[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 21 (Friday, January 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5446-5448]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-02060]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket Number FR-5752-N-11]


30-Day Notice of Information Collection: Comprehensive Listing of 
Transactional Documents for Mortgagors, Mortgagees and Contractors

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information Officer, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: On March 14, 2013, HUD published in the Federal Register a 
notice that announced that FHA's healthcare facility documents 
completed the notice and comment processes under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), and had been assigned a control number, 
2502-0605, by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The assignment 
of a control number concluded a 10-month process through which HUD 
solicited public comment to update 115 healthcare facility documents to 
reflect current policy and practices, to improve accountability by all 
parties involved in FHA's healthcare facility transactions and 
strengthen risk management.
    On September 10, 2013, published a notice in the Federal Register 
that solicited, for a period of 60 days, public comment on this 
collection solely on the issue of which healthcare facility documents 
are eligible for electronic submission. HUD did not address this issue 
as part of the previous notice and comment process, but recognized the 
importance, efficiency, and reduction of burden that electronic 
submission of documents can achieve, and solicited public comment on 
the healthcare facility documents that HUD had determined may be 
submitted, but are not required to be submitted, electronically.
    The purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days of 
public comment.

DATES: Comment Due Date: March 3, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding 
this notice. Communications must refer to the above docket number and 
title. 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. Comments may be submitted 
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 
notice.

    No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile (fax) comments are not acceptable.
    Public Inspection of Public Comments. All properly submitted 
comments and communications will be available for public inspection and 
downloading at www.regulations.gov under the docket number for this 
notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John M. Hartung, Director, Policy and 
Risk Management Division, Office of Residential Care Facilities, Office 
of Healthcare Programs, Office of Housing,

[[Page 5447]]

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1222 Spruce Street, 
Room 3.203, St. Louis, MO 63103-2836; telephone (314) 418-5238 (this is 
not a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech disabilities 
may access this number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal 
Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

A. 2012 PRA Process on Substance of Healthcare Facility Documents

    On May 3, 2012, at 77 FR 26304, and consistent with the PRA, HUD 
published a notice in the Federal Register seeking public comment for a 
period of 60 days (60-day Notice) on HUD's proposed update and 
revisions to a set of production, underwriting, asset management, 
closing, and other documents used in connection with transactions 
involving healthcare facilities, excluding hospitals (collectively, the 
healthcare facility documents), that are insured pursuant to section 
232 of the National Housing Act (Section 232). In conjunction with 
publication of the 60-day Notice, the proposed revised healthcare 
facility documents (115 documents) were made available at: www.hud.gov/232forms. In addition to presenting unmarked versions of the documents, 
this Web site, to the extent applicable, presented the proposed 
healthcare facility documents as a redline/strikeout against the 
updated multifamily rental project closing documents to highlight the 
changes made to facilitate a healthcare transaction. Where the proposed 
healthcare facility documents were based on existing healthcare 
facility documents, the proposed healthcare facility documents, in 
addition to being presented in an unmarked format, were presented in 
redline/strikeout format so that reviewers could see the changes 
proposed to the existing healthcare facility documents.\1\
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    \1\ Along with the 60-day Notice, HUD published in the Federal 
Register on May 3, 2012, at 77 FR 26218, a proposed rule that 
proposed to strengthen regulations for HUD's Section 232 program to 
reflect current policy and practices, and to improve accountability 
and strengthen risk management. A final rule following the May 3, 
2012, proposed rule, and taking into consideration public comment 
received on the proposed rule, was published on September 7, 2012, 
at 77 FR 55120.
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    As a special outreach to the public on proposed changes to the 
healthcare facility documents and Section 232 program regulations, HUD 
hosted a forum on May 31, 2012, in Washington, DC. (See http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/press/multimedia/videos.) While 
comments were raised and discussed at the forum, HUD encouraged forum 
participants to file written comments through the www.regulations.gov 
Web site so that all comments would be more easily accessible to 
interested parties. All comments, whether submitted through 
www.regulations.gov or raised at the forum, were considered in the 
development of the revised documents which were published on November 
21, 2012 (77 FR 69870), and for which, consistent with the PRA, comment 
was solicited for an additional 30 days (30-day Notice).
    In the 30-day Notice, HUD identified substantive changes that were 
made to the healthcare facility documents in response to public 
comments submitted on the 60-day Notice, responded to significant 
issues raised by the commenters, and identified proposed additional 
changes based on further consideration of certain issues. As was the 
case with the 60- day Notice, HUD posted on its Web site the further 
revised healthcare facility documents in (1) a clean format, and (2) in 
redline/strikeout format, to show the changes made from the versions 
posted with issuance of the 60-day Notice.
    On March 14, 2013, at 78 FR 16279, HUD published in the Federal 
Register a notice that announced the approval of the healthcare 
facility documents under the PRA and the assignment of a control 
number, 2502-0605, by OMB. In addition to announcing the assignment of 
an OMB control number, HUD advised in the May 14, 2013, notice that 
additional changes were made to the healthcare facility documents in 
response to comments submitted on the 30-day Notice. In the March 14, 
2013, notice, HUD highlighted additional changes made to the healthcare 
facility documents, and once again, provided on HUD's Web site at 
www.hud.gov/232forms, the final versions of the documents in clean and 
redline/strikeout formats so that reviewers could see the final changes 
made to the documents and the clean final versions of the documents.

B. 2013 PRA Process on Eligibility of Electronic Submission

    On September 10, 2013, at 78 FR 55282, HUD published in the Federal 
Register a notice solely seeking comment on the issue of which 
healthcare facility documents may be submitted electronically. 
Questions arose on this issue after conclusion of the 2012 PRA process. 
Because of the considerable comment solicited and received during the 
2012 PRA process on the substance of the documents, and which just 
concluded in March 2013, the September 30, 2013, notice did not seek 
further comment on the provisions of the documents and the estimate of 
burden.
    In the September 30, 2013, notice, HUD advised that consistent with 
current practice, HUD requires applications for mortgage insurance to 
be submitted electronically, and that therefore any healthcare facility 
documents submitted as part of an application for mortgage insurance 
must be submitted electronically. Of the other healthcare facility 
documents, HUD identified 13 documents that must be submitted with 
original signatures, in hard copy format. These documents are the 
following: Healthcare Regulatory Agreement--Borrower (HUD-92466-ORCF); 
Healthcare Regulatory Agreement--Operator (HUD-92466A-ORCF); Management 
Certification--Residential Care Facility (HUD-9839-ORCF); Lender 
Certification (HUD-92434-ORCF); Offsite Bond-- Dual Obligee (HUD-92479-
ORCF); Performance Bond--Dual Obligee (HUD-92452-ORCF); Payment Bond 
(HUD-92452A-ORCF); Request for Endorsement (HUD-92455-ORCF); Request 
for Final Endorsement (HUD-92023-ORCF); Guide for Opinion for Mater 
Tenant's Counsel (HUD-92335-ORCF); Healthcare Regulatory Agreement--
Master Tenant (HUD-92337-ORCF); Guide for Opinion of Borrower's Counsel 
(HUD-91725-ORCF); and Guide for Opinion of Operator's Counsel and 
Certification (HUD-92325-ORCF). For any of the remaining healthcare 
facility documents other than the application documents or the listed 
13 documents, the September 30, 2013, notice advised that HUD neither 
requires nor prohibits that any of the remaining documents be submitted 
electronically. Electronic submission is an option.
    In the 2012 PRA process, HUD's 30-day Notice, HUD listed in a table 
all the documents for which approval under the PRA was sought and 
provided the burden hours and costs calculated for preparation of and 
submission of each of documents and provided a total aggregate annual 
cost of $4,393,301. (See 77FR 69887-69889).
    In the September 30, 2013, notice, HUD included the table below, 
which provides a breakdown of the estimated costs involved in hard copy 
preparation and shipping, and estimates a $450,000 annual savings in 
costs if documents are

[[Page 5448]]

submitted electronically rather than in hard copy.

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               Item                     Cost per Item          Costs
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Printing by Lender................  1,500 pages at $.04           $60.00
                                     per page.
Lender Box Preparation............  50 per hour and two           100.00
                                     hours per box.
Shipping by Lender to HUD in Field  1--40 lb. box.......           20.00
HUD processing preparation (Field   50 per hour and 1              50.00
 and HQ).                            hour per box.
Shipping by HUD Field to HQ.......  1--40 lb. box.......           20.00
                                                         ---------------
    Total.........................  ....................     $250.00 per
                                                                     box
                                                         ---------------
Estimated  Boxes per       3...................  ..............
 project.
Estimated  of projects     600.................  ..............
 per year.
                                                         ---------------
    Total Annual Costs............  ( of boxes      $450,000.00
                                     x  of
                                     projects x cost per
                                     box).
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    Therefore, in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), HUD is 
soliciting, for an additional 30 days, comments from members of the 
public and interested parties on:
    (1) Whether the documents identified by HUD for originally signed, 
hard copy submission are necessary in such format for proper 
performance of the transactions in which the documents are used;
    (2) Whether any of the documents not identified as necessary for 
originally signed, hard copy submission should be submitted only in 
originally signed, hard copy;
    (3) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the reduced burden and 
reduced costs for submission of documents electronically;
    (4) Whether electronic submission of application documents enhances 
the utility and efficiency of the transactions in which the documents 
are used;
    (5) Whether electronic submission of other documents enhances the 
utility and efficiency of the transactions in which the documents are 
used; and
    (6) Additional ways, through information technology, to minimize 
the burden of the collection of information on those who are to 
respond.
    Comments must be received by March 3, 2014. Comments must refer to 
the proposal by name and docket number (FR-5623-N-05) and may be sent 
to the www.regulations.gov portal provided under the ADDRESSES section 
of this notice or to: HUD Desk Officer, Office of Management and 
Budget, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503, Fax 
number: (202) 395-6947.

    Dated: January 28, 2014.
Colette Pollard,
Department Reports Management Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-02060 Filed 1-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P