[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 165 (Thursday, August 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52544-52545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21198]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5376-N-85]


Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB; 
Emergency Comment Request; Choice Neighborhoods

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information Officer, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of proposed information collection.

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SUMMARY: The proposed information collection requirement described 
below has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for emergency review and approval, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended). The 
Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal, to 
assure better understanding of the reporting requirements and 
consistency in the submission of data.

DATES: Comments Due Date: September 2, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this proposal. Comments must be received within seven (7) days from the 
date of this Notice. Comments should refer to the proposal by name/or 
OMB approval number and should be sent to: HUD Desk Officer, Office of 
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 
20503; e-mail: OIRA--Submission @omb.eop.gov; fax: (202) 395-5806.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leroy McKinney, Jr., Departmental 
Reports Management Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Room 4178, Washington, DC 20410-5000; 
telephone 202-402-8048, (this is not a toll-free number) or email Mr. 
McKinney at [email protected] for a copy of the proposed forms, 
or other available information. Copies of available documents submitted 
to OMB may be obtained from Mr. McKinney.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Notice informs the public that the U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has submitted to OMB, 
for emergency processing, a proposed information collection that 
supports the Choice Neighborhoods Notice of Funding Availability 
(NOFA).
    Title of Proposed Notice: Choice Neighborhoods.
    Description of Information Collection: This is a new information 
collection. The Department of Housing and Urban Development 
Appropriations Act, 2010

[[Page 52545]]

(Pub. L. 111-117, enacted on December 16, 2009) permits the HUD 
Secretary to use up to $65,000,000 of the HOPE VI appropriations for a 
Choice Neighborhoods Initiative demonstration. With FY 2010 funding, 
the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative is a demonstration program under 
section 24 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, as amended (42 U.S.C. 
1437v). Thus, except as otherwise specified in the appropriations act, 
the HOPE VI program requirements and selection criteria will apply to 
Choice Neighborhoods grants for FY 2010. In preparation for the 
competitive process to award funding, HUD posted on its Web site a pre-
notice to help potential applicants prepare for the application 
process. The pre-notice sets forth the core goals of the initiative, 
identifies key program elements and activities, and outlines the 
framework of the competition HUD will use to award FY 2010 funding. The 
actual Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) will contain the selection 
criteria for awarding Choice Neighborhoods grants and specific 
requirements that will apply to selected grantees.
    Building upon the successes achieved and the lessons learned from 
the HOPE VI program, Choice Neighborhoods will employ a comprehensive 
approach to community development centered on housing transformation. 
The program aims to transform neighborhoods of poverty into viable 
mixed-income neighborhoods with access to economic opportunities by 
revitalizing severely distressed public and assisted housing and 
investing and leveraging investments in well-functioning services, 
effective schools and education programs, public assets, public 
transportation, and improved access to jobs. Choice Neighborhoods 
grants will primarily fund the transformation of public and/or HUD-
assisted housing developments through preservation, rehabilitation, and 
management improvements as well as demolition and new construction. In 
addition, these funds can be used on a limited basis (and combined with 
other funding) for improvements to the surrounding community, public 
services, facilities, assets and supportive services. Choice 
Neighborhoods grant funds are intended to catalyze other investments 
that will be directed toward necessary community improvements. The 
leveraging of other sources will be necessary to address other key 
neighborhood assets and achieve the program's core goals. This may 
include resources from other HUD programs, such as the Community 
Development Block Grant and Section 108 Loan Guarantee programs, as 
well as from other Federal, State, local and private programs or 
entities. HUD is working with other Federal agencies to integrate 
Choice Neighborhoods with other Federal place-based programs.
    OMB Control Number: 2577-Pending.
    Agency Form Number: 2577-Pending.
    Members of Affected Public: Local governments, public housing 
authorities, nonprofits, and for-project developers that apply jointly 
with a public entity.
    Estimation of the total numbers of hours needed to prepare the 
information collection including number of respondents, frequency of 
responses, and hours of responses: For Choice Neighborhoods Round 1: 
Burden hours per response total 58.09 for Implementation Grant 
applications, and 35.59 for Planning Grant applications. For FY 2010, 
applicants may only submit an Implementation Grant application or a 
Planning Grant application, not both. The total burden hours, 
estimating 100 respondents for each grant application type, is 5,809 
for Implementation Grants, and 3,559 for Planning Grants.
    Status of the proposed information collection: This is a new 
information Collection.

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

    Dated: August 19, 2010.
Leroy McKinney, Jr.,
Departmental Reports Management Officer, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2010-21198 Filed 8-25-10; 8:45 am]
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