15002 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 60 / Thursday, March 29, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

24 CFR Part 1000 

[Docket No. FR–5109–P–01] 

RIN 2577–AC74 

Indian Housing Block Grant Program— 

Extension of Annual Performance 

Report Due Date 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Public and Indian 

Housing, HUD. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This proposed rule would 

extend the due date for Indian Housing 

Block Grant (IHBG) recipients to submit 

annual performance reports (APRs). 

Through the IHBG program, HUD 

provides housing assistance to Indian 

tribes and tribally designated housing 

entities (TDHEs). Currently, HUD’s 

regulations require IHBG recipients to 

submit APRs 60 days after the end of the 

recipient’s program year. HUD believes 

that extending this deadline by an 

additional 30 days will provide IHBG 

recipients with the necessary additional 

time to prepare and submit their APRs. 

DATES: Comment Due Date: May 29, 

2007. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments regarding 

this rule to the Regulations Division, 

Office of General Counsel, Department 

of Housing and Urban Development, 

451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 10276, 

Washington, DC 20410–0500. Interested 

persons also may submit comments 

electronically through the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly 

encourages commenters to submit 

comments electronically so that HUD, in 

turn, can make them immediately 

available to the public. 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 to HUD 

will be available for public inspection 

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

weekdays at the above address. Due to 

security measures at the HUD 

Headquarters building, an advance 

appointment to review the public 

comments must be scheduled by calling 

the Regulations Division at (202) 708– 

3055 (this is not a toll-free number). 

Copies of all comments submitted are 

available for inspection and 

downloading at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Bullough, Director of Grants 

Evaluation, Department of Housing and 

Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, 

SW., Room 5156, Washington, DC 

20410–5000; telephone (202) 402–4274 

(this is not a toll-free number). Hearingand speech-impaired persons may 

access this number through TTY by 

calling the toll-free Federal Information 

Relay Service at (800) 877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

As authorized by the Native American 

Housing Assistance and SelfDetermination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA) 

(25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.), the IHBG 

program provides housing assistance 

under a single block grant to eligible 

Indian tribes or their TDHEs. IHBG 

funds are allocated under a needs-based 

formula. The regulations governing the 

IHBG program are found in part 1000 of 

HUD’s regulations in Title 24 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations. In 

accordance with section 106 of 

NAHASDA, HUD developed those 

regulations with active tribal 

participation and using the procedures 

of the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 

1990 (5 U.S.C. 561–570). 

On an annual basis, IHBG recipients 

are required to prepare and submit an 

APR that provides a self-assessment of 

their IHBG-funded activities. As 

described in further detail in § 1000.512, 

the APR includes a description of the 

use of grant funds, a comparison of 

accomplishments, an analysis and 

explanation of cost overruns or high 

unit costs, and any information 

regarding the recipient’s performance in 

accordance with HUD’s performance 

measures, as set forth in § 1000.524. 

Section 404(c) of NAHASDA requires 

HUD to establish due dates for the 

submission of these APRs. As 

established in § 1000.514, the APRs 

must be submitted to HUD within 60 

days of the end of the IHBG recipient’s 

program year. The regulations also 

authorize HUD to extend the APR due 

date if the recipient submits a justified 

request. 

HUD’s experience with the APR 

submission deadline has been that 

recipients do not have sufficient time to 

prepare APRs within 60 days of the end 

of their program year. In recent years, 

more than 40 percent of IHBG recipients 

have requested extensions. This rise in 

extension requests may be attributed to 

the increasing number of complex 

IHBG-funded activities such as housing 

development and leveraged financing. 

II. This Proposed Rule 

This proposed rule would extend the 

APR deadline by an additional 30 days. 

Under the revised § 1000.514, IHBG 

recipients would be required to submit 

their APRs within 90 days of the end of 

their program year. An additional, 

conforming change would be made in 

§ 1000.524(d) to reflect the extended 

deadline. HUD believes that the 

extension will provide adequate time to 

IHBG recipients to obtain, review, and 

analyze accurate financial and 

programmatic data, and allow for 

community consideration, before 

submission of the completed APR to 

HUD. Further, the additional time will 

reduce the need for extensions and 

therefore alleviate the burden on Indian 

tribes, TDHEs, and HUD officials related 

to the preparation and processing of 

extension requests. 

III. Tribal Consultation 

HUD’s policy is to consult with 

Indian tribes early in the rulemaking 

process on matters that have tribal 

implications. Accordingly, HUD held 

nine consultation meetings, attended by 

more than 500 tribal representatives, 

between January 2005 through May 

2005. During these meetings, attendees 

expressed support for extending the due 

date for the APR to 90 days after the end 

of the recipient’s program year. Further, 

tribes have the opportunity to comment 

on this proposed rule, and HUD 

welcomes such comment. 

IV. Findings and Certifications 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The information collection 

requirements contained in this proposed 

rule have been approved by the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) 

under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520) and 

assigned OMB Control Number 2577– 

0218. In accordance with the Paperwork 

Reduction 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 currently valid OMB control 

number. 

Environmental Impact 

This 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, or establish, review, or 

provide for standards for construction or 

construction materials, manufactured 

housing, or occupancy. Accordingly, 

under 24 CFR 50.19(c)(1), this rule is 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 60 / Thursday, March 29, 2007 / Proposed Rules 15003 

categorically excluded from 

environmental review under the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

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

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.) (RFA) 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. 

The proposed rule would extend the 

period of time, by 30 days, for IHBG 

funding recipients to submit their APRs. 

In the past, many IHBG recipients have 

reported that they need additional time 

to prepare their APRs and, as a result, 

request extensions to the current 

requirement. By extending the due date, 

IHBG recipients will have the additional 

time they need to prepare thorough 

APRs without the added burden of 

requesting additional time. The 

regulatory change is procedural and 

does not revise or establish new binding 

requirements on owners. 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 meet HUD’s objectives 

as described in this preamble. 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

Title II of the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) (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 the private 

sector. This rule does not impose any 

federal mandate on state, local, or tribal 

governments or the private sector within 

the meaning of UMRA. 

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 that Executive Order. 

This rule does not have federalism 

implications and does not impose 

substantial direct compliance costs on 

state and local governments, nor does it 

preempt state law within the meaning of 

Executive Order 13132. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

The Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance number is 14.867. 

List of Subjects in 24 CFR Part 1000 

Aged, Community development block 

grants, Grant programs-housing and 

community development, Grant 

programs-Indians, Indians, Individuals 

with disabilities, Public housing, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, HUD proposes to amend 24 

CFR part 1000, as follows: 

PART 1000—NATIVE AMERICAN 

HOUSING ACTIVITIES 

1. The authority citation for part 1000 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 

3535(d). 

2. Revise § 1000.514 to read as 

follows: 

§ 1000.514 When must the annual 

performance report be submitted? 

The annual performance report must 

be submitted within 90 days of the end 

of the recipient’s program year. If a 

justified request is submitted by the 

recipient, the Area ONAP may extend 

the due date for submission of the 

report. 

3. Revise § 1000.524(d) to read as 

follows: 

§ 1000.524 What are HUD’s performance 

measures for the review? 

* * * * * 

(d) Accurate annual performance 

reports were submitted to HUD in 

accordance with § 1000.514. 

* * * * * 

Dated: February 16, 2007. 

Orlando J. Cabrera, 

Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian 

Housing. 

[FR Doc. E7–5738 Filed 3–28–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with PROPOSALS