Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 166 / Friday, August 28, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 44285 

II. This Final Rule 

In addition to removing the 

prohibition on the use of project labor 

agreements in federal and federally 

assisted construction contracts, 

Executive Order 13502 directs agencies 

to revoke any regulations based on the 

prior Executive Order 13202. Consistent 

with those directions and the lack of a 

legal foundation for HUD’s regulation in 

24 CFR 5.108, this rule removes that 

regulatory section from the Code of 

Federal Regulations. 

Executive Order 13502 further directs 

the Director of the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), in 

consultation with the Secretary of Labor 

and with other officials, as appropriate, 

to provide recommendations to the 

President, within 180 days of the 

signing of Executive Order 13502, on 

whether broader use of project labor 

agreements with respect to both 

construction projects undertaken under 

federal contracts and construction 

projects receiving federal financial 

assistance would help to promote the 

economical, efficient, and timely 

completion of such projects. HUD is 

therefore deferring any rulemaking to 

implement Executive Order 13502 in 

HUD-assisted construction contracts, 

pending OMB’s recommendations on 

this issue. 

III. Justification for Final Rulemaking 

Generally, HUD publishes a rule for 

public comment before publishing a 

rule for effect, in accordance with 

HUD’s regulations on rulemaking at 24 

CFR part 10. Part 10, however, allows in 

§ 10.1 for exceptions from that general 

rule where the Department finds good 

cause to omit advance notice and public 

participation. The good cause 

requirement is satisfied when the prior 

public procedure is ‘‘impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest.’’ In this case, HUD has 

determined that prior public comment 

is unnecessary. Because this final rule 

removes a rule for which the legal basis 

has been revoked, HUD is left with no 

discretion on which public comment 

could be considered on the subject of 

removal of the regulation. 

IV. Findings and Certifications 

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory 

Planning and Review 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) reviewed this rule under 

Executive Order 12866 (entitled, 

‘‘Regulatory Planning and Review’’). 

This rule was determined to be a 

‘‘significant regulatory action’’ as 

defined in section 3(f) of the Order 

(although not an economically 

significant regulatory action, as 

provided under section 3(f)(1) of the 

Order). The docket file is available for 

public inspection between the hours of 

8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays in the 

Regulations Division, Office of General 

Counsel, Room 10276, Department of 

Housing and Urban Development, 451 

7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410– 

0500. Due to security measures at the 

HUD Headquarters building, please 

schedule an appointment to review the 

docket file by calling the Regulations 

Division at (202) 708–3055 (this is not 

a toll-free number). Persons with 

hearing or speech impairments may 

access the above telephone number via 

TTY by calling the toll-free Federal 

Information Relay Service at 800–877– 

8339. 

Environmental Impact 

This final rule does not direct, 

provide for assistance or loan and 

mortgage insurance for, or otherwise 

govern or regulate, real property 

acquisition, disposition, leasing, 

rehabilitation, alteration, demolition, or 

new construction, nor does it establish, 

revise, or provide for standards for 

construction or construction materials, 

manufactured housing, or occupancy. 

Accordingly, under 24 CFR 50.19(c)(1), 

this final rule is categorically excluded 

from environmental review under the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

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

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 

final rule does not have federalism 

implications and does not impose 

substantial direct compliance costs on 

state and local governments nor 

preempt state law within the meaning of 

the Executive Order. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531– 

1538) (UMRA) establishes requirements 

for federal agencies to assess the effects 

of their regulatory actions on state, 

local, and tribal governments and the 

private sector. This final rule does not 

impose any federal mandates on any 

state, local, or tribal governments or the 

private sector within the meaning of 

UMRA. 

List of Subjects in 24 CFR Part 5 

Administrative practice and 

procedure, Aged, Claims, Crime, 

Government contracts, Grant 

programs—housing and community 

development, Individuals with 

disabilities, Intergovernmental relations, 

Loan programs—housing and 

community development, Low and 

moderate income housing, Mortgage 

insurance, Penalties, Pets, Public 

housing, Rent subsidies, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Social 

Security, Unemployment compensation, 

Wages. 

■ Accordingly, for the reasons described 

in the preamble, 24 CFR part 5 is 

amended as follows: 

PART 5—GENERAL HUD PROGRAM 

REQUIREMENTS; WAIVERS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 5 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 1437a, 1437c, 1437d, 

1437f, 1437n, 3535(d). 

§ 5.108 [Removed] 

■ 2. Remove § 5.108. 

Dated: August 24, 2009. 

Shaun Donovan, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–20831 Filed 8–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

24 CFR Parts 5, 92, and 908 

[Docket No. FR–4998–F–05] 

RIN 2501–AD16 

Refinement of Income and Rent 

Determination Requirements in Public 

and Assisted Housing Programs; 

Delay of Effective Date 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD. 

ACTION: Final rule; delay of effective 

date. 

SUMMARY: HUD is delaying the effective 

date of the rule entitled ‘‘Refinement of 

Income and Rent Determination 

Requirements in Public and Assisted 

Housing Programs’’ published in the 

Federal Register on January 27, 2009. 

The January 27, 2009, final rule, which 

was scheduled to become effective on 

September 30, 2009, will become 

effective on January 31, 2010. Today’s 

action will provide the Department with 

the necessary additional time to review 

the subject matter of the January 27, 

2009, final rule and to consider the 

public comments on HUD’s February 

11, 2009, Federal Register notice that 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with RULES
44286 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 166 / Friday, August 28, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

solicited public comments on the 

regulatory amendments made by the 

January 27, 2009 final rule. 

DATES: Effective Date: The effective date 

of the final rule, which was published 

on January 27, 2009 (74 FR 4832), 

delayed March 27, 2009 (74 FR 13339), 

is further delayed until January 31, 

2010. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

Office of Public and Indian Housing 

programs, contact Nicole Faison, 

Program Advisor for the Office of Public 

Housing and Voucher Programs, 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, 451 7th Street, SW., 

Room 4226, Washington, DC 20410, 

telephone number 202–402–4267. For 

Office of Housing Programs, contact Gail 

Williamson, Director of the Housing 

Assistance Policy Division, Department 

of Housing and Urban Development, 

451 7th Street, SW., Room 6138, 

Washington, DC 20410, telephone 

number 202–402–2473. (These are not 

toll-free numbers.) Persons with hearing 

or speech impairments may access these 

numbers through TTY by calling the 

toll-free Federal Information Relay 

Service at 800–877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On January 27, 2009 (74 FR 4832), 

HUD published a final rule, entitled 

‘‘Refinement of Income and Rent 

Determination Requirements in Public 

and Assisted Housing Programs.’’ The 

January 27, 2009, final rule revises 

HUD’s public and assisted housing 

program regulations to implement the 

upfront income verification process for 

program participants and to require the 

use of HUD’s Enterprise Income 

Verification (EIV) system by public 

housing agencies (PHAs) and owners 

and management agents. The January 

27, 2009, final rule was originally 

scheduled to become effective on March 

30, 2009, but provided multifamily 

housing owners and management agents 

with an additional six months (until 

September 30, 2009) to implement use 

of the EIV system. 

On February 11, 2009 (74 FR 6839), 

HUD published a notice in the Federal 

Register seeking public comment on 

whether to delay the effective date of 

the January 27, 2009, final rule. The 

February 11, 2009, notice was issued in 

accordance with the memorandum of 

January 20, 2009, from the assistant to 

the President and Chief of Staff, entitled 

‘‘Regulatory Review’’ and subsequently 

published in the Federal Register on 

January 26, 2009 (74 FR 4435). The 

notice explained that HUD was 

considering a temporary 60-day delay in 

the effective date to allow the 

Department an opportunity for further 

review and consideration of new 

regulations, consistent with the Chief of 

Staff memorandum of January 20, 2009. 

In addition to soliciting comments 

specifically delaying the effective date, 

the February 11, 2009, notice also 

requested comment generally on the 

January 27, 2009 final rule. 

The comment period on the February 

11, 2009 notice closed on March 13, 

2009. HUD received 50 public 

comments. Comments were submitted 

by a variety of organizations including 

PHAs, property owners, management 

agents, program training organizations, 

legal aid organizations, community 

development organizations, and public 

interest organizations. The majority of 

comments were supportive of a delayed 

effective date, but also raised additional 

questions and comments about various 

aspects of the January 27, 2009, final 

rule. Among other issues, commenters 

requested that HUD clarify the 

definition of annual income, questioned 

how the rule would affect participants 

that might have difficulty obtaining 

social security numbers for their 

children, and noted confusion regarding 

the use of HUD’s EIV system. 

Following publication of the February 

11, 2009, Federal Register notice, HUD 

issued a final rule on March 27, 2009 

(74 FR 13339) that delayed the effective 

date of the January 27, 2009, final rule 

to September 30, 2009, for the purpose 

of providing HUD with time to review 

the public comments received in 

response to the February 11, 2009 notice 

(March 2009 extension final rule). 

II. This Final Rule 

Through this final rule published in 

today’s Federal Register, HUD further 

delays the effective date of the January 

27, 2009, final rule until January 31, 

2010. The two HUD Assistant 

Secretaries with responsibility for the 

programs affected by the rule were only 

recently confirmed. HUD seeks to 

ensure that these two officials have 

sufficient time to review the subject 

matter of this rule, and to review and 

consider the public comments received 

in response to HUD’s February 11, 2009, 

Federal Register notice. 

HUD notes that it generally publishes 

regulatory changes, including revisions 

to the effective date of its rules, for 

public comment before issuing them for 

effect, in accordance with its own 

regulations on rulemaking in 24 CFR 

part 10. Part 10, however, does provide 

in § 10.1 for exceptions from that 

general rule where the Department finds 

good cause to omit advance notice and 

public participation. The good cause 

requirement is satisfied when the prior 

public procedure is ‘‘impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest.’’ Given the possibility of 

changes to the provisions of the January 

27, 2009, final rule and the fast 

approaching September 30, 2009, 

effective date of the regulatory 

amendments, HUD has determined that 

it would be contrary to the public 

interest to delay issuance of today’s rule 

for effect. A delay in the extension of 

the effective date of the January 27, 

2009, final rule would compel PHAs, 

owners and management agents, and 

residents of HUD-assisted housing to 

bear the burden of compliance with 

regulatory requirements that may be 

subject to further amendment in the 

near-term. Moreover, and as noted 

above, the 50 public comments received 

on HUD’s February 11, 2009, notice 

raised several substantive questions and 

concerns regarding the provisions of the 

final rule. It would be contrary to the 

public interest to defer extending the 

effective date and require compliance 

with the January 27, 2009, final rule 

before the appropriate and newly 

confirmed HUD officials have the 

opportunity to review and consider the 

issues raised by the commenters. 

The Department remains committed 

to the implementation of the EIV system 

and continues to believe that the use of 

upfront income verification will help to 

identify and cure inaccuracies in public 

and assisted housing rental 

determinations. Given the number of 

public comments submitted in response 

to the February 11, 2009 notice, and the 

concerns and questions raised in those 

comments, the additional time provided 

by today’s final rule will allow the 

Department to carefully weigh available 

policy options and to help ensure the 

successful implementation of the 

enhanced income and rent verification 

procedures. Should HUD determine that 

additional rulemaking is necessary or 

appropriate, HUD will provide the 

public with the opportunity to comment 

on any proposed changes to the 

regulations in the January 27, 2009 final 

rule. 

Therefore, the effective date of the 

final rule, which was published on 

January 27, 2009 (74 FR 4832), delayed 

March 27, 2009 (74 FR 13339), is further 

delayed until January 31, 2010. 

Dated: August 25, 2009. 

Shaun Donovan, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–20879 Filed 8–27–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with RULES