78830 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

24 CFR Part 91 

[Docket No. FR–4923–P–01; HUD 2004–

0028] 

RIN 2501–AD07 

Revisions and Updates To 

Consolidated Plan

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

amend the consolidated plan 

regulations of state and local 

governments to make clarifying and 

streamlining changes that are expected 

to make the consolidated plan of state 

and local jurisdictions more resultsoriented and useful to communities in 

assessing their own progress toward 

addressing the problems of low-income 

areas. The consolidated plan is the 

document that is submitted to HUD by 

jurisdictions that receive funding under 

any of HUD’s Community Planning and 

Development formula grant programs 

and serves as the jurisdiction’s planning 

document for the use of the funds 

received under these programs. The 

proposed rule would eliminate some 

obsolete and redundant provisions and 

make other changes that would conform 

the consolidated plan regulations with 

HUD’s public housing regulations that 

govern the Public Housing Agency 

(PHA) Plan.

DATES: Comment due date: January 31, 

2005.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments regarding 

this rule to the Regulations Division, 

Office of General Counsel, Room 10276, 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20410–0500. Interested 

persons may also submit comments 

electronically through either: 

• The federal electronic rulemaking 

Portal at www.regulations.gov; or 

• The HUD electronic Web site at 

www.epa.gov/feddocket. Follow the link 

entitled ‘‘View Open HUD Dockets.’’ 

Commenters should follow the 

instructions provided on that site to 

submit comments electronically. 

Facsimile (FAX) comments are not 

acceptable. In all cases, communications 

must refer to the docket number and 

title. All comments and 

communications submitted will be 

available, without revision, for public 

inspection and copying between 8 a.m. 

and 5 p.m. weekdays at the above 

address. Copies are also available for 

inspection and downloading at 

www.epa.gov/feddocket.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Salvatore Sclafani, CPD Office of Policy 

Development and Coordination, 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20410–7000, telephone, 

(202) 708–1817 extension 4364 (this is 

not a toll-free number). Hearing-or 

speech-impaired individuals may access 

this number through TTY by calling the 

toll-free Federal Information Relay 

Service at (800) 877–8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

HUD published a final rule on January 

5, 1995 (60 FR 1896) for the 

‘‘Consolidated Submission for 

Community Planning and Development 

Programs’’ that consolidated and 

streamlined the planning, application, 

and reporting requirements for HUD’s 

Community Development Block Grant 

(CDBG), Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG), 

HOME Investment Partnerships 

(HOME), and Housing Opportunities for 

Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) formula 

programs into a consolidated planning 

document (consolidated plan) and a 

consolidated annual performance 

report. The final rule for the PHA Plan, 

published in the Federal Register on 

October 21, 1999 (64 FR 56844), 

established the procedures and 

requirements for the submission of PHA 

Plans that provide a mechanism for 

defining long-term and short-term needs 

and strategies. Both the consolidated 

plan and the PHA Plan resulted from an 

extensive consultation process that 

involved numerous stakeholders 

representing the interests of state and 

local governments and low-income 

persons. 

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2002, the 

President’s Management Agenda 

directed HUD to work with local 

stakeholders to streamline the 

consolidated plan, making it more 

results-oriented and useful to 

communities in assessing their own 

progress toward addressing the 

problems of low-income areas. To 

launch this activity, several HUD Office 

of Community Planning and 

Development (CPD) Field Offices held 

focus group sessions with grantees and 

other stakeholders in February 2002, to 

discuss ways to streamline the 

consolidated plan and improve 

performance measurement. On March 

14, 2002, CPD convened a national 

planning meeting to introduce the 

concept of the Consolidated Plan 

Improvement Initiative to a national 

audience that included public interest 

groups, grantees, other stakeholders, 

along with staff from HUD headquarters 

and field offices, and the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB). 

At a meeting of these stakeholders, 

participants agreed that addressing the 

issues of streamlining and performance 

measurement would be best served by 

small working groups that represent the 

full range of people involved in and 

affected by the consolidated plan, 

including grantee practitioners, public 

interest groups, HUD staff, and other 

stakeholders. Six working groups were 

identified to assess alternative planning 

requirements, examine and suggest 

performance measures, and identify 

communities that would be willing to 

test pilots of alternative planning 

procedures. Alternative planning 

procedures were tested by 

representatives of state and local 

governments that participated in eight 

pilots. A steering committee 

coordinated the work of the six working 

groups and reviewed ideas under 

consideration to make the consolidated 

plan more useful and results oriented. 

One pilot looked at streamlining the 

plan by referencing existing documents 

to avoid requiring redundant 

information. Another pilot evaluated 

alternative means of satisfying nonhousing community development plan 

requirements. A third pilot addressed 

alternative formats for submission of 

consolidated plans, action plans, and 

performance reporting. The fourth pilot 

explored ways to enhance the citizen 

participation process. The fifth pilot 

involved development and use of 

templates. The sixth pilot involved 

coordination of consolidated plan and 

public housing agency plan. The 

seventh pilot explored the development 

and review of tools to submit 

consolidated plans, track results, and 

report performance. The eighth pilot 

documented useful practices for 

streamlining and performance 

measurement. An analysis of these 

pilots helped HUD determine how the 

consolidated planning process and 

regulatory requirements might be made 

more streamlined, results-oriented, and 

ultimately more useful to communities 

in addressing the needs of their lowincome residents and areas. 

II. This Proposed Rule 

This proposed rule resulted from an 

extensive consultation process that 

involved stakeholders representing the 

interests of state and local governments 

and low-income persons. The 

Department carefully considered ideas 

generated by several working groups 

that were established to explore 

alternative planning requirements and 

suggestions for improving the 

consolidated plan. Representatives from 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 78831

the following national groups 

participated in the process: Council of 

State Community Development 

Agencies, National Community 

Development Association, National 

Association for County, Community and 

Economic Development, National 

Association of Housing and 

Redevelopment Officials, and National 

Low Income Housing Coalition. 

The proposed rule builds on the 

existing framework that established the 

consolidated plan as a collaborative 

process whereby a community 

establishes a unified plan of community 

development actions. That framework 

gave states and local governments the 

flexibility to use existing plans and 

strategies to help citizens understand 

the jurisdiction’s priority needs, and 

assess the jurisdiction’s progress toward 

meeting identified goals and objectives 

through measurable indicators. 

This rule also conforms the 

consolidated plan regulations to 

sections 568 and 583 of the Quality 

Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 

1998 (Pub. L. 105–276, 112 Stat. 2461, 

approved October 21, 1998, codified at 

42 U.S.C. 12705) that required state or 

local consolidated plans to describe the 

manner that the jurisdiction will help 

address the needs of public housing, 

and that a consolidated plan from a state 

or unit of general local government in 

which any troubled PHA is located must 

include a description of the manner in 

which the state or unit of local 

government will provide financial or 

other assistance to remove the PHA’s 

troubled designation. This rule also 

makes certain other conforming 

amendments and clarification changes.

A. Concise, Action-Oriented 

Management Tool 

The general view of the groups 

participating in the Consolidated Plan 

Improvement Initiative was that the 

consolidated plan should be a concise, 

action-oriented management tool that 

would be more understandable to the 

public and more useful to decision 

makers in the community. This view is 

consistent with ideas expressed in the 

conference report accompanying the 

Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 

Housing Act that stated that the 

(housing) strategies ‘‘will serve not only 

as effective monitoring tools for the 

Department, but also as concise, useful, 

action-oriented management tools for 

States and local governments.’’ (H.R. 

Conf. Rep. 101–943, October 25, 1990). 

In accordance with this view, § 91.200 

(b); § 91.205(a), (b), (c); § 91.215 (d), (e), 

(h), (i), (j); § 91.220(b)(1); § 91.300(b); 

§ 91.305(a), (b), (c); § 91.315(d), (e), (h), 

(i), (j); and § 91.320(b)(1) are modified to 

emphasize the format of the 

descriptions should be a concise 

summary, not a detailed narrative. In 

addition, § 91.1(b)(4) is amended to read 

the consolidated plan serves as ‘‘a 

management tool for assessing 

performance and tracking results.’’

B. Citizen Participation 

HUD regulations that concern citizen 

participation would be amended at 

§ 91.1 to include citizens, organizations, 

businesses, and other stakeholders 

among those that should be involved in 

the citizen participation process and at 

§§ 91.105 and 91.115 to encourage the 

participation of local and regional 

institutions and other organizations 

(including businesses, developers, 

community and faith-based 

organizations) in the process of 

developing and implementing the 

consolidated plan. Jurisdictions would 

be encouraged to explore alternative 

public involvement techniques (such as 

focus groups and the use of the Internet) 

and quantitative ways to measure efforts 

that encourage citizen participation in a 

shared vision for change in 

communities and neighborhoods, and 

the review of program performance. 

HUD also invites comment on 

whether an executive summary would 

be a useful tool for citizens as well as 

jurisdictions. For example, the format of 

the executive summary could include 

two items: (1) A list of the significant 

short and long-term performance goals 

(for grantee activities and the 

communities/neighborhoods assisted); 

and (2) the major activities and projects 

grantees plan to fund to achieve those 

goals. HUD is particularly interested in 

comments on what specific information 

should be included in an executive 

summary and whether the benefit of an 

executive summary would outweigh the 

burden. 

C. Clarification of Chronic 

Homelessness 

HUD’s regulations that concern the 

homeless are amended to include and 

emphasize the needs of unaccompanied 

homeless individuals with a disabling 

condition who have been continuously 

homeless for a year or more or have had 

at least four episodes of homelessness in 

the past three years. The rule would 

amend § 91.5 to include a definition of 

a chronically homeless person. This 

definition is consistent with the January 

23, 2003 Notice of Funding Availability 

(NOFA) for the Collaborative Initiative 

to Help End Chronic Homelessness (68 

FR 4018). In addition, clarifications are 

made at §§ 91.100(a)(2) and 91.110 that 

indicate the jurisdiction shall consult 

with other public and private agencies 

that provide assisted housing, health 

services, and social services to 

determine what resources are available 

to address the needs of any persons that 

are chronically homeless. Clarifying 

changes are made at § 91.210 and 

§ 91.310 to include persons that are 

chronically homeless in the brief 

inventory of facilities and services that 

meet the emergency shelter, transitional 

housing, permanent supportive housing, 

and permanent housing needs of 

homeless persons within the 

jurisdiction. A clarifying amendment is 

made to the regulations that govern the 

strategic plan at § 91.215(c) and 

§ 91.315(c) to include the chronically 

homeless in a jurisdiction’s efforts to 

address homelessness. The regulations 

that govern the action plan are also 

amended at § 91.220(g) and § 91.320(g) 

to include specific action steps to end 

chronic homelessness. These changes 

are designed to bring the consolidated 

plan more in line with the 

Administration’s goal of ending chronic 

homelessness by 2012. 

D. Removal of Barriers to Affordable 

Housing 

HUD regulations that concern barriers 

to affordable housing would contain 

clarifying amendments at §§ 91.220 and 

91.320, adding a new paragraph (h) that 

requires each jurisdiction to describe 

specific actions it plans to take during 

the next year to address the public 

policies, procedures, and processes of 

the jurisdiction that impact the cost of 

developing, maintaining, or improving 

affordable housing. Addressing 

regulatory barriers to affordable housing 

is a component of a housing strategy. 

Barrier removal will not only make it 

easier to find and get approval for 

affordable housing sites but it will also 

allow available subsidies to go further in 

meeting local housing needs. The 

removal of regulatory barriers to 

affordable housing has also become a 

top Administration priority. HUD Form 

HUD–27300, used for competitive 

grants, can serve as a useful guidance 

document in assisting jurisdictions 

identify the specific policies, 

procedures or process that impact the 

cost of developing, maintaining or 

improving affordable housing. 

E. Clarifications of Strategic Plan 

Provisions 

A change is made to §§ 91.215(a)(4) 

and (a)(5) and 91.315(a)(4) to make the 

sections clearer that the summary of 

specific objectives must identify 

proposed accomplishments the 

jurisdiction hopes to achieve in 

quantitative terms over a specified time 

period (e.g., one, two, three or more 

78832 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 

years), or in other measurable terms as 

identified by the jurisdiction. The 

strategic plan must also describe how 

funds expected to be available will be 

used to address identified needs. HUD 

is adding a new § 91.215(a)(6) and 

§ 91.315(a)(6) to encourage grantees to 

include outcomes in the strategic plan. 

Similar clarifying change are made to 

§§ 91.215(b)(2), (b)(3) and 91.315(b)(2) 

and (b)(3) to clarify that specific housing 

objectives must identify the number of 

extremely low-income, low-income, and 

moderate-income families to whom the 

jurisdiction will provide affordable 

housing as defined in 24 CFR 92.252 for 

rental housing and 24 CFR 92.254 for 

homeownership over a specific time 

period. The affordable housing section 

must describe how the characteristics of 

the housing market will influence the 

use of funds made available for rental 

assistance, production of new units, 

rehabilitation of existing units, or 

acquisition of existing units. In 

addition, §§ 91.215(b)(2), 91.215(d), 

91.315(b)(2), and 91.315(d) would be 

amended to indicate if a jurisdiction 

plans to use HOME funds for tenantbased assistance, it must specify local 

market conditions that lead to the 

choice of this option. 

Priorities and Priority Needs 

HUD invites comment on whether 

assigning ‘‘priority’’ needs, especially 

the assigning ‘‘relative’’ allocation 

priorities of ‘‘High’’ ‘‘Medium’’ and 

‘‘Low’’ pursuant to §§ 91.215(a)(1) and 

(2) is useful. For housing, a ‘‘High’’

priority means activities to address the 

unmet need ‘‘will be funded’’ with 

federal funds. A ‘‘Medium’’ priority 

means activities to address the unmet 

need ‘‘may be funded’’ with federal 

funds, if available. A ‘‘Low’’ priority 

means the jurisdiction ‘‘will not fund’’

activities to address the unmet need, but 

will consider certifications of 

consistency for other entities’

applications for federal assistance. HUD 

would welcome suggestion on 

alternatives for indicating general 

priorities for allocating investment. 

Section 105(b)(7) of the CranstonGonzalez National Affordable Housing 

Act requires the jurisdiction to indicate 

the general priorities for allocating 

investment among different activities 

and housing needs. Section 105(b)(8) 

requires the jurisdiction describe the 

reasons for allocation priorities. 

§§ 91.215(a)(1) and (2) are amended to 

more closely conform with the language 

in the statute.

The proposed rule also contains a 

change to § 91.215(e)(1) that eliminates 

the provision dealing with ‘‘dollars to 

address’’ in the priority community 

development needs table that some 

jurisdictions do not find useful and 

adds a requirement that the plan 

include an estimate of the number of 

abandoned buildings, using the 

locality’s definition. 

Clarifying changes are made to 

§§ 91.215(e)(2) and 91.315(e)(2) 

requiring that neighborhood 

revitalization strategies identify longterm and short-term objectives (e.g., 

physical improvements, social 

initiatives and economic 

empowerment), in terms of measures of 

outputs and outcomes expected to be 

achieved in the area through the use of 

HUD programs. These changes will 

make the consolidated plan more results 

or outcome oriented. 

A clarification would be made to 

§ 91.215(h) indicating jurisdictions may 

include policies for providing training 

and employment opportunities to 

residents under section 3 of the Housing 

and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 

U.S.C. 1701u) and 24 CFR part 135. 

F. Action Plan 

A clarification is made at § 91.220(b) 

indicating federal resources include 

Section 8 funds made available to the 

jurisdiction and competitive McKinneyVento Homeless Assistance Act funds. 

A clarification is also made at 

§ 91.220(g) that CDBG funds includes 

proceeds from Section 108 loan 

guarantees. 

This proposed rule would add the 

following requirements to the action 

plan. The first change would add a new 

provision at § 91.220(b)(3) and 

§ 91.320(b)(3) that would require a 

jurisdiction to include a summary of the 

annual objectives the jurisdiction 

expects to achieve during the 

forthcoming program year. 

The second change would add a new 

provision at § 91.220(d) and § 91.320(d) 

to require a jurisdiction to measure 

outcomes for some of the proposed 

activities that are included in its action 

plan. These may include specific 

outcome measures to be issued in future 

HUD guidance so that the outcomes can 

be aggregated on a national basis, as 

well as locally identified outcomes to 

meet local needs. Outcomes are defined 

as benefits that result from a program 

that typically relate to a change in 

conditions, status, attitudes, skills, 

knowledge, or behavior. Common 

outcomes could include measures of 

improved quality of life for program 

beneficiaries, improved quality of 

program assisted local housing stock, or 

revitalization of a neighborhood. HUD 

plans to develop outcome measures in 

consultation with grantees and public 

interest groups, as well as specific 

comments that are made in response to 

this proposed rule. The Department is 

participating in an effort with the 

Council of State Community 

Development Agencies, the National 

Association for County, Community, 

and Economic Development, and the 

National Community Development 

Association to develop workable 

outcome measures that will be 

acceptable to the Department and its 

grantees. 

The third change would add a 

provision at § 91.220(e) that would 

require the jurisdiction to estimate the 

percentage of funds the jurisdiction 

plans to dedicate to target areas. Target 

areas might include areas such as 

neighborhood revitalization strategy 

areas, neighborhood improvement areas, 

or other low- and moderate-income 

service areas in which block grant 

assistance activities are being carried 

out in a concentrated manner. 

The fourth change would add specific 

provisions at a new § 91.220(f) and 

§ 91.320(f) to require the jurisdiction to 

specify one-year goals for the number of 

homeless, non-homeless, and special 

needs families to be provided affordable 

housing through activities that provide 

rental assistance, production of new 

units, rehabilitation of existing units, or 

acquisition of existing units using funds 

made available to the jurisdiction. This 

change will make the annual action plan 

submission more results oriented and 

focus more attention on how formula 

grant funds are used to provide 

affordable housing. 

The fifth change would add a new 

§ 91.220(j)(1)(iv) to require CDBG 

grantees to identify the estimated 

amount of CDBG funds that will benefit 

persons of low- and moderate-income. 

The sixth change would add a new 

§ 91.220(j)(3) to require HOPWA 

grantees to specify one-year goals for the 

number of households to be provided 

with housing through the use of 

HOPWA funds for activities that 

provide short-term rent, mortgage and 

utility assistance payments to prevent 

homelessness of the individual or 

family; tenant-based rental assistance; 

and units provided in housing facilities 

that are being developed, leased or 

operated with HOPWA funds. 

Finally, changes at §§ 91.220(k) and 

91.320(k) would require a concise 

summary of the citizen participation 

and consultation process (including 

efforts to broaden public participation), 

a summary of comments or views 

received, and a summary of comments 

or views not accepted and a rationale for 

not accepting the comments. 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 78833

G. Submission Requirements 

Changes are made to § 91.15(b)(1) to 

clarify that a summary of the citizen 

participation and consultation process 

must be submitted on an annual basis 

together with the action plan and 

certifications.

Clarifying changes are made to 

§ 91.15(b)(2) indicating the housing and 

homeless needs assessment, housing 

market analysis, and strategic plan 

sections must be submitted at least once 

every five years, or at such time as 

jointly agreed upon by HUD and the 

jurisdiction. This will allow 

jurisdictions the flexibility to submit 

and update plans in a manner that 

facilitates orderly program management. 

A new provision at § 91.15(b)(3) would 

allow jurisdictions to make amendments 

that extend the time period covered by 

their plan if agreed upon by HUD. This 

provision would be used to coordinate 

consolidated plans with the time 

periods used for cooperation 

agreements, other local plans, or the 

availability of data. 

H. Exceptions 

A clarifying change is made to the 

exceptions at § 91.20 to remove an 

obsolete requirement that applied only 

for FY 1995 and to indicate that 

exceptions may be granted from 

submission deadlines for consolidated 

plans and performance reports required 

under §§ 91.15 and 91.520. Only the last 

exception (i.e. from the implementation 

guidelines) is modified to the extent the 

requirement is not required by statute or 

regulation. 

I. Public and Assisted Housing 

This proposed rule would make a 

number of additional conforming and 

clarifying changes to part 91. The 

conforming changes would add the 

provisions at § 91.2 that would require 

the PHA Plan (24 CFR part 903) to 

include a certification of consistency 

with the applicable consolidated plan 

by the appropriate state or local official 

and a description of the manner in 

which the applicable contents of the 

PHA Plan are consistent with the 

consolidated plan. Conforming changes 

are made to §§ 91.100(c), 91.105, and 

91.210 to remove reference to the 

Comprehensive Grant Program and 

substitute references to the PHA Plan. 

The housing needs section at § 91.205 is 

revised to include the needs of public 

housing residents and families on the 

public housing and section 8 tenantbased waiting list among those 

considered in estimating the housing 

needs of the jurisdiction. The housing 

market analysis section at § 91.210 is 

also revised to include the expiration of 

Section 8 contracts as an example of 

affordable housing expected to be lost 

from the assisted housing inventory. 

Redundant and obsolete provisions 

dealing with organizational 

relationships between the jurisdiction 

and PHA, including the appointing 

authority for the commissioners or 

board of the housing agency; 

relationships regarding hiring, 

contracting and procurement; provision 

of services funded by the jurisdiction; 

and review by the jurisdiction of 

proposed development sites, of the 

comprehensive plan of the public 

housing agency, and of any proposed 

demolition or disposition of public 

housing developments are removed at 

§ 91.215 (i)(2) since this information is 

available in the PHA Plan. 

This rule amends §§ 91.215(k) and 

91.315(l), to include the requirements of 

sections 568 and 583 of the Quality 

Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 

1998 (42 U.S.C. § 12705). The strategic 

plan of a jurisdiction must describe the 

manner in which the jurisdiction will 

address the needs of public housing and 

the financial or other assistance the 

jurisdiction will provide to improve the 

operations of a public housing agency 

designated as ‘‘troubled’’ in order to 

remove such designation. However, this 

rule does not require a State to describe 

the manner in which financial or other 

assistance is provided to a troubled 

public housing agency if that agency is 

located entirely within the boundaries 

of a unit of local government that must 

submit a housing strategy to HUD. 

Corresponding changes are made at 

§ 91.220(f) and § 91.320(f). This rule 

would also include among the needs of 

public housing, the need to increase the 

number of accessible units required by 

section 504 voluntary compliance 

agreements. 

In addition, this rule also adds a 

conforming change at § 91.500(b)(4) that 

would provide that the failure to 

include a description of the manner in 

which a jurisdiction will provide 

financial or other assistance to remove 

a PHA’s troubled designation may cause 

HUD to disapprove a plan or determine 

that it is substantially incomplete. 

J. State Method of Distribution 

This proposed rule would amend 

§ 91.320(g) to resolve some apparent 

confusion that states and state grantees 

have regarding the Method of 

Distribution requirements. In meetings 

with states and state organizations, as 

well as from monitoring visits, it has 

become clear that many states are not 

aware that the entire rating and ranking 

process needed to be transparent. This 

proposed rule clarifies that the state 

must document how it selected state 

CDBG applications for funding so that it 

can be easily reviewed by citizens, HUD 

staff, and the Inspector General. The 

revised rule indicates the Method of 

Distribution, the application manual, or 

other generally available state 

publication that is referenced in the 

Method of Distribution, must contain a 

description of all of the rating and 

ranking criteria that is used to select 

applications from local governments for 

funding. If the description of the rating 

and ranking criteria is published in a 

document other than the Method of 

Distribution, the Method of Distribution 

must include a listing of all of the state’s 

selection criteria. This includes any 

criteria that might be used by a state’s 

senior management that affect final 

funding selection decisions. HUD’s 

purpose is to ensure full disclosure to 

units of general local government and 

citizens of all criteria affecting how 

funding decisions are to be made and 

not to dictate how a state selects its 

grantees. The process should be 

transparent so that potential applicants 

will have a clear indication of what they 

have to do to prepare a successful 

application.

The proposed rule also makes clear 

that HUD’s approval of the consolidated 

plan does not necessarily confer 

approval of a state’s actual 

implementation of its Method of 

Distribution, or compliance with the 

requirements of Section 91.320(g)(1)(i) 

as HUD may determine in a subsequent 

monitoring or audit of the state’s 

Method of Distribution. 

HUD specifically welcomes comments 

on this rule from states, units of general 

local government participating in the 

State Community Development Block 

Grant Program, and citizens affected by 

the State CDBG program. 

III. Findings and Certifications 

Justification for 30-Day Comment Period 

In general, HUD publishes a proposed 

rule for a 60-day public comment period 

on all proposed rules, however, HUD is 

reducing its usual 60-day public 

comment period to 30 days for this 

proposed rule. The Department 

developed these clarifying changes in 

response to suggestions by affected 

parties and after extensive consultation 

with interested stakeholders 

representing the interests of state and 

local governments and low-income 

persons. In addition, many jurisdictions 

are in the process of preparing their 

consolidated plans for FY2005 and 

publication of an updated rule that 

would guide the development of their 

78834 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 

plans. Therefore, HUD is publishing this 

proposed rule with a 30-day public 

comment period because the rule makes 

clarifying and conforming changes to a 

regulation to make it more internally 

consistent and to conform to recent 

statutory changes. HUD welcomes 

comments on the rule, and these 

comments will be taken into 

consideration in developing the final 

rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The proposed new information 

collection requirements contained in 

§§ 91.15, 91.215, 91.220, 91.315, 91.320, 

and 91.520 have been submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for review under the Paperwork 

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

3520). Under this Act, 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. The 

current information collection 

requirements for the consolidated plan 

at 24 CFR part 91 have been approved 

by the Office of Management and 

Budget under OMB Approval No. 2506–

0117. 

Information on the estimated public 

reporting burden is provided in the 

following table:

Information collection, 24 CFR part 91 Number of respondents 

Frequency of response Burden hours Total hours 

Consolidated Plan

Localities

• Strategic Plan Development § 91.215) .......................... 1,000 1 220 220,000 

• Action Plan Development (§ 91.220) ............................. 1,000 1 112 112,000 

States

• Strategic Plan Development (§ 91.315) ......................... 50 1 604 30,200 

• Action Plan Development (§ 91.320) ............................. 50 1 374 18,700 

Performance Report (§§ 91.15, 91,520)

• Localities ........................................................................ 1,000 1 162 162,000 

• States ............................................................................. 50 1 252 12,600 

*Abbreviated Strategy ....................................................... 100 ............................ ............................ 8,200 

Total Burden ............................................................... ............................ ............................ ............................ 563,700 

*Respondents that submit abbreviated plans are those local governments that are required by statute to submit an abbreviated plan because 

they receive direct funds from HUD and are not formula grantees. For example, local governments that are recipients of lead based paint grants. 

In accordance with 5 CFR 

1320.8(d)(1), HUD is soliciting 

comments from members of the public 

and affected agencies concerning the 

proposed collection of information to: 

(1) Evaluate 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) Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information; 

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

(4) 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. 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments regarding the 

information collection requirements in 

this proposal. Under the provisions of 5 

CFR 1320, OMB is required to make a 

decision concerning this collection of 

information between 30 and 60 days 

after today’s publication date. Therefore, 

any comment on the information 

collection requirements is best assured 

of having its full effect if OMB receives 

the comment within 30 days of today’s 

publication. This time frame does not 

affect the deadline for comments to the 

agency on the proposed rule, however. 

Comments must refer to the proposal by 

name and docket number (FR–4923-P–

01) and must be sent to:

Mark D. Menchik, HUD Desk Officer, 

Office of Management and Budget, New 

Executive Office Building, Washington, 

DC 20503, Mark_D. 

Menchik@omb.eop.gov;

and

Shelia Jones, Reports Liaison Officer, 

Office of the Assistant Secretary for 

Community Planning and Development, 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, 451 7th Street, SW., 

Room 7232, Washington, DC 20410. 

Environmental Impact 

A Finding of No Significant Impact 

with respect to the environment has 

been made in accordance with HUD 

regulations at 24 CFR part 50, which 

implement section 102(2)(C) of the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

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

No Significant Impact is available for 

public inspection weekdays between the 

hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. in the Office 

of the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of 

General Counsel, Room 10276, 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20410–0500. 

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. Accordingly, the 

undersigned certifies that this rule will 

not have a significant economic impact 

on a substantial number of small 

entities. Notwithstanding HUD’s 

determination that this rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities, 

HUD specifically invites comments 

regarding less burdensome alternatives 

to this rule that will meet HUD’s 

objectives as described in this preamble. 

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 

state law, unless the agency meets the 

consultation and funding requirements 

of section 6 of the executive order. This 

proposed rule does not have federalism 

implications and does not impose 

substantial direct compliance costs on 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 78835

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) establishes requirements for 

federal agencies to assess the effects of 

their regulatory actions on state, local, 

and tribal governments and on the 

private sector. This proposed rule does 

not impose a federal mandate on any 

state, local, or tribal government, or on 

the private sector, within the meaning of 

the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 

1995. 

Regulatory Planning and Review 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) reviewed this rule under 

Executive Order 12866, entitled 

‘‘Regulatory Planning and Review.’’

OMB determined that this rule is a 

‘‘significant regulatory action’’ as 

defined in section 3(f) of the order 

(although not an economically 

significant regulatory action under the 

order). Any changes made to the rule as 

a result of that review are identified in 

the docket file, which is available for 

public inspection in the office of the 

Department’s Rules Docket Clerk, Office 

of General Counsel, Room 10276, 451 

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 

20410–0500. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

The applicable Catalog of Federal 

Domestic Assistance (CFDA) program 

number is 14.218.

List of Subjects in 24 CFR Part 91 

Aged, Grant programs-housing and 

community development, Homeless, 

Individuals with disabilities, Low- and 

moderate-income housing, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements.

Accordingly, for the reasons stated in 

the preamble, HUD proposes to amend 

24 CFR part 91 as follows:

PART 91—CONSOLIDATED 

SUBMISSIONS FOR COMMUNITY 

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 

PROGRAMS 

1. The authority citation for part 91 

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 3535(d), 3601–3619, 

5301–5315, 11331–11388, 12701–12711, 

12741–12756, and 12901–12912.

2. In § 91.1, revise paragraph (b) to 

read as follows:

§ 91.1 Purpose.

* * * * *

(b) Functions of plan. The 

consolidated plan serves the following 

functions: 

(1) A planning document for the 

jurisdiction, which builds on a 

participatory process among citizens, 

organizations, businesses, and other 

stakeholders; 

(2) An application for federal funds 

under HUD’s formula grant programs for 

jurisdictions; 

(3) A strategy to be followed in 

carrying out HUD programs; and 

(4) A management tool for assessing 

performance and tracking results. 

3. Add § 91.2(d) to read as follows:

§ 91.2 Applicability.

* * * * *

(d) The Public Housing Agency Plan 

submission (PHA Plan) (see 24 CFR part 

903) includes a certification by the 

appropriate state or local official that 

the PHA Plan is consistent with the 

applicable consolidated plan for the 

jurisdiction in which the public housing 

agency is located and must describe the 

manner in which the applicable 

contents of the PHA Plan are consistent 

with the consolidated plan. 

4. Amend § 91.5 by adding 

alphabetically definitions for 

‘‘chronically homeless person’’ and 

‘‘disabling condition’’ to read as follows:

§ 91.5 Definitions.

* * * * *

Chronically homeless person. An 

unaccompanied homeless individual 

with a disabling condition who has 

either been continuously homeless for a 

year or more or has had at least four 

episodes of homelessness in the past 

three years. To be considered 

chronically homeless, a person must 

have been sleeping in a place not meant 

for human habitation (e.g. living on the 

streets) and/or in an emergency shelter 

during that time.

* * * * *

Disabling condition. For the purposes 

of chronic homelessness, a disabling 

condition is a diagnosable substance use 

disorder, serious mental illness, 

developmental disability, or chronic 

physical illness or disability, including 

the co-occurrence of two or more of 

these conditions. A disabling condition 

limits an individual’s ability to work or 

perform one or more activities of daily 

living.

* * * * *

5. Revise § 91.15 to read as follows:

§ 91.15 Submission date. 

(a) General. (1) In order to facilitate 

continuity in its program and to provide 

accountability to citizens, each 

jurisdiction should submit its 

consolidated plan to HUD at least 45 

days before the start of its program year. 

(But see § 92.104 of this subtitle with 

respect to newly eligible jurisdictions 

under the HOME program.) With the 

exception of the August 16 date noted 

in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, HUD 

may grant a jurisdiction an extension of 

the submission deadline for good cause. 

(2) In no event will HUD accept a 

submission earlier than November 15 or 

later than August 16 of the Federal fiscal 

year for which the grant funds are 

appropriated. Failure to submit the plan 

by August 16 will automatically result 

in a loss of the CDBG funds to which the 

jurisdiction would otherwise be 

entitled. 

(3) A jurisdiction may have a program 

year that coincides with the Federal 

fiscal year (e.g., October 1, 2003 through 

September 30, 2004 for Federal fiscal 

year 2004 funds). However, the 

consolidated plan may not be submitted 

earlier than November 15 of the Federal 

fiscal year and HUD has the period 

specified in § 91.500 to review the 

consolidated plan. 

(4) See § 91.20 for HUD field office 

authorization to grant exceptions to 

these provisions.

(b) Frequency of submission. (1) The 

summary of the citizen participation 

and consultation process, the action 

plan, and the certifications must be 

submitted on an annual basis. 

(2) The housing, and homeless needs 

assessment, market analysis, and 

strategic plan must be submitted at least 

once every five years, or at such time 

agreed upon by HUD and the 

jurisdiction in order to facilitate orderly 

program management, coordinate 

consolidated plans with time periods 

used for cooperation agreements, other 

plans, or the availability of data. 

(3) A jurisdiction may make 

amendments that extend the time period 

covered by their plan if agreed upon by 

HUD. 

6. Revise § 91.20 to read as follows:

§ 91.20 Exceptions. 

The HUD Field Office may grant a 

jurisdiction an exception from the 

submission deadline for plans and 

reports and from a requirement in the 

implementation guidelines for good 

cause, as determined by the field office 

and reported in writing to HUD 

Headquarters unless the requirement is 

required by statute or regulation. 

7. In § 91.100, revise paragraphs (a) 

and (c) to read as follows:

§ 91.100 Consultation: local governments. 

(a) General. (1) When preparing the 

consolidated plan, the jurisdiction shall 

consult with other public and private 

78836 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 

agencies that provide assisted housing, 

health services, and social services 

(including those focusing on services to 

children, elderly persons, persons with 

disabilities, persons with HIV/AIDS and 

their families, homeless persons) during 

preparation of the consolidated plan. 

(2) When preparing the portion of the 

consolidated plan describing the 

jurisdiction’s homeless strategy, the 

jurisdiction shall consult with public 

and private agencies that provide 

assisted housing, health services, and 

social services to determine what 

resources are available to address the 

needs of any persons that are 

chronically homeless. 

(3) When preparing the portion of its 

consolidated plan concerning leadbased paint hazards, the jurisdiction 

shall consult with State or local health 

and child welfare agencies and examine 

existing data related to lead-based paint 

hazards and poisonings, including 

health department data on the addresses 

of housing units in which children have 

been identified as lead poisoned. 

(4) When preparing the description of 

priority nonhousing community 

development needs, a unit of general 

local government must notify adjacent 

units of general local government, to the 

extent practicable. The nonhousing 

community development plan must be 

submitted to the state, and, if the 

jurisdiction is a CDBG entitlement 

grantee other than an urban county, to 

the county. 

(5) The jurisdiction also should 

consult with adjacent units of general 

local government, including local 

government agencies with metropolitanwide planning responsibilities, 

particularly for problems and solutions 

that go beyond a single jurisdiction.

* * * * *

(c) Public housing. The jurisdiction 

shall consult with the local public 

housing agency (PHA) concerning 

consideration of public housing needs 

and planned programs and activities. 

This consultation will help provide a 

better basis for the certification by the 

authorized official that the PHA Plan is 

consistent with the consolidated plan 

and the local government’s description 

of the manner in which it will address 

the needs of public housing and, where 

necessary, the manner in which it will 

provide financial or other assistance to 

a troubled PHA to improve its 

operations and remove such 

designation. It will also help ensure that 

activities with regard to local drug 

elimination, neighborhood 

improvement programs, and resident 

programs and services, funded under a 

public housing agency’s program and 

those funded under a program covered 

by the consolidated plan are fully 

coordinated to achieve comprehensive 

community development goals. 

8. In § 91.105, paragraph (a)(2)(ii) is 

revised and paragraph (a)(2)(iii) is 

revised to read as follows:

§ 91.105 Citizen participation plan; local 

governments. 

(a) * * * 

(2) * * * 

(ii) These requirements are designed 

especially to encourage participation by 

low- and moderate-income persons, 

particularly those living in slum and 

blighted areas and in areas where CDBG 

funds are proposed to be used, and by 

residents of predominantly low- and 

moderate-income neighborhoods, as 

defined by the jurisdiction. A 

jurisdiction also is expected to take 

whatever actions are appropriate to 

encourage the participation of all its 

citizens, including minorities and nonEnglish speaking persons, as well as 

persons with disabilities. The 

jurisdiction shall encourage the 

participation of local and regional 

institutions and other organizations 

(including businesses, developers, 

community and faith-based 

organizations) in the process of 

developing and implementing the 

consolidated plan. The jurisdiction 

should also explore alternative public 

involvement techniques and 

quantitative ways to measure efforts that 

encourage citizen participation in a 

shared vision for change in 

communities and neighborhoods, and 

the review of program performance, for 

example, use of focus groups, use of 

Internet, etc.

(iii) The jurisdiction shall encourage, 

in conjunction with consultation with 

public housing agencies, the 

participation of residents of public and 

assisted housing developments, in the 

process of developing and 

implementing the consolidated plan, 

along with other low-income residents 

of targeted revitalization areas in which 

the developments are located. The 

jurisdiction shall make an effort to 

provide information to the public 

housing agency about consolidated plan 

activities related to its developments 

and surrounding communities so that 

the public housing agency can make this 

information available at the annual 

public hearing required for the PHA 

Plan.

* * * * *

9. Revise § 91.110 to read as follows:

§ 91.110 Consultation; States. 

When preparing the consolidated 

plan, the State shall consult with other 

public and private agencies that provide 

assisted housing (including any State 

housing agency administering public 

housing), health services, and social 

services (including those focusing on 

services to children, elderly persons, 

persons with disabilities, persons with 

HIV/AIDS and their families, homeless 

persons) during preparation of the 

consolidated plan. When preparing the 

portion of the consolidated plan 

describing the state’s homeless strategy, 

the state shall consult with public and 

private agencies that provide assisted 

housing, health services, and social 

services to determine what resources are 

available to address the needs of any 

persons that are chronically homeless. 

When preparing the portion of its 

consolidated plan concerning leadbased paint hazards, the State shall 

consult with State or local health and 

child welfare agencies and examine 

existing data related to lead-based paint 

hazards and poisonings, including 

health department data on the addresses 

of housing units in which children have 

been identified as lead poisoned. When 

preparing its method of distribution of 

assistance under the CDBG program, a 

State must consult with local 

governments in nonentitlement areas of 

the State. 

10. Revise § 91.115(a)(2) to read as 

follows:

§ 91.115 Citizen participation plan; states. 

(a) * * * 

(2) Encouragement of citizen 

participation. The citizen participation 

plan must provide for and encourage 

citizens to participate in the 

development of the consolidated plan, 

any substantial amendments to the 

consolidated plan, and the performance 

report. These requirements are designed 

especially to encourage participation by 

low- and moderate-income persons, 

particularly those living in slum and 

blighted areas and in areas where CDBG 

funds are proposed to be used and by 

residents of predominantly low- and 

moderate-income neighborhoods. A 

State also is expected to take whatever 

actions are appropriate to encourage the 

participation of all its citizens, 

including minorities and non-English 

speaking persons, as well as persons 

with disabilities. The State shall 

encourage the participation of statewide 

and regional institutions and other 

organizations (including businesses, 

developers, community and faith-based 

organizations) in the process of 

developing and implementing the 

consolidated plan. The state should also 

explore alternative public involvement 

techniques that encourage a shared 

vision of change for the community and 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 78837

the review of program performance, for 

example, use of focus groups, use of 

Internet.

* * * * *

11. Revise § 91.200 to read as follows:

§ 91.200 General. 

(a) A complete consolidated plan 

consists of the information required in 

§ 91.205 through § 91.230, submitted in 

accordance with instructions prescribed 

by HUD (including tables and 

narratives), or in such other format as 

jointly agreed upon by HUD and the 

jurisdiction. 

(b) The jurisdiction shall describe the 

lead agency or entity responsible for 

overseeing the development of the plan 

and the significant aspects of the 

process by which the consolidated plan 

was developed, the identity of the 

agencies, groups, organizations, and 

others who participated in the process, 

and a description of the jurisdiction’s 

consultations with social service 

agencies and other entities. It also shall 

include a concise summary of the 

citizen participation process, public 

comments, and efforts made to broaden 

public participation in the development 

of the consolidated plan. 

12. Revise § 91.205(a), (b) and (c) to 

read as follows:

§ 91.205 Housing and homeless needs 

assessment. 

(a) General. The consolidated plan 

must provide a concise summary of the 

jurisdiction’s estimated housing needs 

projected for the ensuing five-year 

period. Housing data included in this 

portion of the plan shall be based on 

U.S. Census data, as provided by HUD, 

as updated by any properly conducted 

local study, or any other reliable source 

that the jurisdiction clearly identifies 

and should reflect the consultation with 

social service agencies and other entities 

conducted in accordance with § 91.100 

and the citizen participation process 

conducted in accordance with § 91.105. 

For a jurisdiction seeking funding on 

behalf of an eligible metropolitan 

statistical area under the HOPWA 

program, the needs described for 

housing and supportive services must 

address the needs of persons with HIV/

AIDS and their families throughout the 

eligible metropolitan statistical area. 

(b) Categories of persons affected. (1) 

The plan shall estimate the number and 

type of families in need of housing 

assistance for extremely low-income, 

low-income, moderate-income, and 

middle-income families, for renters and 

owners, for elderly persons, for single 

persons, for large families, public 

housing residents, families on the 

public housing and section 8 tenantbased waiting list, persons with HIV/

AIDS and their families, and for persons 

with disabilities. The description of 

housing needs shall include a concise 

summary of the cost burden and severe 

cost burden, overcrowding (especially 

for large families), and substandard 

housing conditions being experienced 

by extremely low-income, low-income, 

moderate-income, and middle-income 

renters and owners compared to the 

jurisdiction as a whole. (The 

jurisdiction must define in its 

consolidated plan the terms ‘‘standard 

condition’’ and ‘‘substandard condition 

but suitable for rehabilitation.’’) 

(2) For any of the income categories 

enumerated in paragraph (b)(1) of this 

section, to the extent that any racial or 

ethnic group has disproportionately 

greater need in comparison to the needs 

of that category as a whole, assessment 

of that specific need shall be included. 

For this purpose, disproportionately 

greater need exists when the percentage 

of persons in a category of need who are 

members of a particular racial or ethnic 

group in a category of need is at least 

10 percentage points higher than the 

percentage of persons in the category as 

a whole. 

(c) Homeless needs. The plan must 

provide a concise summary of the 

nature and extent of homelessness 

(including rural homelessness), 

addressing separately the need for 

facilities and services for homeless 

individuals and homeless families with 

children, both sheltered and 

unsheltered, and homeless 

subpopulations, in accordance with a 

table prescribed by HUD. This 

description must include the 

characteristics and needs of low-income 

individuals and families with children 

(especially extremely low-income) who 

are currently housed but threatened 

with homelessness. The plan also must 

contain a brief narrative description of 

the nature and extent of homelessness 

by racial and ethnic group, to the extent 

information is available.

* * * * *

13. In § 91.210, paragraphs (b)(1), 

(b)(2), and (c) are revised to read as 

follows:

§ 91.210 Housing market analysis.

* * * * *

(b) Public and assisted housing. (1) 

The plan must describe and identify the 

public housing developments and the 

number of public housing units in the 

jurisdiction, the physical condition of 

such units, the restoration and 

revitalization needs, results from the 

Section 504 needs assessment (i.e., 

assessment of needs of tenants and 

applicants on waiting list for accessible 

units, as required by 24 CFR 8.25), and 

the public housing agency’s strategy for 

improving the management and 

operation of such public housing and 

for improving the living environment of 

low- and moderate-income families 

residing in public housing. The 

consolidated plan must identify the 

public housing developments in the 

jurisdictions that are participating in an 

approved PHA Plan.

(2) The jurisdiction shall include a 

description of the number and targeting 

(income level and type of family served) 

of units currently assisted by local, 

state, or federally funded programs, and 

an assessment of whether any such 

units are expected to be lost from the 

assisted housing inventory for any 

reason, for example, expiration of 

Section 8 contracts. 

(c) Homeless facilities. The plan must 

include a brief inventory of facilities 

and services that meet the emergency 

shelter, transitional housing, permanent 

supportive housing, and permanent 

housing needs of homeless persons 

within the jurisdiction, including any 

persons that are chronically homeless.

* * * * *

14. In § 91.215, revise paragraphs 

(a)(1) through (a)(6), (b)(2), (b)(3), (c), 

(d), (e), (h), (i), (j) and (k) to read as 

follows:

§ 91.215 Strategic plan. 

(a) * * * 

(1) Indicate the general priorities for 

allocating investment geographically 

within the jurisdiction (or within the 

EMSA for the HOPWA program) and 

among different activities and needs, as 

identified in tables prescribed by HUD. 

(2) Describe the reasons for assigning 

the priority (including the relative 

priority, where required) given to each 

category of priority needs; 

(3) Identify any obstacles to meeting 

underserved needs; 

(4) Summarize the priorities and 

specific objectives the jurisdiction 

intends to initiate and/or complete 

during the time period covered by the 

strategic plan. For each specific 

objective, identify proposed 

accomplishments the jurisdiction hopes 

to achieve in quantitative terms over a 

specified time period (e.g., one, two, 

three or more years), or in other 

measurable terms as identified and 

defined by the jurisdiction; 

(5) Describe how funds that are 

reasonably expected to be available will 

be used to address identified needs for 

the period covered by the plan; 

(6) Where known, grantees should 

include proposed outcomes measures 

for some of the proposed 

accomplishments listed in paragraph 

78838 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 

(a)(4) of this section in accordance with 

guidance to be issued by HUD. 

(b) * * * 

(2) The affordable housing section 

shall indicate how the characteristics of 

the housing market will influence the 

use of funds made available for rental 

assistance, production of new units, 

rehabilitation of existing units, or 

acquisition of existing units (including 

preserving affordable housing units that 

may be lost from the assisted housing 

inventory for any reason). If the 

jurisdiction intends to use HOME funds 

for tenant-based assistance, it must 

specify local market conditions that lead 

to the choice of this option. 

(3) The affordable housing section 

shall include specific objectives that 

describe proposed accomplishments the 

jurisdiction hopes to achieve and must 

specify the number of extremely lowincome, low-income, and moderateincome families to whom the 

jurisdiction will provide affordable 

housing as defined in 24 CFR 92.252 for 

rental housing and 24 CFR 92.254 for 

homeownership over a specific time 

period. 

(c) Homelessness. With respect to 

homelessness, the consolidated plan 

must include the priority homeless 

needs table prescribed by HUD and 

must describe the jurisdiction’s strategy 

for the following: 

(1) Helping low-income families avoid 

becoming homeless;

(2) Reaching out to homeless persons 

and assessing their individual needs; 

(3) Addressing the emergency shelter 

and transitional housing needs of 

homeless persons; and 

(4) Helping homeless persons 

(especially any persons that are 

chronically homeless) make the 

transition to permanent housing and 

independent living. 

(d) Other special needs. With respect 

to supportive needs of the nonhomeless, the consolidated plan must 

provide a concise summary of the 

priority housing and supportive service 

needs of persons who are not homeless 

but require supportive housing (i.e., 

elderly, frail elderly, persons with 

disabilities (mental, physical, 

developmental), persons with alcohol or 

other drug addiction, persons with HIV/

AIDS and their families, and public 

housing residents). If the jurisdiction 

intends to use HOME funds for tenantbased assistance to assist one or more of 

these subpopulations, it must specify 

local market conditions that lead to the 

choice of this option. 

(e) Nonhousing community 

development plan. (1) If the jurisdiction 

seeks assistance under the Community 

Development Block Grant program, the 

consolidated plan must provide a 

concise summary of the jurisdiction’s 

priority non-housing community 

development needs eligible for 

assistance under HUD’s community 

development programs by CDBG 

eligibility category, in accordance with 

a table prescribed by HUD. This 

community development component of 

the plan must state the jurisdiction’s 

specific long-term and short-term 

community development objectives 

(including economic development 

activities that create jobs), which must 

be developed in accordance with the 

primary objective of the CDBG program 

to develop viable urban communities by 

providing decent housing and a suitable 

living environment and expanding 

economic opportunities, principally for 

low-income and moderate-income 

persons. The plan shall also include an 

estimate of the number of abandoned 

buildings, using the jurisdiction’s 

definition. 

(2) A jurisdiction that elects to carry 

out a neighborhood revitalization 

strategy that includes the economic 

empowerment of low-income residents 

with respect to one or more of its areas 

may submit this strategy as part of its 

community development plan. The 

strategy must identify long-term and 

short-term objectives (e.g., physical 

improvements, social initiatives and 

economic empowerment), expressing 

them in terms of measures of outputs 

and outcomes expected to be achieved 

in the neighborhood through the use of 

HUD programs. If HUD approves such a 

strategy, the jurisdiction can obtain 

greater flexibility in the use of the CDBG 

funds in the revitalization area(s) as 

described in 24 CFR part 570, subpart C.

* * * * *

(h) Anti-poverty strategy. The 

consolidated plan must provide a 

concise summary of the jurisdiction’s 

goals, programs, and policies for 

reducing the number of poverty level 

families and how the jurisdiction’s 

goals, programs, and policies for 

producing and preserving affordable 

housing, set forth in the housing 

component of the consolidated plan, 

will be coordinated with other programs 

and services for which the jurisdiction 

is responsible and the extent to which 

they will reduce (or assist in reducing) 

the number of poverty level families, 

taking into consideration factors over 

which the jurisdiction has control. 

These policies may include the 

jurisdiction’s policies for providing 

employment and training opportunities 

to section 3 residents pursuant to 24 

CFR part 135. 

(i) Institutional structure. (1) The 

consolidated plan must provide a 

concise summary of the institutional 

structure, including private industry, 

nonprofit organizations, community and 

faith-based organizations, and public 

institutions, through which the 

jurisdiction will carry out its housing, 

homeless, and community development 

plan, assessing the strengths and gaps in 

that delivery system. 

(2) The plan must provide a concise 

summary of what the jurisdiction will 

do to overcome gaps in the institutional 

structure for carrying out its strategy for 

addressing its priority needs. 

(j) Coordination. The consolidated 

plan must provide a concise summary of 

the jurisdiction’s activities to enhance 

coordination between public and 

assisted housing providers and private 

and governmental health, mental health, 

and service agencies. With respect to the 

preparation of its homeless strategy, the 

jurisdiction must describe efforts in 

addressing the needs of persons that are 

chronically homeless. With respect to 

the public entities involved, the plan 

must describe the means of cooperation 

and coordination among the State and 

any units of general local government in 

the metropolitan area in the 

implementation of its consolidated plan. 

(k) Public housing. The consolidated 

plan must describe the manner in which 

the plan of the jurisdiction will address 

the needs of public housing, including 

the need to increase the number of 

accessible units where required by a 

section 504 voluntary compliance 

agreement. The consolidated plan must 

also describe the jurisdiction’s activities 

to encourage public housing residents to 

become more involved in management 

and participate in homeownership. If 

the public housing agency is designated 

as ‘‘troubled’’ by HUD under 24 CFR 

part 902, the jurisdiction must describe 

the manner in which it will provide 

financial or other assistance to improve 

its operations and remove the 

‘‘troubled’’ designation. 

15. Revise § 91.220 to read as follows:

§ 91.220 Action plan.

The action plan must include the 

following: 

(a) Form application. Standard Form 

424; 

(b) Resources and objectives. (1) 

Federal resources. The consolidated 

plan must provide a concise summary of 

the federal resources (including grant 

funds and program income) expected to 

be made available. Federal resources 

include Section 8 funds made available 

to jurisdictions and competitive 

McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 

Act funds. 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 78839

(2) Other resources. The consolidated 

plan must indicate resources from 

private and state and local sources that 

are reasonably expected to be made 

available to address the needs identified 

in the plan. The plan must explain how 

Federal funds will leverage those 

additional resources, including a 

description of how matching 

requirements of the HUD programs will 

be satisfied. Where the jurisdiction 

deems it appropriate, it may indicate 

publicly owned land or property located 

within the jurisdiction that may be used 

to address the needs identified in the 

plan; 

(3) Annual objectives. The 

consolidated plan must contain a 

summary of the annual objectives the 

jurisdiction expects to achieve during 

the forthcoming program year. 

(c) Activities to be undertaken. A 

description of the activities the 

jurisdiction will undertake during the 

next year to address priority needs and 

objectives. This description of activities 

shall estimate the number and type of 

families that will benefit from the 

proposed activities, the specific local 

objectives and priority needs (identified 

in accordance with § 91.215) that will be 

addressed by the activities using 

formula grant funds and program 

income the jurisdiction expects to 

receive during the program year, 

proposed accomplishments, and a target 

date for completion of the activity. This 

information is to be presented in the 

form of a table prescribed by HUD; 

(d) Outcome measures. Each 

jurisdiction must provide outcome 

measures for activities included in its 

action plan in accordance with guidance 

to be issued by HUD. 

(e) Geographic distribution. A 

description of the geographic areas of 

the jurisdiction (including areas of lowincome and minority concentration) in 

which it will direct assistance during 

the ensuing program year, giving the 

rationale for the priorities for allocating 

investment geographically. When 

appropriate, jurisdictions should 

estimate the percentage of funds they 

plan to dedicate to target areas. 

(f) Affordable housing. The 

jurisdiction must specify one-year goals 

for the number of homeless, nonhomeless, and special needs households 

to be provided affordable housing 

through activities that provide rental 

assistance, production of new units, 

rehabilitation of existing units, or 

acquisition of existing units using funds 

made available to the jurisdiction. The 

term affordable housing shall be as 

defined in 24 CFR 92.252 for rental 

housing and 24 CFR 92.254 for 

homeownership. 

(g) Homeless and other special needs 

activities. Activities it plans to 

undertake during the next year to 

address emergency shelter and 

transitional housing needs of homeless 

individuals and families (including 

subpopulations), to prevent low-income 

individuals and families with children 

(especially those with incomes below 30 

percent of median) from becoming 

homeless, to help homeless persons 

make the transition to permanent 

housing and independent living, 

specific action steps to end chronic 

homelessness, and to address the 

special needs of persons who are not 

homeless identified in accordance with 

§ 91.215(d); 

(h) Barriers to Affordable Housing.

Actions it plans to take during the next 

year to address public policies, 

procedures and processes of the 

jurisdiction that impact the cost of 

developing, maintaining or improving 

affordable housing. Such policies, 

procedures and processes include but 

are not limited to: land use controls, tax 

policies affecting land, zoning 

ordinances, building codes, fees and 

charges, growth limitations and policies 

affecting the return on residential 

investment. 

(i) Other actions. (1) General. Actions 

it plans to take during the next year to 

address obstacles to meeting 

underserved needs, foster and maintain 

affordable housing, evaluate and reduce 

lead-based paint hazards, reduce the 

number of poverty level families, 

develop institutional structure, and 

enhance coordination between public 

and private housing and social service 

agencies (see § 91.215 (a), (b), (g), (h), (i), 

and (j). 

(2) Public housing. Actions it plans to 

take during the next year to address the 

needs of public housing and actions to 

encourage public housing residents to 

become more involved in management 

and participate in homeownership. If 

the public housing agency is designated 

as ‘‘troubled’’ by HUD under part 902 of 

this title, the jurisdiction must describe 

the manner in which it will provide 

financial or other assistance to improve 

its operations and remove the 

‘‘troubled’’ designation. 

(j) Program-specific requirements—(1) 

CDBG. (i) A jurisdiction must describe 

activities planned with respect to all 

CDBG funds expected to be available 

during the program year (including 

program income that will have been 

received before the start of the next 

program year), except that an amount 

generally not to exceed ten percent of 

such total available CDBG funds may be 

excluded from the funds for which 

eligible activities are described if it has 

been identified for the contingency of 

cost overruns. 

(ii) CDBG funds expected to be 

available during the program year 

includes the following:

(A) Any program income that will 

have been received before the start of 

the next program year and that has not 

yet been programmed; 

(B) Proceeds from Section 108 loan 

guarantees that will be used during the 

year to address the priority needs and 

specific objectives identified in its 

strategic plan; 

(C) Surplus from urban renewal 

settlements; 

(D) Grant funds returned to the line of 

credit for which the planned use has not 

been included in a prior statement or 

plan; and 

(E) Income from float-funded 

activities. The full amount of income 

expected to be generated by a floatfunded activity must be shown, whether 

or not some or all of the income is 

expected to be received in a future 

program year. To assure that citizens 

understand the risks inherent in 

undertaking float-funded activities, the 

recipient must specify the total amount 

of program income expected to be 

received and the month(s) and year(s) 

that it expects the float-funded activity 

to generate such program income. 

(iii) An ‘‘urgent needs’’ activity (one 

that is expected to qualify under 

§ 570.208(c) of this title) may be 

included only if the jurisdiction 

identifies the activity in the action plan 

and certifies that the activity is designed 

to meet other community development 

needs having a particular urgency 

because existing conditions pose a 

serious and immediate threat to the 

health or welfare of the community and 

other financial resources are not 

available. 

(iv) The plan shall identify the 

estimated amount of CDBG funds that 

will be used for activities that benefit 

persons of low- and moderate-income. 

The information about activities shall be 

in sufficient detail, including location, 

to allow citizens to determine the degree 

to which they are affected. 

(2) HOME. (i) For HOME funds, a 

participating jurisdiction shall describe 

other forms of investment that are not 

described in § 92.205(b) of this title. 

(ii) If the participating jurisdiction 

intends to use HOME funds for 

homebuyers, it must state the guidelines 

for resale or recapture, as required in 

§ 92.254 of this subtitle. 

(iii) If the participating jurisdiction 

intends to use HOME funds to refinance 

existing debt secured by multifamily 

housing that is being rehabilitated with 

HOME funds, it must state its 

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refinancing guidelines required under 

24 CFR 92.206(b). The guidelines shall 

describe the conditions under which the 

participating jurisdictions will refinance 

existing debt. At minimum, the 

guidelines must: 

(A) Demonstrate that rehabilitation is 

the primary eligible activity and ensure 

that this requirement is met by 

establishing a minimum level of 

rehabilitation per unit or a required 

ratio between rehabilitation and 

refinancing. 

(B) Require a review of management 

practices to demonstrate that 

disinvestment in the property has not 

occurred; that the long term needs of the 

project can be met; and that the 

feasibility of serving the targeted 

population over an extended 

affordability period can be 

demonstrated. 

(C) State whether the new investment 

is being made to maintain current 

affordable units, create additional 

affordable units, or both. 

(D) Specify the required period of 

affordability, whether it is the minimum 

15 years or longer. 

(E) Specify whether the investment of 

HOME funds may be jurisdiction-wide 

or limited to a specific geographic area, 

such as a neighborhood identified in a 

neighborhood revitalization strategy 

under 24 CFR 91.215(d)(2) or a 

Federally designated Empowerment 

Zone or Enterprise Community. 

(F) State that HOME funds cannot be 

used to refinance multifamily loans 

made or insured by any Federal 

program, including CDBG. 

(iv) If the participating jurisdiction 

will receive funding under the 

American Dream Downpayment 

Initiative (ADDI) (see 24 CFR part 92, 

subpart M), it must include: 

(A) A description of the planned use 

of the ADDI funds; 

(B) A plan for conducting targeted 

outreach to residents and tenants of 

public and manufactured housing and 

to other families assisted by public 

housing agencies, for the purposes of 

ensuring that the ADDI funds are used 

to provide downpayment assistance for 

such residents, tenants, and families; 

and 

(C) A description of the actions to be 

taken to ensure the suitability of 

families receiving ADDI funds to 

undertake and maintain 

homeownership. 

(3) HOPWA. For HOPWA funds, the 

jurisdiction must specify one-year goals 

for the number of households to be 

provided housing through the use of 

HOPWA activities for: short-term rent, 

mortgage and utility assistance 

payments to prevent homelessness of 

the individual or family; tenant-based 

rental assistance; and units provided in 

housing facilities that are being 

developed, leased or operated with 

HOPWA funds. 

(k) A concise summary of the citizen 

participation and consultation process 

(including efforts to broaden public 

participation) (24 CFR 91.200(b)), a 

summary of comments or views, and a 

summary of comments or views not 

accepted and the reasons therefore. (24 

CFR 91.105(b)(5))

16. Revise § 91.300(b) to read as 

follows:

§ 91.300 General.

* * * * *

(b) The state shall describe the lead 

agency or entity responsible for 

overseeing the development of the plan 

and the significant aspects of the 

process by which the consolidated plan 

was developed, the identity of the 

agencies, groups, organizations, and 

others who participated in the process, 

and a description of the state’s 

consultations with social service 

agencies and other entities. It also shall 

include a concise summary of the 

citizen participation process, public 

comments, and efforts made to broaden 

public participation in the development 

of the consolidated plan. 

17. In § 91.305, revise paragraphs (a), 

(b), and (c) to read as follows:

§ 91.305 Housing and homeless needs 

assessment. 

(a) General. The consolidated plan 

must provide a concise summary of the 

state’s estimated housing needs 

projected for the ensuing five-year 

period. Housing data included in this 

portion of the plan shall be based on 

U.S. Census data, as provided by HUD, 

as updated by any properly conducted 

local study, or any other reliable source 

that the jurisdiction clearly identifies 

and should reflect the consultation with 

social service agencies and other entities 

conducted in accordance with § 91.110 

and the citizen participation process 

conducted in accordance with § 91.115. 

For a State seeking funding under the 

HOPWA program, the needs described 

for housing and supportive services 

must address the needs of persons with 

HIV/AIDS and their families in areas 

outside of eligible metropolitan 

statistical areas. 

(b) Categories of persons affected. (1) 

The plan shall estimate the number and 

type of families in need of housing 

assistance for extremely low-income, 

low-income, moderate-income, and 

middle-income families, for renters and 

owners, for elderly persons, for single 

persons, for large families, for persons 

with HIV/AIDS and their families, and 

for persons with disabilities. The 

description of housing needs shall 

include a concise summary of the cost 

burden and severe cost burden, 

overcrowding (especially for large 

families), and substandard housing 

conditions being experienced by 

extremely low-income, low-income, 

moderate-income, and middle-income 

renters and owners compared to the 

state as a whole. (The state must define 

in its consolidated plan the terms 

‘‘standard condition’’ and ‘‘substandard 

condition but suitable for 

rehabilitation.’’) 

(2) For any of the income categories 

enumerated in paragraph (b)(1) of this 

section, to the extent that any racial or 

ethnic group has disproportionately 

greater need in comparison to the needs 

of that category as a whole, assessment 

of that specific need shall be included. 

For this purpose, disproportionately 

greater need exists when the percentage 

of persons in a category of need who are 

members of a particular racial or ethnic 

group in a category of need is at least 

10 percentage points higher than the 

percentage of persons in the category as 

a whole. 

(c) Homeless needs. The plan must 

provide a concise summary of the 

nature and extent of homelessness 

(including rural homelessness) within 

the state, addressing separately the need 

for facilities and services for homeless 

individuals and homeless families with 

children, both sheltered and 

unsheltered, and homeless 

subpopulations, in accordance with a 

table prescribed by HUD. This 

description must include the 

characteristics and needs of low-income 

individuals and families with children 

(especially extremely low-income) who 

are currently housed but threatened 

with homelessness. The plan also must 

contain a brief narrative description of 

the nature and extent of homelessness 

by racial and ethnic group, to the extent 

information is available.

* * * * *

18. Revise § 91.310(b) to read as 

follows:

§ 91.310 Housing market analysis.

* * * * *

(b) Homeless facilities. The plan must 

include a brief inventory of facilities 

and services that meet the emergency 

shelter, transitional housing, permanent 

supportive housing, and permanent 

housing needs of homeless persons 

within the jurisdiction, including any 

persons that are chronically homeless.

* * * * *

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 78841

19. Revise § 91.315(a)(4), (a)(6), (b)(2), 

(b)(3), (c), (d), (e), (h), (i), (j), and (l) as 

follows:

§ 91.315 Strategic plan.

(a) * * *

(4) Summarize the priorities and 

specific objectives the State intends to 

initiate and/or complete during the time 

period covered by the strategic plan, 

describing how the proposed 

distribution of funds will address 

identified needs. For each specific 

objective, identify proposed 

accomplishments the state hopes to 

achieve in quantitative terms over a 

specified time period (e.g., one, two, 

three or more years), or in other 

measurable terms as identified and 

defined by the jurisdiction;

* * * * *

(6) Where known, grantees should 

include proposed outcomes measures 

for some of the proposed 

accomplishments listed in paragraph 

(a)(4) of this section in accordance with 

guidance to be issued by HUD. 

(b) * * * 

(2) The affordable housing section 

shall indicate how the characteristics of 

the housing market will influence the 

use of funds made available for rental 

assistance, production of new units, 

rehabilitation of existing units, or 

acquisition of existing units (including 

preserving affordable housing units that 

may be lost from the assisted housing 

inventory for any reason). If the State 

intends to use HOME funds for tenantbased assistance, it must specify local 

market conditions that lead to the 

choice of this option. 

(3) The affordable housing section 

shall include specific objectives that 

describe proposed accomplishments the 

state hopes to achieve and must specify 

the number of extremely low-income, 

low-income, and moderate-income 

families to whom the jurisdiction will 

provide affordable housing as defined in 

24 CFR 92.252 for rental housing and 24 

CFR 92.254 for homeownership over a 

specific time period. 

(c) Homelessness. With respect to 

homelessness, the consolidated plan 

must include the priority homeless 

needs table prescribed by HUD and 

must describe the state’s strategy for the 

following: 

(1) Helping low-income families avoid 

becoming homeless; 

(2) Reaching out to homeless persons 

and assessing their individual needs; 

(3) Addressing the emergency shelter 

and transitional housing needs of 

homeless persons; and 

(4) Helping homeless persons 

(especially any persons that are 

chronically homeless) make the 

transition to permanent housing and 

independent living. 

(d) Other special needs. With respect 

to supportive needs of the nonhomeless, the consolidated plan must 

provide a concise summary of the 

priority housing and supportive service 

needs of persons who are not homeless 

but require supportive housing (i.e., 

elderly, frail elderly, persons with 

disabilities (mental, physical, 

developmental), persons with alcohol or 

other drug addiction, persons with HIV/

AIDS and their families, and public 

housing residents). If the State intends 

to use HOME funds for tenant-based 

assistance to assist one or more of these 

subpopulations, it must specify local 

market conditions that lead to the 

choice of this option. 

(e) Nonhousing community 

development plan. (1) If the State seeks 

assistance under the CDBG Program, the 

consolidated plan must concisely 

describe the State’s priority nonhousing 

community development needs that 

affect more than one unit of general 

local government. These priority needs 

must be described by CDBG eligibility 

category, reflecting the needs of persons 

or families for each type of activity. This 

community development component of 

the plan must state the State’s specific 

long-term and short-term community 

development objectives (including 

economic development activities that 

create jobs), which must be developed 

in accordance with the primary 

objective of the CDBG program to 

develop viable urban communities by 

providing decent housing and a suitable 

living environment and expanding 

economic opportunities, principally for 

low-income and moderate-income 

persons. 

(2) A State may elect to allow units of 

general local government to carry out a 

community revitalization strategy that 

includes the economic empowerment of 

low income residents, in order to obtain 

the additional flexibility available as 

provided in 24 CFR part 570, subpart I. 

A State must approve a local 

government’s revitalization strategy 

before it may be implemented. If a State 

elects to allow revitalization strategies 

in its program, the method of 

distribution contained in a State’s action 

plan pursuant to § 91.320(j)(1) must 

reflect the State’s process and criteria 

for approving local governments’

revitalization strategies. The strategy 

must identify the long-term and shortterm objectives (e.g. physical 

improvements, social initiatives and 

economic empowerment), expressing 

them in terms of measures of outputs 

and outcomes expected to be achieved 

through the use of HUD programs. The 

State’s process and criteria are subject to 

HUD approval.

* * * * *

(h) Anti-poverty strategy. The 

consolidated plan must provide a 

concise summary of the state’s goals, 

programs, and policies for reducing the 

number of poverty level families and 

how the state’s goals, programs, and 

policies for producing and preserving 

affordable housing, set forth in the 

housing component of the consolidated 

plan, will be coordinated with other 

programs such as Temporary Aid for 

Needy Families as well as employment 

and training programs and services for 

which the state is responsible and the 

extent to which they will reduce (or 

assist in reducing) the number of 

poverty level families, taking into 

consideration factors over which the 

jurisdiction has control. 

(i) Institutional structure. (1) The 

consolidated plan must provide a 

concise summary of the institutional 

structure, including private industry, 

nonprofit organizations, and public 

institutions, through which the state 

will carry out its housing, homeless, and 

community development plan, assessing 

the strengths and gaps in that delivery 

system. 

(2) The plan must provide a concise 

summary of what the state will do to 

overcome gaps in the institutional 

structure for carrying out its strategy for 

addressing its priority needs.

(j) Coordination. The consolidated 

plan must provide a concise summary of 

the state’s activities to enhance 

coordination between public and 

assisted housing providers and private 

and governmental health, mental health, 

and service agencies. With respect to the 

preparation of its homeless strategy, the 

state must describe efforts in addressing 

the needs of persons that are chronically 

homeless. With respect to the public 

entities involved, the plan must 

describe the means of cooperation and 

coordination among the state and any 

units of general local government in the 

metropolitan area in the implementation 

of its consolidated plan.

* * * * *

(l) Public housing. With respect to 

public housing, the consolidated plan 

must do the following: 

(1) Resident initiatives. For a State 

that has a State housing agency 

administering public housing funds, the 

consolidated plan must describe the 

State’s activities to encourage public 

housing residents to become more 

involved in management and participate 

in homeownership; 

(2) Public housing needs. The 

consolidated plan must describe the 

78842 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 

manner in which the plan of the State 

will address the needs of public 

housing; and 

(3) Troubled public housing agencies. 

If a public housing agency located 

within a State is designated as 

‘‘troubled’’ by HUD under part 902 of 

this title, the strategy for the State or 

unit of local government in which any 

troubled public housing agency is 

located must describe the manner in 

which the State or unit of general local 

government will provide financial or 

other assistance to improve the public 

housing agency’s operations and remove 

the ‘‘troubled’’ designation. A State is 

not required to describe the manner in 

which financial or other assistance is 

provided if the troubled public housing 

agency is located entirely within the 

boundaries of a unit of general local 

government that must submit a 

consolidated plan to HUD. 

20. Revise § 91.320 to read as follows:

§ 91.320 Action plan. 

The action plan must include the 

following: 

(a) Form application. Standard Form 

424; 

(b) Resources and objectives. (1) 

Federal resources. The consolidated 

plan must provide a concise summary of 

the Federal resources expected to be 

made available. These resources include 

grant funds and program income. 

(2) Other resources. The consolidated 

plan must indicate resources from 

private and non-Federal public sources 

that are reasonably expected to be made 

available to address the needs identified 

in the plan. The plan must explain how 

federal funds will leverage those 

additional resources, including a 

description of how matching 

requirements of the HUD programs will 

be satisfied. Where the State deems it 

appropriate, it may indicate publicly 

owned land or property located within 

the State that may be used to carry out 

the purposes identified in the plan; 

(3) Annual objectives. The 

consolidated plan must contain a 

summary of the annual objectives the 

State expects to achieve during the 

forthcoming program year. 

(c) Activities. A description of the 

State’s method for distributing funds to 

local governments and nonprofit 

organizations to carry out activities, or 

the activities to be undertaken by the 

State, using funds that are expected to 

be received under formula allocations 

(and related program income) and other 

HUD assistance during the program year 

and how the proposed distribution of 

funds will address the priority needs 

and specific objectives described in the 

consolidated plan; 

(d) Outcome measures. Each State 

must provide outcome measures for 

activities included in its action plan in 

accordance with guidance to be issued 

by HUD. For the Community 

Development Block Grant Program this 

would include activities that are likely 

to be funded as a result of the 

implementation of the State’s Method of 

Distribution. 

(e) Geographic distribution. A 

description of the geographic areas of 

the State (including areas of low-income 

and minority concentration) in which it 

will direct assistance during the ensuing 

program year, giving the rationale for 

the priorities for allocating investment 

geographically. When appropriate, the 

State should estimate the percentage of 

funds they plan to dedicate to target 

area(s). 

(f) Affordable housing goals. The state 

must specify one-year goals for the 

number of homeless, non-homeless, and 

special needs households to be provided 

affordable housing through activities 

that provide rental assistance, 

production of new units, rehabilitation 

of existing units, or acquisition of 

existing units using funds made 

available to the state. The term 

affordable housing shall be as defined in 

24 CFR 92.252 for rental housing and 24 

CFR 92.254 for homeownership. 

(g) Homeless and other special needs 

activities. Activities it plans to 

undertake during the next year to 

address emergency shelter and 

transitional housing needs of homeless 

individuals and families (including 

subpopulations), to prevent low-income 

individuals and families with children 

(especially those with incomes below 30 

percent of median) from becoming 

homeless, to help homeless persons 

make the transition to permanent 

housing and independent living, 

specific action steps to end chronic 

homelessness, and to address the 

special needs of persons who are not 

homeless identified in accordance with 

§ 91.315(d);

(h) Barriers to Affordable Housing. 

Actions it plans to take during the next 

year to address public policies, 

procedures, and processes of the State 

that impact the cost of developing, 

maintaining, or improving affordable 

housing. Such policies, procedures, and 

processes include but are not limited to: 

land use controls, tax policies affecting 

land, zoning ordinances, building codes, 

fees and charges, growth limitations, 

and policies affecting the return on 

residential investment. 

(i) Other actions. Actions it plans to 

take during the next year to implement 

its strategic plan and address obstacles 

to meeting underserved needs, foster 

and maintain affordable housing 

(including the coordination of LowIncome Housing Tax Credits with the 

development of affordable housing), 

evaluate and reduce lead-based paint 

hazards, reduce the number of poverty 

level families, develop institutional 

structure, enhance coordination 

between public and private housing and 

social service agencies, address the 

needs of public housing (including 

providing financial or other assistance 

to troubled public housing agencies), 

and encourage public housing residents 

to become more involved in 

management and participate in 

homeownership. 

(j) Program-specific requirements. In 

addition, the plan must include the 

following specific information: (1) The 

method of distribution shall contain a 

description of all criteria used to select 

applications from local governments for 

funding, including the relative 

importance of the criteria—if the 

relative importance has been developed. 

The action plan must include a 

description of how all CDBG resources 

will be allocated among all funding 

categories and the threshold factors and 

grant size limits that are to be applied. 

If the State intends to aid 

nonentitlement units of general local 

government in applying for guaranteed 

loan funds under 24 CFR part 570, 

subpart M, it must describe available 

guarantee amounts and how 

applications will be selected for 

assistance. If a State elects to allow units 

of general local government to carry out 

community revitalization strategies, the 

method of distribution shall reflect the 

State’s process and criteria for 

approving local governments’

revitalization strategies. (The statement 

of the method of distribution must 

provide sufficient information so that 

units of general local government will 

be able to understand and comment on 

it and be able to prepare responsive 

applications.) 

(i) The method of distribution shall 

contain a description of all criteria used 

to select applications from local 

governments for funding. 

Notwithstanding, the method of 

distribution may provide a summary of 

the selection criteria, (providing that all 

criteria are listed) as long as the details 

are contained in application manuals or 

other official state publications that are 

widely distributed to potential 

applicants. The action plan must 

include a description of how all CDBG 

resources will be allocated among all 

funding categories and the threshold 

factors and grant size limits that are to 

be applied. If the State intends to aid 

nonentitlement units of general local 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 250 / Thursday, December 30, 2004 / Proposed Rules 78843

government in applying for guaranteed 

loan funds under 24 CFR part 570, 

subpart M, it must describe available 

guarantee amounts and how 

applications will be selected for 

assistance. If a State elects to allow units 

of general local government to carry out 

community revitalization strategies, the 

method of distribution shall reflect the 

State’s process and criteria for 

approving local government’s 

revitalization strategies. The statement 

of the method of distribution must 

provide sufficient information so that 

units of general local government will 

be able to understand and comment on 

it, understand on what criteria and 

information their application will be 

judged, and be able to prepare 

responsive applications. This means 

that all selection criteria must be 

included in at least summary form, with 

the details included in other application 

materials that are widely distributed to 

potential applicants. If final funding 

decisions will be made by senior 

management, the Method of Distribution 

must include the criteria that senior 

management will use to make the 

decisions. 

(ii) The State shall keep records to 

document its funding decision reached 

under the Method of Distribution 

described in paragraph (i) above so that 

they can be reviewed by HUD, the 

Inspector General, the Government 

Accountability Office and citizens 

pursuant to the requirements of 

§ 570.493(a). 

(iii) Approval of the Consolidated 

Plan under § 91.500 shall not be deemed 

to indicate that the Method of 

Distribution is in compliance with the 

requirements of paragraph (i) above, and 

HUD may monitor the Method of 

Distribution as part of its review and 

audit as provided in § 570.493(a)(1). 

(2) HOME. (i) The State shall describe 

other forms of investment that are not 

described in Sec. 92.205(b) of this 

subtitle. 

(ii) If the State intends to use HOME 

funds for homebuyers, it must state the 

guidelines for resale or recapture, as 

required in § 92.254 of this subtitle. 

(iii) If the State intends to use HOME 

funds to refinance existing debt secured 

by multifamily housing that is being 

rehabilitated with HOME funds, it must 

state its refinancing guidelines required 

under 24 CFR 92.206(b). The guidelines 

shall describe the conditions under 

which the State will refinance existing 

debt. At minimum, the guidelines must: 

(A) Demonstrate that rehabilitation is 

the primary eligible activity and ensure 

that this requirement is met by 

establishing a minimum level of 

rehabilitation per unit or a required 

ratio between rehabilitation and 

refinancing. 

(B) Require a review of management 

practices to demonstrate that 

disinvestment in the property has not 

occurred; that the long term needs of the 

project can be met; and that the 

feasibility of serving the targeted 

population over an extended 

affordability period can be 

demonstrated. 

(C) State whether the new investment 

is being made to maintain current 

affordable units, create additional 

affordable units or both. 

(D) Specify the required period of 

affordability, whether it is the minimum 

15 years or longer. 

(E) Specify whether the investment of 

HOME funds may be jurisdiction-wide 

or limited to a specific geographic area, 

such as a neighborhood identified in a 

neighborhood revitalization strategy 

under 24 CFR 91.215(e)(2) or a Federally 

designated Empowerment Zone or 

Enterprise Community. 

(F) State HOME funds cannot be used 

to refinance multifamily loans made or 

insured by any Federal program, 

including CDBG. 

(iv) If the state will receive funding 

under the American Dream 

Downpayment Initiative (ADDI) (see 24 

CFR part 92, subpart M), it must 

include: 

(A) A description of the planned use 

of the ADDI funds; 

(B) A plan for conducting targeted 

outreach to residents and tenants of 

public and manufactured housing and 

to other families assisted by public 

housing agencies, for the purposes of 

ensuring that the ADDI funds are used 

to provide downpayment assistance for 

such residents, tenants, and families; 

and 

(C) A description of the actions to be 

taken to ensure the suitability of 

families receiving ADDI funds to 

undertake and maintain 

homeownership, such as provision of 

housing counseling to homebuyers.

(3) ESG. The State shall state the 

process for awarding grants to State 

recipients and a description of how the 

State intends to make its allocation 

available to units of local government 

and nonprofit organizations (including 

community and faith-based 

organizations). 

(4) HOPWA. The State shall state the 

method of selecting project sponsors 

(including community and faith-based 

organizations). 

(k) A concise summary of the citizen 

participation and consultation process 

(including efforts to broaden public 

participation) (24 CFR 91.200 (b)), a 

summary of comments or views, and a 

summary of comments or views not 

accepted and the reasons therefore. (24 

CFR 91.105 (b)(5)). 

21. In § 91.500, revise paragraph (b)(3) 

and add paragraph (b)(4) to read as 

follows:

§ 91.500 HUD approval action.

* * * * *

(b) * * * 

(3) A plan for which a certification is 

rejected by HUD as inaccurate, after 

HUD has inspected the evidence and 

provided due notice and opportunity to 

the jurisdiction for comment; and 

(4) A plan that does not include a 

description of the manner in which the 

unit of general local government will 

provide financial or other assistance to 

a public housing agency if the public 

housing agency is designated as 

‘‘troubled’’ by HUD.

* * * * *

22. Revise § 91.520 by adding 

paragraph (g) to read as follows:

§ 91.520 Performance reports.

* * * * *

(g) The report will include a 

comparison of the proposed versus 

actual outcomes for each outcome 

measure submitted with the 

consolidated plan. The report must 

explain variances between the proposed 

and actual outcomes.

Dated: November 30, 2004. 

Nelson R. Brego ́n, 

General Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Community Planning and Development.

[FR Doc. 04–28430 Filed 12–29–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–32–P