[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65838-65839]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-18016]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Agriculture has submitted the following 
information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. Comments 
are requested regarding: whether the collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility; the 
accuracy of the agency's estimate of burden including the validity of 
the methodology and assumptions used; ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information to be collected; and ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.
    Comments regarding this information collection received by 
September 12, 2024 will be considered. Written comments and 
recommendations for the proposed information collection should be 
submitted within 30 days of the publication of this notice on the 
following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this 
particular information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day 
Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information 
unless the collection of information displays a currently valid OMB 
control number and the agency informs potential persons who are to 
respond to the collection of information that such persons are not 
required to respond to the collection of information unless it displays 
a currently valid OMB control number.

Rural Housing Service

    Title: 7 CFR part 1924-A, Planning and Performing Construction and 
Other Development.
    OMB Control Number: 0575-0042.
    Summary of Collection: The Rural Housing Service (RHS) is the 
credit Agency for rural housing and community development within Rural 
Development of the United States Department of Agriculture. The Agency 
offers a supervised credit program to build modest housing and 
essential community facilities in rural areas. This regulation 
prescribes the policies and responsibilities, including the information 
and collection necessary to demonstrate compliance with applicable acts 
for planning and performing development work for these facilities. 
Section 501 of Title V of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended, 
authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to extend financial assistance 
to construct, improve, alter, repair, replace, or rehabilitate 
dwellings, farm buildings and/or related facilities to provide decent, 
safe, sanitary living conditions and adequate farm buildings and other 
structures in rural areas. Section 506 of the Act requires that all new 
buildings and repairs shall be constructed in accordance with plans and 
specifications as required by the Secretary and that such construction 
be supervised and inspected. Section 509 of the Act grants the 
Secretary the power to determine and prescribe the standards of 
adequate farm housing and other buildings. The Housing and Urban Rural 
Recovery Act of 1983 amended section 509(a) and section 515 to require 
residential buildings and related facilities comply with the standards 
prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture, the standards prescribed by 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, or the standards 
prescribed in any of the nationally recognized model building codes. 
Similar authorizations are contained in sections 303, 304, 306, and 339 
of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, as amended, which 
authorized loans and grants for essential community services. In 
several sections of both acts, loan limitations are established as 
percentages of development costs, requiring careful monitoring of those 
costs. Also, the Secretary is authorized to prescribe regulations to 
ensure that Federal funds are not wasted or dissipated, and that 
construction will be undertaken economically and will not be of 
elaborate or extravagant design or materials.
    Need and Use of the Information: RHS provides several forms to 
assist in the collection and submission of information. The information 
is used by Rural Development to determine whether a loan/grant can be 
approved, to ensure that Rural Development has adequate security for 
the loans financed, to provide for sound construction and development 
work, and to determine that the requirements of the applicable acts 
have been met. The information is also used to monitor compliance with 
the terms and conditions of the loan/grant and to monitor the prudent 
use of Federal funds.

[[Page 65839]]

    Description of Respondents: Individuals or households; Business or 
other for-profit; Not-for-profit institutions; Farms; State, Local and 
Tribal Government.
    Number of Respondents: 12,425.
    Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; Report: On occasion.
    Total Burden Hours: 51,572.

Rural Housing Service

    Title: Multi-Family Housing Preservation and Revitalization 
Restructuring Demonstration Program (MPR).
    OMB Control Number: 0575-0190.
    Summary of Collection: The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, 
Public Law No: 114-113, signed December 18, 2015, authorized USDA to 
conduct a demonstration program for the preservation and revitalization 
of the sections 514, 515, and 516 multi-family rental housing 
properties to restructure existing USDA/Multi-Family Housing (MFH) 
loans expressly to ensure the project has sufficient resources to 
provide safe and affordable housing for low-income residents and farm 
laborers under the programs authorized by the Housing Act of 1949, as 
amended (42 U.S.C. 1484, 1485 and 1486). The authorities to be 
demonstrated through this program will allow the Agency to test the 
efficacy of many of the preservation and revitalization tools 
identified in a fiscal year 2004 study report titled, ``Rural Rental 
Housing--Comprehensive Property Assessment and Portfolio Analysis.'' 
This report has subsequently been followed up in a report which again 
reviewed the section 515 Rural Rental Housing (RRH) loan portfolio and 
examined the degree of impact the repairs had made on the overall 
portfolio. It concluded that although the portfolio has been well 
managed, it has continued to mature and needs attention now to assure 
that it can continue to deliver decent, safe and sanitary affordable 
rental housing into the future.
    Need and Use of the Information: The Agency will be collecting 
information from the proposer to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses 
to which the proposal concept possesses or lacks the attributes set 
forth in the proposed content and evaluation criteria. RHS will use the 
collected information to select the most feasible proposals that will 
enhance the Agency's chances in accomplishing the demonstration 
objective. The information will be utilized to sustain and modify RHS' 
current policies pertaining to revitalization and preservation of 
affordable rental housing in rural areas.
    Description of Respondents: Private sector; Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Number of Respondents: 150.
    Frequency of Responses: Recordkeeping; Reporting: Annually.
    Total Burden Hours: 11,180.

Levi S. Harrell,
Departmental Information Collection Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2024-18016 Filed 8-12-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-XV-P