Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 4 / Friday, January 5, 2018 / Notices 683 

Contact Person: Donald Scott Wright, 

Ph.D., Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 5108, 

MSC 7854, Bethesda, MD 20892, (301) 435– 

8363, wrightds@csr.nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Vascular and 

Hematology Integrated Review Group, 

Hypertension and Microcirculation Study 

Section. 

Date: February 8–9, 2018. 

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: Hilton Garden Inn Orlando East 

UCF, 1959 N. Alafaya Trail, Orlando, FL 

32822. 

Contact Person: Ai-Ping Zou, M.D., Ph.D., 

Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 4118, 

MSC 7814, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301–408– 

9497, zouai@mail.nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Endocrinology, 

Metabolism, Nutrition and Reproductive 

Sciences Integrated Review Group, 

Integrative Nutrition and Metabolic Processes 

Study Section. 

Date: February 8–9, 2018. 

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: Westin Grand, 2350 M Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20037. 

Contact Person: Gregory S Shelness, Ph.D., 

Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 6156, 

Bethesda, MD 20892–7892, 301–755–4335, 

greg.shelness@nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Bioengineering 

Sciences & Technologies Integrated Review 

Group, Nanotechnology Study Section. 

Date: February 8–9, 2018. 

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, 700 

Aliceanna Street, Baltimore, MD 21202. 

Contact Person: James J Li, Ph.D., Scientific 

Review Officer, Center for Scientific Review, 

National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge 

Drive, Room 5148, MSC 7849, Bethesda, MD 

20892, 301–806–8065, lijames@csr.nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Molecular, Cellular 

and Developmental Neuroscience Integrated 

Review Group, Cellular and Molecular 

Biology of Glia Study Section. 

Date: February 8–9, 2018. 

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: St. Gregory Hotel, 2033 M Street 

NW, Washington, DC 20036. 

Contact Person: Linda MacArthur, Ph.D., 

Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 4187, 

Bethesda, MD 20892, 301–537–9986, 

macarthurlh@csr.nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Integrative, 

Functional and Cognitive Neuroscience 

Integrated Review Group, Auditory System 

Study Section. 

Date: February 8–9, 2018. 

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: The Westgate Hotel, 1055 Second 

Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101. 

Contact Person: Ying-Yee Kong, Ph.D., 

Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 5185, 

Bethesda, MD 20892, ying-yee.kong@nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Emerging 

Technologies and Training Neurosciences 

Integrated Review Group, Neuroscience and 

Ophthalmic Imaging Technologies Study 

Section. 

Date: February 8–9, 2018. 

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: Renaissance Washington, DC 

Downtown Hotel, 999 Ninth Street, 

Washington, DC 20001. 

Contact Person: Yvonne Bennett, Ph.D., 

Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 5199, 

MSC 7846, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301–379– 

3793, bennetty@csr.nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Risk, Prevention and 

Health Behavior Integrated Review Group, 

Behavioral Medicine, Interventions and 

Outcomes Study Section. 

Date: February 8–9, 2018. 

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: Doubletree Guest Suites Santa 

Monica, 1707 Fourth Street, Santa Monica, 

CA 90401. 

Contact Person: Lee S Mann, Ph.D., 

Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 3224, 

MSC 7808, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301–435– 

0677, mannl@csr.nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Musculoskeletal, Oral 

and Skin Sciences Integrated Review Group, 

Skeletal Biology Development and Disease 

Study Section. 

Date: February 8–9, 2018. 

Time: 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: Westin Baltimore Washington 

Airport, 1100 Old Elkridge Landing Road, 

Linthicum Heights, MD 21090. 

Contact Person: Aruna K Behera, Ph.D., 

Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 4211, 

MSC 7814, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301–435– 

6809, beheraak@csr.nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Molecular, Cellular 

and Developmental Neuroscience Integrated 

Review Group, Cellular and Molecular 

Biology of Neurodegeneration Study Section. 

Date: February 8–9, 2018. 

Time: 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: SpringHill Suites San Diego 

Downtown/Bayfront, 900 Bayfront Court, San 

Diego, CA 92101. 

Contact Person: Laurent Taupenot, Ph.D., 

Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 4183, 

MSC 7850, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301–435– 

1203, taupenol@csr.nih.gov. 

Name of Committee: Center for Scientific 

Review Special Emphasis Panel, Integrative 

Nutrition and Metabolic Processes. 

Date: February 8, 2018. 

Time: 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: Westin Grand, 2350 M Street NW, 

Washington, DC 20037. 

Contact Person: Gary Hunnicutt, Ph.D., 

Scientific Review Officer, Center for 

Scientific Review, National Institutes of 

Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 6164, 

MSC 7892, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301–435– 

0229, hunnicuttgr@csr.nih.gov. 

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Program Nos. 93.306, Comparative Medicine; 

93.333, Clinical Research, 93.306, 93.333, 

93.337, 93.393–93.396, 93.837–93.844, 

93.846–93.878, 93.892, 93.893, National 

Institutes of Health, HHS). 

Dated: December 29, 2017. 

Anna Snouffer, 

Deputy Director, Office of Federal Advisory 

Committee Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00052 Filed 1–4–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–5173–N–15] 

Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: 

Extension of Deadline for Submission 

of Assessment of Fair Housing for 

Consolidated Plan Participants 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal 

Opportunity, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice advises that HUD 

is extending the deadline for submission 

of an Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) 

by local government consolidated plan 

program participants to their next AFH 

submission date that falls after October 

31, 2020. Such program participants 

will not be required to submit an AFH 

using the current Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB)-approved version of 

the Assessment of Fair Housing Tool for 

Local Governments (OMB Control No: 

2529–0054), but must continue to 

comply with existing obligations to 

affirmatively further fair housing. Local 

government program participants that 

have already submitted an AFH that has 

been accepted by HUD must continue to 

execute the goals of that AFH. 

DATES: 

Applicability Date: January 5, 2018. 

Comment Due Date: March 6, 2018. 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
684 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 4 / Friday, January 5, 2018 / Notices 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments responsive 

to this notice to the Office of General 

Counsel, Regulations Division, 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 

10276, Washington, DC 20410–0001. All 

submissions should refer to the above 

docket number and title. Submission of 

public comments may be carried out by 

hard copy or electronic submission. 

1. Submission of Hard Copy 

Comments. Comments may be 

submitted by mail or hand delivery. 

Each commenter submitting hard copy 

comments, by mail or hand delivery, 

should submit comments to the address 

above, addressed to the attention of the 

Regulations Division. Due to security 

measures at all federal agencies, 

submission of comments by mail often 

results in delayed delivery. To ensure 

timely receipt of comments, HUD 

recommends that any comments 

submitted by mail be submitted at least 

2 weeks in advance of the public 

comment deadline. All hard copy 

comments received by mail or hand 

delivery are a part of the public record 

and will be posted to http://

www.regulations.gov without change. 

2. Electronic Submission of 

Comments. Interested persons may 

submit comments electronically through 

the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 

http://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 comments immediately 

available to the public. Comments 

submitted electronically through the 

http://www.regulations.gov website can 

be viewed by other commenters and 

interested members of the public. 

Commenters should follow instructions 

provided on that site to submit 

comments electronically. 

No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile 

(fax) comments are not acceptable. 

Public Inspection of Comments. All 

comments submitted to HUD regarding 

this notice will be available, without 

charge, for public inspection and 

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

Eastern Time, 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). 

Individuals with speech or hearing 

impairments may access this number 

through TTY by calling the Federal 

Relay Service at 800–877–8339 (this is 

a toll-free number). Copies of all 

comments submitted are available for 

inspection and downloading at http://

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Krista Mills, Deputy Assistant Secretary, 

Office of Policy, Legislative Initiatives, 

and Outreach, Office Fair Housing and 

Equal Opportunity, Department of 

Housing and Urban Development, 451 

7th Street SW, Room 5246, Washington, 

DC 20410; telephone number 202–402– 

6577. Individuals with hearing or 

speech impediments may access this 

number via TTY by calling the toll-free 

Federal Relay Service during working 

hours at 1–800–877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On July 16, 2015, at 80 FR 42357, 

HUD published in the Federal Register 

its Affirmatively Furthering Fair 

Housing (AFFH) final rule. The AFFH 

final rule provides HUD program 

participants with a new approach for 

planning for fair housing outcomes that 

will assist them in meeting their 

statutory obligation to affirmatively 

further fair housing as required by the 

Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3608. To 

assist HUD program participants in 

meeting this obligation, the AFFH rule 

provides that program participants must 

conduct an Assessment of Fair Housing 

(AFH) using an ‘‘Assessment Tool.’’ 

HUD’s AFFH regulations provide for a 

staggered AFH submission deadline for 

its program participants. (See 24 CFR 

5.160.) 

On October 24, 2016, at 81 FR 73129, 

HUD published a notice extending the 

deadline for submission of an AFH for 

local government consolidated plan 

participants that received in Fiscal Year 

(FY) 2015, or receive in a subsequent 

fiscal year, a CDBG grant of $500,000 or 

less, or in the case of a HOME 

consortium, whose members 

collectively received a CDBG grant of 

$500,000 or less, from the program year 

that begins on or after January 1, 2018, 

to the program year that begins on or 

after January 1, 2019 for which a new 

consolidated plan is due. By notice 

published in the Federal Register on 

January 13, 2017, at 82 FR 4388, HUD 

announced the renewal of approval of 

the Assessment Tool for use by local 

governments that receive Community 

Development Block Grants (CDBG), 

HOME Investment Partnerships Program 

(HOME), Emergency Solutions Grants 

(ESG), or Housing Opportunities for 

Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) formula 

funding from HUD when conducting 

and submitting their own AFH, and in 

some joint and regional collaborations, 

as explained in that notice. This 

Assessment Tool is referred to as the 

Assessment of Fair Housing Tool for 

Local Governments. 

This notice extends the deadline for 

submission of an Assessment of Fair 

Housing (AFH) to all local government 

consolidated plan program participants 

until their next AFH submission 

deadline that falls after October 31, 

2020. (See 24 CFR 5.160(a) for 

information about how to calculate a 

program participant’s AFH submission 

deadline.) The AFFH rule requires that 

program participants have no less than 

9 months after the publication of the 

OMB-approved assessment tool to 

submit their AFH. Therefore, the 

Department selected the October 31, 

2020 date in anticipation that it will 

complete the Paperwork Reduction Act 

requirements and receive OMB approval 

to renew the Assessment of Fair 

Housing Tool for Local Governments by 

January 31, 2020. Local government 

program participants will not be 

required to submit an AFH using the 

current OMB-approved version of the 

Assessment of Fair Housing Tool for 

Local Governments (OMB Control No: 

2529–0054), but must continue to 

comply with existing statutory 

obligations to affirmatively further fair 

housing. (See 42 U.S.C. 3608.) Local 

government program participants who 

qualified for an extension under the 

October 24, 2016 notice are also covered 

by this notice, extending their deadline 

for submission of an AFH to their next 

AFH submission deadline (See 24 CFR 

5.160(a).) that falls after October 31, 

2020. 

Based on the initial AFH reviews, 

HUD believes that program participants 

need additional time and technical 

assistance to adjust to the new AFFH 

process and complete AFH submissions 

that can be accepted by HUD. HUD’s 

decision is informed by the review of 

AFH submissions received. Based on 

the first 49 AFH initial submissions that 

received a determination of accept, nonaccept, or deemed accepted from HUD, 

the Department found that many 

program participants are striving to 

meet the requirements of the AFFH rule. 

In 2017, the Department conducted an 

evaluation of these submissions and 

found that more than a third (35%) were 

initially non-accepted. 

HUD’s analysis identified several 

reasons that merit a delay of AFH 

submission deadlines, including 

program participants’ need for 

additional technical assistance. HUD 

determined that many program 

participants struggled to meet the 

regulatory requirements of the AFFH 

rule, such as developing goals that 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 4 / Friday, January 5, 2018 / Notices 685 

1Please refer to HUD’s 2017 interim guidance for 

additional information on collaboration, 

specifically the Q&A captioned: ‘‘How can States 

Collaborate with Local Governments or PHAs?’’. 

The guidance is available at: https://

www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/ 

Interim-Guidance-for-Program-Participants-onStatus-of-Assessment-Tools-and-SubmissionOptions.pdf. This guidance is generally applicable 

to all types of program participants. 

could be reasonably expected to result 

in meaningful actions to overcome the 

effects of contributing factors and 

related fair housing issues. Further, 

program participants struggled to 

develop metrics and milestones that 

would measure their progress as they 

affirmatively furthering fair housing. 

HUD determined that program 

participants’ frequent misunderstanding 

of how to set clear goals, metrics, and 

milestones that addressed their 

identified contributing factors and 

related fair housing issues often resulted 

in non-accepted AFHs. HUD believes 

that additional technical assistance may 

result in program participants better 

understanding their obligations under 

the AFFH rule. HUD also believes that 

by enhancing its technical assistance 

that resources expended by program 

participants will be reduced because 

they are more likely to submit an initial 

AFH that can be accepted by HUD. 

Additionally, HUD determined that 

significant staff resources are required 

when deciding that an AFH will not be 

accepted because it is inconsistent with 

fair housing or civil rights requirements 

or substantially incomplete, or both. 

(See 24 CFR 5.162 (a)(2)(b).) HUD 

believes that it can reduce the resources 

expended by program participants by 

examining and revising its technical 

assistance content and methods of 

delivery so that program participants’ 

AFHs are more likely to meet the 

regulatory requirements on first 

submission. 

In order to reduce burden for program 

participants in conducting AFHs that 

meet the regulatory requirements, HUD, 

in the AFFH rule, encourages program 

participants to share resources and to 

address fair housing issues from a 

broader perspective by collaborating 

and submitting a single AFH. 

Nonetheless, HUD believes that some 

joint and regional collaborations that 

were non-accepted on their first 

submission may have benefited from 

technical assistance early in the process. 

For example, the largest regional AFH 

submitted to HUD consisted of 19 

program participants. In its review of 

the AFH, HUD determined that each of 

the 19 program participants met the 

regulatory standards for nonacceptance. 

HUD believes that improving technical 

assistance for collaborative AFHs will 

enable collaborations to more efficiently 

use their resources to address fair 

housing issues that cross jurisdictional 

boundaries. 

Based on the initial AFH reviews, 

HUD believes that local government 

program participants need additional 

time and technical assistance from HUD 

to adjust to the new AFFH process and 

complete acceptable AFH submissions. 

HUD also believes it can use this time 

to improve its Data and Mapping Tool 

(AFFH–T) and the User Interface 

(AFFH–UI). The extension period 

allows HUD to further refine its 

materials to provide additional guidance 

to program participants. Finally, this 

extension allows HUD staff to devote 

additional time to providing program 

participants, and program participants 

in an AFH collaboration, with technical 

assistance on the legal objective to 

affirmatively further fair housing. 

Consolidated plan program 

participants must continue to comply 

with existing, ongoing obligations to 

affirmatively further fair housing. Until 

a consolidated plan program participant 

is required to submit an AFH, it will 

continue to provide the AFFH 

Consolidated plan certification in 

accordance with the requirements that 

existed prior to August 17, 2015. See 24 

CFR 5.160(a)(3). The requirements 

obligated a program participant to 

certify that it will affirmatively further 

fair housing, which means that it will 

conduct an analysis of impediments (AI) 

to fair housing choice within the 

jurisdiction, take appropriate actions to 

overcome the effects of any 

impediments identified through that 

analysis, and maintain records reflecting 

the analysis and actions. 

For Consolidated plan program 

participants that are starting a new 3–5- 

year Consolidated plan cycle that begins 

before their due date for an AFH, the AI 

should continue to be updated in 

accordance with the HUD, Fair Housing 

Planning Guide (1996), available at 

https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/ 

FHPG.PDF until those consolidated plan 

program participants submit an AFH 

after October 31, 2020. HUD encourages 

consolidated plan program participants 

to use the data and mapping tool and 

the AFH Assessment Tool as resources 

for program participants that are 

updating their AIs. HUD encourages 

program participants to collaborate to 

develop a regional AI, as regional 

collaborations provide an opportunity 

for program participants to share 

resources and address fair housing 

issues that cross jurisdictional 

boundaries.1

Program participants that have 

already submitted an AFH which has 

been accepted by HUD must continue to 

execute the goals of that accepted AFH 

and are not required to conduct a 

separate AI. Program participants that 

are covered by this notice and that may 

have already begun work on an AFH 

may continue to do so, as the AFFH rule 

may provide program participants with 

a useful framework for complying with 

their AFFH obligation. 

HUD will discontinue the review of 

AFHs currently under review and will 

not render an accept, deemed accepted, 

or non-accept determination. Program 

participants that received a non-accept 

decision from HUD on their AFH 

submission and are preparing to resubmit an AFH are also covered by this 

notice and should not submit their 

revised AFHs. HUD encourages these 

program participants to use the 

information contained in their draft 

AFHs to conduct the required AI 

analysis. Finally, program participants 

prepared to submit their first AFH are 

covered by this notice and should not 

submit an AFH to HUD. Program 

participants that have not received an 

accept or non-accept determination 

from HUD, or that have received a nonaccept but will no longer be required to 

resubmit their AFH, are still required to 

prepare an AI, as described above in this 

notice. 

HUD is issuing this notice for 

applicability immediately upon 

publication. Program participants must 

continue to affirmatively further fair 

housing as required by the Fair Housing 

Act. 42 U.S.C. 3608. 

Although HUD is issuing this notice 

for applicability immediately upon 

publication, it also invites public 

comment for a period of 60-days on the 

extension. HUD will consider all the 

comments in its ongoing process of 

reviewing the Assessment of Fair 

Housing Tool for Local Governments. 

Dated: January 2, 2018. 

Anna Maria Farı ́as, 

Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and 

Equal Opportunity. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00106 Filed 1–4–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 

[Docket No. BOEM–2017–0020] 

Outer Continental Shelf Official 

Protraction Diagrams MMAA104000 

AGENCY: Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Interior. 

ACTION: Availability of World Geodetic 

System Datum of 1984 Outer 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES