2020-10452. 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Allocation of Operating Fund Grant Under the Operating Fund Formula: Data Collection

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

HUD is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection described below. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is requesting comment from all interested parties on the proposed collection of information. The purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment.

DATES:

Comments Due Date: July 14, 2020.

ADDRESSES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding this proposal. Comments should refer to the proposal by name and/or OMB Control Number and should be sent to: Colette Pollard, Reports Management Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, SW, Room 4176, Washington, DC 20410-5000; telephone [phone] (this is not a toll-free number) or email at [e-mail] for a copy of the proposed forms or other available information. Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access this number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Relay Service at [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dawn Smith, Office of Policy, Programs and Legislative Initiatives, PIH, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, (Room 3178), Washington, DC 20410; telephone [phone] (this is not a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access this number via TTY by calling the Federal Information Relay Service at [phone]. Copies of available documents submitted to OMB may be obtained from Ms. Smith.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This notice informs the public that HUD is seeking approval from OMB for the information collection described in Section A.

A. Overview of Information Collection

Title of Information Collection: Allocation of Operating Funds under the Operating Fund Formula: Data Collection.

OMB Approval Number: 2577-0029.

Type of Request: Extension of currently approved collections.

Form Number: HUD-52722 and HUD-52723.

Description of the need for the information and proposed use: Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) use this information in budget submissions which are reviewed and approved by HUD field offices as the basis for obligating the operating fund grant. This information is necessary to calculate the eligibility for the operating fund grant under the Operating Funding Program regulations, as amended. The Operating Fund is designed to provide the amount of operating funds needed for well-managed PHAs. PHAs submit the information electronically with these forms.

The following changes occurred in this submission. The form no longer includes blocks 4. Unit Change Indicator and 5. Rate Reduction Incentive. The form includes adjustments to improve the workflow of the form. Adjustments include changes to formatting and adding Line 19 Total base utilities expense level for respondents to clearly understand where to sum the results of data collected in columns.

HUD collects information for HUD-52723 and HUD-52722 through VBA enhanced Microsoft Excel Tools. In fiscal year 2021, HUD plans to transition to web-based forms HUD-52723 and HUD-52722. HUD planned a phased launch of the web-based collection. Initially the collection by web-based forms is limited to subset PHAs that HUD expands each subsequent year until all PHAs exclusively use the web-based forms. PHAs without access to the web-based forms continue to use the Excel based forms. Web-based forms improves the availability of the forms to PHAs, improves data integrity, and secure transfer of the data from the PHA to HUD.

Total Estimated Burdens

Information collection	Number of respondents	Frequency of response	Responses per annum	Burden hour per response	Annual burden hours	Hourly cost per response	Annual cost
HUD-52722	7,000	1	0.75	5,250	5,250	$33.34	$175,035
HUD-52723	7,000	1	0.75	5,250	5,250	33.34	175,035
Total				10,500			350,070

B. Solicitation of Public Comment

This notice is soliciting comments from members of the public and affected parties concerning the collection of information described in Section A on the following:

(1) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(2) The accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information;

(3) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond; including through the use of appropriate automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

HUD encourages interested parties to submit comment in response to these questions.

Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35.

The Deputy Assistant Director for the Office of Policy, Programs and Legislative Initiatives, Merrie Nichols-Dixon having reviewed and approved this document, is delegating the authority to electronically sign this document to submitter, Nacheshia Foxx, who is the Federal Register Liaison for HUD, for purposes of publication in the Federal Register.

Dated: May 5, 2020.

Nacheshia Foxx,

Federal Register Liaison for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.