[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 227 (Monday, November 24, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 70928-70929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-27807]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

24 CFR Parts 901, 902, and 907

[Docket No. FR-5094-N-02]
RIN 2577-AC68


Public Housing Evaluation and Oversight: Changes to the Public 
Housing Assessment System (PHAS) and Determining and Remedying 
Substantial Default: Reopening of Public Comment Period

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

ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of Public comments period.

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SUMMARY: On August 21, 2008, the Department published a proposed rule 
entitled, ``Public Housing Evaluation and Oversight: Changes to the 
Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) and Determining and Remedying 
Substantial Default.'' The comment period for this proposed rule ended 
on October 20, 2008. This notice reopens the comment period for the 
proposed rule to allow for additional public comment.

DATES: Comment Due Date: January 8, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposed rule to the Regulations Division, Office of General 
Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, 
SW., Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410-0500. Communications must refer 
to the above docket number and title. There are two methods for 
submitting public comments. All submissions must refer to the above 
docket number and title.
    1. Submission of Comments by Mail. Comments may be submitted by 
mail to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department 
of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 10276, 
Washington, DC 20410-0500.
    2. Electronic Submission of Comments. Interested persons may submit 
comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly encourages commenters to 
submit comments electronically. Electronic submission of comments 
allows the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, 
ensures timely receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make them immediately 
available to the public. Comments submitted electronically through the 
http://www.regulations.gov Web site can be viewed by other commenters 
and interested members of the public. Commenters should follow the 
instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.

    Note: To receive consideration as public comments, comments must 
be submitted through one of the two methods specified above. Again, 
all submissions must refer to the docket number and title of the 
rule.


    No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable.
    Public Inspection of Public Comments. All properly submitted 
comments and communications submitted to HUD will be available 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, an advance appointment to review the public comments must be 
scheduled by calling the Regulations Division at 202-402-3055 (this is 
not a toll-free number). Individuals with speech or hearing impairments 
may access this number via TTY by calling the Federal Information Relay 
Service, toll-free, at 800-877-8339. Copies of all comments submitted 
are available for inspection and downloading at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Wanda Funk, Senior Advisor, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Public and 
Indian Housing, Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC), 550 12th Street, 
SW., Suite 100, Washington, DC 20410; or the REAC Technical Assistance 
Center at 888-245-4860 (this is a toll-free number). Persons with 
hearing or speech impairments may access this number through TTY by 
calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 800-877-
8339. Additional information is available from the REAC Internet site 
at http://www.hud.gov/offices/reac/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Proposed Rule

    HUD published a proposed rule on August 21, 2008 (73 FR 49544) that 
submitted, for a 60-day public comment period, a comprehensive revision 
to the PHAS regulations. This proposed rule, entitled ``Changes to the 
Public Housing Assessment System and Determining and Remedying 
Substantial Default'' also proposed, among other things, revisions to 
the PHAS scoring system. The comment period for the proposed rule 
closed on October 20, by which time approximately 55 comments had been 
submitted by members of the public.

[[Page 70929]]

    As part of reopening the public comment period, HUD will be making 
available a scoring template that will enable PHAs and other interested 
members of the public to enter information to generate estimated scores 
under the proposed rule. The purpose of the scoring template is to 
facilitate understanding of the PHAS scoring system that HUD proposed 
in its August 21, 2008, proposed rule. The scoring template reflects 
how scoring would work if the proposed system were adopted at the final 
rule stage. The template allows the public to enter information to 
generate estimated scores under the proposed rule. The scoring template 
is posted on the Office of Public and Indian Housing's Web site at 
http://www.hud.gov/offices/ph/am/index.cfm.
    This tool was not available during the initial public comment 
period. Given the public interest in this rule, and the availability of 
this new information, HUD is reopening the public comment period. HUD 
hopes that this template helps clarify the proposed scoring system, and 
welcomes additional comments on the scoring system during the reopened 
public comment period. Accordingly, this notice reopens the public 
comment period for the PHAS proposed rule, published on August 21, 
2008, for an additional 45-day period.

    Dated: November 17, 2008.
Paula O. Blunt,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.
[FR Doc. E8-27807 Filed 11-21-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P