70864 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 7, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

24 CFR Part 570

[Docket No. FR–4872–F–02] 

RIN 2506–AC15

Modification of the Community 

Development Block Grant Definition 

for Metropolitan City and Other 

Conforming Amendments

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Community Planning and 

Development, HUD.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This rule makes final the 

Community Development Block Grant 

(CDBG) program regulations that 

replaced the obsolete term ‘‘central city’’ 

with a new term ‘‘principal city’’ in the 

definition of ‘‘metropolitan city’’ and 

other CDBG regulations referencing 

‘‘central city.’’ The revisions were 

necessary because of the recent changes 

to the Office of Management and 

Budget’s (OMB) Standards for Defining 

Metropolitan and Micropolitan 

Statistical Areas (MSAs) and the 

announcement in 2003 of new 

definitions for those areas using Census 

2000 data. The rule also updated the 

affected CDBG program regulations so 

that the terminology used by HUD is 

consistent with OMB standards and the 

purposes of the Housing and 

Community Development Act of 1974. 

This rule follows an interim rule that 

was published in the Federal Register

December 12, 2003. One comment was 

received in response to the interim rule. 

After careful consideration of the 

comment received in response to the 

interim rule, this rule makes final 

without change the interim rule 

published on December 12, 2003.

DATES: Effective Date: January 6, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sue 

Miller, Director, Entitlement 

Communities Division, Office of Block 

Grant Assistance, Office of Community 

Planning and Development, Room 7282, 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20410–7000; telephone 

(202) 708–1577 (this is not a toll-free 

number). Individuals with hearing or 

speech impairments may access the 

telephone number listed in this section 

through TTY by calling the toll-free 

Federal Information Relay Service at 

(800) 877–8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Statutory Background 

Title I of the Housing and Community 

Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 

5301–5320) (the Act) establishes the 

statutory framework for the CDBG 

program. HUD’s regulations 

implementing the CDBG program are 

located at 24 CFR part 570 (entitled 

‘‘Community Development Block 

Grants’’). 

Section 102(a)(4) of the Act defines 

the term ‘‘metropolitan city’’ as ‘‘(A) a 

city within a metropolitan area which is 

the central city of such area, as defined 

and used by the Office of Management 

and Budget, or (B) any other city, within 

a metropolitan area, which has a 

population of fifty thousand or 

more.* * *’’ The term ‘‘metropolitan 

area’’ is defined in section 102(a)(3) of 

the Act as ‘‘a standard metropolitan 

statistical area as established by the 

Office of Management and Budget.’’ 

Section 102(b) of the Act provides that 

the Secretary may, by regulation, change 

or otherwise modify the meaning of the 

terms defined in section 102(a) in order 

to reflect any technical change or 

modification made by the United States 

Bureau of the Census or OMB. 

II. Regulatory Background 

On December 12, 2003, HUD 

published an interim rule (68 FR 69580) 

replacing the now-obsolete term 

‘‘central city’’ with the term ‘‘principal 

city.’’ The interim rule amended the 

definition of ‘‘metropolitan city’’ in 24 

CFR 570.3; updates 24 CFR 570.4, 

which relates to the allocation of funds 

and the recognition of boundaries of 

entitlement areas, and 24 CFR 

570.307(e), which deals with the 

ineligibility of included units of general 

local government (that it, those units of 

local government that are included as 

part of an urban county). This change 

was based on definitions and standards 

published by OMB. For further 

information on the background and 

significance of these changes, please see 

the preamble to the December 12, 2003 

rule (68 FR 69580 et seq.). 

III. This Final Rule 

This rule received one public 

comment from a small city. This 

commenter supported this rule. 

This rule therefore makes final the 

December 12, 2003, interim rule without 

change. 

IV. Findings and Certifications 

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory 

Planning and Review

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) reviewed this rule under 

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory 

Planning and Review. OMB determined 

that this rule is a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ (but not economically 

significant) as defined in section 3(f) of 

the order. Any changes made in this 

rule subsequent to its submission to 

OMB are identified in the docket file. 

The docket file is available for public 

inspection between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

weekdays in the Regulations Division, 

Office of General Counsel, Room 10276, 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., 

Washington, DC. 

Environmental Impact 

This rule simply revises existing HUD 

regulations by replacing ‘‘central city’’ 

or ‘‘central cities’’ with ‘‘principal city’’ 

or ‘‘principal cities,’’ where applicable, 

in order to be consistent with OMB 

standards. This rule does not direct, 

provide for assistance or loan or 

mortgage insurance for, or otherwise 

govern or regulate, real property 

acquisition, disposition, leasing, 

rehabilitation, alteration, demolition or 

new construction, nor does it establish, 

revise, or provide for standards for 

construction, construction materials, 

manufactured housing, or occupancy. 

This rule revises an existing document 

where the existing document as a whole 

would not fall under a categorical 

exclusion but the amendment by itself 

does so. Pursuant to 24 CFR 50.19(c)(1) 

and (c)(2), these revisions are 

categorically excluded from the 

environmental assessment required by 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 

Impact on Small Entities 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

(5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), generally requires 

an agency to conduct a regulatory 

flexibility analysis of any rule subject to 

notice and comment rulemaking 

requirements unless the agency certifies 

that the rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

There are no anti-competitive 

discriminatory aspects of the rule with 

regard to small entities and there are not 

any unusual procedures that need to be 

complied with by small entities. 

Therefore, the undersigned certifies 

that this proposed rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities, 

and an initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis is not required. 

Executive Order 13132, Federalism 

Executive Order 13132 (entitled 

‘‘Federalism’’) prohibits an agency from 

publishing any rule that has federalism 

implications if the rule either imposes 

substantial direct compliance costs on 

state and local governments and is not 

required by statute, or the rule preempts 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 7, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 70865

state law, unless the agency meets the 

consultation and funding requirements 

of section 6 of the executive order. This 

rule does not have federalism 

implications and does not impose 

substantial direct compliance costs on 

state and local governments or preempt 

state law within the meaning of the 

executive order. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531–

1538) (UMRA) establishes requirements 

for Federal agencies to assess the effects 

of their regulatory actions on State, 

local, and tribal governments and the 

private sector. This final rule does not 

impose any federal mandate on any 

state, local, or tribal government or the 

private sector within the meaning of 

UMRA. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

The Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) program number is 

14.218.

List of Subjects in 24 CFR Part 570

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Community development 

block grant, Grant programs—education, 

Grant programs, housing and 

community development, Indians, 

insular areas, Lead poisoning, Loan 

programs—housing and community 

development, Low and moderate 

income housing, New communities, 

Pockets of poverty, Puerto Rico, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Small cities, Student aid.

■ Accordingly, for the reasons discussed 

in the preamble, HUD makes final the 

December 12, 2003 interim rule (68 FR 

69582) without change.

Dated: November 30, 2004. 

Nelson R. Brego ́n, 

General Deputy Assistant Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–26772 Filed 12–6–04; 8:45 am] 

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