[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 2, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11395-11396]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4563]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
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 

  Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 2, 2011 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 11395]]



DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

2 CFR Chapter XXIV

5 CFR Chapter LXV

12 CFR Chapter XVII

24 CFR Chapters I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VIII, IX, X, XII, and 
Subtitles A and B

48 CFR Chapter 24

[Docket No. FR-5506-N-01]


Reducing Regulatory Burden; Retrospective Review Under E.O. 13563

AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel, HUD.

ACTION: Request for information.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Executive Order 13563, ``Improving 
Regulation and Regulatory Review,'' HUD is reviewing its existing 
regulations to evaluate their continued effectiveness in addressing 
circumstances for which the regulations were promulgated. As part of 
this review, HUD invites public comments to assist in the development 
of a plan for periodically analyzing existing significant regulations 
to determine whether they should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or 
repealed. HUD also seeks comment to identify specific current 
regulations that may be outdated, ineffective, or excessively 
burdensome. The purpose of this regulatory review is to make the 
Department's regulations more effective and less burdensome in 
achieving HUD's mission to create strong, sustainable, inclusive 
communities, and quality affordable homes for all.

DATES: Comment Due Date: May 2, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice 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 three 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 7th Street, SW., Room 10276, 
Washington, DC 20410-0001.
    2. E-mail Submission of Comments: Comments may be submitted by e-
mail to [email protected].
    3. 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 three 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 202-708-3055 (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 at 800-877-8339. Copies of all comments submitted are available 
for inspection and downloading at http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Camille E. Acevedo, Associate General 
Counsel for Legislation and Regulations, Office of General Counsel, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Room 
10282, Washington, DC 20410; telephone number 202-708-1793 (this is not 
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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. HUD's Regulatory Mission

    HUD plays a significant role in the lives of families and in 
communities throughout America. HUD's mission is to create strong, 
sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for 
all. Consistent with that mission, HUD has statutory responsibility for 
a wide variety of regulations. HUD's regulatory programs and 
initiatives help create suitable living environments, and help to 
ensure that all citizens have access to decent, safe, and sanitary 
housing. HUD's regulations also assist in the enforcement of the 
nation's fair housing laws. HUD regulations also govern the provision 
of housing and other essential support to a wide range of individuals 
and families with special needs, including homeless individuals, the 
elderly, and persons with disabilities. Moreover, in light of recent 
economic events, HUD has undertaken a variety of rulemaking initiatives 
to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect 
consumers.

B. Executive Order 13563 on Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review

    On January 18, 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order 13563, 
``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.'' \1\ The Executive Order 
requires federal agencies to seek more affordable, less intrusive ways 
to achieve policy goals and give careful consideration to the benefits 
and costs of those regulations. Agencies are directed to tailor their 
regulations to impose the

[[Page 11396]]

minimal amount of burden on society to obtain regulatory objectives. 
The Executive Order also emphasizes the importance of meaningful public 
participation in the rulemaking process, and encourages agencies to 
increase their use of online technologies to simplify and facilitate 
participation for all stakeholders. Executive Order 13563 also requires 
agencies to coordinate, simplify, and harmonize regulations to reduce 
costs and promote certainty for businesses and the public.
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    \1\ The Executive Order was subsequently published in the 
Federal Register on January 21, 2011, at 76 FR 3821.
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    The Executive Order recognizes that these principles should not 
only guide the federal government's approach to new regulations, but to 
existing ones as well. To that end, agencies are required to review 
existing significant regulations to determine if they are outmoded, 
ineffective, insufficient or excessively burdensome. Executive Order 
13563 also requires that each agency develop and submit to the Office 
of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 
a preliminary plan for periodically reviewing existing significant 
regulations to determine whether they should be modified, streamlined, 
expanded, or repealed so as to make the agency's regulatory program 
more effective or less burdensome in achieving regulatory objectives.

II. This Notice--HUD's Implementation of Executive Order 13563

    Through this notice, HUD announces several steps that it is 
undertaking to comply with the regulatory review requirements of 
Executive Order 13563. The steps announced in this notice will help HUD 
to ensure that its regulations are updated and remain necessary, are 
properly tailored, and effectively achieve regulatory objectives 
without imposing unwarranted costs.
    First, pursuant to the Executive Order, HUD is developing a 
preliminary plan for periodically analyzing existing significant 
regulations. Consistent with the principles articulated in the 
Executive Order, and HUD's commitment to public participation in the 
rulemaking process, HUD is beginning this process by soliciting views 
from the public on defined methods for identifying rules that may be 
obsolete, unnecessary, unjustified, excessively burdensome, or 
counterproductive. HUD intends for its preliminary plan to include an 
initial list of candidate rules for review. Accordingly, HUD also seeks 
suggestions for specific current regulations that may be outmoded, 
ineffective, or excessively burdensome, and therefore should be 
included on the list.
    HUD has also established an e-mail inbox at 
[email protected] which interested parties may use, on an 
ongoing basis, to identify regulations that may be in need of review. 
The email box may also be used for the submission of comments in 
response to this notice. Irrespective of how they are submitted, HUD 
will make all comments received in response to this notice publicly 
available on http://www.regulations.gov. Please see the ADDRESSES 
section of this notice for additional information regarding the 
submission of comments.

III. Issues for Public Comment

    The following is the list of topics on which HUD specifically seeks 
comments. The topics represent a preliminary attempt to identify issues 
raised by HUD's effort to develop a preliminary plan for the 
retrospective analysis of its regulations and to identify regulations 
on which it should focus. With regards to specific existing 
regulations, HUD is particularly interested in receiving comments on 
regulations that have been in effect for a sufficient amount of time to 
warrant a fair evaluation. Comments should reference a specific 
regulation by citation to the Code of Federal Regulations, and provide 
information on the perceived problem and the rationale for any 
recommended solution. Commenters should focus on rule changes that will 
achieve a broad public impact, rather than an individual personal or 
corporate benefit.
    This is a non-exhaustive list that is meant to assist in the 
formulation of comments and is not intended to limit the issues that 
commenters may choose to address.
    1. How can HUD best obtain and consider accurate, objective 
information and data about the cost, burdens, and benefits of existing 
regulations? Are there existing sources of data available that HUD can 
use to evaluate the effects of its regulations over time?
    2. What factors should HUD use to select and prioritize rules and 
reporting requirements for review?
    3. Are there any specific existing HUD regulatory requirements that 
are ill-advised or so burdensome as to merit elimination?
    4. Are there any specific existing HUD regulatory requirements 
that, while necessary, are ineffective and in need of streamlining or 
other modification to achieve their objectives? Why are these 
requirements ineffective--are they unnecessarily complicated, 
burdensome, or outdated? What changes to the regulations would increase 
their usefulness and meet HUD's objectives?
    5. Are there any HUD regulatory requirements that have been 
overtaken by technological developments? Can new technologies be used 
to modify, streamline, or do away with these requirements?
    6. Are there any existing HUD requirements that duplicate or 
conflict with requirements of another Federal agency? Can the 
requirement be modified to eliminate the conflict?
    7. Are there HUD regulations that are working well and that can be 
expanded or used as a model for other HUD programs?

    Dated: February 22, 2011.
Helen R. Kanovsky,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2011-4563 Filed 3-1-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P