Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Notices 68953

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–4931–N–01] 

Notice of Funding Availability for the 

Section 202 Demonstration Planning 

Grant Program

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Housing—Federal Housing 

Commissioner, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of Funding Availability.

Overview Information 

A. Federal Agency Name: Department 

of Housing and Urban Development, 

Office of Housing. 

B. Funding Opportunity Title: Section 

202 Demonstration Planning Grant 

Program. 

C. Announcement Type: Initial 

announcement. 

D. Funding Opportunity Number: The 

OMB approval number for this NOFA is 

2502–0267. The Federal Register

number is FR–4931–N–01. 

E. Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) Number(s): 14.157, 

Section 202 Demonstration Planning 

Grant Program 

F. Dates: Application Deadline Date: 

January 10, 2005. 

An original and 2 copies of a 

completed application package is due to 

the appropriate local HUD Office on or 

before January 10, 2005. See Appendix 

1 for a complete listing of the 

Multifamily Hub Offices and 

Multifamily Program Centers. 

G. Additional Overview Content 

Information: Private nonprofit 

organizations and nonprofit consumer 

cooperatives interested in applying for 

funding under this program should 

carefully review the General Section of 

FY 2004 SuperNOFA (69 FR–26942, 

May 14, 2004), the Section 202 Program 

NOFA (69 FR–22709, May 14, 2004), 

and the information detailed in this 

program NOFA. Also see the Correction 

document (69 FR–34878, June 22, 2004). 

Full Text of Announcement 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

A. Program Description 

The purpose of this Demonstration 

Planning Grant Program is to assist 

Sponsors of projects that receive Fund 

Reservation Awards pursuant to the FY 

2004 SuperNOFA for the Section 202 

Supportive Housing for the Elderly 

Program by providing predevelopment 

grant funding for architectural and 

engineering work, site control, and other 

planning related expenses that are 

eligible for funding under the Section 

202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly 

Program. Subsequent to providing 

predevelopment grant funding to the 

selected applicants, this Demonstration 

Planning Grant will assess the impact of 

the availability of such funding on the 

ability of project Sponsors to expedite 

the development processing of projects 

from Section 202 Fund Reservation to 

Initial Closing within 18 months. 

The Department is aware of the 

complexities of developing Section 202 

projects and understands that a lack of 

predevelopment funding may be a 

contributing factor in many instances 

where project Sponsors are not able to 

move their approved projects from Fund 

Reservation award to Initial Closing 

within the required 18-month time 

frame. Funding under this program is 

not intended to supplement Section 202 

Capital Advance funding, but rather to 

provide a source of funding for 

predevelopment costs that would 

otherwise not be reimbursable until 

Initial Closing or would be payable from 

eligible funding resources secured 

outside of Section 202 Capital Advance 

funding. 

B. Authority 

The Section 202 Demonstration 

Planning Program is authorized by the 

Consolidated Appropriations 

Resolution, 2003 (Pub. L. 108–7, 

approved February 20, 2003), and the 

Consolidated Appropriations 

Resolution, 2004 (Pub. L. 108–199, 

approved January 23, 2004) 

II. Award Information 

A. Funding Available 

This NOFA makes available 

approximately $44,719,500 for 

predevelopment grants to private 

nonprofit organizations and consumer 

cooperatives in connection with the 

development of housing under the 

Section 202 Supportive Housing for the 

Elderly Program. The total dollar 

amount that is available under this 

Demonstration Planning Grant Program 

includes approximately $24,837,500 

that was provided in the Consolidated 

Appropriations Resolution, 2003 (Pub. 

L. 108–7; approved February 20, 2003), 

and approximately $19,882,000 million 

that was provided in the Consolidated 

Appropriations Resolution, 2004 (Pub. 

L. 108–199; approved January 23, 2004). 

B. Funding Process 

HUD will only make offers to fully 

fund as many applications as possible 

from the $44,719,500 allocated for 

Sponsors that receive Section 202 Fund 

Reservations pursuant to the FY 2004 

SuperNOFA process. All applicants 

selected for funding under the FY 2004 

Section 202 Supportive Housing for the 

Elderly NOFA are not guaranteed 

funding under this Demonstration 

Program. 

C. Maximum Grant Award 

The maximum grant amount per 

single application is $400,000 however, 

no more than $800,000 may be awarded 

to a single entity or its affiliated 

organizations. The amount of funding 

requested must be within the maximum 

grant award amounts.

D. Reduction of Requested Grant 

Amount 

HUD may make an award in an 

amount less than requested, if: 

1. HUD determines that any of the 

proposed predevelopment activities are 

ineligible for funding under the Section 

202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly 

Program; 

2. HUD determines that an eligible 

applicant has not been able to provide 

sufficient evidence to support the 

proposed cost of an eligible 

predevelopment item or activity; and/or 

3. HUD determines that a reduced 

grant would prevent duplicative Federal 

funding. 

4. HUD determines that proposed 

costs for predevelopment activities are 

not based on comparable costs for 

eligible items and activities in the 

applicant’s community. HUD Field 

Office staff will review proposed costs 

in accordance with customary and 

reasonable costs for such items within 

the geographical jurisdiction of the 

respective Multifamily Hub and/or 

Multifamily Program Center Office. If 

requested by the Department, eligible 

applicants must provide supportable 

evidence of comparable costs for 

proposed activities. 

E. Term of Funded Activities 

The grant term is 2 years. Funds not 

expended by the end of the grant term 

are subject to recapture and/or 

repayment if expended on ineligible 

activities. 

III. Eligibility Information 

A. Eligible Applicants 

All private nonprofit organizations 

and nonprofit consumer cooperatives 

that submitted an application for 

funding consideration under the FY 

2004 SuperNOFA for the Section 202 

Supportive Housing for the Elderly 

Program are eligible to apply for funding 

under this Demonstration Planning 

Grant Program. (Please refer to the 

Overview Information, Section G(4), of 

the Section 202 Program NOFA for a 

discussion on the eligibility criteria for 

the Section 202 program). However, 

68954 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Notices 

funding awards under this Section 202 

Demonstration Planning Grant Program 

will be restricted to those applicants 

that are selected for Fund Reservation 

Awards under the FY 2004 SuperNOFA 

for the Section 202 Supportive Housing 

for the Elderly Program. Funding under 

this Program will not be fair shared to 

each HUD office. 

1. Ineligible Applicants: 

a. Applicants that failed to submit a 

request for Fund Reservation under 

FY2004 Section 202 Program NOFA. 

b. Applications from eligible 

applicants that do not receive a Fund 

Reservation Award under the FY 2004 

SuperNOFA for the Section 202 

Program will not be considered for 

funding under this Demonstration 

Planning Program. 

c. Applications from applicants that 

are ineligible under the Section 202 

program including public bodies and 

instruments of public bodies. 

d. Applicants submitting proposals 

involving mixed-financing for 

additional units are not eligible to be 

considered for predevelopment funding 

under this NOFA. 

B. Cost Sharing or Matching 

No match required. 

C. Other 

1. Requirement and Procedures. To 

receive and administer funding under 

this Demonstration Program, applicants 

must fully satisfy the eligibility 

requirements for participation in the 

Section 202 Supportive Housing for the 

Elderly Program as well as comply with 

the following requirements: 

a. Statutory and Regulatory 

Requirements. You must comply with 

all statutory, regulatory, threshold, and 

public policy requirements listed in the 

Section III (C) of the General Section of 

FY 2004 SuperNOFA, published on May 

14, 2004. 

b. Allowable Use of Funds. Grant 

funds may be used to cover the costs of 

architectural and engineering work, and 

other eligible planning activities relating 

to the development of supportive 

housing for the elderly under the 

Section 202 program. Grantees may use 

the funding provided under this 

Demonstration Program to extend 

options to purchase or to lease sites, and 

enter into contracts with qualified third 

party individuals, companies, or firms 

to provide professional services for 

eligible predevelopment activities 

related to the development of an elderly 

housing project that was selected for 

funding under the FY 2004 Section 202 

NOFA. Grantees may not use funds for 

land acquisition, leasing, new 

construction, or property rehabilitation, 

alteration, demolition, or disposition. 

HUD approval must be granted before a 

grantee can enter into a contract for 

professional services with any entity 

requiring HUD 2530 clearance. Such 

entities include, but are not limited to, 

housing consultants (including those 

instances where eligible Sponsors 

proposed to provide such services), 

general contractors, and management 

agents. 

c. Organizational Costs. Eligible 

organizational expenses and/or costs are 

limited to those incurred in connection 

with the organization of an Owner 

entity pursuant to the requirements of 

the Section 202 Supportive Housing for 

the Elderly Program. 

d. Site Control. Applicants are 

required to provide evidence of site 

control, consistent with the 

requirements of the Section 202 

program, as a condition to being funded 

under the FY 2004 Section 202 NOFA. 

Applicants who receive funding awards 

under this NOFA may utilize this 

funding to extend site control in 

accordance with the site control 

requirements under the Section 202 

Supportive Housing for the Elderly 

Program. See Section III(C)(2)(b)(3)(a) of 

the Section 202 Program NOFA. 

e. Phase I and Phase II Environmental 

Site Assessments (ESA). The 

requirements for Phase I and II ESAs are 

the same as those that apply to the 

Section 202 Supportive Housing for the 

Elderly Program and are contained in 

Section III(C)(2)(b)(3)(c)(i) and (ii) of the 

Section 202 Program NOFA. 

f. False Statements. See Section 

III(C)(2)(h) of the General Section of the 

FY 2004 SuperNOFA. 

2. Program Related Threshold 

Requirements. In addition to the 

threshold requirements in Section 

III(C)(2) of the General Section, 

applicants must adhere to all program 

specific threshold requirements as 

detailed in this NOFA. HUD will 

consider an application non-responsive 

to this NOFA and will not accept it for 

processing if the applicant: 

a. is determined to be ineligible. 

Please refer to Section III(A)(1) of this 

NOFA for a more detailed discussion on 

ineligible applicants; 

b. requested more than the maximum 

grant amount; 

c. failed to submit the threshold 

requirements as identified by the 

asterisk (*) in Section IV (B) of this 

program NOFA by the deadline date; or 

d. did not submit a request for Fund 

Reservation under the Section 202 

FY2004 NOFA. 

IV. Application and Submission 

Information 

A. Addresses To Request Application 

Package 

All information needed for the 

preparation and submission of this 

application is included in this Program 

NOFA and the General Section of the 

FY 2004 SuperNOFA. An electronic 

copy of such information is also 

available on the Web at http://

www.grants.gov/Find. Paper copies of 

all documents related to this NOFA can 

be obtained from the NOFA Information 

Center by calling 1–800–HUD–8929 or 

for the hearing impaired at 1–800–

HUD–2209. See Section IV(A)(1) of the 

General Section of the FY 2004 

SuperNOFA for additional information. 

1. Guidebook and Further 

Information. Please refer to Section IV(A)( 

2) of the General Section of the FY 2004 

SuperNOFA for information on the 

guidebook to HUD programs, titled 

‘‘Connecting with Communities: A 

User’s Guide to HUD Programs and the 

2004 NOFA Process’’. 

2. Technical Assistance. Before the 

application due date, HUD staff will be 

available to provide you with general 

guidance and technical assistance as it 

relates to this program. Please note that 

HUD staff is not permitted to assist you 

in preparing your application or to 

provide comments on your application.

B. Content and Form of Application 

Submission 

Applicants may submit more than one 

application to a single Field Office. 

However, no more than one application 

may be submitted per project. All 

applicable documents must have an 

original signature. Each application 

must propose a separate project and the 

proposed development must be located 

within the jurisdiction of the 

appropriate Field Office. To be eligible 

for review, all applications must contain 

the required exhibits that include the 

pertinent forms and narrative 

discussions. Threshold items are 

identified by an asterisk (*). Failure to 

include threshold items in your initial 

application submission will render your 

application non-responsive and that 

application will not be considered for 

funding by HUD. Applications must 

contain the required exhibits as listed 

below: 

1. Cover Letter. 

2. * Narrative Demonstrating Need for 

Predevelopment Funding: A brief 

narrative describing the financial 

circumstances that resulted in your 

need to apply for funding assistance 

with predevelopment activities, how the 

lack of such assistance has impacted the 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Notices 68955

organization’s previous or current 

development efforts, and how access to 

predevelopment funding will assist the 

applicant in moving its FY 2004 Section 

202 elderly housing project to Initial 

Closing within 18 months of Fund 

Reservation approval. 

3. * Proposed Predevelopment 

Activities and Budget: This exhibit 

requires applicants to submit Form 

HUD–424–CB, Grant Applications 

Detailed Budget. The form identifies the 

applicant’s cost of the proposed 

program activities. To supplement this 

form, applicants should include a 

narrative detailing a budget listing of 

each eligible predevelopment planning 

activity being proposed by the 

applicant, the anticipated cost for each 

activity, the expected results for each 

activity, and the total amount of 

predevelopment funding assistance 

being requested in the application. No 

predevelopment grant funds may be 

expended with participants who do not 

have HUD 2530 clearance. 

4. * Project Development Schedule: 

This Exhibit should include a detailed 

development schedule which identifies 

the predevelopment activities being 

proposed, their projected start and 

completion dates, the projected 

completion date for all predevelopment 

planning activities, and a brief narrative 

describing the applicant’s plan for 

monitoring this schedule of activities 

and addressing delays should they 

occur. All projected development 

schedules must (1) demonstrate the 

applicant’s ability to move its approved 

FY 2004 Section 202 elderly housing 

project from Fund Reservation to an 

Initial Closing within 18 months of 

grant approval and (2) provide a 

statement addressing how a 

predevelopment grant will insure that 

the schedule is met. The completion of 

the Logic Model (form HUD 96010), 

under the FY 2004 Section 202 NOFA 

will assist you in responding to this 

Exhibit. 

5. Acknowledgment of Application 

Receipt (HUD–2993). 

6. Client Comments and Suggestions 

(HUD–2994). 

If changes have been made to any of 

the forms that were submitted under the 

FY 2004 Section 202 NOFA, the 

Department requires that the updated 

form(s) be resubmitted under this 

Demonstration Planning Grant NOFA. 

C. Submission Dates and Times 

An original and two (2) copies of your 

completed application are due to the 

appropriate HUD Field Office on or 

before January 10, 2005. See Appendix 

1 of this program NOFA for a complete 

listing of the Multifamily Hub Offices 

and Multifamily Program Centers. For 

Mailing and Receipt Procedures, Proof 

of Timely Submission, and other 

specific procedures governing the 

submission of applications to HUD 

Field Offices, see Section IV E of this 

program NOFA and also Section IV of 

the General Section of the FY 2004 

SuperNOFA. 

D. Funding Restrictions 

1. Eligible Activities. Section 202 

Demonstration Planning Grant Program 

funds must be used exclusively to 

facilitate planning design and 

predevelopment activities for projects 

funded under the FY 2004 SuperNOFA 

for the Section 202 Supportive Housing 

for the Elderly Program. Such activities 

include architectural and engineering 

work, site control, and other planning 

activities related to the development of 

a multifamily housing project funded 

under the FY 2004 Section 202 

Supportive Housing for the Elderly 

Program. Grantees may not use funds for 

land acquisition, leasing, new 

construction, or property rehabilitation, 

alteration, demolition, or disposition. 

a. All expenses related to eligible 

activities must be limited to those actual 

costs that are incurred prior to initial 

closing and be otherwise eligible 

activities under the Section 202 

Program. Activities that are eligible for 

funding include the following: 

(1) Appraisals. The applicant’s cost 

for obtaining an appraisal to establish 

the fair market value of the proposed 

site completed by a qualified and 

licensed appraiser. 

(2) Architect Services. The design fees 

charged by licensed architectural/

engineering firms for construction of the 

applicant’s project. 

(3) Engineering Services. Actual cost 

of boundary survey, topographic survey, 

soil borings and tests. 

(4) Environmental Site Assessment. 

Actual cost incurred for the 

environmental site assessment, i.e., 

Phase I and Phase II. 

(5) Consultant Services. Up to 20 

percent of the total amount of the 

contract between the applicant and their 

consultant for services related to the 

development and submission of an 

approvable Section 202 Fund 

Reservation Application. 

(6) Cost Analysis. The cost of the 

contract between the applicant and a 

professional with experience in cost 

estimation, for an independent cost 

estimate needed to determine the 

viability of a proposed project as 

required for Firm commitment 

processing under the Section 202 

program. 

(7) Legal Fees. The cost for legal 

services and title binder fees. 

(8) Site Control. The applicant’s cost 

for extending the time for site control of 

the original site including option costs 

necessary to extend option agreement 

up to the 18-months closing target date. 

The proceeds of this grant may not be 

used for site acquisition. 

(9) Market Studies. The applicant’s 

cost for a study completed by a 

qualified, independent, third party, 

market research firm for purposes of 

examining the need for and verifying 

the marketability of the proposed 

project. 

(10) Organizational Expenses. The 

actual cost related to the creation of an 

Owner entity for the proposed project 

pursuant to Section 202 Program 

regulations. 

2. Ineligible Activities: 

All proposed activities that are 

determined to be ineligible will not be 

funded from the Demonstration 

Planning Grant funds. 

a. Section 202 Demonstration 

Planning Grant Program funds may not 

be used to acquire sites or other real 

property, to fund organizational 

overhead and/or operating expenses, 

staff salaries, or any planning activity 

that is otherwise ineligible for assistance 

under the Section 202 Supportive 

Housing for the Elderly Program. 

b. Funding under this NOFA may not 

be used to meet Minimum Capital 

Investment (MCI) requirements for the 

Section 202 Program. 

In the event that funding awarded 

under this Program is utilized for 

activities or purposes that have not been 

approved by HUD, the Department will 

seek repayment. 

3. Applicants submitting proposals 

involving mixed-financing for 

additional units are not eligible to be 

considered for predevelopment funding 

under this NOFA. 

E. Other Submission Requirements 

1. Delivery and Receipt Procedures.

The following procedures apply to the 

delivery and receipt of applications in 

HUD Headquarters and field offices. 

Please read the following instructions 

carefully and completely, as failure to 

comply with these procedures may 

disqualify your application. HUD’s 

delivery and receipt policies are: 

a. Hand deliveries will be permitted. 

Hand delivered packages to the HUD 

Field Offices must be received no later 

than 4 p.m. local time for the office 

receiving the application. However, if 

HUD staff is not available to accept your 

package or the courier service is not 

allowed to enter the building to deliver 

the package due to security or other 

68956 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Notices 

reasons, the package will be determined 

not delivered and not accepted by HUD. 

In such instances, HUD recommends 

that, you, the applicant, or your agent 

take your package to the nearest post 

office and follow the mailing 

instructions for postal service timely 

delivery.

b. HUD will not take responsibility for 

ensuring that staff is available to take 

your package and will not breach 

security measures in order to accept an 

undeliverable package. 

c. HUD will not accept or consider 

any applications sent by facsimile. 

d. Packages may be mailed using the 

United States Postal Service. Mailed 

applications will be accepted as being 

timely submitted if they are received at 

the designated HUD location (including 

the room number specified for receipt) 

not later than 15 days after the due date 

and time, and show a postmark of 

having been delivered to the postal 

facility for mailing by 12 midnight local 

time on the application due date. If the 

Postal Service does not normally 

postmark large packages, the proof of 

timely submission shall be receipt 

within 15 days at the designated HUD 

facility and, upon request by a HUD 

official, proof of mailing using USPS 

Form 3817 (Certificate of Mailing) or a 

receipt from the Postal Service which 

contains the post office name, location, 

and date and time of mailing. For 

submission through the United States 

Postal Service, no other proof of timely 

submission will be accepted. 

e. Applications mailed to a location or 

office that is not designated for receipt 

of the application, which results in the 

designated office not receiving your 

application in accordance with the 

requirements for timely submission, 

will cause your application to be 

considered late and ineligible to receive 

funding consideration. HUD will not be 

responsible for directing packages to the 

appropriate office. 

Applicants should pay close attention 

to these submission and timely receipt 

instructions as they can make a 

difference in whether HUD will accept 

your application for funding 

consideration. Please remember that 

mail sent to federal facilities is screened 

prior to delivery, so please allow 

sufficient time for your package to be 

delivered. If an application is received 

late because of the processing time 

required for the screening, it will not be 

considered for funding. 

2. Proof of Timely Submission. Proof 

of timely submission of an application 

is specified below. 

a. In the case of packages sent to HUD 

via a delivery service, other than the 

United States Postal Service, timely 

submission shall be evidenced via a 

delivery service receipt indicating that 

the application was delivered to a 

carrier service at least 24 hours prior to 

the application deadline, and, if 

applicable, that through no fault of the 

applicant, the delivery could not be 

made on or before the application due 

date. Couriers turned away from a HUD 

facility due to security issues will not be 

considered as meeting the requirement 

of ‘‘no fault of the applicant,’’ because 

applicants have been advised that 

delivery delays can arise when using 

courier services, resulting in a late 

application submission. 

b. For packages submitted via the 

United States Postal Service, proof of 

timely submission shall be a postmark 

not later than the application due date 

and receipt not later than 15 days after 

the application due date at the 

designated HUD facility and, upon 

request by a HUD official, proof of 

mailing using USPS Form 3817 

(Certificate of Mailing) or a receipt from 

the Post Office which contains the post 

office name, location, and date and time 

of mailing. For submission through the 

United States Postal Service, no other 

proof of timely submission will be 

accepted. Applications not meeting the 

timely submission requirements will not 

be considered for funding. 

3. Address for Submitting 

Applications. You should not submit 

any copies of your application to HUD 

Headquarters. All applications must be 

sent to the appropriate local HUD 

Office. It is strongly recommended that 

you submit your application by mail via 

United States Postal Service. Please 

refer to the Section IV(F)(1) of the 

General Section of the FY 2004 

SuperNOFA as well as Section IV(E) of 

this program NOFA for detailed 

instructions regarding delivery and 

receipt procedures. Applications for this 

program cannot be made electronically 

and can only be made through the local 

HUD office. You must submit an 

original and two (2) copies of your 

completed application to the Director of 

the appropriate Multifamily Hub Office 

or Multifamily Program Center, as listed 

in Appendix 1 of this program NOFA, 

with the following exceptions: 

a. Applications for projects proposed 

to be located within the jurisdiction of 

the Sacramento, California Office must 

be submitted to the San Francisco, 

California Office. 

b. Applications for projects proposed 

to be located within the jurisdiction of 

the Cincinnati, Ohio Office must be 

submitted to the Columbus, Ohio Office. 

c. Applications for projects proposed 

to be located within the jurisdiction of 

the Washington, DC Office must be 

submitted to the Baltimore, Maryland 

Office. 

d. Applications for projects proposed 

to be located within the jurisdiction of 

the Grand Rapids, Michigan Office must 

be submitted to the Detroit, Michigan 

Office. Appendix 1 also includes the 

telephone numbers and TTY (text 

telephone) numbers for the Multifamily 

Hubs and Program Centers. This 

information is also available from 

HUD’s NOFA Information Center at 1–

800–HUD–8929 and from the Internet 

through the HUD web site at http://

www.hud.gov/grants. Persons with 

hearing or speech impairments may call 

the Center’s TTY number at 1–800–

HUD–2209. 

V. Application Review Information 

A. Criteria 

HUD Headquarters will select 

applications for Demonstration Planning 

Grant funding through a rating process. 

HUD will award funding under this 

process until all available funding has 

been exhausted. 

B. Review and Selection Process 

1. HUD’s application review process 

will include, but is not limited to, an 

eligibility review of each 

predevelopment planning activity being 

proposed by the applicant, the 

reasonableness of the proposed cost for 

each activity, the reasonableness of the 

applicant’s proposed budget, and the 

ability of project Sponsors to expedite 

the development processing of projects 

from Section 202 Fund Reservation to 

Initial Closing within the 18-month 

timeframe. All activities must be related 

to the development of the Section 202 

housing project selected under the FY 

2004 Section 202 Supportive Housing 

for the Elderly Program and be 

otherwise eligible activities under the 

Section 202 Program. 

2. Review for Curable Deficiencies. 

You should ensure that your application 

is complete and that you have an 

original and two (2) copies before 

submitting it to the appropriate HUD 

Office. HUD will screen all applications 

received by the application submission 

deadline for threshold items and curable 

deficiencies. A curable deficiency is a 

missing Exhibit or portion of an Exhibit 

that will not affect the eligibility of the 

applicant. The HUD Office will notify 

you in writing if your application is 

missing any of the exhibits or portions 

of exhibits, as listed in Section IV(B) of 

this NOFA and you will be given 

fourteen (14) calendar days from the 

date of the HUD written notification to 

submit the information required to cure 

the noted deficiencies. In addition to the 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Notices 68957

threshold requirements in Section 

III(C)(2) of the General Section of the FY 

2004 SuperNOFA, the items identified 

by an asterisk (*), as listed in Section 

IV(B) and in Section III(C)(2) of this 

NOFA, are also threshold requirements 

and must be dated on or before the 

application deadline date. Failure to 

satisfy all threshold requirements, at the 

time of submission, will render the 

application in question as being nonresponsive to this NOFA and subject to 

no further review. 

HUD will not reject your application 

based on technical review without 

notifying you of that rejection, the 

reason(s) for the rejection, and 

providing you an opportunity to appeal. 

You will have fourteen (14) calendar 

days, from the date of HUD’s written 

notice, to appeal a technical rejection to 

the HUD Office. The HUD Office will 

make a determination on an appeal 

before making its selection of projects to 

be forwarded to HUD HQ as outlined in 

the section below. See Section (B)(4) of 

the General Section for additional 

procedures for corrections to deficient 

applications. 

3. Eligibility Review. Threshold items 

are identified in Section III(C)(2) of the 

General Section of the FY 2004 

SuperNOFA and in Section IV(B) and 

Section III(C)(2) of this program NOFA. 

Failure to meet any threshold item will 

render an application ineligible for 

funding consideration. HUD 

Multifamily Field Office staff will 

review applications for completeness 

and compliance with the eligibility 

criteria set forth in this NOFA. Field 

Office staff will forward to Headquarters 

a listing of eligible applications that 

were received by the deadline date, 

meet all eligibility criteria, propose 

reasonable costs for eligible activities, 

and include all technical corrections by 

the designated deadline date. From that 

listing, only those applications for 

projects that received a FY 2004 Section 

202 Fund Reservation award will be 

considered for funding under this 

Demonstration Planning Grant NOFA.

4. HUD Headquarters will select 

Section 202 Demonstration Planning 

Grant applications based on HUD 

Multifamily Program Centers’ rating of 

the respective FY 2004 Section 202 

application, beginning with the highest 

rated application nationwide. After this 

selection, HUD Headquarters will select 

the next highest rated application in 

another Program Center. Only one 

application will be selected per 

Multifamily Program Center. However, 

if there are no approvable applications 

in other Multifamily Program Centers, 

the process will begin again with the 

selection of the next highest rated 

application nationwide. More than one 

application may be selected per HUD 

Multifamily Program Centers if there are 

no other approvable applications. 

This process will continue until all 

approvable applications are selected 

using the available remaining funds. 

HUD Headquarters will fully fund as 

many applications as allocated funds 

will allow. HUD Headquarters will 

review its selection results to ensure 

that no single entity (including affiliated 

entities) receives grant funding in excess 

of $800,000. Once an organization 

receives its maximum amount of grant 

funding, no other projects from that 

organization will be eligible for 

selection from the succeeding drawings. 

If there is a tie score between two or 

more applications, HUD will select the 

applicant with the highest score in 

Rating Factor 1 of the FY 2004 Section 

202 application. If Rating Factor 1 is 

scored identically, the score in Rating 

Factor 2, 3, and 4, of the FY 2004 

Section 202 application, will be 

compared in that order, until one of the 

applications received a higher score. If 

both applications still score the same, 

then the application which request the 

least funding will be selected. 

5. Adjustments to Funding. 

a. Reduction of Requested Grant 

Amount. See Section II (D) of this 

program NOFA. 

VI. Award Administration Information 

A. Award Notices 

Following the Congressional 

Notification process, HUD will issue a 

press release announcing the selection 

of awards. Once such an announcement 

has been made, successful applicants 

will receive their selection letters and 

grant agreement via postal or overnight 

mail. The grant agreement is the legally 

binding document that establishes a 

relationship between HUD and the 

award recipient organization. Once 

properly executed, it authorizes the 

obligation and disbursement of funds. 

1. As a condition of receiving a grant 

under this Demonstration Planning 

Program, Grantees must open a separate, 

non-interest bearing account, for the 

receipt and handling of these funds. 

2. All applicants that were not 

selected for funding will receive a nonselection letter. 

3. You may request a debriefing on 

your application in accordance with the 

General Section of the FY 2004 

SuperNOFA, with the exception that the 

request must be made to the Director of 

Multifamily Housing in the HUD Field 

Office to which you sent your 

application. 

B. Administrative and National Policy 

Requirements 

Expiration of Section 202 Funds. The 

FY 2003 and FY 2004 Consolidated 

Appropriations require HUD to obligate 

all Section 202 Demonstration Planning 

Grant funding appropriated for the 

respective fiscal years by September 30, 

2006. Under 31 U.S.C. Section 1551, no 

funds can be disbursed from the account 

after September 30, 2011. Under this 

Demonstration Program, obligation of 

funds occurs upon execution of the 

Grant Agreement. 

C. Reporting 

Grantees must submit quarterly 

program performance and financial 

status reports to their respective 

Multifamily Hub or Program Center 

Office. Such reports include a narrative 

on the progress of each eligible activity 

undertaken, a narrative on problems 

encountered to date and how such 

problems may impact the grantee’s 

proposed predevelopment or 

development timeframe, a narrative on 

the grantee’s plan of corrective action to 

ensure that its project will be under 

construction within 24 months of grant 

approval or less, a listing of the 

professional firms contracted with, 

dollar amounts contracted for and 

services provided to date, a budget 

summary identifying funding expended 

to date for eligible activities versus the 

total grant awarded, and a certification 

on whether or not the proposed project 

continues to be viable as of the date of 

the report. 

The project owner is still required to 

report on their performance based on 

the Logic Model (form HUD 96010), 

submitted under the FY04 Section 202 

NOFA.

D. Environmental Requirements. The 

provision of assistance under this NOFA 

is categorically excluded from 

environmental review under the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321) and not subject to 

compliance action for related 

environmental authorities under 24 CFR 

50.19(b)(1), (3), (8) and (16). 

E. This NOFA does not direct, provide 

for assistance or loan and mortgage 

insurance for, or otherwise govern or 

regulate, real property acquisition, 

disposition, leasing, rehabilitation, 

alteration, demolition, or new 

construction, or establish, revise or 

provide for standards for construction or 

construction materials, manufactured 

housing, or occupancy. Accordingly, 

under 24 CFR 50.19(c)(1), this NOFA is 

categorically excluded from 

environmental review under the 

68958 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Notices 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321). 

VII. Agency Contacts 

A. For further Information and 

Technical Assistance you may contact 

the appropriate Multifamily Hub Office 

or Multifamily Program Center, or Alicia 

Anderson at HUD Headquarters at (202) 

708–3000, or access the Internet at

http://www.hud.gov/grants. Persons 

with hearing and speech impairments 

may access the above number via TTY 

by calling the toll-free Federal Relay 

Service at 1–800–877–8339. 

B. Satellite Broadcast 

HUD will hold an information 

broadcast via satellite for potential 

applicants to learn more about the 

program and preparation of the 

application. The broadcast will be 

viewable at your local HUD Office. HUD 

strongly encourages minority 

organizations and grassroots faith-based 

and other community-based 

organizations especially those who may 

be applying for Section 202 funding to 

tune into this broadcast, if at all 

possible. Copies of the broadcast tapes 

will also be available from the NOFA 

Information Center. For more 

information about the date and time of 

the broadcast, you should consult the 

HUD Web site at http://www.hud.gov/

grants.

VIII. Other Information 

A. Section 102 of the HUD Reform Act, 

Documentation and Public Access 

Requirements 

Section 102 of the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development 

Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545) 

(HUD Reform Act) and the regulations 

codified at 24 CFR part 4, subpart A, 

contain a number of provisions that are 

designed to ensure greater 

accountability and integrity in the 

provision of certain types of assistance 

administered by HUD. On January 14, 

1992, HUD published a notice that also 

provides information on the 

implementation of Section 102 (57 FR 

1942). The documentation, public 

access, and disclosure requirements of 

Section 102 apply to assistance awarded 

under this NOFA as follows: 

1. Documentation. HUD will ensure 

that documentation and other 

information regarding each application 

submitted pursuant to this NOFA are 

sufficient to indicate the basis upon 

which assistance was provided or 

denied. This material, including any 

letters of support, will be made 

available for public inspection for a fiveyear period beginning not less than 30 

days after the award of the assistance. 

Material will be made available in 

accordance with the Freedom of 

Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and 

HUD’s implementing regulations (24 

CFR part 15). 

2. Debriefing. For a period of at least 

120 days, beginning 30 days after the 

awards for assistance are publicly 

announced, HUD will provide a 

debriefing to a requesting applicant a 

debriefing related to its application. All 

debriefing requests must be made in 

writing or by email by the authorized 

official whose signature appears on the 

SF–424 or his or her successor in office, 

and submitted to the person or 

organization identified as the Contact 

under the section entitled ‘‘Agency 

Contact.’’ Information provided during a 

debriefing will include, at a minimum, 

the final score the applicant received for 

each rating factor, final evaluator 

comments for each rating factor, and the 

final assessment indicating the basis 

upon which assistance was provided or 

denied. 

3. Disclosures. HUD will make 

available to the public for five years all 

applicant disclosure reports (HUD Form 

2880) submitted in connection with this 

NOFA. Update reports (also reported on 

HUD Form 2880) will be made available 

along with the applicant disclosure 

reports, but in no case for a period of 

less than three years. All reports, both 

applicant disclosures and updates, will 

be made available in accordance with 

the Freedom of Information Act (5 

U.S.C. 552) and HUD’s implementing 

regulations (24 CFR part 15). 

4. Publication of Recipients of HUD 

Funding. HUD will publish a notice in 

the Federal Register to notify the public 

of all decisions made by the Department 

to provide: 

a. Assistance subject to Section 102(a) 

of the HUD Reform Act; and 

b. Assistance provided through grants 

or cooperative agreements on a 

discretionary (non-formula, nondemand) basis, but that is not provided 

on the basis of a competition. 

B. Section 103 of the HUD Reform Act 

HUD’s regulations implementing 

Section 103 of the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development 

Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3537a), 

codified at 24 CFR part 4, subpart B, 

apply to this funding competition. The 

regulations continue to apply until the 

announcement of the selection of 

successful applicants. HUD employees 

involved in the review of applications 

and in the making of funding decisions 

are limited by the regulations in 

providing advance information to any 

person (other than an authorized 

employee of HUD) concerning funding 

decisions or from otherwise giving any 

applicant an unfair competitive 

advantage. Persons who apply for 

assistance in this competition should 

confine their inquiries to the subject 

areas permitted under 24 CFR part 4. 

Applicants or employees who have 

ethics-related questions should contact 

the HUD Ethics Law Division at (202) 

708–3815. (This is not a toll-free 

number.) HUD employees who have 

specific program questions should 

contact the appropriate field office 

counsel or Headquarters counsel for the 

program to which the question pertains. 

C. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement 

The information collection 

requirements contained in this 

document have been approved by the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction 

Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520) and 

assigned OMB control number 2502–

0267. In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

unless the collection displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

Public reporting burden for the 

collection of information is estimated to 

average 4 hours per annum per 

respondent for the application and grant 

administration. This includes the time 

for collecting, reviewing, and reporting 

the data for the application, semi-annual 

reports and final report. The 

information will be used for grantee 

selection and monitoring the 

administration of funds. Response to 

this request for information is required 

in order to receive the benefits to be 

derived.

Dated: November 19, 2004. 

John C. Weicher, 

Assistant Secretary for Housing—Federal 

Housing Commissioner.

HUD Field Office Addresses for 

Submitting Applications 

A. Your application must be sent to 

the appropriate local HUD Office having 

jurisdiction over the locality in which 

your project will be located. If you send 

your application to the wrong local 

HUD Office, it will be rejected. 

Therefore, if you are uncertain as to 

which local HUD Office to submit your 

application, you are encouraged to 

contact the local HUD Office below that 

is closest to your proposed project 

location(s) to ascertain the Office’s 

jurisdiction and ensure that you submit 

your application to the correct local 

HUD Office. 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Notices 68959

1. Applications for projects proposed 

to be located within the jurisdiction of 

the Sacramento, California Office must 

be submitted to the San Francisco, 

California Office. 

2. Applications for projects proposed 

to be located within the jurisdiction of 

the Cincinnati, Ohio Office must be 

submitted to the Columbus, Ohio Office. 

3. Applications for projects proposed 

to be located within the jurisdiction of 

the Washington, DC Office must be 

submitted to the Baltimore, Maryland 

Office.

4. Applications for projects proposed 

to be located within the jurisdiction of 

the Grand Rapids, Michigan Office must 

be submitted to the Detroit, Michigan 

Office.

HUD—Boston Hub 

Hartford Office 

One Corporate Center, 19th Floor, Hartford, 

CT 06103–3220, (860) 240–4800, TTY 

Number: (860) 240–4665

Boston Office 

Room 301, Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr., Federal 

Building, 10 Causeway Street, Boston, MA 

02222–1092, (617) 994–8500, TTY 

Number: (617) 565–5453

Manchester Office 

1000 Elm Street, 8th Floor, Manchester, NH 

03101–1730, (603) 666–7510, TTY 

Number: (603) 666–7518 

Providence Office 

Sixth Floor, 10 Weybosset Street, Providence, 

RI 02903–2808, (401) 528–5230, TTY 

Number: (401) 528–5403 

HUD—New York Hub 

New York Office 

26 Federal Plaza, Room 3200, New York, NY 

10278–0068, (212) 264–8000, TTY 

Number: (212) 264–0927 

HUD—Buffalo Hub 

Buffalo Office 

Lafayette Court Building, 465 Main Street, 

2nd Floor, Buffalo, NY 14203–1780, (716) 

551–5755, ext. 5000, TTY Number: (716) 

551–5787 

HUD—Philadelphia Hub 

Philadelphia Office 

The Wanamaker Building, 100 Penn Square 

East, Philadelphia, PA 19107–3380, (215) 

656–0609, TTY Number: (215) 656–3452 

Charleston Office 

Suite 708, 405 Capitol Street, Charleston, WV 

25301–1795, (304) 347–7000, TTY 

Number: (304) 347–5332 

Newark Office 

Thirteenth Floor, One Newark Center, 1085 

Raymond Boulevard, Newark, NJ 07102–

5260, (973) 622–7900, TTY Number: (973) 

645–3298 

Pittsburgh Office 

339 Sixth Avenue, Sixth Floor, Pittsburgh, 

PA 15222–2507, (412) 644–6428, TTY 

Number: (412) 644–5747 

HUD—Baltimore Hub 

Baltimore Office 

Fifth Floor, City Crescent Building, 10 South 

Howard Street, Baltimore, MD 21201–2505, 

(410) 962–2520, TTY Number: (410) 962–

0106

Richmond Office 

600 East Broad Street, 3rd Floor, Richmond, 

VA 23219, (804) 771–2100, TTY Number: 

(804) 771–2038 

HUD—Greensboro Hub 

Greensboro Office 

Asheville Building, 1500 Pinecroft Road, 

Suite 401, Greensboro, NC 27407–3838, 

(336) 547–4000, TTY Number: (336) 547–

4054 

Columbia Office 

Strom Thurmond Federal Building, 13th 

Floor, 1835–45 Assembly Street, Columbia, 

SC 29201–2480, (803) 765–5592 

HUD—Atlanta Hub 

Atlanta Office 

ATTN: Multifamily Housing, 12th Floor, 40 

Marietta Street—Five Points Plaza, Atlanta, 

GA 30303–2806, (404) 331–5136, TTY 

Number: (404) 730–2654 

San Juan Office 

Edificio Administracion de Terrenos, 171 

Carlos Chardon Avenue, Suite 301, San 

Juan, PR 00918–0903, (787) 766–5400, TTY 

Number: (787) 766–5909 

Louisville Office 

601 West Broadway, Room 110, Louisville, 

KY 40202, (502) 582–5251, TTY Number: 

(800) 648–6056 

Knoxville Office 

John J. Duncan Federal Building, 710 Locust 

Street, Third Floor, Knoxville, TN 37902–

2526, (865) 545–4384, TTY Number: (865) 

545–4559 

Nashville Office 

Suite 200, 235 Cumberland Bend, Nashville, 

TN 37228–1803, (615) 736–5600, TTY 

Number: (866) 503–0264 

HUD—Jacksonville Hub 

Jacksonville Office 

Southern Bell Towers, 301 West Bay Street, 

Suite 2211, Jacksonville, FL 32202–5121, 

(904) 232–2627, TTY Number: (904) 232–

3759 

Birmingham Office 

Medical Forum Building, 950 22nd St., 

North, Suite 900, Birmingham, AL 35203–

5301, (205) 731–2617, TTY Number: (800) 

548–2546 

Jackson Office 

Suite 910, Doctor A.H. McCoy Federal 

Building, 100 West Capitol Street, Jackson, 

MS 39269–1096, (601) 965–4757, TTY 

Number: (601) 965–4171 

HUD—Chicago Hub 

Chicago Office 

Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building, 77 West 

Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604–

3507, (312) 353–5680, TTY Number: (312) 

353–7143 

Indianapolis Office 

151 North Delaware Street, Suite 1200, 

Indianapolis, IN 46204–2526, (317) 226–

6303, TTY Number: (800) 743–3333 

HUD—Detroit Hub 

Detroit Office 

Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building, 477 

Michigan Avenue, Suite 1700, Detroit, MI 

48226–2592, (313) 226–7900, TTY 

Number: (313) 226–6899 

HUD—Columbus Hub 

Columbus Office 

200 North High Street, 7th Floor, Columbus, 

OH 43215–2499, (614) 469–5737, TTY 

Number: (614) 469–6694

Cleveland Office 

US Bank Centre, 1350 Euclid Avenue, Suite 

500, Cleveland, OH 44115–1815, (216) 

522–4058, TTY Number: (216) 522–2261 

HUD—Minneapolis Hub 

Minneapolis Office 

920 Second Avenue South, Suite 1300, 

Minneapolis, MN 55402–4012, (612) 370–

3000, TTY Number: (612) 370–3186 

Milwaukee Office 

Henry S. Reuss Federal Plaza, 310 West 

Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1380, 

Milwaukee, WI 53203–2289, (414) 297–

3214, TTY Number: (414) 297–1423 

HUD—Ft. Worth Hub 

Little Rock Office 

Suite 900, Metropolitan Bank Building, 425 

West Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, AR 

72201–3488, (501) 324–5931, TTY 

Number: (501) 324–5931 

New Orleans Office 

Hale Boggs Federal Building, 500 Poydras 

Street, 9th Floor, New Orleans, LA 70130–

3099, (504) 589–7201, TTY Number: (504) 

589–7277 

Ft. Worth Office 

801 Cherry Street, P.O. Box 2905, Fort Worth, 

TX 76113–2905, (817) 978–5965, TTY 

Number: (817) 978–5595 

Houston Office 

1301 Fannin, Suite 2200, Houston, TX 77002, 

(713) 718–3199, TTY Number: (713) 718–

3289 

San Antonio Office 

106 South St. Mary’s Street, Suite 405, San 

Antonio, TX 78205, (210) 475–6806, TTY 

Number: (210) 475–6885 

68960 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Notices 

HUD—Great Plains 

Des Moines Office 

Room 239, Federal Building, 210 Walnut 

Street, Des Moines, IA 50309–2155, (515) 

284–4512, TTY Number: (515) 284–4728 

Kansas City Office 

Room 200, Gateway Tower II, 400 State 

Avenue, 5th Floor, Kansas City, KS 66101–

2406, (913) 551–5644, TTY Number: (913) 

551–5416

Omaha Office 

Executive Tower Centre, 10909 Mill Valley 

Road, Suite 100, Omaha, NE 68154–3955, 

(402) 492–3100, TTY Number: (402) 492–

3183 

St. Louis Office 

Third Floor, Robert A. Young Federal 

Building, 1222 Spruce Street, Room 3.207, 

St. Louis, MO 63103–2836, (314) 539–

6583, TTY Number: (314) 539–6331 

Oklahoma City Office 

301 NW. 6th Street, Suite 200, Oklahoma 

City, OK 73102, (405) 609–8509, TTY 

Number: 405–609–8480 

HUD—Denver Hub 

Denver Office 

23rd Floor, 1670 Broadway, Denver, CO 

80202, (303) 672–5440, TTY Number: (303) 

672–5022 

HUD—San Francisco Hub 

Phoenix Office 

One North Central, Suite 600, Phoenix, AZ 

85004, (602) 379–7100, TTY Number: (602) 

379–7181

San Francisco Office 

600 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 

94107, (415) 489–6400, TTY Number: (415) 

436–6594

Honolulu Office 

500 Ala Moana Boulevard, Suite 3A, 

Honolulu, HI 96813, (808) 522–8175, TTY 

Number: (808) 522–8193

HUD—Los Angeles Hub 

Los Angeles Office 

611 West 6th Street, Suite 800, Los Angeles, 

CA 90017–3106, (213) 894–8000, TTY 

Number: (213) 894–8133 

HUD—Seattle Hub 

Portland Office 

400 Southwest Sixth Avenue, Suite 700, 

Portland, OR 97204–1632, (503) 326–2561, 

TTY Number: (503) 326–3656 

Anchorage Office 

3000 C Street, Suite 401, Anchorage, AK 

99503, (907) 677–9880, TTY Number: (907) 

677–9825 

Seattle Office 

909 First Avenue, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 

98104–5254, (206) 220–5101, TTY 

Number: (206) 220–5254

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Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2004 / Notices 68965

[FR Doc. 04–26115 Filed 11–24–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–27–C

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Information Collection Renewal 

Submitted to the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) for Approval Under 

the Paperwork Reduction Act; OMB 

Control Number 1018–0112; U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service Employee Exit 

Follow-Up, Authorized by the Merit 

System Principles (5 U.S.C. 2301)

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Fish and Wildlife Service (We/Service) 

is requesting that OMB extend an 

existing approval to collect information 

from former employees. We will use the 

information that we collect to assist us 

in developing strategies to improve 

employee retention.

DATES: You must submit comments on 

or before December 27, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on 

this information collection renewal to 

the Desk Officer for the Department of 

the Interior at OMB–OIRA at (202) 395–

6566 (fax) or at 

OIRA_DOCKET@OMB.eop.gov (e-mail). 

Please provide a copy of your comments 

to Hope Grey, Information Collection 

Clearance Officer, Fish and Wildlife 

Service, MS 222–ARLSQ, 4401 N. 

Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203 

(mail); (703) 358–2269 (fax); or at 

hope_grey@fws.gov (e-mail).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

request a copy of the information 

collection requirements, the related 

form, or explanatory information, 

contact Hope Grey at the address or fax 

number listed above or by telephone at 

(703) 358–2482.

SUPPLEMENTATARY INFORMATION: We 

have sent a request to OMB to renew 

approval of the information collection 

clearance requirements for an Employee 

Exit Follow-up Survey. Currently, we 

have approval from OMB to collect 

information under OMB control number 

1018–0112. This approval expires on 

November 30, 2004. We may not 

conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 

required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless we display a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

OMB regulations at 5 CFR 1320, which 

implement provisions of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.), require that interested members 

of the public and affected agencies have 

an opportunity to comment on 

information collection and 

recordkeeping activities (see 5 CFR 

1320.8(d)). OMB has up to 60 days to 

approve or disapprove our information 

collection request, but their response 

may be given as early as 30 days after 

our submittal. Therefore, to ensure 

consideration, send your comments to 

OMB by the date listed in the DATES 

section near the beginning of this notice. 

On August 6, 2004, we published in 

the Federal Register (69 FR 47948) a 60-

day notice of our intent to request 

renewal of this information collection 

authority from OMB. In that notice, we 

solicited public comments for 60 days 

ending on October 5, 2004. We received 

one comment regarding this notice. The 

commenter expressed general 

opposition to the use of the survey and 

encouraged the Service to protect 

wildlife. The commenter did not 

provide specific reasons for objecting to 

the survey or address the information 

collected. Service management has 

made it a high priority to ensure that we 

retain the highest caliber employees 

possible. We can do this only if we 

examine and analyze the reasons for 

employee separation from the Service. 

Therefore, we have not made any 

changes to the survey based on this 

comment. 

The Fish and Wildlife Service is the 

principal Federal agency responsible for 

conserving, protecting, and enhancing 

fish, wildlife, and plants and their 

habitats for the continuing benefit of the 

American people. We manage the 95-

million-acre National Wildlife Refuge 

System, which encompasses 545 

national wildlife refuges, thousands of 

small wetlands, and other special 

management areas. We also operate 69 

national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery 

resource offices, and 81 ecological 

services field stations. We enforce 

Federal wildlife laws, administer the 

Endangered Species Act, manage 

migratory bird populations, restore 

nationally significant fisheries, conserve 

and restore wildlife habitat such as 

wetlands, and help foreign governments 

with their conservation efforts. We also 

oversee the Federal Assistance program 

that distributes hundreds of millions of 

dollars of excise taxes on fishing and 

hunting equipment to State fish and 

wildlife agencies. We have made it a 

high priority to recruit and retain valued 

employees to accomplish these 

responsibilities. As part of an active 

career development program, we have 

instituted an Employee Exit Follow-up 

Survey to collect feedback from former 

Service employees so that we may 

discover relevant issues that impact 

employee retention. If this survey were 

not used, there would be no way we 

could analyze the reasons for employee 

separation.

We estimate that the total annual 

burden associated with the request will 

be 100 hours. This represents an average 

of 400 respondents with each taking an 

estimated 15 minutes to complete the 

survey. 

Title: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

Employee Exit Follow-up, authorized by 

the Merit System Principles (5 U.S.C. 

2301). 

OMB Control Number: 1018–0112. 

Form Number: FWS Form 3–2186. 

Frequency of Collection: Occasionally. 

Description of Respondents: Former 

Fish and Wildlife Service employees. 

Total Annual Responses: 400. 

Total Annual Burden Hours: 100 

hours. 

We again invite comments on this 

information collection renewal on: (1) 

Whether or not this collection of 

information is necessary for us to 

properly perform our functions, 

including whether or not this 

information will have practical utility; 

(2) the accuracy of our estimate of 

burden, including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions we use; 

(3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 

and clarity of the information we are 

proposing to collect; and (4) ways for us 

to minimize the burden of the collection 

of information on respondents, 

including through the use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

Our practice is to make comments, 

including names and home addresses of 

respondents, available for public review 

during regular business hours. 

Individual respondents may request that 

we withhold their home addresses from 

the record, which we will honor to the 

extent allowable by law. If you wish to 

withhold your name and/or address, 

you must state this clearly at the 

beginning of your comment. We will not 

consider anonymous comments. We 

generally make all submissions from 

organizations or businesses, and from 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, available 

for public inspection in their entirety.

Dated: November 5, 2004. 

Hope Grey, 

Information Collection Clearance Officer, 

Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 04–26150 Filed 11–24–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P