Vacancy Rule: Notice of Establishment of a Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee and of First Meeting

[[Page 10339]]

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing

24 CFR Chapter IX

[Docket No. N-95-3858; FR-3647-N-01]

RIN 2577-AB44

Vacancy Rule: Notice of Establishment of a Negotiated Rulemaking

Advisory Committee and of First Meeting

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian

Housing, HUD.

ACTION: Notice of establishment of a negotiated rulemaking committee

and of first meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Department is announcing the establishment of a Negotiated

Rulemaking Advisory Committee under the Federal Advisory Committee Act

(FACA). The purpose of the Committee is to discuss and negotiate a

proposed rule that would change the current method of determining the

payment of operating subsidies to vacant public housing units. The

Committee consists of representatives with a definable stake in the

outcome of a proposed rule. A charter for the Committee has been

approved pursuant to the FACA, Executive Order 12838, and the

implementing regulations. This notice also announces the time and place

of the first Committee meeting, which will be open to the public.

DATES: The first meeting of the Committee will take place March 7-9,

1995. On March 7, the meeting will start at 10:00 a.m. and run until

completion; on March 8, the meeting will start at 9:00 a.m. and run

until completion; and on March 9, the meeting will start at 9:00 a.m.

and run until approximately 1:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The first meeting of the Committee will be held in the

Captain's Room of the Channel Inn Hotel; 650 Water Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John T. Comerford, Director, Financial

Management Division, Public and Indian Housing, Room 4212, Department

of Housing and Urban Development, 431 Seventh Street SW., Washington,

DC 20410-0500; telephone (202) 708-1872, or (202) 708-0850 (TDD).

(These telephone numbers are not toll-free.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On January 3, 1995, HUD published a notice of intent to establish a

Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee to discuss and negotiate a

proposed rule that would change the current method of determining the

payment of operating subsidies to vacant public housing units (60 FR

304) (``January 3 notice''). Subsequent to the publication of the

January 3 notice, a charter for the Committee was approved pursuant to

the FACA, Executive Order 12838, and the implementing regulations at 41

CFR 101-6.1007.

The January 3 notice requested comment concerning the issues it

should consider and the proposed membership of the Committee. The

Department received two comments on the notice of intent. One commenter

was a public housing agency (PHA) from the State of Alaska requesting

Committee membership. The other commenter was a national association,

the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA), with comments

on membership balance and the efficacy of changing the current subsidy

payment system in light of HUD's proposal to transform the public

housing program. After review of the comments and for the reasons

stated in the notice of intent, the Department has determined that

established a negotiated rulemaking advisory committee on this subject

is necessary and in the public interest.

Facilitators

As stated in the notice of intent, the Federal Mediation and

Conciliation Service (FMCS) will provide facilitators for this effort.

Substantive Issues for Negotiation

The convening report identified the following issues to be

addressed by the Committee:

What constitutes an acceptable level of vacancies for

housing authorities of various size classifications?

What criteria should be used for providing less than full

subsidy?

What criteria should be used for providing full subsidy

despite less than full occupancy?

CLPHA suggested that HUD delay negotiated rulemaking on these

vacancy rule issues until HUD and Congress resolve the broader issues

concerning HUD's future role in the area of public housing. While it is

true that the Department is seeking to transform public housing and

convert operating subsidies to PHAs into rental assistance to

residents, that transformation will not be completed for a period of at

least 6 years. The Department believes that changes are needed now to

correct inequities and inefficiencies in the current rule and that to

maintain the status quo is not good public policy.

Committee Membership

The FMCS conveners consulted and interviewed over 30 officials of

various organizations interested and affected by the vacancy rule.

Three national Housing Agency (HA) associations--the Council of Large

Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA), the National Association of Housing

and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), and the Public Housing Authority

Directors Association (PHADA)--worked together to suggest for committee

membership executive directors of HAs that would reflect a balance

among HAs in terms of size and number of vacant units. The national

associations committed themselves to serving as staff support to the

HAs selected for membership.

The members of the Committee are the following:

Housing Agencies

Housing Authority of the city of Houston, TX.

Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, Cleveland, OH.

Birmingham, AL Housing Authority.

New York City, NY Housing Authority.

Newark, NJ Housing Authority.

Reno, NV Housing Authority.

Littleton, CO Housing Authority.

Housing Authority of the city of South Bend, IN.

Tenant Organizations and Public Interest Groups

National Tenants Organization, Ft. Pierce, FL.

Bromley Health Tenant Management Corporation, Jamaica

Plains, MA.

New Jersey Association of Public and Subsidized Housing

Residents, Newark, NJ.

National Housing Law Project, Washington, DC.

Housing and Development Law Institute, Washington, DC.

Illinois Association of Housing Authorities.

Federal Government

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

The Executive Director of the Kodiak Island, AK, Housing Authority

asked that she or another qualified Alaska housing representative be a

member of the committee, saying that the interests [[Page 10340]] of

remote housing authorities administering Indian housing programs should

be represented. However, the Department has recognized the unique and

special circumstances of administering public housing programs in

Alaska by not applying the performance funding system (PFS) regulations

to housing owned by HAs in Alaska, as well as the Virgin Islands,

Puerto Rico, and Guam. Operating subsidy payments to these HAs are

based upon budgets approved by HUD on a case-by-case basis. Since the

purpose of the committee is to develop a proposed rule that would

change the current PFS approach to payment of operating subsidies to

vacant units, HAs that use a non-PFS approach do not have a direct

interest that should be represented on the committee.

CLPHA commented that large housing authorities that are directly

experiencing serious vacancy problems should constitute the majority of

the committee. The Department notes that housing authorities now have 8

of the 14 committee memberships and that 1 of the public interest

groups given membership is an association representing housing

authorities in Illinois. Of the eight HA members, six are currently

dealing with vacancy problems or have done so in the recent past.

Clearly, the collective interests of HAs are well represented, as are

the interests of those large authorities with vacancy problems. It

should also be emphasized that the committee will try to achieve its

goals of developing a new proposed vacancy rule through measures that

seek to achieve a consensus among all committee members.

Tentative Schedule

HUD will hold the first meeting of the committee on March 7-9,

1995. On March 7, the meeting will start at 10:00 a.m. and run until

completion; on March 8, the meeting will start at 9:00 a.m. and run

until completion; and on March 9, the meeting will start at 9:00 a.m.

and run until approximately 1:00 p.m. The location of the meeting will

be the Captain's Room of the Channel Inn Hotel, 650 Water Street, SW,

Washington, D.C. 20024. The purpose of the meeting will be to orient

members to the negotiated rulemaking (reg-neg) process, establish a

basic set of understandings and ground rules (protocols) regarding the

process that will be followed in seeking a consensus, and begin to

address the issues. This meeting is open to the public.

Decisions with respect to future meetings will be made at the first

meeting and from time to time thereafter. Notices of future meetings

will be published in the Federal Register if time permits.

To prevent delays that might postpone timely issuance of a proposed

rule, HUD intends to terminate the committee's activities if it does

not reach consensus within 5 months of the first meeting. The process

may end earlier if the FMCS conveners/facilitators believe that

sufficient progress cannot be made or that an impasse has developed

that cannot be resolved.

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 1437g, 3535(d).

Dated: February 21, 1995.

Joseph Shuldiner,

Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing.

[FR Doc. 95-4614 Filed 2-21-95; 2:31 pm]

BILLING CODE 4210-33-M