[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 222 (Monday, November 18, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69103-69104]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-27504]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5683-N-99]


30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Quality Control 
for Rental Assistance Subsidy Determinations

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information Officer, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: HUD has submitted the proposed information collection 
requirement described below to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review, in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The 
purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days of public 
comment.

DATES: Comments Due Date: December 18, 2013.

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: HUD Desk Officer, Office of 
Management and Budget, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 
20503; fax: 202-395-5806. Email: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Colette Pollard, Reports Management 
Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410; email Colette Pollard at 
[email protected] or telephone 202-402-3400. Persons with hearing 
or speech impairments may access this number through TTY by calling the 
toll-free Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. This is not a toll-
free number. Copies of available documents submitted to OMB may be 
obtained from Ms. Pollard.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice informs the public that HUD has 
submitted to OMB a request for approval of the information collection 
described in Section A. The Federal Register notice that solicited 
public comment on the information collection for a period of 60 days 
was published on September 10, 2013.

A. Overview of Information Collection

    Title of Information Collection: Quality Control for Rental 
Assistance Subsidy Determinations.
    OMB Approval Number: 2528-0203.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved.
    Form Number: None.
    Description of the need for the information and proposed use: The 
Department is conducting under contract a study to update its estimates 
of the extent and type of errors associated with income, rent, and 
subsidy determinations for the 4.3 million households covered by the 
Public Housing and Section 8 housing subsidies. The Quality Control 
process involves selecting a nationally representative sample of 
assisted households to measure the extent and types of errors in rent 
and income determinations, which in turn cause subsidy errors. On-site 
tenant interviews, file reviews, third-party income verifications, and 
income matching with other Federal data are conducted. The data 
obtained are used to identify the most serious problems and their 
associated costs. HUD program officers are then responsible for 
designing and implementing corrective actions. In addition to providing 
current estimates of error, results will be compared with those from 
previous years' studies. These comparisons will indicate whether 
corrective actions initiated since the 2000 study have been effective 
and if changes in priorities are needed. The first QC study was 
completed in 1996 and found that about one-half of the errors measured 
using on-site tenant interviews and file reviews could not be detected 
with the 50058/50059 from data collected by the Department, which is 
why HUD and other agencies with means-tested programs have determined 
that on-site reviews and interviews are an essential complement to 
remote monitoring measures. The 2000 study showed that the calculation 
errors detectable with 50058/50059 data had decreased, probably because 
this information was increasingly subject to automated computational 
checks. HUD has initiated a program of corrective actions and increased 
monitoring since 2000 and recent studies of tenant certification and 
recertification actions showed significant error reductions in income 
and rent determinations. Future studies are planned on an annual basis, 
as required by legislation. Program monitoring and income matching 
policies being implemented may eliminate the need for an independent, 
statistically valid measure of program errors provided by the current 
study design, but such procedures have yet to be fully implemented and 
evaluated. The Improper Payments Act of 2002 requires that the 
Department report on the error measurements annually. This propose data 
collection approval request is for studies to be conducted in 2011, 
2012, 2013 and 2014 of prior year certification and recertification 
actions.
    Respondents (i.e. affected public): Recipients of Public Housing 
and Section 8 Housing Assistance subsidies.
    Estimation of the total number of hours needed to prepare the 
information collection, including the number of respondents, frequency 
of response, and hours of response: For each study, approximately 600 
PHA/program sponsor staff will need to be asked about recertification 
procedures, training, interview procedures, and problems encountered in 
conducting (re)certifications. Although more than one staff member may 
need to be contacted to obtain answers to all questions, the 
questionnaire will be administered once at each participating project 
and the total interview times are expected to be less than 40 minutes 
per PHA or project. Researchers will survey approximately 2,400 program 
participants to obtain information on household composition, expenses, 
and income. The time required for these interviews will vary, but is 
estimated to require an average of about 50 minutes per interview. The 
time estimates

[[Page 69104]]

provided are based on the 2011 QC survey. The proposed surveys will 
continue to make use of Computer Assisted Interviewing (CAI) 
questionnaires and equipment, which are being used in part because they 
reduce interview times. The software also provides for consistency 
check and ensures that all needed data have been collected, thereby 
reducing the need for the follow-up contacts.

B. Solicitation of Public Comment

    This notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and 
affected parties concerning the collection of information described in 
Section A on the following:
    (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for 
the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including 
whether the information will have practical utility; (2) The accuracy 
of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information; (3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (4) Ways to 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. HUD encourages interested parties to submit comment in 
response to these questions.

     Authority:  Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapters 35.

    Dated: November 6, 2013.
Colette Pollard,
Department Reports Management Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer.
[FR Doc. 2013-27504 Filed 11-15-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P