Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 46 / Thursday, March 8, 2012 / Notices 14029 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–5630–N–01] 

Rental Assistance Demonstration: 

Notice of Web Availability and Request 

for Comments 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Public and Indian Housing 

and Office of the Assistant Secretary for 

Housing-Federal Housing 

Commissioner, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Rental Assistance 

Demonstration (RAD) provides the 

opportunity to test the conversion of 

public housing and other HUD-assisted 

properties to long-term, project-based 

Section 8 rental assistance to achieve 

certain goals, including the preservation 

and improvement of these properties 

through access by public housing 

agencies (PHAs) and owners to private 

debt and equity to address immediate 

and long-term capital needs. RAD is also 

designed to test the extent to which 

residents have increased housing 

choices after the conversion, and the 

overall impact on the subject properties. 

This notice announces that HUD has 

posted on its Web site a demonstration 

program notice (Program Notice) 

entitled ‘‘Rental Assistance 

Demonstration—Partial Implementation 

and Request for Comments.’’ Prior to the 

issuance of the final program notice that 

will provide for full implementation of 

RAD, HUD welcomes public comment 

on the entirety of the Program Notice 

and particularly seeks comments on 

elements highlighted in this notice. 

DATES: Comment Due Date: April 9, 

2012. 

Effective Date: The conversion of Rent 

Supp and RAP properties under Section 

III of the Program Notice is effective on: 

March 8, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments on 

applicable parts of this notice to the 

Regulations Division, Office of General 

Counsel, Department of Housing and 

Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., 

Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410– 

0500. All submissions and 

communications must refer to the above 

docket number and title. There are two 

methods for submitting public 

comments. 

1. Submission of Comments by Mail. 

Comments may be submitted by mail to 

the Regulations Division, Office of 

General Counsel, Department of 

Housing and Urban Development, 451 

7th Street SW., Room 10276, 

Washington, DC 20410–0500. 

2. Electronic Submission of 

Comments. Interested persons may 

submit comments electronically through 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 

www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly 

encourages commenters to submit 

comments electronically. Electronic 

submission of comments allows the 

commenter maximum time to prepare 

and submit a comment, ensures timely 

receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to 

make them immediately available to the 

public. Comments submitted 

electronically through the 

www.regulations.gov Web site can be 

viewed by other commenters and 

interested members of the public. 

Commenters should follow the 

instructions provided on that site to 

submit comments electronically. 

Note: To receive consideration as public 

comments, comments must be submitted 

through one of the two methods specified 

above. Again, all submissions must refer to 

the docket number and title of the rule. Also, 

to expedite review of public comments, it is 

recommended commenters should organize 

their comments by specific topical areas and 

section numbers and label those areas 

accordingly. 

No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile 

(FAX) comments are not acceptable. 

Public Inspection of Public 

Comments. All properly submitted 

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 202–402– 

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

Individuals with speech or hearing 

impairments may access this number 

via TTY by calling the Federal Relay 

Service, toll-free, at 800–877–8339. 

Copies of all comments submitted are 

available for inspection and 

downloading at www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

assure a timely response, please 

electronically direct requests for further 

information to this email address: 

rad@hud.gov. Written requests may also 

be directed to the following address: 

Office of Public and Indian Housing— 

RAD Program, Department of Housing 

and Urban Development, 451 7th Street 

SW., Room 2000, Washington, DC 

20410. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

Federal Register notice announces the 

issuance of, and solicits public 

comment on, a Program Notice entitled, 

‘‘Rental Assistance Demonstration— 

Partial Implementation and Request for 

Comments,’’ which is available on 

HUD’s Web site at www.hud.gov/rad. 

The Program Notice describes, in detail, 

the demonstration’s eligibility and 

selection criteria for participation, 

general requirements, instructions for 

applying for the conversion of 

assistance under RAD, and other 

relevant information about the 

demonstration. While HUD seeks public 

comment on all instructions and criteria 

provided in the Program Notice, the 

instructions and criteria applicable to 

the Section III of the Program Notice are 

effective upon issuance of the Program 

Notice. Following receipt and 

consideration of public comment, a 

second notice (Final Notice) will be 

issued with final program instructions 

and eligibility and selection criteria, 

which may include revisions to the 

Section III instructions and criteria. 

I. Background 

RAD, authorized by the Consolidated 

and Further Continuing Appropriations 

Act, 2012, (Pub. L. 112–55, signed 

November 18, 2011) (2012 

Appropriations Act) allows for the 

conversion of assistance under the 

public housing, Rent Supplement (Rent 

Supp), Rental Assistance (RAP), and 

Moderate Rehabilitation (Mod Rehab) 

programs (collectively, covered 

programs) to long-term, renewable 

assistance under Section 8. RAD has 

two separate components: 

• First Component. The first 

component of RAD allows projects 

funded under the public housing and 

Mod Rehab programs to convert to longterm Section 8 rental assistance 

contracts. Under this component of 

RAD, which is covered under Sections 

I and II of the Program Notice, PHAs 

and Mod Rehab owners may apply to 

HUD to convert to one of two forms of 

Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment 

(HAP) contracts: Project-based vouchers 

(PBVs) or project-based rental assistance 

(PBRA). No additional or incremental 

funds were authorized for this 

component of RAD. Therefore, PHAs 

and Mod Rehab owners will be required 

to convert assistance for projects at 

current subsidy levels. The 2012 

Appropriations Act authorizes up to 

60,000 units to convert assistance under 

this component, to be selected 

competitively. The 2012 Appropriations 

Act further specifies that HUD shall 

provide an opportunity for public 

comment on draft eligibility and 

selection criteria and on the procedures 

that will apply to the selection of 

properties that will participate in this 

component of the demonstration. 

Accordingly, these provisions will 

become effective after HUD has 


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14030 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 46 / Thursday, March 8, 2012 / Notices 

considered all comments received on 

the Program Notice and publishes a 

final notice. 

• Second Component. The second 

component of RAD, which is covered 

under Sections II and III of the Program 

Notice, allows owners of projects 

funded under the Rent Supp, RAP and 

Mod Rehab programs with a contract 

expiration or termination occurring after 

October 1, 2006, and no later than 

September 30, 2013, to convert tenant 

protection vouchers (TPVs) to PBVs. 

There is no cap on the number of units 

that may be converted under this 

component of RAD and no requirement 

for competitive selection. While these 

conversions are not subject to current 

funding levels for each project or a unit 

cap, they are subject to the availability 

of overall appropriated amounts for 

TPVs. These provisions are effective 

immediately; however, HUD is inviting 

comments on these provisions and may 

make changes based on its consideration 

of the comments. Any such changes will 

be announced in the Final Notice. 

II. Issues Highlighted for Public 

Comment 

HUD welcomes comments on all 

aspects of the demonstration. In 

particular, HUD is interested in 

receiving comments on the following 

components (the parenthetical 

references below are the relevant 

sections in the Program Notice posted at 

www.hud.gov/rad). 

Selection Criteria (§§ 1.12, 2.3.9). 

HUD seeks to convert a wide range of 

projects under the demonstration. HUD 

has attempted to simplify both the 

submission requirements and selection 

procedures while encouraging the 

participation of a wide range of PHAs 

and owners in different markets and 

geographic areas. HUD is especially 

interested in encouraging PHAs and 

owners to use the authority granted 

under RAD to address the backlog of 

capital needs of their properties. As a 

result, HUD is particularly interested in 

receiving comments on how well the 

proposed selection criteria encourage 

these objectives to be met. 

Cap on Mod Rehab Project 

Conversions (§ 2.3.9(A)). Both public 

housing and Mod Rehab properties are 

eligible to compete for conversion under 

the 60,000 unit cap in the first 

component of the RAD authority. 

However, as 60,000 units represents 

approximately five percent of the total 

public housing inventory of 1.2 million 

units, and the current Mod Rehab 

inventory is about 25,000 units, HUD 

believes that it is reasonable to limit the 

number of Mod Rehab conversions 

under the first component of the RAD 

authority to approximately five percent 

of the Mod Rehab inventory, or 

approximately 1,250 units total. 

Imposing such a cap on Mod Rehab 

conversions under this component of 

the RAD authority should be mitigated 

by the fact that Mod Rehab properties 

are also eligible to convert TPVs to longterm Section 8 PBVs under the second 

component of the demonstration 

authority. HUD is interested in receiving 

comments on how the proposed cap on 

Mod Rehab properties might affect 

prospects for effective conversion of 

assistance for either or both Mod Rehab 

and public housing properties. 

Contract Rents (§§ 1.7(B)(5), 1.8(A)(5), 

2.3.5(B)(2), 2.3.6(A)(3)). As RAD projects 

are statutorily limited to converting 

existing subsidy levels to new, longterm Section 8 contracts, rents for the 

first component of the demonstration 

will be set relative to current subsidy 

levels and PBRA and PBV program caps. 

Although rents levels are statutorily 

limited, HUD is interested in receiving 

comments on how policies on contract 

rent setting might best facilitate PHAs 

and owners in accessing needed capital 

and securing firm financing plans as 

discussed below. 

Conversion Contingent upon Firm 

Financing Plan (§§ 1.13, 2.3.10). HUD is 

proposing a two-step process in 

converting assistance requiring 

assembly of needed financing relative to 

an initial commitment from HUD and 

then, upon approval of a firm financing 

plan by HUD, issuance of a Section 8 

HAP contract. HUD believes that the 

two-step process minimizes the barriers 

to submitting an application and 

ensures that only projects that are 

financially viable execute a final HAP 

and permanently convert their form of 

assistance under RAD. HUD is 

particularly interested in receiving 

comments on the associated timeframes 

and milestones outlined in the Program 

Notice. 

Resident Notification and 

Consultation. Under both components 

of the demonstration, PHAs and owners 

are required to notify and consult with 

tenants about their intent to apply for 

conversion, provide tenants the 

opportunity to comment on the 

proposed conversion, and respond to or 

address comments received. These and 

other requirements are designed to: (1) 

Protect tenants and ensure that they are 

able to meaningfully participate in the 

conversion process; and (2) 

appropriately balance the goals of 

preserving these properties and 

maximizing residents’ housing choices. 

HUD invites comments on whether the 

notice effectively achieves these 

objectives. 

Rent Adjustments. Converted projects 

under the first component of the 

demonstration will have contract rents 

adjusted annually only by HUD’s 

Operating Cost Adjustment Factor 

(OCAF). As a result, PHAs and Mod 

Rehab owners that are considering 

applying for participation under the first 

component of the demonstration must 

be reasonably confident that existing 

funding committed to the project is 

sufficient to meet project operating 

expenses and contingencies for the term 

of the initial contract. In addition to 

offering annual OCAF adjustments, 

HUD is interested in receiving 

comments on other actions it might 

facilitate that can best assure highquality management and maintenance of 

properties that convert assistance under 

RAD. 

Addressing Capital Needs and 

Encouraging Preservation (§§ 1.5, 2.3.3). 

Many public housing and Mod Rehab 

properties require substantial private 

debt and/or equity capital to address 

their capital repair needs and preserve 

their assets over time. Other projects 

may not require additional financing but 

instead need to capitalize a replacement 

reserve account matched to a property’s 

anticipated capital needs to ensure longterm viability. The demonstration 

allows for both types of projects, but 

favors projects with higher capital needs 

given the goal of testing conversion as 

a strategy for providing access to private 

debt and equity to address the backlog 

of capital needs. The demonstration also 

includes a ranking factor to encourage 

PHAs and owners to employ green 

building rehabilitation and operation 

techniques on converted properties. 

HUD is interested in receiving 

comments on how well the proposed 

rehabilitation-related ranking factors 

encourage these objectives. 

Public Housing Mixed-Finance 

Projects (§§ 1.5, 1.10.3, 1.12(B)). While a 

central premise of the demonstration is 

that Section 8 provides a more stable 

platform for public housing, and HUD is 

aware that the existing Mixed-Finance 

inventory could benefit from converting 

assistance to Section 8 contracts, HUD 

believes the public housing properties 

that have not benefited from the Mixed 

Finance program should have greater 

access to RAD’s limited authority. 

Accordingly, HUD will limit eligibility 

to Mixed-Finance projects with a Date of 

Full Availability prior to July 1, 2002, 

and reserves the right to limit the 

number of awards made to eligible 

Mixed-Finance projects. HUD is 

particularly interested in receiving 

comments on criteria that HUD might 

employ in attempting to reasonably 

limit the number of Mixed-Finance 


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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 46 / Thursday, March 8, 2012 / Notices 14031 

transactions to those most consistent 

with the demonstration’s primary 

purpose of enabling PHAs to access 

needed financing to address their 

capital repair needs. 

Waivers (§§ 1.6, 2.3.5, 2.3.6, 3.5). To 

carry out the goals of the demonstration, 

the 2012 Appropriations Act provides 

HUD with statutory and regulatory 

waiver authority. Rather than allow 

each PHA, Mod Rehab, Rent Supp or 

RAP owner to request specific waivers 

that would be extraordinarily difficult to 

administer on an individualized basis, 

HUD lists in each section of the Program 

Notice related to public housing, Mod 

Rehab, Rent Supp and RAP the waivers 

that are applicable to the specific type 

of conversions being undertaken. HUD 

invites comments on the range of 

waivers proposed to be offered and the 

need, if any, for additional waivers to 

facilitate successful RAD conversions by 

property type. 

No Partial Project Conversions. For 

administrative reasons, HUD will accept 

applications only for complete project 

conversions (excluding de minimis unit 

reductions as defined in Section I of the 

Program Notice). For example, if a PHA 

has a 200-unit project that consists of 

100 family units and 100 elderly units 

on separate sites, and wants only to 

convert only the family units, the PHA 

would first need to seek approval from 

HUD independent and in advance of a 

RAD application to divide the project 

into two different projects. Procedures 

for changing project groupings can be 

found in PIH Notice 2007–28 (which is 

available for download at: http:// 

portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/ 

program_offices/administration/ 

hudclips). HUD is particularly 

interested in receiving comments on any 

potential unintended consequences of 

this policy. 

Choice-Mobility (§§ 1.8.12, 1.12(D)(2), 

2.3.6.8, 2.3.9(C)(2)). HUD’s goal is to 

provide all residents of converted 

projects under both the first and second 

components of the demonstration with 

viable options to obtain a Housing 

Choice Voucher and move from a 

converted property as they deem in 

their best interests, i.e., to offer them 

choice and mobility after a reasonable 

tenure. For projects converting 

assistance to PBVs, existing PBV choice 

requirements specified under section 

8(o)(13)(E) of the United States Housing 

Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)(E)) 

will apply. For projects converting 

assistance to PBRA, choice-mobility 

options will be required to be made 

available consistent with Sections 1.8.12 

and 2.3.6.8. HUD will further offer 

ranking factor points to encourage 

applicants to form partnerships to 

secure the needed turnover vouchers 

necessary to support the choice-mobility 

requirement where none is readily 

available. HUD is particularly interested 

in receiving comments on how the 

indicated choice-mobility objectives can 

best be achieved in the demonstration 

through the indicated ranking factors or 

other actions that it might facilitate. 

Demonstration Design. HUD will be 

evaluating the demonstration based on 

the goals detailed in the notice. In that 

context, HUD solicits public comments 

on the parameters of the current design 

and how it serves those goals. For 

example, the demonstration creates two 

fairly distinct program options that 

PHAs can choose from under the first 

component of RAD: PBRA or PBVs. 

HUD is interested in the reasons why a 

PHA may choose to convert public 

housing units to PBRA rather than PBVs 

or vice versa. HUD seeks feedback on 

whether there are additional 

modifications to the design to maximize 

the opportunity for learning and the 

long-term viability of converted 

properties. 

III. Environmental Review 

A Finding of No Significant Impact 

with respect to the environment has 

been made in accordance with HUD 

regulations in 24 CFR part 50 that 

implement section 102(2)(C) of the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). The 

Finding is available for public 

inspection during regular business 

hours in the Regulations Division, 

Office of General Counsel, Department 

of Housing and Urban Development, 

451 7th Street, SW., Room 10276, 

Washington, DC 20410–0500. Due to 

security measures at the HUD 

Headquarters building, please schedule 

an appointment to review the Finding 

by calling the Regulations Division at 

202–402–3055 (this is not a toll-free 

number). Individuals with speech or 

hearing impairments may access this 

number via TTY by calling the Federal 

Relay Service at 800–877–8339. 

Dated: March 5, 2012. 

Sandra B. Henriquez, 

Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian 

Housing, 

Carol J. Galante, 

Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing— 

Federal Housing Commissioner. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5626 Filed 3–7–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

[Docket No. ONRR–2012–0002] 

Public Listening Sessions To Obtain 

Input on the Multi-Stakeholder Group 

Tasked With the Implementation of the 

Extractive Industries Transparency 

Initiative 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the 

Interior (Department) announces four 

public listening sessions to receive 

comments regarding a multi-stakeholder 

group to implement the Extractive 

Industries Transparency Initiative 

(EITI). 

DATES: The public listening session 

dates and cities are: 

Session 1—March 19, 2012 (1–3 p.m. 

central time) in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Session 2—March 21, 2012 (1–3 p.m. 

mountain time) in Denver, Colorado. 

Session 3—March 28, 2012 (1–3 p.m. 

mountain time) in Houston, TX. 

Session 4—March 29, 2012 (1–3 p.m. 

eastern time) in Washington, DC. 

ADDRESSES: The public listening session 

locations are: 

Session 1—Renaissance St. Louis 

Grand Hotel, 800 Washington Ave., St. 

Louis, Missouri 63101, telephone 

number (314) 418–5820. 

Session 2— Denver Marriott City 

Center, 1701 California St., Denver, 

Colorado 80202, telephone number 

(303) 297–1300. 

Session 3—Hilton Houston Post Oak, 

2001 Post Oak Boulevard, Houston, 

Texas 77056, telephone number (713) 

961–9300. 

Session 4—Main Interior Building, 

1849 C Street, NW., Washington DC 

20240 (Yates Auditorium), telephone 

number (202) 254–5573. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben 

Nussdorf, telephone (202) 254–5573, fax 

number (202) 254–5589, email 

benjamin.nussdorf@onrr.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

February 24th, 2012, the Department 

published a notice in the Federal 

Register seeking comment on the multistakeholder group for the Extractive 

Industries Transparency Initiative (74 

FR 11151). In that notice, the 

Department stated that it would hold a 

series of public listening sessions to 

provide additional opportunities for 

public comment on EITI 

implementation in the United States. 

In September 2011, President Barack 

Obama announced the United States’ 

commitment to participate in the 

Extractive Industries Transparency 


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