[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20407-20408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-8210]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5630-N-02]


Rental Assistance Demonstration: Extension of Public Comment 
Period and Clarification of Demonstration Components

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

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: On March 8, 2012, HUD published a notice in the Federal 
Register inviting public comments on the demonstration notice posted on 
HUD's Web site entitled ``Rental Assistance Demonstration--Partial 
Implementation and Request for Comments'' (Program Notice). This notice 
extends the due date for the submission of comments on the Program 
Notice. In addition, HUD is taking this opportunity to clarify the 
scope of the demonstration that took effect on March 8, 2012.

DATES: Comment Due Date: The new date for the submission of comments on 
the Program Notice is April 23, 2012.
    Effective Date: The effective date announced in the March 8, 2012, 
notice is unchanged. The provisions regarding the conversion of Rent 
Supp and RAP properties under Section III of the Program Notice were 
effective on March 8, 2012. The Moderate Rehabilitation (Mod Rehab) 
provisions detailed in Section II of the Program Notice are not in 
effect until HUD reviews the public comments and issues a notice in the 
Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on 
applicable parts of the March 8, 2012, 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. 
All submissions and communications must refer to ``Rental Assistance 
Demonstration: Notice of Web Availability and Request for Comments'' 
docket number FR-5630-N-01. There are two methods for submitting public 
comments.
    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 20410-0500.
    2. Electronic Submission of Comments. Interested persons may submit 
comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
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 
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. Also, to expedite review of public comments, it is 
recommended commenters should organize their comments by specific 
topical areas and section numbers and label those areas accordingly.

    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 Relay Service, 
toll-free, at 800-877-8339. Copies of all comments submitted are 
available for inspection and downloading at www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To assure a timely response, please 
electronically direct requests for further information to this email 
address: [email protected]. Written requests may also be directed to the 
following address: Office of Public and Indian Housing--RAD Program, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room 
2000; Washington, DC 20410.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On March 8, 2012, at 77 FR 14029, HUD published in the Federal 
Register a notice announcing HUD's Rental Assistance Demonstration 
(RAD) program, which provides the

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opportunity to test the conversion of public housing and other HUD-
assisted properties to long-term, project-based Section 8 rental 
assistance to achieve certain goals, including the preservation and 
improvement of these properties through access by public housing 
agencies (PHAs) and owners to private debt and equity to address 
immediate and long-term capital needs; the extent to which residents 
have increased housing choices after the conversion; and the overall 
impact of conversion on the subject properties. The March 8, 2012, 
notice advised that HUD posted on its Web site the full details of the 
demonstration in a Program Notice entitled ``Rental Assistance 
Demonstration-Partial Implementation and Request for Comments.'' HUD 
refers the reader to the March 8, 2012, Federal Register notice for 
detailed information about RAD, as well as to the Program Notice, 
posted on HUD's Web site at www.hud.gov/rad. This notice extends the 
due date for the submission of public comments on the Program Notice to 
April 23, 2012, and clarifies the scope of the demonstration that took 
effect on March 8, 2012.

II. Extension of Public Comment Due Date

    The March 8, 2012, notice solicited public comment on the 
demonstration and established a comment due date of April 9, 2012. In 
order to ensure that interested members of the public have sufficient 
time to prepare and submit comments, HUD is extending the due date for 
the submission of comments on the Program Notice until April 23, 2012.

III. Clarification of Demonstration Scope

    As provided in the March 8, 2012, notice and in the Program Notice, 
RAD consists of two components. The first component, which is covered 
under Sections I and II of the Program Notice for PHAs and Mod Rehab 
owners, respectively, allows projects funder under HUD's public housing 
and Mod Rehab programs to convert to long-term Section 8 rental 
assistance contracts. Under this first component, PHAs and Mod Rehab 
owners may apply to HUD to convert to one of two forms of Section 8 
Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contracts: Project-based vouchers 
(PBVs) or project-based rental assistance (PBRA).
    The second component, which is covered under Section II of the 
Program Notice, for owners of Mod Rehab projects, and under Section III 
of the Program Notice, for owners of Rent Supplement (Rent Supp) and 
Rental Assistance (RAP) projects, of the Program Notice, allows 
projects funded under the Mod Rehab, Rent Supp and RAP programs, with a 
contract expiration or termination occurring after October 1, 2006, and 
no later than September 30, 2013, to convert tenant protection vouchers 
(TPVs) to PBVs.
    The ``Effective Date'' section of the March 8, 2012, notice 
provided that the conversion of Rent Supp and RAP Properties under 
Section III of the Program Notice were effective on March 8, 2012.
    The March 8, 2012 notice, at 77 FR 14030, following the explanation 
of the Section II and Section III provisions of the second component 
stated, inconsistent with the ``Effective Date'' provision, ``These 
provisions are effective immediately.''
    Accordingly, this notice clarifies the scope of the sections of the 
demonstration that are effective on March 8, 2012, to eliminate any 
confusion made by the statement at the end of the explanation of the 
second component at 77 FR 14030. The only provisions that are effective 
immediately are, as provided in the ``Effective Date'' section of the 
notice, those of Section III of the Program Notice for the conversion 
of Rent Supp and RAP Properties. The Section II provisions for 
properties funded under Mod Rehab, which are part of the discussion of 
the second component, are not yet in effect.

    Dated: March 30, 2012.
Deborah Hernandez,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.
Carol J. Galante,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing--Federal Housing Commissioner.
[FR Doc. 2012-8210 Filed 4-3-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P