Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998; PIH Policy for Dealing With FY 1997 and Prior FY Unobligated Modernization Funds

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 245 (Wednesday, December 22, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71798-71799]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-33107]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-4434-N-06]


Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998; PIH Policy 
for Dealing With FY 1997 and Prior FY Unobligated Modernization Funds

Agency

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing (PIH), HUD.

Action

Notice of PIH Policy for dealing with FY 1997 and prior unobligated funds.

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Summary

This notice provides the public with information on how HUD will deal with public housing agencies (PHAs) with FY 1997 and prior unobligated modernization funds in violation of the Public Housing Reform Act.

For Further Information Contact

William Flood, Director, Office of Capital Improvements, Public and Indian Housing, Room 4134, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410-0500; telephone (202) 708-1640 ext. 4185 (this telephone number is not toll-free). Hearing or speech-impaired individuals may access this number via TTY by calling the toll-free federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. Program specialists

for more specific HUD program areas are listed on the HUD web page at hudweb.hud.gov/offices.html.

Supplementary Information

I. Introduction

On October 21, 1998, President Clinton signed into law the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (Pub.L. 105-276, 112 Stat. 2461) (the ``Public Housing Reform Act'') as part of the fiscal year (FY) 1999 HUD appropriations act. The Public Housing Reform Act makes extensive amendments to the United States Housing Act of 1937 (the ``1937 Act''), which generally governs HUD's public housing and tenant- based Section 8 housing assistance programs. This notice announces what action HUD will take with respect to section 9(j)(4)(B) of the 1937 Act, established under section 519(a) of the Public Housing Reform Act, which states that:

Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), any funds appropriated to a public housing agency for fiscal year 1997 or prior fiscal year shall be fully obligated by the public housing agency not later than September 30, 1999.

There was no language in this paragraph that allowed HUD to grant exceptions to the provision. Based on the sanctions statement in a letter dated July 23, 1999 that provided notice to all PHAs affected by 9(j)(4)(B), after October 1, 1999, all PHAs with FY 1997 and prior unobligated public housing modernization funds will be subject to the following sanctions: 1. HUD will not release any FY 2000 funds for modernization activities to a PHA that has unobligated FY 1997 and prior FY modernization funds until all such unobligated funds are obligated by the PHA and HUD has reviewed and confirmed the obligation documents. 2. If these unobligated FY 1997 and prior FY funds are not fully obligated by March 30, 2000, an additional final sanction of the loss of all unobligated FY 1997 and prior FY public housing modernization funds, through notification of annual contributions contract (ACC) default and recapture of outstanding unobligated funds, shall be implemented. PHAs are advised that they may use unobligated FY 1997 and prior FY public modernization funds for any eligible activity under section 9(d) of the 1937 Act, and are encouraged to do so to avoid the recapture of these funds. This policy for dealing with section 9(j)(4)(B) provides PHAs a generous opportunity for compliance, given the strict language of the Congressional mandate. The Public Housing Reform Act, which enacted this provision, was passed more than a year ago; more than nine months have passed since an initial communication on this subject in a February Federal Register Notice; and more than four months have passed since HUD's letter of July 23, 1999, explaining there will be sanctions if funding were not obligated by September 30, 1999, as required.

Dated: December 15, 1999. Harold Lucas, Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing. [FR Doc. 99-33107 Filed 12-21-99; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4210-33-P