[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 194 (Friday, October 7, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58942-58943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-20151]



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Part VII





Department of Housing and Urban Development





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HUD's Draft Section 504 Self-Evaluation Report on HUD-Conducted 
Programs and Activities; Reopening of Comment Period Grant Guideline; 
Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 194 / Friday, October 7, 2005 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4994-N-02; HUD-2005-0020]


HUD's Draft Section 504 Self-Evaluation Report on HUD-Conducted 
Programs and Activities; Reopening of Comment Period

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

ACTION: Notice; Reopening of Comment Period.

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SUMMARY: On June 22, 2005, HUD published a notice in the Federal 
Register soliciting comments on its draft section 504 self-evaluation 
report of HUD-conducted programs, activities, and regional office 
facilities. The draft report was prepared consistent with HUD's 
responsibilities under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 
as amended, and under HUD's implementing regulations. The public 
comment period closed on July 22, 2005. HUD has received numerous 
requests to re-open the period for public comment. This notice 
announces the reopening of the public comment period on the section 504 
draft self-evaluation report.

DATES: Comment Due Date: November 7, 2005

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., 
Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410-0500. Electronic comments may be 
submitted through either:
     The Federal eRulemaking Portal: at http://www.regulations.gov; or
     The HUD electronic Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/feddocket. Follow the link entitled ``View Open HUD Dockets.'' 
Commenters should follow the instructions provided on that site to 
submit comments electronically. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not 
acceptable. In all cases, communications must refer to the docket 
number and title.
    All comments and communications submitted will be available, 
without charge, for public inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 
p.m. weekdays at the above address. Due to security measures at the HUD 
Headquarters building, please schedule an appointment to review the 
public comments by calling the Regulations Division at (202) 708-3055 
(this is not a toll-free number). Copies of the public comments are 
also available for inspection and downloading at http://www.epa.gov/feddocket.
    Oral Comments: Persons desiring to provide oral comments may call 
(202) 708-9410 and leave comments on voice mail. For individuals who 
are hearing or speech impaired and who use a TTY, oral comments may be 
submitted by calling (202) 401-1247. Please note that these numbers are 
not toll free. Summaries of the oral comments and the TTY transcripts 
will be available, without charge, for inspection and copying between 8 
a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at the above address. Due to security measures 
at the HUD Headquarters building, please schedule an appointment to 
review the public comments by calling the Regulations Division at (202) 
708-3055 (this is not a toll-free number). The telephone numbers for 
oral comments will be in operation throughout the comment period and 
will be disconnected at the close of the public comment period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Milton Turner, Director, Compliance 
and Disability Rights Division, Office of Fair Housing and Equal 
Opportunity, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh 
Street, SW., Room 5240, Washington, DC 20410-2000; telephone (202) 708-
2333, extension 7057 (this is not a toll free number). Hearing or 
speech-impaired individuals may access this number via TTY by calling 
the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HUD recently conducted a self-evaluation of 
its regional office facilities and its policies and practices 
consistent with HUD's responsibilities under section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) (Section 504). The objective 
of the self-evaluation was two-fold: (1) To determine whether current 
HUD policies and practices (including regulations, handbooks, notices, 
and other written guidance) discriminate, or have the effect of 
discriminating, on the basis of disability; and (2) to determine if HUD 
facilities are accessible to persons with disabilities. The types of 
disability discrimination the self-evaluation sought to disclose 
included those situations where:
    1. Otherwise qualified persons are excluded from participation in, 
or denied benefits of, HUD programs and activities on the basis of 
disability;
    2. HUD policies that, although neutral on their face, in operation 
limit the ability of persons with disabilities to benefit from program 
opportunities (e.g., requiring a person to make a written request for 
information on HUD's assisted housing programs); and
    3. Separate or different benefits or services are provided to 
persons on the basis of disability where such action is not required to 
provide a benefit or service as effective as those provided to others 
(e.g., holding a separate training program for persons with hearing 
impairments is discriminatory when the training can be effectively held 
in an integrated setting with the provision of interpreters).
    HUD prepared a draft report presenting the results of its section 
504 self-evaluation. The draft report, located at http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/disabilities/index.cfm, discusses the methodology HUD used 
to conduct the self-evaluation and contains recommendations for 
addressing identified barriers.
    On June 22, 2005 (70 FR 36318), HUD published a Federal Register 
notice seeking public comment on this draft report. Following 
publication of the notice, many interested parties, who, citing the 
complexity of the report and the difficulty of evaluating and 
commenting on the report within 30 days, sought an extension of the 30-
day comment period. HUD understands the complexity of the report and 
the difficulty of evaluating the report; therefore, in order to give 
all interested persons sufficient time to submit comments, HUD is 
reopening the public comment period for comments on HUD's draft self-
evaluation report. Additionally, HUD is now accepting both oral and 
written comments on the section 504 draft report. HUD will issue a 
final self-evaluation report after consideration of all public comments 
received on the section 504 draft report.
    A number of interested parties commented that the draft report on 
the HUD Web page did not contain Appendix 3, which were the blank 
worksheets that were completed internally by HUD Program Offices and 
Divisions. While the Department referenced Appendix 3 in the text of 
the draft report, it did not originally release the checklists because 
they were just one of several processes that were used to develop the 
final draft report. Since there is interest in the release of the blank 
worksheets contained in Appendix 3, they have been included in the 
draft Section 504 report posted on the HUD Web page.
    In addition to those comments, both oral and written, that HUD will 
receive between today's date and November 7, 2005, all comments that 
were postmarked on or before July 22, 2005 (the original due date for 
public comments) will be considered in the

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development of the final HUD section 504 self-evaluation report on HUD-
conducted programs and activities.

    Dated: September 29, 2005.
Floyd O. May,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal 
Opportunity.
[FR Doc. 05-20151 Filed 10-6-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-28-P