Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices 4853

Total Estimated Burden Hours: 10.

Status: Reinstatement, without

change.

Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 35, as

amended.

Dated: January 10, 2001.

Wayne Eddins,

Departmental Reports Management Officer,

Office of the Chief Information Officer.

[FR Doc. 01–1539 Filed 1–17–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR–4650–N–06]

Submission of Proposed Information

Collection to OMB—Public and Indian

Housing Drug Elimination Technical

Assistance Program (DETAP)

Consultant Services—Application Kit

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information

Officer, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The proposed information

collection requirement described below

has been submitted to the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) for

review, as required by the Paperwork

Reduction Act. The Department is

soliciting public comments on the

subject proposal.

DATES: Comments Due Date: February

20, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are

invited to submit comments regarding

this proposal. Comments should refer to

the proposal by name and/or OMB

approval number (2577–0133) and

should be sent to: Joseph F. Lackey, Jr.,

OMB Desk Officer, Office of

Management and Budget, Room 10235,

New Executive Office Building,

Washington, DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Wayne Eddins, Reports Management

Officer, Q, Department of Housing and

Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street,

Southwest, Washington, DC 20410; email Wayne_Eddins@HUD.gov;

telephone (202) 708–2374. This is not a

toll-free number. Copies of the proposed

forms and other available documents

submitted to OMB may be obtained

from Mr. Eddins.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Department has submitted the proposal

for the collection of information, as

described below, to OMB for review, as

required by the Paperwork Reduction

Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). The Notice

lists the following information: (1) The

title of the information collection

proposal; (2) the office of the agency to

collect the information; (3) the OMB

approval number, if applicable; (4) the

description of the need for the

information and its proposed use; (5)

the agency form number, if applicable;

(6) what members of the public will be

affected by the proposal; (7) how

frequently information submissions will

be required; (8) an estimate of the total

number of hours needed to prepare the

information submission including

number of respondents, frequency of

response, and hours of response; (9)

whether the proposal is new, an

extension, reinstatement, or revision of

an information collection requirement;

and (10) the name and telephone

number of an agency official familiar

with the proposal and of the OMB Desk

Officer for the Department.

This Notice also lists the following

information:

Title of Proposal: Public and Indian

Housing Drug Elimination Technical

Assistance Program (DETAP) Consultant

Services-Application Kit.

OMB Approval Number: 2577–0133.

Form Numbers: HUD–52354.

Description of the Need for the

Information and its Proposed Use:

Eligible applicants will submit

information under the SuperNOFA for

the Drug Elimination Technical

Assistance Program (DETAP). HUD will

review and evaluate the information

against ranking factors contained in the

SuperNOFA for possible funding.

Applicants will be notified of their

selection/rejection.

Respondents: Not-for-profit

institutions, State, Local or Tribal

Government.

Frequency of Submission: Annually.

Reporting Burden:

Number of respondents × Frequency of

response × Hours per response = Burden hours

1,500 ..................................................................................................................... 1 20 30,000

Total Estimated Burden Hours:

30,000.

Status: Reinstatement, without

change.

Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 35, as

amended.

Dated: January 11, 2001.

Wayne Eddins,

Departmental Reports Management Officer,

Office of the Chief Information Officer.

[FR Doc. 01–1541 Filed 1–17–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR–4638–N–02]

Notice of Certain Operating Cost

Adjustment Factors

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.

ACTION: Publication of Fiscal Year (FY)

2001 Operating Cost Adjustment Factors

(OCAFs) for Section 8 rent adjustments

at contract renewal under section 524 of

the Multifamily Assisted Housing

Reform and Affordability Act of 1997

(MAHRA), as amended by the

Preserving Affordable Housing for

Senior Citizens and Families into the

21st Century Act of 1999, and under the

Low-Income Housing Preservation and

Resident Homeownership Act of 1990

(LIHPRHA) Projects assisted with

Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments.

SUMMARY: This notice that establishes

factors used in calculating rent

adjustments under section 524 of the

Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform

and Affordability Act of 1997 (MAHRA)

as amended by the Preserving

Affordable Housing for Senior Citizens

and Families into the 21st Century Act

of 1999, and under the Low-Income

Housing Preservation and Resident

Homeownership Act of 1990

(LIHPRHA), was published on January

10, 2001, but the appendix to the notice

was inadvertently not published. This

notice is therefore republished with the

appendix.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 10, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Willie Spearmon, Director, Office of

Housing Assistance and Grant

Administration, Department of Housing

and Urban Development, 451 Seventh

Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410;

telephone (202) 708–3000; (This is not

a toll-free number). Hearing or speechimpaired individuals may access this

number via TTY by calling the toll-free

Federal Information Relay Service at 1–

800–877–8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This notice was originally published

on January 10, 2001 (66 FR 1997), but

4854 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices

the appendix to the notice was

inadvertently not published. This notice

is therefore republished with the

appendix.

I. Operating Cost Adjustment Factors

(OCAFs)

Section 514(e)(2) of the FY 1998 HUD

Appropriations Act requires HUD to

establish guidelines for rent adjustments

based on an operating cost adjustment

(OCAF) factor. The legislation requiring

HUD to establish OCAFs for LIHPRHA

projects and projects with contract

renewals under section 524 of MAHRA

is similar in wording and intent. HUD

has therefore developed a single factor

to be applied uniformly to all projects

utilizing OCAFs as the method by

which rents are adjusted.

Additionally, section 524 of the Act

gives HUD broad discretion in setting

OCAFs—referring simply to ‘‘operating

cost factors established by the

Secretary.’’ The sole exception to this

grant of authority is a specific

requirement that application of an

OCAF shall not result in a negative rent

adjustment. OCAFs are to be applied

uniformly to all projects utilizing

OCAFs as the method by which rents

are adjusted upon expiration of the term

of the contract. OCAFs are applied to

project contract rent less debt service.

An analysis of cost data for FHAinsured projects showed that their

operating expenses could be grouped

into nine categories: wages, employee

benefits, property taxes, insurance,

supplies and equipment, fuel oil,

electricity, natural gas, and water and

sewer. Based on an analysis of these

data, HUD derived estimates of the

percentage of routine operating costs

that were attributable to each of these

nine expense categories. Data for

projects with unusually high or low

expenses due to unusual circumstances

were deleted from analysis.

States are the lowest level of

geographical aggregation at which there

are enough projects to permit statistical

analysis. Additionally, no data were

available for the Western Pacific Islands.

Data for Hawaii was therefore used to

generate OCAFs for these areas.

The best current measures of cost

changes for the nine cost categories

were selected. The only categories for

which current data are available at the

State level are for fuel oil, electricity,

and natural gas. Current price change

indices for the other six categories are

only available at the national level. The

Department had the choice of using

dated State-level data or relatively

current national data. It opted to use

national data rather than data that

would be two or more years older (e.g.,

the most current local wage data are for

1996). The data sources for the nine cost

indicators selected used were as

follows:

Labor Costs—6/99 to 6/00 Bureau of

Labor Statistics (BLS), ‘‘Employment

Cost Index, Private Sector Wages and

Salaries Component at the National

Level.’’

Employment Benefit Costs—6/99–6/

00 (BLS), ‘‘Employment Cost Index,

Employee Benefits at the National

Level.’’

Property Taxes—6/99–6/00 (BLS),

‘‘Consumer Price Index, All Items

Index.’’

Goods, Supplies, Equipment—6/99–6/

00 (BLS), ‘‘Producer Price Index,

Finished Goods Less Food and Energy.’’

Insurance—6/99–6/00 (BLS),

‘‘Consumer Price Index, Tenant and

Household Insurance.’’

Fuel Oil—Energy Information Agency,

Petroleum Marketing Annual 1999,

Table 18, ‘‘Prices of No.2 Distillate to

Residences by PAD District and

Selected States,’’ (Petroleum

Administration for Defense District

(PADD) average changes were used for

the States with too little fuel oil

consumption to have values.)

Electricity—Energy Information

Agency, Electric Power Annual Volume

1, 1999, Table 22 ‘‘Retail Sales of

Electricity, Revenue and Average

Revenue per Kilowatt-hour (and RSEs)

by U.S. Electric Utilities to Ultimate

Consumers by Census Division and

State, 1998–1999—Residential.’’

Natural Gas—Energy Information

Agency, Natural Gas Annual, 1999,

Table 22, ‘‘Average Price of Natural Gas

Delivered to Residential Consumers by

State, 1995–1999 (Preliminary).’’

Water and Sewer—6/99–6/00, (BLS),

‘‘Consumer Price Index—Detailed

Report.’’

The sum of the nine cost components

equals 100 percent of operating costs for

purposes of OCAF calculations. To

calculate the OCAFs, the selected

inflation factors are multiplied by the

relevant State-level operating cost

percentages derived from the previously

referenced analysis of FHA insured

projects. For instance, if wages in

Virginia comprised 50 percent of total

operating cost expenses and wages

increased by 4 percent from June 1999

to June 2000, the wage increase

component of the Virginia OCAF for FY

2001 would be 2.0 percent (4% × 50%).

This 2.0 percent would then be added

to the increases for the other eight

expense categories to calculate the FY

2000 OCAF for Virginia. These types of

calculations were made for each State

for each of the nine cost components,

and are included as the Appendix to

this Notice.

II. MAHRA OCAF Procedure

The Multifamily Assisted Housing

Reform and Affordability Act of 1997,

Title V of Public Law 105–65 (approved

October 7, 1997), 42 U.S.C. 1437f

(MAHRA) as amended by the Preserving

Affordable Housing for Senior Citizens

and Families into the 21st Century Act

of 1999, created the Mark-to-Market

Program to reduce the cost of Federal

housing assistance, enhance HUD’s

administration of such assistance, and

to ensure the continued affordability of

units in certain multifamily housing

projects. Section 524 of MAHRA

authorizes renewal of Section 8 projectbased assistance contracts for projects

without Restructuring Plans under the

Mark-to-Market Program, including

renewals that are not eligible for Plans

and those for which the owner does not

request Plans. Renewals must be at rents

not exceeding comparable market rents

except for certain projects. For Section

8 Moderate Rehabilitation projects,

other than single room occupancy

projects (SROs) under the Stewart B.

McKinney Homeless Assistance Act

(McKinney Act, 42 U.S.C. 11301 et seq.),

that are eligible for renewal under

section 524(b)(3) of MAHRA, the

renewal rents are required to be set at

the lesser of: (1) The existing rents

under the expiring contract, as adjusted

by the OCAF; (2) fair market rents (less

any amounts allowed for tenantpurchased utilities; or (3) comparable

market rents for the market area.

III. Findings and Certifications

Environmental Impact

This notice sets forth rate

determinations and related external

administrative requirements and

procedures that do not constitute a

development decision affecting the

physical condition of specific project

areas or building sites. Accordingly,

under 24 CFR 50.19(c)(6), this notice is

categorically excluded from

environmental review under the

National Environmental Policy Act of

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

Executive Order 13132, Federalism

This notice does not have federalism

implications and does not impose

substantial direct compliance costs on

State and local governments or preempt

State law within the meaning of

Executive Order 13132 (entitled

‘‘Federalism’’).

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Number. The Catalog of Federal Domestic

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2001 / Notices 4855

Assistance Number for this program is

14.187.

Dated: January 10, 2001.

Andrew Cuomo,

Secretary.

APPENDIX—FY 2001 OPERATING

COST ADJUSTMENT FACTORS

(OCAF) FOR RENT ADJUSTMENTS

AT SECTION 8 CONTRACT RENEWAL

[In percent]

State

FY 2001 operating cost adjustment factor

ALABAMA ............................. 3.31

ALASKA ................................ 2.48

ARIZONA .............................. 3.45

ARKANSAS .......................... 3.19

CALIFORNIA ........................ 2.99

COLORADO ......................... 3.20

CONNECTICUT .................... 2.88

DELAWARE .......................... 2.84

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ... 2.98

FLORIDA .............................. 3.09

GEORGIA ............................. 1.68

HAWAII ................................. 3.10

IDAHO .................................. 3.23

ILLINOIS ............................... 2.72

INDIANA ............................... 2.81

IOWA .................................... 2.79

KANSAS ............................... 2.88

KENTUCKY .......................... 2.89

LOUISIANA ........................... 3.08

MAINE .................................. 2.89

MARYLAND .......................... 3.19

MASSACHUSETTS .............. 2.64

MICHIGAN ............................ 3.00

MINNESOTA ........................ 3.22

MISSISSIPPI ........................ 2.96

MISSOURI ............................ 2.97

MONTANA ............................ 3.54

NEBRASKA .......................... 3.08

NEVADA ............................... 3.21

NEW HAMPSHIRE ............... 2.58

NEW JERSEY ...................... 3.31

NEW MEXICO ...................... 2.53

NEW YORK .......................... 2.79

NORTH CAROLINA ............. 3.25

NORTH DAKOTA ................. 2.90

OHIO ..................................... 2.87

OKLAHOMA ......................... 3.03

OREGON .............................. 3.12

PENNSYLVANIA .................. 1.94

RHODE ISLAND ................... 2.35

SOUTH CAROLINA .............. 3.24

SOUTH DAKOTA ................. 3.25

TENNESSEE ........................ 3.12

TEXAS .................................. 2.79

UTAH .................................... 2.58

VERMONT ............................ 3.91

VIRGINIA .............................. 3.00

WASHINGTON ..................... 3.26

WEST VIRGINIA .................. 3.11

WISCONSIN ......................... 3.24

WYOMING ............................ 3.07

PACIFIC ISLANDS ............... 2.76

PUERTO RICO ..................... 3.21

VIRGIN ISLANDS ................. 2.86

UNITED STATES AVERAGE 2.85

[FR Doc. 01–1396 Filed 1–17–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–33–P

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR–4558–N–04]

Mortgage Review Board:

Administrative Actions—Clarification

AGENCY: Office of Assistant Secretary for

Housing—Federal Housing

Commissioner, HUD.

ACTION: Public Notice, Mortgagee

Review Board, Clarification of

Administrative Action.

SUMMARY: In compliance with Section

202(c) of the National Housing Act,

notice is given of the cause and

description of administrative actions

taken by HUD’s Mortgage Review Board

against HUD-approved mortgagees. This

notice provides clarification regarding

the description of and the cause for

administrative action against a HUDapproved mortgagee.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: D.

Jackson Kinkaid, Secretary to the

Mortgage Review Board, Department of

Housing and Urban Development, 451

Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC

20410; telephone (202) 708–3041

extension 3574 (this is not a toll-free

number). Hearing or speech-impaired

persons may access this number via

TTY by calling the toll-free Federal

Information Relay Service at 1–800–

877–8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

202(c) of the National Housing Act

(added by Section 142 of the

Department of Housing and Urban

Development Reform Act of 1989, Pub.

L. 101–235, approved December 15,

1989), requires that HUD ‘‘publish a

description of and the cause for

administrative actions against a HUDapproved mortgage’’ by the

Department’s Mortgage Review Board.

In compliance with the requirements of

Section 202(c)(5), notice is hereby given

of a clarification of a previously

published description and cause for an

administrative action against a HUDapproved mortgagee. The specific

mortgagee that is the subject of this

clarification is James B. Nutter &

Company, Kansas City, Missouri,

pursuant to an administrative action

originally reported at 65 FR 53734 (#44)

published on September 5, 2000. The

clarification regarding the

administrative action taken against this

mortgagee is noted below:

1. James B. Nutter & Company, Kansas

City, Missouri.

Action: Proposed settlement

agreement of disputed matters that

included a payment to the Department.

Cause: A review by HUD’s Quality

Assurance Division discovered alleged

failures to comply with HUD/FHA Loss

Mitigation and other HUD/FHA

requirements.

Dated: January 10, 2001.

William C. Apgar,

Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal

Housing Commissioner, Chairman, Mortgagee

Review Board.

[FR Doc. 01–1538 Filed 1–17–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–27–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Availability of the Draft

Environmental Assessment and Land

Protection Plan for the Proposed

Establishment of Green River National

Wildlife Refuge, Henderson County, KY

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the

Draft Environmental Assessment and

Land Protection Plan for the proposed

establishment of Green River National

Wildlife Refuge.

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public

that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

Southeast Region, proposes to establish

a new national wildlife refuge in the

Scuffletown Bottoms area in Henderson

County, Kentucky. The purpose of the

proposed refuge is to protect, restore

and manage a valuable complex of

wetland habitats for the benefit of

migrating and wintering waterfowl, nongame land birds, and other native fish

and wildlife. A Draft Environmental

Assessment and Land Protection Plan

for the establishment of the proposed

refuge has been prepared by Service

biologists in coordination with the

Kentucky Department of Fish and

Wildlife Resources. The assessment

considers the biological, environmental,

and socioeconomic effects of

establishing the refute and evaluates

three alternative actions and their

potential impacts on the environment.

Written comments or recommendations

concerning the proposal are welcomed

and should be sent to the address given

below.

DATES: Land acquisition planning for

the project is currently underway. The

draft environmental assessment and

land protection plan will be available to

the public for review and comment on

January 22, 2001. Written comments

must be received no later than March 9,

2001, in order to be considered for the

preparation of the final environmental

assessment.