[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 21 (Friday, January 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5446-5448]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-02060]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket Number FR-5752-N-11]
30-Day Notice of Information Collection: Comprehensive Listing of
Transactional Documents for Mortgagors, Mortgagees and Contractors
AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information Officer, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: On March 14, 2013, HUD published in the Federal Register a
notice that announced that FHA's healthcare facility documents
completed the notice and comment processes under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), and had been assigned a control number,
2502-0605, by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The assignment
of a control number concluded a 10-month process through which HUD
solicited public comment to update 115 healthcare facility documents to
reflect current policy and practices, to improve accountability by all
parties involved in FHA's healthcare facility transactions and
strengthen risk management.
On September 10, 2013, published a notice in the Federal Register
that solicited, for a period of 60 days, public comment on this
collection solely on the issue of which healthcare facility documents
are eligible for electronic submission. HUD did not address this issue
as part of the previous notice and comment process, but recognized the
importance, efficiency, and reduction of burden that electronic
submission of documents can achieve, and solicited public comment on
the healthcare facility documents that HUD had determined may be
submitted, but are not required to be submitted, electronically.
The purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days of
public comment.
DATES: Comment Due Date: March 3, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding
this notice. Communications must refer to the above docket number and
title. There are two methods for submitting public comments:
1. Submission of Comments by Mail. Comments may be submitted by
mail to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department
of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Room 10276,
Washington, DC 20410-0500.
2. Electronic Submission of Comments. Comments may be submitted
electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly encourages commenters to submit
comments electronically. Electronic submission of comments allows the
commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, ensures timely
receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make them immediately available to
the public. Comments submitted electronically through the
www.regulations.gov Web site can be viewed by other commenters and
interested members of the public. Commenters should follow the
instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.
Note: To receive consideration as public comments, comments must
be submitted through one of the two methods specified above. Again,
all submissions must refer to the docket number and title of the
notice.
No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile (fax) comments are not acceptable.
Public Inspection of Public Comments. All properly submitted
comments and communications will be available for public inspection and
downloading at www.regulations.gov under the docket number for this
notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John M. Hartung, Director, Policy and
Risk Management Division, Office of Residential Care Facilities, Office
of Healthcare Programs, Office of Housing,
[[Page 5447]]
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1222 Spruce Street,
Room 3.203, St. Louis, MO 63103-2836; telephone (314) 418-5238 (this is
not a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech disabilities
may access this number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal
Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
A. 2012 PRA Process on Substance of Healthcare Facility Documents
On May 3, 2012, at 77 FR 26304, and consistent with the PRA, HUD
published a notice in the Federal Register seeking public comment for a
period of 60 days (60-day Notice) on HUD's proposed update and
revisions to a set of production, underwriting, asset management,
closing, and other documents used in connection with transactions
involving healthcare facilities, excluding hospitals (collectively, the
healthcare facility documents), that are insured pursuant to section
232 of the National Housing Act (Section 232). In conjunction with
publication of the 60-day Notice, the proposed revised healthcare
facility documents (115 documents) were made available at: www.hud.gov/232forms. In addition to presenting unmarked versions of the documents,
this Web site, to the extent applicable, presented the proposed
healthcare facility documents as a redline/strikeout against the
updated multifamily rental project closing documents to highlight the
changes made to facilitate a healthcare transaction. Where the proposed
healthcare facility documents were based on existing healthcare
facility documents, the proposed healthcare facility documents, in
addition to being presented in an unmarked format, were presented in
redline/strikeout format so that reviewers could see the changes
proposed to the existing healthcare facility documents.\1\
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\1\ Along with the 60-day Notice, HUD published in the Federal
Register on May 3, 2012, at 77 FR 26218, a proposed rule that
proposed to strengthen regulations for HUD's Section 232 program to
reflect current policy and practices, and to improve accountability
and strengthen risk management. A final rule following the May 3,
2012, proposed rule, and taking into consideration public comment
received on the proposed rule, was published on September 7, 2012,
at 77 FR 55120.
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As a special outreach to the public on proposed changes to the
healthcare facility documents and Section 232 program regulations, HUD
hosted a forum on May 31, 2012, in Washington, DC. (See http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/press/multimedia/videos.) While
comments were raised and discussed at the forum, HUD encouraged forum
participants to file written comments through the www.regulations.gov
Web site so that all comments would be more easily accessible to
interested parties. All comments, whether submitted through
www.regulations.gov or raised at the forum, were considered in the
development of the revised documents which were published on November
21, 2012 (77 FR 69870), and for which, consistent with the PRA, comment
was solicited for an additional 30 days (30-day Notice).
In the 30-day Notice, HUD identified substantive changes that were
made to the healthcare facility documents in response to public
comments submitted on the 60-day Notice, responded to significant
issues raised by the commenters, and identified proposed additional
changes based on further consideration of certain issues. As was the
case with the 60- day Notice, HUD posted on its Web site the further
revised healthcare facility documents in (1) a clean format, and (2) in
redline/strikeout format, to show the changes made from the versions
posted with issuance of the 60-day Notice.
On March 14, 2013, at 78 FR 16279, HUD published in the Federal
Register a notice that announced the approval of the healthcare
facility documents under the PRA and the assignment of a control
number, 2502-0605, by OMB. In addition to announcing the assignment of
an OMB control number, HUD advised in the May 14, 2013, notice that
additional changes were made to the healthcare facility documents in
response to comments submitted on the 30-day Notice. In the March 14,
2013, notice, HUD highlighted additional changes made to the healthcare
facility documents, and once again, provided on HUD's Web site at
www.hud.gov/232forms, the final versions of the documents in clean and
redline/strikeout formats so that reviewers could see the final changes
made to the documents and the clean final versions of the documents.
B. 2013 PRA Process on Eligibility of Electronic Submission
On September 10, 2013, at 78 FR 55282, HUD published in the Federal
Register a notice solely seeking comment on the issue of which
healthcare facility documents may be submitted electronically.
Questions arose on this issue after conclusion of the 2012 PRA process.
Because of the considerable comment solicited and received during the
2012 PRA process on the substance of the documents, and which just
concluded in March 2013, the September 30, 2013, notice did not seek
further comment on the provisions of the documents and the estimate of
burden.
In the September 30, 2013, notice, HUD advised that consistent with
current practice, HUD requires applications for mortgage insurance to
be submitted electronically, and that therefore any healthcare facility
documents submitted as part of an application for mortgage insurance
must be submitted electronically. Of the other healthcare facility
documents, HUD identified 13 documents that must be submitted with
original signatures, in hard copy format. These documents are the
following: Healthcare Regulatory Agreement--Borrower (HUD-92466-ORCF);
Healthcare Regulatory Agreement--Operator (HUD-92466A-ORCF); Management
Certification--Residential Care Facility (HUD-9839-ORCF); Lender
Certification (HUD-92434-ORCF); Offsite Bond-- Dual Obligee (HUD-92479-
ORCF); Performance Bond--Dual Obligee (HUD-92452-ORCF); Payment Bond
(HUD-92452A-ORCF); Request for Endorsement (HUD-92455-ORCF); Request
for Final Endorsement (HUD-92023-ORCF); Guide for Opinion for Mater
Tenant's Counsel (HUD-92335-ORCF); Healthcare Regulatory Agreement--
Master Tenant (HUD-92337-ORCF); Guide for Opinion of Borrower's Counsel
(HUD-91725-ORCF); and Guide for Opinion of Operator's Counsel and
Certification (HUD-92325-ORCF). For any of the remaining healthcare
facility documents other than the application documents or the listed
13 documents, the September 30, 2013, notice advised that HUD neither
requires nor prohibits that any of the remaining documents be submitted
electronically. Electronic submission is an option.
In the 2012 PRA process, HUD's 30-day Notice, HUD listed in a table
all the documents for which approval under the PRA was sought and
provided the burden hours and costs calculated for preparation of and
submission of each of documents and provided a total aggregate annual
cost of $4,393,301. (See 77FR 69887-69889).
In the September 30, 2013, notice, HUD included the table below,
which provides a breakdown of the estimated costs involved in hard copy
preparation and shipping, and estimates a $450,000 annual savings in
costs if documents are
[[Page 5448]]
submitted electronically rather than in hard copy.
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Item Cost per Item Costs
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Printing by Lender................ 1,500 pages at $.04 $60.00
per page.
Lender Box Preparation............ 50 per hour and two 100.00
hours per box.
Shipping by Lender to HUD in Field 1--40 lb. box....... 20.00
HUD processing preparation (Field 50 per hour and 1 50.00
and HQ). hour per box.
Shipping by HUD Field to HQ....... 1--40 lb. box....... 20.00
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Total......................... .................... $250.00 per
box
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Estimated Boxes per 3................... ..............
project.
Estimated of projects 600................. ..............
per year.
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Total Annual Costs............ ( of boxes $450,000.00
x of
projects x cost per
box).
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Therefore, in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), HUD is
soliciting, for an additional 30 days, comments from members of the
public and interested parties on:
(1) Whether the documents identified by HUD for originally signed,
hard copy submission are necessary in such format for proper
performance of the transactions in which the documents are used;
(2) Whether any of the documents not identified as necessary for
originally signed, hard copy submission should be submitted only in
originally signed, hard copy;
(3) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the reduced burden and
reduced costs for submission of documents electronically;
(4) Whether electronic submission of application documents enhances
the utility and efficiency of the transactions in which the documents
are used;
(5) Whether electronic submission of other documents enhances the
utility and efficiency of the transactions in which the documents are
used; and
(6) Additional ways, through information technology, to minimize
the burden of the collection of information on those who are to
respond.
Comments must be received by March 3, 2014. Comments must refer to
the proposal by name and docket number (FR-5623-N-05) and may be sent
to the www.regulations.gov portal provided under the ADDRESSES section
of this notice or to: HUD Desk Officer, Office of Management and
Budget, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503, Fax
number: (202) 395-6947.
Dated: January 28, 2014.
Colette Pollard,
Department Reports Management Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-02060 Filed 1-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P