§ 176.20 - Overview of the process.

§ 176.20 Overview of the process.

(a) Recognition of the LRA. As soon as practicable after the list of installations recommended for closure or realignment is approved, DoD, through OEA, will recognize an LRA for the installation. Upon recognition, OEA shall publish the name, address, and point of contact for the LRA in the Federal Register and in a newspaper of general circulation in the communities in the vicinity of the installation.

(b) Responsibilities of the Military Department. The Military Department shall make installation properties available to other DoD components and Federal agencies in accordance with the procedures set out at 32 CFR part 174. The Military Department will keep the LRA informed of other Federal interest in the property during this process. Upon completion of this process the Military Department will notify HUD and either the LRA or the Chief Executive Officer of the State, as appropriate, and publish a list of surplus property on the installation that will be available for reuse in the Federal Register and a newspaper of general circulation in the communities in the vicinity of the installation.

(c) Responsibilities of the LRA. The LRA should begin to conduct outreach efforts with respect to the installation as soon as is practicable after the date of approval of closure/realignment of the installation. The local reuse planning process must begin no later than the date of the Military Department's Federal Register publication of available property described at § 176.20(b). For those installations that began the process described in this part prior to August 17, 1995, HUD will, on a case-by-case basis, determine whether the statutory requirements have been fulfilled and whether any additional requirements listed in this part should be required. Upon the Federal Register publication described in § 176.20(b), the LRA shall:

(1) Publish, within 30 days, in a newspaper of general circulation in the communities in the vicinity of the installation, the time period during which the LRA will receive notices of interest from State and local governments, representatives of the homeless, and other interested parties. This publication shall include the name, address, telephone number and the point of contact for the LRA who can provide information on the prescribed form and contents of the notices of interest. The LRA shall notify DoD of the deadline specified for receipt of notices of interest. LRAs are strongly encouraged to make this publication as soon as possible within the permissible 30 day period in order to expedite the closure process.

(i) In addition, the LRA has the option to conduct an informal solicitation of notices of interest from public and non-profit entities interested in obtaining property via a public benefit transfer other than a homeless assistance conveyance under either 40 U.S.C. 471 et. seq. or 49 U.S.C. 47151-47153. As part of such a solicitation, the LRA may wish to request that interested entities submit a description of the proposed use to the LRA and the sponsoring Federal agency.

(ii) For all installations selected for closure or realignment prior to 1995 that elected to proceed under Public Law 103-421, the LRA shall accept notices of interest for not less than 30 days.

(iii) For installations selected for closure or realignment in 1995 or thereafter, notices of interest shall be accepted for a minimum of 90 days and not more than 180 days after the LRA's publication under § 176.20(c)(1).

(2) Prescribe the form and contents of notices of interest.

(i) The LRA may not release to the public any information regarding the capacity of the representative of the homeless to carry out its program, a description of the organization, or its financial plan for implementing the program, without the consent of the representative of the homeless concerned, unless such release is authorized under Federal law and under the law of the State and communities in which the installation concerned is located. The identity of the representative of the homeless may be disclosed.

(ii) The notices of interest from representatives of the homeless must include:

(A) A description of the homeless assistance program proposed, including the purposes to which the property or facility will be put, which may include uses such as supportive services, job and skills training, employment programs, shelters, transitional housing or housing with no established limitation on the amount of time of residence, food and clothing banks, treatment facilities, or any other activity which clearly meets an identified need of the homeless and fills a gap in the continuum of care;

(B) A description of the need for the program;

(C) A description of the extent to which the program is or will be coordinated with other homeless assistance programs in the communities in the vicinity of the installation;

(D) Information about the physical requirements necessary to carry out the program including a description of the buildings and property at the installation that are necessary to carry out the program;

(E) A description of the financial plan, the organization, and the organizational capacity of the representative of the homeless to carry out the program; and,

(F) An assessment of the time required to start carrying out the program.

(iii) The notices of interest from entities other than representatives of the homeless should specify the name of the entity and specific interest in property or facilities along with a description of the planned use.

(3) In addition to the notice required under § 176.20(c)(1), undertake outreach efforts to representatives of the homeless by contacting local government officials and other persons or entities that may be interested in assisting the homeless within the vicinity of the installation.

(i) The LRA may invite persons and organizations identified on the HUD list of representatives of the homeless and any other representatives of the homeless with which the LRA is familiar, operating in the vicinity of the installation, to the workshop described in § 176.20(c)(3)(ii).

(ii) The LRA, in coordination with the Military Department and HUD, shall conduct at least one workshop where representatives of the homeless have an opportunity to:

(A) Learn about the closure/realignment and disposal process;

(B) Tour the buildings and properties available either on or off the installation;

(C) Learn about the LRA's process and schedule for receiving notices of interest as guided by § 176.20(c)(2); and,

(D) Learn about any known land use constraints affecting the available property and buildings.

(iii) The LRA should meet with representatives of the homeless that express interest in discussing possible uses for these properties to alleviate gaps in the continuum of care.

(4) Consider various properties in response to the notices of interest. The LRA may consider property that is located off the installation.

(5) Develop an application, including the redevelopment plan and homeless assistance submission, explaining how the LRA proposes to address the needs of the homeless. This application shall consider the notices of interest received from State and local governments, representatives of the homeless, and other interested parties. This shall include, but not be limited to, entities eligible for public benefit transfers under either 40 U.S.C. 471 et. seq., or 49 U.S.C. 47151-47153; representatives of the homeless; commercial, industrial, and residential development interests; and other interests. From the deadline date for receipt of notices of interest described at § 176.20(c)(1), the LRA shall have 270 days to complete and submit the LRA application to the appropriate Military Department and HUD. The application requirements are described at § 176.30.

(6) Make the draft application available to the public for review and comment periodically during the process of developing the application. The LRA must conduct at least one public hearing on the application prior to its submission to HUD and the appropriate Military Department. A summary of the public comments received during the process of developing the application shall be included in the application when it is submitted.

(d) Public benefit transfer screening. The LRA should, while conducting its outreach efforts, work with the Federal agencies that sponsor public benefit transfers under either 40 U.S.C. 471 et. seq. or 49 U.S.C. 47151-47153. Those agencies can provide a list of parties in the vicinity of the installation that might be interested in and eligible for public benefit transfers. The LRA should make a reasonable effort to inform such parties of the availability of the property and incorporate their interests within the planning process. Actual recipients of property are to be determined by sponsoring Federal agency. The Military Departments shall notify sponsoring Federal agencies about property that is available based on the community redevelopment plan and keep the LRA apprised of any expressions of interest. Such expressions of interest are not required to be incorporated into the redevelopment plan, but must be considered.

[62 FR 35346, July 1, 1997, as amended at 71 FR 9927, Feb. 28, 2006]