Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 124 / Tuesday, June 30, 2009 / Notices 31291 

Number of 

respondents 

Annual 

responses × Hours per response = Burden hours 

Reporting Burden .............................................................................. 492,450 6.129 0.354 1,071,354 

Total Estimated Burden Hours: 

1,071,354. 

Status: Revision of currently 

approved collection. 

Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork 

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

amended. 

Dated: June 24, 2009. 

Lillian Deitzer, 

Departmental Reports Management Officer, 

Office of the Chief Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–15478 Filed 6–29–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–5311–N–03] 

Buy American Exception Under the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Public and Indian 

Housing, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), and 

implementing guidance of the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), this 

notice advises that an exception to the 

Buy American requirements of the 

Recovery Act was determined 

applicable to the Boston Housing 

Authority’s construction of a project 

using Recovery Act funds. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Dominique G. Blom, Deputy Assistant 

Secretary for Public Housing 

Investments, Office of Public Housing 

Investments, Office of Public and Indian 

Housing, Department of Housing and 

Urban Development, 451 7th Street, 

SW., Room 4210, Washington, DC 

20410–4000, telephone 202–402–8500 

(this is not a toll-free number). Persons 

with hearing- or speech-impairments 

may access this number through TTY by 

calling the toll-free Federal Information 

Relay Service at 800–877–8339. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

1605(a) of the Recovery Act imposes a 

‘‘Buy American’’ requirement on 

Recovery Act funds used for a project 

for the construction, alteration, 

maintenance, or repair of a public 

building or public work unless all of the 

iron, steel, and manufactured goods 

used in the project are produced in the 

United States. Section 1605(b) provides 

that the Buy American requirement 

shall not apply in any case or category 

in which the head of Federal 

department or agency finds that: (1) 

Applying the Buy American 

requirement would be inconsistent with 

the public interest; (2) iron, steel, and 

the relevant manufactured goods are not 

produced in the U.S. in sufficient and 

reasonably available quantities or of 

satisfactory quality, or (3) inclusion of 

iron, steel, and manufactured goods will 

increase the cost of the overall project 

by more than 25 percent. Section 

1605(c) provides that if the head of a 

Federal department or agency makes a 

determination pursuant to section 

1605(b), the head of the department or 

agency shall publish a detailed written 

justification in the Federal Register. 

In accordance with section 1605(c) of 

the Recovery Act and OMB’s 

implementing guidance published on 

April 23, 2009 (74 FR 18449), this notice 

advises the public that, on June 11, 

2009, HUD granted the Boston Housing 

Authority, upon its request, an 

exception to applicability of the Buy 

American requirements with respect to 

work, using Recovery Act funds, in 

connection with the construction of 

units for Phase 1B of the Washington 

Beech HOPE VI project. Although a final 

determination of applicability of the 

Buy American requirements to housing 

had not been made at the time that HUD 

granted the exception, given the 

compelling exigencies presented by 

BHA in its waiver request (as described 

in this notice), HUD considered the 

waiver request on the assumption of the 

applicability of the Buy American 

requirements to the Phase 1B project. 

The exception was granted by HUD on 

the basis that applicability of the 

Recovery Act Buy American 

requirements would be inconsistent 

with the public interest. 

BHA received Recovery Act funds in 

the amount of $10 million for 

construction of Phase 1B units of the 

Washington Beech HOPE VI project. An 

award of the HOPE VI funds to BHA 

predated BHA’s award of the Recovery 

Act funds. BHA notified HUD that it 

had procured Trinity Financial as its 

development partner in 2007 for the 

HOPE VI grant awarded for the 

construction of the Phase 1B units. 

Because the award of the HOPE VI grant 

to BHA was made prior to passage of the 

Recovery Act’s requirements, the 

requirements of section 1605(a) were 

not included in BHA’s procurement 

process. Trinity Financial secured and 

selected a general contractor, CWC 

Builders, Inc., to build the units in 

Phase 1B. This construction contract 

between Trinity Financial and CWC was 

also negotiated prior to the passage of 

the Recovery Act, and accordingly 

section 1605 requirements were not 

included in the contract. The contract 

requires CWC Builders to obtain all 

structural steel as soon as possible to 

meet the construction deadlines for the 

Phase 1B project. 

In addition to these contracts entered 

into prior to the Recovery Act, 

Washington Beech Phase 1B will be 

developed by a limited partnership that 

includes a tax credit investor, RBC Tax 

Credit Equity, LLC (RBC). Prior to 

passage of the Recovery Act, Trinity 

Financial received a commitment from 

RBC to provide equity through the LowIncome Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) 

program. RBC informed Trinity 

Financial and BHA that if the funding 

transaction for Phase 1B did not close 

and documents were not recorded by 

June 15, 2009, RBC would withdraw its 

offer to purchase the Phase 1B credits. 

Such withdrawal would place Trinity 

Financial in the situation of having to 

renegotiate the tax credit contribution or 

find another equity investor. BHA 

advised that delay at this juncture 

would imperil the availability of the tax 

credits and jeopardize the ability to 

complete construction of the Phase 1B 

units by the deadline of July 28, 2010. 

BHA also advised that, in accordance 

with the contracts entered into prior to 

enactment of the Recovery Act, CWC 

Builders are ready to begin construction 

immediately upon the closing that was 

scheduled to take place on June 15, 

2009. BHA advised that if there is a 

delay in the start of construction, jobs 

planned by the construction would be 

lost. 

HUD determined that application of 

the Buy American requirements to the 

Phase 1B units, given the actions and 

contracts that occurred prior to 

enactment of the Recovery Act would be 

inconsistent with the public interest. 

The exception granted is for Phase 1B 

units only. It is not applicable to future 

construction phases at the Washington 

Beech HOPE VI project. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES6
31292 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 124 / Tuesday, June 30, 2009 / Notices 

Dated: June 23, 2009. 

Dominique G. Blom, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Housing 

Investments. 

[FR Doc. E9–15480 Filed 6–29–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–5300–N–07] 

Notice of Availability: Notice of 

Funding Availability (NOFA) for Fiscal 

Year (FY) 2009 Healthy Homes 

Technical Studies 

AGENCY: Office of Healthy Homes and 

Lead Hazard Control, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Through this notice, HUD 

announces the availability on its Web 

site of the application information, 

submission deadlines, funding criteria, 

and other requirements for the FY2009 

Healthy Homes Technical Studies 

NOFA. The Healthy Homes Technical 

Studies NOFA makes $4 million 

available under the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development 

Appropriations Act 2009 (Pub. L. 111– 

8, approved March 11, 2009). 

Applicants for assistance under the 

Healthy Homes Technical Studies 

NOFA must address applicable 

requirements found in the Notice of 

HUD’s Fiscal Year 2009 Notice of 

Funding Availability (NOFA) Policy 

Requirements and General Section to 

the HUD’s FY2009 NOFAs for 

Discretionary Programs published on 

December 29, 2008 (73 FR 79548), as 

amended on April 16, 2009 (74 FR 

17685). Applicants should take 

particular note that they should follow 

the application submission instructions 

contained in this NOFA and not use 

those in the General Section. The notice 

providing information regarding the 

application process, funding criteria and 

eligibility requirements is available on 

the HUD Web site at http:// 

www.hud.gov/lead. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information concerning the Healthy 

Homes Technical Studies Program, 

contact Dr. Peter Ashley, Office of 

Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard 

Control, Department of Housing and 

Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, 

SW., Room 8236, Washington, DC 

20410–3000; telephone 202–402–7595 

(this is not a toll-free number) or via email at Peter.J.Ashley@hud.gov. Persons 

with speech or hearing impairments 

may access this telephone number via 

TTY by calling the toll-free Federal 

Information Relay Service during 

working hours at 800–877–8339. 

Dated: June 18, 2009. 

Jon L. Gant, 

Director, Office of Healthy Homes and Lead 

Hazard Control. 

[FR Doc. E9–15460 Filed 6–25–09; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–5324–N–01] 

Notice of Regulatory Waiver Requests 

Granted for the First Quarter of 

Calendar Year 2009 

AGENCY: Office of the General Counsel, 

HUD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Section 106 of the Department 

of Housing and Urban Development 

Reform Act of 1989 (the HUD Reform 

Act) requires HUD to publish quarterly 

Federal Register notices of all 

regulatory waivers that HUD has 

approved. Each notice covers the 

quarterly period since the previous 

Federal Register notice. The purpose of 

this notice is to comply with the 

requirements of section 106 of the HUD 

Reform Act. This notice contains a list 

of regulatory waivers granted by HUD 

during the period beginning on January 

1, 2009 and ending on March 31, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

general information about this notice, 

contact Aaron Santa Anna, Assistant 

General Counsel for Regulations, 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, 451 7th Street, SW., 

Room 10276,Washington, DC 20410– 

0500, telephone (202) 708–3055 (this is 

not a toll-free number). Persons with 

hearing or speech-impairments may 

access this number through TTY by 

calling the toll-free Federal Information 

Relay Service at (800) 877–8339. 

For information concerning a 

particular waiver that was granted and 

for which public notice is provided in 

this document, contact the person 

whose name and address follow the 

description of the waiver granted in the 

accompanying list of waivers that have 

been granted in the first quarter of 

calendar year 2009. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Section 106 of the HUD Reform Act 

added a new section 7(q) to the 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3535(q)), 

which provides that: 

1. Any waiver of a regulation must be 

in writing and must specify the grounds 

for approving the waiver; 

2. Authority to approve a waiver of a 

regulation may be delegated by the 

Secretary only to an individual of 

Assistant Secretary or equivalent rank, 

and the person to whom authority to 

waive is delegated must also have 

authority to issue the particular 

regulation to be waived; 

3. Not less than quarterly, the 

Secretary must notify the public of all 

waivers of regulations that HUD has 

approved, by publishing a notice in the 

Federal Register. These notices (each 

covering the period since the most 

recent previous notification) shall: a. 

Identify the project, activity, or 

undertaking involved; b. Describe the 

nature of the provision waived and the 

designation of the provision; c. Indicate 

the name and title of the person who 

granted the waiver request; d. Describe 

briefly the grounds for approval of the 

request; and e. State how additional 

information about a particular waiver 

may be obtained. 

Section 106 of the HUD Reform Act 

also contains requirements applicable to 

waivers of HUD handbook provisions 

that are not relevant to the purpose of 

this notice. 

This notice follows procedures 

provided in HUD’s Statement of Policy 

on Waiver of Regulations and Directives 

issued on April 22, 1991 (56 FR 16337). 

In accordance with those procedures 

and with the requirements of section 

106 of the HUD Reform Act, waivers of 

regulations are granted by the Assistant 

Secretary with jurisdiction over the 

regulations for which a waiver was 

requested. In those cases in which a 

General Deputy Assistant Secretary 

granted the waiver, the General Deputy 

Assistant Secretary was serving in the 

absence of the Assistant Secretary in 

accordance with the office’s Order of 

Succession. 

This notice covers waivers of 

regulations granted by HUD from 

January 1, 2009 through March 31, 2009. 

For ease of reference, the waivers 

granted by HUD are listed by HUD 

program office (for example, the Office 

of Community Planning and 

Development, the Office of Fair Housing 

and Equal Opportunity, the Office of 

Housing, and the Office of Public and 

Indian Housing, etc.). Within each 

program office grouping, the waivers are 

listed sequentially by the regulatory 

section of title 24 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR) that is being waived. 

For example, a waiver of a provision in 

24 CFR part 58 would be listed before 

a waiver of a provision in 24 CFR part 

570. 

Where more than one regulatory 

provision is involved in the grant of a 

particular waiver request, the action is 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES6