2018-05596. Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC): Notice Inviting Nominations of Individuals To Serve on the Committee

AGENCY:

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing—Federal Housing Commissioner, HUD.

ACTION:

Notice of request for nominations to serve on MHCC.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Housing and Urban Development invites the public to nominate individuals for appointment, with the approval of the Secretary, to the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee (MHCC), a federal advisory committee established by the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, as amended by the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000. The Department will only make appointments from nominations submitted in response to this Notice. Individuals that may have applied in response to prior requests for nominations and who are still interested in being appointed must re-apply pursuant to this notice.

DATES:

The Department will accept nominations until April 19, 2018.

ADDRESSES:

Nominations must submitted through the following website: http://mhcc.homeinnovation.com/​Application.aspx. The submitted nominations are addressed to: Teresa B. Payne, Acting Administrator, Office of Manufactured Housing Programs, Department of Housing and Urban Development, c/o Home Innovation Research Labs; Attention: Kevin Kauffman, 400 Prince Georges Blvd., Upper Marlboro, MD 20774.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Teresa B. Payne, Acting Deputy Administrator, Office of Manufactured Housing Programs, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 9164, Washington, DC 20410-8000; telephone number 202-708-6423 (this is not a toll-free number). For hearing and speech-impaired persons, this number may be accessed via TTY by calling the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 604 of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-569) amended the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5401-5426) (Act) to require the establishment of the MHCC, a federal advisory committee, to: (1) Provide periodic recommendations to the Secretary to adopt, revise, and interpret the manufactured housing construction and safety standards; and (2) to provide periodic recommendations to the Secretary to adopt, revise, and interpret the procedural and enforcement manufactured housing regulations, including regulations specifying the permissible scope and conduct of monitoring. The Act authorizes the Secretary to appoint a total of twenty-two members to the MHCC. Twenty-one members have voting rights; the twenty-second member represents the Secretary and is a non-voting position. Service on the MHCC is voluntary. Travel and per diem for meetings is provided in accordance with federal travel policy pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5703.

HUD seeks highly qualified and motivated individuals who meet the requirements set forth in the Act to serve as voting members of the MHCC for up to two terms of three years. The MHCC expects to meet at least one to two times annually. Meetings may take place by conference call or in person. Members of the MHCC undertake additional work commitments on subcommittees and task forces regarding issues under deliberation.

Nominee Selection and Appointment

Members of the Consensus Committee are appointed to serve in one of three member categories. Nominees will be appointed to fill voting member vacancies in the following categories:

1. Producers—Seven producers or retailers of manufactured housing.

2. Users—Seven persons representing consumer interests, such as consumer organizations, recognized consumer leaders, and owners who are residents of manufactured homes.

3. General Interest and Public Officials—Seven general interest and public official members.

The Act provides that the Secretary shall ensure that all interests directly and materially affected by the work of the MHCC have the opportunity for fair and equitable participation without dominance by any single interest; and may reject the appointment of any one or more individuals in order to ensure that there is not dominance by any single interest. For purposes of this determination, dominance is defined as a position or exercise of dominant authority, leadership, or influence by reason of superior leverage, strength, or representation.

Additional requirements governing appointment and member service include:

(1) Nominees appointed to the User category, and three of the individuals appointed to the General Interest and Public Official category shall not have a significant financial interest in any segment of the manufactured housing industry; or a significant relationship to any person engaged in the manufactured housing industry.

(2) Each member serving in the User category shall be subject to a ban disallowing compensation from the manufactured housing industry during the period of, and during the one year following, his or her membership on the MHCC.

(3) Nominees selected for appointment to the MHCC shall be required to provide disclosures and certifications regarding conflict-of-interest and eligibility for membership prior to finalizing an appointment.

All selected nominees will be required to submit certifications of eligibility under the foregoing criteria as a prerequisite to final appointment.

Consensus Committee—Advisory Role

The MHCC's role is solely advisory to the Secretary on the subject matter described above.

Federal Advisory Committee Act

The MHCC is subject to the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. Appendix), 41 CFR parts 101-6 and 102-3 (the FACA Final Rule), and to the Presidential Memorandum, dated June 18, 2010, directing all heads of executive departments and agencies not to make any new appointments or reappointments of federally registered lobbyists to advisory committees and other boards and commissions. The June 18, 2010, Presidential Memorandum authorized the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue guidance to implement this policy. On August 13, 2014 (79 FR 47482), OMB issued guidance regarding the prohibition against appointing or re-appointing federally registered lobbyists to clarify that the ban applies to persons serving on advisory committees, boards, and commissions in their individual capacity and does not apply if they are specifically appointed to represent the interests of a nongovernmental entity, a recognizable group of persons or nongovernmental entities (an industry sector, labor unions, environmental groups, etc.), or state or local governments.

Term of Office

Consensus Committee members serve at the discretion of the Secretary or for a three-year term and for up to two terms.

Nominee Information

Individuals seeking nomination to the MHCC should submit detailed information documenting their qualifications as addressed in the Act and this Notice. Individuals may nominate themselves. HUD recommends that the application form be accompanied by a resume.

Additional Information

The Department will only make appointments from nominations submitted in response to this Notice. Individuals that may have applied replied in response to prior requests for nominations and who are still interested in being appointed must re-apply pursuant to this notice. To be considered for appointment to a position of an MHCC member whose term expired in December of 2017, the nomination should be submitted by April 19, 2018.

Appointments will be made at the discretion of the Secretary.

Dated: March 14, 2018.

Dana T. Wade,

General Deputy Assistant, Secretary for Housing.