[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 48 (Friday, March 11, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12921-12930]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05521]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5173-N-08]


Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Assessment Tool for States 
and Insular Areas: Solicitation of Comment--60-Day Notice Under 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal 
Opportunity, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: On July 16, 2015, HUD published the Affirmatively Furthering 
Fair Housing (AFFH) final rule that provides HUD program participants 
with a new process for planning for fair housing outcomes that will 
assist them in meeting their statutory obligation to affirmatively 
further fair housing. This process includes an assessment tool that 
must be used by program participants to evaluate fair housing choice 
and access to opportunity in their jurisdictions, to identify barriers 
to fair housing choice and opportunity at the local and regional 
levels, and to set fair housing goals to overcome such barriers and 
advance fair housing choice.
    HUD committed to issue three assessment tools for its program 
participants covered by the AFFH final rule. One assessment tool is for 
use by local governments (Local Government Assessment Tool) that 
receive assistance under certain grant programs administered by HUD's 
Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD), as well as by joint 
and regional collaborations between: (i) Local governments; (ii) one or 
more local governments and one or more public housing agency (PHA) 
partners; and (iii) other collaborations in which such a local 
government is designated as the lead for the collaboration. The second 
tool (the subject of this Notice) is to be used by States and Insular 
Areas (State and Insular Area Assessment Tool), including joint or 
regional collaborations (with local governments and/or PHAs) where the 
State is designated as the lead entity. The third assessment tool is 
for PHAs (including for joint collaborations among multiple PHAs) (PHA 
Assessment Tool). On December 31, 2015, HUD issued the Local Government 
Assessment.
    This notice solicits public comment for a period of 60 days on the 
proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool. In seeking comment for 
a period of 60 days, this notice commences the process for compliance 
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The PRA requires two 
public comment periods--a public comment period of 60 days and a second 
comment period of 30 days. After consideration of the public comments 
submitted in response to this notice, HUD will solicit a second round 
of public comments for a period of 30 days.
    To further facilitate public input on the State and Insular Areas 
Assessment Tool, HUD will post sample maps and tables that are intended 
to provide options for presenting relevant data. Sample data will be 
posted on https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/affh/ and https://www.huduser.gov/portal/affht_pt.html no later than March 18, 2016.

DATES: Comment Due Date: May 10, 2016.

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 two 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 20410-0500.
    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 public comments 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.



[[Page 12922]]


    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.

    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 who are deaf or hard of hearing 
and individuals with speech impairments may access this number via TTY 
by calling the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339. Copies of all 
comments submitted are available for inspection and downloading at 
www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dustin Parks, Office of Fair Housing 
and Equal Opportunity, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 
7th Street SW., Room 5249, Washington, DC 20410-0500; telephone number 
202-708-1112 (this is not a toll-free number). Persons who are deaf or 
hard of hearing and persons with speech impairments may access this 
number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at 
800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    On July 16, 2015, at 80 FR 42272, HUD issued its final AFFH rule. 
The AFFH rule provides a new approach to enable program participants to 
more fully incorporate fair housing considerations into their existing 
planning processes and assist them in their efforts to comply with 
their duty to affirmatively further fair housing as required by the 
Fair Housing Act, which is Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act, and 
other authorities. The Fair Housing Act not only prohibits 
discrimination, but, in conjunction with other statutes, directs HUD's 
program participants to take meaningful actions to overcome historic 
patterns of segregation, promote fair housing choice, and foster 
inclusive communities that are free from discrimination.
    The new approach established by HUD replaces the existing analysis 
of impediments (AI) process. The approach is designed to assist program 
participants in analyzing their fair housing environment, identifying 
fair housing issues and the related contributing factors, and setting 
fair housing goals, and, ultimately, taking meaningful actions to 
affirmatively further fair housing. This approach builds upon and 
refines the fair housing elements of the existing fair housing planning 
processes that are in the process of being replaced as the AFH process 
is being phased in pursuant to the AFFH rule.
    To assist program participants in improving planning to achieve 
meaningful fair housing outcomes, the new approach involves an 
``assessment tool'' for use in completing the regulatory requirement to 
conduct an assessment of fair housing (AFH) as set out in the AFFH 
rule. To aid in the completion of an AFH, HUD committed to provide 
program participants and the public with certain nationally available 
data, and State, local, and regional data relevant to the AFH, 
including data on certain demographics; patterns of integration and 
segregation; racially or ethnically concentrated areas of poverty (R/
ECAPs); disparities in access to education, employment, low-poverty 
neighborhoods, transportation, and environmental health, among other 
critical opportunity indicators; disproportionate housing needs; data 
on publicly supported housing, including location and occupancy 
patterns; and data on individuals with disabilities and families with 
children. Using these data, together with other available local data 
and local knowledge, program participants will evaluate their present 
fair housing environment to assess fair housing issues, identify 
significant contributing factors that create, contribute to, 
perpetuate, or increase the severity of those issues, and set forth 
fair housing priorities and goals to address fair housing issues and 
significant contributing factors. The expected benefit of this approach 
is that by engaging in the analysis of this information, program 
participants, with the input of the community, can set better 
priorities and goals that will better inform their AFFH strategies and 
actions by enabling program participants to improve the integration of 
fair housing planning with other planning processes.
    As noted in the Summary of this document, HUD has committed to 
issue three assessment tools: the Local Government Assessment Tool, the 
State and Insular Area Assessment Tool, and the PHA Assessment Tool. 
The final Local Government Assessment Tool issued by HUD on December 
31, 2015, and announced by HUD on that same date in the Federal 
Register, at 80 FR 81840, provides the basic structure and primary 
areas to be covered by all three assessment tools. The final Local 
Government Assessment Tool, the instructions for this tool, an AFFH 
Rule Guidebook, and the AFFH Data and Mapping Tool can all be found at 
https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/affh/.
    It is the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool that HUD 
is submitting for public comment through this Notice. References to 
``States'' in the assessment tool are inclusive of ``Insular Areas.''
    As with the Local Government Assessment Tool issued on December 31, 
2015, the State and Insular Area Assessment Tool allows for 
collaboration with other program participants that may include either 
local government or PHAs. HUD is particularly interested in soliciting 
public comment on joint collaborations between States and Qualified 
PHAs,\1\ as these entities may especially benefit from such 
collaborations, and HUD encourages such collaboration.
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    \1\ A Qualified PHA, defined at 24 CFR 5.142, includes a PHA 
that: (1) Has a combined unit total of 550 or less public housing 
units and section 8 vouchers; and (2) is not designated troubled 
under section 6(j)(2) of the 1937 Act, the Public Housing Assessment 
System (PHAS), as a troubled public housing agency during the prior 
12 months; and (3) does not have a failing score under the Section 8 
Management Assessment Program (SEMAP) during the prior 12 months.
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II. The Proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool

A. Sources of Data and Information To Complete the Assessment of Fair 
Housing

    HUD-Provided Data: One of HUD's major considerations in formulating 
the new AFFH planning process is to provide certain nationally uniform 
data to program participants that would be useful in completing an AFH. 
All program participants must use the HUD-provided data, which includes 
data for the program participant's jurisdiction and region, to complete 
the AFH. A collaborative AFH must reference the HUD-provided data for 
each program participant's jurisdiction and region. The HUD-provided 
data will be used by various types of program participants (e.g. those 
in urban areas, rural areas, suburban areas, majority-minority 
communities), which may have unique characteristics, issues, and 
challenges. The HUD-provided data will help program participants assess 
local and regional fair housing issues and contributing factors and set 
priorities and goals to overcome them. However, certain HUD-provided 
data may have limitations, including limitations in

[[Page 12923]]

how they apply to geographic areas with different characteristics 
(e.g., rural versus urban, majority minority areas). While HUD is 
providing nationally uniform data, as with the Local Government 
Assessment Tool, HUD recognizes in this proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool that there are other important data sources that may be 
available and relevant locally, including data that are unavailable 
from a nationally uniform source.
    HUD is only able to provide data for those protected class groups 
for which nationally uniform data are available. For this reason, some 
questions in the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool focus 
on specific protected classes based on the availability of such data. 
For these questions, local data and local knowledge may provide 
information to supplement the analysis for protected classes not 
covered by the HUD-provided data. Local data and local knowledge can be 
particularly helpful when program participants have local data that are 
more up-to-date or more accurate than the HUD-provided data or when the 
HUD-provided data do not cover all of the protected classes that would 
be relevant to program participants' analyses. Consequently, although 
HUD will provide nationally available data that are expected to be of 
significant assistance to program participants, the AFFH rule 
recognizes the value of local data and knowledge.
    Local Data and Local Knowledge: In addition to the nationally 
uniform data provided by HUD, program participants are required to use 
local data and local knowledge to inform their assessments. However, 
the AFH process does not require program participants to create or 
compile new data. Rather program participants must consider existing 
local data and local knowledge that is relevant in order to answer 
questions in the assessment tool. Local data and local knowledge 
include data and information gained through the community 
participation, consultation, and coordination processes set out in the 
AFFH rule at Sec.  5.158.
    Local data are existing data pertaining to the State or Insular 
Area or its region that are relevant to the AFH, that are either known 
or become known to the program participant or that can be found through 
a reasonable amount of searching, and that are readily available at 
little or no cost.
    Local knowledge, on the other hand, is information relating to the 
State's or Insular Area's jurisdiction or its region that is relevant 
to the AFH and is known or becomes known to the program participant.
    A program participant must complete its AFH using the assessment 
tool designated for its use and HUD-provided data, as well as any local 
data, and local knowledge that are relevant. To the extent that HUD 
does not provide data for a program participant to respond to a 
question in the assessment tool, and there is no local data and no 
local knowledge that would be responsive to the question, stating that 
data and knowledge are unavailable to the program participant is an 
acceptable and complete response to that particular question. However, 
if HUD finds that an AFH is materially inconsistent with HUD-provided 
data or finds that local data or local knowledge relevant to a question 
were available to the program participant, HUD will determine, as 
applicable, that the AFH is substantially incomplete and/or 
inconsistent with fair housing and other civil rights requirements, and 
not accept the AFH.

B. Structure of the Proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool

    This proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool is designed 
with the same three key objectives that HUD had in mind in its design 
of the first assessment tool, the Local Government Assessment Tool. 
First, the assessment tool must ask questions that would be sufficient 
to enable program participants to perform a meaningful assessment of 
key fair housing issues and contributing factors and set meaningful 
fair housing goals and priorities. Second, the assessment tool must 
clearly convey the analysis of fair housing issues and contributing 
factors that program participants must undertake in order for an AFH to 
be accepted by HUD. Third, the assessment tool must be designed so 
program participants would be able to use it to prepare an AFH that HUD 
would accept without unnecessary burden.
    The following presents the structure for the proposed State and 
Insular Area Assessment Tool, which closely tracks the structure of the 
Local Government Assessment Tool, with some key changes. For example, 
States and Insular Areas have different responsibilities compared to 
local governments. One of the key considerations in the proposed State 
and Insular Area Assessment Tool pertains to how to include questions 
designed to elicit a fair housing analysis for Qualified PHAs that will 
sufficiently address fair housing issues, contributing factors, goals 
and priorities relating to the PHA's service area (jurisdiction) and 
region. The AFFH rule strongly encourages program participants to 
collaborate on an AFH. While the AFFH rule encourages collaboration 
among all types of program participants, this Notice specifically 
solicits public input on how best to facilitate collaborative 
participation between States and Qualified PHAs.
    Qualified PHAs vary in their size of operations and scope. HUD 
believes that Qualified PHAs collaborating with a State may be 
beneficial to both parties. There are resources available to States 
that may not be available to all Qualified PHAs, so this collaboration 
can help reduce burden for Qualified PHAs while also informing the 
State's analysis with supplemental information available to the 
Qualified PHA. Section F of this document presents issues for which HUD 
is specifically seeking comment, with respect to how HUD may design the 
assessment tool to facilitate collaborations between States and 
Qualified PHAs. In addition to including specific questions focused on 
collaboration with Qualified PHAs, HUD is interested in all public 
comments on the types of collaborations that are likely to occur and 
how to facilitate collaboration with other program participants of any 
size that may wish to collaborate with a State.
    Section I. As is the case with the Local Government Assessment 
Tool, Section I of the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool 
contains the Cover Sheet and Certification and addresses basic 
information applicable to the program participant or program 
participants (where there are joint submissions), such as the name of 
the entity making the submission, the type of submission (e.g., whether 
it is a submission by a State or Insular Area, individually, or a State 
or Insular Area in collaboration with another program participant), the 
time period covered by the assessment, and the required certifications.
    Section II. This section of the proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool is an Executive Summary to provide the State or Insular 
Area, and any other program participant that joins in collaboration 
with the State or Insular Area, the opportunity to present a general 
overview of the AFH's findings and the fair housing priorities and 
goals established.
    Section III. This section of the proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool addresses the community participation process and 
directs the State or Insular Area to describe outreach activities to 
encourage community participation in the development and review of the 
AFH, to describe how successful its outreach efforts were in obtaining 
community participation related to the AFH, and to

[[Page 12924]]

summarize all comments obtained in the community participation process, 
including a summary of any comments or views not accepted and the 
reasons why.
    Section IV. This section of the proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool, entitled ``Assessment of Past Goals and Actions,'' 
asks States and Insular Areas to explain the fair housing goals they 
selected in their recent AIs, AFHs, or other relevant planning 
documents, and the progress that was made in achieving these goals. In 
essence, this section requires program participants to reflect upon the 
progress of past goals and actions and the efforts undertaken to 
achieve fair housing goals. This section also solicits information on 
how such experience influenced the selection of fair housing goals that 
the State or Insular Area sets in the current AFH.
    Section V. This section of the proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool, entitled ``Fair Housing Analysis,'' presents the core 
analysis to be undertaken by States, Insular Areas, and program 
participants that may be participating with the State or Insular Area 
in a collaborative AFH. This section of the proposed State and Insular 
Area Assessment Tool is structured to help program participants 
identify the fair housing issues and contributing factors in their 
jurisdiction and region. The proposed State and Insular Area Assessment 
Tool, as is the case with the Local Government Assessment Tool, 
requires the State or Insular Area to examine fair housing issues that 
exist within the State or Insular Area and those that may go beyond the 
boundaries of the State or Insular Area. As stated in the Local 
Government Assessment Tool, fair housing issues are often not 
constrained by political-geographic boundaries, and the State or 
Insular Area must determine if such is the case for any fair housing 
issues identified in their AFH.
    Section V includes an assessment of certain key fair housing 
issues--segregation and integration, racially or ethnically 
concentrated areas of poverty, disparities in access to opportunity, 
disproportionate housing needs, publicly supported housing, and 
disability and access. Each subsection of Section V also includes 
targeted questions in order to help ensure that the AFH includes 
appropriate analysis from a fair housing perspective.
    An area of analysis included in the proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool that has been expanded upon from the Local Government 
Assessment Tool pertains to low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs). 
The LIHTC questions presented in the proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool include questions pertaining to a State's Qualified 
Allocation Plan (QAP).\2\ This section of the proposed State and 
Insular Area Assessment Tool, which differs from the Local Government 
Assessment Tool, also includes questions pertaining to other State-
administered programs relating to housing and urban development. These 
questions differ from those in the Local Government Assessment Tool 
because of the unique role played by States in connection with the 
LIHTC program and other programs such as State Housing Trust Funds. HUD 
recognizes that at least some Insular Areas may not have all of the 
same programs as States.
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    \2\ Low-income housing tax credits are managed by the Department 
of Treasury. The Qualified Allocation Plan is a federally mandated 
planning requirement that States annually use to explain the basis 
upon which they distribute their LIHTC allocations. Based on their 
QAP, states establish preferences and set-asides within their tax 
credit competitions so as to target the credits towards specific 
places (such as rural areas) or types of people (such as elderly 
households). See https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/hsgfin/analysis_of_sqa_plans.html.
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    Section VI. Section VI, Fair Housing Goals and Priorities, contains 
a summary table of the fair housing issues that the State or Insular 
Area and any program participant collaborating with them on an AFH have 
identified. The table includes a framework for the State or Insular 
Area to establish fair housing goals to overcome contributing factors 
and related fair housing issues by setting specific goals that include 
metrics and milestones, and a timeframe for achievement. The table also 
includes a space to identify the responsible party in the event the 
State or Insular Area conducts a joint AFH with other program 
participants.
    The preceding presented a brief overview of the structure and 
content of the State and Insular Area Assessment Tool. For States, 
Insular Areas, other HUD program participants and the public generally, 
HUD provides at https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/affh/ a 
comparison of the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool to 
the final Local Government Assessment Tool so that covered program 
participants and interested parties can see in detail the differences 
between this proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool and the 
Local Government Assessment Tool issued on December 31, 2015.

C. Instructions To Accompany the Proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool

    The instructions, which will be part of the proposed State and 
Insular Area Assessment Tool, are also provided for public comment at 
the Web site listed above. The comparison of this proposed State and 
Insular Area Assessment Tool to the Local Government Assessment Tool 
issued on December 31, 2015, also highlights the differences in 
instructions provided in the Local Government Assessment Tool and the 
proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool. Please note that the 
instructions provided in the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment 
Tool include placeholders where HUD intends to provide data pertaining 
to specific questions. HUD intends to generally provide States with 
thematic maps at the county or statistically equivalent level in the 
AFFH Data and Mapping Tool. HUD intends to provide additional 
functionality to allow States to zoom in to the dot density maps that 
are currently provided for local governments and PHAs submitting an AFH 
using the Local Government Assessment Tool issued on December 31, 2015. 
HUD is currently in the process of compiling such data, which will be 
incorporated into the AFFH Data and Mapping Tool prior to the final 
issuance of the State and Insular Area Assessment Tool.

D. PHA Assessment Tool

    As noted earlier in this document, HUD has not only committed to 
issuance of a State and Insular Area Assessment Tool, but to issuance 
of a PHA Assessment Tool for PHAs' use in conducting the AFH 
individually or in collaboration with other PHAs. HUD will soon issue 
the 60-day public comment notice for the proposed PHA Assessment Tool. 
It should be noted that the questions contained in the proposed PHA 
Assessment Tool will differ from the questions addressed to Qualified 
PHAs that collaborate with States using the proposed State and Insular 
Area Assessment Tool. HUD expects that collaborations between States 
and Qualified PHAs may reduce burden for Qualified PHAs. Although 
program participants will decide among themselves how to divide the 
work on a collaborative AFH, a State's analysis of the entire State and 
region is expected to fulfill the regional analysis that Qualified PHAs 
would otherwise be required to perform if submitting an individual AFH 
using the PHA Assessment Tool. As discussed more fully below, the 
proposed State and

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Insular Area Assessment Tool contains specific questions relating to 
collaborating with Qualified PHAs. HUD would like feedback on the 
circumstances in which these collaborations are likely to occur and the 
structure of the State and Insular Area Assessment Tool that would be 
most effective in facilitating those collaborations while still 
ensuring that the required fair housing analysis and priority and goal 
setting for each collaborating program participant is conducted.

E. Small Entities

    Whether the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool, which 
is the subject of this Notice, the proposed PHA Assessment Tool, which 
remains to be issued, or the Local Government Assessment Tool that HUD 
has already issued, HUD is cognizant that completion of the AFH will 
place some burden on small entities, and HUD welcomes comments on how 
burden may be reduced for all program participants, but especially for 
small entities, while still achieving the necessary fair housing 
analysis.

F. Solicitation of Specific Comment on the Proposed State and Insular 
Area Assessment Tool

    While the primary purpose of comment under the Paperwork Reduction 
Act is to determine the burden of any information collection 
requirement, HUD, as was the case for the Local Government Assessment 
Tool, also solicits comment on the content of the proposed State and 
Insular Area Assessment Tool, the clarity of the questions presented 
and whether there are areas of information sought that program 
participants believe are not necessary to a meaningful AFH, or whether 
there are important areas of information for conducting a meaningful 
fair housing analysis that HUD may have overlooked. HUD also solicits 
comments for the following questions:
Content of the Proposed State and Insular Assessment Tool
    In developing the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool, 
HUD has made changes to the Local Government Assessment Tool in order 
to capture the appropriate level of information for States and Insular 
Areas conducting a fair housing analysis and goal setting. Some 
questions have been removed, new questions have been added, and some 
questions remain but with revisions. As noted earlier in this notice, 
HUD's AFFH Web page at https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/affh/ 
provides a comparison of the Local Government Assessment Tool and this 
proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool, which includes a 
section of questions to facilitate collaborations between States and 
Qualified PHAs.
    One of the differences between the Local Government Assessment Tool 
and the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool pertains to the 
analysis of disparities in access to opportunity. HUD is considering 
different ways of structuring this section to obtain an appropriate 
fair housing analysis of disparities in access to opportunity. The 
proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool seeks analysis relating 
to States' programs and policies and how they affect protected class 
groups in new areas including emergency preparedness, prisoner re-
entry, public health, public safety, and housing and financial 
opportunities (access to rental housing, home ownership, and mortgage 
loans). The proposed State and Insular Assessment Tool, through a 
general question, solicits information from States and Insular Areas on 
these five areas. In this Notice, HUD provides specific questions on 
certain areas that HUD is also considering for inclusion with the tool.
    Specific solicitation of comment: HUD is considering two approaches 
to the section of the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool 
in which program participants will analyze disparities in access to 
opportunity. One approach asks more general questions and relies on 
States and Insular Areas to be diligent in identifying specific 
subjects involving disparities in access to opportunity for protected 
class groups. The other approach asks more targeted questions that 
would guide program participants through the required analysis and 
reduce the risk of an inadvertent omission of a key point of analysis. 
HUD specifically solicits comment from States and Insular Areas and 
other interested parties on which of these approaches would be more 
beneficial in eliciting an appropriate fair housing analysis from 
States and Insular Areas. The following presents proposed targeted 
questions on these areas for which HUD solicits comment not only on 
whether such targeted questions should be included in the proposed 
State and Insular Area Assessment Tool, but also on whether these 
questions appropriately target information on these five areas for 
purposes of conducting a meaningful fair housing analysis, and if there 
are better ways to pose the questions or additional questions that 
should be included:
Disparities Related to Emergency Management and Preparedness
     Identify and describe any disparities in access to 
emergency management and preparedness programs, policies, practices, 
and resources, including prevention, protection, mitigation, response, 
and recovery within the State by protected class. What role does a 
person's place of residence have on access to emergency preparedness 
opportunities?
     Describe any effects on emergency management and 
preparedness for protected class groups in your State of the emergency 
preparedness programs, policies, practices, and resources in 
neighboring states or a broader geographic area.
Re-Entry Opportunities (Re-entry Relates to Offenders Transitioning 
Back Into the Community)
     Describe the demographics of the State's population 
involved in re-entry in terms of race, ethnicity, national origin 
(including LEP persons), sex, and disability. Which protected class 
groups are least successful in accessing housing, employment, 
counseling, education, or other opportunities in the State?
Disparities Related to Public Health Services
     What role does a person's place of residence have on 
access to public health programs and resources (chronic disease 
prevention, environmental health, family health, healthcare quality, 
and exposure to communicable diseases) in the State? Which protected 
class groups have the least access to public health programs and 
resources and the greatest exposure to public health hazards?
Disparities Related to Public Safety
     Describe disparities related to public safety, including 
law enforcement, fire and rescue, and emergency medical services, in 
the State by protected class. What role does a person's place of 
residence have on disparities related to public safety in the State? 
Which protected class groups experience the most disparities related to 
public safety in the State?
Housing and Financial Opportunities
     Describe any laws, policies, and practices affecting 
affordable rental housing, homeownership and mortgage access in the 
State, including occupancy codes and homeownership programs. Describe 
disparities in access to rental housing, homeownership, and mortgage 
access, including State lending programs, tax incentives,

[[Page 12926]]

homeownership programs, and State housing assistance or subsidies, in 
the State by protected class.
     What role does a person's place of residence have on 
access to affordable rental housing, homeownership and mortgage access 
in the State? Which protected class groups have the least access to 
affordable rental housing, homeownership, and financial opportunities 
in the State?
    Specific solicitation of comment: Through the questions presented 
in the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool (and the 
alternate questions included immediately above in this Notice), has HUD 
captured the appropriate level of information from States and Insular 
Areas in conducting their AFH? Are there additional areas of analysis 
that should be included in the State and Insular Area Assessment Tool 
given their areas of responsibility, programs, policymaking, and 
jurisdictions? HUD solicits comment on any additional areas of analysis 
or specific questions that should be included in the State and Insular 
Area Assessment Tool and HUD asks commenters responding to this 
question to indicate the section of the assessment tool where these 
additional subject areas or questions should be included. HUD also 
solicits comment on any questions included in the State and Insular 
Area Assessment Tool that should be excluded and the reasons why.
States With Rural Areas and Other Key Differences Among States and 
Insular Areas
    HUD recognizes that many States include rural areas and is 
particularly interested in obtaining comment on how the State and 
Insular Area Assessment Tool can ensure an appropriate fair housing 
analysis for rural areas. HUD is also interested in other differences 
that may cause States and Insular Areas to have to have different fair 
housing issues that need to be assessed. HUD seeks solicits comment on 
how to best accommodate these differences between States and Insular 
Areas while still providing an appropriate vehicle for fair housing 
analysis.
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: States and Insular Areas must 
assess their entire jurisdiction; however, HUD recognizes that rural 
areas may present certain challenges in conducting such an assessment. 
Are there particular questions that HUD should include in the State and 
Insular Area Assessment Tool to ensure the appropriate focus on rural 
areas? What sources of information do States have access to when 
considering fair housing issues in rural areas? HUD seeks comment on 
any additional questions or additional data that should be included and 
the applicable section of the State and Insular Area Assessment Tool to 
address how States and Insular Areas can assess rural areas.
    Specific Solicitation of Comments: States and Insular Areas can 
have different populations, can have many different characteristics, 
and, as a result, can have different types of program and policies that 
affect fair housing. HUD seeks comment on any key areas beyond those 
HUD has already presented in the proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool and this notice? If a commenter suggests other key 
areas to be added, HUD asks the commenter to indicate why the area is 
important to include when conducting a fair housing analysis, what 
questions to ask about it, and any relevant data a State or Insular 
Area may use.
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: Native American considerations. 
Indian tribes receiving HUD assistance are not required to comply with 
AFFH requirements. However, under certain HUD programs, grantees that 
are subject to AFFH requirements also provide assistance to tribal 
communities on reservations. For example, under the HOME program, a 
State may fund projects on Indian reservations if the State includes 
Indian reservations in its Consolidated Plan. Does the Assessment Tool 
adequately take into account, including in the terminology used, the 
issues and needs of Indian families and tribal communities while also 
factoring in the unique circumstances of tribal communities?
Disability and Access
    Section V.D of the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool 
requires an analysis of disability and access in the State or Insular 
Area. This section of the proposed State and Insular Assessment Tool is 
intended to solicit specific information about disability and access 
issues, while incorporating the rest of the analysis completed in prior 
sections of the assessment tool.
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: Is the Disability and Access 
section of the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool 
adequately clear such that it includes the analysis of prior sections 
as it relates to disability and access issues.
Contributing Factors
    A key part of the AFH analysis is the identification of 
contributing factors. HUD seeks comment on the contributing factor 
analysis in the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool.
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: Many of the contributing factors 
contained in the Local Government Assessment Tool remain in the 
proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool. HUD specifically seeks 
comment on whether there are additional contributing factors that 
should be included in the State and Insular Area Assessment Tool that 
are of particular importance for States and Insular Areas to consider 
while conducting their fair housing analysis. If a commenter suggests 
additional contributing factors to be included in the State and Insular 
Area Assessment Tool, HUD asks the commenter to identify to which fair 
housing issues or sections of the assessment tool these additional 
factors should be added. HUD also asks commenters to provide a 
description of the additional factor and why the commenter(s) believe 
it is of particular relevance for States and Insular Areas. HUD also 
solicits comment on any contributing factors included in the State and 
Insular Area Assessment Tool that should be excluded and the reasons 
why.
Regional Analysis
    As provided in the AFFH rule, all program participants must conduct 
an analysis not only for their jurisdiction but also for the larger 
area that is their region. The proposed State and Insular Assessment 
Tool generally keeps analysis for the jurisdiction and analysis for the 
region together in the same question, except in circumstances where a 
specific question does not provide for a regional analysis. The 
instructions provide guidance on the appropriate region to be 
considered. HUD generally combined the questions relating to 
jurisdiction and region so that the proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool was shorter and considered both jurisdictional and 
regional fair housing issues concurrently but recognizes that it could 
take a different approach to the structure and organization of 
questions that call for a regional analysis.
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: HUD is seeking comment on the 
best approach for States to conduct an effective fair housing regional 
analysis addressing the fair housing issues and contributing factors 
affecting their State. HUD is considering different approaches to 
accomplish this. One approach, as presented in the proposed State and 
Insular Area Assessment Tool, would include ``region'' throughout the 
tool in specific questions. An alternative approach would be to include 
the regional analysis questions required for an appropriate fair 
housing analysis in

[[Page 12927]]

a separate section of the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment 
Tool. These regional questions could be placed in either a separate 
section, or within appropriate sub-sections (e.g. Segregation, R/ECAPs, 
etc.).
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: Insular Areas--like other program 
participants--are impacted by circumstances happening outside their 
borders. HUD wants to make sure that the proposed State and Insular 
Areas Assessment Tool appropriately captures fair housing regional 
impacts without imposing undue burden on Insular Areas. HUD seeks 
specific comment on whether the proposed format appropriately provides 
for Insular Areas to describe regional fair housing impacts without 
imposing undue burdens. HUD welcomes recommendations for specific 
questions tailored to capture regional fair housing analysis for 
Insular Areas while not imposing unnecessary burdens in view of the 
unique characteristics of Insular Areas.
Data
    As with the Local Government Assessment Tool, HUD intends to 
provide data that States and Insular Areas will use to conduct their 
AFH. HUD contemplates that the geographic scale of the new data HUD 
intends to provide will generally be at a higher geographic level, 
i.e., county or statistically equivalent level, than the data provided 
for local governments. States will be able to access the lower level 
data through the AFFH data and mapping tool by zooming in to smaller 
levels of geography, such as Census tracts.
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: Acknowledging the geographic 
limitation of the Jobs Proximity Opportunity Index at the State level, 
HUD is seeking comment on providing alternative types of data (e.g., by 
education level, sector of the economy, race/ethnicity, numbers of jobs 
by location) that might be most useful for States in conducting an 
appropriate fair housing analysis in connection with disparities in 
access to employment opportunities.
    The extent of nationally uniform data available for Insular Areas 
is limited. HUD notes some data limitations for some sources of 
information used in the overall AFFH Data and Mapping Tool in relation 
to Insular Areas. The American Community Survey, used for some maps and 
data elements, is not available for Insular Areas. However, the 2010 
Decennial Census along with HUD administrative data on program 
activities and assisted housing residents are available. HUD intends to 
improve the provision of data it will be providing for Insular Areas to 
assist them in conducting an AFH.
    Given these data limitations, HUD expects that the questions in the 
proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool that direct program 
participants to data tables or maps to inform their answers may be more 
challenging for an Insular Area to answer. However, Insular Areas, like 
States, are required to use available local data and local knowledge to 
answer questions in the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment 
Tool. To the extent that HUD does not provide data for a program 
participant to use in responding to a question in the assessment tool, 
and local data and local knowledge relevant to the question are not 
available to the program participant, the program participant may 
answer the question by stating that the program participant lacks 
available data and knowledge to answer the question. Under those 
circumstances, if HUD determined that the program participant did not 
have available data and knowledge relevant to the question, HUD would 
consider that an acceptable and complete response to that particular 
question.
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: HUD specifically seeks comment on 
what data are available to States and Insular Areas, including data at 
the local level, that would be relevant and most helpful to States or 
Insular Areas in conducting their respective analyses of fair housing 
issues and contributing factors in their jurisdiction and region? HUD 
asks commenters responding to this question to identify data sources 
for States or Insular Areas that would be helpful to States and Insular 
areas and are already available and to what extent the State or Insular 
Area intends to rely on certain data sources to answer the questions 
included in the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool.
State or Insular Area Collaboration With Qualified PHAs
    As stated in the AFFH rule and earlier in this document, HUD 
encourages Qualified PHAs to conduct and submit a joint AFH with their 
State or Insular Area. Under the AFFH rule, States and Insular Areas 
must consult with PHAs that administer public housing or Section 8 
programs on a statewide basis or that certify consistency with the 
State's or Insular Area's consolidated plan.\3\ PHAs are encouraged to 
work in collaboration with a State or Insular Area pursuant to HUD's 
AFFH regulations in 24 CFR 5.156 and HUD's Public Housing regulations 
in 24 CFR 903.15(a)(1). In addition, as provided in HUD's AFFH 
regulations at 24 CFR 5.156(a)(3), all collaborating program 
participants are accountable for the joint analysis and any joint goals 
and priorities to be included in the collaborative AFH, and 
collaborating program participants are also accountable for their 
individual analysis, goals, and priorities to be included in the 
collaborative AFH. HUD strongly encourages collaboration by program 
participants because HUD expects that program participants working 
together will be better positioned to affirmatively further fair 
housing, and may be able to reduce burdens and costs by sharing 
resources.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See HUD's AFFH final rule published on July 16, 2015, at 80 
FR 42293.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    HUD believes that collaboration, specifically, between States or 
Insular Areas and Qualified PHAs, can benefit both program 
participants. The State or Insular Area benefits by being able to align 
its goals established to address fair housing issues it has identified 
with other program participants, such as a Qualified PHA that has 
resources to assist the State at the local level, which would aid the 
State in accomplishing its goals and ultimately taking meaningful 
actions to affirmatively further fair housing. All collaborating 
program participants will have both a jurisdictional (in the case of a 
PHA, its jurisdiction is its service area) and regional analysis. A 
Qualified PHA collaborating with a State is aided because the regional 
portion of the analysis of the Qualified PHA is expected to be 
fulfilled by the State's analysis of the entire State.
    All program participants, regardless of size, have the legal duty 
to affirmatively further fair housing and to conduct an AFH. Each 
program participant may choose to submit an individual AFH or a 
collaborative AFH as set out in the AFFH rule. A Qualified PHA 
collaborating with a State or Insular Area is aided to the extent that 
it may rely on the State for completing its background regional 
analysis and otherwise be generally informed by the State's analysis.
    In order to assist Qualified PHAs and States or Insular Areas in 
collaborating to conduct and submit joint AFHs, HUD is seeking 
additional information from States and Insular Areas, Qualified PHAs, 
and other interested parties about how to best facilitate these 
collaborations while ensuring the fair housing analysis required of 
Qualified PHAs is complete. HUD is seeking input on how this proposed 
State and Insular Area Assessment Tool can facilitate collaboration 
with Qualified PHAs by

[[Page 12928]]

ensuring that the State's or Insular Area's analysis of the entire 
State or Insular Area provides a sufficiently detailed analysis to 
inform the Qualified PHA's fair housing analysis and goal setting. The 
regional portion of the Qualified PHA analysis is expected to be 
fulfilled by the State's or Insular Area's analysis of the entire 
state. For purposes of this proposed State and Insular Area Assessment 
Tool, the region of a Qualified PHA is defined as the State or Insular 
Area that is smaller than the State or Insular Area. For Qualified PHAs 
whose service area is an entire State, and for purposes of this 
proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool, the region of a 
Qualified PHA is the same as the State's region.
    The questions to be included in this State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool strive to facilitate collaboration while ensuring 
individual analysis and accountability for each collaborating program 
participant. With this objective in mind, HUD has placed questions 
designed to address the fair housing analysis relating to the Qualified 
PHA's service area in a separate section of the proposed State and 
Insular Area Assessment Tool. In addition to soliciting comment on 
these specific questions, HUD also seeks input about how to best 
facilitate collaboration between States or Insular Areas and Qualified 
PHAs.
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: As provided in this Notice, HUD 
believes that collaboration between a State or Insular Area and a 
Qualified PHA can be a beneficial collaboration. While HUD sees such 
collaboration as having the potential to be beneficial, HUD seeks 
comment on whether other program participants contemplate collaborating 
with a State or Insular Area on an AFH. With respect to possible 
collaboration by States or Insular Areas and Qualified PHAs, HUD seeks 
comment on whether these two categories of program participants 
anticipate collaborating on a joint AFH. If not, why is such 
collaboration not contemplated at this time and are there ways HUD 
could better facilitate this collaboration? HUD specifically solicits 
comments on actions that HUD could take to facilitate collaborations 
between States or Insular Areas and Qualified PHAs. For commenters 
responding to this question, HUD asks the commenter(s) to provide 
specific questions or structure for the proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool, and the sections of this assessment tool to which 
those questions are recommended to be included.
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: Related to the above question, 
HUD specifically seeks feedback on how the State and Insular Assessment 
Tool can facilitate collaboration with Qualified PHAs and strive to 
ensure that the State's or Insular Area's analysis of the entire State 
or Insular Area provides sufficiently detailed analysis to inform the 
Qualified PHA's fair housing analysis and goal setting.
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: HUD generally intends to provide 
States with thematic maps at the county or statistically equivalent 
level. HUD intends to provide additional functionality to the AFFH Data 
and Mapping Tool, including the ability to access the dot density maps 
currently available for local governments submitting alone or in 
collaboration with other local governments and PHAs. HUD notes that the 
service areas for Qualified PHAs vary greatly. Some Qualified PHAs have 
statewide service areas. Others are the size of multiple counties. And 
yet other Qualified PHAs have service areas smaller than a county or 
statistically equivalent level. Given that HUD currently intends to 
focus States on thematic maps at the county or statistically equivalent 
level, how can this proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool 
facilitate collaboration with Qualified PHAs by ensuring that the 
State's analysis of the entire State provides sufficiently detailed 
analysis to inform the Qualified PHA's fair housing analysis and goal 
setting?
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: In this proposed State and 
Insular Area Assessment Tool, the questions designed to address the 
fair housing analysis relating to the Qualified PHA's service area are 
included in a separate section. HUD is seeking comment on whether this 
organizational structure is the most efficient and useful means of 
conducting the analysis or whether these questions should be inserted 
into the respective sections of the proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool to which they apply.
Insular Areas
    There is limited nationally uniform data available for Insular 
Areas. HUD notes some data limitations for some sources of information 
used in the overall AFFH Data and Mapping Tool in relation to Insular 
Areas. The American Community Survey, used for some maps and data 
elements, is not available for Insular Areas. However, the 2010 
Decennial Census along with HUD administrative data on program 
activities and assisted housing residents are available. HUD intends to 
improve the data it will be providing for Insular Areas to assist them 
in assessing demographic information to better inform local planning 
and decisionmaking and to better inform the analysis of fair housing 
issues and contributing factors in the AFH.
    Given these data limitations, HUD expects that questions in the 
proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool that tend to rely 
largely on data tables or maps to answer may be more challenging for an 
Insular Area to answer. In general, the Insular Area will need to rely 
on local data and local knowledge to answer these questions. As the 
instructions to the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment Tool 
explain, to the extent an Insular Area does not have any relevant HUD-
provided data, local data, or local knowledge to answer a question in 
this assessment tool, the Insular Area may answer the question by 
stating that it does not have HUD-provided data, local data, or local 
knowledge to respond to the question. For an Insular Area, local data 
are existing data pertaining to the Insular Area or its region that are 
relevant to the AFH, that are either known or become known to the 
program participant or that can be found through a reasonable amount of 
searching, and that are readily available at little or no cost. Local 
knowledge is information relating to the Insular Area's geographic area 
of the State or Insular Area itself or its region that is relevant to 
the AFH and is known or becomes known to the Insular Area. Local data 
and local knowledge may both be obtained through the community 
participation process.
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: How can HUD assist Insular Areas 
to complete an AFH in terms of providing data, or, where data is 
lacking, are there areas where HUD can provide further assistance or 
guidance for Insular Areas? To what extent will Insular Areas be able 
to use the State and Insular Area Assessment Tool to analyze fair 
housing issues and contributing factors and set goals and priorities 
without HUD-provided data? Are there ways in which HUD could adapt this 
assessment tool for Insular Areas? To what extent do Insular Areas have 
access to local data and/or local knowledge, including information that 
can be obtained through community participation, that could help 
identify areas of segregation, R/ECAPs, disparities in access to 
opportunity, and disproportionate housing needs where the HUD-provided 
data may be unavailable? HUD asks that comments in response to these 
questions provide specifics as to sources of data relating to Insular 
Areas that are available beyond the HUD-provided

[[Page 12929]]

data, including data from national sources.
Small Entities That Collaborate With States
    HUD is seeking public comment on how use of the proposed State and 
Insular Assessment Tool may reduce burdens for small entities that 
collaborate with States in conducting an AFH.
    Specific Solicitation of Comment: Will collaboration with a State 
in conducting an AFH using the proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool reduce the burden that a small entity such as a 
Qualified PHA would otherwise have in conducting an individual AFH? To 
what extent do small entities, such as Qualified PHAs, expect to rely 
on outside resources such as a consultant in conducting a collaborative 
AFH with a State?
Burden of Compiling Information Required by the Proposed State and 
Insular Area Assessment Tool
    In addition to comment on the preceding questions, HUD specifically 
seeks comment from the States or Insular Areas on the degree of 
difficulty or cooperation that may be involved in gathering information 
from the specific State or Insular Area agencies that possess the 
information solicited by the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment 
Tool.

III. Compliance With the Paperwork Reduction Act

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) 
(PRA), an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information, unless the 
collection displays a valid control number issued by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB). Through this notice, HUD commences the 
process for obtaining the requisite approval by OMB under the PRA 
process.
    The public reporting burden for the proposed State and Insular Area 
Assessment Tool is estimated to include the time for reviewing the 
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the 
collection of information.
    This State and Insular Area Assessment Tool is primarily designed 
for use by State and Insular Area program participants. These include 
the 50 States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 4 Insular Areas 
(American Samoa, the Territory of Guam, the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Marianas Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands).
    The estimate of burden hours is an average within a range, with 
some AFHs requiring either more or less time and effort based on the 
size and complexity of the relevant program participant's assessment. 
Smaller program participants will have less total burden both in terms 
of staff hours and costs. A separate estimate for Insular Areas is 
included, at 240 hours per Insular Area program participant, which is 
the same level of burden that HUD estimated for the Local Government 
Assessment Tool.
    This estimate assumes that approximately one-third of the 3,942 
PHAs may seek to enter into joint AFHs with their relevant State 
program participant. This is consistent with the burden estimate 
included in the 30-Day PRA Notice for the Local Government Assessment 
Tool. The 120 hours per PHA is also consistent with the previous 
estimate, however, this may be an over-estimate given that numerous 
smaller sized PHAs may be more likely to enter into joint assessments 
with State program participants.
    This burden estimate assumes there would be cost savings for PHAs 
that opt to partner with a State agency. For instance, the proposed 
State and Insular Area Tool includes a distinct set of questions that 
would be required for Qualified PHAs (i.e. those with 550 or fewer 
public housing units and/or Housing Choice Vouchers). Qualified PHAs 
would also benefit from having the State agency's analysis fulfill the 
regional portion of the PHA's assessments. While there may be some cost 
savings for Qualified PHAs opting to participate in joint submissions 
using the proposed State and Insular Assessment Tool, they are still 
assumed to have some fixed costs, including those relating to staff 
training and conducting community participation, but reduced costs for 
conducting the analysis in the assessment tool itself.
    While local government program participants may also choose to 
partner with State agencies, the burden estimate for the Assessment 
Tool designed for their use included a total estimate for all of the 
1,192 local government agencies.
    All HUD program participants are greatly encouraged to conduct 
joint AFHs and to consider regional cooperation. More coordination in 
the initial years between State and local government program 
participants one the one hand and PHAs on the other will reduce total 
costs for both types of program participants in later years. In 
addition, combining and coordinating some elements of the Consolidated 
Plan and the PHA Plan will reduce total costs for both types of program 
participants. Completing an AFH in earlier years will also help reduce 
costs later, for instance by incorporating the completed analysis into 
later planning documents, such as the PHA plan, will help to better 
inform planning and goal setting decisions ahead of time.
    Information on the estimated public reporting burden is provided in 
the following table:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Estimated
                                                   Number of                       average time      Estimated
                                   Number of     responses per    Frequency of          for        total burden
                                  respondents     respondent        response        requirement     (in hours)
                                                                                    (in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
States *......................              51               1  Once every five            1,500          76,500
                                                                 years.
Insular Areas **..............               4               1  Once every five              240             960
                                                                 years.
Public Housing Agencies.......           1,314               1  Once every five              120         157,680
                                                                 years.
                               ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Burden..............  ..............  ..............  ................  ..............         235,140
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The estimates represent the average level of burden for these grantee types. It should be noted that this staff
  cost is not an annual cost, but is incurred every five years.
* The term `State' includes the 50 States as well as Puerto Rico. See 42 U.S.C. 5302(2) & 42 U.S.C. 12704(2).
** The term ``Insular Area'' includes Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American
  Samoa.'' See 42 U.S.C. 5302(24) & 42 U.S.C. 12704(24).

    In accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), HUD is specifically 
soliciting comment on the proposed State and Insular Area Assessment 
Tool from members of the public and affected program participants on 
the following:

[[Page 12930]]

    (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 not only program participants but interested persons 
to submit comments regarding the information collection requirements in 
this proposal. Comments must be received by May 10, 2016 to 
www.regulations.gov as provided under the ADDRESSES section of this 
notice. Comments must refer to the proposal by name and docket number 
(FR-5173-N-02).
    Following consideration of public comments submitted in response to 
this notice, HUD will submit for further public comment, for a period 
of 30 days, a version of the Assessment Tool that reflects 
consideration of the public comments received in response to this 
notice.

    Dated: March 7, 2016.
George D. Williams,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Legislative Initiatives and 
Outreach.
[FR Doc. 2016-05521 Filed 3-10-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P