[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 164 (Friday, August 24, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48808-48811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-16632]



[[Page 48807]]

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Part V





Department of Housing and Urban Development





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Additional Waivers Granted to and Alternative Requirements for the 
State of Mississippi Under Public Law 109-148; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 164 / Friday, August 24, 2007 / 
Notices  

[[Page 48808]]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5051-N-08]


Additional Waivers Granted to and Alternative Requirements for 
the State of Mississippi Under Public Law 109-148

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of waivers, and alternative requirements.

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SUMMARY: As described in the Supplementary Information section of this 
Notice, HUD is authorized by statute to waive statutory and regulatory 
requirements and specify alternative requirements for this grant, upon 
the request of the state grantee. This Notice describes the additional 
waivers approved by HUD for a $600 million infrastructure program to be 
funded from the disaster recovery grant made to the State of 
Mississippi under the subject appropriations act.

DATES: Effective Date: August 29, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessie Handforth Kome, Director, 
Disaster Recovery and Special Issues Division, Office of Block Grant 
Assistance, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh 
Street, SW., Room 7286, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number (202) 
708-3587. Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access this 
number via TTY by calling the Federal Information Relay Service at 
(800) 877-8339. FAX inquiries may be sent to Ms. Kome at (202) 401-
2044. (Except for the ``800'' number, these telephone numbers are not 
toll-free.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority To Grant Waivers

    A federal Fiscal Year 2006 supplemental appropriation for the 
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program was in the Department 
of Defense, Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes 
in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006 (Pub. L. 109-
148, approved December 30, 2005) (the 2006 Act), that appropriated 
$11.5 billion for necessary expenses related to disaster relief, long-
term recovery, and restoration of infrastructure in the most impacted 
and distressed areas related to the consequences of the covered 
disasters.
    The 2006 Act authorizes the Secretary to waive, or specify 
alternative requirements for, any provision of any statute or 
regulation that the Secretary administers in connection with the 
obligation by the Secretary or use by the recipient of these funds and 
guarantees, except for requirements related to fair housing, 
nondiscrimination, labor standards, and the environment, upon a request 
by the state and a finding by the Secretary that such a waiver would 
not be inconsistent with the overall purpose of the statute. The 
following additional waivers and alternative requirements for funds 
provided under the 2006 Act are in response to a request from the State 
of Mississippi.
    For reasons described below, the Secretary finds that the following 
waivers and alternative requirements are not inconsistent with the 
overall purpose of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act 
of 1974, as amended (the 1974 Act), or the Cranston-Gonzalez National 
Affordable Housing Act, as amended.
    Under the requirements of the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 3535(q)), regulatory waivers 
must be published in the Federal Register.
    Except as described in this and other notices applicable to this 
grant, statutory and regulatory provisions governing the CDBG program 
for states, including those at 24 CFR part 570, shall apply to the use 
of these funds. In accordance with the appropriations act cited above, 
HUD will reconsider every waiver in this Notice on the 2-year 
anniversary of the day this Notice is published.

Waiver Justification

    In general, waivers already granted to the State of Mississippi and 
alternative requirements already specified for CDBG disaster recovery 
grant funds provided under P.L. 109-148 apply. The notices in which 
these prior waivers and alternative requirements applicable to 
Mississippi are:
     71 FR 7666, published February 13, 2006;
     71 FR 34457, published June 14, 2006;
     71 FR 62372, published October 24, 2006;
     71 FR 63337, published October 30, 2006; and
     72 FR 10020, published March 6, 2007.
    The provisions of this Notice do not apply to funds provided under 
the annual CDBG program or to the grant made under Public Law 109-234. 
The provisions provide additional flexibility in program design and 
implementation, and implement statutory requirements unique to this 
appropriation.

Overall Benefit to Low- and Moderate-Income Persons

    The State of Mississippi has repeated its request that the 
Secretary waive the requirement that 50 percent of the CDBG funds 
received by the state under the grant made under Public Law 109-148 be 
for activities that benefit persons of low and moderate income. The 
Secretary has responded to the state's prior requests by waiving the 
overall benefit requirement to the extent necessary to permit funding 
of certain activities in identified action plans.
    To grant this waiver, the Secretary must find that it is ``not 
inconsistent'' with the CDBG program's primary purpose. This purpose is 
stated at 42 U.S.C. 5301(c):
    ``The primary objective of this chapter and of the community 
development program of each grantee under this chapter is the 
development of viable urban communities, by providing decent housing 
and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities, 
principally for persons of low and moderate income.''
    Further, Public Law 109-148 stipulates that, to decrease or 
eliminate the overall benefit requirement below 50 percent, the 
Secretary of HUD must also make a finding of ``compelling need'' for 
the waiver.
    Waivers of the overall benefit test described above are identified 
in the table below.

                 Table--MS Activities With Overall Benefit Waivers and Alternative Requirements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Activity or program                 Budget                   Waiver date             National objective
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Economic Development and Community  $500,000,000.........  March 6, 2007.................  By project, either
 Revitalization.                                                                            urgent need or low/
                                                                                            mod.
Regional Infrastructure Program--   $33,075,000..........  October 24, 2006..............  Urgent need.
 Master Plan and Emergency
 Infrastructure.
Ratepayer and Windpool Mitigation.  $410,000,000.........  October 24, 2006..............  Urgent need.

[[Page 48809]]

 
Compensation for housing loss.....  $3.4 billion for       June 14, 2006.................  Urgent need or low/
                                     Phase I of homeowner                                   mod.
                                     program, since
                                     amended to
                                     approximately $1
                                     billion.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The State of Mississippi's current request is for a waiver of 
overall benefit requirements so that the proposed $600 million 
infrastructure program will not cause the state to fail to meet the 
requirement. This program follows a CDBG-funded master plan for 
infrastructure recovery whose goals include extending water and sewer 
service into areas with lower exposure to future natural disasters 
while helping the state recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
    As mentioned in a prior Notice (71 FR 62372, published October 24, 
2006), to allow for recovery from severe ice storms, the Secretary 
allowed the State of Maine an overall benefit waiver that permitted the 
State of Maine to use its entire grant to assist private utilities with 
uninsured service restoration costs. In analyzing that request, HUD 
considered how low- and moderate-income persons would benefit from the 
proposed activity. Logically, a utility grid or service area cannot be 
restored for one income group alone, and a disaster that damages 
infrastructure regionally affects almost everyone in an area, 
regardless of income. There was no practical methodology in the Maine 
example for allocating costs among income groups. HUD found that 
Maine's waiver supported an activity that resulted in providing long-
term disaster recovery benefit to a large number of low- and moderate-
income persons. In this context, because the CDBG program and the 
disaster supplemental legislation largely leave the selection of 
activities to the grantees, HUD granted the waiver based on acceptance 
of the state's policy decision that this activity met both the purposes 
of the CDBG Act, and was necessary for the affected community to meet 
its unmet disaster recovery needs.
    The case of the infrastructure program in Mississippi meets many of 
the same conditions that existed in Maine. As in Maine, people across a 
widespread region of Mississippi were affected regardless of income, 
and the proposed restoration and recovery infrastructure projects will 
enable recovery across wide geographic areas. The planned Mississippi 
projects under the master plan depart from the Maine case in that the 
Mississippi plan focuses not only on restoration of service to some 
heavily impacted areas, but also on guiding settlement during the 
recovery into locations that were less affected by the storm, likely to 
be less affected by future events, and likely to have more affordable 
housing and access to required insurance in the long-term. According to 
the state, this pattern of leading redevelopment away from the coast 
will provide the backbone for a long-term recovery that will provide 
more suitable living opportunities for residents of the Mississippi 
coastal area. Based on HUD review of the published plan at http://www.msgulfregionplan.org/, the master plan provides both for 
restoration of infrastructure in certain impacted locations that are 
critical to recovery, and for long-term recovery in feasible locations 
further from the coast but still within the coastal labor market areas. 
According to the master plan, most of the selected inland locations did 
not have adequate utility services for the population they had prior to 
the disaster, let alone the population surge they have experienced as 
former coastal residents moved inland after the hurricanes. The planned 
infrastructure also allows for some further long-term economic 
expansion in the most impacted counties, should they recover.
    In considering the effects of granting the Mississippi waivers, HUD 
reviewed the income data from the Census and provided by the state on 
the percentages of low- and moderate-income persons for the service 
area of each of the projects identified in the master plan and proposed 
for funding under this grant. --

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Total       Low/mod
                                                 population   population
  Mississippi planned water and sewer project      of the       of the
                 descriptions                     service      service
                                                    area         area
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             Water Projects
------------------------------------------------------------------------
W1--Pearl River--Poplarville Regional Water           5,700        2,721
 Supply System................................
W2--Pearl River--Picayune Regional Water             18,476        6,891
 Supply System................................
W3--Hancock--Pearlington--Port Bienville              1,931          849
 Regional Water Supply System, W4--Hancock
 Pearlington Water Distribution System........
W5--Hancock--Kiln Regional Water Supply, W6--        25,295       12,029
 Hancock--Kiln Water Distribution System, W7--
 Hancock--Eastern Hancock County Regional
 Water Supply, W8--Hancock--Hancock County
 Water and Sewer District Water Distribution
 System, W9--Hancock--Waveland U.S. 90 Water
 System Improvements..........................
W10--Stone--Southern Stone County Regional            1,564          606
 Water System.................................
W11--Harrison--Central Harrison County               19,362        8,693
 Regional Water Supply, W18--Harrison--Eastern
 Harrison County Regional Water Supply........
W12--Harrison--Pass Christian Water System           55,406       18,949
 Improvements, W13--Harrison--Western Harrison
 County Regional Water Supply, W14--Harrison--
 Long Beach Water System, W15--Harrison--North
 Gulfport/Lyman Regional Water Supply.........
W16--Harrison--Gulfport VA Area Water System          3,469        1,643
 Improvements, W17--Harrison--South Gulfport
 Regional Water Supply, W19--Harrison--Biloxi
 Broadwater Water System Improvements.........
W20--Jackson--Western Jackson County Regional         8,501        3,745
 Water Supply, W21--Jackson--Ocean Springs
 Water Transmission Improvements..............
W22--Jackson--Gautier Water Transmission             15,156        5,232
 Improvements.................................
W23--Jackson--Eastern Jackson County Regional         5,772        2,393
 Water System.................................
W24--Jackson--Moss Point--Three Rivers               10,239        4,501
 Regional Water Treatment and Transmission
 System.......................................

[[Page 48810]]

 
W25--Jackson--Pascagoula--River Park Water              471          156
 Transmission Improvements....................
W26--Jackson--Pascagoula--Chipley Water               3,927        1,580
 Transmission Improvements....................
W27--Jackson--Pascagoula--Beach Boulevard             3,232          945
 Water Transmission Improvements..............
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             Sewer Projects
------------------------------------------------------------------------
S1--Pearl River--Poplarville Regional WWTF and        6,170        2,403
 Transmission System..........................
S2--Pearl River--Picayune Regional WWTF and           1,931          849
 Transmission System..........................
S3--Hancock--Western Regional WWTF............       21,270        9,101
S4--Hancock--Pearlington Wastewater Collection        1,052          554
 System.......................................
S5--Hancock--Northern Regional WWTF...........        5,173        1,911
S6--Hancock--Kiln Wastewater Collection System          829          312
S7--Hancock--Bay St. Louis--Cedar Point and I-       17,539        7,494
 10 Wastewater System Improvements............
S8--Stone--Wiggins Regional WWTF and                  2,721        1,281
 Transmission System..........................
S9--Stone--South Stone County WWTF............        2,264          843
S10--Harrison--Saucier WWTF and Riverbend/            7,726        3,244
 Robinwood Forest Transmission System, S11--
 Harrison--East Central Harrison County
 Regional WWTF................................
S12--Harrison--DeLisle WWTF, Long Beach/Pass          4,422        1,988
 Christian WWTF, and Transmission System......
S13--Harrison--Pass Christian Wastewater             30,966       10,450
 System Improvements, S14--Harrison--West
 Gulfport Regional Interceptor, S16--Harrison--
 Long Beach Wastewater System Improvements....
S15--Harrison--West Gulfport Regional                 4,078        1,550
 Transmission System..........................
S17--Harrison--Gulfport VA Area Wastewater            7,486        3,646
 System Improvement...........................
S18--Harrison--South Gulfport Regional                5,936        2,075
 Transmission System..........................
S21--Harrison--Biloxi Broadwater Wastewater           5,962        2,768
 System Improvements..........................
S19--Harrison--South Woolmarket WWTF and             16,853        5,694
 Transmission Mains...........................
S20--Harrison--D'Iberville WWTF and                   7,509        3,136
 Transmission System, S22--Harrison--
 D'Iberville Waterfront Wastewater System
 Improvements.................................
S23--Jackson--West Jackson Regional WWTF and         29,018        7,756
 Transmission Mains, S24--Jackson--Ocean
 Springs Wastewater Transmission Improvements,
 S25--Jackson--Gulf Park and Ocean Beach Areas
 Transmission Improvements....................
S26--Jackson--North Jackson County                    5,975        2,018
 Decentralized WWTFs..........................
S27--Jackson--Gautier Wastewater Transmission        16,113        5,654
 Improvements, S28--Jackson--Gautier Regional
 WWTF Improvements............................
S29--Jackson--Escatawpa Regional WWTF                15,751        7,349
 Improvements.................................
S30--Jackson--Pascagoula--River Park                  3,044        1,425
 Wastewater Transmission Improvements, S31--
 Jackson--Pascagoula--Shortcut Road
 Transmission System Improvements, S32--
 Jackson--Pascagoula--Chipley Wastewater
 Transmission Improvements, S33--Jackson--
 Pascagoula--Beach Boulevard Wastewater
 Transmission Improvement.....................
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Note about the table: Because some of the project service areas 
overlap, the numeric columns were not totaled. Nevertheless, despite 
qualifying under the ``urgent need'' national objective, the projects 
proposed under the master plan will generate benefits to low- and 
moderate-income persons for a long period of time for a relatively 
small amount of funds per person served. The data demonstrate the 
classic pattern also illustrated in the cases in which HUD granted 
prior waivers of this provision to Maine and the City of Grand Forks, 
North Dakota, in which the grantee would be unable to provide the 
infrastructure to support disaster recovery for low- and moderate-
income households without also benefiting a majority of persons who are 
not income-qualified. In the Mississippi case, as in prior this ones, 
HUD has determined that granting this waiver will result in provision 
of disaster recovery benefits to low- and moderate-income persons that 
cannot be provided only to low- and moderate-income persons, or in such 
a way as to assure that the majority of persons served are income-
qualified. Further, HUD has determined that, in the context of using 
supplemental funds appropriated for the purpose of supporting recovery 
from a major disaster, granting this waiver is consistent with the 
overall purpose of the 1974 Act.
    Based on the above and the compelling need presented by the State 
of Mississippi for the activities already included in the Action Plan 
for Disaster Recovery for the grant made under Public Law 109-148, HUD 
is granting the state a waiver of the requirement that at least 50 
percent of the supplemental CDBG grant funds provided under Public Law 
109-148 primarily benefit persons of low and moderate income, to the 
extent necessary to permit Mississippi to carry out the activities 
contained in its March 26, 2007, Action Plan submission for Regional 
Infrastructure, provided that the state must give reasonable priority 
for the balance of its funds to activities that will primarily benefit 
persons of low and moderate income. HUD expects the grantee to maintain 
low- and moderate-income benefit documentation for any activity 
assisted with this grant that directly provides such a benefit. This 
waiver of overall benefit requirements does not alter previous waivers 
of the overall benefit requirements or cover activities that may be 
added or modified under a substantial amendment to the activities 
mentioned in the Action Plan submissions listed above.
    Previously, the state agreed to examine other housing needs and to 
pursue other sources of funding to provide assistance for other 
compelling housing needs, such as for homeless and special needs 
populations, for low-income renters, and for uninsured low-income 
homeowners. HUD expects the state to continue these efforts.
    HUD expects the state to principally benefit low- and moderate-
income persons in activities where such design is feasible and 
reasonable, and to design its activities to otherwise meet the ``slum-
blight'' or urgent-need national objective.

[[Page 48811]]

    HUD also reminds the state that, pursuant to the instruction in 
Public Law 109-148, all waivers in this Notice must be reconsidered on 
the 2-year anniversary date of this notice.

Applicable Rules, Statutes, Waivers, and Alternative Requirements

    1. General note. Except as described in this Notice, the statutory, 
regulatory, and notice provisions that shall apply to the use of these 
funds are:
    a. Those governing the funds appropriated under Public Law 109-148 
and already published in the Federal Register, including those in 
Notices 71 FR 7666, published February 13, 2006; 71 FR 34457, published 
June 14, 2006; 71 FR 62372, published October 24, 2006; 71 FR 63337, 
published October 30, 2006; and 72 FR 10020, published March 6, 2007; 
and
    b. Those governing the CDBG program for states, including those at 
42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq. and 24 CFR part 570.
    2. Overall benefit. 42 U.S.C. 5301(c) and 5304(b)(3), and 24 CFR 
570.484 and 24 CFR 91.325(b)(4)(ii), with respect to the overall 
benefit requirement, are waived to the extent necessary to permit 
Mississippi to carry out the activities contained in its March 26, 
2007, Action Plan submissions, provided that:
    a. The state must give reasonable priority for the balance of its 
funds to activities that will primarily benefit persons of low and 
moderate income; and
    b. The state will maintain documentation of the low- and moderate-
income benefit attributable to each assisted activity, if feasible, and 
report on such benefit to HUD as part of the regular quarterly reports.
    3. Information collection approval note. The information collection 
requirements contained in this Notice have been approved by the Office 
of Management and Budget (OMB) in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned OMB control 
number 2506-0165. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD 
may not conduct or sponsor, nor is a person required to respond to, a 
collection of information, unless the collection displays a valid 
control number.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance numbers for the disaster 
recovery grants under this Notice are as follows: 14.219; 14.228.

Finding of No Significant Impact

    A Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) with respect to the 
environment has been made in accordance with HUD regulations at 24 CFR 
part 50, which implement section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). The FONSI is 
available for public inspection between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays in 
the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of 
Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 10276, 
Washington, DC 20410-0500. Due to security measures at the HUD 
Headquarters building, please schedule an appointment to review the 
finding by calling the Regulations Division at (202) 708-3055 (this is 
not a toll-free number).

    Dated: August 16, 2007.
Roy A. Bernardi,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-16632 Filed 8-23-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P