[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 179 (Monday, September 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63971-63972]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20130]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-6086-N-07]
RIN 2577-AD05


Economic Growth Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act: 
Implementation of National Standards for the Physical Inspection of 
Real Estate (NSPIRE); Extension of Compliance Date

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice extends the compliance date for HUD's National 
Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) final 
rule for Community Planning and Development (CPD) programs. 
Specifically, HUD is extending the compliance date for the HOME 
Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and Housing Trust Fund (HTF), 
Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA), Emergency Solution 
Grants (ESG) and Continuum of Care (COC) programs (``CPD programs'') 
until October 1, 2024. HUD is taking this action to allow 
jurisdictions, participants, and grantees additional time to 
incorporate HUD's NSPIRE standards specific to their own programs and 
the flexibility to transition to NSPIRE under their own timelines.

DATES: Compliance Date: Jurisdictions, participants, and grantees 
subject to 24 CFR parts 92, 93, 574, 576, and 578, are not required to 
comply with the changes to these parts in the NSPIRE final rule until 
October 1, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Caitlin Renner, Supervisory Affordable 
Housing Specialist, Room 7160, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, 451 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20410-7000; 
telephone (202) 708-2684. (This is not a toll-free number). HUD 
welcomes and is prepared to receive calls from individuals who are deaf 
or hard of hearing, as well as individuals with speech or communication 
disabilities. To learn more about how to make an accessible telephone 
call, please visit: https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    The Economic Growth Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act: 
Implementation of National Standards for Physical Inspection of Real 
Estate (NSPIRE) final rule (``NSPIRE final rule'') was published on May 
11, 2023 (88 FR 30442). The NSPIRE final rule strengthens HUD's 
physical condition standards and re-envisions how HUD-assisted housing 
is inspected by aligning and consolidating the inspection regulations. 
The NSPIRE final rule included amendments to 24 CFR parts 92, 93, 574, 
576, and 578 to conform their various inspection requirements to NSPIRE 
and established an effective date for these amendments of October 1, 
2023.
    The amendments for HOME and HTF require participating jurisdictions 
to develop property standards that apply the requirements in 24 CFR 
5.703 to rental or homeownership projects involving rehabilitation, 
ongoing inspections of HOME- and HTF-assisted rental housing during the 
period of affordability, and acquisition of standard housing for 
homeownership. For HOME, these requirements also apply to units 
occupied by tenants receiving HOME tenant-based rental assistance. The 
changes in the NSPIRE final rule further provide that HUD will publish 
lists of specific deficiencies in a Federal Register notice that must 
be corrected before HOME or HTF project completion or during the period 
of affordability for occupied units. HUD has not yet published this 
notice for HOME or HTF deficiencies, but these deficiencies for HOME 
and HTF will be a subset of the deficiencies in the NSPIRE Inspection 
Standards published on June 22, 2023 (the ``NSPIRE Standards'') for 
public housing, multifamily housing, and housing choice vouchers/
project based vouchers (88 FR 40832). To fully implement the NSPIRE 
final rule, HOME participating jurisdictions and HTF grantees must 
develop rehabilitation and ongoing property standards, as well as 
policies and procedures that incorporate the specific deficiencies that 
will be published in the notice, applicable requirements in the NSPIRE 
final rule, and other applicable requirements in the HOME and HTF 
regulations.

II. Basis for Delay of Compliance Date

    Under the NSPIRE final rule, CPD programs are subject to only the 
portions of 24 CFR part 5, subpart G that apply to their particular 
programs. Additionally, different participants may have different 
implementation needs. For example, some PHAs may be implementing NSPIRE 
in their voucher program right away, and would therefore benefit from 
immediate implementation of NSPIRE in their CPD programs, while other 
participants may have no external need to transition to NSPIRE and 
would benefit from additional time to implement NSPIRE into their own 
program.
    In particular, HOME participating jurisdictions and HTF grantees 
are not able to update their rehabilitation and ongoing property 
standards and policies and procedures in accordance with the NSPIRE 
final rule until HUD publishes the lists of specific deficiencies for 
HOME and HTF in the Federal Register. This notice will not be published 
by the effective date of October 1, 2023. HUD recognizes that 
participating jurisdictions and HTF grantees will not have all the 
tools to fully implement NSPIRE for HOME and HTF by the effective date. 
HUD also recognizes that, after HUD publishes the list of specific 
deficiencies, participating jurisdictions and HTF grantees will need 
additional time to incorporate the list of specific deficiencies into 
their rehabilitation and ongoing property standards and policies and 
procedures.
    Therefore, for all the reasons stated above, HUD has determined 
that it is in the public interest to extend the compliance date for all 
CPD programs to October 1, 2024, to allow participants additional time 
to transition to NSPIRE.

III. Instructions

    HUD provides the below instructions and guidance specific to 
particular CPD programs.

Instructions for HOME Participating Jurisdictions and HTF Grantees

    While the NSPIRE final rule applies to projects with HOME or HTF 
funds committed on or after the effective date of October 1, 2023, HOME 
participating jurisdictions and HTF grantees do not have to complete 
implementation of the changes in the NSPIRE rule until the compliance 
date of October 1, 2024. Participating jurisdictions and grantees 
should prepare for the compliance date by updating property standard 
regulatory citations and requirements in

[[Page 63972]]

written agreement templates with State recipients, subrecipients, and 
project owners, as required by 24 CFR 92.504(c) and 24 CFR 93.404(c).
    In addition, participating jurisdictions or HTF grantees that 
intend to comply with the changes in the NSPIRE final rule as of the 
effective date should review the deficiencies established in the NSPIRE 
Standards notice at 88 FR 40832 and compare these requirements to their 
existing rehabilitation and property standards and their inspection 
procedures and checklists. While HUD intends to publish a subset of the 
deficiencies in the NSPIRE Standards that are applicable to HOME and 
HTF projects, participating jurisdictions and HTF grantees that 
implement the changes in the NSPIRE final rule before publication of 
the subset of deficiencies for HOME and HTF must implement the full set 
of deficiencies in the NSPIRE Standards in their rehabilitation and 
ongoing property standards and policies and procedures. Further, 
participating jurisdictions and HTF grantees may not implement the 
changes in the NSPIRE final rule until such rehabilitation and ongoing 
property standards and policies and procedures are updated consistent 
with NSPIRE.
    Participating jurisdictions and HTF grantees are required to manage 
the day-to-day operations of their programs in accordance with all 
program requirements and written agreements as required at 24 CFR 
92.504(a) and 24 CFR 93.404(a) respectively. However, participating 
jurisdictions and HTF grantees cannot impose new requirements resulting 
from updated regulations on project owners unless the written 
agreements with owners for the funds permit the participating 
jurisdiction or HTF grantee to do so. Consequently, participating 
jurisdictions or HTF grantees must determine whether the requirements 
applied in the written agreements that are fully executed before the 
effective date of the NSPIRE final rule are automatically updated when 
regulatory changes take effect or if such agreements must be amended to 
apply the new or updated requirements. This is an important 
consideration when participating jurisdictions or HTF grantees would 
like to apply the NSPIRE final rule rehabilitation and ongoing HOME or 
HTF property standard requirements to projects with commitments made 
prior to the effective date of the NSPIRE final rule and for HOME or 
HTF projects that are jointly funded by another HUD program with an 
earlier NSPIRE final rule effective date.

Instructions for CoC, ESG, and HOPWA

    Many CoC, ESG, and HOPWA recipients administer housing choice 
vouchers or project based vouchers and may adopt NSPIRE standards for 
those programs beginning October 1, 2023. Nothing in this extension of 
the compliance date prevents CoC, ESG, and HOPWA recipients or 
subrecipients from using NSPIRE standards beginning October 1, 2023. 
HUD also intends to publish, through a Federal Register notice, 
guidance on which NSPIRE standards apply to CoC, ESG, and HOPWA 
programs.

IV. Conclusion

    Accordingly, HUD revises the October 1, 2023, compliance date for 
the changes made to 24 CFR parts 92, 93, 574, 576, and 578 to October 
1, 2024, at which time jurisdictions subject to these parts must comply 
with the NSPIRE final rule. Until October 1, 2024, participants subject 
to these parts may instead choose to comply with these parts as they 
existed prior to October 1, 2023.

Marion McFadden,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development.
[FR Doc. 2023-20130 Filed 9-15-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P