[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 163 (Thursday, August 21, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49332-49333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-19435]



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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

24 CFR Part 5

[Docket No. FR-5226-F-01]
RIN 2501-AD43


Eligibility of Students for Assisted Housing Under Section 8 of 
the U.S. Housing Act of 1937; Conforming Amendment To Include Students 
With Disabilities Receiving Assistance as of November 30, 2005

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This rule makes a conforming amendment to HUD's regulation 
that restricts individuals enrolled in an institution of higher 
education and who meet certain other requirements from receiving 
assistance under section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937. That 
regulation was required by statute to be promulgated in 2005, and the 
statute was subsequently amended to exempt from this restriction 
students with disabilities who were receiving section 8 assistance as 
of November 30, 2005.

DATES: Effective Date: September 22, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For Section 8 voucher issues, Danielle 
L. Bastarache, Director, Housing Voucher Management and Operations 
Division, Office of Public and Indian Housing, Room 4210, telephone 
number 202-402-5264; for the Office of Housing's project-based Section 
8, Gail Williamson, Director, Housing Assistance Policy Division, Room 
6138, telephone number 202-708-3000. For all of the individuals, the 
address is Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh 
Street, SW., Washington, DC 20410-8000. None of the aforementioned 
telephone numbers are toll-free numbers. Persons with hearing or speech 
impairments may access this number through TTY by calling the toll-free 
Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 appropriations for HUD, enacted in Title III 
of Public Law 109-115, approved on November 30, 2005, contained an 
administrative provision (section 327) that placed restrictions on 
housing assistance that can be provided to students of higher education 
under section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) (1937 
Act). Specifically, section 327 provided as follows:

    (a) No assistance shall be provided under Section 8 of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) to any 
individual who--
    (1) Is enrolled as a student at an institution of higher 
education (as defined under section 102 of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002));
    (2) Is under 24 years of age;
    (3) Is not a veteran;
    (4) Is unmarried;
    (5) Does not have a dependent child; and
    (6) Is not otherwise individually eligible, or has parents who, 
individually or jointly, are not eligible, to receive assistance 
under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437f).
    (b) For purposes of determining the eligibility of a person to 
receive assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act 
of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), any financial assistance (in excess of 
amounts received for tuition) that an individual receives under the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), from private 
sources, or an institution of higher education (as defined under the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)), shall be considered 
income to that individual, except for a person over the age of 23 
with dependent children.

    This law was enacted to address incidents of college students 
obtaining federal housing assistance without their educational 
financial assistance counting as income for purposes of income 
eligibility for federal housing assistance. The law also described how 
educational financial assistance is to be treated in the calculation of 
income for purposes of determining eligibility.
    Section 327 directed HUD to issue a final rule to carry out this 
section no later than 30 days from the date of enactment of the law, 
and HUD issued its final rule on December 30, 2005 (70 FR 77742).
    Public Law 109-249, approved on July 27, 2006, amended section 327 
to exempt, from the restrictions placed on the provision of housing 
assistance to students enrolled at an institution of higher education, 
students with disabilities, as such term is defined in section 
3(b)(3)(E) of the 1937 Act, and who were receiving assistance under 
section 8 of the 1937 Act as of November 30, 2005.
    FY 2007 appropriations for HUD were provided as part of the 
Continuing Appropriations Resolutions, 2007, signed by President George 
W. Bush on February 15, 2007 (Pub. L. 110-5). HUD's FY 2007 
appropriations, found in Title I and Chapter 10 of Title II of the 
Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2007, funded HUD appropriations 
accounts at the same levels provided in FY 2006, and under the same 
conditions and restrictions imposed by Public Law 109-115. Given that 
funding for FY 2007 was subject to the same conditions as those imposed 
on FY 2006 funds, HUD concluded that the restrictions on assistance to 
students, enacted in Public Law 109-115, as amended by Public Law 109-
249, remained in place.
    FY 2008 appropriations for HUD were provided as part of the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (Pub. L. 110-161, approved on 
December 26, 2007). An administrative provision, section 218, of Title 
II of Division K of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, included 
the language of section 327 as amended by Public Law 109-249, placing 
restrictions on assistance to students enrolled in institutions of 
higher education, with an exemption for students who are persons of 
disabilities who were receiving section 8 assistance as of November 30, 
2005.

II. This Final Rule

    HUD is issuing this final rule to conform its regulation in 24 CFR 
5.612 to include the exemption for persons with disabilities who were 
receiving section 8 assistance as of November 30, 2005.

III. Justification for Final Rule

    HUD generally publishes a rule for public comment before issuing a 
rule for effect, in accordance with its own regulations on rulemaking 
in 24 CFR part 10. Part 10, however, provides for exceptions to the 
general rule if HUD finds good cause to omit advanced notice and public 
participation. The good cause requirement is satisfied when prior 
public procedure is ``impractical, unnecessary, or contrary to the 
public interest'' (see 24 CFR 10.1). HUD has determined that prior 
public comment is unnecessary, because this rule is limited to making a 
conforming change so that HUD's regulation in 24 CFR 5.612 fully 
reflects all statutory requirements. No discretion is being exercised 
through this rulemaking. The statute provides for the exemption that is 
being added to the regulation, and the statutory exemption has been in 
place and implemented since 2006.

IV. Findings and Certifications

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) 
generally requires an agency to conduct a regulatory flexibility 
analysis of any rule subject to notice and comment rulemaking 
requirements, unless the agency certifies that the rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
This rule imposes no additional economic or other burdens on small 
entities. As noted earlier, this rule is limited to

[[Page 49333]]

making a conforming change so that HUD's regulation in 24 CFR 5.612 
fully reflects all statutory requirements pertaining to restrictions on 
housing assistance to students enrolled in institutions of higher 
education. The entities covered by the statutory restrictions in 
section 8 of the 1937 Act, which are agencies administering tenant-
based and project-based assisted housing, already are familiar with the 
exemption for students with disabilities receiving section 8 assistance 
as of November 30, 2005, added by statute in July 2006. Accordingly, 
the undersigned certifies that this final rule would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

Environmental Impact

    In accordance with 24 CFR 50.19(c)(1) of the Department's 
regulations, this rule does not direct, provide for assistance or loan 
and mortgage insurance for, or otherwise govern or regulate, real 
property acquisition, disposition, leasing, rehabilitation, alteration, 
demolition, or new construction, or establish, revise, or provide for 
standards for construction or construction materials, manufactured 
housing, or occupancy. Therefore, this final rule is categorically 
excluded from the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) (2 
U.S.C. 1531-1538) establishes requirements for federal agencies to 
assess the effects of their regulatory actions on state, local, and 
tribal governments and the private sector. This rule does not impose 
any federal mandates on any state, local, or tribal government or the 
private sector within the meaning of UMRA.

Executive Order 13132, Federalism

    Executive Order 13132 (entitled ``Federalism'') prohibits, to the 
extent practicable and permitted by law, an agency from publishing any 
rule that has federalism implications and either imposes substantial 
direct compliance costs on state and local governments and is not 
required by statute, or the rule preempts state law, unless the agency 
meets the consultation and funding requirements of section 6 of the 
Executive Order. This rule 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 the Executive 
Order.

List of Subjects in 24 CFR Part 5

    Administrative practice and procedure, Aged, Claims, Crime, 
Government contracts, Grant programs--housing and community 
development, Individuals with disabilities, Intergovernmental 
relations, Loan programs--housing and community development, Low and 
moderate income housing, Mortgage insurance, Penalties, Pets, Public 
housing, Rent subsidies, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, 
Social security, Unemployment compensation, Wages.

0
Accordingly, for the reasons stated in the preamble, HUD amends 24 CFR 
part 5 as follows:

PART 5--GENERAL HUD PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS; WAIVERS

0
1. The authority citation for 24 CFR part 5 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 1437a, 1437c, 1437d, 1437f, 1437n, 3535(d), 
and Sec. 327, Pub. L. 109-115, 119 Stat. 2936.


0
2. In Sec.  5.612, remove the word ``and'' at the end of paragraph (e), 
redesignate paragraph (f) as paragraph (g), and add a new paragraph (f) 
to read as follows:


Sec.  5.612  Restrictions on assistance to students enrolled in an 
institution of higher education.

* * * * *
    (f) Is not a person with disabilities, as such term is defined in 
section 3(b)(3)(E) of the 1937 Act and was not receiving assistance 
under section 8 of the 1937 Act as of November 30, 2005; and
* * * * *

    Dated: August 13, 2008.
Roy A. Bernardi,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-19435 Filed 8-20-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P