[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 97 (Tuesday, May 20, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28938-28940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-11688]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5741-N-01]


Federally Mandated Exclusions From Income--Updated Listing

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: HUD's regulations provide for HUD to periodically publish in 
the Federal Register a notice that lists amounts specifically excluded 
by any Federal statute from consideration as income for purposes of 
determining eligibility or benefits in a HUD program. HUD last 
published a notice that listed Federally mandated exclusions from 
consideration of income on December 14, 2012. This notice replaces the 
previously published version adds a new exclusion, includes an 
inadvertent omission, and corrects two previously listed exclusions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For the Rent Supplement, section 236, 
and Project-based section 8 programs administered under 24 CFR parts 
880, 881, and 883 through 886: Yvette Viviani, Director, Housing 
Assistance Policy Division, Office of Housing Assistance and Grant 
Administration, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th 
Street SW., Room 6138, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number 202-708-
3000. For other section 8 programs administered under 24 CFR part 882 
(Moderate Rehabilitation) and under part 982 (Housing Choice Voucher), 
and the Public Housing Programs: Shauna Sorrells, Director, Office of 
Public Housing Programs, Office of Public and Indian Housing, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room 
4206, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number 202-402-2769, or the 
Public and Indian Housing Information Resource Center at 1-800-955-
2232. For Indian Housing Programs: Rodger Boyd, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary, Office of Native American Programs, Office of Public and 
Indian Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th 
Street SW., Room 4126, Washington, DC 20410, telephone number 202-401-
7914. With the exception of the telephone number for the PIH 
Information Resource Center, these are not toll-free numbers. Persons 
with hearing or speech impairments may access these numbers via TTY by 
calling the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 or by visiting 
http://federalrelay.us/ or http://www.federalip.us/.
    Please note: Members of the public who are aware of other federal 
statutes that require any benefit not listed in this notice to be 
excluded from consideration as income in these programs should submit 
information about the statute and the benefit program to one of the 
persons listed in the ``For Further Information Contact'' section 
above. Members of the public may also submit this information to the 
Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of Housing 
and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room 10276, Washington, DC 
20410-0500.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under several HUD programs (Rent Supplement 
under 24 CFR 200.1303 (although loans in existence immediately before 
May 1, 1996, continue to be governed by 24 CFR part 215 (1995 ed.)); 
Mortgage Insurance and Interest Reduction Payment for Rental Projects 
under 24 CFR part 236; section 8 Housing Assistance programs; Public 
Housing programs), the definition of income excludes amounts of other 
benefits specifically excluded by federal law.

Background

    In certain HUD-subsidized housing programs, annual income is a 
factor in determining eligibility and the level of benefits. Annual 
income is broadly defined as the anticipated total income from all 
sources received by every family member. Federal statutes that require 
certain income sources be disregarded as income are universally 
applicable to all HUD programs where income is a factor in determining 
eligibility and benefits. Other Federal statutes specify that income 
exclusions are specific to certain HUD programs. As directed by various 
statutes, HUD excludes from consideration of income certain types of 
benefits from

[[Page 28939]]

applicants' and participants' annual income, as listed in 24 CFR 5.609, 
this notice, or otherwise specified by statute.

Changes to the Previously Published List

    HUD last published in the Federal Register a notice of Federally 
mandated exclusions from income on December 14, 2012, at 77 FR 74496. 
Today's notice replaces the previously published version by adding a 
new exclusion, including an inadvertent omission, and correcting two 
previously listed exclusions:
    (1) Adds exclusion of any amounts in an ``individual development 
account'' as provided by the Assets for Independence Act, as amended in 
2002 (Pub. L. 107-110, 42 U.S.C. 604(h)(4)), listed as exclusion 
(xxiv);
    (2) Includes previously omitted exclusion of any allowance paid 
under the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 1833(c) to children of Vietnam 
veterans born with spina bifida (38 U.S.C. 1802-05), children of women 
Vietnam veterans born with certain birth defects (38 U.S.C. 1811-16), 
and children of certain Korean service veterans born with spina bifida 
(38 U.S.C. 1821)), listed as exclusion (xvi);
    (3) Clarifies the criteria for Section 8 participants for exclusion 
(viii); and
    (4) Corrects the timeline of exclusion (xxiii) for settlements 
payments pursuant to the case entitled Elouise Cobell et al. v. Ken 
Salazar et al.

Updated List of Federally Mandated Exclusions From Income

    The following updated list of federally mandated exclusions 
supersedes the notice published in the Federal Register on December 14, 
2012. The following list of program benefits is the comprehensive list 
of benefits that currently qualify for the income exclusion in either 
any Federal program or in specific Federal programs (exclusions (viii), 
(xiii), (xxi), and (xxii) have provisions that apply only to specific 
HUD programs):
    (i) The value of the allotment provided to an eligible household 
under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2017(b));
    (ii) Payments to volunteers under the Domestic Volunteer Service 
Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 5044(f)(1), 5058);
    (iii) Certain payments received under the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1626(c));
    (iv) Income derived from certain submarginal land of the United 
States that is held in trust for certain Indian tribes (25 U.S.C. 
459e);
    (v) Payments or allowances made under the Department of Health and 
Human Services' Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (42 U.S.C. 
8624(f));
    (vi) Income derived from the disposition of funds to the Grand 
River Band of Ottawa Indians (Pub. L. 94-540, section 6);
    (vii) The first $2000 of per capita shares received from judgment 
funds awarded by the National Indian Gaming Commission or the U.S. 
Claims Court, the interests of individual Indians in trust or 
restricted lands, and the first $2000 per year of income received by 
individual Indians from funds derived from interests held in such trust 
or restricted lands (25 U.S.C. 1407-1408). This exclusion does not 
include proceeds of gaming operations regulated by the Commission;
    (viii) Amounts of scholarships funded under title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070), including awards under federal 
work-study programs or under the Bureau of Indian Affairs student 
assistance programs (20 U.S.C. 1087uu). For section 8 programs only (42 
U.S.C. 1437f), any financial assistance in excess of amounts received 
by an individual for tuition and any other required fees and charges 
under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), from 
private sources, or an institution of higher education (as defined 
under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)), shall not be 
considered income to that individual if the individual is over the age 
of 23 with dependent children (Pub. L. 109-115, section 327) (as 
amended);
    (ix) Payments received from programs funded under title V of the 
Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3056g);
    (x) Payments received on or after January 1, 1989, from the Agent 
Orange Settlement Fund (Pub. L. 101-201) or any other fund established 
pursuant to the settlement in In Re Agent Orange Liability Litigation, 
M.D.L. No. 381 (E.D.N.Y.);
    (xi) Payments received under the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act 
of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-420, 25 U.S.C. 1728);
    (xii) The value of any child care provided or arranged (or any 
amount received as payment for such care or reimbursement for costs 
incurred for such care) under the Child Care and Development Block 
Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858q);
    (xiii) Earned income tax credit (EITC) refund payments received on 
or after January 1, 1991, for programs administered under the United 
States Housing Act of 1937, title V of the Housing Act of 1949, section 
101 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965, and sections 
221(d)(3), 235, and 236 of the National Housing Act (26 U.S.C. 32(l));
    (xiv) Payments by the Indian Claims Commission to the Confederated 
Tribes and Bands of Yakima Indian Nation or the Apache Tribe of 
Mescalero Reservation (Pub. L. 95-433);
    (xv) Allowances, earnings and payments to AmeriCorps participants 
under the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
12637(d));
    (xvi) Any allowance paid under the provisions of 38 U.S.C. 1833(c) 
to children of Vietnam veterans born with spina bifida (38 U.S.C. 1802-
05), children of women Vietnam veterans born with certain birth defects 
(38 U.S.C. 1811-16), and children of certain Korean service veterans 
born with spina bifida (38 U.S.C. 1821).
    (xvii) Any amount of crime victim compensation (under the Victims 
of Crime Act) received through crime victim assistance (or payment or 
reimbursement of the cost of such assistance) as determined under the 
Victims of Crime Act because of the commission of a crime against the 
applicant under the Victims of Crime Act (42 U.S.C. 10602(c));
    (xviii) Allowances, earnings, and payments to individuals 
participating in programs under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 
(29 U.S.C. 2931(a)(2));
    (xix) Any amount received under the Richard B. Russell School Lunch 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(e)) and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 
1780(b)), including reduced-price lunches and food under the Special 
Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC);
    (xx) Payments, funds, or distributions authorized, established, or 
directed by the Seneca Nation Settlement Act of 1990 (25 U.S.C. 
1774f(b));
    (xxi) Payments from any deferred U.S. Department of Veterans 
Affairs disability benefits that are received in a lump sum amount or 
in prospective monthly amounts (42 U.S.C. Sec.  1437a(b)(4));
    (xxii) Compensation received by or on behalf of a veteran for 
service-connected disability, death, dependency, or indemnity 
compensation as provided by an amendment by the Indian Veterans Housing 
Opportunity Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-269; 25 U.S.C. 4103(9)) to the 
definition of income applicable to programs authorized under the Native 
American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) (25 
U.S.C. 4101 et seq.) and administered by the Office of Native American 
Programs;
    (xxiii) A lump sum or a periodic payment received by an individual

[[Page 28940]]

Indian pursuant to the Class Action Settlement Agreement in the case 
entitled Elouise Cobell et al. v. Ken Salazar et al., 816 F.Supp.2d 10 
(Oct. 5, 2011 D.D.C.), for a period of one year from the time of 
receipt of that payment as provided in the Claims Resolution Act of 
2010 (Pub. L. 111-291);
    (xxiv) Any amounts in an ``individual development account'' as 
provided by the Assets for Independence Act, as amended in 2002 (Pub. 
L. 107-110, 42 U.S.C. 604(h)(4));
    (xxv) Per capita payments made from the proceeds of Indian Tribal 
Trust Cases as described in PIH Notice 2013-30 ``Exclusion from Income 
of Payments under Recent Tribal Trust Settlements'' (25 U.S.C. 
117b(a)); and
    (xxvi) Major disaster and emergency assistance received by 
individuals and families under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
and Emergency Assistance Act (Pub. L. 93-288, as amended) and 
comparable disaster assistance provided by States, local governments, 
and disaster assistance organizations (42 U.S.C. 5155(d)).

    Dated: May 12, 2014.
Deborah A. Hernandez,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.
Laura M. Marin,
Associate General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing--Associate 
Deputy Federal Housing Commissioner.
[FR Doc. 2014-11688 Filed 5-19-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P