[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 187 (Friday, September 26, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57949-57955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22956]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-5173-N-02]
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Assessment Tool:
Solicitation of Comment--60-Day Notice Under Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995
AGENCY: Office of General Call, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: On July19, 2013, HUD published a proposed rule that would
provide HUD program participants with a revised process to plan for
fair housing outcomes that will assist them in meeting the statutory
obligation to affirmatively further fair housing. In the proposed rule,
HUD advised that it would issue an ``Assessment Tool'' for use by each
program participant to evaluate fair housing choice in its
jurisdiction, to identify barriers to fair housing choice at the local
and regional levels, and to set and prioritize fair housing goals to
overcome such barriers and advance fair housing choice.
This Notice solicits public comment for a period of 60 days on the
proposed version of Assessment Tool that is designed for use by
entitlement jurisdictions other than States and joint submissions by
entitlement jurisdictions and public housing agencies (PHAs). While the
Assessment Tool that is the subject of this notice is designed for
joint submissions by entitlement jurisdictions and PHAs, it presents
the basic structure of the Assessment Tool to be used by all program
participants, and is illustrative of the questions that will be asked
of all program participants.
[[Page 57950]]
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.
DATES: Comment Due Date: November 25, 2014.
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 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
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: Camille E. Acevedo, Associate General
Counsel for Legislation and Regulations, Office of General Counsel,
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Room
10282, Washington, DC 20410-0500; telephone number 202-708-1793 (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 19, 2013, at 78 FR 43710, HUD published, for public
comment, a proposed rule entitled ``Affirmatively Furthering Fair
Housing.'' The proposed rule provided a new approach that will 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 proactive steps to
overcome historic patterns of segregation, promote fair housing choice,
and foster inclusive communities that are free from discrimination.
The new approach proposed by HUD would replace the current analysis
of impediments (AI) process. As provided in the proposed rule, the new
approach is designed to assist program participants in analyzing their
fair housing environment, identifying fair housing issues and the
related determinants, setting and prioritizing fair housing goals, and,
ultimately, taking meaningful actions to affirmatively further fair
housing. The new approach builds upon and refines the fair housing
elements of the existing planning processes that program participants
currently undertake.
To assist program participants in improving planning for fair
housing outcomes, HUD advised in the proposed rule that it would issue
an ``Assessment Tool'' for use in completing the assessment of fair
housing (AFH) that program participants would undertake in accordance
with the proposed rule. To further ease the burden on program
participants in carrying out their duties under the proposed rule, HUD
stated in the proposed rule that it would provide States, local
governments, insular areas, and public housing agencies (PHAs), as well
as the communities they serve, with local and regional data on patterns
of integration and segregation; racially and ethnically concentrated
areas of poverty (R/ECAPs); access to education, employment, low-
poverty neighborhoods, transportation, and environmental health, among
other critical community assets; disproportionate housing needs; 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 environment
to assess fair housing issues, identify significant determinants that
influence or contribute to those issues, and set forth fair housing
priorities and goals to address fair housing issues and determinants.
HUD submitted that the benefit of this approach is that these
priorities and goals would better inform program participants'
strategies and actions by enabling program participants to improve the
integration of the fair housing planning with current planning
exercises.
At the time of publication of the proposed rule, HUD had not
completed work on the Assessment Tool and therefore it was not
published with the proposed rule. Many commenters advised that they
welcome HUD's proposal to make such a tool available but needed to see
the tool and have the opportunity for comment. This notice provides HUD
program participants and other interested members of the public with
the opportunity to comment on the draft Assessment Tool. Additionally,
at the time of publication of the proposed rule, HUD posted a draft
``Data Documentation'' paper online at www.huduser.org/portal/affht_pt.html, and requested public comments on the categories,
sources and format of data that will be provided by HUD. Many public
comments were received on the Data Documentation paper, and several of
the suggestions raised by commenters are reflected in the proposed
Assessment Tool.
As noted in the Summary of this document, the Assessment Tool that
HUD is submitting for public comment
[[Page 57951]]
is primarily designed for use by entitlement jurisdictions other than
States and for entitlement jurisdictions and public housing agencies
that are submitting a joint AFH. This Assessment Tool is not the tool
that will be used by regionally collaborating entitlement jurisdictions
or PHAs that will not be making a joint submission nor will it be used
by States and Insular Areas. However, this Assessment Tool that HUD is
submitting for public comment through this notice, although primarily
tailored for entitlement jurisdictions and joint submissions by
entitlement jurisdictions and PHAs, serves as HUD's design for the
Assessment Tool to be used by all program participants. HUD expects the
topics and analysis included in this Assessment Tool to be very similar
to the content in Assessment Tools designed for use by other entities.
Further, while HUD is releasing the template in paper form for purposes
of public comment, ultimately program participants will complete the
assessment via a web-based system that will guide participants' through
the data and required analysis. Instructions will accompany each
version of the Assessment Tool. Additionally, guidance on specific AFFH
issues will be issued.
II. The Assessment Tool
A. Sources of Data and Information To Complete the Assessment of Fair
Housing
HUD-Provided Data: As discussed in the proposed rule, one of HUD's
major considerations in formulating the new AFFH planning process was
to provide for meaningful fair housing planning while reducing the
burden on program participants by providing the Assessment Tool and
certain nationally uniform data to program participants that would be
needed to complete an AFH. While HUD will provide nationally uniform
data, there are other important data sources that may be available and
relevant locally, including data that are unavailable from a nationally
uniform source. HUD will continue to explore the types of data that may
be available to assist program participants in performing an AFH and
the feasibility of providing additional data in the future.
Local Data and Local Knowledge: In addition to the national uniform
data provided by HUD, program participants will be required to use
available local data and local knowledge to inform their assessments.
While the AFH process will not require program participants to create
or compile new data, program participants must consider existing local
data and local knowledge that is relevant in order to answer questions
in the Assessment Tool. Available local data and local knowledge
include data and information gained through the community
participation, consultation, and coordination processes set out in the
proposed rule at Sec. 5.158.
Available local data are existing data pertaining to a respective
jurisdiction or 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 a
respective jurisdiction or region that is relevant to the AFH and is
known or becomes known to the program participant.
A complete AFH includes an assessment of available local data and
local knowledge that are relevant to fair housing issues and
determinants to ensure that the AFFH priorities and goals identified in
the AFH are consistent with evidence available to the program
participant Simply stated, a program participant is expected to respond
to inquiries in the analysis section of the Assessment Tool using HUD-
provided data, and available 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 or questions in the Assessment
Tool, and local data and local knowledge that would be responsive to a
question or questions in the Assessment Tool are not readily available,
the lack of data or knowledge may be noted as an acceptable and
complete response to that particular question. However, if HUD finds
that an AFH analysis is materially inconsistent with data readily
available and relevant to one or more questions in the Assessment Tool,
or if priorities or goals are found to be materially inconsistent with
available local data or local knowledge, HUD may find the AFH to be
substantially incomplete and therefore unacceptable.
Specific solicitation of public comment: HUD specifically seeks
public comment on whether the above description of available local data
and local knowledge helps program participants understand how these
terms are being used in the Assessment Tool and the extent of their
obligations to obtain and use data and other information. HUD also
seeks comment on whether HUD has described clearly the circumstances
under which a program participant may need to respond to a question in
which the response would be that there are no relevant data or local
knowledge that allows the program participant to address the question
asked.
B. Structure of the Assessment Tool
HUD designed the Assessment Tool with three key objectives in mind.
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 determinants and set meaningful fair
housing goals and priorities. Second, the Assessment Tool must clearly
convey the analysis of fair housing issues and determinants that
program participants must undertake in order for an AFH to be
considered acceptable to HUD. Third, the Assessment Tool must be
designed so program participants would be able to use it to prepare an
acceptable AFH without unnecessary burden. HUD welcomes comments on the
extent to which the Assessment Tool meets each of these objectives.
Section I of the Assessment Tool (Cover Sheet and Certification)
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 single program participant or is a
regional submission), the time period covered by the assessment, and
the certification that the information provided in the Assessment Tool
fulfills the requirements of HUD's affirmatively furthering fair
housing regulations.
Section II. This section is an Executive Summary to provide the
program participant the opportunity to present a general overview of
the AFH's findings and recommended actions.
Section III of the Assessment Tool (Community Participation
Process) addresses the community participation process and directs the
program participant 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 summarize all
comments obtained in the community participation process, including a
summary of any comments or views not accepted and the reasons why. The
Department is highlighting this as an area for public comment. Citizen
participation is a vehicle for obtaining important local information,
including available local data and local
[[Page 57952]]
knowledge, from members of the public, non-profit and other private
organizations, and other government agencies. HUD is requesting comment
on the best way to clarify how program participants should include
relevant information gathered in the public participation process,
including in the analysis section of the AFH, in the summary of
comments received and considered, or in appropriate appendices or
attachments in the case of lengthier comments and proposed additions to
the AFH.
Specific solicitation of public comment: The community
participation process is an important vehicle for soliciting input and
acquiring additional information and knowledge that can be used to
improve a local AFH. Program participants are responsible for
obtaining, evaluating, and deciding how best to consider and respond to
public comments, including by incorporating relevant and reliable
information obtained through public participation into the analysis
section of the AFH or through inclusion of comments in the section of
the AFH reserved for describing such input, including discussion of
public comments that are rejected. Does the proposed Assessment Tool
make these options clear? If not, how can the Assessment Tool be
improved or clarified?
Section IV of the Assessment (Analysis) presents the core analysis
to be undertaken by the program participant (or participants in the
case of regional collaboration). This section of the Assessment Tool is
structured to help program participants identify the fair housing
issues in their jurisdiction and region. The Assessment Tool requires a
geographic assessment broader than the jurisdictional level because
fair housing issues are often not constrained by political-geographic
boundaries. HUD will provide data on the Core Based Statistical Area
for the regional assessment.
An effective assessment of certain key fair housing issues--
segregation, racially or ethnically concentrated areas of poverty,
disproportionate housing needs, and disparities in access to housing or
community assets--and their determinants constitute a key part of
developing an appropriate affirmatively furthering fair housing
strategy. (See Sec. 5.154(a) at 78 FR 43730.) The Assessment Tool
guides program participants step-by-step through an assessment of key
fair housing issues and determinants. The proposed Assessment Tool
includes the following required elements:
Demographic Summary: This section asks the program participant to
review HUD-provided data, consider available local data and local
knowledge, and discern demographic patterns and trends. This data and
the accompanying questions provide context for the rest of the
assessment and provide a starting point for analyzing the following
sections on--segregation/integration, racial and ethnic concentrated
areas of poverty (R/ECAPs), disproportionate housing needs, disparities
in access to community assets and exposure to adverse community
factors, and disability and access issues. Based on this data, program
participants should be able to identify important trends such as an
increase in families with children, or a change in racial/ethnic
population that may impact the identification of fair housing issues
and determinants throughout the assessment. Discerning these patterns
and trends is the first level of analysis, which must be followed by an
assessment of policies, procedures, and practices that may act as
determinants that influence or contribute to the identified patterns
and trends.
Segregation/Integration and R/ECAPs: This section asks program
participants to identify areas within their jurisdiction and region
that have high levels of segregation, including but not limited to,
racially or ethnically concentrated areas of poverty, consider which
groups sharing characteristics protected by the Fair Housing Act are
most affected by segregation, and consider any common characteristics
of those areas. Additionally, program participants are asked to
consider the unique issues faced by immigrant populations, by analyzing
the needs of persons with limited English proficiency (LEP) and
national origin groups.
Program participants are also asked to analyze trends in
integration/segregation over time and any policies or other factors,
such as private investments, market forces or community attitudes (e.g.
NIMBYism) that may be driving these trends. Program participants are
then asked to assess and rank possible determinants of segregation. Key
to the identification of determinants is the program participant's
assessment of its policies, procedures and practices. The determinants
identified by the program participant as significant will serve as a
basis for goal and priority setting.
Specific solicitation of comment: In this section and throughout
the proposed Assessment Tool, program participants are asked to
identify and rank determinants that influence or contribute to fair
housing issues. The Assessment Tool is designed to elicit a meaningful
assessment of a program participant's fair housing environment that
would inform fair housing goal setting and prioritization. HUD sought
to be clear and transparent in what it believes is needed for
meaningful fair housing analysis and planning. One means of HUD
achieving this goal is to ask questions specifically related to fair
housing issues. Another is providing a list of determinants related to
specific fair housing issues that the program participant will assess
as potential influences or contributing factors to fair housing issues.
Does the Assessment Tool ask the right questions and provide the right
list of determinants to provoke a meaningful assessment? Beyond listing
determinants in the Assessment Tool, HUD anticipates issuing guidance
that may aid program participants in identifying determinants. Is this
a reasonable approach?
Next, this section asks program participants to examine issues
related to the location and demographic makeup of residents of publicly
supported housing, as well as mobility patterns in the jurisdiction and
region. Using HUD-provided data, available local data, and local
knowledge, program participants will answer a series of questions
designed to help them assess whether there are fair housing
considerations with project locations or occupancy overall as well as
at specific projects that may appear to be ``outliers'' (for instance,
buildings occupied primarily by one racial/ethnic group as compared to
the public housing agency's overall assisted population). HUD has
determined that project level analysis is legally necessary because
statistics with portfolio-wide averages or analysis at the census tract
level may not reveal instances of localized segregation patterns. Due
to current limitations on nationally uniform data, a list of LIHTC
projects is not available at this time; however, program participants
will be asked to conduct the same analysis for LIHTC projects as for
other publicly supported housing projects based on available local data
and local knowledge.
From a fair housing perspective, the assessment of the impact of
project siting and project occupancy of publicly supported housing is
critical to an assessment of segregation, racially and ethnically
concentrated areas of poverty, and their determinants. HUD believes
that it is a critical part of an AFH submitted by a PHA and an
assessment submitted jointly by an entitlement jurisdiction and PHA
serving that jurisdiction. However, in some instances, entitlement
jurisdictions and PHAs may submit separate AFHs and
[[Page 57953]]
their submission of AFHs may be during different timeframes. In such
circumstances, HUD seeks to ensure that program participants give due
consideration to the siting and occupancy of different types of
publicly supported housing when assessing segregation and racially or
ethnically concentrated areas of poverty but does not wish to
unnecessarily burden program participants. The proposed Assessment Tool
reflects a compromise that balances the need for project level analysis
of publicly supported housing with the need to avoid unnecessary
burdens on program participants. Data provided by HUD for use in this
analysis is in tabular form.
Specific solicitation of comment: HUD is specifically requesting
comment on the following aspects of the subsection on Publicly
Supported Housing.
Which types of program participants should be required to include
project level data in tabular format for the various categories of
publicly supported housing? Should these tables be formatted
differently than in the proposed Assessment Tool (for example, would
they be better included in appendices than in the body of the Analysis
section)? What are the most effective ways of providing for assessment
of project level data in an Assessment Tool used by States (for
example, in connection with a State housing finance agency's
administration of LIHTCs)?
Next, program participants are asked to select and rank possible
determinants of both segregation and R/ECAPs for publicly supported
housing location and occupancy and for assisted households' mobility.
Program participants are asked to identify what factors might be
determinants of or contributing to segregation in publicly supported
housing locations and occupancy patterns, and to assess the level of
significance and influence of these factors in order to help set goals
and inform their policy choices. Key to the identification of
determinants is an assessment of the program participant's policies,
procedures, and practices. Addressing segregation and R/ECAPs requires
a balanced approach that not only increases housing opportunities in
integrated areas but also promotes integration by broadening housing
opportunities in segregated areas and encouraging resident mobility.
Disproportionate Housing Needs: In this subsection, program
participants would be required to assess disproportionate housing needs
on the basis of characteristics protected by the Fair Housing Act
(i.e., race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or
disability). Program participants are then asked to assess and rank
possible determinants of disproportionate housing needs. As noted
earlier, key to the identification of determinants is an assessment of
the program participant's policies, procedures, and practices. The
determinants identified by the program participant as significant will
serve as a basis for goal and priority setting.
Disparities in Access to Community Assets and Exposure to Adverse
Community Factors: This section asks program participants to analyze
how residential location and the location of community assets and the
presence of adverse community factors contribute to fair housing issues
on the basis of race/ethnicity, national origin, and familial status.
The fair housing concerns covered in the section include access to
public transportation, quality schools and jobs, and exposure to
poverty, environmental health hazards and deteriorated or abandoned
properties. The objective of the section is to assist program
participants in identifying patterns and outliers in access to
community assets and exposure to adverse community factors. Program
participants must also assess whether policies, procedures, and
practices are determinants that influence or contribute to these
disparities.
An assessment of asset-rich areas compared to those areas that lack
access to key community assets is critical to informing a program
participant's policy decisions. Addressing disparity in access and
exposure to adverse conditions requires a balanced approach that not
only provides for strategic investment in areas that lack key community
assets or are exposed to adverse community factors, but also opens up
housing opportunities in asset rich areas and provides for resident
mobility.
Disability and Access: This section asks questions that enable
program participants to assess fair housing issues faced by individuals
with disabilities in the jurisdiction and the region. While individuals
with disabilities may experience the same fair housing concerns as
individuals without disabilities, they also may experience additional
disability-related barriers that are distinct from the barriers
experienced by individuals without disabilities. For example, some
individuals with disabilities may need specific accessibility features
or additional services in housing, transportation, education, and other
programs in order to have equal opportunity. Similarly, individuals
with disabilities have often been isolated from their communities and
housed in institutions and other segregated settings instead of being
offered a range of housing options, including those in a more
integrated setting, and services in the community. For this reason, HUD
is proposing that issues unique to persons with disabilities be
specifically addressed in this subsection.
The objective of this section is to help program participants
assess information needed to establish goals for increased
accessibility, greater access to housing and key community assets,
increased geographic mobility, and greater residential integration of
persons with disabilities living in the jurisdiction and region.
Program participants are asked to assess and rank possible determinants
of disability and access issues. Ultimately, this information will
assist the program participant in establishing fair housing goals and
priorities that they will use to inform and plan their fair housing
strategies relating to fair housing issues faced by persons with
disabilities.
Specific solicitation of comment: HUD specifically seeks comment on
whether the Assessment Tool, by addressing Disability and Access Issues
separately, has inadvertently failed to consider any key fair housing
issues that relate to individuals with disabilities.
Fair Housing Compliance and Infrastructure: This section asks
program participants to describe compliance with fair housing and civil
rights laws by listing and summarizing the existence and status of any
unresolved administrative or judicial proceedings related to fair
housing, nondiscrimination, or civil rights generally, including an
alleged failure to affirmatively further fair housing. This section
also asks program participants to identify fair housing or civil rights
agencies and organizations in the jurisdiction and describe their
capacity to assist in fair housing analysis and investigation. In
addition, this section provides the opportunity for program
participants to discuss the affirmative steps they have taken to
provide resources to such agencies and organizations. Finally, program
participants will identify and rank determinants relating to fair
housing compliance and infrastructure by selecting specific potential
issues from a menu of potential factors. The determinants identified by
the program participant as significant will serve as a basis for goal
and priority setting. Key to the identification of determinants is an
assessment of the program participant's policies, procedures, and
practices.
[[Page 57954]]
Specific solicitation of comment: The Assessment Tool has been
designed to address many, but not all, of the most common fair housing
issues. In some instances, a program participant may have fair housing
issues that the Assessment Tool does not address. In other instances, a
program participant may have no relevant local data or local knowledge
related to a particular inquiry. Therefore, HUD asks whether the
Assessment Tool is sufficiently clear that a program participant may
address additional fair housing issues that are relevant or may reply
that a particular fair housing inquiry cannot be answered due to lack
of HUD-provided data, available local data, and local knowledge
responsive to the inquiry. What kinds of instructions would be helpful
to address both of these concerns?
Section V (Fair Housing Goals and Priorities) contains a summary
table of the fair housing determinants the program participant has
identified as significant and the corresponding level of significance
or influence for each. The table will be pre-populated based on
responses to the inquiries in Section III regarding determinants. It is
from this table that program participants will formulate goals to
address significant fair housing determinants and issues. Each goal
must identify one or more of the particular determinants it is designed
to address, describe how the goal relates to overcoming the identified
determinant(s) and related fair housing issue(s), and identify the
metrics and milestones for evaluating the fair housing results to be
achieved. The goals and priorities section within the assessment
enables the program participant to begin to think about the fair
housing actions that they will incorporate into subsequent HUD required
planning processes. While actions and funding decisions are not a
requirement of this section, the objective of the section is to
concretely think through how significant fair housing determinants and
fair housing issues would be addressed. Program participants are also
asked to explain their reasoning if any significant determinants are
not addressed by any of the goals.
C. Completing the Assessment Tool
Program participants have asked HUD to enable them to conduct
assessments of fair housing in a way that limits their need to rely on
costly outside consultants. The Assessment Tool, together with the HUD-
provided data, available local data, and local knowledge, is intended
and designed to elicit a meaningful AFH in a program participant's
area. Where there is no available local data or local knowledge
responsive to a given question for which HUD-data is not provided, a
program participant may respond that it has no available local data or
local knowledge responsive to the question. While not every question
will automatically trigger or require a long narrative response, HUD is
seeking an analysis that is both qualitative and quantitative; that is,
HUD is seeking a comprehensive AFH that reflects the program
participant's review and consideration of fair housing issued and
determinants in their particular jurisdiction and region.
D. Instructions To Accompany the Assessment Tool
The instructions to accompany the Assessment Tool, which are under
development within HUD, will guide program participants in their
completion of the Assessment Tool. The instructions will elaborate on
how to use the data, provide definitions where definitions may be
needed, especially for terms that may have more than one meaning, and
provide illustrative examples. The instructions to accompany the
Assessment Tool will be made available not later than at the 30-day
notice required under the Paperwork Reduction Act. HUD remains
committed to providing guidance and technical assistance to program
participants as the AFH process is implemented, during both the initial
roll-out and at the time when program participants are preparing their
Assessments of Fair Housing.
E. Program-Participant-Specific Assessment Tools
As noted earlier, the Assessment Tool provided for public comment
under this notice reflects the overall framework that HUD will use for
an Assessment Tool to be used by all program participants. The
Assessment Tool provides the core areas and key questions to be
covered. However, similar to this Assessment Tool that is largely
tailored for entitlement jurisdictions and joint submissions by
entitlement jurisdictions and PHAs, HUD is considering developing
program-participant-specific Assessment Tools, such as one specifically
for States and Insular Areas and one specifically for regionally
collaborating PHAs or regionally collaborating entitlement
jurisdictions. It is HUD's intention to have any program-participant-
specific Assessment Tools developed by HUD available for public comment
at the 30-day notice required under the Paperwork Reduction Act.
F. Solicitation of Comment on the Assessment Tool Only
While the primary purpose of comment under the Paperwork Reduction
Act is to determine the burden of any information collection
requirement, HUD also solicits comment on the content of the 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 that HUD may have overlooked. HUD also solicits comments
for the following questions:
(1) Can program participants complete the Assessment Tool
independently (i.e., without assistance from consulting firms or
outside contractors)?
(2) What kinds of additional instructions would be helpful for
program participants in completing the Assessment Tool?
(3) What costs may be associated with collecting and analyzing the
available local data and local knowledge necessary to complete the
Assessment Tool?
(4) Do program participants expect to use Federal funds to complete
the Assessment Tool?
(5) What strategies can program participants use to reduce any
burden associated with completing the AFH, including low-cost or no-
cost strategies for obtaining available local data and local knowledge?
(6) How do program participants envision joint participation in
completing this template?
Important Note: It is important, however, that this
solicitation of public comment is solely on the Assessment Tool.
This notice is not reopening public comment on HUD's July 19, 2013,
proposed rule, and HUD will not review or consider public comments
that address issues other than the 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 Assessment Tool is estimated to
include the time for reviewing the instructions, searching existing
data sources,
[[Page 57955]]
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing
the collection of information.
As HUD is furnishing a significant amount of data directly to the
program participants, the burden in completing the Assessment Tool is
reduced. Where HUD is not providing data, as noted earlier in this
preamble, program participants are required to consider and in some
cases utilize available local data and local knowledge. This refers to
data already publicly available and reasonably easy to access. This
does not refer to obscure data that may not be known or easily found,
that requires an independent data or information collection effort such
as a local survey, or that requires extensive analytical expertise or
staff effort for instance in manipulating data sets or developing a
complex methodology for analyzing complex data that may be available.
With the data that HUD provides for use with the Assessment Tool
supplemented by available local data and local knowledge, HUD does not
anticipate the need for any program participant to turn to outside
consultants to collect data and conduct the assessment.
In addition, local knowledge may be supplemented with information
received through the public participation process. In such cases,
program participants retain the discretion to consider data or
information collected through this process as well as the manner in
which it may be incorporated into the AFH, whether in the Analysis
section of the Assessment or in Section III of the AFH with an option
to include extensive or lengthy comments in appendices or attachments.
In short, the receipt of extensive public comments may require staff
effort to review and consider input but would not result in a mandate
to incur substantial additional costs and staff hours to do so. To the
contrary, the public participation process should be viewed as a tool
to acquire additional information to reduce burden.
The Assessment Tool is available at http://www.huduser.org/portal/affht_pt.html.
Information on the estimated public reporting burden is provided in
the following table:
Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated
Number of average time Estimated
CFR Section reference Number of responses per Frequency of for annual burden
respondents respondent response requirement (in hours)
(in hours)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sec. 5.154(d) (Assessment of * 4,388 1 With each Con 200 877,600
Fair Housing). Plan or PHA
Plan.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Burden.............. .............. .............. ................ .............. 877,600
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* The number of respondents is based on the number of entities that will complete the version of the Assessment
Tool that is the subject of this notice and is designed for use by entitlement jurisdictions other than States
and joint submissions by entitlement jurisdictions and public housing agencies (PHAs) that are submitting a
joint AFH. Entitlement jurisdictions that would use this template number 1,181. HUD is estimating that half of
the PHAs, which number in total 4053, would opt for a joint submission but this estimate, 2026, may be high.
In accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), HUD is specifically
soliciting comment from members of the public and affected program
participants on the Assessment Tool on the following:
(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 November 25, 2014 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: September 22, 2014.
Camille E. Acevedo,
Associate General Counsel for Legislation and Regulations.
[FR Doc. 2014-22956 Filed 9-25-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P