Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 29 / Friday, February 12, 2016 / Notices 7567 

1Links to the prior notices, the text of the 

Appropriations Act, and additional guidance 

prepared by the Department for CDBG–DR grants, 

are available on the HUD Exchange Web site: 

https://www.hudexchange.info/cdbg-dr/cdbg-drlaws-regulations-and-federal-register-notices/. 

12,000 respondents from Individuals or 

Households and the estimated hour 

burden per response is 1.17 hours). 

(6) An estimate of the total public 

burden (in hours) associated with the 

collection: The total estimated annual 

hour burden associated with this 

collection is 38,160 hours. 

(7) An estimate of the total public 

burden (in cost) associated with the 

collection: The estimated total annual 

cost burden associated with this 

collection of information is $2,205,000. 

Dated: February 9, 2016. 

Samantha Deshommes, 

Acting Chief, Regulatory Coordination 

Division, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. 

Citizenship and Immigration Services, 

Department of Homeland Security. 

[FR Doc. 2016–02942 Filed 2–11–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–97–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–5696–N–18] 

Additional Clarifying Guidance, 

Waivers and Alternative Requirements 

for Grantees in Receipt of Community 

Development Block Grant Disaster 

Recovery Funds Under Public Law 

113–2 for the Submission of 

Expenditure Deadline Extension 

Requests and Urgent Need 

Certification Extensions and for the 

Provision of Interim Mortgage 

Assistance by the State of New York 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Community Planning and 

Development, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice provides 

additional clarifying guidance for all 

Community Development Block Grant 

Disaster Recovery (CDBG–DR) grantees 

in receipt of funds under the Disaster 

Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 (the 

Appropriations Act), with regard to the 

submission of requests for an extension 

of the 2-year expenditure deadline 

established for funds provided under 

the Appropriations Act and the 

continued use of the alternative urgent 

need national objective. This notice also 

provides an alternative requirement for 

New York State as a grantee in receipt 

of CDBG–DR funds under the 

Appropriations Act. This alternative 

requirement addresses the period of 

time in which interim mortgage 

assistance may be provided to 

beneficiaries in the State’s housing 

recovery programs. 

DATES: Effective Date: February 17, 

2016. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stanley Gimont, Director, Office of 

Block Grant Assistance, Department of 

Housing and Urban Development, 451 

7th Street SW., Room 7286, Washington, 

DC 20410, telephone number 202–708– 

3587. Persons with hearing or speech 

impairments may access this number 

via TTY by calling the Federal Relay 

Service at 800–877–8339. Facsimile 

inquiries may be sent to Mr. Gimont at 

202–401–2044. (Except for the ‘‘800’’ 

number, these telephone numbers are 

not toll-free.) Email inquiries may be 

sent to disaster_recovery@hud.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. Background 

II. Applicable Rules, Statutes, Waivers, and 

Alternative Requirements 

III. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

IV. Finding of No Significant Impact 

I. Background 

The Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 113– 

2, approved January 29, 2013) made 

available $16 billion in CDBG–DR funds 

for necessary expenses related to 

disaster relief, long-term recovery, 

restoration of infrastructure and 

housing, and economic revitalization in 

the most impacted and distressed areas, 

resulting from a major disaster declared 

pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford 

Disaster Relief and Emergency 

Assistance Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5121 

et. seq.) (Stafford Act) due to Hurricane 

Sandy and other eligible events in 

calendar years 2011, 2012, and 2013. On 

March 1, 2013, the President issued a 

sequestration order pursuant to section 

251A of the Balanced Budget and 

Emergency Deficit Control Act, as 

amended (2 U.S.C. 901a), and reduced 

the amount of funding for CDBG–DR 

grants under the Appropriations Act to 

$15.18 billion. To date, a total of $15.18 

billion has been allocated or set aside: 

$13 billion in response to Hurricane 

Sandy, $514 million in response to 

disasters occurring in 2011 or 2012, 

$655 million in response to 2013 

disasters, and $1 billion set aside for the 

National Disaster Resilience 

Competition. 

This notice applies to all CDBG–DR 

grantees in receipt of allocations under 

the Appropriations Act, which are 

described within the Federal Register 

notices published by the Department on 

March 5, 2013 (78 FR 14329), April 19, 

2013 (78 FR 23578), May 29, 2013 (78 

FR 32262), August 2, 2013 (78 FR 

46999), November 18, 2013 (78 FR 

69104), December 16, 2013 (78 FR 

76154), March 27, 2014 (79 FR 17173), 

June 3, 2014 (79 FR 31964), July 11, 

2014 (79 FR 40133), October 7, 2014 (79 

FR 60490), October 16, 2014 (79 FR 

62182), January 8, 2015 (80 FR 1039), 

April 2, 2015 (80 FR 17772), May 11, 

2015 (80 FR 26942), August 25, 2015 (80 

FR 51589), and November 18, 2015 (80 

FR 72102), referred to collectively in 

this notice as the ‘‘prior notices.’’ The 

requirements of the prior notices 

continue to apply, except as modified 

by this notice.1

II. Applicable Rules (Including 

Clarifying Guidance), Statutes, 

Waivers, and Alternative Requirements 

The Appropriations Act authorizes 

the Secretary to waive, or specify 

alternative requirements for, any 

provision of any statute or regulation 

that the Secretary administers in 

connection with HUD’s obligation, or 

use by the recipient, of these funds 

(except for requirements related to fair 

housing, nondiscrimination, labor 

standards, and the environment). 

Waivers and alternative requirements 

are based upon a determination by the 

Secretary that good cause exists and that 

the waiver or alternative requirement is 

not inconsistent with the overall 

purposes of title I of the Housing and 

Community Development Act of 1974 

(42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) (HCD Act). 

Regulatory waiver authority is also 

provided by 24 CFR 5.110, 91.600, and 

570.5. 

For the waivers and alternative 

requirements described in this notice, 

the Secretary has determined that good 

cause exists and that the waiver and 

alternative requirements are not 

inconsistent with the overall purpose of 

the HCD Act. Grantees may request 

waivers and alternative requirements 

from the Department as needed to 

address specific needs related to their 

recovery activities. Under the 

requirements of the Appropriations Act, 

waivers must be published in the 

Federal Register at least 5 days before 

the effective date of such waiver. 

1. Timeline for the submission of 

expenditure deadline extension 

requests. The Appropriations Act 

requires the Department to obligate all 

funds provided under the 

Appropriations Act by September 30, 

2017, and requires grantees to expend 

funds within 24-months of the date on 

which the Department obligates funds to 

a grantee. The Appropriations Act also 

authorizes the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) to grant waivers of 

the 24-month expenditure deadline. 


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7568 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 29 / Friday, February 12, 2016 / Notices 

OMB authorized the Department to 

provide CDBG–DR grantees with 

expenditure deadline extensions for 

activities that are inherently long-term 

and where it would be impracticable to 

expend funds within the 24-month 

period and still achieve program 

missions, up to amounts approved by 

OMB. In the Federal Register notice 

published on May 11, 2015, (80 FR 

26942), the Department established the 

process and criteria for the submission 

of expenditure deadline extension 

requests for CDBG–DR grantees in 

receipt of funds under the 

Appropriations Act. The May 11, 2015, 

notice requires these grantees to submit 

requests for the extension of an 

expenditure deadline at least 120 

calendar days in advance of the 

expenditure deadline (80 FR 26944). 

Since the May 11, 2015, notice was 

published, the Department subsequently 

received, reviewed, and acted upon 

expenditure deadline extension requests 

from a number of CDBG–DR grantees in 

receipt of funds under the 

Appropriations Act. In some instances, 

the Department observed that events 

and circumstances beyond the control of 

the grantee may require grantees to 

request an extension of an expenditure 

deadline after the 120-calendar-day 

deadline has passed. The Department is 

therefore amending this requirement of 

the May 11, 2015, notice to provide that 

a grantee ‘‘submits the completed 

CDBG–DR Expenditure Deadline 

Extension Request template and any 

attachments to HUD in order to request 

consideration of the extension request at 

least 120 calendar days in advance of 

the expenditure deadline on the funds 

(or 60 days for funds expiring in 

calendar year 2015). HUD may, 

however, also accept requests from 

CDBG–DR grantees for the extension of 

an expenditure deadline less than 120 

calendar days in advance of the 

deadline upon receipt of a letter from 

the chief executive officer of the grantee 

requesting the extension and a 

demonstration by the grantee that the 

request is required in order to achieve 

program missions. Grantees are advised 

however, that time constraints may not 

permit HUD to act upon requests that 

are received in close proximity to an 

expenditure deadline.’’ 

2. Urgent need national objective 

certification requirements. The March 5, 

2013, notice (78 FR 14329) provided 

grantees receiving funds under the 

Appropriations Act with a waiver of the 

certification requirements for the 

documentation of the urgent need 

national objective, located at 

§§ 570.208(c) and 570.483(d), until 2 

years after the date the Department 

obligates funds to a grantee. The May 

11, 2015, notice allowed grantees 

seeking a waiver of an expenditure 

deadline to simultaneously seek an 

extension of the urgent need 

certification waiver. The extension of 

the urgent need certification waiver, 

however, is currently only effective after 

its publication in the Federal Register. 

This approach presents challenges for 

CDBG–DR grantees who receive an 

extension of an expenditure deadline for 

an activity associated with the urgent 

need certification, with the extended 

expenditure deadline in effect but with 

the urgent need certification waiver still 

requiring publication in the Federal 

Register. 

To accommodate the timely 

expenditure of funds, HUD is modifying 

the temporary, streamlined urgent need 

waiver and alternative requirement in 

paragraph VI.A.1.f. of the March 5, 

2013, notice (78 FR 14336). This waiver 

and alternative requirement supersedes 

the information published in the May 

11, 2015, notice and will allow grantees 

to more effectively implement urgent 

recovery activities by aligning the 

applicable urgent need national 

objective criteria with the expenditure 

deadline on the use of funds. The March 

5, 2013, notice is modified to add the 

following alternative requirement for 

grantees that receive an extension of the 

expenditure deadline: For activities 

designed to respond to a disaster-related 

impact that poses a serious and 

immediate threat to the health or 

welfare of the community, the grantee 

may continue to use the urgent need 

national objective until the end of the 

new expenditure deadline if the grantee 

meets the following requirements from 

the March 5, 2013, notice: (1) Before 

seeking the expenditure deadline 

extension, the grantee must reference in 

its Action Plan the type, scale, and 

location of the disaster-related impacts 

addressed by each program and/or 

activity that will meet the urgent need 

national objective; (2) before seeking the 

expenditure deadline extension, the 

grantee must identify these disaster 

related impacts in its Action Plan needs 

assessment; (3) the needs assessment 

must be updated as new or more 

detailed/accurate disaster-related 

impacts are known; and (4) the grantee 

must document how all programs and/ 

or activities funded under the urgent 

need national objective respond to a 

disaster-related impact identified by the 

grantee. 

3. Alternative requirement to permit 

extended time for the provision of 

interim mortgage assistance (State of 

New York only). In the Federal Register 

notice published on March 5, 2013, the 

Department established an alternative 

requirement to 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(8) to 

extend the authority of grantees under 

the Appropriations Act to provide 

interim mortgage assistance to qualified 

individuals from 3 months to up to 20 

months (78 FR 14345). A grantee using 

this alternative requirement is required 

to document in its policies and 

procedures how it will determine the 

amount of assistance to be provided is 

necessary and reasonable. The State of 

New York has requested a modification 

of the 20-month limitation on the 

provision of interim mortgage assistance 

to authorize the assistance for a period 

of up to 36 months. 

Under the State’s existing Interim 

Mortgage Assistance (IMA) program, 

financial assistance is available to 

eligible applicants to the NY Rising 

Housing Recovery Program who 

demonstrate financial difficulty in 

paying their mortgage due to additional 

housing expenses incurred as a result of 

their primary residence no longer being 

habitable. Interim mortgage assistance 

may be provided for past, current, and 

future debt obligations of the mortgage, 

capped at $3,000 per month for a 

maximum of 20 months or $60,000. 

On November 15, 2013, the 

Department approved Amendment 4 to 

the State’s disaster recovery Action Plan 

to allocate $80,000,000 to the initial 

State IMA program. On May 27, 2014, 

the Department approved Amendment 6 

to the State’s disaster recovery Action 

Plan to modify the calculation of the 

IMA grant award based on a 

participant’s monthly mortgage amount 

for their primary residence and proof of 

an additional housing payment. On 

April 13, 2014, the Department 

approved Amendment 8 to the State’s 

disaster recovery Action Plan to enable 

the State to calculate partial IMA grant 

awards that reflect rental housing 

expenses incurred by participants while 

displaced, less any rental assistance 

received from insurance or government 

agencies. 

At the time the State submitted a 

request for a modification of the 

alternative requirement, 454 program 

participants were receiving IMA 

assistance and approximately 25 percent 

of those participants were low- and 

moderate-income households. In its 

request for a modification of the 

alternative requirement, the State 

indicated that in the absence of 

additional time to provide assistance, 

287 IMA recipients would no longer 

qualify for IMA funds within the 

succeeding 12 months and that 26 

percent of those recipients were lowand moderate-income households. In its 


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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 29 / Friday, February 12, 2016 / Notices 7569 

request to provide IMA payments for a 

period of up to 36 months, the State 

cited a number of unanticipated 

developments that contributed to delays 

in the completion of assisted housing 

projects. Most notably, the State pointed 

to the prospect of increased National 

Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claim 

payments to NY Rising program 

participants as a result of fraudulent 

damage assessments conducted on 

behalf of the NFIP in the immediate 

aftermath of the disaster. The State 

indicated that uncertainty surrounding 

these payments, and the potential 

impact of the payments on the amount 

of CDBG–DR funds ultimately available 

to the homeowner, contributed to delays 

and supports an extended period of 

availability for IMA. Other factors cited 

by the State as contributing to the need 

for extended IMA are the limited pool 

of contractors experienced in 

undertaking the elevation of homes and 

the shorter Northeastern United States 

construction season. The State further 

noted that its own clarification process, 

through which applicants may appeal 

the ultimate amount of their CDBG–DR 

award, can also slow progress in 

completing repairs and contribute to the 

need for additional IMA. 

The State proposed to implement the 

extended period for IMA by initially 

maintaining the current 20 months of 

assistance for IMA participants. At the 

end of the 20-month period of 

assistance, the State may subsequently 

determine a need for an additional 16 

months of IMA, for a total not to exceed 

36 months of assistance. When a need 

for an extension of IMA is identified, 

the State will conduct an inspection of 

the property to determine if substantial 

construction progress has been made. If 

substantial construction progress has 

been made, the State may provide IMA 

for the additional authorized period of 

time, for a total period of assistance up 

to 36 months. If the inspection indicates 

that substantial progress has not been 

made, the extension of IMA will be 

provided only when the recipient agrees 

to participate in the newly established 

construction program within the NY 

Rising Housing Recovery Program. 

Under the construction program, the 

State will contract for and manage, on 

behalf of the IMA recipient, the 

rehabilitation of the IMA recipient’s 

home. Prior to its initial implementation 

of the construction program, the State 

will determine the need for the IMA 

extension in those instances where 

substantial construction progress has 

not occurred and will give priority to 

the rehabilitation of homes for those 

IMA recipients receiving a total up to 36 

months of IMA. 

After reviewing the State’s request, 

and for the State of New York’s IMA 

program only, the Department is 

modifying the provision of the March 5, 

2013, Federal Register notice that limits 

the provision of interim mortgage 

assistance to a period of 20 months and 

establishing an alternative requirement 

that allows for the payment of assistance 

for a period of up to 36 months if the 

State meets the other requirements 

described in the above paragraph. The 

goal of this alternative requirement is to 

provide an extended period of IMA in 

order to minimize the risk of foreclosure 

of storm damaged homes while they are 

being rehabilitated with CDBG–DR 

funds and to return IMA recipients to 

their rehabilitated homes as quickly as 

possible. The State must implement this 

alternative requirement consistent with 

the approach outlined in its request and 

as described herein. This waiver and 

alternative requirement shall remain in 

effect until December 31, 2017, after 

which the State shall be authorized to 

offer interim mortgage assistance for a 

period no more than 20 months. Interim 

mortgage assistance is an authorized 

eligible public service activity and the 

State is reminded that IMA 

expenditures are subject to the 15 

percent cap on public services 

established pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 

5305(a)(8). 

Within 30 days of the effective date of 

this notice, the State must begin to 

implement its construction program for 

IMA recipients receiving an extended 

period of assistance and without 

substantial construction progress in the 

rehabilitation of their home. The State 

must have fully implemented the 

construction program for all IMA 

recipients within 6 months of the 

effective date of this notice. In addition, 

the State’s policies and procedures 

must: 

(1) Document how the State will 

determine that ‘‘substantial progress’’ 

has or has not been made in the 

rehabilitation of an IMA recipient’s 

home; 

(2) Document how the State will 

determine that the amount and period of 

assistance to be provided under this 

alternative requirement is necessary and 

reasonable; 

(3) Document how the State will 

prioritize the rehabilitation of homes of 

IMA recipients receiving a total up to 36 

months of IMA; 

(4) Include internal controls designed 

to ensure that IMA provided to 

recipients is being used for its 

authorized purpose; and 

(5) Include a plan for assisting 

recipients that exhaust their IMA after 

36 months but continue to have a need 

for assistance because the rehabilitation 

of their home has not been completed. 

III. Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance 

The Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance number for the disaster 

recovery grants under this notice is 

14.269. 

IV. Finding of No Significant Impact 

A Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI) with respect to the 

environment has been made in 

accordance with HUD regulations at 24 

CFR part 50, which implement section 

102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 

Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

4332(2)(C)). The FONSI is available for 

public inspection between 8 a.m. and 5 

p.m. weekdays 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, an advance 

appointment to review the docket file 

must be scheduled by calling the 

Regulations Division at 202–708–3055 

(this is not a toll-free number). Hearingor speech-impaired individuals may 

access this number through TTY by 

calling the Federal Relay Service at 800– 

877–8339 (this is a toll-free number). 

Dated: February 8, 2016. 

Nani A. Coloretti, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2016–02913 Filed 2–11–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–5927–N–01] 

Mortgage and Loan Insurance 

Programs Under the National Housing 

Act—Debenture Interest Rates 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Housing—Federal Housing 

Commissioner, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces 

changes in the interest rates to be paid 

on debentures issued with respect to a 

loan or mortgage insured by the Federal 

Housing Administration under the 

provisions of the National Housing Act 

(the Act). The interest rate for 

debentures issued under section 

221(g)(4) of the Act during the 6-month 

period beginning January 1, 2016, is 21⁄4


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