[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 87 (Thursday, May 6, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24963-24964]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10689]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5382-N-09]


Notice of Proposed Information Collection for Public Comment: 202 
Demonstration Planning Grant Evaluation

AGENCY: Office of Policy Development and Research, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The proposed information collection requirement described 
below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department 
is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

DATES: Comments Due Date: July 6, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposal. Comments should refer to the proposal by name and/or OMB 
Control Number and should be sent to: Ashaki Robinson Johns, Office of 
Policy Development and Research, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Suite 8120, Washington, DC 20410.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ashaki Robinson Johns (202) 402-7545, 
(this is not a toll free number) for copies of the proposed forms and 
other available documents.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department will submit the proposed 
information collection to OMB for review, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended). This notice 
is soliciting comments from members of the public and affected agencies 
concerning the proposed collection of information to: (1) Evaluate 
whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including if the 
information will have practical utility; (2) Evaluate the accuracy of 
the agency's estimate of the burden of proposed collection of 
information; (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (4) Minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on those who are to respond; including 
through the use of appropriate automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission 
of responses.
    Title of Proposal: Research Plan for an Evaluation of the Section 
202 Demonstration Planning Grant Program.
    Description of the need for information and proposed use: The 
Department is conducting, through a contract to Abt Associates Inc. and 
its subcontractor, VIVA Consulting LLC, a study of the Section 202 
Supportive Housing for the Elderly Demonstration Planning Grant 
Program. The Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program 
provides capital advances and operating funds to nonprofit 
organizations (``sponsors'') to develop affordable elderly housing. 
HUD's goal for Section 202 properties is for sponsors to reach initial 
closing within 18 months of fund reservation. However, a 2003 study of 
the Section 202 program by the Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) 
found that approximately 70 percent of Section 202 properties funded 
between 1998 and 2009 did not meet this goal and that properties that 
did not meet the 18-month timeline took an average of 29 months to 
reach initial closing. The predevelopment delays were attributed to a 
number of factors, including the lack of predevelopment funding.
    The Section 202 Demonstration Planning Grant Program (DPG) was 
created in 2004 to provide predevelopment funding to Section 202 
sponsors to reduce development delays and increase the number of 
affordable rental units made available each year for low-income elderly 
households. This evaluation will assess the awareness and effectiveness 
of the program through telephone surveys with project sponsors. The key 
research question is whether the DPG helps sponsors get from Section 
202 award to initial closing on the project within 18 months, HUD's 
target duration for the predevelopment period.
    To collect the information necessary for this study, the Department 
will conduct a telephone survey of staff members from a sample of 
sponsor organizations. The surveys will be conducted with both staff 
from sponsor organizations that have received Demonstration Planning 
Grants (``DPG recipients'') and staff from sponsor organizations that 
have received Section 202 funding between fiscal years 2004 and 2008 
but have not received a Demonstration Planning Grant (``non-
recipients''). Surveys will be conducted with 70 DPG recipients and 30 
non-recipients. The samples will be selected purposively to provide 
geographic diversity by Census region and a range of durations of 
predevelopment periods.
    DPG recipients will be asked about their knowledge of and 
experience with the DPG program and how the DPG and other factors 
influenced their ability to reach initial closing within 18 months.

[[Page 24964]]

Non-recipients will be asked about their familiarity with the DPG 
program, the reasons they did not apply for the program, and the 
factors that contributed to their ability to reach initial closing 
within 18 months.
    Members of Affected Public: The telephone sponsor survey will 
affect approximately 100 recipients of a Section 202 Supportive Housing 
for the Elderly grant.
    Estimation of the total number of hours needed to prepare the 
information collection including number of respondents, frequency of 
response, and hours of response: For the DPG recipient survey, the 
researchers will administer a one-time telephone survey to 70 sponsor 
staff. These interviews are expected to last 60 minutes for a total 
burden hour estimate of 70 hours. For the non-recipient survey, the 
researchers will administer a one-time telephone survey to 30 sponsor 
staff. The non-recipient interviews are expected to last 30 minutes for 
a total burden hour estimate of 15 hours.

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                                                                      Number      Average burden/
                   Respondents                       Number of     responses per   response  (in   Total burden
                                                    respondents     respondent        hours)           hours
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DPG Recipients..................................              70               1             1.0              70
Non-recipients..................................              30               1             0.5              15
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    Total.......................................             100             100  ..............              85
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    Status of the proposed information collection: Pending OMB 
approval.

    Authority:  Section 3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 
44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended.

    Dated: April 28, 2010.
Raphael W. Bostic,
Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research.
[FR Doc. 2010-10689 Filed 5-5-10; 8:45 am]
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