This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

9273 

Vol. 73, No. 34 

Wednesday, February 20, 2008 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Housing Service 

Notice of Funds Availability for the 

Section 533 Housing Preservation 

Grants for Fiscal Year 2008 

Announcement Type: Initial Notice 

inviting applications from qualified 

applicants for Fiscal Year 2008. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance Numbers (CFDA): 10.433. 

SUMMARY: The Rural Housing Service 

(RHS), an agency within Rural 

Development, announces that it is 

soliciting competitive applications 

under its Housing Preservation Grant 

(HPG) program. The HPG program is a 

grant program which provides qualified 

public agencies, private nonprofit 

organizations, which may include, but 

not be limited to, faith-based and 

community organizations, and other 

eligible entities grant funds to assist 

very low- and low-income homeowners 

in repairing and rehabilitating their 

homes in rural areas. In addition, the 

HPG program assists rental property 

owners and cooperative housing 

complexes in repairing and 

rehabilitating their units if they agree to 

make such units available to low- and 

very low-income persons. This action is 

taken to comply with Agency 

regulations found in 7 CFR part 1944, 

subpart N, which require the Agency to 

announce the opening and closing dates 

for receipt of preapplications for HPG 

funds from eligible applicants. The 

intended effect of this Notice is to 

provide eligible organizations notice of 

these dates. 

DATES: The closing deadline for receipt 

of all applications in response to this 

Notice is 5 p.m., local time for each 

Rural Development State Office on April 

21, 2008. The application closing 

deadline is firm as to date and hour. 

RHS will not consider any application 

that is received after the closing 

deadline. Applicants intending to mail 

applications must provide sufficient 

time to permit delivery on or before the 

closing deadline date and time. 

Acceptance by the United States Postal 

Service or private mailer does not 

constitute delivery. Facsimile (FAX) and 

postage due applications will not be 

accepted. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

The reporting requirements contained 

in this Notice have been approved by 

the Office of Management and Budget 

under Control Number 0575–0115. 

Program Administration 

I. Funding Opportunities Description 

The funding instrument for the HPG 

Program will be a grant agreement. The 

term of the grant can vary from 1 to 2 

years, depending on available funds and 

demand. No maximum or minimum 

grant levels have been established at the 

National level. You should contact the 

Rural Development State Office to 

determine the allocation. 

II. Award Information 

For Fiscal Year 2008, $9,593,704 is 

available for the HPG Program. The total 

includes $656,704 in carryover funds. A 

set-aside of $595,800 has been 

established for grants located in 

Empowerment Zones, Enterprise 

Communities, and Rural Economic Area 

Partnership Zones and other funds will 

be distributed under a formula 

allocation to states pursuant to 7 CFR 

part 1940, subpart L, ‘‘Methodology and 

Formulas for Allocation of Loan and 

Grant Program Funds.’’ Decisions on 

funding will be based on preapplications. 

III. Eligibility Information 

7 CFR part 1944, subpart N provides 

details on what information must be 

contained in the preapplication 

package. Entities wishing to apply for 

assistance should contact the Rural 

Development State Office to receive 

further information, the State allocation 

of funds, and copies of the 

preapplication package. Eligible entities 

for these competitively awarded grants 

include state and local governments, 

nonprofit corporations, which may 

include, but not be limited to faithbased and community organizations, 

Federally recognized Indian tribes, and 

consortia of eligible entities. 

Federally recognized Indian tribes, 

pursuant to 7 CFR 1944.674, are exempt 

from the requirement to consult with 

local leaders including announcing the 

availability of its statement of activities 

for review in a newspaper. 

As part of the application, all 

applicants must also provide a Dun and 

Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering 

System (DUNS) number. As required by 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB), all grant applicants must 

provide a DUNS number when applying 

for Federal grants, on or after October 1, 

2003. Organizations can receive a DUNS 

number at no cost by calling the 

dedicated toll-free DUNS number 

request line at 1–866–705–5711. 

Additional information concerning this 

requirement is provided in a policy 

directive issued by OMB and published 

in the Federal Register on June 27, 2003 

(68 FR 38402–38405). 

To comply with the President’s 

Management Agenda, the Department of 

Agriculture is participating as a partner 

in the new Government-wide Grants.gov 

site in FY 2008. Housing Preservation 

Grants [Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance No. 10.433] is one of the 

programs included at this Web site. You 

may access the electronic grant 

application for Housing Preservation 

Grants at: http://www.grants.gov. If you 

are an applicant under the Housing 

Preservation Grant Program, you may 

submit your application to the Agency 

in either electronic or paper format. 

Please be mindful that the application 

deadline for electronic format differs 

from the deadline for paper format. The 

electronic format deadline will be based 

on Eastern Standard Time. The paper 

format deadline is local time for each 

Rural Development State Office. 

Users of Grants.gov will be able to 

download a copy of the application 

package, complete it offline, and then 

upload and submit the application via 

the Grants.gov site. You may not e-mail 

an electronic copy of a grant application 

to USDA Rural Development; however, 

the Agency encourages your 

participation in Grants.gov. 

The following are useful tips and 

instructions on how to use the Web site: 

• When you enter the Grants.gov site, 

you will find information about 

submitting an application electronically 

through the site as well as the hours of 

operation. USDA Rural Development 

strongly recommends that you do not 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
9274 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 34 / Wednesday, February 20, 2008 / Notices 

wait until the application deadline date 

to begin the application process through 

Grants.gov. To use Grants.gov, 

applicants must have a DUNS number. 

• You may submit all documents 

electronically through the Web site, 

including all information typically 

included on the Application for Rural 

Housing Preservation Grants, and all 

necessary assurances and certifications. 

• Your application must comply with 

any page limit requirements described 

in this Notice. 

• After you electronically submit 

your application through the Web site, 

you will receive an automatic 

acknowledgement from Grants.gov that 

contains a Grants.gov tracking number. 

• RHS may request that you provide 

original signatures on forms at a later 

date. 

• If you experience technical 

difficulties on the closing date and are 

unable to meet the 5 p.m. (Eastern 

Standard Time) deadline, print out your 

application and submit it to your State 

Office; you must meet the closing date 

and local time deadline. 

• Please note that you must locate the 

downloadable application package for 

this program by the CFDA Number or 

FedGrants Funding Opportunity 

Number, which can be found at http:// 

www.fedgrants.gov. 

IV. Application and Submission 

Information 

Applicants wishing to apply for 

assistance must make its statement of 

activities available to the public for 

comment. The applicant(s) must 

announce the availability of its 

statement of activities for review in a 

newspaper of general circulation in the 

project area and allow at least 15 days 

for public comment. The start of this 15- 

day period must occur no later than 16 

days prior to the last day for acceptance 

of pre-applications by USDA Rural 

Development. 

Applicants must also contact the 

Rural Development State Office serving 

the place in which they desire to submit 

an application to receive further 

information and copies of the 

application package. Rural Development 

will date and time stamp incoming 

applications to evidence timely receipt, 

and, upon request, will provide the 

applicant with a written 

acknowledgment of receipt. A listing of 

Rural Development State Offices, their 

addresses, telephone numbers, and 

person to contact follows: 

Note: Telephone numbers listed are not 

toll-free. 

Alabama State Office 

Suite 601, Sterling Centre, 4121 

Carmichael Road, Montgomery, AL 

36106–3683, (334) 279–3455, TDD (334) 

279–3495, Judith Druckemiller. 

Alaska State Office 

800 West Evergreen, Suite 201, Palmer, AK 

99645, (907) 761–7740, TDD (907) 761–

8905, Debbie I. Davis. 

Arizona State Office 

Phoenix Courthouse and Federal Building, 

230 North First Ave., Suite 206, Phoenix, 

AZ 85003–1706, (602) 280–8768, TDD 

(602) 280–8706, Carol Torres. 

Arkansas State Office 

700 W. Capitol Ave., Rm. 3416, Little Rock, 

AR 72201–3225, (501) 301–3258, TDD 

(501) 301–3063, Clinton King. 

California State Office 

430 G Street, #4169, Davis, CA 95616–

4169, (530) 792–5821, TDD (530) 792–

5848, Debra Moretton. 

Colorado State Office 

655 Parfet Street, Room E100, Lakewood, 

CO 80215, (720) 544–2923, TDD (800) 

659–2656, Mary Summerfield. 

Connecticut 

Served by Massachusetts State Office. 

Delaware and Maryland State Office 

1221 College Park Drive, Suite 200, Dover, 

DE 19904, (302) 857–3615, TDD (302) 

857–3585, Pat Baker. 

Florida & Virgin Islands State Office 

4440 NW. 25th Place, Gainesville, FL 

32606–6563, (352) 338–3465, TDD (352) 

338–3499, Elizabeth M. Whitaker. 

Georgia State Office 

Stephens Federal Building, 355 E. Hancock 

Avenue, Athens, GA 30601–2768, (706) 

546–2164, TDD (706) 546–2034, Wayne 

Rogers. 

Hawaii State Office 

(Services all Hawaii, American Samoa, 

Guam, and Western Pacific), Room 311, 

Federal Building, 154 Waianuenue 

Avenue, Hilo, HI 96720, (808) 933–8300, 

TDD (808) 933–8321, Gayle Kuheana. 

Idaho State Office 

Suite A1, 9173 West Barnes Dr., Boise, ID 

83709, (208) 378–5628, TDD (208) 378–

5644, Joyce Weinzetl. 

Illinois State Office 

2118 West Park Court, Suite A, Champaign, 

IL 61821–2986, (217) 403–6222, TDD 

(217) 403–6240, Barry L. Ramsey. 

Indiana State Office 

5975 Lakeside Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN 

46278, (317) 290–3100 (ext. 423), TDD 

(317) 290–3343, Stephen Dye. 

Iowa State Office 

210 Walnut Street, Room 873, Des Moines, 

IA 50309, (515) 284–4666, TDD (515) 

284–4858, Mary Beth Juergens. 

Kansas State Office 

1303 SW First American Place, Suite 100, 

Topeka, KS 66604–4040, (785) 271–2721, 

TDD (785) 271–2767, Virginia M. 

Hammersmith. 

Kentucky State Office 

771 Corporate Drive, Suite 200, Lexington, 

KY 40503, (859) 224–7325, TDD (859) 

224–7422, Beth Moore. 

Louisiana State Office 

3727 Government Street, Alexandria, LA 

71302, (318) 473–7962, TDD (318) 473–

7655, Yvonne R. Emerson. 

Maine State Office 

967 Illinois Ave., Suite 4, P.O. Box 405, 

Bangor, ME 04402–0405, (207) 990–

9110, TDD (207) 942–7331, Bob Nadeau. 

Maryland 

Served by Delaware State Office. 

Massachusetts, Connecticut, & Rhode Island 

State Office 

451 West Street, Suite 2, Amherst, MA 

01002, (413) 253–4315, TDD (413) 253–

4590, Paul Geoffroy. 

Michigan State Office 

3001 Coolidge Road, Suite 200, East 

Lansing, MI 48823, (517) 324–5192, TDD 

(517) 337–6795, Ghulam R. Simbal. 

Minnesota State Office 

375 Jackson Street Building, Suite 410, St. 

Paul, MN 55125, (651) 602–7804, TDD 

(651) 602–7830, Thomas Osborne. 

Mississippi State Office 

Federal Building, Suite 831, 100 W. Capitol 

Street, Jackson, MS 39269, (601) 965–

4325, TDD (601) 965–5850, Darnella 

Smith-Murray. 

Missouri State Office 

601 Business Loop 70 West, Parkade 

Center, Suite 235, Columbia, MO 65203, 

(573) 876–9303, TDD (573) 876–9480, 

Becky Eftink. 

Montana State Office 

900 Technology Blvd., Suite B, Bozeman, 

MT 59771, (406) 585–2515, TDD (406) 

585–2562, Deborah Chorlton. 

Nebraska State Office 

Federal Building, Room 152, 100 

Centennial Mall N., Lincoln, NE 68508, 

(402) 437–5557, TDD (402) 437–5093, 

Lanae Brasch. 

Nevada State Office 

1390 South Curry Street, Carson City, NV 

89703–9910, (775) 887–1222 (ext. 14), 

TDD (775) 885–0633, Mona Sargent. 

New Hampshire State Office 

Concord Center, Suite 218, Box 317, 10 

Ferry Street, Concord, NH 03301–5004, 

(603) 223–6046, TDD (603) 229–0536, 

Sandra Hawkins. 

New Jersey State Office 

5th Floor North, Suite 500, 8000 Midlantic 

Drive, Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054, (856) 787–

7740, TDD (856) 787–7784, George Hyatt, 

Jr. 

New Mexico State Office 

6200 Jefferson St., NE., Room 255, 

Albuquerque, NM 87109, (505) 761–

4944, TDD (505) 761–4938, Carmen N. 

Lopez. 

New York State Office 

The Galleries of Syracuse, 441 S. Salina 

Street, Suite 357, 5th Floor, Syracuse, 

NY 13202, (315) 736–3316 (ext. 128), 

TDD (315) 477–6447, Tia Shulkin. 

North Carolina State Office 

4405 Bland Road, Suite 260, Raleigh, NC 

27609, (919) 873–2066, TDD (919) 873–

2003, William A. Hobbs. 

North Dakota State Office 

Federal Building, Room 208, 220 East 

Rosser, P.O. Box 1737, Bismarck, ND 

58502, (701) 530–2046, TDD (701) 530–

2113, Barry Borstad. 

Ohio State Office 

Federal Building, Room 507, 200 North 

High Street, Columbus, OH 43215–2477, 

(614) 255–2409, TDD (614) 255–2554, 

Cathy Simmons. 

Oklahoma State Office 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 34 / Wednesday, February 20, 2008 / Notices 9275 

100 USDA, Suite 108, Stillwater, OK 

74074–2654, (405) 742–1070, TDD (405) 

742–1007, Ivan Graves. 

Oregon State Office 

101 SW. Main, Suite 1410, Portland, OR 

97204–3222, (503) 414–3340, TDD (503) 

414–3387, Barb Brandon. 

Pennsylvania State Office 

One Credit Union Place, Suite 330, 

Harrisburg, PA 17110–2996, (717) 237–

2282, TDD (717) 237–2261, Martha E. 

Hanson. 

Puerto Rico State Office 

IBM Building, Suite 601, Munoz Rivera 

Ave., #654, San Juan, PR 00918, (787) 

766–5095 (ext. 249), TDD (787) 766–

5332, Lourdes Colon. 

Rhode Island 

Served by Massachusetts State Office. 

South Carolina State Office 

Strom Thurmond Federal Building, 1835 

Assembly Street, Room 1007, Columbia, 

SC 29201, (803) 253–3432, TDD (803) 

765–5697, Larry D. Floyd. 

South Dakota State Office 

Federal Building, Room 210, 200 Fourth 

Street, SW., Huron, SD 57350, (605) 352–

1132, TDD (605) 352–1147, Roger 

Hazuka or Pam Reilly. 

Tennessee State Office 

Suite 300, 3322 West End Avenue, 

Nashville, TN 37203–1084, (615) 783–

1375, TDD (615) 783–1397, Larry 

Kennedy. 

Texas State Office 

Federal Building, Suite 102, 101 South 

Main, Temple, TX 76501, (254) 742–

9767, TDD (254) 742–9712, Linda 

Sultenfuss. 

Utah State Office 

Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building, 125 

S. State Street, Room 4311, Salt Lake 

City, UT 84138, (801) 524–4329, TDD 

(801) 524–3309, Kristine Dahlberg. 

Vermont State Office 

City Center, 3rd Floor, 89 Main Street, 

Montpelier, VT 05602, (802) 828–6021, 

TDD (802) 223–6365, Heidi Setien. 

Virgin Islands 

Served by Florida State Office. 

Virginia State Office 

Culpeper Building, Suite 238, 1606 Santa 

Rosa Road, Richmond, VA 23229, (804) 

287–1596, TDD (804) 287–1753, CJ 

Michels. 

Washington State Office 

1835 Black Lake Blvd., Suite B, Olympia, 

WA 98512, (360) 704–7730, TDD (360) 

704–7742, Robert L. Lund. 

Western Pacific Territories 

Served by Hawaii State Office. 

West Virginia 

Parkersburg West Virginia County Office, 

91 Boyles Lane, Parkersburg, WV 26104, 

(304) 422–9070, TDD (304) 284–4836, 

Penny Thaxton. 

Wisconsin State Office 

4949 Kirschling Court, Stevens Point, WI 

54481, (715) 345–7608 (ext. 111), TDD 

(715) 345–7614, Peter Kohnen. 

Wyoming State Office 

P.O. Box 82601, Casper, WY 82602–5006, 

(307) 233–6716, TDD (307) 233–6733, 

Alan Brooks. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general information, applicants may 

contact Bonnie Edwards-Jackson, Senior 

Loan Specialist, Multi-Family Housing 

Processing Division, USDA Rural 

Development, Stop 0781, 1400 

Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–0781, telephone 

(202) 690–0759 (voice) (this is not a toll 

free number) or (800) 877–8339 (TDDFederal Information Relay Service) or 

via e-mail at, 

Bonnie.Edwards@wdc.usda.gov. 

V. Application Review Information 

All applications for Section 533 funds 

must be filed with the appropriate Rural 

Development State Office and must 

meet the requirements of this Notice 

and 7 CFR part 1944, subpart N. Preapplications determined not eligible 

and/or not meeting the selection criteria 

will be notified by the Rural 

Development State Office. 

All applicants will file an original and 

two copies of Standard Form (SF) 424, 

‘‘Application For Federal Assistance,’’

and supporting information with the 

appropriate Rural Development State 

Office. A pre-application package, 

including SF–424, is available in any 

Rural Development State Office. All preapplications shall be accompanied by 

the following information, which Rural 

Development will use to determine the 

applicant’s eligibility to undertake the 

HPG program and to evaluate the preapplication under the project selection 

criteria of § 1944.679 of 7 CFR part 

1944, subpart N. 

(a) A statement of activities proposed 

by the applicant for its HPG program as 

appropriate to the type of assistance the 

applicant is proposing, including: 

(1) A complete discussion of the type 

of and conditions for financial 

assistance for housing preservation, 

including whether the request for 

assistance is for a homeowner assistance 

program, a rental property assistance 

program, or a cooperative assistance 

program; 

(2) The process for selecting 

recipients for HPG assistance, 

determining housing preservation needs 

of the dwelling, performing the 

necessary work, and monitoring/ 

inspecting work performed; 

(3) A description of the process for 

identifying potential environmental 

impacts in accordance with § 1944.672 

of 7 CFR part 1944, subpart N, and the 

provisions for compliance with 

Stipulation I, A–G of the Programmatic 

Memorandum of Agreement, also 

known as PMOA, (RD Instruction 2000–

FF, available in any Rural Development 

State Office) in accordance with 

§ 1944.673(b) of 7 CFR part 1944, 

subpart N; 

(4) The development standard(s) the 

applicant will use for the housing 

preservation work; and, if not the Rural 

Development standards for existing 

dwellings, the evidence of its 

acceptance by the jurisdiction where the 

grant will be implemented; 

(5) The time schedule for completing 

the program; 

(6) The staffing required to complete 

the program; 

(7) The estimated number of very lowand low-income minority and 

nonminority persons the grantee will 

assist with HPG funds; and, if a rental 

property or cooperative assistance 

program, the number of units and the 

term of restrictive covenants on their 

use for very low- and low-income; 

(8) The geographical area(s) to be 

served by the HPG program; 

(9) The annual estimated budget for 

the program period based on the 

financial needs to accomplish the 

objectives outlined in the proposal. The 

budget should include proposed direct 

and indirect administrative costs, such 

as personnel, fringe benefits, travel, 

equipment, supplies, contracts, and 

other cost categories, detailing those 

costs for which the grantee proposes to 

use the HPG grant separately from nonHPG resources, if any. The applicant 

budget should also include a schedule 

(with amounts) of how the applicant 

proposes to draw HPG grant funds, i.e., 

monthly, quarterly, lump sum for 

program activities, etc.; 

(10) A copy of a indirect cost proposal 

as required in 7 CFR parts 3015, 3016, 

and 3019, when the applicant has 

another source of federal funding in 

addition to the Rural Development HPG 

program; 

(11) A brief description of the 

accounting system to be used; 

(12) The method of evaluation to be 

used by the applicant to determine the 

effectiveness of its program which 

encompasses the requirements for 

quarterly reports to Rural Development 

in accordance with § 1944.683(b) of 7 

CFR part 1944, subpart N and the 

monitoring plan for rental properties 

and cooperatives (when applicable) 

according to § 1944.689 of 7 CFR part 

1944, subpart N; 

(13) The source and estimated amount 

of other financial resources to be 

obtained and used by the applicant for 

both HPG activities and housing 

development and/or supporting 

activities; 

(14) The use of program income, if 

any, and the tracking system used for 

monitoring same; 

(15) The applicant’s plan for 

disposition of any security instruments 

held by them as a result of its HPG 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
9276 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 34 / Wednesday, February 20, 2008 / Notices 

activities in the event of its loss of legal 

status; 

(16) Any other information necessary 

to explain the proposed HPG program; 

and 

(17) The outreach efforts outlined in 

§ 1944.671(b) of 7 CFR part 1944, 

subpart N. 

(b) Complete information about the 

applicant’s experience and capacity to 

carry out the objectives of the proposed 

HPG program. 

(c) Evidence of the applicant’s legal 

existence, including, in the case of a 

private nonprofit organization, which 

may include, but not be limited to, faithbased and community organizations, a 

copy of, or an accurate reference to, the 

specific provisions of State law under 

which the applicant is organized; a 

certified copy of the applicant’s Articles 

of Incorporation and Bylaws or other 

evidence of corporate existence; 

certificate of incorporation for other 

than public bodies; evidence of good 

standing from the State when the 

corporation has been in existence 1 year 

or more; and the names and addresses 

of the applicant’s members, directors 

and officers. If other organizations are 

members of the applicant-organization, 

or the applicant is a consortium, preapplications should be accompanied by 

the names, addresses, and principal 

purpose of the other organizations. If the 

applicant is a consortium, 

documentation showing compliance 

with paragraph (4)(ii) under the 

definition of ‘‘organization’’ in 

§ 1944.656 of 7 CFR part 1944, subpart 

N must also be included. 

(d) For a private nonprofit entity, 

which may include, but not be limited 

to faith-based organizations, the most 

recent audited statement and a current 

financial statement dated and signed by 

an authorized officer of the entity 

showing the amounts and specific 

nature of assets and liabilities together 

with information on the repayment 

schedule and status of any debt(s) owed 

by the applicant. 

(e) A brief narrative statement which 

includes information about the area to 

be served and the need for improved 

housing (including both percentage and 

the actual number of both low-income 

and low-income minority households 

and substandard housing), the need for 

the type of housing preservation 

assistance being proposed, the 

anticipated use of HPG resources for 

historic properties, the method of 

evaluation to be used by the applicant 

in determining the effectiveness of its 

efforts. 

(f) Applicant must submit an original 

and one copy of Form RD 1940–20, 

‘‘Request for Environmental 

Information,’’ prepared in accordance 

with Exhibit F–1 of RD Instruction 

1944–N (available in any Rural 

Development State Office). 

(g) Applicant must also submit a 

description of its process for: 

(1) Identifying and rehabilitating 

properties listed on or eligible for listing 

on the National Register of Historic 

Places; 

(2) Identifying properties that are 

located in a floodplain or wetland; 

(3) Identifying properties located 

within the Coastal Barrier Resources 

System; and 

(4) Coordinating with other public 

and private organizations and programs 

that provide assistance in the 

rehabilitation of historic properties 

(Stipulation I, D, of the PMOA, RD 

Instruction 2000–FF, available in any 

Rural Development State Office). 

(h) The applicant must also submit 

evidence of the State Historic 

Preservation Office’s, also known as 

SHPO, concurrence in the proposal, or 

in the event of nonconcurrence, a copy 

of SHPO’s comments together with 

evidence that the applicant has received 

the Advisory Council on Historic 

Preservation’s advice as to how the 

disagreement might be resolved, and a 

copy of any advice provided by the 

Council. 

(i) The applicant must submit written 

statements and related correspondence 

reflecting compliance with § 1944.674(a) 

and (c) of 7 CFR part 1944, subpart N 

regarding consultation with local 

government leaders in the preparation 

of its program and the consultation with 

local and state government pursuant to 

the provisions of Executive Order 

12372. 

(j) The applicant is to make its 

statement of activities available to the 

public for comment prior to submission 

to Rural Development pursuant to 

§ 1944.674(b) of 7 CFR part 1944, 

subpart N. The application must contain 

a description of how the comments (if 

any were received) were addressed. 

(k) The applicant must submit an 

original and one copy of Form RD 400–

1, ‘‘Equal Opportunity Agreement,’’ and 

Form RD 400–4, ‘‘Assurance 

Agreement,’’ in accordance with 

§ 1944.676 of 7 CFR part 1944, subpart 

N. 

Applicants should review 7 CFR part 

1944, subpart N for a comprehensive list 

of all application requirements. 

VI. Selection Criteria 

The Rural Development State Offices 

will utilize the following project 

selection criteria for applicants in 

accordance with § 1944.679 of 7 CFR 

part 1944, subpart N: 

(a) Providing a financially feasible 

program of housing preservation 

assistance. ‘‘Financially feasible’’ is 

defined as proposed assistance which 

will be affordable to the intended 

recipient or result in affordable housing 

for very low- and low-income persons. 

(b) Serving eligible rural areas with a 

concentration of substandard housing 

for households with very low- and lowincome. 

(c) Being an eligible applicant as 

defined in § 1944.658 of 7 CFR part 

1944, subpart N. 

(d) Meeting the requirements of 

consultation and public comment in 

accordance with § 1944.674 of 7 CFR 

part 1944, subpart N. 

(e) Submitting a complete 

preapplication as outlined in § 1944.676 

of 7 CFR part 1944, subpart N. 

For applicants meeting all of the 

requirements listed above, the Rural 

Development State Offices will use 

weighted criteria in accordance with 7 

CFR part 1944, subpart N as selection 

for the grant recipients. Each 

preapplication and its accompanying 

statement of activities will be evaluated 

and, based solely on the information 

contained in the preapplication, the 

applicant’s proposal will be numerically 

rated on each criteria within the range 

provided. The highest-ranking 

applicant(s) will be selected based on 

allocation of funds available to the state. 

(a) Points are awarded based on the 

percentage of very low-income persons 

that the applicant proposes to assist, 

using the following scale: 

(1) More than 80%: 20 points. 

(2) 61% to 80%: 15 points. 

(3) 41% to 60%: 10 points. 

(4) 20% to 40%: 5 points. 

(5) Less than 20%: 0 points. 

(b) The applicant’s proposal may be 

expected to result in the following 

percentage of HPG fund use (excluding 

administrative costs) to total cost of unit 

preservation. This percentage reflects 

maximum repair or rehabilitation with 

the least possible HPG funds due to 

leveraging, innovative financial 

assistance, owner’s contribution or other 

specified approaches. Points are 

awarded based on the following 

percentage of HPG funds (excluding 

administrative costs) to total funds: 

(1) 50% or less: 20 points. 

(2) 51% to 65%: 15 points. 

(3) 66% to 80%: 10 points. 

(4) 81% to 95%: 5 points. 

(5) 96% to 100%: 0 points. 

(c) The applicant has demonstrated its 

administrative capacity in assisting very 

low- and low-income persons to obtain 

adequate housing based on the 

following: 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 34 / Wednesday, February 20, 2008 / Notices 9277 

(1) The organization or a member of 

its staff has 2 or more years experience 

successfully managing and operating a 

rehabilitation or weatherization type 

program: 10 points. 

(2) The organization or a member of 

its staff has 2 or more years experience 

successfully managing and operating a 

program assisting very low- and lowincome persons obtain housing 

assistance: 10 points. 

(3) If the organization has 

administered grant programs, there are 

no outstanding or unresolved audit or 

investigative findings which might 

impair carrying out the proposal: 10 

points. 

(d) The proposed program will be 

undertaken entirely in rural areas 

outside Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 

also known as MSAs, identified by 

Rural Development as having 

populations below 10,000 or in remote 

parts of other rural areas (i.e., rural areas 

contained in MSAs with less than 5,000 

population) as defined in § 1944.656 of 

7 CFR part 1944, subpart N: 10 points. 

(e) The program will use less than 20 

percent of HPG funds for administration 

purposes: 

(1) More than 20%: Not eligible. 

(2) 20%: 0 points. 

(3) 19%: 1 point. 

(4) 18%: 2 points. 

(5) 17%: 3 points. 

(6) 16%: 4 points. 

(7) 15% or less: 5 points. 

(f) The proposed program contains a 

component for alleviating overcrowding 

as defined in § 1944.656 of 7 CFR part 

1944, subpart N: 5 points. 

In the event more than one 

preapplication receives the same 

amount of points, those preapplications 

will then be ranked based on the actual 

percentage figure used for determining 

the points. Further, in the event that 

preapplications are still tied, then those 

preapplications still tied will be ranked 

based on the percentage for HPG fund 

use (low to high). Further, for 

applications where assistance to rental 

properties or cooperatives is proposed, 

those still tied will be further ranked 

based on the number of years the units 

are available for occupancy under the 

program (a minimum of 5 years is 

required). For this part, ranking will be 

based from most to least number of 

years. 

Finally, if there is still a tie, then a 

lottery system will be used. 

VII. Non-Discrimination Statement 

USDA prohibits discrimination in all 

its programs and activities on the basis 

of race, color, national origin, age, 

disability, and where applicable, sex, 

marital status, familial status, parental 

status, religion, sexual orientation, 

genetic information, political beliefs, 

reprisal, or because all or part of an 

individual’s income is derived from any 

public assistance program. (Not all 

prohibited bases apply to all programs.) 

Persons with disabilities who require 

alternative means for communication of 

program information (Braille, large 

print, audiotape, etc.) should contact 

USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720–

2600 (voice and TDD). To file a 

complaint of discrimination, write to 

USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–9410, or call 

(800) 795–3272 (voice), (202) 720–6382 

(TDD). ‘‘USDA is an equal opportunity 

provider, employer, and lender.’’

Dated: February 8, 2008. 

Russell T. Davis, 

Administrator, Rural Housing Service. 

[FR Doc. 08–690 Filed 2–19–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–XV–P 

COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS 

Agenda and Notice of Public Meeting 

of the Arizona State Advisory 

Committee 

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to 

the provisions of the rules and 

regulations of the U.S. Commission on 

Civil Rights (Commission), and the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA), that a planning meeting of the 

Arizona Advisory Committee to the 

Commission will convene by conference 

call at 2 p.m. Mountain Standard Time 

on March 3, 2008. The purpose of the 

meeting is to plan future activities. 

This meeting is available to the public 

through the following toll-free call-in 

number: Dialing 1–866–349–3556, 

access code: 34933357. Any interested 

member of the public may call this 

number and listen to the meeting. 

Callers can expect to incur charges for 

calls they initiate over wireless lines, 

and the Commission will not refund any 

incurred charges. Callers will incur no 

charge for calls they initiate over landline connections to the toll-free 

telephone number. Persons with hearing 

impairments may also follow the 

proceedings by first calling the Federal 

Relay Service at 1–800–977–8339 and 

providing the Service with the 

conference call number and access code. 

To ensure that the Commission 

secures an appropriate number of lines 

for the public, persons are asked to 

register by contacting Angelica Trevino 

at the Commission’s Western Regional 

Office, (213) 894–3437, by 3 p.m., 

Pacific Standard Time, on Friday, 

February 29, 2008. 

Members of the public are entitled to 

submit written comments. The 

comments must be received in the 

regional office by April 3, 2008. The 

address is 300 N. Los Angeles St., Suite 

2010, Los Angeles, CA 90012. 

Comments may be e-mailed to 

atrevino@usccr.gov. Records generated 

by this meeting may be inspected and 

reproduced at the Western Regional 

Office, as they become available, both 

before and after the meeting. Persons 

interested in the work of this advisory 

committee are advised to go to the 

Commission’s Web site, http:// 

www.usccr.gov, or to contact the 

Western Regional Office at the above email or street address. 

The meeting will be conducted 

pursuant to the provisions of the rules 

and regulations of the Commission and 

FACA. 

Dated in Washington, DC, February 14, 

2008. 

Christopher Byrnes, 

Chief, Regional Programs Coordination Unit. 

[FR Doc. E8–3134 Filed 2–19–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6335–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Foreign–Trade Zones Board 

[Docket 6–2008] 

Foreign–Trade Zone 42 Orlando, FL 

Application for Expansion of 

Manufacturing Authority 

Subzone 42A Mitsubishi Power 

Systems Americas, Inc. 

(Power Generation Turbine 

Components) 

An application has been submitted to 

the Foreign–Trade Zones Board (the 

Board) by the Greater Orlando Aviation 

Authority, grantee of FTZ 42, on behalf 

of Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, 

Inc. (MPSA), operator of Subzone 42A at 

the MPSA power generation turbine 

components repair/ manufacturing plant 

in Orlando, Florida, requesting an 

expansion of the scope of FTZ 

manufacturingauthority to include new 

manufacturing capacity and finished 

products. The application was 

submitted pursuant to the provisions of 

the Foreign–Trade Zones Act, as 

amended (19 U.S.C. 81a–81u), and 

section 400.28(a)(2) of the Board’s 

regulations (15 CFR Part 400). It was 

formally filed on February 6, 2008. 

Subzone 42A was approved in 2002 

for the manufacture and repair of large 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES