[The Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions]
[Department of Housing and Urban Development Semiannual Regulatory Agenda]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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Part IX





Department of Housing and Urban Development





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Semiannual Regulatory Agenda

[[Page 70076]]



DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD)






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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

24 CFR Subtitles A and B

[Docket No. FR-5134-N-02]

Semiannual Regulatory Agenda

AGENCY: Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

ACTION: Semiannual regulatory agenda.

_______________________________________________________________________

SUMMARY: In accordance with section 4(b) of Executive Order 12866 
``Regulatory Planning and Review,'' as amended, HUD is publishing its 
agenda of regulations already issued or that are expected to be issued 
during the next several months. The agenda also includes rules 
currently in effect that are under review and describes those 
regulations that may affect small entities, as required by section 602 
of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The purpose of publication of the 
agenda is to encourage more effective public participation in the 
regulatory process by providing the public with advance information 
about pending regulatory activities.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aaron Santa Anna, Assistant General 
Counsel for Regulations, Office of General Counsel, Department of 
Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., Room 10276, 
Washington, DC 20410-0500; telephone number (202) 708-3055. (This is 
not a toll-free number.) A telecommunications device for hearing- and 
speech-impaired individuals (TTY) is available at (800) 877-8339 
(Federal Information Relay Service).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Executive Order 12866 ``Regulatory Planning 
and Review'' (58 FR 51735), as amended by Executive Order 13258 (67 FR 
9385), requires each department or agency to publish semiannually an 
agenda of: (1) Regulations that the department or agency has issued or 
expects to issue and (2) rules currently in effect that are under 
departmental or agency review. The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 
601 to 612) requires each department or agency to publish semiannually 
a regulatory agenda of rules expected to be proposed or promulgated 
that are likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of ``small entities,'' meaning small businesses, small 
organizations, or small governmental jurisdictions.

     Executive Order 12866, as amended, and the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act each permits incorporation of the agenda required 
by these two authorities with any other prescribed agenda. 
Therefore, the agenda set out below combines the information 
required by Executive Order 12866, as amended, and the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act. In addition, the agenda contains certain 
information not required by either the Executive order or by the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act that the Department considers useful, 
both to better inform the public and to enhance the Department's 
own inventory control over its body of regulations.

     Section 610(c) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act requires each 
department or agency to publish annually a list of the rules that 
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities and that are to be reviewed in accordance with the 
requirements of section 610 during the succeeding 12 months. 
Existing regulations that HUD proposes to amend by rules described 
and published in this agenda are reviewed in accordance with the 
principles of section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The 
purpose of the review is to determine whether the rule should be 
continued without change, amended, or rescinded. Proposed changes 
to existing regulations provide the opportunity for the Department 
to conduct a section 610 review.

     The Department also is subject to certain rulemaking 
requirements set forth in the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3531 et seq.). Section 7(o) of the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3535(o)) 
requires that the Secretary transmit to the congressional 
committees having jurisdictional oversight of HUD (the Senate 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; and the House 
Committee on Financial Services) a semiannual agenda of all rules 
or regulations that are under development or review by the 
Department. A rule appearing on the agenda cannot be published for 
comment before or during the first 15 calendar days after 
transmittal of the agenda. Section 7(o) provides that if, within 
that period, either committee notifies the Secretary that it 
intends to review any rule or regulation that appears on the 
agenda, the Secretary must submit to both committees a copy of the 
rule or regulation, in the form it is intended to be proposed, at 
least 15 calendar days before it is published for comment. The 
semiannual agenda published today is the agenda transmitted to the 
committees in compliance with the above requirements.

     HUD has attempted to list in this agenda all regulations and 
regulatory reviews pending at the time of publication, except for 
minor and routine or repetitive actions, but some may have been 
inadvertently omitted, or may have arisen too late to be included 
in the published agenda. There is no legal significance to the 
omission of an item from this agenda. Also, where a date is 
provided for the next rulemaking action, the date is an estimate 
and is not a commitment to act on or by the date shown.

     In some cases, HUD has withdrawn rules that were placed on 
previous agendas for which there has been no publication activity. 
Withdrawal of a rule does not necessarily mean that HUD will not 
proceed with the rulemaking. Withdrawal allows HUD to assess the 
subject matter further and determine whether rulemaking in that 
area is appropriate. Following such an assessment, the Department 
may determine that certain rules listed as withdrawn under this 
agenda are appropriate. If that determination is made, such rules 
will be included in a succeeding semiannual agenda.

     In addition, for a few rules that have been published as 
proposed or interim rules and which, therefore, require further 
rulemaking, HUD has identified the timing of the next action stage 
as ``undetermined.'' These are rules that are still under review by 
HUD for which a determination and timing of the next action stage 
have not yet been made.

     The format of the agenda remains unchanged from previous 
years. HUD's agenda items are divided first by program office. 
Within each program office, the agenda items are divided into five 
groups: (i) Pre-rulemaking actions; (ii) publication or other 
implementation of notices of proposed rulemaking; (iii) publication 
or other implementation of final rules; (iv) long-term rules; and 
(v) completed actions. Within each grouping, rules are listed in 
chronological order by the part number of the CFR affected. Where a 
rule affects

[[Page 70077]]

multiple parts of the CFR, the rule is listed by the first affected 
part number.

     Beginning with the fall 2007 edition, the Internet will be the 
basic means for disseminating the Unified Agenda. The complete 
Unified Agenda will be available online at www.reginfo.gov, in a 
format that offers users a greatly enhanced ability to obtain 
information from the Agenda database.

     Because publication in the Federal Register is mandated for 
the regulatory flexibility agendas required by the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 602), the Department's printed agenda 
entries include only:

(1) Rules that are in the Agency's regulatory flexibility agenda, in 
accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, because they are likely 
to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small 
entities; and

(2) any rules that the Agency has identified for periodic review under 
section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

     Printing of these entries is limited to fields that contain 
information required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act's Agenda 
requirements. Additional information on these entries is available 
in the Unified Agenda published on the Internet. In addition, for 
fall editions of the Agenda, the entire Regulatory Plan will 
continue to be printed in the Federal Register, as in past years, 
including the Department's regulatory plan.

     Since the purpose of publication of the agenda is to encourage 
more effective public participation in the regulatory process by 
providing the public with early information about the Department's 
future regulatory actions, HUD invites all interested members of 
the public to comment on the rules listed in the agenda.

Dated: August 31, 2007.

 Roy A. Bernardi,

Deputy Secretary.

                                     Office of Housing--Proposed Rule Stage
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                                                                                                     Regulation
 Sequence                                           Title                                            Identifier
  Number                                                                                               Number
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398         24 CFR 3500 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA); To Simplify and Improve the    2502-AI61
            Process of Obtaining Mortgages and Reduce Consumer Costs (FR-5180) (Reg Plan Seq No.
            84)...................................................................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References in boldface appear in the Regulatory Plan in part II of this issue of the Federal Register.


                                       Office of Housing--Final Rule Stage
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                                                                                                     Regulation
 Sequence                                           Title                                            Identifier
  Number                                                                                               Number
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
399         24 CFR 3285 Manufactured Home Installation Program (FR-4812)..........................    2502-AH97
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                      Office of Housing--Completed Actions
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                                                                                                     Regulation
 Sequence                                           Title                                            Identifier
  Number                                                                                               Number
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400         24 CFR 3500 et seq Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA); To Simplify and         2502-AH85
            Improve the Process of Obtaining Mortgages and Reduce Consumer Costs (FR-4727)........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_______________________________________________________________________


Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)   Proposed Rule Stage


Office of Housing (OH)



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398. REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES ACT (RESPA); TO SIMPLIFY AND 
IMPROVE THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING MORTGAGES AND REDUCE CONSUMER COSTS 
(FR-5180)

 Regulatory Plan: This entry is Seq. No. 84 in part II of this issue of 
the Federal Register.

RIN: 2502-AI61

[[Page 70078]]

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Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)      Final Rule Stage


Office of Housing (OH)



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399. MANUFACTURED HOME INSTALLATION PROGRAM (FR-4812)

Legal Authority: 42 USC 3535(d); 42 USC 5401 et seq

Abstract: HUD is required under the Manufactured Housing Improvement 
Act of 2000 to establish an installation program that includes: (1) 
Installation standards; (2) the training and licensing of manufactured 
home installers; and (3) inspection of the installation of manufactured 
homes. HUD's program will be established in States that do not have 
their own qualifying installation program.

Timetable:
________________________________________________________________________

Action                            Date                      FR Cite

________________________________________________________________________

ANPRM                           03/10/03                    68 FR 11448
ANPRM Comment Period End        04/24/03
NPRM                            06/14/06                    71 FR 34476
NPRM Comment Period End         08/14/06
Final Action                    02/00/08

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes

Agency Contact: William W. Matchneer III, Associate Deputy Assistant 
Secretary, Office of Regulatory Affairs and Manufactured Housing, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Housing
Phone: 202 402-7249

RIN: 2502-AH97
_______________________________________________________________________


Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)     Completed Actions


Office of Housing (OH)



_______________________________________________________________________




400. REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES ACT (RESPA); TO SIMPLIFY AND 
IMPROVE THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING MORTGAGES AND REDUCE CONSUMER COSTS 
(FR-4727)

Legal Authority: 12 USC 2601 et seq; 42 USC 3535(d)

Abstract: In July and August 2005, HUD held seven roundtable 
discussions about possible changes to HUD's RESPA regulations with 
industry, including small business entities, consumers, and other 
interested parties. These roundtables were held at HUD Headquarters and 
in the cities of Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; and Fort 
Worth, Texas. HUD found the roundtable discussions to be very 
informative and, after further considerations of the issues and 
proposals raised at the roundtables and further assessment of current 
mortgage industry practices, HUD is proposing changes to its RESPA 
regulations that would improve and standardize the Good Faith Estimate 
(GFE) form to make it easier to use for shopping among settlement 
providers and help borrowers understand how yield spread premiums can 
affect their settlement charges.

Completed:
________________________________________________________________________

Reason                            Date                      FR Cite

________________________________________________________________________

Withdrawn                       01/02/07

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes

Agency Contact: Ivy Jackson
Phone: 202 708-0502

RIN: 2502-AH85
[FR Doc. 07-04516 Filed 12-07-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-S