§ 12a.9 - Application process.

§ 12a.9 Application process.

(a) Holding period.

(1) Properties published as available for application for use to assist the homeless shall not be available for any other purpose for a period of 60 days beginning on the date of publication. Any representative of the homeless interested in any underutilized, unutilized, excess or surplus Federal property for use as a facility to assist the homeless must send to HHS a written expression of interest in that property within 60 days after the property has been published in the Federal Register.

(2) If a written expression of interest to apply for suitable property for use to assist the homeless is received by HHS within the 60 day holding period, such property may not be made available for any other purpose until the date HHS or the appropriate landholding agency has completed action on the application submitted pursuant to that expression of interest.

(3) The expression of interest should identify the specific property, briefly describe the proposed use, include the name of the organization, and indicate whether it is a public body or a private non-profit organization. The expression of interest must be sent to the Division of Health Facilities Planning (DHFP) of the Department of Health and Human Services at the following address:

Director, Division of Health Facilities Planning, Public Health Service, Room 17A-10, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.

HHS will notify the landholding agency (for unutilized and underutilized properties) or GSA (for excess and surplus properties) when an expression of interest has been received for a particular property.

(4) An expression of interest may be sent to HHS any time after the 60 day holding period has expired. In such a case, an application submitted pursuant to this expression of interest may be approved for use by the homeless if:

(i) No application or written expression of interest has been made under any law for use of the property for any purpose; and

(ii) In the case of excess or surplus property, GSA has not received a bona fide offer to purchase that property or advertised for the sale of the property by public auction.

(b) Application Requirements. Upon receipt of an expression of interest, DHFP will send an application packet to the interested entity. The application packet requires the applicant to provide certain information, including the following -

(1) Description of the applicant organization. The applicant must document that it satisfies the definition of a “representative of the homeless,” as specified in § 12a.1 of this subpart. The applicant must document its authority to hold real property. Private non-profit organizations applying for deeds must document that they are section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt.

(2) Description of the property desired. The applicant must describe the property desired and indicate that any modifications made to the property will conform to local use restrictions except for local zoning regulations.

(3) Description of the proposed program. The applicant must fully describe the proposed program and demonstrate how the program will address the needs of the homeless population to be assisted. The applicant must fully describe what modifications will be made to the property before the program becomes operational.

(4) Ability to finance and operate the proposed program. The applicant must specifically describe all anticipated costs and sources of funding for the proposed program. The applicant must indicate that it can assume care, custody, and maintenance of the property and that it has the necessary funds or the ability to obtain such funds to carry out the approved program of use for the property.

(5) Compliance with non-discrimination requirements. Each applicant and lessee under this part must certify in writing that it will comply with the requirements of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601-3619) and implementing regulations; and as applicable, Executive Order 11063 (Equal Opportunity in Housing) and implementing regulations; title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d to d-4) (Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted Programs) and implementing regulations; the prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of age under the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. 6101-6107) and implementing regulations; and the prohibitions against otherwise qualified individuals with handicaps under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) and implementing regulations. The applicant must state that it will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, familial status, or handicap in the use of the property, and will maintain the required records to demonstrate compliance with Federal laws.

(6) Insurance. The applicant must certify that it will insure the property against loss, damage, or destruction in accordance with the requirements of 45 CFR 12.9.

(7) Historic preservation. Where applicable, the applicant must provide information that will enable HHS to comply with Federal historic preservation requirements.

(8) Environmental information. The applicant must provide sufficient information to allow HHS to analyze the potential impact of the applicant's proposal on the environment, in accordance with the instructions provided with the application packet. HHS will assist applicants in obtaining any pertinent environmental information in the possession of HUD, GSA, or the landholding agency.

(9) Local government notification. The applicant must indicate that it has informed the applicable unit of general local government responsible for providing sewer, water, police, and fire services, in writing of its proposed program.

(10) Zoning and Local Use Restrictions. The applicant must indicate that it will comply with all local use restrictions, including local building code requirements. Any applicant which applies for a lease or permit for a particular property is not required to comply with local zoning requirements. Any applicant applying for a deed of a particular property, pursuant to § 12a. 9(b)(3), must comply with local zoning requirements, as specified in 45 CFR part 12.

(c) Scope of evaluations. Due to the short time frame imposed for evaluating applications, HHS' evaluation will, generally, be limited to the information contained in the application.

(d) Deadline. Completed applications must be received by DHFP, at the above address, within 90 days after an expression of interest is received from a particular applicant for that property. Upon written request from the applicant, HHS may grant extensions, provided that the appropriate landholding agency concurs with the extension. Because each applicant will have a different deadline based on the date the applicant submitted an expression of interest, applicants should contact the individual landholding agency to confirm that a particular property remains available prior to submitting an application.

(e) Evaluations.

(1) Upon receipt of an application, HHS will review it for completeness, and, if incomplete, may return it or ask the applicant to furnish any missing or additional required information prior to final evaluation of the application.

(2) HHS will evaluate each completed application within 25 days of receipt and will promptly advise the applicant of its decision. Applications are evaluated on a first-come, first-serve basis. HHS will notify all organizations which have submitted expressions of interest for a particular property regarding whether the first application received for that property has been approved or disapproved. All applications will be reviewed on the basis of the following elements, which are listed in descending order of priority, except that paragraphs (e)(2)(iv) and (e)(2)(v) of this section are of equal importance.

(i) Services offered. The extent and range of proposed services, such as meals, shelter, job training, and counseling.

(ii) Need. The demand for the program and the degree to which the available property will be fully utilized.

(iii) Implementation Time. The amount of time necessary for the proposed program to become operational.

(iv) Experience. Demonstrated prior success in operating similar programs and recommendations attesting to that fact by Federal, State, and local authorities.

(v) Financial Ability. The adequacy of funding that will likely be available to run the program fully and properly and to operate the facility.

(3) Additional evaluation factors may be added as deemed necessary by HHS. If additional factors are added, the application packet will be revised to include a description of these additional factors.

(4) If HHS receives one or more competing applications for a property within 5 days of the first application HHS will evaluate all completed applications simultaneously. HHS will rank approved applications based on the elements listed in § 12a.8(e)(2), and notify the landholding agency, or GSA, as appropriate, of the relative ranks.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 0937-0191)