30822 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 93 / Friday, May 12, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

24 CFR Part 583

[Docket No. FR–4576–I–01]

RIN 2506–AC05

Supportive Housing Program—

Increasing Operating Cost Percentage

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant

Secretary for Community Planning and

Development, HUD.

ACTION: Interim rule.

SUMMARY: This document amends the

Supportive Housing Program

regulations by changing the number of

years for which the grant can cover 75

percent of operating costs from the first

two years to all years of the grant term.

This amendment will provide the full

statutory flexibility allowed for this

activity. Providing greater assurance of

a funding source for operating housing

under the program will promote more

use of the program for housing.

DATES: Effective date: June 12, 2000.

Comments Due Date: July 11, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments

regarding this interim rule to the

Regulations Division, Office of General

Counsel, Room 10276, Department of

Housing and Urban Development, 451

7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410–

0500. Comments should refer to the

interim rule by title and docket number,

as shown above. Facsimile (FAX)

comments will not be accepted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John

Garrity, Office of Special Needs

Assistance Programs, Room 7262,

Department of Housing and Urban

Development, 451 7th Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20410; telephone (202)

708–4300 (this is not a toll-free

number). Persons with hearing or

speech impairments may access the

above telephone number via TTY by

calling the Federal Information Relay

Service at 1–800–877–8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Department’s Supportive Housing

Program provides assistance for housing

and supportive services for homeless

persons, as authorized by Title IV,

subtitle C of the Stewart B. McKinney

Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, as

amended (the McKinney Act) (42 U.S.C.

11381–11389). Grants are available for

acquisition, rehabilitation, new

construction, and leasing of supportive

housing, operating costs in connection

with supportive housing, and

supportive services provided to

homeless persons. The regulations that

implement the program are found at 24

CFR part 583.

Among the types of housing funded

under the Supportive Housing Program

(SHP) are transitional housing,

permanent housing for homeless

persons with disabilities, innovative

housing projects (or part of project) for,

or alternative methods of, meeting the

immediate and long-term needs of

homeless individuals and families in

the transition to permanent housing.

Also funded under the program are

supportive services.

The authorizing statute permits the

grant recipient’s match for operating

costs for housing to be no more than 25

percent in any year. However, when the

program was developed, the rule

(§ 583.125(c)) required a 25 percent

match of HUD funds with local funds

for the first two years, and a 50 percent

match thereafter. The authorizing

statute contains no comparable match

requirement for use of the program to

provide services. As a result, the

program has favored the use of services,

to a large degree.

The HUD Appropriations Acts for

Fiscal Years 1999 (112 Stat. 2479) and

2000 (113 Stat. 1063) included two

provisions to encourage the use of

homeless assistance program funds for

supportive housing as opposed to

services for homeless persons. These

provisions were the requirements that at

least 30 percent of the funds be used for

permanent housing and that funding for

services be required to have at least a 25

percent match.

This Rule

To encourage production of housing

with SHP funds, in accordance with the

Congressional intent expressed in the

Appropriations Acts, this amendment is

being made to give applicants the full

McKinney Act flexibility allowed for

this activity. This interim rule revises

§ 583.125 so that SHP funds may be

used to pay for up to 75 percent of the

operating costs in all years of the grant

term, making the recipient provide 25

percent of the operating costs of

supportive housing for homeless

persons for each year of the grant term.

Operating costs include actual expenses

for supportive housing, such as

maintenance, repair, security, utilities,

furnishings, and equipment.

Findings and Certifications

Justification for Interim Rule

HUD generally publishes a rule for

public comment before issuing a rule for

effect, in accordance with its own

regulations on rulemaking in 24 CFR

part 10. Part 10, however, provides that

prior notice and public comment may

be omitted ‘‘if the Department

determines in a particular case . . . that

notice and public procedure are

impracticable, unnecessary or contrary

to the public interest.’’ (24 CFR 10.1).

This interim rule implements a change

in the provisions for a match by the

grantee, consistent with the statute and

Congressional intent, that will have an

impact on the applications for the next

round of funding under the Supportive

Housing Program. That round of

funding will take place shortly, in

accordance with the Notice of Funding

Availability for Fiscal Year 2000 funds.

As a result, to make this change in

policy effective for Fiscal Year 2000

funding applications, it is necessary to

make the change quickly. There is not

time to solicit public comments on the

change before making it effective if it is

to affect this fiscal year. Accordingly,

HUD determines that it is unnecessary

to solicit public comments before

making the policy effective, and it is

issuing this interim rule for effect

without prior notice and comment.

Nevertheless, the Department solicits

comments from the public on the rule

and will consider comments received

before issuing a final rule.

Impact on Small Entities

The Secretary, in accordance with the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.

605(b)), has reviewed and approved this

rule, and in so doing certifies that this

rule will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities. This rule will

provide greater flexibility to local

governments in the way they administer

their Supportive Housing Programs. It

will have no measurable economic

impact on small businesses.

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. 4223). That Finding is

available for public inspection between

the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

weekdays in the Regulations Division,

Office of General Counsel, Room 10276,

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW,

Washington, DC 20410.

Executive Order 13132, Federalism

This interim rule does not have

federalism implications. It does not

impose substantial direct costs on States

and local governments or preempt State

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 93 / Friday, May 12, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 30823

law within the meaning of Executive

Order 13132.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

The Catalog of Federal Domestic

Assistance number for the program

affected by this interim rule is 14.235.

List of Subjects in 24 CFR Part 583

Homeless, Rent subsidies, Reporting

and recordkeeping requirements,

Supportive housing programs—housing

and community development,

Supportive services.

Accordingly, for reasons stated in the

preamble, HUD amends part 583 of title

24 of the Code of Federal Regulations as

follows:

PART 583—SUPPORTIVE HOUSING

PROGRAM

1. The authority citation for part 583

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 3535(d) and 11389.

2. Revise paragraph (c) of § 583.125 to

read as follows:

§ 583.125 Grants for operating costs.

* * * * *

(c) Recipient match requirement for

operating costs. Assistance for operating

costs will be available for up to 75

percent of the total cost in each year of

the grant term. The recipient must pay

the percentage of the actual operating

costs not funded by HUD. At the end of

each operating year, the recipient must

demonstrate that it has met its match

requirement of the costs for that year.

Dated: April 21, 2000.

Cardell Cooper,

Assistant Secretary for Community Planning

and Development.

[FR Doc. 00–11894 Filed 5–11–00; 8:45 am]

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