to the Site and Neighborhood Standards 
provisions of the regulations governing the Section 202 Supportive 
Housing for the Elderly program (24 CFR 891.125(b) and (c)) when 
considering sites for your project.
    (2) For the purpose of this competition, the term ``minority 
neighborhood (area of minority concentration)'' is defined as one where 
any one of the following statistical conditions exists:
    (a) The percentage of persons of a particular racial or ethnic 
minority is at least 20 points higher than the minority's or 
combination of minorities' percentage in the housing market area as a 
whole;
    (b) The neighborhood's total percentage of minority persons is at 
least 20 points higher than the total percentage of minorities for the 
housing market as a whole; or,
    (c) In the case of a metropolitan area, the neighborhood's total 
percentage of minority persons exceeds 50 percent of its population.
    d. (2 points). The extent to which your proposed design will meet 
the special physical needs of elderly persons.
    e. (2 points). The extent to which the proposed size and unit mix 
of the housing will enable you to manage and operate the housing 
efficiently and ensure that the provision of supportive services will 
be accomplished in an economical fashion.
    f. (2 points). The extent to which the proposed design of the 
housing will accommodate the provision of supportive services that are 
expected to be needed, initially and over the useful life of the 
housing, by the category or

[[Page 14213]]

categories of elderly persons the housing is intended to serve.
    g. (3 points). The extent to which the proposed supportive services 
meet the identified needs of the anticipated residents and that the 
identified supportive services will be provided on a consistent, long-
term basis.
    h. (1 point). The extent to which the proposed design incorporates 
visitability standards and/or universal design in the construction or 
rehabilitation of the project. Refer to the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA for further information.
    i. (2 points). Your involvement of elderly persons, particularly 
minority elderly persons, in the development of the application and 
your intent to involve elderly persons, particularly minority elderly 
persons, in the development and operation of the project.
    j. (2 points). The extent to which the jurisdiction in which your 
project will be located has undertaken successful efforts to remove 
regulatory barriers to affordable housing. (NOTE: To receive up to 2 
points, the applicant must have submitted the optional Form HUD-27300, 
Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory Barriers, 
AND provided URL references or submitted the required documentary 
evidence.) Refer to the General Section of the SuperNOFA for further 
information.
    k. (1 point) The extent to which you will promote energy efficiency 
in the design and operation of the proposed housing. Refer to Section 
III.C.3.j. of this NOFA.
    4. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (5 Points).
    This factor addresses your ability to secure other funding sources, 
including funding sources to develop a mixed-finance project for 
additional units for the elderly over and above the Section 202 units, 
if proposed, and community resources that can be combined with HUD's 
program resources to achieve program purposes. Submit information 
responding to this factor in accordance with Application Submission 
Requirements in Exhibits 3(a), 3(b), 3(c), 3(d), 3(e), 4(c)(iii) and 
5(b) of Section IV.B. of this NOFA.
    a. (1 point). The extent of local government support (including 
financial assistance, donation of land, provision of services, etc.) 
for the project.
    b. (2 points). The extent of your activities in the community, 
including previous experience in serving the area where the project is 
to be located, and your demonstrated ability to enlist volunteers and 
raise local funds.
    c. (2 points). The extent of your plans to develop a mixed-finance 
project for additional units for the elderly over and above the Section 
202 units.
    (1) (1 point). The proposed project involves mixed-financing for 
additional units in which the non-Section 202 units represent 30 
percent or less of the Section 202 units in the project; OR (2) (2 
points). The proposed project involves mixed-financing for additional 
units in which the non-Section 202 units represent over 30 percent of 
the Section 202 units in the project.

    Note: If you are proposing a mixed-financed project for 
additional units over and above the Section 202 units, your 
application may receive a maximum of 2 points under Rating Factor 
4(c). Your application will receive either 1 or 2 points under this 
Rating Factor, depending upon the number of non-Section 202 units to 
be developed in the project. If your project will not involve mixed-
financing for additional units, no points will be assigned for 
Rating Factor 4(c).

    5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (12 
Points)
    This factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
ethics, management and accountability and, as such, emphasizes HUD's 
commitment to ensuring that you keep the promises made in your 
application. This factor requires that you clearly identify the 
benefits or outcomes of your project and develop an evaluation plan to 
measure performance, which includes what you are going to measure, how 
you are going to measure it, and the steps you will have in place to 
make adjustments to your project development timeline should you not be 
able to achieve any of the major milestones. Completion of Exhibit 
8(j), Logic Model, will assist you in completing your response to this 
rating factor. This rating factor also addresses the extent to which 
your project will implement practical solutions that result in 
residents achieving independent living, educational opportunities, and 
improved living environments. Finally, this factor addresses the extent 
to which the long-term viability of your project will be sustained for 
the duration of the 40-year capital advance period. Submit information 
responding to this factor in accordance with Application Submission 
Requirements in Exhibits 3(e), 3(g), 3(h), 3(i), 6(b) and 8(j) of 
Section IV.B. NOFA.
    a. (5 points). The extent to which your project development 
timeline is indicative of your full understanding of the development 
process and will, therefore, result in the timely development of your 
project.
    b. (2 points). The extent to which your past performance evidences 
that the proposed project will result in the timely development of the 
project. Evidence of your past performance could include the 
development of previous construction projects, including but not 
limited to Section 202 and Section 811 projects.
    c. (2 points). The extent to which your project will implement 
practical solutions that will result in assisting residents in 
achieving independent living, educational opportunities, outreach 
regarding telemarketing fraud, and improved living environments.
    d. (3 points). The extent to which you demonstrated that your 
project will remain viable as housing with the availability of 
supportive services for very low-income elderly persons for the 40-year 
capital advance period.
    6. Bonus Points (2 bonus points). Location of proposed site in an 
RC/EZ/EC-II area, as described in the General Section. Submit the 
information responding to the bonus points in accordance with the 
Application Submission Requirements in Exhibit 8(h) of Section IV.B. of 
this NOFA.

B. Reviews and Selection Process

    1. Review for Curable Deficiencies. You should ensure that your 
application is complete before transmitting it to the following Web 
site: http://www.grants.gov and, in case of a waiver of the electronic 
submission requirement, that you have an original and four copies 
before submitting it to the appropriate HUD office. Upon receipt of the 
application by HUD staff, HUD will screen all applications to determine 
if there are any curable deficiencies.
    For applicants receiving a waiver to submit a paper application, 
submitting fewer than the required original and four copies of the 
application is not a curable deficiency and will cause your application 
to be considered non-responsive to the NOFA and returned to you. A 
curable deficiency is a missing Exhibit or portion of an Exhibit that 
will not affect the rating of the application. Refer to the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA for additional information regarding 
procedures for corrections to deficient applications. The following is 
a list of the only deficiencies that will be considered curable in a 
Section 202 application:

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    The local HUD office will notify you in writing if your application 
is missing any of the above exhibits or portions of exhibits and will 
provide you with a specified deadline to submit the information 
required to cure the noted deficiencies. The items identified by an 
asterisk (\*\) must be dated on or before the application submission 
date. If an Exhibit or portion of an Exhibit listed above as curable is 
not discovered as missing until technical processing, HUD will provide 
you with a deadline to cure the deficiency.
    2. Rating. HUD will review and rate your application in accordance 
with the Reviews and Selection Process in the General Section of this 
SuperNOFA except as described in 3. Appeal Process below. Your 
application will be either rated or technically rejected at the end of 
technical review. If your application meets all program eligibility 
requirements after completion of technical review, including HUD 
approval of you, the Section 202 applicant, based on HUD's evaluation 
of the applicant's previous participation activities as reported on 
Form HUD-2530, Previous Participation Certification, it will be rated 
according to the rating factors in Section V.A. above.
    3. Appeal Process. HUD will not reject your application based on 
technical review without notifying you of the rejection with all the 
reasons for rejection and providing you an opportunity to appeal. You 
will have 14 calendar days from the date of HUD's written notice to 
appeal a technical rejection to the local HUD office. In HUD's review 
of any appeal, it should be noted that in conformance with its 
regulations at 24 CFR part 4, subpart B, HUD will not consider any 
unsolicited information that you, the applicant, may want to provide. 
The local HUD office will make a determination on any appeals before 
making its selection recommendations.
    4. Ranking and Selection Procedures. Applications submitted in 
response to the advertised metropolitan allocations or nonmetropolitan 
allocations that have a total base score of 75 points or more (without 
the addition of RC/EC/EZ-II bonus points) and meet all of the 
applicable threshold requirements of the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA and this program NOFA will be eligible for selection, and HUD 
will place them in rank order per metropolitan or nonmetropolitan 
allocation. These applications, after adding any bonus points for RC/
EC/EZ-II, will be selected based on rank order, up to and including the 
last application that can be funded out of each HUD Multifamily Program 
Center's metropolitan or nonmetropolitan allocation. HUD Multifamily 
Program Centers will not skip over any applications in order to select 
one based on the funds

[[Page 14215]]

remaining. After making the initial selections in each allocation area, 
however, HUD Multifamily Program Centers may use any residual funds to 
select the next rank-ordered application by reducing the number of 
units by no more than 10 percent, rounded to the nearest whole number, 
provided the reduction will not render the project infeasible. For this 
purpose, however, HUD will not reduce the number of units in projects 
of five units or less.
    Once this process has been completed, HUD Multifamily Program 
Centers may combine their unused metropolitan and nonmetropolitan funds 
in order to select the next highest ranked application in either 
category, using the unit reduction policy described above, if 
necessary.
    After the HUD Multifamily Program Centers have funded all possible 
projects based on the process above, combined metropolitan and 
nonmetropolitan residual funds from all HUD Multifamily Program Centers 
within each Multifamily Hub will be combined. First, these funds will 
be used to restore units to projects reduced by HUD Multifamily Program 
Centers based on the above instructions. Second, additional 
applications within each Multifamily Hub will be selected in rank order 
with only one application selected per HUD Multifamily Program Center. 
More than one application may be selected per HUD Multifamily Program 
Center if there are no approvable applications in other HUD Multifamily 
Program Centers within the Multifamily Hub. This process will continue 
until there are no more approvable applications within the Multifamily 
Hub that can be selected with the remaining funds. Applications may not 
be skipped over to select one based on funds remaining. However, the 
Multifamily Hub may use any remaining residual funds to select the next 
highest rated application by reducing the number of units by no more 
than 10 percent rounded to the nearest whole number, provided the 
reduction will not render the project infeasible or result in the 
project being less than five units.
    Funds remaining after the Multifamily Hub selection process is 
completed will be returned to Headquarters. HUD Headquarters will use 
these residual funds first to restore units to projects reduced by HUD 
Multifamily Program Centers or Multifamily Hubs as a result of the 
instructions for using their residual funds. Second, HUD Headquarters 
will use these funds for selecting applications based on HUD 
Multifamily Program Centers' rankings, beginning with the highest rated 
application nationwide. However, after restoring units to projects 
where necessary, priority will be given to those applications for 
projects in non-metropolitan areas, if necessary to meet the statutory 
requirement of Section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 pertaining to 
Section 202 funding in nonmetropolitan areas. Only one application will 
be selected per HUD Multifamily Program Center from the national 
residual amount. If there are no approvable applications in other HUD 
Multifamily Program Centers, the process will begin again with the 
selection of the next highest rated application nationwide. This 
process will continue until all approvable applications are selected 
using the available remaining funds. HUD Headquarters may skip over a 
higher-rated application in order to use as much of the available 
remaining funds as possible.
    5. HUD Error. In the event HUD commits an error that, when 
corrected, would have resulted in the selection of an otherwise 
eligible applicant during the funding round of the SuperNOFA, HUD may 
select that applicant when sufficient funds become available.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    1. Agreement Letter. If you are selected to receive a Section 202 
fund reservation, you will receive an Agreement Letter that stipulates 
the terms and conditions for the Section 202 fund reservation award as 
well as the submission requirements following the fund reservation 
award. The duration of the fund reservation award for the capital 
advance is 18 months from the date of issuance of the fund reservation.
    Immediately upon your acceptance of the Agreement Letter, you are 
expected to begin work towards the submission of a Firm Commitment 
Application, which is the next application submission stage. You are 
required to submit a Firm Commitment Application to the local HUD 
office within 180 days from the date of the Agreement Letter. Initial 
closing of the capital advance and start of construction of the project 
are expected to be accomplished within the duration of the fund 
reservation award. Final closing of the capital advance is expected to 
occur no later than six months after completion of project 
construction.
    2. Non-Selection Letter. If your application is approvable but 
unfunded due to insufficient funds or receives a rating that is below 
the minimum threshold score established for funding eligibility, you 
will receive a letter to this effect.
    3. Debriefing. Refer to the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
further information regarding debriefings, except that the request for 
a debriefing must be made to the Director of Multifamily Housing in the 
appropriate local HUD office.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    1. Ensuring the Participation of Small Businesses, Small 
Disadvantaged Businesses, and Women-Owned Businesses. Although the 
Section 202 program is not subject to the provisions of 24 CFR 85.36(e) 
as described in the corresponding paragraph in the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA, you are required to comply with Executive Order 12432, 
Minority Business Enterprise Development and Executive Order 11625, 
Prescribing Additional Arrangements for Developing and Coordinating a 
National Program for Minority Business Enterprise as they relate to the 
encouragement of HUD grantees to utilize minority business enterprises.
    2. Acquisition and Relocation. You must comply with the Uniform 
Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 
1970, as amended (49 CFR part 24, and 24 CFR 891.155(e)) (URA), which 
covers the acquisition of sites, with or without existing structures, 
and with 24 CFR 8.4(b)(5) of the Section 504 regulations which 
prohibits discrimination based on disability in determining the site or 
location of a federally-assisted facility. However, you are exempt from 
complying with the site acquisition requirements of the URA if you do 
not have the power of eminent domain and prior to entering into a 
contract of sale, option to purchase or any other method of obtaining 
site control, you inform the seller of the land in writing: (1) that 
you do not have the power of eminent domain and, therefore, you will 
not acquire the property if negotiations fail to result in an amicable 
agreement, and (2) of the estimate of the fair market value of the 
property. An appraisal is not required to meet this requirement, 
however, your files must include an explanation (with reasonable 
evidence) of the basis for the estimate. Evidence of compliance with 
this advance notice requirement must be included in Exhibit 4(d)(iv) of 
your application.
    3. Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 and Coastal Barrier 
Resources Act. You must comply with the requirements under the Flood 
Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4001-4128) and the Coastal 
Barrier Resources Act (16 U.S.C. 3601).

[[Page 14216]]

C. Reporting

    1. The Program Outcome Logic Model (Form HUD-96010) must be 
completed indicating the results achieved against the proposed output 
goal(s) and proposed outcomes(s) which you stated in your approved 
application and agreed upon by HUD.
    2. The Regulatory Agreement (Form HUD-92466-CA) requires the Owner 
of the Section 202 project to submit an annual financial statement for 
the project. This financial statement must be audited by an Independent 
Public Accountant who is a Certified Public Accountant or other person 
accepted by HUD and filed electronically with HUD's Real Estate 
Assessment Center (REAC) through the Financial Assessment Subsystem for 
Multifamily Housing (MF-FASS). The submission of annual financial 
statements is required throughout the 40-year term of the mortgage.
    3. HUD requires that funded recipients collect racial and ethnic 
beneficiary data. It has adopted the Office of Management and Budget's 
Standards for the Collection of Racial and Ethnic Data. In view of 
these requirements, you should use Form HUD-27061, Racial and Ethnic 
Data Reporting Form (and instructions for its use), found at http://
www.hudclips.org, a comparable program form, or a comparable electronic 
data system for this purpose.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

    For Technical Assistance. For technical assistance in downloading 
an application package from http://www.grants.gov, contact the 
Grants.gov help desk at 800-518-Grants or by sending an email to 
[email protected]. For programmatic information, you may contact the 
appropriate local HUD office, or Evelyn Berry at HUD Headquarters at 
(202) 708-3000 (this is not a toll-free number), or access the Internet 
at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. Persons with 
hearing and speech impairments may access the above number via TTY by 
calling the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 (this is a toll-
free number).

VIII. Other Information

A. Field Office Workshop

    HUD encourages minority organizations and grassroots organizations 
(e.g., civic organizations, faith-communities and grassroots faith-
based and other community-based organizations) to participate in this 
program and strongly recommends that prospective applicants attend the 
local HUD office workshop. At the workshops, HUD will explain 
application procedures and requirements, as well as address concerns 
such as local market conditions, building codes and accessibility 
requirements, contamination identification and remediation, historic 
preservation, floodplain management, other environmental requirements, 
displacement and relocation, zoning, and housing costs. If you are 
interested in attending the workshop, make sure that your name, address 
and telephone number are on the appropriate local HUD office's mailing 
list so that you will be informed of the date, time and place of the 
workshop. Persons with disabilities should call the appropriate local 
HUD Office to assure that any necessary arrangements can be made to 
enable their attendance and participation in the workshop.
    If you cannot attend the workshop, call the appropriate local HUD 
office if you have any questions concerning the submission of 
applications to that particular office and to request any materials 
distributed at the workshop.

B. Satellite Broadcast

    HUD will hold an information broadcast via satellite for potential 
applicants to learn more about the program and preparation of the 
application. It is strongly recommended that potential applicants, 
especially those who may be applying for Section 202 funding for the 
first time, tune in to this broadcast, if at all possible. Copies of 
the broadcast tapes are also available from the NOFA Information 
Center. For more information about the date and time of the broadcast, 
you should consult the HUD web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.

C. Related Programs

    Funding for a related program, Section 202 Demonstration Planning 
Grant Program, is available to provide predevelopment grants to private 
nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives in connection with 
the development of housing under the Section 202 program. The 
announcement of the availability of funding under this program will be 
addressed in a separate NOFA.

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2502-0267. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public 
reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to 
average 37.42 hours per annum per respondent for the application and 
grant administration. This includes the time for collecting, reviewing, 
and reporting the data for the application, semi-annual reports and 
final report. The information will be used for grantee selection and 
monitoring the administration of funds. Response to this request for 
information is required in order to receive the benefits derived.

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[[Page 14228]]



Section 811 Program of Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities 
(Section 811 Program)

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Housing
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Section 811 Supportive Housing for 
Persons with Disabilities
    C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: OMB Approval Number: 2502-0462. The 
Federal Register number for this NOFA is: FR-4950-N-20.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 14.181, 
Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities
    F. Dates: Application Submission Date: May 24, 2005. Refer to 
Section IV. below and the General Section for information on 
application submission requirements.
    G. Optional, Additional Overview Content Information: 1. Purpose of 
the Program. This program provides funding for the development and 
operation of supportive housing for very low-income persons with 
disabilities who are at least 18 years old. If you receive funding 
through this program, you must assure that supportive services are 
identified and available.
    2. Available Funds. Approximately $95.8 million in capital advance 
funds, plus associated project rental assistance contract (PRAC) funds 
and any carryover funds available.
    3. Types of Funds. Capital advance funds will cover the cost of 
developing the housing. PRAC funds will cover the difference between 
the HUD-approved operating costs of the project and the tenants' 
contributions toward rent (30 percent of their adjusted monthly 
income).
    4. Eligible Applicants. Nonprofit organizations that have a section 
501(c)(3) tax exemption from the Internal Revenue Service. (See Section 
VI.B.6. below of this program NOFA for further details and information 
regarding the formation of the Owner corporation.)
    5. Eligible Activities. New construction, rehabilitation, or 
acquisition (with or without rehabilitation) of housing. (See Section 
III.C.1. below of this program NOFA for further information.)
    6. Match Requirements. None required.
    7. Local HUD Offices. The local HUD office structure, for the 
purpose of implementing the Section 811 program, consists of 18 
Multifamily Hub Offices. Within the Multifamily Hubs, there are 
Multifamily Program Centers with the xception of the New York Hub, the 
Buffalo Hub, the Denver Hub and the Los Angeles Hub. All future 
references shall use the term ``local HUD office'' unless a more 
detailed description is necessary as in Limitations on Applications and 
Ranking and Selection Procedures, below.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    A. Program Description. HUD provides capital advances and contracts 
for project rental assistance in accordance with 24 CFR part 891. 
Capital advances may be used for the construction or rehabilitation of 
a structure or acquisition of a structure with or without 
rehabilitation (including structures from the Federal Deposit Insurance 
Corporation (FDIC)), to be developed into a variety of housing options 
described in Section III.C. Capital advance funds bear no interest and 
are based on development cost limits in Section IV.E.3. Repayment of 
the capital advance is not required as long as the housing remains 
available for occupancy by very low-income persons with disabilities 
for at least 40 years.
    PRAC funds are used to cover the difference between the tenants' 
contributions toward rent (30 percent of adjusted income) and the HUD-
approved cost to operate the project.
    B. Authority. 42 U.S.C. 8013 (Section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez 
National Affordable Housing Act (Pub. L. 101-625, approved November 28, 
1990)(NAHA), as amended by the Housing and Community Development Act of 
1992) (Pub. L. 102-550, approved October 28, 1992)(HCD Act of 1992); 
the Rescissions Act (Pub. L. 104-19, approved July 27, 1995); the 
American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 
106-569, approved December 27, 2000) and the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2005, (Pub. L.108-447, approved December 8, 2004) 
authorized a new supportive housing program for persons with 
disabilities, and replaced assistance for persons with disabilities 
previously covered by section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (section 
202 continues, as amended by section 801 of the NAHA, and the HCD Act 
of 1992, to authorize supportive housing for the elderly)).
    C. Eligible Occupancy. You may propose a Section 811 project to 
serve persons with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, 
chronic mental illness, or any combination of the three as defined in 
24 CFR 891.305. In addition, you may request HUD approval to restrict 
occupancy to a subcategory of one of these three defined categories 
(e.g., HIV/AIDS is a subcategory of physical disability). If restricted 
occupancy is approved, however, you cannot deny occupancy to any 
otherwise qualified person that meets the definition of the overall 
category of disability under which the subcategory falls.
    D. Calculation of Fund Reservation. If selected, you will receive a 
fund reservation that will consist of both a reservation of capital 
advance funds and a reservation of contract authority (one year) and 
budget authority (five years) for project rental assistance.
    1. Capital advance funds. The reservation of capital advance funds 
is based on a formula which, for an independent living project 
(including condominiums), takes the development cost limit for the 
appropriate building type (elevator, non-elevator) and unit size(s) and 
multiplies it by the number of units of each size (including a unit for 
a resident manager, if applicable) and then multiplies the result by 
the high cost factor for the area. For a group home, the formula is 
based on the number of persons with disabilities in the appropriate 
disability category (excluding any unit for a resident manager since 
such a unit is already incorporated in the development cost limit) 
multiplied by the high cost factor for the area. The development cost 
limits can be found in Section IV.E.3. of this program section of the 
SuperNOFA.
    2. PRAC funds. The PRAC contract authority is determined by 
multiplying the number of units for residents with disabilities in an 
independent living project or the number of residents with disabilities 
in a group home by the appropriate operating cost standard. The PRAC 
budget authority is determined by multiplying the PRAC contract 
authority by 5 (years). The operating cost standards will be published 
by Notice.

II. Award Information

    A. Available Funds. For FY 2005, approximately $95.8 million is 
available for capital advances for the Section 811 Program of 
Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities. The Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2005 (Pub. L. 108-447, approved December 8, 2004) 
provides $240,000,000 for capital advances, including amendments to 
capital advance contracts, for supportive housing for persons with 
disabilities as authorized by section 811 of the National Affordable 
Housing Act of 1990 (NAHA); for project rental assistance for 
supportive housing for

[[Page 14229]]

persons with disabilities under section 811 of the NAHA, including 
amendments to contracts for such assistance and renewal of expiring 
contracts for such assistance for up to a one-year term and for tenant-
based rental assistance contracts and renewal of expiring contracts for 
such assistance entered into pursuant to section 811 of the NAHA, and 
$450,000to be transferred to the Working Capital Fund, all of which is 
subject to a .8% across-the-board rescission pursuant to Public Law 
108-447. $38,890,000 will be provided for tenant-based rental 
assistance for persons with disabilities administered through public 
housing agencies (PHAs) and nonprofit organizations under the 
Mainstream Housing Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities Program 
and $50,000,000 will be provided for one-year renewal costs of Section 
811 rental assistance.
    In accordance with the waiver authority provided in the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, the Secretary is waiving the 
following statutory and regulatory provision: The term of the project 
rental assistance contract is reduced from 20 years to 5 years. HUD 
anticipates that at the end of the contract terms, renewals will be 
approved subject to the availability of funds. In addition to this 
provision, HUD will reserve project rental assistance contract funds 
based on 75 percent rather than on 100 percent of the current operating 
cost standards for approved units in order to take into account the 
average tenant contribution toward rent.
    The allocation formula used for Section 811 reflects the ``relevant 
characteristics of prospective program participants,'' as specified in 
24 CFR 791.402(a). The FY2005 formula consists of the following data 
element from the 2000 Census: the number of non-institutionalized 
persons age 16 to 64 with a disability. The data on disability status 
were derived from answers to a two-part question that asked about the 
existence of the following long-lasting conditions: (a) blindness, 
deafness, or a severe vision or hearing impairment (sensory disability) 
and (b) a condition that substantially limits one or more basic 
physical activities, such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, 
lifting, or carrying (physical disability); and a four-part question 
that asked if the individual had a physical, mental, or emotional 
condition lasting 6 months or more that made it difficult to perform 
certain activities. The four activity categories were: (a) Learning, 
remembering, or concentrating (mental disability); (b) dressing, 
bathing, or getting around inside the home (self-care disability); (c) 
going outside the home alone to shop or visit a doctor's office (going 
outside the home disability); and (d) working at a job or business 
(employment disability).
    Under the Section 811 Program, each local HUD office jurisdiction 
receives sufficient capital advance funds for a minimum of 10 units. 
The total amount of capital advance funds to support this minimum set-
aside is then subtracted from the total capital advance available. The 
remainder is fair shared to each local HUD office jurisdiction whose 
fair share would exceed the set-aside based on the allocation formula 
fair share factors described below.
    The fair share factors were developed by taking the count of 
disabilities in the data element for each state, or state portion, of 
each local HUD office jurisdiction as a percent of the data element 
from the 2000 Census, described above, for the total United States. The 
resulting percentage for each local HUD office is then adjusted to 
reflect the relative cost of providing housing among the local HUD 
office jurisdictions. The adjusted needs percentage for each local HUD 
office is then multiplied by the total amount of capital advance funds 
available nationwide.
    The Section 811 capital advance funds have been allocated, based on 
the formula above, to 51 local HUD offices as shown on the following 
chart:

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    B. Type of Award. Capital Advance and Project Rental Assistance 
Contract Funds for new Section 811 applications.
    C. Type of Assistance Instrument. The Agreement Letter stipulates 
the terms and conditions for the Section 811 fund reservation award as 
well as the submission requirements following the fund reservation 
award. The duration of the fund reservation award for the capital 
advance is 18 months from the date of issuance of the fund reservation.
    D. Anticipated Start and Completion Date. Immediately upon your 
acceptance of the Agreement Letter, you are expected to begin work 
toward the submission of a Firm Commitment Application, which is the 
next application submission stage. You are required to submit a Firm 
Commitment Application to the local HUD office within 180 days from the 
date of the Agreement Letter. Initial closing of the capital advance 
and start of construction of the project are expected to be 
accomplished within the duration of the fund reservation award as 
indicated in the above paragraph regarding the Type of Assistance 
Instrument. Final closing of this capital advance is expected to occur 
no later than six months after completion of project construction.

III. Eligibility Information

    A. Eligible Applicants: Nonprofit organizations with a section 
501(c)(3) tax exemption from the Internal Revenue Service and who meet 
the threshold requirements contained in the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA and Section III.C.2. below are the only eligible applicants 
for this program.
    Applicant eligibility for purposes of applying for a Section 811 
fund reservation under this NOFA has not changed; i.e., all Section 811 
Sponsors and Co-Sponsors must be nonprofit organizations. However, the 
Owner corporation, when later formed by the Sponsor, may be (1) a 
single-purpose nonprofit organization that has tax-exempt status under 
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRS) of 1986, OR (2) 
for purposes of developing a mixed-finance project pursuant to the 
statutory provision under Title VIII of the American Homeownership and 
Economic Opportunity Act of 2000, a for-profit limited partnership with 
a nonprofit organization that has tax exempt status under Section 
501(c)(3) of the IRS code as the sole general partner.
    See Section IV.E.2. below regarding limits on the total number of 
units and projects for which you may apply for funding.
    B. Cost Sharing or Matching: No cost sharing or match is required; 
however, you are required to make a commitment to cover the estimated 
start-up expenses, the minimum capital investment of one half of one 
percent of the HUD-approved capital advance, not to exceed $10,000, and 
any funds required in excess of the capital advance, including the 
estimated cost of any amenities or features (and operating costs 
related thereto) which are not covered by the capital advance. You must 
make such a commitment by signing the form HUD-92042, Sponsor's 
Resolution for Commitment to Project, in Exhibit 8(g) of the 
application found in Section IV.B. below.
    C. Other: 1. Eligible Activities. Section 811 capital advance funds 
must be used to finance the development of housing through new 
construction, rehabilitation, or acquisition with or without 
rehabilitation. Capital advance funds may also be used in combination 
with other non-Section 811 funding sources leveraged by a for-profit 
limited partnership (of which a single-purpose nonprofit organization 
with a 501(c)(3) tax exemption is the sole general partner) to develop 
a mixed-finance project, including a mixed-finance project for 
additional units over and above the Section 811 units. The development 
of a mixed-use project in which the Section 811 units are mortgaged 
separately from the other uses of the structure is not considered a 
mixed-finance project. Project rental assistance funds are provided to 
cover the difference between the HUD-approved operating costs and the 
amount the residents pay (each resident pays 30 percent of adjusted 
income). The types of housing that can be developed with Section 811 
capital advance funds include independent living projects, dwelling 
units in

[[Page 14233]]

multifamily housing developments, condominium and cooperative housing 
and small group homes.

    Note: For purposes of approving Section 811 capital advances, 
HUD will consider proposals involving mixed-financing for additional 
units over and above the Section 811 units if you have legal control 
of an approvable site and the additional units do not cause the 
project, as a whole, to exceed the project size limits if the 
additional units will also house persons with disabilities (unless 
your project will be an independent living project and you request 
and receive HUD approval to exceed the project size limits (See 
IV.B.2.c.(1)(d)(xii).) However, you must obtain funds to assist the 
additional units with other than PRAC funds. HUD will not provide 
PRAC funds for non-Section 811 units.

    2. Threshold Criteria for Funding Consideration. In addition to the 
threshold criteria outlined in the General Section of the SuperNOFA 
(such as the inclusion of a DUN and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering 
System (DUNS) Number on the SF-424), the following threshold 
requirements must be met:
    a. Non-Responsive Application. Your application will be considered 
non-responsive to the NOFA and will not be accepted for processing if 
you:
    (1) Submit less than the required number of copies (an original and 
four copies are required if you requested and received approval for a 
waiver of the electronic submission requirement). Refer to the General 
Section of the SuperNOFA for information on application submission and 
receipt procedures;
    (2) Request more units than were allocated to the local HUD office 
that will be reviewing your application (See the allocation chart in 
Section II.A. above);
    (3) Request less than the minimum number of units for persons with 
disabilities in an independent living project (5 units) or a group home 
(2 units);
    (4) Request more than the maximum number of units for a group home 
(6 units); or
    (5) Request assistance for housing that you currently own or lease 
that has been occupied by people with disabilities for longer than one 
year prior to the application deadline date.
    b. Other Criteria. (1) You, or a Co-Sponsor, must have experience 
in providing housing or services to persons with disabilities.
    (2) You and any Co-Sponsor must be eligible nonprofit organizations 
with tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 
Service code.
    (3) Your application must contain evidence of site control or the 
identification of a site. Section 811(d)(3) of the National Affordable 
Housing Act requires you to provide either evidence of site control or 
a reasonable assurance that you will have control of a site within six 
months of the date of the Agreement Letter notifying you that you have 
been selected to receive a Section 811 fund reservation. Accordingly, 
you must include in your application, the required information 
specified below for evidence of site control, or the required 
information specified below under site identification as a reasonable 
assurance that site control will be obtained within six months of the 
date of the Agreement Letter. If you submit the required information 
for an identified site(s), you must include a specific street address 
for each identified site or the application will be rejected.
    (a) Evidence of Site Control--If you have control of a site at the 
time you submit your application, you must provide the information in 
Exhibit 4(d) in IV.B. of this program section of the SuperNOFA relative 
to site control; or
    (b) Site Identification--If you do not have site control of one or 
more of your sites, you must provide the information required in 
Exhibit 4(e) in IV.B. of this program section of the SuperNOFA under 
``Identification of a Site'' for any site not under control as a 
reasonable assurance that site control will be obtained within six 
months of fund reservation notification.
    If your application contains evidence of site control where either 
the evidence or the site is not approvable, your application will not 
be rejected provided you indicate in your application that you are 
willing to seek an alternate site and provide an assurance that site 
control will be obtained within six months of fund reservation 
notification. During the selection process, all applications with 
acceptable evidence of site control for all proposed sites and all 
proposed sites that have been found approvable will be grouped in 
Category A. All applications that are submitted as ``site identified'' 
as well as those that are submitted with site control but the evidence 
of control and/or site(s) are not approvable (if the Sponsor indicates 
that it is willing to seek a different site if the proposed site is 
unapprovable) will be grouped in Category B. All applications in 
Category A will be selected before any applications are selected from 
Category B. See Section V.B.4. for further information on the selection 
process.
    (c) Historic Preservation. If you submit an application with 
evidence of site control, you are required to send a letter to the 
State/Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO/THPO) that attempts to 
initiate consultation with their office and requests their review of 
your determinations and findings with respect to the historical 
significance of your proposed project. Appendix B to this program 
section of the SuperNOFA contains a sample letter to the SHPO/THPO that 
you may adapt for your use, if you so choose. You must include a copy 
of your letter to the SHPO/THPO in your application. You must then also 
include in your application either:
    (i) The response letter(s) from the SHPO/THPO, or
    (ii) A statement from you that you have not received a response 
letter(s) from the SHPO/THPO.
    (d) Contamination. HUD must determine if a proposed site contains 
contamination and, if so, HUD must be satisfied that it is eliminated 
to the extent necessary to meet non site-specific Federal, State or 
local health standards. If you submit an application with evidence of 
site control, you must assist HUD by doing the following:
    (i) Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA)--You must submit a 
Phase I ESA, prepared in accordance with the ASTM Standards E 1527-00, 
as amended, completed or updated no earlier than six months prior to 
the application deadline date, in order for the application to be 
considered as an application with site control. The Phase I ESA must be 
completed and included in your application. Therefore, it is important 
that you start the Phase I ESA process as soon after publication of the 
SuperNOFA as possible. To help you choose an environmentally safe site, 
HUD invites you to review the document ``Choosing An Environmentally 
Safe Site'' which is available on HUD's web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm and the ``Supplemental Guidance, 
Environmental Information'' in Appendix C to this program section of 
the SuperNOFA.
    (ii) Phase II ESA--If the Phase I ESA indicates the possible 
presence of contamination and/or hazards, you must decide whether to 
continue with this site or choose another site. Should you choose 
another site, the same Phase I ESA process identified above must be 
followed for the new site. However, if you choose to continue with the 
original site on which the Phase I ESA indicated contamination or 
hazards, you must undertake a detailed Phase II ESA by an appropriate 
professional. In order for your application to be considered as an 
application with site control, the Phase II must be received in the 
local HUD office on or before June 23, 2005.
    (iii) Clean-up--If the Phase II ESA reveals site contamination, the 
extent of

[[Page 14234]]

the contamination and a plan for clean-up of the site must be submitted 
to the local HUD office. The plan for clean-up must include a contract 
for remediation of the problem(s) and an approval letter from the 
applicable federal, state, and/or local agency with jurisdiction over 
the site. In order for your application to be considered as an 
application with site control, this information must be received by the 
appropriate local HUD office on or before June 23, 2005.

    Note: Clean-up could be an expensive undertaking. You must pay 
for the cost of any clean-up and/or remediation. If the application 
is approved, clean-up must be completed prior to initial closing. 
Completion of clean-up means that HUD must be satisfied that the 
contamination has been eliminated to the extent necessary to meet 
non site-specific federal, state or local health standards, with no 
active or passive remediation still taking place, no capping over of 
any contamination, and no monitoring wells. However, it is 
acceptable if contamination remains solely in groundwater that is at 
least 25 feet below the surface.

    (e) Asbestos. Asbestos is a hazardous substance commonly used in 
building products until the late 1970s. Therefore, if you submit an 
application with evidence of site control, you must submit one of the 
following with your application:
    (i) If there is no pre-1978 structure on the site, a statement to 
this effect, or
    (ii) If there is a pre-1978 structure on the site, an asbestos 
report which is based on a thorough inspection to identify the location 
and condition of asbestos throughout any structures. In those cases 
where suspect asbestos is found, it would either be assumed to be 
asbestos or would require confirmatory testing. If the asbestos report 
indicates the presence of asbestos or the presence of asbestos is 
assumed, and if the application is approved, HUD will condition the 
approval on an appropriate mix of asbestos abatement and an asbestos 
Operations and Maintenance Plan.
    (4) There must be a market need for the number of units proposed in 
the area of the project location.
    (5) Your application must contain a Supportive Services Plan and a 
Certification from the appropriate state or local agency that the 
Supportive Services Plan is well designed to address the individual 
health, mental health and other needs of persons with disabilities who 
will live in your proposed project. Exhibit 5 in Section IV.B. of this 
program section of the SuperNOFA, below, outlines the information that 
must be in the Supportive Services Plan. You must submit one copy of 
your Supportive Services Plan to the appropriate State or local agency 
well in advance of the application submission deadline date for the 
state or local agency to review your Supportive Services Plan and 
complete the Supportive Services Certification and return it to you so 
that you can include it in the application you submit to HUD.
    (i) HUD will reject your application if the Supportive Services 
Certification:
    A Is not submitted with your application and is not submitted to 
HUD within the 14-day cure period; or
    B Indicates that the provision of supportive services is not well 
designed to address the individual health, mental health and other 
needs of persons with disabilities who will live in your project; or
    C Indicates that the provision of supportive services will not 
enhance independent living success or promote the dignity of the 
persons with disabilities who will live in your proposed project.
    (ii) In addition, if the agency completing the certification will 
be a major funding or referral source for your proposed project or be 
responsible for licensing the project, HUD will reject your application 
if either the agency's Supportive Services Certification indicates--or, 
where the agency fails to complete item 3 or 4 of the certification, 
HUD determines that:
    A You failed to demonstrate that supportive services will be 
available on a consistent, long-term basis; and/or
    B The proposed housing is not consistent with state or local agency 
plans/policies addressing the housing needs of people with 
disabilities.
    Any prospective resident of a Section 811 project who believes he/
she needs supportive services must be given the choice to be 
responsible for acquiring his/her own services or to take part in your 
Supportive Services Plan which must be designed to meet the individual 
needs of each resident.
    You must not require residents to accept any supportive services as 
a condition of occupancy or admission.
    (6) Delinquent Federal Debt. Refer to the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA for information regarding delinquent federal debt.
    3. Program Requirements. By signing Form HUD-92016-CA, Supportive 
Housing for Persons with Disabilities Section 811, Application for 
Capital Advance Summary Information, you are certifying that you will 
comply with the program requirements listed in the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA as well as the following requirements:
    a. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements. In addition to the 
statutory, regulatory, threshold and public policy requirements listed 
in the General Section of the SuperNOFA, you must comply with all 
statutory and regulatory requirements listed in Sections I and III of 
this program NOFA.
    b. Project Size Limits. (1) Independent living project. The minimum 
number of units for persons with disabilities that can be applied for 
in one application is five units for persons with disabilities. All of 
the units are not required to be in one structure and they may be on 
scattered sites. The maximum number of persons with disabilities that 
can be housed in an independent living project on one or adjacent sites 
is 14 plus one additional one-or two-bedroom unit for a resident 
manager, if necessary. If the proposed independent living project will 
be located on a site already containing housing for persons with 
disabilities or on an adjacent site containing such housing, the total 
number of persons with disabilities housed in both the existing and the 
proposed project cannot exceed 14.
    (2) Exception to project size limit for an independent living 
project. If you are submitting an application for an independent living 
project with site control, you may request an exception to the above 
project size limit by providing the information required in Exhibit 
4(d)(xii) of Section IV.B. below in this program section of the 
SuperNOFA.
    (3) Group home. The minimum number of persons with disabilities 
that can reside in a group home is two, and the maximum number is six. 
There are no exceptions to the maximum project size limit for a group 
home. An additional one-bedroom unit can be provided for a resident 
manager. Only one person per bedroom is allowed, unless two residents 
choose to share one bedroom or a resident determines he/she needs 
another person to share his/her bedroom. If you are applying for more 
than one group home, they cannot be located on the same or adjacent 
sites.
    (4) Condominium Units. Condominium units are treated the same as 
units in an independent living project except that you cannot request 
an additional condominium unit for a resident manager.
    c. Minimum Capital Investment. If selected, you must provide a 
minimum capital investment of one-half of one percent of the HUD-
approved capital advance amount, not to exceed a maximum of $10,000 in 
accordance with 24 CFR 891.145.
    d. Accessibility. Your project must meet accessibility requirements 
published at 24 CFR 891.120, 24 CFR 891.310 and Section 504 of the

[[Page 14235]]

Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and, if new construction, the design and 
construction requirements of the Fair Housing Act and HUD's 
implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 100. In addition, 24 CFR 
8.4(b)(5) prohibits the selection of a site or location which has the 
purpose or effect of excluding persons with disabilities from the 
Federally assisted program or activity. HUD will award higher points to 
applications that add accessible design features beyond those required 
under civil rights laws and regulations. Refer to Section V.A. below 
and the General Section of the SuperNOFA for information regarding the 
policy priority of encouraging accessible design.
    e. Conducting Business in Accordance With Core Values and Ethical 
Standards. You are not subject to the requirements of 24 CFR parts 84 
and 85 as outlined in the General Section of the SuperNOFA except for 
the disposition of real property, which may be subject to 24 CFR Part 
84. However, you are still subject to the core values and ethical 
standards as they relate to the conflict of interest provisions in 24 
CFR 891.130. To ensure compliance with the program's conflict of 
interest provisions, you are required to sign a Conflict of Interest 
Resolution and include it in your Section 811 application. Further, if 
awarded a Section 811 fund reservation, the officers, directors, board 
members, trustees, stockholders and authorized agents of the Section 
811 Sponsor and Owner entities will be required to submit to HUD 
individual certifications regarding compliance with HUD's conflict of 
interest requirements.
    f. National Environmental Policy Act. You must comply with the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321) and 
applicable related environmental authorities at 24 CFR 50.4, HUD's 
programmatic implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 50 and 24 CFR 
891.155(b), especially, but not limited to, the provision of 
information to HUD at 24 CFR 50.31(b), and you must comply with any 
environmental ``conditions and safeguards'' at 24 CFR 50.3(c).
    Under 24 CFR Part 50, HUD has the responsibility for conducting the 
environmental reviews. HUD cannot approve any site for which you have 
site control unless it first completes the environmental review. In 
rare cases where HUD is not able to complete the environmental review, 
it is due to a complex environmental issue that could not be resolved 
during the time period allocated for application processing. Thus, if 
you submit an application with evidence of site control, HUD requires 
you to attempt to obtain comments from the State/Tribal Historic 
Preservation Officer (see Exhibit 4(d)(ix) of Section IV.B. below) to 
help HUD complete the environmental review on time. It is also why HUD 
may contact you for additional environmental information. So that you 
can review the type of information that HUD needs for its preparation 
of the environmental review as well as the type of information requests 
that HUD may make to you, you are invited to go to the following web 
site to view the HUD form 4128, including the Sample Field Notes 
Checklist, which HUD uses to record the environmental review: 
www.hud.gov/utilities/intercept.cfm?/offices/cpd/energyenviron/environment/compliance/forms/4128.pdf.
    g. Lead-Based Paint. You must comply with the requirements of the 
Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act (42 U.S.C. 4821-4846) and 
implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 35.
    h. Executive Order 13202, Preservation of Open Competition and 
Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors' Labor Relations 
on Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects. Refer to the 
General Section of the SuperNOFA for information regarding Executive 
Order 13202.
    i. Fair Housing Requirements. Refer to the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA for information regarding fair housing requirements.
    j. Economic Opportunities for Low and Very Low-Income Persons 
(Section 3). You must comply with Section 3 of the Housing and Urban 
Development Act of 1968, U.S.C. 1701u (Economic Opportunities for Low 
and Very Low-Income Persons) and its implementing regulations at 24 CFR 
part 135. You must ensure that training, employment and other economic 
opportunities shall, to the greatest extent feasible, be directed 
toward low and very low-income persons, particularly those who are 
recipients of government assistance for housing and to business 
concerns which provide economic opportunities to low and very-low 
income persons. To comply with Section 3 requirements you are hereby 
certifying that you will strongly encourage your general contractor and 
subcontractors to participate in local apprenticeship programs or 
training programs registered or certified by the Department of Labor's 
Office of Apprenticeship, Training, Employer and Labor Services or 
recognized State Apprenticeship Agency.
    k. Design and Cost Standards. You must comply with HUD's Section 
811 project design and cost standards (24 CFR 891.120 and 891.310), the 
Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (24 CFR 40.7), Section 504 of 
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and HUD's implementing regulations at 24 
CFR part 8, and for covered multifamily dwellings designed and 
constructed for first occupancy after March 13, 1991, the design and 
construction requirements of the Fair Housing Act and HUD's 
implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 100, and, where applicable, the 
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
    HUD has adopted a wide-ranging energy action plan for improving 
energy efficiency in all program areas. As a first step in implementing 
the energy plan, HUD, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the 
Department of Energy (DoE) have signed a joint partnership to promote 
energy efficiency in HUD's affordable housing efforts and programs. The 
purpose of the Energy Star partnership is to promote energy efficiency 
of the affordable housing stock, but also to help protect the 
environment. Although it is not a requirement, you are nonetheless 
encouraged to promote energy efficiency in design and operations and 
your application will receive one (1) point if you describe your plans 
for doing so in the proposed project. You are especially urged to 
purchase and use Energy Star-labeled products. Program activities can 
include developing Energy Star promotional and information materials, 
outreach to low- and moderate-income renters on the benefits and 
savings when using Energy Star products and appliances, and promoting 
the designation of community buildings and homes as Energy Star 
compliant. For further information about Energy Star, see http://www.energystar.gov or call 888-STAR-YES (1-888-782-7937) or for the 
hearing-impaired, 888-588-9920 TTY.
    l. Formation of Owner Corporation. You must form an ``Owner'' 
entity (in accordance with 24 CFR 891.305) after issuance of the 
capital advance fund reservation and must cause the Owner entity to 
file a request for determination of eligibility and a request for 
capital advance, and must provide sufficient resources to the Owner 
entity to ensure the development and long-term operation of the 
project, including capitalizing the Owner entity at firm commitment 
processing in an amount sufficient to meet its obligations in 
connection with the project over and above the capital advance amount.
    m. Davis-Bacon. You must comply with the Davis-Bacon Requirements 
(42 U.S.C. 8013(j)(6)) and the Contract Work

[[Page 14236]]

Hours and Safety Standards Act in accordance with 24 CFR 891.155(d).

IV. Application and Submission Information

    A. Address to Request Application Package. All information required 
to complete and return a valid application is included in the General 
Section and this program section of the SuperNOFA, including the 
appendices. Copies of the General Section, this program section, the 
required forms, and appendices, are available and may be downloaded 
from the Grants.gov Web site at www.Grants.gov.
    You may request general information, copies of the General Section 
and program section of the SuperNOFA (including appendices), and 
required forms from the NOFA Information Center (800-HUD-8929 or 800-
HUD-2209 (TTY)) Monday through Friday, except on federal holidays. When 
requesting information, please refer to the name of the program you are 
interested in.
    B. Content and Form of Application Submission. The exhibits to be 
included in your application are contained in the body of this program 
section of the SuperNOFA below. There will not be a separate 
Application Kit provided this year. Before preparing your application, 
you should carefully review the requirements of the regulations (24 CFR 
Part 891) and general program instructions in Handbook 4571.2, Section 
811 Capital Advance Program for Housing Persons with Disabilities. 
Note: Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code (Criminal Code 
and Criminal Procedure, 72 Stat. 967) applies to all information 
supplied in the application submission. (18 U.S.C. 1001, among other 
things, provides that whoever knowingly and willfully makes or uses a 
document or writing containing any false, fictitious, fraudulent 
statement or entry, in any matter within the jurisdiction of any 
department or agency of the United States, shall be fined not more than 
$10,000 or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.)
    The Application for a Section 811 Capital Advance consists of four 
parts with a total of eight Exhibits. Included with the eight Exhibits 
are prescribed forms, certifications and resolutions. The components of 
the Application are:
    Part 1--Application Form for Section 811 Supportive Housing--
Capital Advance (Exhibit 1).
    Part 2--Your Ability To Develop and Operate the Proposed Project 
(Exhibits 2 and 3).
    Part 3--The Need for Supportive Housing for the Target Population 
in the Area to be Served, Site Control and/or Identification of Site, 
Suitability of Site, Adequacy of the Provision of Supportive Services 
and of the Proposed Project (Exhibits 4 and 5).
    Part 4--General Application Requirements, Certifications and 
Resolutions (Exhibits 6 through 8).
    Appendix A--Listing of Local HUD Offices.
    Appendix B--Letter Requesting SHPO/THPO Review.
    Appendix C--Supplemental to Choosing An Environmentally Safe Site.
    Your application must include all of the information, materials, 
forms, and exhibits listed below (unless you were selected for a 
Section 811 fund reservation within the last three funding cycles). If 
you qualify for this exception, you are not required to submit the 
information described in Exhibit 2(a), (b), and (c), which are the 
articles of incorporation (or other organizational documents), by-laws, 
and the IRS tax exemption, respectively. If there has been a change in 
any of these documents since your previous HUD approval, you must 
submit the updated information in your application. The local HUD 
office will verify your indication of previous HUD approval by checking 
the project number and approval status with the appropriate local HUD 
office based on information submitted.
    In addition to this relief of paperwork burden in preparing 
applications, you are able to use information and exhibits previously 
prepared for prior applications under Section 811, Section 202, or 
other funding programs. Examples of exhibits that may be readily 
adapted or amended to decrease the burden of application preparation 
include, among others, those on previous participation in the Section 
202 or Section 811 programs, your experience in the provision of 
housing and services, supportive services plans, community ties, and 
experience serving minorities.
    For programmatic information, you MUST contact the appropriate 
local HUD office about the submission of applications within the 
jurisdiction of that Office. (as well as information relating to the 
Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, Exhibit 4(d)(vii).)

    Note: You may apply for a scattered site project in one 
application.

    Please submit your application using the following format provided 
in this program section of the SuperNOFA. Unless you received a waiver 
of the electronic application submission, you must number the pages of 
each file, narratives and other attached files. Include the name of 
your organization and your DUNS number on the header of each document.
    1. Table of Contents (This is also to be used as a checklist to 
assist you in submitting a complete application. For applicants who 
received a waiver of the electronic application submission, after your 
application is complete, you must insert the page number after each 
Exhibit or portion of the Exhibit item listed below.)
    a. Part I--Application Form for Section 811 Supportive
    Housing--Capital Advance
    (1) Exhibit 1: Form HUD-92016-CA, Supportive Housing for Persons 
with Disabilities Section 811, Application for Capital Advance Summary 
Information.
    b. Part II--Your Ability to Develop and Operate the Proposed 
Project
    (1) Exhibit 2: Your Legal Status
    (a) Articles of Incorporation (or other organizational documents).
    (b) By-laws.
    (c) IRS Tax Exemption Ruling. (Exception: See Exhibit to Determine 
if You May be Exempt from Submitting These Documents.)
    (d) The number of people on your board and the number of board 
members who have disabilities.
    (2) Exhibit 3: Your purpose, community(ties) and experience:
    (a) Purpose(s), current activities, how long you have been in 
existence.
    (b) Ties to the community at large, to the target population, and 
description of geographic areas served.
    (c) Local government support for project.
    (d) Letters of support for your organization and for the proposed 
project.
    (e) Housing and/or supportive services experience.
    (f) Efforts to involve target population.
    (g) Description of practical solutions to be implemented.
    (h) Project Development Timeline.
    (i) Description of how project will remain viable.
    (i) if service funds are depleted.
    (ii) for State-funded services, if State changes policy.
    (iii) if the need for project changes.
    (j) Identification/coordination with other organizations.
    (k) Description of consultation with Continuum of Care 
organizations.
    (l) Description of efforts to remove barriers to affordable 
housing.

[[Page 14237]]

c. Part III--The Need for Supportive Housing for the Target Population 
in the Area to be Served, Site Control and/or Identification of Site 
and Suitability of Site, Adequacy of the Provision of Supportive 
Services and of the Proposed Project
    (1) Exhibit 4: Project information including:
    (a) Evidence of need for project.
    (b) How project will benefit target population and community.
    (c) A narrative description of the project, including:
    (i) Building design.
    (ii) Whether and how project will promote energy efficiency.
    (iii) If applicable, description of plans and actions to create a 
mixed-finance project for additional units and the number of additional 
units.
Evidence of Site Control
    (d) Evidence of site control and permissive zoning (If you do not 
have site control, skip to.
    (e) Identification of a Site below):
    (i) Site control document(s).
    (ii) Evidence site is free of limitations, restrictions, or 
reverters.
    (iii) Evidence of permissive zoning or statement of proposed action 
required to make project permissible.
    (iv) Evidence of compliance with the Uniform Relocation Assistance 
and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, as amended (URA) 
site notification requirement.
    (v) Narrative topographical/demographic description of site/area 
suitability, how site will promote greater housing opportunities for 
minorities/target population.
    (vi) Racial composition/concentration map of site.
    (vii) Phase I Environmental Site Assessment.
    (viii) Asbestos Statement or Report.
    (ix) Letter to State/Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO/
THPO).
    (x) Response from SHPO/THPO or statement that SHPO/THPO failed to 
respond.
    (xi) Willingness to seek an alternatesite.
    (xii) Request for exception to project size limits (if 
applicable)--why site was selected and (ILP with site control only):
    (A) Preference/acceptance of people with disabilities to live in 
proposed housing.
    (B) Increased number of people warranted by market conditions in 
area.
    (C) Compatibility of project with other residential development and 
population density of the area.
    (D) Increased number of people will not prohibit successful 
integration into the community.
    (E) Marketability of project in the community.
    (F) Project size consistent with State and/or local policies 
governing similar housing.
    (G) Willingness to have application processed at project size 
limit.
    (e) Identification of a Site.
    (i) Location of site.
    (ii) Steps undertaken to identify site; what must be done to obtain 
site control.
    (iii) Whether site is properly zoned.
    (iv) Status of the sale of the site.
    (v) Whether the site would involve relocation.
    (2) Exhibit 5: Supportive Services Plan:
    (a) Description of occupancy.
    (b) Request for approval to limit occupancy, if applicable, 
including:
    (i) Description of population to which occupancy will be limited.
    (ii) Why it is necessary to limit occupancy, including:
    (A) How Section 811 program goals willstill be achieved.
    (B) Why housing and services needs cannot be met ina more 
integrated setting.
    (iii) Experience in providing housing and/or supportive services to 
proposed population.
    (iv) How you will ensure occupants will be integrated into 
neighborhood and community.
    (c) Supportive services needs of proposed population.
    (d) List of community service providers with letters of intent.
    (e) Evidence of each service provider's capability and experience.
    (f) Extent of State and local agency involvement in project.
    (g) Letter indicating your commitment to make services available or 
coordinate their availability.
    (h) How residents will be afforded employment opportunities.
    (i) Whether project will includemanager's unit.
    (j) Statement that you will not condition occupancy on the 
resident's acceptance of supportive services.
d. Part IV--General Application Requirements, Certifications and 
Resolutions
    (1) Exhibit 6: Other Applications:
    (a) A list of applications, if any, you are submitting to any other 
local HUD Office in response to the FY 2005 Section 202 or Section 811 
NOFA, and required information about each.
    (b) A list of all FY 2004 and prior year Section 202 or Section 811 
projects to which you are a party and the required information about 
each.
    (2) Exhibit 7: Applies to applications with site control only:
    A statement that:
    (a) Identifies all persons occupying property on application 
submission date.
    (b) Indicates estimated cost of relocation payments/other services.
    (c) Identifies staff organization that will carry out relocation 
activities.
    (d) Identifies all persons who have moved from site within past 12 
months.
    (3) Exhibit 8: Certifications and Resolutions:
    (a) Standard Form 424, Application for Federal Assistance.
    (b) Standard Form 424 Supplement, Survey on Ensuring Equal 
Opportunity for Applicants.
    (c) Standard Form LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities, if 
applicable.
    (d) Form HUD-2880, Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report.
    (e) Form HUD-2991, Certification of Consistency with the 
Consolidated Plan.
    (f) Form HUD-92041, Sponsor's Conflict of Interest Resolution.
    (g) Form HUD-92042, Sponsor's Resolution for Commitment to Project.
    (h) Form HUD-2990, Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC-
II Strategic Plan.
    (i) Form HUD-2530, Previous Participation Certification.
    (j) Form HUD-92043, Certification for Provision of Supportive 
Services.
    (k) Form HUD-96010, Logic Model.
    (l) Form HUD-27300, Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal 
of Regulatory Barriers, including any required documentation or URL 
references.
    (m) Form HUD-96011, Facsimile Transmittal, see the General Section 
for instructions.

2. General Applications Requirements

a. Part I--Application Form For Section 811 Supportive Housing--Capital 
Advance
    (1) Exhibit 1--Form HUD-92016-CA, Supportive Housing for Persons 
with Disabilities Section 811 Application for Capital Advance Summary 
Information. Refer to Section IV.B.3. of this program section for a 
copy of this form.
b. Part II--Your Ability to Develop and Operate the Proposed Project
    (1) Exhibit 2--Evidence of your legal status (Nonprofit with 
501(c)(3) IRS tax exemption)(If another organization(s) is co-
sponsoring the application with you, each Co-Sponsor must also submit 
the following):
    (a) Articles of Incorporation, constitution, or other 
organizational documents.
    (b) By-laws.
    (c) IRS tax exemption ruling (this must be submitted by all 
Sponsors, including churches).


[[Page 14238]]


(Exception: If you received a section 811 fund reservation within 
the last three funding cycles, you are not required to submit the 
documents described in (a), (b), and (c) above. Instead, submit the 
project number of the latest application and the local HUD office to 
which it was submitted. If there have been any modifications or 
additions to the subject documents, indicate such, and submit the 
new material.)

    (d) The number of people on your board and the number of board 
members who have disabilities.
    (2) Exhibit 3--Your purpose, community ties and experience:
    (a) A description of your purpose(s), current activities, and how 
long you have been in existence.
    (b) A description of your ties to the community in which your 
project will be located and to the minority and disability communities 
in particular, including a description of the specific geographic 
area(s) in which you have served.
    (c) A description of local government support for the project 
(including financial assistance, donation of land, provision of 
services, etc.).
    (d) Letters of support for your organization and for the proposed 
project from organizations familiar with the housing and supportive 
services needs of the target population (e.g., the local center for 
independent living, the Statewide Independent Living Council) that you 
expect to serve in the proposed project.
    (e) A description of your housing and/or supportive services 
experience. The description should include any rental housing projects 
(including any integrated housing developments) and/or supportive 
services facilities that you sponsored, own and/or operate, your past 
or current involvement in any programs other than housing that 
demonstrates your management capabilities (including financial 
management) and experience, your experience in serving the target 
population (persons with disabilities and minorities); and the reasons 
for receiving any increases in fund reservations for developing and/or 
operating previously funded Section 202 or Section 811 projects. The 
description should include data on the facilities and services 
provided, the racial/ethnic composition of the populations served, if 
available, and information and testimonials from residents or community 
leaders on the quality of the activities. Examples of activities that 
could be described include housing counseling, nutrition and food 
services, special housing referral, screening and information projects.
    (f) A description of your efforts to involve members of the target 
population (persons with disabilities including minority persons with 
disabilities and persons with disabilities similar to those of the 
prospective residents) in the development of the application as well as 
your intent to involve the target population in the development and 
operation of the project.
    (g) A description of the practical solutions you will implement 
which will enable residents of your project to achieve independent 
living and economic empowerment. In addition, describe the educational 
opportunities you will provide for the residents and how you will 
provide them. This description should include the activities you will 
undertake to improve computer access, literacy and employment 
opportunities (e.g., provide programs that can teach residents how to 
use computers to become educated as well as achieve economic self-
sufficiency through job training and placement). And, finally, describe 
how your proposed project will be an improved living environment for 
the residents when compared to their previous place of residence.
    (h) Describe your plan for completing the proposed project. Include 
a project development timeline which lists the major development stages 
for the project with associated dates that must be met in order to get 
the project to initial closing and start of construction within the 18-
month fund reservation period as well as the full completion of the 
project, including final closing. Completion of Exhibit 8(l), Logic 
Model, will assist you in completing your response to this Exhibit.
    (i) Describe how you will ensure that your proposed project will 
remain viable as housing with the availability of supportive services 
for the target population for the 40-year capital advance period. This 
description should address the measures you would take should any of 
the following occur:
    (i) funding for any of the needed supportive services becomes 
depleted;
    (ii) if, for any state-funded services for your project, the state 
changes its policy regarding the provision of supportive services to 
projects such as the one you propose; or
    (iii) if the need for housing for the population you will be 
serving wanes over time, causing vacancies in your project.
    (j) A description of the steps you took to coordinate your 
application with other organizations (e.g., the local center for 
independent living) that will not be directly involved in your project 
but with which you share common goals and objectives, to complement 
and/or support the proposed project so that the project will provide a 
comprehensive and holistic solution to the needs of persons with 
disabilities.
    (k) A description of your efforts to consult with Continuum of Care 
organizations in the community where the project will be located about 
the ways you can assist persons with disabilities who are chronically 
homeless as defined in the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    (l) A description of the successful efforts the jurisdiction in 
which your project will be located has taken in removing regulatory 
barriers to affordable housing. To obtain up to 2 points for this 
policy priority, you must complete the optional Form HUD-27300, sbull 
I11``Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers'' in Exhibit 8(l) of the application AND provide the necessary 
URL references or submit the documentary evidence.
c. Part III--The Need for Supportive Housing for the Target Population, 
Site Control and/or Identification of Site and Suitability of Site, 
Adequacy of the Provision of Supportive Services and of the Proposed 
Project
    (1) Exhibit 4--Need and Project Information
    (a) Evidence of need for supportive housing. Include a description 
of the proposed population and evidence demonstrating sustained 
effective demand for supportive housing for the proposed population in 
the market area to be served, taking into consideration the occupancy 
and vacancy conditions in existing comparable subsidized housing for 
persons with disabilities, state or local needs assessments of persons 
with disabilities in the area, the types of supportive services 
arrangements currently available in the area, and the use of such 
services as evidenced by data from local social service agencies. Also, 
a description of how information in the community's or (where 
applicable) the State's Consolidated Plan, Analysis of Impediments to 
Fair Housing Choice (AI) or other planning document that analyzes fair 
housing issues was used in documenting the need for the project.
    (b) A description of how the proposed project will benefit the 
target population and the community in which it will be located.
    (c) Description of the project.
    (i) Narrative description of the building(s) including the number 
and type of structure(s), number of units with bedroom distribution if

[[Page 14239]]

independent living units including dwelling units in multifamily 
housing developments, condominiums and cooperatives, number of bedrooms 
if group home, number of residents with disabilities, and any resident 
manager per structure; identification of all commercial and community 
spaces, amenities or features planned for the housing and a description 
of how the spaces, amenities, or features will be used, and the extent 
to which they are necessary to accommodate the needs of the proposed 
residents. A narrative description of the building design (both 
interior and exterior), including any special design features, as well 
as any features that incorporate visitability standards and universal 
design. Also include a description of how the design of the proposed 
project will facilitate the integration of the residents into the 
surrounding community and promote the ability of the residents to live 
as independently as possible.

    Note: If the community spaces, amenities, or features do not 
comply with the project design and cost standards of 24 CFR 891.120 
(a) and (c), and the special project standards of 24 CFR 891.310 
(a), you must demonstrate your ability and willingness to contribute 
both the incremental development cost and continuing operating cost 
associated with the community spaces, amenities, or features;

    (ii) Describe whether and how the project will promote energy 
efficiency (in accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 
III.C.3.k. of this program NOFA), including any plans to incorporate 
energy efficiency features in the operation of the project through the 
use of Energy Star labeled products and appliances and, if applicable, 
innovative construction or rehabilitation methods or technologies to be 
used that will promote efficient construction.
    (iii) For site control applications, if you are proposing to 
develop a mixed-finance project by developing additional units (i.e., 
in addition to the 811 units), a description of any plans and actions 
you have taken to create such a mixed-finance project with the use of 
Section 811 capital advance funds, in combination with other funding 
sources. Provide the number of non-Section 811 units to be included in 
the mixed-finance project (also provide the number of additional units 
in the appropriate space on Form HUD-92016-CA). Also, provide copies of 
any letters you have sent seeking outside funding for the non-Section 
811 units and any responses thereto. Your response to this Exhibit will 
be used to rate your application for Rating Factor 4.c. under 
Leveraging Resources.

    Notes: (1) A proposal to develop a mixed-finance project for 
additional units must occur at the application for fund reservation 
stage. You cannot decide after selection that you want to do a 
mixed-finance project for additional units. (2) If you propose to 
develop a mixed-finance project for additional units, you must 
complete the development of such a proposal. If you are later unable 
to develop a mixed-finance project for additional units, you will 
not be permitted to proceed with a Section 811 project without 
additional units and your fund reservation will be canceled. This is 
due to the fact that the project would have received points in the 
rating of the application in consideration of the additional units 
and, if selected for funding, a later change in the proposal to 
exclude the additional units would alter the fairness of the 
competition. (3) Section 811 capital advance amendment money will 
not be approved for projects proposing mixed-financing for 
additional units. (4) If approved for a reservation of capital 
advance funds, you will be required to submit with your Firm 
Commitment Application, the additional documents required by HUD for 
mixed-finance proposals. (5) A mixed-finance project does not 
include the development of a mixed-use project in which the Section 
811 units are mortgaged separately from the other uses of the 
structure. (6) For a Section 811 mixed-finance project, the 
additional units cannot cause the project to exceed the project size 
limit for the type of project proposed, unless you request and 
receive HUD approval to exceed the project size limit if the project 
will be an independent living project (See IV.B.2.c.(1)(d)(xii).) or 
the additional units will house people who do not have a disability.

    (d) Evidence of site control and permissive zoning.

    Note: If you are applying for Section 811 funding without 
control of any or all of your proposed sites, you must provide the 
information under (e) Identification of a Site below for any site 
you are submitting without evidence of control of that site.

    (i) Acceptable evidence of site control is limited to any one of 
the following:
    (A) Deed or long-term leasehold which evidences that you have title 
to or a leasehold interest in the site. If a leasehold, the term of the 
lease must be 50 years with renewable provisions for 25 years except 
for sites on Indian trust land, in which case, the term of the lease 
must be at least 50 years with no requirements for extensions;
    (B) Contract of sale for the site that is free of any limitations 
affecting the ability of the seller to deliver ownership to you after 
you receive and accept a notice of Section 811 capital advance. (The 
only condition for closing on the sale can be your receipt and 
acceptance of the capital advance.) The contract of sale cannot require 
closing earlier than the Section 811 closing;
    (C) Option to purchase or for a long-term leasehold, which must 
remain in effect for six months from the date on which the applications 
are due, must state a firm price binding on the seller, and be 
renewable at the end of the sixth month period. The only condition on 
which the option may be terminated is if you are not awarded a fund 
reservation;
    (D) If the site is covered by a mortgage under a HUD program, 
(e.g., a previously funded Section 202 or Section 811 project or an 
FHA-insured mortgage) you must submit evidence that consent to release 
the site from the mortgage has been obtained or has been requested from 
HUD (all required information in order for a decision on the request 
for a partial release of security must have been submitted to the local 
HUD office) and from the mortgagee, if other than HUD Approval to 
release the site from the mortgage must be done before the local HUD 
office makes its selection recommendations to HUD Headquarters. Refer 
to Chapter 16 of HUD Handbook 4350.1 Rev-1, Multifamily Asset 
Management and Project Servicing, for instructions on submitting 
requests to the local HUD Office for partial release of security from a 
mortgage under a HUD program; or
    (E) For sites to be acquired from a public body, evidence is needed 
that the public body possesses clear title to the site and has entered 
into a legally binding agreement to lease or convey the site to you 
after you receive and accept a notice of Section 811 capital advance. 
Where HUD determines that time constraints of the funding round will 
not permit you to obtain all of the required official actions (e.g., 
approval of Community of Planning Boards) that are necessary to convey 
publicly-owned sites, you may include in your application a letter from 
the mayor or director of the appropriate local agency indicating that 
conveyance or leasing of the site is acceptable without imposition of 
additional covenants or restrictions, and only contingent on the 
necessary approval action. Such a letter of commitment will be 
considered sufficient evidence of site control.
    (ii) Whether you have title to the site, a contract of sale, an 
option to purchase, or are acquiring a site from a public body, you 
must provide evidence (a title policy or other acceptable evidence) 
that the site is free of any limitations, restrictions, or reverters 
which could adversely affect the use of the site for the proposed 
project for the 40-year capital advance period under HUD's regulations 
and requirements (e.g., reversion to seller if title is transferred). 
If the title evidence contains restrictions or covenants, copies of the 
restrictions

[[Page 14240]]

or covenants must be submitted with the application. If the site is 
subject to any such limitations, restrictions, or reverters, the site 
will be rejected and the application will be considered a ``site 
identified'' application. Purchase money mortgages that will be 
satisfied from capital advance funds are not considered to be 
limitations or restrictions that would adversely affect the use of the 
site. If the contract of sale or option agreement contains provisions 
that allow a Sponsor not to purchase the property for reasons such as 
environmental problems, failure of the site to pass inspection, or the 
appraisal is less than the purchase price, then such provisions are not 
objectionable and a Sponsor is allowed to terminate the contract of 
sale or the option agreement.

    Note: A proposed project site may not be acquired or optioned 
from a general contractor (or its affiliate) that will construct the 
Section 811 project or from any other development team member.

    (iii) Evidence that the project, as proposed, is permissible under 
applicable zoning ordinances or regulations, or a statement of the 
proposed action required to make the proposed project permissible and 
the basis for the belief that the proposed action will be completed 
successfully before the submission of the firm commitment application 
(e.g., a summary of the results of any requests for rezoning and/or the 
procedures for obtaining special or conditional use permits on land in 
similar zoning classifications and the time required for such rezoning, 
or preliminary indications of acceptability from zoning bodies, etc.).

    Note: You should be aware that under certain circumstances the 
Fair Housing Act requires localities to make reasonable 
accommodations to their zoning ordinances or regulations to offer 
persons with disabilities an opportunity to live in an area of their 
choice. If you are relying upon a theory of reasonable accommodation 
to satisfy the zoning requirement,then you must clearly articulate 
the basis for your reasonable accommodation theory.

    (iv) Evidence of compliance with the URA requirement that the 
seller has been provided, in writing, with the required information 
regarding a voluntary, arm's length purchase transaction (i.e., (1) 
applicant does not have the power of eminent domain and, therefore, 
will not acquire the property if negotiations fail to result in an 
amicable agreement, and (2) of the estimate of the fair market value of 
the property).

    Note: This information should have been provided before making 
the purchase offer. However, in those cases where there is an 
existing option or contract, the seller must be provided the 
opportunity to withdraw from the agreement or transaction, without 
penalty, after this information is provided.''

    (v) Narrative describing topographical and demographic aspects of 
the site, the suitability of the site and area (as well as a 
description of the characteristics of the neighborhood), how use of the 
site will promote greater housing opportunities for minority persons 
with disabilities, and how use of the site will affirmatively further 
fair housing.

    Note: You can best demonstrate your commitment to affirmatively 
furthering fair housing by describing how your proposed activities 
will assist the jurisdiction in overcoming impediments to fair 
housing choice identified in the applicable jurisdiction's Analysis 
of Impediments (AI) to Fair Housing Choice, which is a component of 
the jurisdiction's Consolidated Plan or any other planning document 
that addresses fair housing issues. The applicable Consolidated Plan 
and AI may be the community's, the county's, or the state's, to 
which input should have been provided by local community 
organizations, agencies in the community and residents of the 
community. Alternatively, a document that addresses fair housing 
issues and remedies to barriers to fair housing in the community 
that was previously prepared by a local planning, or similar 
organization, may be used. Applicable impediments could include a 
lack of units that are accessible to persons with disabilities, a 
lack of transportation services or other assistance that would serve 
persons with disabilities, or the need for improved quality and 
services for all persons with disabilities.

    (vi) A map showing the location of the site, the racial composition 
of the neighborhood, and any areas of racial concentration.

    Note: For this competition, when determining the racial and 
ethnic composition of the neighborhood surrounding the proposed 
site, use data from the 2000 Census of Population. Data from the 
2000 Census may be found at www.factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet.

    (vii) A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), in accordance 
with the ASTM Standards E 1527-00, as amended, must be completed and 
submitted with the application. In order for the Phase I ESA to be 
acceptable, it must have been completed or updated no earlier than six 
months prior to the application submission date. Therefore, it is 
important to start the site assessment process as soon after the 
publication of the NOFA as possible. If the Phase I ESA indicates 
possible presence of contamination and/or hazards, you must decide 
whether to continue with this site or choose another site. Should you 
choose another site, the same Phase I ESA process identified above must 
be followed for the new site. If the property is to be acquired from 
the FDIC/RTC, include a copy of the FDIC/RTC prepared Transaction 
Screen Checklist or Phase I ESA and applicable documentation, per the 
FDIC/RTC Environmental Guidelines. If you choose to continue with the 
original site on which the Phase I ESA indicated contamination or 
hazards, you must undertake a detailed Phase II ESA by an appropriate 
professional. If the Phase II Assessment reveals site contamination, 
your must submit the extent of the contamination and a plan for clean-
up of the site including a contract for remediation of the problem(s) 
and an approval letter from the applicable federal, state and/or local 
agency with jurisdiction over the site to the local HUD office. The 
Phase II and any necessary plans for clean-up do not have to be 
submitted with the application but must be received in the local HUD 
office by June 23, 2005. If it is not received by that date, the site 
will be rejected and the application will be placed in Category B for 
selection purposes.

    Note: You must pay for the cost of any clean-up or remediation 
which can be very expensive. [See Note at Section III.C.2.ciii.]

    (viii) If you submit an application with evidence of site control, 
you must submit one of the following:
    (A) If there is no pre-1978 structure on the site, a statement to 
this effect, or
    (B) If there is a pre-1978 structure on the site, an asbestos 
report which is based on a thorough inspection to identify the location 
and condition of asbestos throughout any structures. Note: In those 
cases where suspect asbestos is found, it would either be assumed to be 
asbestos or would require confirmatory testing. If the asbestos report 
indicates the presence of asbestos, or the presence of asbestos is 
assumed, and if the application is approved, HUD will condition the 
approval on an appropriate mix of asbestos abatement and an asbestos 
Operations and Maintenance Plan.
    (ix) The letter you sent to the State/Tribal Historic Preservation 
Officer (SHPO/ THPO) initiating consultation with their office and 
requesting their review of your determinations and findings with 
respect to the historical significance of your proposed project. 
Appendix B to this program section of the SuperNOFA contains a sample 
letter that you mayadapt and send to the SHPO/THPO.
    (x) The SHPO/THPO response to your letter or a statement that you 
have not

[[Page 14241]]

received a response letter from the SHPO/THPO.
    (xi) A statement that you are willing to seek a different site if 
the preferred site is unapprovable and that site control will be 
obtained within six months of notification of fund reservation.
    (xii) If an exception to the project size limits is being 
requested, describe why the site was selected and demonstrate the 
following: (Only for applications for independent living projects and 
condominium units [not group homes] with site control)
    (A) People with disabilities have indicated their acceptance or 
preference to live in housing with as many units/people as proposed for 
the project.
    (B) The increased number of units/people is warranted by the market 
conditions in the area in which the project will be located.
    (C) Your project is compatible with other residential development 
and the population density of the area in which the project is to be 
located.
    (D) The increased number of people will not prohibit their 
successful integration into the community.
    (E) The project is marketable in the community.
    (F) The size of the project is consistent with state and/or local 
policies governing similar housing for the proposed population.
    (G) A statement that you are willing to have your application 
processed at the project size limit should HUD not approve the 
exception.
    (e) Identification of a Site. If you have identified a site, but do 
not have it under control, you must submit the following information:

    Note: If an application is submitted without evidence of site 
control and does not provide a specific street address for the 
identified site(s) (e.g., only an indication that the project will 
be developed in a particular part of town but a site(s) has not been 
chosen) the application will be rejected.

    (i) A description of the location of the site, including its street 
address, its unit number (if condominium), neighborhood/community 
characteristics (to include racial and ethnic data), amenities, 
adjacent housing and/or facilities, how the site will promote greater 
housing opportunities for minority persons with disabilities and 
affirmatively further fair housing. You can best demonstrate your 
commitment to affirmatively furthering fair housing by describing how 
your proposed activities will assist the jurisdiction in overcoming 
impediments to fair housing choice identified in the community's AI or 
any other planning document that addresses fair housing issues. 
Examples of the applicable impediments include the need for improved 
housing quality and services for minority persons with disabilities and 
the need for quality services for persons with disabilities within the 
type and quality of similar services and housing in minority areas.
    (ii) A description of the activities undertaken to identify the 
site, as well as what actions must be taken to obtain control of the 
site, if approved for funding.
    (iii) An indication as to whether the site is properly zoned. If it 
is not, an indication of the actions necessary for proper zoning and 
whether these can be accomplished within six months of fund reservation 
award, if approved for funding.
    (iv) A status of the sale of the site.
    (v) An indication as to whether the site would involve relocation.
    (2) Exhibit 5--Supportive Services Plan

    Note: Your supportive services plan and the Supportive Services 
Certification (Exhibit 8(k)) must be sent to the appropriate state 
or local agency (identified by the local HUD office) far enough in 
advance of the application deadline date so that the agency can 
review the plan, complete the certification and return both to you 
for inclusion in your application to HUD.

    (a) A detailed description of whether the housing is expected to 
serve persons with physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, 
or chronic mental illness or any combination of the three. Include how 
and from whom/where persons will be referred and admitted for occupancy 
in the project. You may, with the approval of the Secretary, restrict 
occupancy within housing developed under the SuperNOFA to a subcategory 
of one of the three main categories of disability noted above (e.g., 
AIDS is a subcategory of physical disability). However, the Owner must 
permit occupancy by any qualified person with a disability that 
qualifies under the applicable main category of disability.
    (b) If requesting approval to restrict occupancy, also submit the 
following:
    (i) A description of the population of persons with disabilities to 
which occupancy will be limited.
    (ii) An explanation of why it is necessary to restrict occupancy of 
the proposed project(s) to the population described in (i) above, 
including the following:
    (A) An explanation of how restricting occupancy to a subcategory of 
persons with disabilities promotes the goals of the Section 811 
program.
    (B) An explanation of why the housing and/or service needs of this 
population cannot be met in a more integrated setting.
    (iii) A description of your experience in providing housing and/or 
supportive services to proposed occupants.
    (iv) A description of how you will ensure that occupants of the 
proposed project will be integrated into the neighborhood and 
community.
    (c) A detailed description of the supportive service needs of the 
persons with disabilities that the housing is expected to serve.
    (d) A list of community service providers, (including consumer-
controlled providers), including letters of intent to provide services 
to proposed residents from as many potential providers as possible.
    (e) The evidence of each service provider's capability and 
experience in providing such supportive services (even if you will be 
the service provider).
    (f) Identification of the extent of state and/or local agency 
involvement in the project (i.e., funding for the provision of 
supportive services, referral of residents, or licensing the project). 
If there will be any state or local agency involvement, a description 
of the state/local agency's philosophy/policy concerning housing for 
the population to be served and a demonstration that your application 
is consistent with state and/or local agency plans and policies 
governing the development and operation of housing for persons with 
disabilities.
    (g) If you will be making any supportive services available to the 
residents or will be coordinating the availability of any supportive 
services, a letter providing:
    (i) A description of the supportive services that you will make 
available to the residents or, if you will be coordinating the 
availability of any supportive services, a description of the 
supportive service(s) and how the coordination will be implemented;
    (ii) An assurance that any supportive services that you will make 
available to the residents will be based on their individual needs; and
    (iii) A commitment to make the supportive services available or 
coordinate their availability for the life of the project.
    (h) A description of how the residents will be afforded 
opportunities for employment.
    (i) An indication as to whether the project will include a unit for 
a resident manager.
    (j) A statement that you will not condition admission or occupancy 
on the resident's acceptance of any supportive services.

[[Page 14242]]

d. Part IV--General Application Requirements, Certifications and 
Resolutions

    (1) Exhibit 6: Other Applications
    (a) A list of the applications, if any, you are submitting to any 
other local HUD office in response to the FY 2005 Section 202 or 
Section 811 NOFA. Indicate by local HUD office, the proposed location 
by city and state and the number of units requested for each 
application.
    (b) Include a list of all FY2004 and prior year Section 202 and 
Section 811 capital advance projects to which you are a party. Identify 
each by project number and local HUD office and include the following 
information:
    (1) whether the project has initially closed and, if so, when;
    (2) if the project was older than 24 months when it initially 
closed (specify how old) or if older than 24 months now (specify how 
old) and has not initially closed, provide the reasons for the delay in 
closing;
    (3) whether amendment money was or will be needed for any project 
in (2) above; and,
    (4) those projects which have not been finally closed.
    (2) Exhibit 7: A statement that: (applicable to applications with 
site control only)
    (a) identifies all persons (families, individuals, businesses and 
nonprofit organizations) by race/minority group, and status as owners 
or tenants occupying the property on the date of submission of the 
application for a capital advance.
    (b) indicates the estimated cost of relocation payments and other 
services.
    (c) identifies the staff organization that will carry out the 
relocation activities.
    (d) identifies all persons that have moved from the site within the 
past 12 months.

    [Note: If any of the relocation costs will be funded from 
sources other than the section 811 capital advance, you must provide 
evidence of a firm commitment of these funds. When evaluating 
applications, HUD will consider the total cost of proposals (i.e., 
cost of site acquisition, relocation, construction and other project 
costs).]

    (3) Exhibit 8: Certifications and Resolutions--With the exception 
of Form HUD-424CB and Form HUD-424CBW listed in the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA, and OMB Circulars A-87 and A-21, you are required to 
submit copies of the following:
    (a) Standard Form 424--Application for Federal Assistance, 
including a DUNS number, an indication of whether you are delinquent on 
any federal debt, and compliance with Executive Order 12372 (a 
certification that you have submitted a copy of your application, if 
required, to the State agency (Single Point of Contact) for state 
review in accordance with Executive Order 12372). A copy of this form 
and instructions on how to obtain a DUNS number are contained in the 
online application and the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    (b) Standard Form 424 Supplement, Survey on Ensuring Equal 
Opportunity for Applicants. Although the information on this form will 
not be considered in making funding decisions, it will assist the 
federal government in ensuring that all qualified applicants have an 
equal opportunity to compete for federal funding. A copy of this form 
is contained in the online application and the General Section of the 
NOFA.
    (c) Standard Form LLL--Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (if 
applicable). A disclosure of activities conducted to influence any 
federal transactions. A copy of this form is contained in the online 
application and the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    (d) Form HUD-2880, Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report, 
including Social Security and Employee Identification Numbers. A 
disclosure of assistance from other government sources received in 
connection with the project. A copy of this form is contained in the 
online application and the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    (e) Form HUD-2991, Certification of Consistency with the 
Consolidated Plan (Plan), for the jurisdiction in which the proposed 
project will be located. The certification must be made by the unit of 
general local government if it is required to have, or has, a complete 
Plan. Otherwise, the certification may be made by the state, or by the 
unit of general local government if the project will be located within 
the jurisdiction of the unit of general local government authorized to 
use an abbreviated strategy, and if it is willing to prepare such a 
Plan. All certifications must be made by the public official 
responsible for submitting the Plan to HUD. The certifications must be 
submitted as part of the application by the application submission 
deadline date set forth in this program section of the SuperNOFA. The 
Plan regulations are published in 24 CFR part 91. A copy of this form 
is contained in the online application and the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA.
    (f) Form HUD-92041, Sponsor's Conflict of Interest Resolution. A 
certified Board Resolution that no officer or director of the Sponsor 
or Owner has or will have any financial interest in any contract with 
the Owner or in any firm or corporation that has or will have a 
contract with the Owner, including a current listing of all duly 
qualified and sitting officers and directors by title and the beginning 
and ending dates of each person's term. Refer to Section IV.B.3. below 
for a copy of this Resolution.
    (g) Form HUD-92042, Sponsor's Resolution for Commitment to Project. 
A certified Board Resolution acknowledging responsibilities of 
sponsorship, long-term support of the project(s), your willingness to 
assist the Owner to develop, own, manage and provide appropriate 
services in connection with the proposed project, and that it reflects 
the will of your membership. Also, it shall indicate your willingness 
to fund the estimated start-up expenses, the Minimum Capital Investment 
(one-half of one-percent of the HUD-approved capital advance, not to 
exceed $10,000), and the estimated cost of any amenities or features 
(and operating costs related thereto) that would not be covered by the 
approved capital advance. Refer to Section IV.B.3.below for a copy of 
this Resolution.
    (h) Form HUD-2990, Certification of Consistency with the RC/EZ/EC 
Strategic Plan. A certification that the project is consistent with the 
RC/EZ/EC-IIs strategic plan, is located within the RC/EZ/EC-II, and 
serves RC/EZ/EC-II residents. (This certification is not required if 
the project site(s) will not be located in an RC/EZ/ECII.) A copy of 
the RC/EZ/EC-II Certification form is contained in the online 
application and the General Section of the SuperNOFA.
    (i) Form HUD-2530, Previous ParticipationCertification. This form 
must be submitted for the Sponsor and all of the Officers and Directors 
of the Board of the Sponsor, including any Co-Sponsor, if applicable. 
This form provides HUD with a certified report of all your previous 
participation in HUD multifamily housing projects. The information is 
used to determine if you meet the standards established to ensure that 
all principal participants in HUD projects will honor their legal, 
financial and contractual obligations and are acceptable risks from the 
underwriting standpoint of an insurer, lender or governmental agency. 
Refer to Section IV.B.3. below for a copy of this form.
    (j) Form HUD-92043, Certification for Provision of Supportive 
Services. A certification from the appropriate state or local agency 
(identified in the application or obtained from the local HUD office), 
indicating whether the:
    (i) Provision of supportive services is well designed to serve the 
needs of

[[Page 14243]]

persons with disabilities the housing is expected to serve;
    (ii) The provision of supportive services will enhance independent 
living success and promote the dignity of those who will access your 
proposed project;
    (iii) Supportive services will be available on a consistent, long-
term basis; and
    (iv) Proposed housing is consistent with state or local plans and 
policies addressing the housing needs of people with disabilities if 
the state or local agency will provide funding for the provision of 
supportive services, refer residents to the project or license the 
project. (The name, address, and telephone number of the appropriate 
agency can also be obtained from the appropriate local HUD Office.) 
Refer to Section IV.B.3. below for a copy of this form.
    (k) Form HUD-96010, Logic Model. In addition to the Project 
Development Timeline to be submitted in Exhibit 3(h) above, the 
information provided in the Logic Model will be used in rating your 
application for Rating Factor 5, Achieving Results and Program 
Evaluation. A copy of this form is contained in the online application 
and the General Section of the NOFA.
    (l) Form HUD-27300, Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal 
of Regulatory Barriers. This form requires you to supply a reference, 
URL or brief statement documenting the successful efforts in removing 
barriers to affordable housing by the jurisdiction in which your 
project will be located. This Questionnaire will be considered in the 
rating of your application for Rating Factor 3.j. A copy of this form 
is contained in the online application and the General Section of the 
NOFA.
    3. Required Forms. In addition to the required forms that are found 
in the General Section as specified above, the following required forms 
(HUD-92016-CA, HUD-92041, HUD-92042, HUD-2530, and HUD-92043) are 
specific to the Section 811 program.

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    C. Submission Dates and Time. Your application must be submitted 
and received electronically by Grants.gov no later than 11:59:59 PM 
eastern time on the application submission date, unless a waiver of the 
electronic delivery

[[Page 14254]]

process has been approved by HUD. Please refer to the General Section 
for instructions on applying for a waiver. If a waiver is granted you 
must submit an original and four copies of your application on the 
application submission date following the mailing and timely receipt 
instructions in the General Section and Appendix A of this NOFA. These 
instructions have changed from the 2004 SuperNOFA.
    D. Intergovernmental Review. 1. State Review. This funding 
opportunity is subject to Executive Order (EO) 12372, 
``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.'' You must contact your 
State's Single Point of Contact (SPOC) to find out about and comply 
with the state's process under EO 12372. The names and addresses of the 
SPOCs are listed in the Office of Management and Budget's web site at 
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html. If required by the 
state, the submission to the state needs to occur before the Section 
811 application due date. It is recommended that you provide the state 
with sufficient time to review the application. Therefore, it is 
important that you consult with the SPOC for state review time frames 
and take that into account when submitting the application.
    2. HUD/RHS Agreement. HUD and the Rural Housing Service (RHS) have 
an agreement to coordinate the administration of the agencies' 
respective rental assistance programs. As a result, HUD is required to 
notify RHS of applications for housing assistance it receives. This 
notification gives RHS the opportunity to comment if it has concerns 
about the demand for additional assisted housing and possible harm to 
existing projects in the same housing market area. HUD will consider 
RHS comments in its review and application selection process.
    E. Funding Restrictions: 1. Ineligible Activities. Section 811 
funds may not be used for any of the following:
    a. Supportive Services
    b. Housing that you currently own or lease that has been occupied 
by people with disabilities for longer than one year prior to the 
application deadline date;
    c. Nursing homes, infirmaries and medical facilities;
    d. Transitional housing;
    e. Mobile homes;
    f. Intermediate care facilities;
    g. Assisted living facilities;
    h. Community centers, with or without special components for use by 
persons with disabilities;
    i. Sheltered workshops and centers for persons with disabilities;
    j. Headquarters for organizations for persons with disabilities; 
and
    k. Refinancing of Sponsor-owned facilities without rehabilitation.

    Note: You may propose to rehabilitate an existing currently-
owned or leased structure (if the structure already serves persons 
with disabilities, it cannot have operated as housing for persons 
with disabilities for longer than one year prior to the application 
deadline date) , however, the refinancing of any federally funded or 
assisted project or project insured or guaranteed by a federal 
agency is not permissible under this Section 811 NOFA. HUD does not 
consider it appropriate to utilize scarce program resources to 
refinance projects that have already received some form of 
assistance under a federal program or that have been operating as 
housing for persons with disabilities for longer than one year prior 
to the application deadline date. (For example, Section 202, Section 
202/8 or Section 202/PAC direct loan projects cannot be refinanced 
with capital advances and project rental assistance.)

    2. Application Limits (Units/Projects). A Sponsor or Co-Sponsor may 
not apply for more than 70 units of housing or 4 projects (whichever is 
less) for persons with disabilities in a single Hub or more than 10 
percent of the total units allocated to all local HUD offices. 
Affiliated entities (organizations that are branches or offshoots of a 
parent organization) that submit separate applications are considered a 
single entity for the purpose of these limits. In addition, no single 
application may propose more units in a given local HUD office than 
allocated for the Section 811 program in that local HUD office. If the 
proposed project will be an independent living project, your 
application must request at least five units for persons with 
disabilities, not necessarily in one structure. If your proposed 
project will be a group home, you must request at least two units for 
persons with disabilities per group home. If your proposed project will 
be a combination of an independent living project and a group home, 
your application must request at least the minimum number of units for 
each project type (i.e., 5 units for an independent living project and 
2 units for a group home).
    3. Development Cost Limits.
    a. The following development cost limits, adjusted by locality as 
described in Section IV.E.3.b. below must be used to determine the 
capital advance amount reserved for projects for persons with 
disabilities.

    Note: The capital advance funds awarded for this project are to 
be considered the total amount of funds that the Department will 
provide for the development of this project. Amendment funds will 
only be provided in exceptional circumstances (e.g., to cover 
increased costs for construction delays due to litigation or 
unforeseen environmental issues resulting in a change of sites) that 
are clearly beyond your control. Otherwise, you are responsible for 
any costs over and above the capital advance amount provided by the 
Department as well as any costs associated with any excess amenities 
and design features.

    (1) For independent living projects and dwelling units in 
multifamily housing developments, condominium and cooperative housing: 
The capital advance amount for the project attributable to dwelling use 
(less the incremental development cost and the capitalized operating 
costs associated with any excess amenities and design features and 
other costs you must pay for) may not exceed:
    Non-elevator structures:

$42,980 per family unit without a bedroom;
$49,557 per family unit with one bedroom;
$59,766 per family unit with two bedrooms;
$76,501 per family unit with three bedrooms;
$85,225 per family unit with four bedrooms.
    For elevator structures:

$45,232 per family unit without a bedroom;
$51,849 per family unit with one bedroom;
$63,049 per family unit with two bedrooms;
$81,563 per family unit with three bedrooms;
$89,531 per family unit with four bedrooms.
    (2) For group homes only (the development cost limits are capped by 
type of occupancy and number of person with disabilities):

                           Type of Disability
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Chronic
                  Residents                     Physical/       mental
                                              Developmental    illness
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2...........................................      $172,303      $166,325
3...........................................       185,287       178,860
4...........................................       198,273       189,995
5...........................................       211,257       201,130
6...........................................       224,228       212,265
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (3) These cost limits reflect those costs reasonable and necessary 
to develop a project of modest design that complies with HUD minimum 
property standards; the minimum group home requirements of 24 CFR 
891.310(a) (if applicable); the accessibility requirements of 24 CFR 
891.120(b) and 891.310(b); and the project design and cost standards of 
24 CFR 891.120.
b. Increased development cost limits.
    (1) HUD may increase the development cost limits set forth above,

[[Page 14255]]

by up to 140 percent in any geographic area where the cost levels 
require, and may increase the development cost limits by up to 160 
percent on a project-by-project basis. This increase may include 
covering additional costs to make dwelling units accessible through 
rehabilitation.

    Note: In applying the applicable high cost percentage, the local 
HUD office may use a percentage that is higher or lower than that 
which is assigned to the local HUD office if it is needed to provide 
a capital advance amount that is comparable to what it typically 
costs to develop a Section 811 project in that area.

    (2) If HUD finds that high construction costs in Alaska, Guam, the 
Virgin Islands or Hawaii make it infeasible to construct dwellings, 
without the sacrifice of sound standards of construction, design, and 
livability, within the development cost limits provided in Section 
IV.E.3.a.(1) and IV.E.3.b.(1) above, the amount of capital advances may 
be increased to compensate for such costs. The increase may not exceed 
the limits established under this section (including any high cost area 
adjustment) by more than 50 percent.
    (3) For group homes only, local HUD offices may approve increases 
in the development cost limits in Section IV.E.3.a.(2), above, in areas 
where you can provide sufficient documentation that high land costs 
limit or prohibit project feasibility. An example of acceptable 
documentation is evidence of at least three land sales that have 
actually taken place (listed prices for land are not acceptable) within 
the last two years in the area where your project is to be built. The 
average cost of the documented sales must exceed ten percent of the 
development cost limit for your project in order for an increase to be 
considered.
    4. Commercial Facilities. A commercial facility for the benefit of 
the residents may be located and operated in the Section 811 project. 
However, the commercial facility cannot be funded with the use of 
Section 811 capital advance or PRAC funds. The maximum amount of space 
permitted for a commercial facility cannot exceed 10 percent of the 
total project cost. An exception to this 10 percent limitation is if 
the project involves acquisition or rehabilitation and the additional 
space was incorporated in the existing structure at the time the 
proposal was submitted to HUD. Commercial facilities are considered 
public accommodations under Title III of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), and thus must comply with all the 
accessibility requirements of the ADA.
    5. Expiration of Section 811 Funds. The Consolidated Appropriations 
Act, 2005, requires HUD to obligate all Section 811 funds appropriated 
for FY 2005 by September 30, 2008. Under 31 U.S.C. 1551, no funds can 
be disbursed from this account after September 30, 2013. Under Section 
811, obligation of funds occurs for both capital advances and project 
rental assistance upon fund reservation and acceptance. If all funds 
are not disbursed by HUD and expended by the project Owner by September 
30, 2013, the funds, even though obligated, will expire and no further 
disbursements can be made from this account. In submitting an 
application, you need to carefully consider whether your proposed 
project can be completed through final capital advance closing no later 
than September 30, 2013. Furthermore, all unexpended balances, 
including any remaining balance on PRAC contracts, will be cancelled as 
of October 1, 2013. Amounts needed to maintain PRAC payments for any 
remaining term on the affected contracts beyond that date will have to 
be funded from other current appropriations.
    F. Other Submission Requirements:
    Address for Submitting Applications. Applications must be submitted 
electronically through the www.Grants.gov web site, unless the 
applicant receives a waiver from the electronic submission requirement. 
See the General Section, Application Submission and Receipt Procedures, 
for information on applying online and requesting a waiver from the 
electronic application requirement. If you apply for and receive a 
waiver from the electronic application requirement, you must submit an 
original and four copies of your completed application to the Director 
of the appropriate local HUD office listed in Appendix A below. Note: 
Do not use the listing in Attachment B to the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA.

V. Application Review Information

A. Criteria

    Policy Priorities. HUD encourages applicants to undertake specific 
activities that will assist the Department in implementing its policy 
priorities and which help the Department achieve its strategic goals 
for FY2005. Refer to the General Section of the SuperNOFA for 
information regarding HUD's Strategic Goals and Policy Priorities. For 
the Section 811 program, applicants who include work activities that 
specifically address the policy priorities of encouraging accessible 
design features by incorporating visitability standards and universal 
design, ending chronic homelessness, removing barriers to affordable 
housing and promoting energy efficiency in design and operations will 
receive additional points. A Notice pertaining to the removal of 
barriers to affordable housing was published in the Federal Register 
and may be downloaded from the HUD web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    Rating Factors. HUD will rate applications that successfully 
complete technical processing using the Rating Factors set forth below 
and in accordance with the application submission requirements in this 
program section of the SuperNOFA. The maximum number of points an 
application may receive under this program is 102. This includes two 
(2) RC/EZ/EC-II bonus points, as described in the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA and Section V.A.6 below.

1. Rating Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant 
Organizational Staff (30 Points)

    This factor addresses the extent to which you have the 
organizational resources to successfully implement the proposed 
activities in a timely manner. Submit information responding to this 
factor in accordance with Application Submission Requirements in 
Exhibits 3(a), 3(b), 3(e), 5 and 6 of Section IV.B. of this program 
section of the SuperNOFA. In rating this factor, HUD will consider the 
extent to which your application demonstrates your ability to develop 
and operate the proposed housing on a long-term basis, considering the 
following:
    a. (15 points) The scope, extent, and quality of your experience in 
providing housing or related services to those proposed to be served by 
the project and the scope of the proposed project (i.e., number of 
units, services, relocation costs, development, and operation) in 
relationship to your demonstrated development and management capacity 
as well as your financial management capability.
    b. (10 points) The scope, extent, and quality of your experience in 
providing housing or related services to minority persons or families 
and your ties to the community at large and to the minority and 
disability communities in particular.
    (1) (5 points) The scope, extent, and quality of your experience in 
providing housing or related services to minority persons or families.
    (2) (5 points) The scope, extent, and quality of your ties to the 
community at large and to the minority and disability communities in 
particular.

[[Page 14256]]

    To earn the maximum number of points under subcriteria (b)(1) 
above, you must describe both your relationships over time with the 
minority community and significant previous experience in providing 
housing and/or supportive services to minorities generally and to 
minority persons with disabilities, in particular. For the purpose of 
this competition, ``significant previous experience'' means that the 
previous housing assistance or related services to minorities, i.e., 
the percentage of minorities being provided housing or related services 
in your current developments, was equal to or greater than the 
percentage of minorities in the jurisdiction where the previous housing 
or services occurred. To earn the maximum number of points under 
subcriteria (b)(2) above, you should submit materials that demonstrate 
your efforts to make housing available to the community at large and 
the minority and disable communities in particular. Examples of 
documents that may be submitted to earn the maximum number of points 
under subcriteria (b)(2), include copies of your affirmative marketing 
plan and the advertising/outreach materials you utilize to attract 
minority communities (including limited English proficient 
communities), disable community and the community at large. Regarding 
your advertising/outreach materials, you should identify when 
advertising/outreach materials are circulated, whom they are circulated 
to, where they are circulated and how they are circulated. Descriptions 
of other advertising/outreach efforts to the minority (including 
limited English proficient communities) and disable communities and the 
dates and places of such advertising/outreach efforts should also be 
included.
    c. (-3 to -5 points) HUD will deduct (except if the delay was 
beyond your control) 3 points if a fund reservation you received under 
either the Section 811 program of Supportive Housing for Persons with 
Disabilities or the Section 202 program of Supportive Housing for the 
Elderly in FY2000 or later has been extended beyond 24 months, 4 points 
if beyond 36 points, and 5 points if beyond 48 months. Examples of 
delays beyond your control include, but are not limited to, initial 
closing delays that are: (1) directly attributable to HUD, (2) directly 
attributable to third party opposition, including litigation, and (3) 
due to a disaster, as declared by the President of the United States.
    d. (-1 point) HUD will deduct 1 point if amendment money was 
required as a result of the delay (except if the delay was beyond your 
control).
    e. (5 points) You have experience in developing integrated housing 
and/or the proposed project will be an integrated housing model (e.g., 
condominium units scattered within one or more buildings or non-
contiguous independent living units on scattered sites).

2. Rating Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem (13 Points)

    This factor addresses the extent to which there is a need for 
funding the proposed activities to address a documented problem in the 
target area. Submit information responding to this factor in accordance 
with Application Submission Requirements in Exhibits 4(a) and 4(b) of 
Section IV.B. of this program section of the SuperNOFA. HUD will 
consider the following in evaluating this factor:
    The extent of the need for the project in the area based on a 
determination by the local HUD office. In making this determination, 
HUD will consider your evidence of need in the area, as well as other 
economic, demographic, and housing market data available to the local 
HUD office. The data should include a general assessment of the current 
conditions in the market for the type of housing proposed, an estimate 
of the demand for additional housing of the type proposed in the 
applicable housing market area; as well as, information on the numbers 
and types of existing comparable subsidized housing for persons with 
disabilities, current occupancy in such housing and recent market 
experience, comparable subsidized housing for persons with disabilities 
under construction or for which fund reservations have been issued, 
and, in accordance with an agreement between HUD and RHS, comments from 
RHS on the demand for additional comparable subsidized housing and the 
possible harm to existing projects in the same housing market area. The 
Department also will review more favorably those applications which 
establish a connection between the proposed project and the community's 
Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) or other planning 
document that analyzes fair housing issues and is prepared by a local 
planning or similar organization. You must show how the proposed 
project will address an impediment to fair housing choice described in 
the AI or meet a need identified in the other type of planning 
document.
    For all Section 811 projects that are determined to have sufficient 
demand, HUD will rate your application based on the ratio of the number 
of units in the proposed project to the estimate of unmet need for 
housing assistance by the income eligible disabled households with 
selected housing conditions. Unmet need is defined as the number of 
very low-income disabled one-person renter households age 18 and older 
with housing conditions problems, as of the 2000 Census minus the 
number of project-based subsidized rental housing units (HUD, RHS, or 
LIHTC) that are affordable to very low-income disabled provided in the 
area since 1999. Units to be occupied by resident managers are not 
counted. After HUD determines the estimate of unmet need and whether a 
connection has been made between the project and community's 
Consolidated Plan, Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, or 
other planning document, HUD will rate your application as follows:
    a. (10 points) The area of the project has an unmet ratio of 15 
percent or less; Or (0 points) The area of the proposed has no unmet 
needs for housing assistance.
    b. (3 points) The extent that a connection has been established 
between the project and the community's Consolidated Plan, Analysis of 
Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) or other planning document that 
analyzes fair housing issues and is prepared by a local planning or 
similar organization.

3. Rating Factor 3: Soundness of Approach (40 Points)

    This factor addresses the quality and effectiveness of your 
proposal, the extent to which you involved persons with disabilities, 
including minority persons with disabilities, in the development of the 
application and will involve them in the development and operation of 
the project, the extent to which you coordinated your application with 
other organizations, including local independent living centers, with 
which you share common goals and objectives and are working toward 
meeting these objectives in a holistic and comprehensive manner, 
whether you consulted with Continuum of Care organizations to address 
efforts to assist persons with disabilities who are chronically 
homeless as defined in the General Section, whether the jurisdiction in 
which your project will be located has undertaken successful efforts to 
remove regulatory barriers to affordable housing, and whether you will 
promote energy efficiency in the design and operation of the proposed 
housing. There must be a clear relationship between the proposed

[[Page 14257]]

design, the proposed activities, the community's needs and purposes of 
the program funding for your application to receive points for this 
factor. Submit information responding to this factor in accordance with 
Application Submission Requirements in Exhibits 2(d), 3(f), 3(j), 3(k), 
3(l), 4(c)(i), 4(c)(ii), 4(c)(iii), 4(d)(iii), 4(d)(v), 4(d)(vi), 
4(e)(i), 5, and 8(l) of Section IV.B. of this NOFA. In evaluating this 
factor, HUD will consider the following:
    a. (14 points) Site approvability--The proximity or accessibility 
of the site to shopping, medical facilities, transportation, places of 
worship, recreational facilities, places of employment, and other 
necessary services to the intended occupants; adequacy of utilities and 
streets, and freedom of the site from adverse environmental conditions 
(based on site visit for site control projects only); and compliance 
with site and neighborhood standards in 24 CFR 891.125(a), (d), and (e) 
and 24 CFR 891.320. Sites where amenities are accessible other than by 
project residence or private vehicle will be rated more favorably;
    b. (-1 point) One or more of your proposed sites is not 
permissively zoned for the intended use.
    c. (10 points) The suitability of the site from the standpoints of 
promoting a greater choice of housing opportunities for minorities and 
persons with disabilities and affirmatively furthering fair housing. In 
reviewing this criterion, HUD will assess whether the site meets the 
site and neighborhood standards at 24 CFR 891.125(b) and (c) by 
examining relevant data in your application or in the local HUD office. 
If appropriate, HUD may visit the site.
    (1) The site will be deemed acceptable if it increases housing 
choice and opportunity by expanding housing opportunities in non-
minority neighborhoods (if located in such a neighborhood). The term 
``non-minority area'' is defined as one in which the minority 
population is lower than 10 percent; or contributing to the 
revitalization of and reinvestment in minority neighborhoods, including 
improvement of the level, quality and affordability of services 
furnished to minority persons with disabilities. You should refer to 
the Site and Neighborhood Standards provisions of the regulations 
governing the Section 811 Supportive Housing Program (24 CFR 891.125(b) 
and (c)) when considering sites for your projects.
    (2) For the purpose of this competition, the term ``minority 
neighborhood (area of minority concentration)'' is defined as one where 
any one of the following statistical conditions exists:
    (a) The percentage of persons of a particular racial or ethnic 
minority is at least 20 points higher than the minority's or 
combination of minorities' percentage in that housing market as a 
whole;
    (b) The neighborhood's total percentage of minority persons is at 
least 20 points higher than the total percentage of minorities for the 
housing market area as a whole; or
    (c) In the case of a metropolitan area, the neighborhood's total 
percentage of minority persons exceeds 50 percent of its population.
    d. (2 points) The extent to which the proposed design of the 
project (exterior and interior) and its placement in the neighborhood 
will meet the individual needs of the residents and will facilitate 
their integration into the surrounding community and promote their 
ability to live as independently as possible.
    e. (1 point) The extent to which the proposed design incorporates 
visitability standards and universal design in the construction or 
rehabilitation of the project. Refer to the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA for further information.
    f. (4 points) Your board is comprised of persons with disabilities.
    g. (3 points) You involved persons with disabilities (including 
minority persons with disabilities) in the development of the 
application, and will involve persons with disabilities (including 
minority persons with disabilities) in the development and operation of 
the project.
    h. (2 points) The extent to which you coordinated your application 
with other organizations (including local independent living centers; a 
list of such can be obtained from the local HUD office) that will not 
be directly participating in your project, but with which you share 
common goals and objectives and are working toward meeting these goals 
and objectives in a holistic and comprehensive manner.
    i. (1 point) You consulted with the Continuum of Care organizations 
in the community in which your proposed project will be located and 
have developed ways in which the proposed project will assist persons 
with disabilities who have been experiencing chronic homelessness 
become more productive members of society. Refer to the General Section 
of the SuperNOFA for further information.
    j. (2 points) The extent to which the jurisdiction in which your 
project will be located has undertaken successful efforts to remove 
regulatory barriers to affordable housing. (NOTE: To receive up to 2 
points, the applicant must have submitted the optional Form HUD-27300, 
Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory Barriers, 
AND provided URL references or submitted the required documentary 
evidence.)
    k. (1 point) The extent to which you will promote energy efficiency 
in the design and operation of the proposed housing. Refer to Section 
III.C.3.k. of this program NOFA.

4. Rating Factor 4: Leveraging Resources (5 Points)

    This factor addresses your ability to secure other funding sources, 
including funding sources to develop a mixed-finance project for 
additional units over and above the Section 811 units, if proposed, and 
community resources that can be combined with HUD's program resources 
to achieve program purposes. Submit information responding to this 
factor in accordance with Application Submission Requirements in 
Exhibits 3(a), 3(b), 3(c), 3(d), 3(e), 4(c)(iii) and 5(f) of Section 
IV.B. of this program section of the SuperNOFA.
    a. (1 point) The extent of local government support (including 
financial assistance, donation of land, provision of services, etc.) 
for the project.
    b. (2 points) The extent of your activities in the community, 
including previous experience in serving the area where the project is 
to be located, and your demonstrated ability to enlist volunteers and 
raise local funds.
    c. (2 points) The extent of your plans to develop a mixed-finance 
project for additional units over and above the Section 811 units.
    (1) (1 point) The proposed project involves mixed-financing for 
additional units in which the non-Section 811 units represent 30 
percent or less of the Section 811 units in the project; OR
    (2) (2 points) The proposed project involves mixed-financing for 
additional units in which the non-Section 811 units represent over 30 
percent of the Section 811 units in the project.


    Note: If you are proposing a mixed-finance project for 
additional units over and above the Section 811 units, your 
application may receive a maximum of 2 points under Rating Factor 
4(c). Your application will receive either 1 or 2 points under this 
Rating Factor, depending upon the number of non-Section 811 units to 
be developed in the project. If your project will not involve mixed-
financing for additional units, no points will be assigned for 
Rating Factor 4(c).


[[Page 14258]]



5. Rating Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation (12 
Points)

    This factor reflects HUD's goal to embrace high standards of 
ethics, management and accountability and, as such, emphasizes HUD's 
commitment to ensuring that you keep the promises made in your 
application. This factor requires that you clearly identify the 
benefits or outcomes of your project and develop an evaluation plan to 
measure performance, which includes what you are going to measure, how 
you are going to measure it, and the steps you will have in place to 
make adjustments to your project development timeline should you not be 
able to achieve any of the major milestones. Completion of Exhibit 
8(k), Logic Model, will assist you in completing your response to this 
rating factor. This rating factor also addresses the extent to which 
your project will implement practical solutions that result in 
residents achieving independent living, economic empowerment, 
educational opportunities and improved living environments. Finally, 
this factor addresses the extent to which the long-term viability of 
your project will be sustained for the duration of the 40-year capital 
advance period. Submit information responding to this factor in 
accordance with Application Submission Requirements in Exhibits 3(e), 
3(g), 3(h), 3(i), 6(b), and 8(k) of Section IV.B. of this program 
section of the SuperNOFA.
    a. (5 points) The extent to which your project development timeline 
is indicative of your full understanding of the development process and 
will, therefore, result in the timely development of your project.
    b. (2 points) The extent to which your past performance evidences 
that the proposed project will result in the timely development of the 
project. Evidence of your past performances could include the 
development of previous construction projects, including but not 
limited to Section 202 or Section 811 projects.
    c. (2 points) The extent to which your project will implement 
practical solutions that will result in assisting residents in 
achieving independent living, economic empowerment, educational 
opportunities, and improved living environments (e.g., activities that 
will improve computer access, literacy and employment opportunities).
    d. (3 points) The extent to which you demonstrated that your 
project will remain viable as housing with the availability of 
supportive services for very low income persons with disabilities for 
the 40-year capital advance period.
    6. Bonus Points (2 bonus points). Location of proposed site in an 
RC/EZ/EC-II area, as described in the General Section. Submit the 
information responding to the bonus points in accordance with the 
Application Submission Requirements in Exhibit 8(i) of Section IV.B. of 
this NOFA.
    B. Reviews and Selection Process: 1. Review for Curable 
Deficiencies. You should ensure that your application is complete 
before transmitting it to the following web site: www.grants.gov/Apply 
and, in the case of a waiver of the electronic submission requirement, 
that you have an original and four copies before submitting it to the 
appropriate local HUD office. Upon receipt of the application by HUD 
staff, HUD will screen all applications to determine if there are any 
curable deficiencies. For applicants receiving a waiver to submit a 
paper application, submitting fewer than the required original and four 
copies of the application is not a curable deficiency and will cause 
your application to be considered non-responsive to the NOFA and 
returned to you. A curable deficiency is a missing Exhibit or portion 
of an Exhibit that will not affect the rating of the application. Refer 
to the General Section for additional information regarding procedures 
for corrections to deficient applications. The following is a list of 
the only deficiencies that will be considered curable in a Section 811 
application:

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    The local HUD office will notify you in writing if your application 
is missing any of the above exhibits or portions of exhibits and will 
provide you with a specified deadline to submit the information 
required to cure the noted deficiencies. The items identified by an 
asterisk (*) must be dated on or before the application submission 
date. If an Exhibit or portion of an Exhibit listed above as curable is 
not discovered as missing until technical processing, HUD will provide 
you with a deadline to cure the deficiency.
    2. Rating. HUD will review and rate your application in accordance 
with the Reviews and Selection Process in the General Section of the 
SuperNOFA except as described in 3. Appeal Process below. Your 
application will be either rated or technically rejected at the end of 
technical review. If your application meets all program eligibility 
requirements after completion of technical review, including HUD 
approval of you, the Section 811 applicant, based on HUD's evaluation 
of the applicant's previous participation activities as reported on 
Form HUD-2530, Previous Participation Certification, it will be rated 
according to the rating factors in Section V.A. above.
    3. Appeal Process. HUD will not reject your application based on 
technical review without notifying you of the rejection with all the 
reasons for rejection and providing you an opportunity to appeal. You 
will have 14 calendar days from the date of HUD's written notice to 
appeal a technical rejection to the local HUD office. In HUD's review 
of any appeal, it should be noted that in conformance with its 
regulations at 24 CFR part 4, subpart B, HUD will not consider any 
unsolicited information that you, the applicant, may want to provide. 
The local HUD office will make a determination on any appeals before 
making its selection recommendations.
    4. Ranking and Selection Procedures. Applications that have a total 
base score of 75 points or more (without the addition of RC/EC/EZ-II 
bonus points) and meet all of the applicable threshold requirements in 
the General Section of the SuperNOFA and this program NOFA will be 
eligible for selection and will be placed in rank order in two 
categories; Category A and Category B. Category A will consist of 
approvable applications that contain acceptable evidence of control of 
all proposed sites and all proposed sites have been found approvable. 
Category B will consist of

[[Page 14260]]

the following approvable applications: (a) Those that were submitted 
with identified sites; (b) those that were submitted with evidence of 
site control where the evidence and/or any of the proposed sites were 
found unapprovable provided you indicate your willingness to locate 
another site(s) should the proposed site(s) be found unapprovable; and 
(c) those that were submitted with a combination of sites under control 
and identified sites. Each HUD Multifamily Program Center will select 
applications, after adding any bonus points for RC/EC/EZ-II, based on 
rank order, from Category A first that most closely approximates the 
capital advance authority available in its allocation. If capital 
advance authority remains after selecting all approvable applications 
from Category A, each HUD Multifamily Program Center shall then select 
applications, in rank order, from Category B that most closely 
approximates the capital advance authority remaining in its allocation. 
HUD Multifamily Program Centers will not skip over any applications in 
order to select one based on the funds remaining. After making the 
initial selections from the applicable category, however, HUD 
Multifamily Program Centers may use any residual funds to select the 
next rank-ordered application in that category by reducing the number 
of units by no more than 10 percent, rounded to the nearest whole 
number, provided the reduction will not render the project infeasible. 
For this purpose, however, HUD will not reduce the number of units in 
projects of five units or less.
    After the HUD Multifamily Program Centers have funded all possible 
projects based on the process above, residual funds from all HUD 
Multifamily Program Centers within each Multifamily Hub will be 
combined. First, these funds will be used to restore units to projects 
reduced by HUD Multifamily Program Centers based on the above 
instructions. Second, additional approvable applications within each 
Multifamily Hub will be selected in rank order, first from Category A, 
and if sufficient funds remain, from Category B, with only one 
application selected per HUD Multifamily Program Center. More than one 
application may be selected per HUD Multifamily Program Center if there 
are no approvable applications in other HUD Multifamily Program Centers 
within the Multifamily Hub. This process will continue until there are 
no more approvable applications within the Multifamily Hub that can be 
selected with the remaining funds. Applications may not be skipped over 
to select one based on funds remaining. However, the Multifamily Hub 
may use any remaining residual funds to select the next rank-ordered 
application in the applicable category by reducing the number of units 
by no more than 10 percent rounded to the nearest whole number, 
provided the reduction will not render the project infeasible or result 
in the project being less than 5 units.
    Funds remaining after the Multifamily Hub selection process is 
completed will be returned to Headquarters. HUD Headquarters will use 
these residual funds first to restore units to projects reduced by HUD 
Multifamily Program Center or Multifamily Hub as a result of the 
instructions for using their residual funds. Second, HUD Headquarters 
will use these funds for selecting applications based on HUD Program 
Centers' rankings, beginning with the highest rated application 
nationwide in Category A. Only one application will be selected per HUD 
Multifamily Program Center in Category A from the national residual 
amount, excluding the Columbia Multifamily Program Center, already 
funded. If there are no approvable applications in Category A in other 
HUD Multifamily Program Centers, then the next highest rated 
application in Category B in another HUD Multifamily Program Center 
will be selected, excluding the Columbia Multifamily Program Center, 
already funded. This process will begin again with the selection of the 
next highest rated application in Category A nationwide. Once each HUD 
Multifamily Program Center that has approvable applications in Category 
A receives another selection then the next highest rated application in 
Category B will be selected. This process will continue until all 
approvable applications are selected using the available remaining 
funds. Headquarters may skip over a higher rated application in order 
to use as much of the available remaining funds as possible.
    5. HUD Error. In the event HUD commits an error that, when 
corrected, would have resulted in the selection of an otherwise 
eligible applicant during the funding round of the SuperNOFA, HUD may 
select that applicant when sufficient funds become available.

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    1. Agreement Letter. If you are selected to receive a Section 811 
fund reservation, you will receive an Agreement Letter that stipulates 
the terms and conditions for the Section 811 fund reservation award as 
well as the submission requirements following the fund reservation 
award. The duration of the fund reservation award for the capital 
advance is 18 months from the date of issuance of the fund reservation.
    Immediately upon your acceptance of the Agreement Letter, you are 
expected to begin work towards the submission of a Firm Commitment 
Application, which is the next application submission stage. You are 
required to submit a Firm Commitment Application to the local HUD 
office within 180 days from the date of the Agreement Letter. Initial 
closing of the capital advance and start of construction of the project 
are expected to be accomplished within the duration of the fund 
reservation award. Final closing of the capital advance is expected to 
occur no later than six months after completion of project 
construction.
    2. Non-selection Letter. If your application is approvable but 
unfunded due to insufficient funds or receives a rating that is below 
the minimum threshold score established for funding eligibility, you 
will receive a letter to this effect.
    3. Debriefing. Refer to the General Section for further information 
regarding debriefings except that the request must be made to the 
Director of Multifamily Housing in the appropriate local HUD office.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    1. Ensuring the Participation of Small Businesses, Small 
Disadvantaged Businesses, and Women-Owned Businesses. Although the 
Section 811 program is not subject to the provisions of 24 CFR 85.36(e) 
as described in the corresponding paragraph in the General Section of 
the SuperNOFA, you are required to comply with Executive Order 12432, 
Minority Business Enterprise Development and Executive Order 11625, 
Prescribing Additional Arrangements for Developing and Coordinating a 
National Program for Minority Business Enterprise as they relate to the 
encouragement of HUD grantees to utilize minority business enterprises.
    2. Acquisition and Relocation. You must comply with the Uniform 
Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 
1970, as amended (49 CFR part 24 and 24 CFR part 891.155(e)) (URA), 
which covers the acquisition of sites, with or without existing 
structures, and with 24 CFR 8.4(b)(5) of the Section 504 regulations 
which prohibits discrimination based on disability in determining the 
site or location of a federally-assisted facility. However, you are 
exempt from

[[Page 14261]]

complying with the site acquisition requirements of the URA if you do 
not have the power of eminent domain and prior to entering into a 
contract of sale, option to purchase or any other method of obtaining 
site control, you inform the seller of the land in writing: (1) That 
you do not have the power of eminent domain and, therefore, you will 
not acquire the property if negotiations fail to result in an amicable 
agreement, and (2) of the estimate of the fair market value of the 
property. An appraisal is not required to meet this requirement; 
however, your files must include an explanation, (with reasonable 
evidence) of the basis for the estimate. Evidence of compliance with 
this advance notice requirement must be included in Exhibit 4(d)(iv) of 
your application.
    3. Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 and Coastal Barriers 
Resources Act. You must comply with the requirements under the Flood 
Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4001-4128) and the Coastal 
Barrier Resources Act (16 U.S.C. 3601).

C. Reporting

    1. The Program Outcome Logic Model (Form HUD-96010) must be 
completed indicating the results achieved against the proposed output 
goal(s) and proposed outcome(s) which you stated in your approved 
application and agreed upon by HUD.
    2. The Regulatory Agreement (Form HUD-92466-CA) requires the Owner 
of the Section 811 project to submit an annual financial statement for 
the project. This financial statement must be audited by an Independent 
Public Accountant who is a Certified Public Accountant or other person 
accepted by HUD and filed electronically with HUD's Real Estate 
Assessment Center (REAC) through the Financial Assessment Subsystem for 
Multifamily Housing (MF-FASS). The submission of annual financial 
statements is required throughout the 40-year term of the mortgage.
    3. HUD requires that funded recipients collect racial and ethnic 
beneficiary data. It has adopted the Office of Management and Budget's 
Standards for the Collection of Racial and Ethnic Data. In view of 
these requirements, you should use Form HUD-27061, Racial and Ethnic 
Data Reporting Form (and instructions for its use), found at: 
www.hudclips.org, a comparable program form, or a comparable electronic 
data system for this purpose.

VII. Agency Contact(s)

    For Technical Assistance. For technical assistance in downloading 
an application package from http://www.grants.gov/Apply, contact the 
Grants.gov help desk at 800-518-Grants or by sending an email to 
[email protected]. For programmatic information, you may contact the 
appropriate local HUD office, or Frank Tolliver at HUD Headquarters at 
(202) 708-3000 (this is not a toll-free number), or access the Internet 
at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. Persons with 
hearing and speech impairments may access the above number via TTY by 
calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

    A. Field Office Workshop. HUD encourages minority organizations and 
grassroots organizations (e.g., civic organizations, faith-communities 
and grassroots faith-based and other community-based organizations) to 
participate in this program and strongly recommends prospective 
applicants attend the local HUD office workshop. At the workshops, HUD 
will explain application procedures and requirements, as well as 
address concerns such as local market conditions, building codes and 
accessibility requirements, contamination identification and 
remediation, historic preservation, floodplain management, other 
environmental requirements, displacement and relocation, zoning, and 
housing costs. If you are interested in attending the workshop, make 
sure that your name, address and telephone number are on the 
appropriate local HUD office's mailing list so that you will be 
informed of the date, time and place of the workshop. Persons with 
disabilities should call the appropriate local HUD office to assure 
that any necessary arrangements can be made to enable their attendance 
and participation in the workshop.
    If you cannot attend the workshop, call the appropriate local HUD 
office if you have any questions regarding the submission of 
applications to that particular office and to request any materials 
distributed at the workshop.
    B. Satellite Broadcast. HUD will hold an information broadcast via 
satellite for potential applicants to learn more about the program and 
preparation of the application. It is strongly recommended that 
potential applicants, especially those who may be applying for Section 
811 funding for the first time, tune in to this broadcast, if at all 
possible. Copies of the broadcast tapes are also available from the 
NOFA Information Center. For more information about the date and time 
of the broadcast, you should consult the HUD web site at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
    C. Related Programs. Section 811 funding for tenant-based 
assistance is administered by public housing agencies and nonprofit 
organizations through the Mainstream Housing Opportunities for Persons 
with Disabilities Program.
    D. Paperwork Reduction Act. The information collection requirements 
contained in this document have been approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB control number 2502-0462. In 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or 
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 
information unless the collection displays a currently valid OMB 
number. Public reporting burden for the collection of information is 
estimated to average 35.92 hours per annum per respondent for the 
application and grant administration. This includes the time for 
collecting, reviewing, and reporting the data for the application, 
semi-annual reports and final report. The information will be used for 
grantee selection and monitoring the administration of funds. Response 
to this request for information is required in order to receive the 
benefits derived.

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[[Page 14273]]



Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs

Overview Information

    A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Office of Community Planning and Development.
    B. Funding Opportunity Title: Funding Availability for Continuum of 
Care (CoC) Homeless Assistance Programs.
    C. Announcement Type: Initial Announcement.
    D. Funding Opportunity Number: The Federal Register number is FR-
4950-N-15. The OMB Approval number is pending.
    E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Numbers:
    1. 14.235, Supportive Housing Program (SHP)
    2. 14.238, Shelter Plus Care (S+C) and
    3. 14.249, Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy 
(SRO).
    F. Dates: Application Submission Date: Applications should be 
submitted no later than June 10, 2005. Please see the General Section 
for detailed instructions and Section IV of this NOFA for application 
submission and timely receipt requirements.
    G. Additional Overview Content Information:
    1. Purpose of the Programs: The purpose of the CoC Homeless 
Assistance Programs is to assist homeless persons to move to self-
sufficiency and permanent housing.
    2. Available Funds: Approximately $1 billion is available for 
funding.
    3. Eligible Applicants: The program summary chart in Section 
III.A.3 identifies the eligible applicants for each of the three 
programs under the CoC Homeless Assistance Programs.
    4. Match: Matching funds are required from local, state, federal or 
private resources.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Description

1. Overview
    a. The purpose of the CoC Homeless Assistance Programs is to reduce 
the incidence of homelessness in CoC communities by assisting homeless 
individuals and families to move to self-sufficiency and permanent 
housing. Projects that sustain current successful interventions and 
fill gaps in locally developed CoC systems will be funded. To help meet 
the Administration's goal of ending chronic homelessness, priority will 
be placed on programs that target the supportive housing needs of 
chronically homeless persons.
    2. The authorizing legislation and implementing regulations for all 
programs covered by this NOFA are outlined on the chart in Section 
III.A.3. HUD published a proposed rule updating the Supportive Housing 
Program at 69 FR 43488 on July 20, 2004 and is currently considering 
the public comments received. HUD expects to publish a final rule based 
on the proposed rule and comments in 2005. If a final rule is published 
before announcement of awards under this NOFA, the new final rule will 
apply to those awards.
    3. Changes for 2005. These changes include, but are not limited to, 
the following:
    A. CoC Hold Harmless Amount. This is the total of the one-year 
amount of all SHP projects eligible for renewal. CoC's shall receive 
the higher of: (1) the preliminary pro rata need (PRN) or (2) the CoC 
hold harmless amount. In the past, HUD awarded a renewal adjustment 
when the amount needed to fund all eligible renewals for one year 
exceeded the preliminary pro rata need. An unintended consequence of 
this policy resulted in CoCs having to request renewal of projects that 
in their judgment did not best reflect the current needs of the 
community. CoCs receiving the CoC hold harmless amount will now have 
the opportunity to reallocate their PRN funds in order to create new 
permanent supportive housing projects. This will provide them with the 
same flexibility that CoCs without excessive SHP renewals have. See 
Section V.A.2.b of this program section for this significant change.
    b. Samaritan Housing Initiative. The Samaritan Initiative (formerly 
known as the Permanent Housing Bonus) will be integrated into this NOFA 
as part of the larger CoC process and is only for projects serving 
exclusively chronically homeless persons. It is 15 percent of a CoC's 
preliminary PRN amount or $6 million, whichever is less. Applicants may 
use no more than 20 percent of this bonus for case management costs. 
See Section V.A.2.b(3) for additional information on this subject.
    c. Grant Terms. The grant terms for all newly proposed SHP projects 
are two (2) or three (3) years. See Section II.A.3 for additional 
information on this subject.
    d. Participant Eligibility for Permanent Housing. The only persons 
who may be served by permanent housing projects (both new and renewal) 
are those who come from the streets, emergency shelters, or 
transitional housing. People who are currently housed but may become 
homeless within seven days, remain eligible for transitional housing 
and emergency shelters. Please see Section III.C.2.a(3) and the 
Questions and Answers Supplement for further information.
    e. Pro Rata Need. Any project not falling fully within the 40 need 
point range will receive 10 need points. Please see Section V.A.2.b(4) 
for more information.
    f. Fair Market Rent (FMR) Updates. HUD will select projects using 
the FMRs in place at the time of application. HUD will then apply the 
FMRs in place at the time of award. See V.A.2.b(3) for more 
information.
    g. Conducting Business In Accordance with Core Values and Ethical 
Standards. All applicants will be required, prior to entering into an 
agreement with HUD, to submit a copy of their Code of Conduct. Refer to 
the General Section for detailed instructions regarding this 
requirement.
    h. Form HUD 96010, Logic Model. Applicants must submit a Logic 
Model for each project, new and renewal. Refer to the General Section 
for instructions and a copy of this form.
    i. CoC Planning Process Organizations. A description of the ``level 
of participation'' has been included for the list of organizations 
involved in your CoC planning efforts. See Exhibit 1, Form HUD-40076 
CoC-B.
    j. The Discharge Planning Policy narrative has been replaced with a 
chart. See Exhibit 1, Form HUD-40076 CoC-D.
    k. The Service Activity Chart has been streamlined to reflect an 
inventory of supportive services and the agencies providing these 
services. The description of planned services and how participants 
access/receive assistance is no longer required. See Exhibit 1, Form 
HUD-40076 CoC-F.
    l. The Housing Gaps Analysis Chart has been eliminated. That 
information is now reported in the Housing Activity Charts, which have 
been substantially revised. See Exhibit 1, Form HUD-40076 CoC-G.
    m. Participation in Energy Star. Form HUD-40076 CoC-H has been 
changed to capture CoCs' efforts to promote energy efficiency in HUD 
assisted programs. See Exhibit 1.
    n. The Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) Section has 
been revised to capture more information on HMIS implementation 
efforts. See Exhibit 1, Form HUD-40076 CoC-J.
    o. The Project Priorities Section has been updated to include a 
Reallocation Chart and required narrative response.

[[Page 14274]]

See Exhibit 1, Form HUD-40076 CoC-K.
    p. The Continuum of Care Use of Other Resources Chart has been 
eliminated.
    q. Audits. The Reporting Section has been updated to reflect the 
requirement for annual audits for those grantees that expend more than 
$500,000 in Federal funds. See Section VI.C for additional information 
on this subject.
    r. Appropriate Discharge Planning and Coordination and Integration 
of Mainstream Programs are still required, but the Special Project 
Certifications have been eliminated.
    s. The ``Housing Emphasis'' scoring has been increased from 10 to 
12 points. See Section V.A.2.a.(5) for additional information on this 
subject.
    t. The ``Performance Measurement'' scoring has been increased from 
5 to 8 points. See Section V.A.2.a.(6) for additional information on 
this subject.
    u. The ``Leveraging Supplemental Resources'' scoring has been 
reduced from 13 to 8 points. See Section V.A.2.a.(4) for additional 
information on this subject.
    v. The ``Questions and Answers Supplement'' should be thoroughly 
reviewed and is now available on the web at www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. Please see Section IV.A.
    4. Developing and Coordinating CoC Systems: Developing a CoC system 
should be an inclusive process that brings together participants from 
the state, local, private and nonprofit sectors to assist homeless 
persons. It should be coordinated and consistent with the community's 
larger effort of developing a HUD required Consolidated Plan. The 
Consolidated Plan serves as the vehicle for a community to 
comprehensively identify each of its needs and to coordinate a plan of 
action for addressing them. State and local 10-year plans to end 
chronic homelessness must be aligned with (if not identical to) the CoC 
plan to end chronic homelessness. For a community to successfully 
address the complex and interrelated problems related to homelessness, 
the community must marshal its varied resources--community and economic 
development resources, social service resources, housing and homeless 
assistance resources--and use them in a coordinated and effective 
manner.
    5. CoC Components. A CoC system consists of five basic components:
    a. A system of outreach and assessment for determining the needs 
and conditions of an individual or family who is homeless;
    b. Emergency shelters with appropriate supportive services to help 
ensure that homeless individuals and families receive adequate 
emergency shelter and referral to necessary service providers or 
housing search counselors;
    c. Transitional housing with appropriate supportive services to 
help those homeless individuals and families who are not prepared to 
make the transition to permanent housing and independent living; and
    d. Permanent housing, or permanent supportive housing, to help meet 
the long-term needs of homeless individuals and families.
    e. Prevention strategies play an integral role in a community's 
plan to eliminate homelessness. By law, prevention activities are 
ineligible activities in the three programs for which funds are awarded 
in this competition but are eligible for funding under the Emergency 
Shelter Grants block grant program.
    6. CoC Planning Process. A CoC system is developed through a 
community-wide or region-wide process involving nonprofit organizations 
(including those representing persons with disabilities), government 
agencies, public housing authorities, community and faith-based 
organizations, other homeless providers, housing developers and service 
providers, private businesses and business associations, law 
enforcement agencies, private funding providers, and homeless or 
formerly homeless persons. A CoC system should address the specific 
needs of each homeless subpopulation: those experiencing chronic 
homelessness, veterans, persons with serious mental illnesses, persons 
with substance abuse issues, persons with HIV/AIDS, persons with co-
occurring diagnoses (may include diagnoses of multiple physical 
disabilities or multiple mental disabilities or a combination of these 
two types), victims of domestic violence, youth, and any others. To 
ensure that the CoC system addresses the needs of homeless veterans, it 
is particularly important that you involve veteran service 
organizations with specific experience in serving homeless veterans.
    7. CoC Funding is provided through the programs briefly described 
below. Please refer to the CoC Homeless Assistance Programs Chart in 
Section III.A.3 for a more detailed description of each program:
    a. The Supportive Housing Program (SHP) provides funding for the 
development of transitional and permanent supportive housing and 
services that help homeless persons transition from homelessness to 
living as independently as possible. Some services are also funded to 
assist in achieving the goal of self-sufficiency.
    b. The Shelter Plus Care (S+C) Program provides funding for rental 
assistance and requires grantees to identify service dollars. This 
gives applicants flexibility in devising appropriate housing and 
supportive services for homeless persons with disabilities.
    c. The Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy 
(SRO) Program provides rental assistance on behalf of homeless 
individuals in connection with the moderate rehabilitation of SRO 
dwellings.
    8. Glossary of Terms: a. Applicant. An entity that applies to HUD 
for funds. See the CoC Homeless Assistance Programs Chart in Section 
III.A.3 for a list of entities that are eligible. An applicant must 
submit a SF-424. If selected for funding, the applicant becomes the 
grantee and is responsible for the overall management of the grant, 
including drawing grant funds and distributing them to project 
sponsors. The applicant is also responsible for supervision of project 
sponsor compliance with grant requirements. The applicant may also be a 
project sponsor.
    b. Applicant Certification. The form, required by law, in which an 
applicant certifies that it will adhere to certain statutory 
requirements, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
    c. Chronically Homeless Person. An unaccompanied homeless 
individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously 
homeless for a year or more OR has had at least four (4) episodes of 
homelessness in the past three (3) years. A disabling condition is 
defined as ``a diagnosable substance use disorder, serious mental 
illness, developmental disability, or chronic physical illness or 
disability, including the co-occurrence of two or more of these 
conditions.'' In defining the chronically homeless, the term 
``homeless'' means ``a person sleeping in a place not meant for human 
habitation (e.g., living on the streets) or in an emergency homeless 
shelter.''
    d. Consolidated Plan. A long-term housing and community development 
plan developed by state and local governments and approved by HUD. The 
Consolidated Plan contains information on homeless populations and 
should be coordinated with the CoC plan. It can be a source of 
information for the Unmet Need sections of the Housing Activities 
Chart. The plan contains both narratives and maps, the latter developed 
by localities using software provided by HUD.

[[Page 14275]]

    e. Consolidated Plan Certification. The form, required by law, in 
which a state or local official certifies that the proposed activities 
or projects are consistent with the jurisdiction's Consolidated Plan 
and, if the applicant is a state or unit of local government, that the 
jurisdiction is following its Consolidated Plan.
    f. Continuum of Care. A collaborative funding approach that helps 
communities plan for and provide a full range of emergency, 
transitional, and permanent housing and service resources to address 
the various needs of homeless persons.
    g. Current Inventory. A complete listing of the community's 
existing beds and supportive services.
    h. Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS). An HMIS is a 
computerized data collection application designed to capture client-
level information over time on the characteristics and service needs of 
men, women, and children experiencing homelessness, while also 
protecting client confidentiality. It is designed to aggregate client-
level data to generate an unduplicated count of clients served within a 
community's system of homeless services. An HMIS may also cover a 
statewide or regional area, and include several CoCs. The HMIS can 
provide data on client characteristics and service utilization.
    i. Homeless Person means a person sleeping in a place not meant for 
human habitation or in an emergency shelter; and a person in 
transitional housing for homeless persons who originally came from the 
street or an emergency shelter. For a more detailed discussion, see the 
Questions and Answers Supplement available on the web at www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. The programs covered by this NOFA 
are not for populations who are at risk of becoming homeless.
    j. NOFA. Notice of Funding Availability, published in the Federal 
Register to announce available funds and application requirements.
    k. Private Nonprofit Status. Private nonprofit status is documented 
by submitting either: (1) a copy of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 
ruling providing tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS 
Code; or (2) documentation showing that the applicant is a certified 
United Way agency; or (3) a certification from a designated official of 
the organization that no part of the net earnings of the organization 
inures to the benefit of any member, founder, contributor, or 
individual; that the organization has a voluntary board; that the 
organization practices nondiscrimination in the provision of 
assistance; and that the organization has a functioning accounting 
system that provides for each of the following (mention each in the 
certification):
    (1) Accurate, current and complete disclosure of the financial 
results of each federally sponsored project.
    (2) Records that identify adequately the source and application of 
funds for federally sponsored activities.
    (3) Effective control over and accountability for all funds, 
property and other assets.
    (4) Comparison of outlays with budget amounts.
    (5) Written procedures to minimize the time elapsing between the 
transfer of funds to the recipient from the U.S. Treasury and the use 
of the funds for program purposes.
    (6) Written procedures for determining the reasonableness, 
allocability and allowability of costs.
    (7) Accounting records, including cost accounting records, which 
are supported by source documentation.
    1. Public Nonprofit Status. Public nonprofit status is documented 
for community mental health centers by including a letter or other 
document from an authorized official stating that the organization is a 
public nonprofit organization.
    m. Project Sponsor. The organization that is responsible for 
carrying out the proposed project activities. A project sponsor does 
not submit a SF-424, unless it is also the applicant. To be eligible to 
be a project sponsor, you must meet the same program eligibility 
standards as applicants do, as outlined in Section III.A.3, except in 
the Sponsor-based rental assistance (SRA) component of the S+C Program. 
Eligible sponsors for the SRA component are statutorily precluded from 
also applying for S+C funding.
    n. SF 424. The application cover sheet required to be submitted by 
applicants requesting HUD Federal Assistance.
    o. Safe Haven. A Safe Haven is a form of supportive housing funded 
and administered under the Supportive Housing Program serving hard-to-
reach homeless persons with severe mental illness and other 
debilitating behavioral conditions who are on the streets and have been 
unwilling or unable to participate in supportive services. Safe Havens 
may be transitional supportive housing, or permanent supportive housing 
if it has the characteristics of permanent housing and requires 
participants to sign a lease.
    9. Applicant Roles and Responsibilities. An applicant will be 
responsible for the overall management and administration of a 
particular grant, including drawing down the grant funds, distributing 
them to the project sponsors, overseeing project sponsors, collecting 
and disseminating community-level data, and reporting to HUD. 
Applicants can submit applications for projects on behalf of project 
sponsors, who will actually carry out the proposed project activities. 
Applicants can also carry out their own projects. In these cases, the 
applicant is responsible for both administering and managing a grant 
(as the grantee) and carrying out the project activities (as the 
project sponsor).

II. Award Information

A. Amount Allocated. Approximately $1 billion is available for this CoC 
competition in FY 2005. Any unobligated funds from previous CoC 
competitions or additional funds that may become available as a result 
of deobligations or recaptures from previous awards or budget transfers 
may be used in addition to FY 2005 appropriations to fund applications 
submitted in response to this NOFA. The FY 2005 Consolidated 
Appropriations Act requires HUD to obligate all CoC homeless assistance 
funds by September 30, 2007. These funds will remain available for 
expenditure for five (5) years following that date, except as provided 
by the 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act, including up to $20 
million awarded for the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room 
Occupancy (SRO) Program to be available until expended. The funds 
available for the CoC competition can be used under any of the three 
programs that can assist in creating community systems for combating 
homelessness.

    1. Distribution of Funds: As in previous NOFAs for the CoC Homeless 
Assistance Programs, HUD will not specify amounts for each of the three 
programs this year. Instead, the distribution of funds among the three 
programs will depend largely on locally determined priorities and 
overall demand.
    a. Permanent Housing Requirement. Local priorities notwithstanding, 
the FY 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act requires that not less than 
30 percent of this year's Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) 
appropriation, excluding amounts provided for one-year renewals under 
the Shelter Plus Care Program, must be used for permanent housing 
projects for all homeless populations.
    b. Chronic Homelessness Requirement. The Administration has 
established as a policy priority the goal of ending chronic 
homelessness. CoCs

[[Page 14276]]

are strongly encouraged to use the funds available in this NOFA to 
target persons experiencing chronic homelessness in their communities. 
HUD encourages communities to select projects that will contribute to 
the achievement of this important goal. CoCs should work closely with 
appropriate state and local governments and interagency councils on 
homelessness that are establishing their own ten-year plan for 
eliminating chronic homelessness. All these efforts should be 
coordinated and consistent with the community's HUD Consolidated Plan 
as well as the CoC's plan to end chronic homelessness. To work towards 
this goal, HUD is targeting the Samaritan Initiative for projects that 
exclusively serve individuals who are experiencing chronic 
homelessness. In addition, at least 10 percent of the appropriation 
will be awarded to new or renewal, transitional or permanent housing 
projects where at least 70 percent of the project's clients are 
expected to be chronically homeless (as defined by HUD) immediately 
prior to entry into the project. Housing projects include: SHP 
transitional housing, permanent housing and Safe Havens; S+C; and SRO 
projects. Since the housing funding allocation set-aside requirements 
are expected to continue in future competitions and may affect project 
funding selections, you are strongly encouraged to begin planning for 
new housing projects, particularly those serving individuals 
experiencing chronic homelessness, and include them as part of your 
submission in this competition. See Section V.B.3.a and V.B.3.b of this 
NOFA for additional information on the permanent housing and chronic 
homeless requirements.
    c. Lower-rated SHP Renewals. HUD reserves the authority to 
conditionally select for one year of funding lower-rated eligible SHP 
renewal projects that are assigned 40 need points in a CoC application 
receiving at least 25 points under the CoC scoring factor that would 
not otherwise receive funding for these projects. (See Section V.A.2.a 
and V.A.2.b of this NOFA for information on project rating and 
scoring.) Therefore, the projects must receive a minimum score of 65 
points. Although these lower-rated SHP renewal projects will have 
scored below the otherwise recognized funding line, their funding 
allows homeless persons to continue to be served and move towards self-
sufficiency. Not renewing these projects would likely result in the 
closure of these projects and displacement of the homeless people being 
served.
    2. Prioritizing Projects for Funding. Project priority decisions 
are best made by members of the local community, including local 
government and community and faith-based organizations, which represent 
the various economic, housing and social resources within that 
community. For example, if HUD has funds available only to award 8 of 
10 proposed projects, then it will award funding to the first 8 
eligible projects listed, except as may be necessary to achieve the 30 
percent overall permanent housing and the 10 percent chronic 
homelessness requirements; see Section V.B.3.a. and V.B.3.b. of this 
NOFA for additional information. In such cases, higher priority non-
permanent housing projects may be de-selected to fund lower priority 
permanent housing projects and housing projects predominantly serving 
those persons experiencing chronic homelessness.
    3. Grant Term. See chart in Section III.A.3. of this NOFA for 
information on the term of assistance for each of the three CoC 
programs covered in this NOFA.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

    1. Eligible applicants for each program are those identified in the 
following chart.
    2. Renewal Applicants. As a project applicant, you are eligible to 
apply for renewal of a grant only if you have executed a grant 
agreement for the project directly with HUD for SHP or S+C programs 
under a CoC NOFA. If you are a project sponsor or sub-recipient who has 
not signed such an agreement, you are not eligible to apply for renewal 
of these projects.

                               3.--Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Elements                   Supportive housing       Shelter plus care          Section 8 SRO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHORIZING LEGISLATION..............  Subtitle C of Title IV   Subtitle F of Title IV   Section 441 of the
                                        of the McKinney-Vento    of the McKinney-Vento    McKinney-Vento
                                        Homeless Assistance      Homeless Assistance      Homeless Assistance
                                        Act, 42 U.S.C. 11381.    Act, 42 U.S.C. 11403.    Act, 42 U.S.C. 11401.
IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS.............  24 CFR part 583........  24 CFR part 582........  24 CFR part 882,
                                                                                          subpart H, except that
                                                                                          all persons receiving
                                                                                          rental assistance must
                                                                                          meet the McKinney-
                                                                                          Vento definition of
                                                                                          homelessness.
ELIGIBLE APPLICANT(S)................  [sbull] States.........  [sbull] States.........  [sbull] PHAs
                                       [sbull] Units of         [sbull] Units of         [sbull] Private
                                        general local            general local            nonprofit
                                        government.              government.              organizations.
                                       [sbull] Special purpose  [sbull] PHAs...........
                                        units of government,
                                        e.g. PHAs.
                                       [sbull] Private
                                        nonprofit
                                        organizations.
                                       [sbull] Community
                                        Mental Health Centers
                                        that are public
                                        nonprofit
                                        organizations.
ELIGIBLE COMPONENTST.................  [sbull] Transitional     [sbull] Tenant-based     [sbull] SRO housing.
                                        housing.                 housing.
                                       [sbull] Permanent        [sbull] Sponsor-based
                                        housing for disabled     housing.
                                        persons only.           [sbull] Project-based
                                       [sbull] Supportive        housing.
                                        services not in         [sbull] SRO-based
                                        conjunction with         housing.
                                        supportive housing.
                                       [sbull] Safe Havens....
                                       [sbull] Innovative
                                        supportive housing.
                                       [sbull] Homeless Mngt.
                                        Info. System (HMIS).

[[Page 14277]]

 
ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES (See footnotes     [sbull] Acquisition....  [sbull] Rental           [sbull] Rental
 1,2 and 3).                           [sbull] Rehabilitation.   assistance.              assistance.
                                       [sbull] New
                                        construction.
                                       [sbull] Leasing........
                                       [sbull] Operating costs
                                       [sbull] Supportive
                                        services.
ELIGIBLE POPULATIONS (See footnote 2)  [sbull] Homeless         [sbull] Homeless         [sbull] Homeless
                                        individuals and          disabled individuals.    individuals.
                                        families.               [sbull] Homeless
                                                                 disabled individuals &
                                                                 their families.
POPULATIONS GIVEN SPECIAL              [sbull] Homeless         [sbull] Homeless         [sbull] N/A.
 CONSIDERATION.                         persons with             persons who are
                                        disabilities.            seriously mentally
                                       [sbull] Homeless          ill, Have chronic
                                        families with children.  problems with alcohol
                                                                 and/or drugs, Have
                                                                 AIDS & related
                                                                 diseases..
INITIAL TERM OF ASSISTANCE...........  2 or 3 years for new     5 years: TRA, SRA, and   10 years.
                                        SHP 1, 2 or 3 years      PRA if no rehab, 10
                                        for new HMIS.            years: SRO, and PRA
                                                                 with rehab.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnote 1: Homeless prevention activities are statutorily ineligible under these programs.
Footnote 2: Persons at risk of homelessness are statutorily ineligible for assistance under these programs.
Footnote 3: Acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, leasing, and operating costs for emergency shelters are
  statutorily ineligible for assistance under Shelter Plus Care and Section 8 SRO.

B. Matching (Cost Sharing)

    You must match Supportive Housing Program funds provided for 
acquisition, rehabilitation, and new construction with an equal amount 
of cash from other sources. Since SHP by statute can pay no more than 
75 percent of the total operating budget for supportive housing, you 
must provide at least a 25 percent cash match of the total annual 
operating costs. In addition, for all SHP funding for supportive 
services and Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) you must 
provide a 25 percent cash match. This means that of the total 
supportive services budget line item, no more than 80 percent may be 
from SHP grant funds. The cash source may be your agency, other Federal 
programs, state and local governments, or private resources.
    You must match rental assistance provided through the Shelter Plus 
Care Program in the aggregate with supportive services. Shelter Plus 
Care requires a dollar for dollar match; the recipient's match source 
can be cash or in kind from any of the sources above.
    Documentation of the match requirement must be maintained in the 
grantee's financial records on a grant-specific basis.

C. Other

    1. Eligible Activities. Eligible activities for the SHP, S+C, and 
SRO Programs are outlined in the preceding CoC Homeless Assistance 
Programs Chart at Section III.A.3.
    2. Threshold Requirements. a. Project Eligibility Threshold. HUD 
will review projects to determine if they meet the following 
eligibility threshold requirements. If HUD determines the following 
standards are not met by a specific project or activity, the project or 
activity will be rejected from the competition.
    (1) Applicants and sponsors must meet the eligibility requirements 
of the specific program as described in program regulations and provide 
evidence of eligibility and appropriate certifications as specified by 
the attachments in Section VIII.
    (2) The population to be served must meet the eligibility 
requirements of the specific program as described in the program 
regulations and the application must clearly establish eligibility of 
program participants to be served pertaining to homelessness and 
disability status.
    (3) New this year, the only persons who may be served by new and 
renewal permanent housing projects are those who come from the streets, 
emergency shelters, or transitional housing. As participants leave 
currently operating projects, participants who meet this new 
eligibility standard must replace them.
    (4) Projects that involve rehabilitation or new construction must 
meet the accessibility requirements of Section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the design and construction requirements of 
the Fair Housing Act and the accessibility requirements of the 
Americans with Disabilities Act, as applicable.
    (5) The project must be cost-effective, including costs associated 
with construction, operations and supportive services with such costs 
not deviating substantially from the norm in that locale for the type 
of structure or kind of activity.
    (6) For those applicants applying for the Innovative component of 
SHP, whether or not a project is considered innovative will be 
determined on the basis that the particular approach proposed is new 
and can be replicated.
    (7) S+C renewal applications that are not submitted as part of a 
CoC application will not be considered as eligible for funding.
    (8) Under the Sponsor-based rental assistance S+C component, an 
applicant must subcontract the funding awarded with an eligible 
sponsor: a private nonprofit organization or a community mental health 
agency established as a public nonprofit organization, that owns or 
leases the housing where participants will reside..
    (9) For the Section 8 SRO program, only individuals meeting HUD's 
definition of homeless are eligible to receive rental assistance. 
Therefore, any individual occupying a unit at commencement of the 
unit's rehabilitation will not receive rental assistance if they return 
to their unit (or any other) upon completion of its rehabilitation.
    (10) Applicants agree to participate in a local HMIS system when it 
is implemented in their community.
    b. Project Quality Threshold. HUD will review projects to determine 
if they meet the following quality threshold requirements. A S+C or SHP 
project renewal will be considered as having met these requirements 
through its previously approved grant application unless information to 
the contrary is received. The housing and services proposed must be 
appropriate to the needs of the program participants and

[[Page 14278]]

the community. HUD will assess the following:
    (1) The type, scale and general location of the housing fit the 
needs of the participants and that the housing is readily accessible to 
community amenities.
    (2) That the vast majority of the proposed participants come from 
the streets or homeless shelters or transitional housing for homeless 
persons.
    (3) The type, scale and location of the supportive services fit the 
needs of the participants and the mode of transportation to those 
services is described.
    (4) The specific plan for ensuring clients will be individually 
assisted to obtain the benefits of the mainstream health, social 
service, and employment programs for which they are eligible is 
provided.
    (5) How participants are helped to obtain and remain in permanent 
housing is described.
    (6) How participants are assisted to both increase their incomes 
and live independently is provided.
    (7) Applicants and sponsors must evidence satisfactory performance 
for existing grant(s).
    c. Project Renewal Threshold. Your local needs analysis process 
must consider the need to continue funding for projects expiring in 
calendar year 2006. HUD will not fund competitive renewals out of order 
on the priority list except as may be necessary to achieve the 30 
percent overall permanent housing requirement and the 10 percent 
requirement for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness 
requirement. It is important that SHP renewals and S+C non-competitive 
renewals meet minimum project eligibility, capacity and performance 
standards identified in this NOFA or they will be rejected from 
consideration for either competitive or non-competitive funding.
    d. Civil Rights Thresholds: Applicants and the project sponsors 
must be in compliance with applicable civil rights laws and Executive 
Orders, and must meet the threshold requirements of the General 
Section.
    (1) Projects funded under this NOFA shall operate in a fashion that 
does not deprive any individual of any right protected by the Fair 
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601-19), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 
of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 
(42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 
U.S.C. 2000d) or the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. 6101).
    (2) Local Resident Employment. To the extent that any housing 
assistance (including rental assistance) funded through this NOFA is 
used for housing rehabilitation (including reduction and abatement of 
lead-based paint hazards, but excluding routine maintenance, repair, 
and replacement) or housing construction, then it is subject to section 
3 of the Housing and Urban Rehabilitation Act of 1968, and the 
implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 135. Section 3, as amended, 
requires that economic opportunities generated by certain HUD financial 
assistance for housing and community development programs shall, to the 
greatest extent feasible, be given to low- and very low-income persons, 
particularly those who are recipients of government assistance for 
housing, and to businesses that provide economic opportunities for 
these persons.
    (3) Relocation. The SHP, S+C, and SRO programs are subject to the 
requirements of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property 
Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, as amended (URA). These requirements 
are explained in HUD Handbook 1378, Tenant Assistance, Relocation and 
Real Property Acquisition. Also see General Section.
    (4) Environmental Reviews. All CoC assistance is subject to the 
National Environmental Policy Act and applicable related Federal 
environmental authorities. Conditional selection of projects under the 
CoC Homeless Assistance competition is subject to the environmental 
review requirements of 24 CFR 582.230, 583.230 and 882.804(c), as 
applicable. The recipient, its project partners and their contractors 
may not acquire, rehabilitate, convert, lease (under S+C/TRA where 
participants are required to live in a particular structure or area as 
described in Section III.C.3.e(3)(a)), repair, dispose of, demolish or 
construct property for a project under this CoC NOFA, or commit or 
expend HUD or local funds for such eligible activities, until the 
responsible entity has completed the environmental review procedures 
required by Part 58 and the environmental certification and Request for 
Release of Funds (RROF) have been approved or HUD has performed an 
environmental review under Part 50 and the recipient has received HUD 
approval of the property. The expenditure or commitment of Continuum of 
Care assistance or nonfederal funds for such activities prior to this 
HUD approval may result in the denial of assistance for the project 
under consideration.
    3. Program Requirements. a. CoC Geographic Area. In deciding what 
geographic area you will cover in your CoC strategy, you should be 
aware that the single most important factor in being awarded funding 
under this competition will be the strength of your CoC strategy when 
measured against the CoC rating factors described in this NOFA. When 
you determine what jurisdictions to include in your CoC strategy area, 
include only those jurisdictions that are fully involved in the 
development and implementation of the CoC strategy.
    The more jurisdictions you include in the CoC strategy area, the 
larger the pro rata need share that will be allocated to the strategy 
area (as described in Section V.B.2.b. of this NOFA). If you are a 
rural county, you may wish to consider working with larger groups of 
contiguous counties to develop a region-wide or multi-county CoC 
strategy covering the combined service areas of these counties. The 
areas covered by CoC strategies should not overlap.
    b. Expiring/Extended Grants. If your SHP or S+C Program grant will 
be expiring in calendar year 2006, or if your S+C Program grant has 
been extended beyond its original five-year term and is projected to 
run out of funds in FY 2006, you must apply as a renewal under this CoC 
NOFA to get continued funding.
    c. Coordination with Mainstream Resources. If your project is 
selected for funding as a result of the competition, you will be 
required to coordinate and integrate your homeless program with other 
mainstream (non-homeless targeted) health, social services, and 
employment programs for which homeless populations may be eligible, 
including Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program, Temporary 
Assistance for Needy Families, Food Stamps, and services funded through 
the Mental Health Block Grant and Substance Abuse Block Grant, 
Workforce Investment Act, Welfare-to-Work grant program and Veterans 
Health Care.
    d. Prevention Strategies and Discharge Policies. In addition, as a 
condition for award, any governmental entity serving as an applicant 
must agree to develop and implement, to the maximum extent practical 
and where appropriate, policies and protocols for the discharge of 
persons from publicly funded institutions or systems of care (such as 
health care facilities, foster care or other youth facilities, or 
correction programs and institutions) in order to prevent such 
discharge from immediately resulting in homelessness for such persons. 
While the state or local governmental entity having

[[Page 14279]]

jurisdiction in the area of the Continuum's application has the formal 
responsibility to enact the discharge policy, the Continuum is expected 
to actively involve itself in the planning and implementation of the 
discharge policy. This condition for award is intended to emphasize 
that states and units of general local government are primarily 
responsible for the care of these individuals, and to forestall 
attempts to use scarce McKinney-Vento Act homeless assistance funds to 
assist such persons in lieu of state and local resources.
    e. Program-Specific Requirements. Please be advised that where an 
applicant for the SHP funding is a state or unit of general local 
government that utilizes one or more nonprofit organizations to 
administer the homeless assistance project(s), administrative funds 
provided as part of the SHP grant must be passed on to the nonprofit 
organization(s) in proportion to the administrative burden borne by 
them for the SHP project(s). HUD will consider states or units of 
general local government that pass on at least 50 percent of the 
administrative funds made available under the grant as having met this 
requirement. This requirement does not apply to either the SRO Program, 
since only PHAs administer the SRO rental assistance, or to the S+C 
Program, since paying the costs associated with the administration of 
these grants is ineligible by regulation.

(1) SHP--New Projects

    (a) Please note that the grant term for new SHP projects is two (2) 
or three (3) years.
    (b) HUD will require recordation of a HUD-approved use and 
repayment covenant (a form may be obtained from your field office) for 
all grants of funds for acquisition, rehabilitation or new 
construction. The covenant will enforce the use and repayment 
requirements found at section 423(b)(1) and (c) of the McKinney-Vento 
Act and must be approved by HUD counsel before execution and 
recordation. Proof of recordation must be provided to HUD counsel 
before funds for rehabilitation or new construction may be drawn down.
    (c) All project sponsors must meet applicant eligibility standards 
as described in Section III.A.3. As in past years, HUD will review 
sponsor eligibility as part of the selection process. Project sponsors 
are required to submit evidence of their eligibility with the 
application (See Section IV.B.1.(3)(a).

(2) SHP--Renewal Projects

    (a) For the renewal of a SHP project, you may request funding for 
one (1), two (2) or three (3) years.
    (b) The total request for each renewable project cannot exceed the 
average yearly amount received in your current grant for that project, 
plus up to five percent for administration. Projects proposing both to 
renew the existing project and expand the number of units or number of 
participants receiving services must submit a new project proposal for 
the expansion portion of the project. HMIS activities being renewed 
should be included on the HMIS budget chart.
    (c) HUD will recapture SHP grant funds remaining unspent at the end 
of the previous grant period when it renews a grant.

(3) S+C--New Projects

    (a) A project may not include more than one component, e.g., 
combining Tenant-based Rental Assistance (TRA) with Sponsor-based 
Rental Assistance (SRA) is prohibited within the same grant. Under the 
TRA component, in order to help provide supportive services or for the 
purposes of controlling housing costs, a grantee may require 
participants to live in a particular structure for the first year of 
assistance or to live in a particular area for the entire rental 
assistance period. Where this option is exercised, an environmental 
review and clearance must be performed prior to any commitment to lease 
a particular structure or unit for participant occupancy as described 
in Section III.C.2.d.(4), Environmental Reviews.
    (b) S+C/SRO Component. If you are a state or a unit of general 
local government, you must subcontract with a Public Housing Authority 
to administer the S+C assistance. Also, no single project may contain 
more than 100 units.
    (c) S+C SRA Component. Project sponsors must submit proof of their 
eligibility to serve as a project sponsor.

(4) S+C Renewal Projects

    HUD encourages the consolidation of appropriate S+C renewal grants 
when the grants are under the same grantee, same component and expire 
in the same year. However, renewal requests for expiring S+C grants 
should still be listed individually on the CoC priority list and will 
be awarded as individual renewal grants. Where the grantee wishes to 
consolidate the renewal grants, this action may be subsequently 
accomplished by the field office at the point of renewal grant 
agreement execution. The field office will receive instructions for 
this process in the S+C Operating Procedures guidance for 2005 awards.
    (a) For the renewal of a S+C project, including S+C SROs, the grant 
term will be one (1) year, as specified by Congress. For the renewal of 
S+C rental assistance that is Tenant-based (TRA), Sponsor-based (SRA) 
or Project-based (PRA), you may request up to the amount determined by 
multiplying the number of units under lease at the time of your 
application for renewal funding by the applicable 2005 Fair Market 
Rent(s) by 12 months. Current FMRs can be found at www.hudclips.org. 
For S+C grants having been awarded one year of renewal funding in 2004, 
the number of units requested for renewal this year must not exceed the 
number of units funded in 2004. As is the case with SHP, HUD will 
recapture S+C grant funds remaining unspent at the end of the previous 
grant period when it renews a grant. The one-year term of non-
competitively awarded S+C renewal projects may not be extended.
    (b) The renewal of S+C SROs expiring in 2006 will also be non-
competitively awarded under this NOFA. For the renewal of S+C SRO 
rental assistance, you may request up to the amount determined by 
multiplying the number of units under contract at the time of your 
application for renewal funding by the contract rent at the time of 
expiration by 12 months.
    (c) Under the FY 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act, eligible S+C 
Program grants whose terms are expiring in 2006, and S+C Program grants 
that have been extended beyond their original five-year terms but which 
are projected to run out of funds in 2006, will be renewed for one year 
provided that they are determined to be needed by the CoC as evidenced 
by their inclusion on the priority chart. These projects must also 
demonstrate that their applicant and sponsor meet eligibility, capacity 
and performance requirements described in Section V.A.1 of this NOFA. 
Non-competitive S+C renewals should be submitted by the application 
deadline. These S+C renewal projects will not count against a 
continuum's pro rata need amount, but should be numbered, continuing 
the priority sequence, on the CoC Priority Chart. On the other hand, no 
community hold harmless amount will be computed for any CoC using S+C 
renewal amounts since these projects are being funded outside of the 
competition.

[[Page 14280]]

(5) Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation SRO Program--New Projects

    As an applicant, the following limitations apply to the Section 8 
SRO program:
    (a) Under section 8(e)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 
no single project may contain more than 100 assisted units.
    (b) Under 24 CFR 882.802, applicants that are private nonprofit 
organizations must subcontract with a Public Housing Authority to 
administer the SRO assistance.
    (c) Under section 8(e)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 
and 24 CFR 882.802, rehabilitation must involve a minimum expenditure 
of $3,000 for a unit, including its prorated share of work to be 
accomplished on common areas or systems, to upgrade conditions to 
comply with the Physical Condition Standards.
    (d) Under section 441(e) of the McKinney-Vento Act and 24 CFR 
882.805(d)(1), HUD publishes the SRO per unit rehabilitation cost limit 
each year to take into account changes in construction costs. This cost 
limitation applies to rehabilitation that is compensated for in a 
Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) Contract. For purposes of Fiscal Year 
2005 funding, the cost limitation is raised from $19,500 to $20,000 per 
unit to take into account increases in construction costs during the 
past 12-month period.
    (e) The SRO Program is subject to the Federal standards at 24 CFR 
part 882, subpart H.
    (f) Individuals assisted through the SRO Program must meet the 
definition of homeless individual found at section 103 of the McKinney-
Vento Act.
    (g) Resources outside the program pay for the rehabilitation, and 
rehabilitation financing. The rental assistance covers operating 
expenses of the SRO housing, including debt service for rehabilitation 
financing. Units may contain food preparation or sanitary facilities or 
both.

(6) Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation SRO Program--Renewals

    This program section of the NOFA is not applicable to the renewal 
of funding under the Section 8 SRO program. The renewal of expiring 
Section 8 SRO projects is not part of the competitive CoC NOFA process. 
Rather, expiring Section 8 SROs will be identified at the beginning of 
the applicable year by the public housing authority and HUD field 
office. One-year renewal funds for expiring Section 8 SRO HAP contracts 
will be provided by HUD under a separate, non-competitive process. For 
further guidance on Section 8 SRO renewals, please contact your local 
HUD field office.
    f. Timeliness Standards. As an applicant, you are expected to 
initiate your approved projects promptly in accordance with Section 
VI.A of this NOFA. In addition, HUD will take action if you fail to 
satisfy the following timeliness standards:
    (1) SHP: HUD will deselect your award if you do not demonstrate 
site control within one (1) year of the date of your grant award 
letter, as required by the McKinney-Vento Act (see 42 U.S.C. 
11386(a)(3)) and implemented in program regulations at 24 CFR 
583.320(a). Subsequent loss of site control beyond the 12-month 
statutory limit will be cause for cancellation of the award and 
recapture of funds. HUD may deobligate SHP funds if the following 
additional timeliness standards are not met:
    (a) You must begin construction activities within eighteen (18) 
months of the date of HUD's grant award letter and complete them within 
thirty-six (36) months after that notification.
    (b) For activities that cannot begin until construction activities 
are completed, such as supportive service or operating activities that 
will be conducted within the building being rehabilitated or newly 
constructed, you must begin these activities within three (3) months 
after you complete construction.
    (c) You must begin all activities that may proceed independent of 
construction activities, including HMIS, within twelve (12) months of 
the date of HUD's grant award letter. HUD may reduce a grant agreement 
term to one (1) year where implementation delays have reduced the 
amount of funds that reasonably can be used in the original term.
    (2) S+C Except SRO Component. HUD may deobligate S+C funds if you 
do not meet the following timeliness standards:
    (a) For Tenant-based Rental Assistance, for Sponsor-based Rental 
Assistance, and for Project-based Rental Assistance without 
rehabilitation, you must start the rental assistance within twelve (12) 
months of the date of HUD's grant award letter.
    (b) For Project-based Rental Assistance with rehabilitation, you 
must complete the rehabilitation within twelve (12) months of the date 
of HUD's grant award letter.
    (3) Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation SRO Program and SRO Component 
of the S+C Program. For projects carried out under the Section 8 SRO 
program and the SRO component of the S+C program, the rehabilitation 
work must be completed and the HAP contract executed within twelve (12) 
months of execution of the Annual Contributions Contract. HUD may 
reduce the number of units or the amount of the annual contribution 
commitment if, in HUD's determination, the Public Housing Authority 
fails to demonstrate a good faith effort to adhere to this schedule.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    A. Addresses to Request Application Package. A checklist of forms 
needed to complete the application is provided. Exhibits 1-4 and the 
Applicant Certifications are attachments as described in Section VIII 
below. The Exhibits, Geographic Codes, Initial Pro Rata Need Amounts, 
Applicant Certifications, and the Questions and Answers Supplement can 
be accessed at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. An 
applicant may also obtain a copy of the SuperNOFA by calling the NOFA 
Information Center at 1-800-HUD-8929 (voice) (this is a toll free 
number) or you may download it from the web site at http://www.grants.gov. Please note that all sections of the SuperNOFA are 
critical and must be carefully reviewed to ensure your application can 
be considered for funding.
    B. Content and Form of Application Submission. The only option for 
submitting a viable application under this NOFA is to submit the entire 
Continuum of Care application, with all of its projects, together in a 
single package mailed to HUD. Each application will consist of one 
Continuum of Care Exhibit and submissions from one or more applicants 
and project sponsors. Although HUD will accept an application for a 
project exclusive of participation in any community-wide or region-wide 
CoC development process, projects will receive few, if any, points 
under the CoC rating factors and are very unlikely to be funded. To 
ensure that no applicant is afforded an advantage in the rating of the 
CoC element (described in Section V.A.2.a.) HUD is establishing a 
limitation of 30 pages, excluding required multiple page tables or 
charts but including any attachments, on the length of Exhibit 1 of any 
application submitted in response to this NOFA. HUD will not consider 
the contents of any pages exceeding this limit when rating the 
Continuum of Care element of any application. Please note Exhibit 1, as 
well as Exhibits 2-4, should only include the actual application 
questions and responses being provided and should not include the HUD 
application instructions or any blank tables and

[[Page 14281]]

charts. The General Section contains certifications that the applicant 
will comply with fair housing and civil rights requirements, program 
regulations, and other Federal requirements, and (where applicable) 
that the proposed activities are consistent with the HUD-approved 
Consolidated Plan of the applicable state or unit of general local 
government. Attachment 7 to this NOFA contains program-specific 
Applicant Certifications.
1. Application Submission Requirements:
    a. A completed application will include one Exhibit 1 (CoC) and any 
number of Exhibits 2 (SHP New), 2R (SHP Renewal), 3 (S+C New), 3R (S+C 
Renewal) and 4 (SRO New), depending on the number of projects and type 
of programs proposed for funding. For example, if you were proposing 
five SHP Renewal projects and one S+C New project, then you would 
submit one Exhibit 1, five Exhibits 2R and one Exhibit 3. No submission 
would be necessary for Exhibit 4 because funding is not being requested 
under the Section 8 SRO program in this example. Refer to Assembly 
Order below for full assembling instructions.
    b. Assembly Order: Each CoC must submit the entire CoC application, 
with all of its parts, in a single package to HUD. There are three 
separate sections to a CoC submission: The CoC Exhibit 1, all applicant 
documentation, and all project documentation. The application must be 
assembled in the following order:
    (1) Section I--Exhibit 1 Narrative and Charts
    (a) Exhibit 1, the CoC plan with Forms CoC-A through N;
    (b) HUD-27300, Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of 
Regulatory Barriers;
    (c) HUD 2993, Acknowledgment of Application Receipt; and
    (d) HUD 2994, Client Comments and Suggestions (optional).
    (2) Section II--Applicant Documentation
    (a) SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance. Submit one SF-424 
for each applicant in the Continuum. Attached to each SF-424 must be a 
list of all the applicant's projects in priority number order, with 
project name and requested amount. Each SF-424 must also include the 
applicant's DUNS number. Please see the General Section for more 
information on obtaining a DUNS number. The SF-424 SUPP, Survey on 
Ensuring Equal Opportunity for Applicants, is for private nonprofits 
applicants only and completion/submission of this survey is voluntary. 
Additionally, each applicant must attach the following documentation 
(i-v) to its SF-424:
    (i) Documentation of Applicant Eligibility. Only applicants for new 
projects must include documentation of eligibility as defined in the 
chart in Section III.A.3. Also, see Section I.A.8.k. & l. of this NOFA 
for information on the documentation required to validate non-profit 
status.
    (ii) SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities, where applicable.
    (iii) Applicant Code of Conduct. (New applicants and applicants 
awarded HUD funding prior to 2005).
    (iv) HUD 40076-CoC, Applicant Certifications, located in Attachment 
7 of this NOFA.
    (3) Section III--Project Documentation: Each project applying under 
Exhibits 2-4 must be submitted in its priority list order with all 
required forms for that exhibit. The following documentation must be 
included after each project submission:
    (a) Documentation of Sponsor Eligibility. Only sponsors for new 
projects must include documentation of eligibility as defined in the 
chart in Section III.A.3. See also Section I.A.8.m. for information on 
the documentation required to validate sponsor eligibility.
    (b) HUD-96010, Logic Model;
    (c) HUD-2880, Applicant/Recipient Disclosure/Update Report;
    (d) HUD-2991, Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated 
Plan; and
    (e) SF 424-SUPP, Survey on Ensuring Equal Opportunity for 
Applicants (for private nonprofit applicants only--completion of survey 
is voluntary).
2. Assembly Format
    a. The standard font to be used for narratives is Times New Roman, 
size 12 (pitch). Number all pages within each exhibit sequentially and 
insert tabs marking each exhibit. For Exhibit 1, CoC narrative, number 
pages from 1 up to 30 using letter suffixes where appropriate to 
indicate pages that do not count toward the 30 page limit as per the 
instructions for completing the CoC narrative. For example, the first 
page of a 4 page project leveraging chart would be numbered 23 while 
the next 3 pages of the chart would be numbered 23-A, 23-B, and 23-C.
    b. Please use a two-hole punch to insert holes at the top of your 
application.
    c. Please do not bind your application, since this impedes 
processing.
    C. Submission Dates and Times: 1. Application Submission Date. Your 
completed application should be submitted on or before June 10, 2005 to 
the addresses shown below. HUD will not accept faxed or hand delivered 
applications.
    a. Timeliness. Your application will be considered timely filed if 
your application is postmarked on or before 11:59:59 on the application 
submission date and received by HUD on or within fifteen (15) days of 
the application submission date. Applicants mailing their applications 
must take their application to a post office to get a receipt of 
mailing that provides the date and time the package was submitted to 
the USPS. Postal Service rules now require that large packages must be 
brought to a postal facility for mailing. In many areas, the USPS has 
made a practice of returning to the sender, large packages that have 
been dropped in a mail collection box. Paper copy applications 
submitted to the USPS by the submission date and time and received by 
HUD no later than 15 days after the established submission date will 
receive funding consideration. Applicants should request a receipt for 
mailing their application submission, which shows the date and time it 
was received by the Postal Service. If the USPS does not have a receipt 
showing a digital time stamp to record the submission time, HUD will 
also accept USPS Form 3817, Certificate of Mailing, date stamped by the 
Postal Service. Applicants may use any type of mail service provided by 
the USPS to have their application package delivered to HUD in time to 
meet the timely submission requirements. Applicants whose applications 
are determined to be late, who cannot furnish HUD with a receipt from 
the USPS that verifies the package was submitted to the USPS prior to 
the submission due date and time, will not receive funding. If your 
application is sent by overnight delivery or express mail, other than 
the United States Postal Service, your application will be timely filed 
if it is placed in transit with the overnight/express mail service on 
or before the application due date. Applicants should retain a receipt 
from these services showing that it was submitted for delivery by the 
application submission date and time.
    b. Field Office Copies. The HUD Field Office must also receive one 
copy of your application, with the same due date and timely filed 
requirements as described in Section IV.C.1.a above. The General 
Section provides for a process to use the HUD Field Office copy of the 
application when a portion may be missing from the HUD Headquarters 
copy. To supplement that guidance, in the rare event that a CoC's 
entire

[[Page 14282]]

application is not received at HUD Headquarters on time, HUD may 
similarly request proof that the Headquarters and Field Office copy was 
timely filed and, if so, may use the copy received by the Field Office 
for review.
    D. Intergovernmental Review. Not applicable. This funding 
opportunity is not subject to Executive Order (EO) 12372.
    E. Funding Restrictions. Funding Restrictions are outlined in 
Sections V.B.3.a and V.B.3.b.
    F. Other Submission Requirements:

1. Addresses for Submitting Applications

    a. To HUD Headquarters. Submit your original completed application 
(the application with the original signed documentation) and one 
additional copy of Exhibit 1 only to: HUD Headquarters, Robert C. 
Weaver Building, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 7270, Washington, DC 
20410, Attention: Continuum of Care Programs.
    b. To the Appropriate CPD Field Office. Also submit one copy of 
your completed application to the Community Planning and Development 
Division of the appropriate HUD Field Office for your jurisdiction. 
Please see the General Section for Field Office addresses.
    2. Security Procedures. HUD recommends that applications be mailed 
or shipped express using the United States Postal Service (USPS). 
However, applications shipped via United Parcel Service (UPS), FedEX, 
DHL, or Falcon Carrier will also be accepted. Due to HUD security 
regulations, no other delivery service is permitted into HUD 
Headquarters without escort. You must, therefore, use one of the four 
carriers listed above. HUD will not be responsible if a carrier other 
than one of the named carriers is unable to deliver your application.

V. Application Review Information

    A. Criteria. Your application will receive a higher score under the 
CoC scoring factors if the application demonstrates the achievement of 
three basic goals:

--One, that you have provided maximum participation in the planning 
process by nonprofit organizations (including those representing 
persons with disabilities), government agencies, public housing 
authorities, faith-based and other community-based organizations, other 
homeless providers, housing developers and service providers, private 
businesses and business associations, law enforcement agencies, funding 
providers, and homeless or formerly homeless persons. Also, you ensure 
that other 10 year plans within your CoC's geographic area are aligned 
with the CoC plan;
--Two, that you have created, maintained, and built upon a community-
wide inventory of housing and services for homeless families and 
individuals (both HUD and non-HUD funded); identified the full spectrum 
of needs of homeless families and individuals; and coordinated efforts 
to fill gaps between the current inventory and existing needs. This 
coordinated effort must appropriately address all aspects of the 
continuum, especially permanent housing; and
--Three, that you have instituted a CoC-wide strategy to coordinate 
homeless assistance with mainstream health, social services and 
employment programs for which homeless individuals and families may be 
eligible. These programs include, but are not limited to, Medicaid, 
Children's Health Insurance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy 
Families, Food Stamps, and services funded through the Mental Health 
Block Grant and Substance Abuse Block Grant, Workforce Investment Act, 
Welfare-to-Work grant program, and Veterans Health Care.

    1. Applicant and sponsor eligibility, capacity and performance: HUD 
will review applications to ensure that the applicant and project 
sponsor meet the eligibility and capacity standards outlined in this 
section. If HUD determines these standards are not met, the project 
will be rejected from the competition. The eligibility, capacity and 
performance standards are as follows:
    a. You must be eligible to apply for the specific program.
    b. You must demonstrate ability to carry out the project(s). With 
respect to each proposed project, this means that, in addition to 
knowledge of and experience with homelessness in general, the 
organization carrying out the project, its employees, or its partners, 
must have the necessary experience and knowledge to carry out the 
specific activities proposed, such as housing development, housing 
management, and service delivery.
    c. If you or the project sponsor is a current or past recipient of 
assistance under a HUD McKinney-Vento Act program, there must have been 
no delay in meeting applicable program timeliness standards unless HUD 
determines the delay in project implementation is beyond your or the 
project sponsor's control, there are no serious unresolved HUD 
monitoring finding, and no outstanding audit finding of a material 
nature regarding the administration of the program.
    2. Review, Rating and Conditional Selection. HUD will use the same 
review, rating, and conditional selection process for all three 
programs (SHP, S+C and SRO). The standard factors for award identified 
in the General Section have been modified in this NOFA as described 
below. Only the factors described in this NOFA--Continuum of Care and 
Need--will be used to assign points. Paragraphs 2a and 2b in this 
section describe selection factors. Up to 100 points will be assigned 
using these factors, including rating points for HUD's policy priority 
of ending chronic homelessness by 2012; and the policy priority for 
removing regulatory barriers to affordable housing (see Section 
V.A.2.a.(1)(c) and (d) below on both policy priorities). There are no 
bonus points for proposing projects in an RC/EZ/EC-IIs.
    a. Continuum of Care. HUD will award up to 60 points as follows:
    (1) Process and Strategy: HUD will award up to 17 points based on 
the extent to which your application demonstrates:
    (a) The existence of a coordinated and inclusive community process, 
including organizational structure(s), for developing and implementing 
a CoC strategy which includes nonprofit organizations (such as veterans 
service organizations, organizations representing persons with 
disabilities, faith-based and other community-based organizations, and 
other groups serving homeless and other low-income persons), state and 
local governmental agencies, public housing authorities, housing 
developers and service providers, law enforcement, hospital and medical 
entities, funding providers, local businesses and business 
associations, and homeless or formerly homeless persons; and
    (b) That a well-defined and comprehensive strategy has been 
developed which addresses the components of a CoC system (i.e., 
prevention, outreach, intake, and assessment; emergency shelter; 
transitional housing; permanent independent housing; and permanent 
supportive housing) and that strategy has been designed to serve all 
homeless subpopulations in the community (e.g., seriously mentally ill, 
persons with multiple diagnoses, veterans, persons with HIV/AIDS), 
including those persons living in emergency shelters, supportive 
housing for homeless persons, or in places not designed for,

[[Page 14283]]

or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human 
beings.
    (c) The existence of a realistic strategy for ending chronic 
homelessness that establishes past performance, future goals and action 
steps. It should be aligned with other 10-year plans in the community 
to eliminate chronic homelessness (if applicable), and the local HUD 
Consolidated Plan.
    (d) A local plan and/or existing policy to remove regulatory 
barriers to the production of affordable housing. As provided for in 
the General Section, HUD will award up to 2 points, within the 17 
points for this rating factor, based on the extent that the CoC's 
application demonstrates a local plan to remove regulatory barriers to 
affordable housing. Applicable activities include the support of state 
and local efforts to streamline processes, eliminate redundant 
requirements, statutes, regulations, and codes that impede the 
availability of affordable housing. The response (one questionnaire per 
CoC) should be submitted for consideration as a completed HUD Form 
27300, Questionnaire for HUD's Initiative on Removal of Regulatory 
Barriers. The continuum should submit the questionnaire for the local 
jurisdiction where the majority of its CoC assistance will be provided. 
Please identify the name of the jurisdiction reported on the top of the 
first page of the returned questionnaire. This questionnaire can be 
found in the attachments to the General Section and should be submitted 
with Exhibit 1.
    (e) Participation in Energy Star. In keeping with the 
Administration's policy priority of promoting energy efficient housing 
while protecting the environment, applicants applying for new 
construction or rehabilitation funding, who maintain housing or 
community facilities or provide services in those facilities, are 
encouraged to promote energy efficiency and are specifically encouraged 
to purchase and use Energy Star labeled products. Refer to the General 
Section for detailed information.
    (f) Your Continuum's progress in working with the appropriate local 
government entity to develop and implement a discharge policy for 
persons leaving publicly funded institutions or systems of care (such 
as health care facilities, foster care or other youth facilities, or 
correction programs and institutions) in order to prevent such 
discharge from immediately resulting in homelessness for such persons.
    (2) HMIS Implementation. HUD will award up to 5 points based upon 
the extent to which your application demonstrates progress in the 
planning, implementation and operation of an HMIS system covering at a 
minimum all street outreach, emergency shelters and transitional 
housing programs so that a reliable, unduplicated count of homeless 
persons on the street and in shelters may be conducted.
    (3) Gaps and Priorities: HUD will award up to 10 points based on 
the extent to which your application:
    (a) Describes the gap analysis performed, uses reliable information 
and sources that are presented completely and accurately; and
    (b) Proposes projects that are not inconsistent with the unmet need 
described in the CoC strategy, describes a fair project selection 
process, explains how gaps identified through the analysis are being 
addressed, and correctly completes the priority chart.
    (4) Leveraging Supplemental Resources: HUD will award up to 8 
points based on the extent to which your application demonstrates 
leveraging of funds requested under this NOFA with other resources, 
including private, other public, and mainstream services and housing 
programs, for proposed projects and ongoing efforts. To achieve the 
highest rating for this factor, applicants must evidence explicit 
Continuum-wide strategies to coordinate homeless assistance with 
mainstream health, social services and employment programs for which 
homeless populations may be eligible, and to use those benefits as 
appropriate and practicable to help offset supportive service costs of 
the programs that would otherwise be paid for with HUD funding. These 
include, but are not limited to, Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance 
Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Food Stamps, and 
services funding through the Mental Health Block Grant and Substance 
Abuse Block Grant, Workforce Investment Act, the Welfare-to-Work grant 
program, and Veterans Health Care.
    (5) Emphasis on Housing Activities: HUD will award up to 12 points 
based upon the relationship between funds requested for housing 
activities (i.e., transitional and permanent) and funds requested for 
supportive service activities among projects assigned 40 need points 
(excluding S+C renewals). Points will be awarded on a sliding scale 
with the Continuums with the highest percentage of approvable requests 
for funds for housing activities receiving the highest points. HUD will 
count as housing activity all approvable requests for funds for rental 
assistance and approvable requests for funds for acquisition, 
rehabilitation, construction, leasing and operations when used in 
connection with housing. HMIS costs and administrative costs will be 
excluded from this calculation as either a housing or supportive 
service cost.
    (6) Performance Measurement: HUD will award up to 8 points based 
upon the CoC's progress in reducing homelessness. This will be measured 
by program participants' success in moving to and maintaining permanent 
housing as reported in the most recent APR. HUD will also be assessing 
the extent to which participants successfully become employed and 
access mainstream programs. These measures emphasize HUD's 
determination to assess grantees' performance in the prior program year 
and to determine if they are meeting the overall goal of the Homeless 
Assistance Grants under which they are funded. Both housing and 
supportive services only projects will be assessed, using the data 
submitted in the Exhibit 1 CoC Project Performance on Form HUD 40076 
CoC-M.
    b. Need: HUD will award up to 40 points for need. There is a three-
step approach to determining the need scores to be awarded to projects
    (1) Step 1--HUD's Determination of preliminary pro rata need: To 
determine the homeless assistance need of a particular jurisdiction, 
HUD will use nationally available data, including the following factors 
as used in the Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) program; data on poverty, 
housing overcrowding, population, age of housing, and growth lag. 
Applying those factors to a particular jurisdiction provides an 
estimate of the relative need index for that jurisdiction compared to 
other jurisdictions applying for assistance under this NOFA.
    (2) Step 2--Determining CoC hold harmless pro rata need: In CoCs 
where the total amount needed to fund, for one year, all SHP grants 
eligible for renewal in this competition exceeds the preliminary pro 
rata need amount for that CoC, the CoC will receive this higher amount, 
referred to as the CoC hold harmless amount. This adjustment was 
formerly known as the renewal bonus. SHP grants eligible for renewal 
are those that expire between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006. No 
adjustment will be made for S+C renewals. To provide communities with 
maximum flexibility in addressing current needs, CoCs have the 
discretion to not fund or to reduce one or more SHP renewal project 
applications and still receive the benefit of the hold harmless amount 
if the CoC proposes to use that amount of reduced renewal funds for new 
permanent supportive housing projects. . Please be advised

[[Page 14284]]

that the new projects (and the renewal dollars attached) proposed 
through this reallocation are subject to the competitive process, i.e., 
the CoC must score above the national funding line for the projects to 
be funded.
    (3) Step 3--Samaritan Housing Initiative: Formerly referred to as 
the Permanent Housing Bonus, this special incentive to promote 
permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless is provided 
to CoC systems that place an eligible, new permanent housing project in 
the number one priority position on the priority list. If the number 
one priority project qualifies as an eligible, new permanent housing 
project exclusively serving the chronically homeless, then the full 
amount of that project's eligible housing activities, up to a maximum 
15 percent of the CoC's preliminary pro rata need, will be added to the 
pro rata need amount for the Continuum. The only eligible activities 
that will be counted toward this bonus are housing activities and for 
SHP, case management, and administration. Applicants may use no more 
than 20 percent of this bonus for case management costs. Please note: 
any amount of the proposed project exceeds the limitations described 
above will be applied against the pro rata need for the CoC. For the 
SHP program, housing activities are acquisition, new construction, 
rehabilitation, leasing of housing and operating costs when used in 
connection with housing. S+C and SRO rental assistance are defined as 
housing activities and are eligible under the incentive as well. HMIS 
costs will be excluded from this calculation as either a housing or 
supportive service cost.
    The dollar amount determined after application of each of these 
steps, as applicable, is referred to as the ``final pro rata need 
amount.'' Please be advised that the final funding amount awarded to 
Shelter Plus Care or Section 8 SRO projects may be different from the 
requested amount due to changes in the FMRs. HUD will apply FMR changes 
after selection.
    (4) Awarding need points to projects: Once HUD establishes the 
final pro rata need, HUD will apply it against the priority project 
list in the application. Starting from the highest priority project, 
HUD will proceed down the list to award need points to each project. 
Any project not falling fully within the 40 point need range will 
receive 10 need points. Thereafter, HUD will proceed further down the 
priority project list and award 10 points for need to each project if 
it falls fully within the ``second level'' of pro rata need amount for 
that CoC. The ``second level'' is the amount between the pro rata need 
and twice the pro rata need for the CoC. Remaining projects each 
receive 5 points. If the projects for the Continuum are not 
prioritized, then all projects will receive 0 points for Need.
    B. Reviews and Selection Process. 1. Review, Rating and Ranking. 
HUD may employ rating panels to review and rate applications. See the 
General Section for more information on rating panels. Two types of 
reviews will be conducted--threshold review and selection factor (CoC 
and Need) rating. Applicant and Sponsor Eligibility and Capacity as 
well as Project Eligibility and Project Quality are threshold reviews. 
Threshold reviews are explained in Section III.C.2 of this NOFA, which 
covers eligible applicants and projects. HUD will add the score for the 
CoC to the Need score to obtain a total score for each project. The 
projects will then be ranked nationally from highest to lowest 
according to the total combined score.
    2. Conditional Selection and Adjustments to Funding. a. Conditional 
Selection. Whether a project is conditionally selected, as described in 
Section VI.A, will depend on its overall ranking compared to others, 
except that HUD reserves the right to select lower rated eligible 
projects in order to meet the 30 percent overall permanent housing 
requirement, as well as the 10 percent chronic homeless requirement. 
Projects that are included in the 10 percent chronic homeless 
requirement may also be part of the 30 percent overall permanent 
housing requirement. (See Section V.B.3 for additional selection 
considerations regarding these requirements.)
    When insufficient funds remain to fund all projects in the 
competition having the same total score, HUD will first fund permanent 
housing projects if necessary to achieve the 30 percent overall 
permanent housing requirement. HUD will then fund non-permanent 
housing, safe haven-TH and transitional housing projects that 
predominantly serve individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in 
order to achieve the 10 percent chronic homeless requirement. HUD will 
then break ties among the remaining projects with the same total score 
by comparing scores received by the projects for each of the following 
scoring factors, in the order shown: Need, Overall CoC score, CoC 
Process and Strategy, CoC Gaps and Priorities, CoC Supplemental 
Resources, Housing Emphasis and Performance. The final tie-breaking 
factor is the priority number of the competing projects on the 
applicable CoC priority list(s).
    HUD has determined that the Congressional goal of enhancing 
homeless data collection at the CoC level is best achieved by assisting 
CoCs seeking dedicated Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) 
to receive Supportive Housing Program funds. To this end, HUD reserves 
the right to fund for at least one year lower rated eligible dedicated 
HMIS projects receiving 40 need points and at least 25 Continuum 
points.
    b. Adjustments to Funding: HUD has determined that geographic 
diversity is an appropriate consideration in selecting homeless 
assistance projects in the competition. HUD believes that geographic 
diversity can be achieved best by awarding grants to as many CoCs as 
possible. To this end, in instances where any of the 50 States, the 
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the 
Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa does 
not have at least one funded CoC, HUD reserves the right to fund 
eligible project(s) receiving 40 Need points in the CoC with the 
highest total score in that jurisdiction. To qualify for funding, the 
total score for these first level projects on the CoC priority list 
must be at least 65 points. In the case of two or more CoCs with the 
same total score, HUD will use the tie-breaking rules described above. 
In addition, if the highest priority project passing threshold 
requirements within a CoC fails to meet the criteria for receiving 40 
Need points, HUD reserves the right to reduce the total requested 
amount for that project to allow it to qualify for 40 Need points. If 
you do not submit clear project priority designations for the Continuum 
or if HUD, at its sole discretion, cannot determine the CoC's priority 
designations, then HUD will give all such projects 0 Need points. If 
the CoC requests a new permanent housing project as the highest 
priority, and HUD determines that it is not a permanent housing 
project, HUD reserves the right to not award funds to that project 
rather than reclassify the component. The intent of this provision is 
to preserve PRN for lower ranking projects. Finally, if the total 
amount that would be awarded for first level projects in a CoC exceeds 
the final pro rata need amount for that CoC, the lowest priority first 
level project being selected for funding will be reduced to the amount 
that is wholly within the higher need level. HUD may otherwise adjust 
funding of applications in accordance with the provisions of the 
General Section. In addition, HUD reserves the right to ensure that a 
project that is applying for, and eligible for, selection under this 
competition is not awarded funds that

[[Page 14285]]

duplicate activities. If the geography included in your CoC strategy 
substantially overlaps that of another application, projects within the 
CoC application that receive the highest CoC score will be eligible for 
up to 40 Need points. Projects in the competing CoC application with 
the lower CoC score will receive 0 need points. In no case will the 
same geographical area be used more than one time in assigning Need 
points. The local HUD Field Office can help you determine if any of the 
areas proposed for inclusion by your CoC system is also likely to be 
claimed under another CoC system in this competition.
    3. Additional Selection Considerations. HUD also will apply the 
limitations on funding described below in making conditional 
selections.
    a. Thirty Percent Permanent Housing Requirement. In accordance with 
the appropriation for homeless assistance grants in the Fiscal Year 
2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act, HUD will use not less than 30 
percent of the total FY 2005 Homeless Assistance Grants appropriation, 
excluding amounts provided for renewals under the S+C Program, to fund 
projects that meet the definition of permanent housing. Projects 
meeting the definition of permanent housing for this purpose are:
    (1) New and renewal projects under the SHP that are designated as 
either permanent housing for homeless persons with disabilities or Safe 
Haven projects designated as having the characteristics of permanent 
housing for homeless persons with disabilities, including having leases 
with all program participants. All such permanent housing projects 
chosen for this purpose must have received at least 10 Need points, and 
must be submitted as part of a CoC application receiving at least 25 
points under the CoC scoring factor. However, no CoC applicant may 
receive more than 30 percent of its pro rata need, up to $3 million, 
for ``second-level'' permanent housing projects assigned 10 Need points 
that are selected for funding under this procedure. (See Section 
V.A.2.b (4) for definition of ``second-level''.) HUD will award no less 
than 30 percent of the total FY 2005 Homeless Assistance Grants 
appropriation, excluding amounts for S+C renewals, for permanent 
housing projects unless an insufficient number of approvable permanent 
housing projects are submitted. In order to meet this permanent housing 
funding requirement and stay within the total funding amount available, 
initially selected Supportive Service Only (SSO) and non-permanent 
housing projects will be deselected if necessary to add an adequate 
number of permanent housing projects, even if they are lower scoring 
housing projects. HUD will, if necessary, first proceed to de-select 
new SSO projects initially selected, starting with lowest scoring new 
projects and proceeding to higher scoring new SSO projects initially 
selected. If the funding line is still exceeded, HUD will proceed to 
de-select the lowest scoring new non-permanent housing projects 
initially selected and proceed to higher scoring new non-permanent 
housing projects. Finally, if the funding line is still exceeded HUD 
will proceed to de-select SSO and then other non-permanent housing 
renewal projects until all selected projects are within the funding 
line.
    (2) New S+C projects; and
    (3) SRO projects.
    b. Ten Percent Housing for Chronic Homeless Requirement: HUD has 
implemented a requirement that at least 10 percent of the appropriation 
must be awarded for projects predominantly serving individuals 
experiencing chronic homelessness. To be considered predominantly 
serving chronically homeless people, at least 70 percent of the persons 
served in this project must meet HUD's definition of chronic 
homelessness. Permanent housing, transitional and safe haven housing 
projects, whether new or renewal, that commit to predominantly serving 
persons experiencing chronic homelessness will be counted for this 
purpose. To meet this requirement, HUD will also include permanent 
housing projects selected for the 30 percent requirement that 
predominantly serve chronically homeless persons. S+C renewals will 
then be screened to count projects predominantly serving chronically 
homeless persons. If the 10 percent requirement is not yet met, 
permanent, transitional and safe haven housing projects below the 
funding line that predominantly serve chronically homeless persons will 
also be selected to achieve this requirement.
    c. Distribution of Selections: In accordance with section 429 of 
the McKinney-Vento Act, HUD will award Supportive Housing Program funds 
as follows: not less than 25 percent for projects that primarily serve 
homeless families with children; not less than 25 percent for projects 
that primarily serve homeless persons with disabilities; and not less 
than 10 percent for supportive services not provided in conjunction 
with supportive housing. After projects are rated and ranked, based on 
the factors described above, HUD will determine if the conditionally 
selected projects achieve these minimum percentages. If not, HUD will 
skip higher-ranked projects in order to achieve these minimum 
percentages.
    In accordance with section 463(a) of the McKinney-Vento Act, as 
amended by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, at least 
10 percent of S+C funds will be awarded for each of the four components 
of the program: Tenant-based Rental Assistance; Sponsor-based Rental 
Assistance; Project-based Rental Assistance; and Single Room Occupancy 
(provided there are sufficient numbers of approvable projects to 
achieve these percentages). After projects are rated and ranked, based 
on the factors described above, HUD will determine if the conditionally 
selected projects achieve these minimum percentages. If necessary, HUD 
will skip higher-ranked projects in order to achieve these minimum 
percentages.
    In accordance with section 455(b) of the McKinney-Vento Act, no 
more than 10 percent of the assistance made available for S+C in any 
fiscal year may be used for programs located within any one unit of 
general local government. In accordance with section 441(c) of the 
McKinney-Vento Act, no city or urban county may have SRO Section 8 
projects receiving a total of more than 10 percent of the assistance 
made available under this program. HUD is defining the 10 percent 
availability this fiscal year as $10 million for S+C and $10 million 
for Section 8 SRO. However, if the amount awarded under either of these 
two programs exceeds $100 million, then the amount awarded to any one 
unit of general local government (for purposes of the S+C Program) or 
city or urban county (for the purposes of the Section 8 SRO Program) 
could be up to 10 percent of the actual total amount awarded for that 
program.
    Lastly, HUD reserves the right to reduce the amount of a grant if 
necessary to ensure that no more than 10 percent of assistance made 
available under this NOFA will be awarded for projects located within 
any one unit of general local government or within the geographic area 
covered by any one Continuum of Care. If HUD exercises a right it has 
reserved under this NOFA, that right will be exercised uniformly across 
all applications received in response to this NOFA.
    4. Corrections to Deficient Applications. The General Section 
provides the procedures for corrections to deficient applications.

[[Page 14286]]

VI. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

    1. Action on Conditionally Selected Applications. HUD will notify 
conditionally selected applicants in writing. HUD may subsequently 
request them to submit additional project information, which may 
include documentation to show the project is financially feasible; 
documentation of firm commitments for cash match; documentation showing 
site control; information necessary for HUD to perform an environmental 
review; a copy of your Code of Conduct; and such other documentation as 
specified by HUD in writing to the applicant, that confirms or 
clarifies information provided in the application. HUD will notify SHP, 
SRO, S+C and S+C/SRO applicants of the deadline for submission of such 
information. If an applicant is unable to meet any conditions for fund 
award within the specified timeframe, HUD reserves the right not to 
award funds to the applicant and add them to funds available for the 
next competition for the applicable program.
    2. Applicant Debriefing: See the General Section for applicant 
debriefing procedures.
    3. Appeals Process: Applicants may appeal the results of HUD's 
review and selection process if they believe a HUD error has occurred. 
Appeals must be submitted in writing to the Assistant Secretary for 
Community Planning and Development and must state what HUD error the 
applicant believes has occurred.

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

    1. Administrative Requirements. a. The Government Performance and 
Results Act (GPRA) require Federal agencies to measure the performance 
of their programs. HUD captures this information not only from 
monitoring visits and APRs, but also on the data gathered in annual 
competitions. For example, the description of methods used in 
determining the project priority order submitted in Exhibit 1, Form HUD 
40076 CoC-K, Project Priorities Chart, provides verification that 
projects are performing satisfactorily and are effectively addressing 
the needs for which they were designed. HUD's homeless assistance 
programs are measured in 2005 by the objective to ``end chronic 
homelessness and to move homeless families and individuals to permanent 
housing.'' This objective has a number of measurable indicators, five 
of which relate directly to the Continuum of Care homeless assistance 
programs. These five indicators are:
    (1) At least 386 functioning CoC communities or 93 percent of our 
continuums will have a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) in 
2005. This information is collected via Exhibit 1, Form HUD 40076 CoC-
J, HMIS;
    (2) The number of persons experiencing chronic homelessness 
declines by up to 50 percent by FY 2008. This information is captured 
in Exhibit 1, Form HUD 40076 CoC-I, Homeless Population and 
Subpopulations Chart;
    (3) The percentage of formerly homeless individuals who remain 
housed in HUD permanent housing projects for at least 6 months will be 
70 percent. Stability in this permanent housing is addressed in Exhibit 
1, Form HUD 40076 CoC-M, CoC Project Performance;
    (4) The percentage of homeless persons who have moved from HUD 
transitional housing to a form of permanent housing will be 60 percent. 
The success of transitional housing is addressed in Exhibit 1, Form HUD 
40076 CoC-M, CoC Project Performance; and
    (5) The employment rate of persons exiting HUD homeless assistance 
projects will be 10 percentage points greater than the employment rate 
of those entering. Obtaining employment is addressed in Exhibit 1, Form 
HUD 40076 CoC-M, Project Performance Chart.
    b. To achieve this objective and each of these measurable 
indicators, HUD needs your community's help. The emphasis in this 
year's competition on housing chronically homeless persons, using HUD 
funds for transitional and especially permanent housing, helping 
clients access mainstream service programs and jobs, and implementing 
HMIS are all aligned with this GPRA objective and its performance 
indicators.
    2. Sanctions. Should HUD determine, in its sole discretion, that 
sufficient evidence exists to confirm that the entity responsible for 
convening and managing the CoC process in a community has failed to 
follow locally established or accepted procedures governing the conduct 
of that process or has failed to provide for a fair process, including 
a project priority selection process that gives equal consideration to 
projects proposed by nonprofit organizations, HUD reserves the 
authority to impose sanctions up to and including a prohibition on that 
entity and the individuals comprising that entity from participating in 
that capacity in the future. In making this determination, HUD will 
consider as evidence court proceedings and decisions, or the 
determinations of other independent and impartial review bodies. This 
authority cannot be exercised until after a description of procedural 
safeguards, including an opportunity for comment and appeal, and the 
specific process and procedures for imposing a prohibition or 
debarment, have been published in the Federal Register.
    C. Reporting: Once conditionally selected applications advance to 
full award and execution of a grant agreement, grantees are required to 
submit an Annual Progress Report (APR) and a completed Logic Model 
showing outputs and outcomes achieved for the year to both HUD 
Headquarters and the respective Field Office each year. Also, Grantees 
who expend $500,000 or more in a year in Federal awards are reminded 
they must have a single or program-specific audit for that year in 
accordance with the provisions of 24 CFR 45 and OMB Circular No. A-133. 
The APR for HUD's competitive homeless programs provides information to 
HUD necessary for program monitoring and evaluation. A key element that 
has been recently added to the APR is measuring the incidence of 
chronic homelessness and your Continuum's progress in moving 
individuals into permanent housing. The process of gathering and 
analyzing the information needed to complete the APR also assists local 
projects with their own program evaluation. The APR is the mechanism 
used by HUD Headquarters and Field Offices to review the performance of 
funding recipients on an annual basis. The reports permit HUD to 
understand what types of clients are being served in its homeless 
assistance programs and what the programs' success rate is in helping 
homeless families and individuals achieve residential stability and 
increase their skills and/or incomes. For the SHP and S+C programs, the 
APR also reports to HUD the amount of local match that has been 
provided to fulfill statutory and regulatory requirements. The 
Department has used the reports to monitor grant execution and to 
evaluate the eligibility of the population being served and housed, as 
well as the supportive services offered to the participants. The APR 
helps identify how effective the grantee has been in helping program 
participants achieve residential stability, greater self-determination, 
and increase skills or income which are our program goals and 
objectives. This also allows the

[[Page 14287]]

grantee to revise or set goals for the next year.

VII. Agency Contacts

    A. For Further Information. You may contact the HUD Field Office 
serving your area, at the telephone number shown in the General 
Section, or you may contact the NOFA Information Center at 1-800-483-
8929 or by Internet at: http://www.hud.gov. Individuals who are 
hearing-or speech-impaired should use the Information Relay Service at 
1-800-877-8339 (these are toll-free numbers).
    B. For Technical Assistance. Before the application deadline, HUD 
staff will be available to provide you with general guidance. HUD 
staff, however, cannot provide you with guidance in actually preparing 
your application. HUD Field Office staff also will be available to help 
you identify organizations in your community that are involved in 
developing the CoC system. Following conditional selection of 
applications, HUD staff will be available to assist selected applicants 
in clarifying or confirming information that is a prerequisite to the 
offer of a grant agreement or Annual Contributions Contract by HUD. 
However, between the application deadline and the announcement of 
conditional selections, HUD will accept no information that would 
improve the substantive quality of your application pertinent to HUD's 
funding decision.
    C. Satellite Broadcast. HUD will hold one or more information 
broadcasts via satellite for potential applicants to learn more about 
the program and preparation of the application. Viewing of these 
broadcasts, which will provide critical information on the application 
process, is highly recommended. For more information about the date and 
time of the broadcast, you should consult the HUD Web site at http://www.hud.gov.

VIII. Other Information

A. Paperwork Reduction Act

    The information collection requirements contained in this document 
have been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for 
approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-
3520) and OMB approval is pending. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public 
reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to 
average 44 hours per annum per respondent for the application and grant 
administration. This includes the time for collecting, reviewing, and 
reporting the data for the application, semi-annual reports and final 
report. The information will be used for grantee selection and 
monitoring the administration of funds. Response to this request for 
information is required in order to receive the benefits to be derived.
    B. This final section lists the attachments that are critical to 
the application process. Please see Section IV.B.1.b of this NOFA for a 
complete description of the forms and certifications required and the 
order of assembly. In addition to applicant and sponsor documentation 
of eligibility, please provide:

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[FR Doc. 05-5041 Filed 3-18-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P