[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 208 (Wednesday, October 28, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57882-57886]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-28812]
[[Page 57881]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part IV
Department of Housing and Urban Development
_______________________________________________________________________
24 CFR Parts 91 and 570
Fair Housing Performance Standards for Acceptance of Consolidated Plan
Certifications and Compliance With Community Development Block Grant
Performance Review Criteria; Proposed Rule
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 208 / Wednesday, October 28, 1998 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 57882]]
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
24 CFR Parts 91 and 570
[Docket No. FR-4133-P-01]
RIN No. 2529-AA81
Fair Housing Performance Standards for Acceptance of Consolidated
Plan Certifications and Compliance With Community Development Block
Grant Performance Review Criteria
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This proposed rule would amend HUD regulations on Consolidated
Submissions for Community Planning and Development Programs to
establish a standard for determining if the jurisdiction's
certification regarding affirmatively furthering fair housing is
inaccurate.
This rule would also amend HUD regulations on Community Development
Block Grants to provide performance review standards for affirmatively
furthering fair housing requirements. The performance review standards
would clarify the basis upon which the Department makes its annual
statutory determination that a grantee is carrying out its Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) program in compliance with its
certifications and with other applicable laws.
Both revisions would also make clear that compliance with the
requirement to affirmatively further fair housing would require
grantees to have a complete and accurate analysis of impediments to
fair housing choice and to not violate the Fair Housing Act or civil
rights laws prohibiting discrimination in housing programs receiving
Federal financial assistance. These revisions would serve to provide
communities with a clear idea of the standards that HUD would use in
both reviewing certifications included as part of a grantee's
Consolidated Plan submission, as well as determining CDBG grantees'
compliance with the statutory requirements of the CDBG program to
affirmatively further fair housing.
DATES: Comment Due Date: December 28, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding
this rule to Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, Room 10276,
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, S.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20410-0500. Communications should refer to the above
docket number and title. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not acceptable. A
copy of each communications submitted will be available for public
inspection and copying between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays at the
above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on part 570, Deirdre
Maguire-Zinni, Director, Entitlement Communities Division, Office of
Block Grant Assistance, Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Room 7282, 451 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410. Telephone
(202) 708-1577, ext. 4529. For questions on part 91, Sal Sclafani,
Acting Director, Policy Coordination Division, Office of Executive
Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh
Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410. Telephone (202) 708-1283, ext. 4364.
For questions on affirmatively furthering fair housing or the analysis
of impediments to fair housing choice, William Dudley Gregorie, Deputy
Director, Office of Programs, Office of Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 452 Seventh
Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410. Telephone (202) 708-2288, ext. 266.
(These telephone numbers are not toll-free.) Hearing-impaired or
speech-impaired individuals may access the voice telephone number
listed above by calling the Federal information relay service during
working hours at 1-800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Statutory Bases
Section 105 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing
Act (42 U.S.C. 12705) established a requirement for the development of
a Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) as a condition of
a jurisdiction receiving grants from HUD, primarily CDBG and HOME
program funds. (The CHAS replaced the CDBG Housing Assistance Plan
requirement.) The CHAS includes a certification that jurisdictions
receiving the HUD grants will affirmatively further fair housing.
Section 104(b)(2) of the Housing and Community Development Act of
1974 (HCD Act), as amended, (42 U.S.C. 5304), the governing statute for
the CDBG program, requires that each grantee certify to HUD's
satisfaction that (1) the grant will be conducted and administered in
conformity with the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601-20) and (2) the
grantee will affirmatively further fair housing. Further, section
104(c)(1) of the HCD Act authorizes CDBG Entitlement grants to be made
only to a grantee that is following an approved CHAS. Section 104(e) of
the HCD Act also contains a requirement for the Department to
determine, at least annually, that each CDBG grantee is carrying out
its program in compliance with applicable laws and requirements.
The Consolidated Plan Regulation's Review Standard for Acceptance
When the Consolidated Submission for CPD Programs regulation (part
91) (the ``Consolidated Plan regulation'') was promulgated in 1995, one
of the primary purposes of the rule was to coordinate statutory
requirements for CPD formula grant programs (CDBG, HOME Investment
Partnerships, Emergency Shelter Grant, and Housing Opportunities for
Persons with AIDS) in a comprehensive way, in order to simplify
application requirements while simultaneously addressing local priority
needs more effectively. The Consolidated Plan regulation thus
incorporates CHAS requirements as well as CDBG submission requirements.
Departmental approval of a Consolidated Plan is required in order
for a jurisdiction to receive any of the four CPD formula grant funds.
Disapproval of a Consolidated Plan is based on the statutory standards
of the CHAS which authorizes disapproval of any Plan only on two
grounds: the Plan is either (1) inconsistent with the purposes of the
Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act or (2) substantially
incomplete. One of the ways that a Plan may be determined substantially
incomplete is if HUD concludes that a certification is inaccurate. In
addition, the separate CDBG certifications may be disapproved if not
satisfactory to HUD, which would result in disapproval of the CDBG
component of the Consolidated Plan.
The Consolidated Plan regulations contain an affirmatively further
fair housing certification. The regulations define the certification to
mean that a grantee will conduct an ``analysis of impediments to fair
housing choice within the jurisdiction, take appropriate actions to
overcome the effects of any impediments identified through that
analysis, and maintain records reflecting the analysis and actions in
this regard'' [Secs. 91.225(a)(1), 91.325(a)(1) and 91.425(a)(1)]. The
analysis of impediments is not restricted to the design and operation
of HUD-funded programs within a grantee's jurisdiction but is meant to
be an assessment of conditions, both public and private, that affect
fair housing choice.
The Consolidated Plan requirement contains a narrow review standard
and a review time frame of 45 days (after which a Plan may be deemed
approved automatically unless the Department
[[Page 57883]]
specifically notifies a jurisdiction that the Plan has been
disapproved). Disapproval of a Consolidated Plan results in the
withholding of all CPD formula grant funds for a grantee unless and
until an adequate submission is made within an established time frame.
The CDBG Program's Greater Flexibility To Require Grantee Actions
in Connection With Grant Award or Improve Performance
The CDBG Entitlement regulations were amended with the Consolidated
Plan regulations so that the affirmatively further fair housing
certification has the same requirements in the CDBG regulations as in
the Consolidated Plan regulations. See Sec. 570.601(a)(2). A
determination made by HUD that a CDBG grantee is not affirmatively
furthering fair housing, however, offers a wider array of opportunities
for resolution in connection with either making the CDBG grant or
applying sanctions because of the statutory review authority in the HCD
Act (e.g., requesting special assurances; seeking voluntary compliance;
or taking actions to reduce or withdraw a grant), whereas evaluation of
the grantee's affirmatively furthering activities in the context of the
Consolidated Plan offers only one opportunity for HUD action (i.e.,
disapproval of a Consolidated Plan). Furthermore, corrective actions
with respect to the CDBG program are not limited to the Consolidated
Plan submission review time frame but can be initiated at any point
during a grantee's program year.
The Need for Clarification
While the Department has provided both guidance and training to
grantees on meeting the Consolidated Plan fair housing certification
requirements, the Department's experience indicates that confusion
remains over both the meaning and application of the affirmatively
further fair housing requirements. Notwithstanding the identical
statutory predicates for affirmatively furthering fair housing in both
the CDBG program and the CHAS (included now as a Consolidated Plan
requirement), this confusion has been complicated by the placement of
the CDBG requirement in the Consolidated Plan regulation at part 91 as
a certification requirement (which now applies to all CPD formula grant
programs) while remaining in the CDBG regulations at part 570 as a
performance review standard. Certification of compliance with the Fair
Housing Act is in the Consolidated Plan regulations applicable only to
the CDBG program. Thus, in cases where a grantee has been determined to
have violated the Fair Housing Act, the narrow disapproval standard for
the Consolidated Plan complicates the withholding of CPD grant funds,
despite the Department's clear mandate to ensure compliance with Fair
Housing Act requirements. Confusion has also resulted over what it
means to have a ``complete'' Consolidated Plan as well as the language
of the certification which is written in the future tense (that
grantees ``will'' conduct an analysis).
Purpose of the Proposed Rule Change
The Department seeks to foster effective fair housing strategies
and to provide clear guidance to local communities to help them in
their efforts to responsibly identify and solve fair housing problems,
as these grantees strive to achieve their own visions of ``viable urban
communities.'' Furthermore, the Department believes that grantees
receiving CPD formula grant funds not only have the responsibility to
identify and endeavor to overcome impediments to fair housing choice,
but clearly should not be receiving the grant funds if they are in
violation of the Fair Housing Act. At the same time, the Department
wishes to ensure more objective application of requirements and to
ensure that grantees have a current and accurate analysis of
impediments to fair housing choice in place at the time of grant award.
To that end, the proposed rule is intended to provide specific
standards and the bases upon which these requirements would be
measured--both for purposes of receiving CPD formula grant funds and to
aid the Department in annually determining that CDBG grantees are in
compliance with applicable requirements.
Proposed Change to Part 91
This rule would amend Secs. 91.225(a)(1), 91.325(a)(1) and
91.425(a)(1) to make clear that a certification to affirmatively
further fair housing means that (1) an analysis of impediments to fair
housing choice has already been conducted (and would be updated, as
appropriate) and (2) the grantee is taking actions to eliminate
identified impediments if the impediments are within the control of the
grantee and to overcome the effects of other identified impediments,
and is keeping appropriate supporting documentation. Amendments are
also made to Sec. 91.500(b)(3) to add three standards for a
Departmental determination that a grantee's Consolidated Plan
certification to affirmatively further fair housing is inaccurate. HUD
could determine that the certification is inaccurate if: (1) the
analysis of impediments to fair housing choice is inaccurate or
substantially incomplete based on generally available facts and data;
(2) the actions taken do not address an identified impediment
(eliminate an impediment within the grantee's control or overcome the
effects of an impediment that is outside the grantee's control) or do
not result in meaningful and measurable progress; or (3) the grantee
(a) has been charged with a violation of the Fair Housing Act by HUD,
(b) is the defendant in a Fair Housing Act lawsuit filed by the U.S.
Department of Justice, or (c) has received from HUD a letter of
noncompliance findings involving housing under title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1968, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or
section 109 of the HCD Act, and the grantee has not resolved such
charge, lawsuit, or letter of noncompliance findings to the
satisfaction of HUD.
These amendments would make clear that a grantee must (1) have a
complete and accurate analysis of impediments to fair housing choice
before submitting its Consolidated Plan, (2) be taking appropriate
actions to eliminate the impediments within the grantee's control and
overcome the effects of identified impediments outside the grantee's
control, and (3) comply with the Fair Housing Act and other statutes
prohibiting discrimination in housing that the Department enforces.
Failure to do so will result in a rejection of its Consolidated Plan
certification to affirmatively further fair housing. The amendments are
also designed to clarify what is meant by appropriate actions. For
example, a grantee that identifies certain types of zoning as
impediments to fair housing choice and then holds a housing poster
contest as an appropriate action in response to the zoning impediment
could expect HUD to question the accuracy of its certification.
Proposed Change to Part 570
This rule would amend Sec. 570.601 to make clear that the
requirement to affirmatively further fair housing means that (1)
grantees have conducted an analysis of impediments to fair housing
choice before submission of a Consolidated Plan (and would require
updates to an analysis, as appropriate) and (2) the grantees are taking
actions to eliminate identified impediments that are within the control
of the grantee and to overcome the effects of identified impediments
outside the grantee's control and are maintaining records reflecting
the analysis and actions. Section 570.904 would be amended to clarify
the distinction between the
[[Page 57884]]
rebuttable presumption of compliance with civil rights
nondiscrimination requirements versus the standards to measure
performance with the requirements for affirmatively furthering fair
housing. Currently, this section of the regulation states that the
Department will consider grantees to be in compliance with applicable
equal opportunity and fair housing criteria UNLESS there is evidence to
the contrary. The requirements to affirmatively further fair housing
and carry out programs in compliance with the Fair Housing Act require,
however, positive actions on the part of grantees. Moreover, the
section no longer contains criteria because they were deleted when
substantive requirements for affirmatively furthering fair housing were
added to the Consolidated Plan rule. Accordingly, the introductory
language is proposed to be deleted in paragraph (a) and the paragraph
is renamed ``Nondiscrimination requirements.'' In addition, the current
paragraph (b) is proposed to be removed because it essentially repeats
paragraph (a). Paragraphs (c) and (d) are reordered as paragraphs (b)
and (c). As a technical matter, the regulation is amended to reflect
that the Fair Housing Act also prohibits discrimination based on
disability or familial status.
This section of the regulation is also amended to specify three
performance review standards that HUD will use to determine whether a
grantee has affirmatively furthered fair housing. Two of the standards
are: (1) that the analysis of impediments to fair housing choice is
accurate and substantially complete based on generally available facts
and data, and (2) that the actions taken to eliminate the impediments
within the grantee's control or overcome the effects of identified
impediments outside the grantee's control result in meaningful and
measurable progress. The third standard is a presumption by HUD that a
grantee has not violated the civil rights laws prohibiting
discrimination in housing unless the grantee (a) has been charged with
a violation of the Fair Housing Act by HUD, (b) is the defendant in a
Fair Housing Act lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, or
(c) has received from HUD a letter of noncompliance findings involving
housing under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or section 109 of the HCD Act, and the
grantee has not resolved such charge, lawsuit, or letter of
noncompliance findings to the satisfaction of HUD. Such violations
could result from actions taken by the grantee in connection with
programs other than the four CPD formula grant programs. For example, a
grantee that takes discriminatory actions to prevent a public housing
authority from acquiring or building scattered site public housing
units could be determined to be in violation of the Fair Housing Act
and thus might expect the Department to challenge its Consolidated Plan
certification to affirmatively further fair housing.
In reviewing performance based on an existing analysis of
impediments to fair housing choice, the Department would expect that a
jurisdiction would identify actions to be taken based on the analysis
and would have taken such actions, or have begun to undertake actions
with a reasonable time frame for completion. Further, the
appropriateness of the actions would be judged on what impact they have
had in eliminating impediments within the grantee's control or
overcoming the effects of identified impediments to fair housing choice
that are outside the grantee's control.
Examples of such appropriate actions are contained in Volume 1 of
HUD's Fair Housing Planning Guide, specifically, Chapter 3, Appendix A,
the Chapter 4 Appendix and throughout Chapter 5. A detailed discussion
of grantee actions, in general, is the focus of Volume 2 of the Fair
Housing Planning Guide.
Comments are specifically sought on (1) the clarity and usefulness
of the standards in assisting the Department's review of a grantee's
compliance with its certification to affirmatively further fair
housing, both as part of a Consolidated Plan submission and as a CDBG
performance review requirement; and (2) the identification of any
unintended consequences in applying these requirements that would
frustrate the purposes of, or otherwise impede a grantee's ability to
comply with, fair housing requirements.
Most grantees completed their analysis of impediments to fair
housing choice last year and are now taking actions to address
identified impediments. Thus, grantees' concerns are now generally
focused on how HUD will view the appropriateness and sufficiency of
their actions. The proposed regulation is intended to provide for a
more objective determination of appropriateness. The regulation does
not specifically address, however, the following issues: (1) Is a
grantee required to take actions to eliminate or overcome the effects
of all identified impediments? (2) Must the actions be taken each
program year, or over a period of time--which may coincide with the
grantee's Consolidated Plan period or some other period of time? (3)
Should certain impediments have a priority for action? (4) At what
point in the future would the grantee be expected to have eliminated
all identified impediments within the grantee's control and taken all
possible actions to overcome the effects of impediments not within the
grantee's control? Comments are sought on whether and how the
regulation should address these issues.
States are requested to comment on the issue of whether the State
CDBG regulations should contain fair housing performance standards
comparable to those proposed under Sec. 570.904. The CDBG Entitlement
program regulations contain an entire subpart (subpart O) concerning
HUD reviews and determinations of grantee performance. Section 570.904,
for example, describes the review criteria for determining compliance
with equal opportunity and fair housing requirements. In contrast, the
regulatory language governing performance reviews under the State CDBG
program is much shorter and less detailed. Section 570.493 essentially
declares only that HUD shall make such reviews and audits as are
necessary to determine whether a State is in compliance with the
various requirements of the Act and other applicable laws.
This rule proposes to clarify the review standard (at Sec. 570.904)
concerning fair housing performance for entitlement communities. There
is no comparable review standard being proposed for States because
there is no comparable section in the State program regulations. This
proposed rule seeks to ensure more objective determinations of
compliance with fair housing requirements. It also seeks to resolve the
discontinuity between HUD's limited authority for action under the
Consolidated Plan rule and HUD's broader authority to undertake
performance reviews under the CDBG program rules. Not including
specific review standards for the State CDBG program, however, means
that the disparity and ambiguity over standards for performance will
still exist for States. The difference between the CDBG program
regulations for States and for Entitlement communities could also
impart the false impression that HUD is more concerned about fair
housing performance under the Entitlement program than under the State
program. On the other hand, if HUD revises Sec. 570.493 to include fair
housing performance standards comparable to those proposed under
Sec. 570.904, the State program regulations
[[Page 57885]]
would be far more specific about fair housing performance than about
other program requirements. This likewise could convey a false
impression that HUD is more concerned about fair housing performance by
States than about other CDBG program requirements. Comments on these
State CDBG issues are therefore requested.
Findings and Certifications
Environmental Impact
A Finding of No Significant Impact with respect to the environment
for this rule has been made in accordance with HUD regulations at 24
CFR part 50, which implement section 102(2)(C) of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The Finding of No Significant Impact
is available for public inspection between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
weekdays in the Office of the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of the General
Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Room 10276, 451
Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20410.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Secretary, in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5
U.S.C. 605(b)), has reviewed this rule before publication and by
approving it certifies that this rule would not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. There are no
anti-competitive discriminatory aspects of the rule with regard to
small entities and there are not any unusual procedures that would need
to be complied with by small entities. Nevertheless, the Department is
sensitive to the fact that the uniform application of requirements on
entities of differing sizes often places a disproportionate burden on
small businesses. The Department, therefore, is soliciting alternatives
for compliance from small entities as to how these small entities might
comply in a way less burdensome to them.
Executive Order 12612, Federalism
The General Counsel, as the Designated Official under section 6(a)
of Executive Order 12612, Federalism, has determined that this rule
does not have ``federalism implications'' because it does not have
substantial direct effects on the States (including their political
subdivisions), or on the distribution of power and responsibilities
among the various levels of government.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program number assigned
to the Community Development Block Grant entitlement program is 14.218
and for the State CDBG program is 14.228.
List of Subjects in 24 CFR Part 91
Aged, Grant programs--housing and community development, Homeless,
Individuals with disabilities, Low and moderate income housing,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
List of Subjects in 24 CFR Part 570
Administrative practice and procedure, American Samoa, Community
development block grants, Grant programs--education, Grant programs--
housing and community development, Guam, Indians, Lead poisoning, Loan
programs--housing and community development, Low and moderate income
housing, New communities, Northern Mariana Islands, Pacific Islands
Trust Territory, Pockets of poverty, Puerto Rico, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Small cities, Student aid, Virgin Islands.
Accordingly, the Department proposes to amend parts 91 and 570 of
title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follow:
PART 91--CONSOLIDATED SUBMISSION FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING AND
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
1. The authority citation for part 91 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 3535(d), 3601-3619, 5301-5315, 11331-11388,
12701-12711, 12741-12756, and 12901-12912.
2. Section 91.225 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(1) to read
as follows:
Sec. 91.225 Certifications.
(a) * * *
(1) Affirmatively furthering fair housing. Each jurisdiction is
required to submit a certification that it will affirmatively further
fair housing which means that it will assume the responsibility of fair
housing planning by having conducted a complete and accurate analysis
of impediments to fair housing choice within the jurisdiction (with
periodic updates, as appropriate); is taking appropriate actions to
overcome the effects of any impediments identified through that
analysis outside the jurisdiction's control and to eliminate identified
impediments within the control of the jurisdiction; and is maintaining
records reflecting the analysis and actions in this regard.
* * * * *
3. Section 91.325 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(1) to read
as follows:
Sec. 91.325 Certifications.
(a) General--(1) Affirmatively furthering fair housing. Each State
is required to submit a certification that it will affirmatively
further fair housing which means that it will assume the responsibility
of fair housing planning by having conducted a complete and accurate
analysis of impediments to fair housing choice within the State (with
periodic updates, as appropriate); is taking appropriate actions to
overcome the effects of any impediments identified through that
analysis outside the State's control and to eliminate identified
impediments within the State's control; and is maintaining records
reflecting the analysis and actions in this regard. (See
Sec. 570.487(b)(4) of this title.)
* * * * *
4. Section 91.425 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(1)(i) to
read as follows:
Sec. 91.425 Certifications.
(a) Consortium certifications--(1) General--(i) Affirmatively
furthering fair housing. Each consortium must certify that it will
affirmatively further fair housing which means that it will assume the
responsibility of fair housing planning by having conducted a complete
and accurate analysis of impediments to fair housing choice within the
area (with periodic updates, as appropriate); is taking appropriate
actions to overcome the effects of any impediments identified through
that analysis outside the consortium's control and to eliminate
identified impediments within the consortium members' control; and is
maintaining records reflecting the analysis and actions in this regard.
* * * * *
5. Section 91.500 is amended by adding a sentence to the end of
paragraph (b)(3) to read as follows:
Sec. 91.500 HUD approval action.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(3) * * * A jurisdiction's certification to affirmatively further
fair housing would be determined to be inaccurate if the jurisdiction
has no supporting records; the jurisdiction's analysis of impediments
to fair housing choice (with periodic updates) is inaccurate or
substantially incomplete based on generally available facts and data,
including, but not limited to, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, facts
disclosed in a HUD civil rights monitoring or compliance review, a
civil action brought by the U.S. Department of Justice or private
parties, and public and private studies of
[[Page 57886]]
housing discrimination affecting residents of the grantee jurisdiction;
the actions taken by the jurisdiction to eliminate impediments within
the grantee's control and overcome the effects of other identified
impediments to fair housing choice were not appropriate because the
actions did not address an identified impediment or did not result in
meaningful and measurable progress in eliminating the impediment or
overcoming the impediment's effects; or the grantee has been charged
with a violation of the Fair Housing Act by HUD, is the defendant in a
Fair Housing Act lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, or
has received from HUD a letter of noncompliance findings involving
housing under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1974 or Section 109 of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1974, and the grantee has not resolved
such charge, lawsuit, or letter of noncompliance findings to the
satisfaction of HUD.
* * * * *
PART 570--COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS
6. The authority citation for part 570 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 3535(d) and 5300-5320.
7. Section 570.487 is amended by revising paragraphs (b)(1) and
(b)(2) to read as follows:
Sec. 570.487 Other applicable laws and related program requirements.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) Conducting a complete and accurate analysis to identify
impediments to fair housing choice within the State (with periodic
updates, as appropriate);
(2) Taking appropriate actions to eliminate any impediments
identified through that analysis that are within the control of the
State and to overcome the effects of any impediments outside the
control of the State;
* * * * *
8. Section 570.601 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(1) and the
third sentence of paragraph (a)(2) to read as follows:
Sec. 570.601 Public Law 88-352 and Public Law 90-284; affirmatively
furthering fair housing; Executive Order 11063.
(a) * * *
(1) Public Law 88-352, which is title VI of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), and implementing regulations in 24 CFR
parts 1 and 100.
(2) * * * Furthermore, in accordance with section 104(b)(2) of the
Act, for each community receiving a grant under subpart D of this part,
the certification that the grantee will affirmatively further fair
housing shall specifically require the grantee to assume the
responsibility of fair housing planning by conducting a complete and
accurate analysis to identify impediments to fair housing choice within
its jurisdiction (with periodic updates, as appropriate), taking
appropriate actions to eliminate any impediments identified through
that analysis that are within the grantee's control and to overcome the
effects of any identified impediments that are outside its control, and
maintaining records reflecting the analysis and actions in this regard.
* * * * *
9. Section 570.904 is amended by revising paragraphs (a)(1)
introductory text and (a)(1)(ii), removing the current paragraph (b),
redesignating paragraphs (c) and (d) as (b) and (c) respectively and
revising newly redesignated paragraph (b), to read as follows:
Sec. 570.904 Equal opportunity and fair housing review.
(a) Nondiscrimination requirements. (1) The Department will presume
that the recipient has carried out its CDBG-funded program in
accordance with civil rights certifications and requirements of the Act
prohibiting discrimination unless:
* * * * *
(ii) There is evidence that a policy, practice, standard or method
of administration, although neutral on its face, operates to deny or
affect adversely in a significantly disparate way the provision of
employment or services, benefits or participation to persons of a
particular race, color, religion where applicable, sex, national
origin, age or handicap, or fair housing to persons of a particular
race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national
origin, or
* * * * *
(b) Affirmatively furthering fair housing. HUD will review to
determine whether the grantee is affirmatively furthering fair housing
in accordance with Sec. 570.601(a)(2).
(1) HUD will determine whether:
(i) The grantee's analysis of impediments to fair housing choice
(with periodic updates) is accurate and substantially complete based on
generally available facts and data, including, but not limited to, Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act data, facts disclosed in a HUD civil rights
monitoring or compliance review, a civil action brought by the U.S.
Department of Justice or private parties, and public and private
studies of housing discrimination affecting residents of the grantee
jurisdiction.
(ii) The grantee took appropriate actions to eliminate any
identified impediments that are within its control and to overcome the
effects of impediments to fair housing choice identified in the
grantee's analysis of impediments to fair housing choice that are
outside its control. An action is appropriate if the action addresses
an identified impediment and results in meaningful and measurable
progress in overcoming the impediment's effects.
(2) Notwithstanding favorable determinations under paragraph (b)(1)
of this section, HUD may conclude that the grantee failed to meet its
responsibility to affirmatively further fair housing if the grantee has
been charged with a violation of the Fair Housing Act by HUD, is the
defendant in a Fair Housing Act lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of
Justice, or has received from HUD a letter of noncompliance findings
involving housing under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1968,
section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or section 109 of the HCD
Act, and the grantee has not resolved such charge, lawsuit, or letter
of noncompliance findings to the satisfaction of HUD.
* * * * *
Dated: September 25, 1998.
Andrew Cuomo,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 98-28812 Filed 10-27-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P
