[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 48 (Monday, March 13, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12988-12989]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2394]



[[Page 12987]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Part IV





Department of Housing and Urban Development





-----------------------------------------------------------------------



Regulatory and Administrative Waivers Granted for Public and Indian 
Housing Programs To Assist With Recovery and Relief in Hurricane Wilma 
Disaster Areas; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 48 / Monday, March 13, 2006 / 
Notices  

[[Page 12988]]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5058-N-01]


Regulatory and Administrative Waivers Granted for Public and 
Indian Housing Programs To Assist With Recovery and Relief in Hurricane 
Wilma Disaster Areas

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian 
Housing, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice makes available to entities that administer HUD's 
Public and Indian Housing programs and are located in an area declared 
by the President to be a Federal disaster area as a result of Hurricane 
Wilma, the regulatory waivers and alternative administrative 
requirements that were made available to entities located in Hurricane 
Katrina and Hurricane Rita disaster areas, under the same processes 
described in the November 1, 2005, Federal Register notice.

DATES: Effective Date: March 7, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: PIH Disaster Relief Officer, Office of 
Policy Programs and Legislation, Office of Public and Indian Housing, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., 
Room 4116, Washington, DC 20410-5000, telephone number (202) 708-4016, 
extension 4245, or (202) 708-0713, extension 7651. Persons with hearing 
or speech impairments may access this number via TTY by calling the 
Federal Information Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background Information

A. Responding to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

    On October 3, 2005 (70 FR 57716) and November 1, 2005 (70 FR 
66222), HUD published Federal Register notices designed to assist with 
relief to areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita 
respectively. Both notices advised the public of HUD regulations and 
other administrative requirements governing HUD's Office of Public and 
Indian Housing (PIH) programs that were being waived in order to 
facilitate the delivery of safe and decent housing under these programs 
to families and individuals who have been displaced from their housing 
by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.
    The October and November 2005 notices advised that entities that 
administer PIH programs, which include public housing agencies (PHAs), 
Indian and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs), and local and 
tribal governments, and are located in an area declared by the 
President to be a Federal disaster area as a result of Hurricane 
Katrina or Hurricane Rita (depending upon the notice), were eligible to 
defer compliance with the regulations and other requirements listed in 
the notices for an initial period of 12 months or such other period as 
may be specified in the notice.
    Both notices also advised that PIH program administrators that are 
not located in a disaster area but that were assisting, respectively, 
with Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita recovery and relief, were 
eligible to request waiver of the regulations and administrative 
requirements listed in these notices, and HUD review and response would 
occur through an expedited waiver request and response process. PIH 
program administrators, located in an area declared a federal disaster 
area as a result of Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita, or PIH program 
administrators not located in such an area but assisting with Hurricane 
Katrina or Hurricane Rita relief and recovery efforts, were eligible 
under these notices to request waiver of a regulation or other 
administrative requirement through the expedited waiver process 
provided in this notice.
    Finally, both Federal Register publications emphasized that the 
notices applied only to PIH programs or to cross-cutting regulatory or 
administrative requirements that are applicable to PIH program 
administrators.

B. Responding to Hurricane Wilma

    The relief and recovery efforts that have been underway in the Gulf 
States, since the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita occurred, have revealed 
that Hurricane Wilma, which struck South Florida on October 23, 2005, 
resulted in greater damage than initially realized. Therefore, to 
assist PIH program administrators located in Hurricane Wilma disaster 
areas, which are mapped and can be found at http://www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=5145, similar to the relief provided to PIH program 
administrators located in Hurricane Katrina and Rita disaster areas, 
this notice makes available to PIH program administrators in Hurricane 
Wilma disaster areas the regulatory waivers and alternative 
administrative requirements set forth in the November 1, 2005, notice, 
which was a slightly more expansive notice than the October 3, 2005 
notice.

II. Waiver Process for Hurricane Wilma Disaster Areas

A. For PIH Program Administrators in Declared Hurricane Wilma Disaster 
Areas

    Entities that administer public or Indian housing or voucher 
programs and are located in the areas declared a Federal disaster area 
as a result of Hurricane Wilma may defer or suspend compliance with the 
regulations and other administrative requirements listed in HUD's 
November 1, 2005, Federal Register notice (70 FR 66222) with the 
exception of the waiver of the payment standard provision in section 
III.B.12 of the November 1, 2005, notice. With that one exception, PIH 
program administrators in the Hurricane Wilma disaster areas may defer 
or suspend compliance with the regulations or other administrative 
requirements upon the effective date of this notice, for an initial 
period of 12 months or for such other period as may be specified in 
this notice. These entities, however, should notify HUD within two 
weeks of determination of the need to utilize the waived requirements 
in this notice, or as soon as possible, by contacting HUD in the manner 
detailed in the following paragraph.
    An official of the PHA, TDHE, tribal or local government that seeks 
the suspension of compliance with requirements listed in this notice 
must contact HUD in writing (e-mail communication is allowed) and 
identify the requirements by section and number utilized in the 
November 1, 2005, notice (e.g., section III.A.2., section III.B.1, 2, 
3, etc., or ``all of the waived or suspended requirements applicable to 
public housing and voucher programs or to Indian housing in section 
III''). The following e-mail address has been established in order to 
expedite the process: [email protected]. Please note 
that this e-mail address is different from the e-mail addresses 
provided for Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. In addition, 
identical checklists of the waived or suspended requirements identified 
and numbered in section III of the notices for Hurricanes Katrina and 
Rita are available at HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/katrina/proguidance.cfm, and an eligible PHA THDE, tribal or local government 
can use either of these checklists to identify the waived or suspended 
requirements that it will utilize, but should strike references to 
Katrina or Rita, and insert Wilma, and follow the instructions in this 
notice for submitting the checklist to HUD.

[[Page 12989]]

    This is a notification process only, and HUD asks that this 
notification be made to HUD no later than two weeks after a PHA 
determines the need to rely on one or more or all of the waived or 
suspended requirements in this notice. While, as noted earlier, HUD 
does not want to impose additional administrative requirements on PIH 
program administrators located in the disaster areas during this 
period, it is important and helpful for HUD to know how these entities 
are administering their PIH programs during the recovery period, as HUD 
has tried to make this notification process as easy as possible. HUD 
will maintain information on the names of the PHAs, Indian tribes, or 
TDHEs that have deferred compliance with certain regulatory and 
administrative requirements in accordance with this notice. The 
regulation or administrative requirement will remain inapplicable for a 
period of 12 months and will be considered waived or suspended by HUD 
for an additional three months upon notification to HUD following the 
same notification process described above.

B. For PIH Program Participants in Non-Disaster Declared Areas

    PIH program administrators that are not located in a Hurricane 
Wilma disaster area but are contributing to Hurricane Wilma relief and 
recovery efforts may request a waiver of the regulations or 
administrative requirements listed in the November 1, 2005, notice by 
sending the checklist referenced in section II (A.) above, and request 
for waiver(s) to the [email protected] e-mail address. 
The request must specify the need, including justification, for the 
waiver of the requirement. Waiver requests submitted through this e-
mail address will receive priority processing.

C. Regulations and Requirements Not Waived in the November 1, 2005, 
Notice

    Based on experience to date with Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane 
Rita recovery efforts, PIH believes that the November 1, 2005, notice 
contains a comprehensive list of waivers that will assist with relief 
efforts for Hurricane Wilma. However, for any regulation or other 
administrative requirement not listed in the November 1, 2005, notice 
for which a PIH program administrator seeks waiver or suspension, the 
program administrator may seek a waiver by sending a request to the 
[email protected] e-mail address. The request must 
specify the need, including justification, for the waiver of the 
requirement. As noted earlier, waiver requests submitted through this 
e-mail address will receive priority processing, and HUD will respond 
to the requestor by e-mail.
    The expedited waiver process is provided only for waiver or 
suspension of requirements that will assist with the Hurricane Wilma 
relief and recovery efforts. HUD will not respond to any waiver 
requests submitted to this e-mail address that are unrelated to relief 
and recovery of the disaster areas.

    Dated: March 7, 2006.
Orlando J. Cabrera,
Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.
[FR Doc. 06-2394 Filed 3-10-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P