53036 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 178 / Friday, September 12, 2008 / Notices 

Dated: August 28, 2008. 

Jonathan R. Scharfen, 

Acting Director, U.S. Citizenship and 

Immigration Services. 

[FR Doc. E8–21083 Filed 9–11–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–97–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–5186–N–37] 

Federal Property Suitable as Facilities 

To Assist the Homeless 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Community Planning and 

Development, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This Notice identifies 

unutilized, underutilized, excess, and 

surplus Federal property reviewed by 

HUD for suitability for possible use to 

assist the homeless. 

DATES: Effective Date: August 12, 2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kathy Ezzell, Department of Housing 

and Urban Development, 451 Seventh 

Street, SW., Room 7262, Washington, 

DC 20410; telephone (202) 708–1234; 

TTY number for the hearing- and 

speech-impaired (202) 708–2565, (these 

telephone numbers are not toll-free), or 

call the toll-free Title V information line 

at 800–927–7588. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with the December 12, 1988 

court order in National Coalition for the 

Homeless v. Veterans Administration, 

No. 88–2503–OG (D.D.C.), HUD 

publishes a Notice, on a weekly basis, 

identifying unutilized, underutilized, 

excess and surplus Federal buildings 

and real property that HUD has 

reviewed for suitability for use to assist 

the homeless. Today’s Notice is for the 

purpose of announcing that no 

additional properties have been 

determined suitable or unsuitable this 

week. 

Dated: September 4, 2008. 

Mark R. Johnston, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Special Needs. 

[FR Doc. E8–21002 Filed 9–10–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–5261–N–01] 

Notice of Reclassification of Four 

Investigative Field Offices to Regional 

Offices: Cleveland, OH; Baltimore, MD; 

Tampa, FL; and Seattle, WA 

AGENCY: Office of Inspector General, 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development (HUD/OIG). 

ACTION: Notice of reclassification of 

field offices of investigation as regional 

offices of investigation. 

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public 

that the HUD/OIG Office of 

Investigation plans to reclassify its 

Cleveland; Baltimore; Tampa; and 

Seattle field offices as regional offices. 

The planned reclassification is intended 

to: (1) Improve the alignment of limited 

investigative resources, to promote more 

efficient responses to HUD or 

Congressional requests involving critical 

program issues; (2) redeploy resources 

to prevent and detect fraud in new 

program delivery of CPD and FHA; and 

(3) improve management control and 

effectiveness, and reduce travel costs of 

management by reducing region size. 

The HUD/OIG Office of Audit, to the 

extent that it maintains field offices in 

these locations, has determined that 

based upon the different nature of its 

responsibilities it does not need to 

reorganize. This notice also includes a 

cost-benefit analysis supporting the 

reclassification of the four field offices. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

McCarty, Assistant Inspector General for 

Investigations, Room 8274, Department 

of Housing and Urban Development, 

451 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, 

DC, 20410–4500, 202–708–0390 (This is 

not a toll free number.) A 

telecommunication device for hearing 

and speech-impaired persons (TTY) is 

available at 800–877–8339 (Federal 

Information Relay Services). (This is a 

toll free number). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

7(p) of the Department of Housing and 

Urban Development Act (42 U.S.C. 

3535(p)) provides that a plan for 

reorganization, of any regional, area, 

insuring, or other field office of the 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development may take effect only upon 

the expiration of 90 days after the 

publication in the Federal Register of a 

cost-benefit analysis of the effect of the 

plan on the office involved. The 

required cost-benefit analysis must 

include: (1) An estimate of cost savings 

anticipated; (2) an estimate of the 

additional cost which will result from 

the reorganization; (3) a discussion of 

the impact on the local economy; and 

(4) an estimate of the effect of the 

reorganization on the availability, 

accessibility, and quality of services 

provided for recipients of those services. 

Legislative history pertaining to 

section 7(p) indicates that not all 

reorganizations are subject to the 

requirements of section 7(p). Congress 

stated that ‘‘[t]his amendment is not 

intended to [apply] to or restrict the 

internal operations or organization of 

the Department (such as the 

establishment of new or combination of 

existing organization units within a 

field office, the duty stationing of 

employees in various locations to 

provide on-site service, or the 

establishment or closing, based on 

workload, of small, informal offices 

such as valuation stations).’’ (See House 

Conference Report No. 95–1792, 

October 14, 1978 at 58.) Although HUD/ 

OIG believes that the legislative history 

of section 7(p) strongly suggests that the 

legislation is inapplicable to a 

reclassification of four field offices that 

will in no way reduce the level of 

services provided to areas served by 

such offices, HUD/OIG nonetheless 

voluntarily publishes the following the 

cost-benefit analysis of its plan. 

Cost-Benefit Analysis 

A. Background 

Since 2002, HUD/OIG staffing has 

declined from a high of 750 full time 

equivalents (FTEs) to a current level of 

650 FTEs. Simultaneous with this 

constriction of staff resources, HUD/OIG 

has had to contend with additional, 

extraordinary responsibilities associated 

with the September 11, 2001, terrorist 

attacks and the 2005 natural disasters 

along the Gulf Coast. The staff 

reductions and unforeseen additional 

responsibilities have caused HUD/OIG 

Office of Investigation to struggle to 

address baseline fraud, waste, and abuse 

in HUD programs. To more efficiently 

and effectively address HUD/OIG’s core 

mission and at the same time become 

better prepared to respond to inevitable 

but unpredictable events, HUD/OIG 

plans to reclassify four field offices to 

regional office status at the close of the 

90-day period following the publication 

of this notice. 

B. Description of Proposed Changes 

At the expiration of 90 days following 

the publication of this notice, the HUD/ 

OIG Office of Investigation will 

reclassify its Cleveland, Ohio; 

Baltimore, Maryland; Tampa, Florida; 

and Seattle, Washington field offices as 

regional offices. The Cleveland Regional 


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