[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 115 (Thursday, June 16, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-14630]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: June 16, 1994]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part VIII
Department of Housing and Urban Development
_______________________________________________________________________
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity
_______________________________________________________________________
Notice of Funding Availability for the Affirmative Fair Housing
Marketing Reinvention Lab Project; Competitive Solicitation
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity
[Docket No. N-94-3765 ; FR-3650-N-01]
NOFA for the Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Reinvention Lab
Project; Competitive Solicitation
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity, HUD.
ACTION: Notice of funding availability (NOFA).
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SUMMARY: This NOFA announces the availability of up to $1.0 million of
FY 1993 Fair Housing Initiatives Program funding for a special project
to be carried out in the Chicago, Illinois metropolitan area. The
purposes of this project, which is part of the overall effort to
reinvent the way the Department carries out its civil rights mission,
are (1) to test the effectiveness of a metropolitan areawide
affirmative fair housing marketing plan and associated activities to be
administered by a central clearinghouse, especially in terms of
generating increased housing choice and opportunity for eligible
assisted and insured housing applicants; (2) to determine the potential
savings in administrative costs for both housing providers and the
Department if the clearinghouse concept were to be implemented
permanently; and (3) to determine whether eligible applicants for
federally-assisted and/or insured private rental or sales housing would
be better served by the clearinghouse in terms of the support services
performed during the mortgage loan evaluation and rental application
processes.
In the body of this document is information concerning the purpose
of the NOFA, eligibility, available amounts, selection criteria, how to
apply for funding, and how selections will be made.
DATES: An application for funding under this Notice will be available
following publication of the Notice. The actual application due date
and time will be specified in the application kit. In no event,
however, will the application be due before August 15, 1994.
ADDRESSES: To obtain a copy of the application kit, please write the
Fair Housing Information Clearinghouse, Post Office Box 6091,
Rockville, MD 20850 or call the toll-free number 1-800-343-3442.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurence D. Pearl, Director, Office of
Program Standards and Evaluation, (202) 708-0288, or William Dudley
Gregorie, Director, Program Standards Division, Office of Fair Housing
and Equal Opportunity, room 5226, 451 Seventh Street SW., room 5224,
Washington, DC 20410, (202) 708-2287. A telecommunications device (TDD)
for hearing- and speech-impaired persons is available at (202) 708-
2287. (These are not toll-free numbers.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
Application requirements associated with this program have been
approved by the Office of Management and Budget, under section 3504(h)
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 3504(h)), and
assigned OMB control number 2529-0033.
I. Purpose and Substantive Description
(a) Authority
(1) The Fair Housing Act
Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended, 42 U.S.C.
3601-19 (Fair Housing Act), charges the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development with responsibility to accept and investigate complaints
alleging discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap,
familial status or national origin in the sale, rental, advertising or
financing of housing. The Fair Housing Act also directs the Secretary
to cooperate with State and local agencies administering fair housing
laws, and to cooperate with and render technical assistance to State,
local and other public or private entities carrying out programs to
prevent and eliminate discriminatory housing practices. The Act also
directs the Secretary to administer the Department's housing and urban
development programs in a manner affirmatively to further the
objectives of the Act.
In addition to the Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing requirements
described below, the Department has since 1971 attempted to translate
the affirmatively furthering mandate through policy mechanisms such as
the Site and Neighborhood Standards, Tenant Selection and Assignment
and Equal Housing Opportunity Plans, and other program and project-
specific strategies. In recent months the Department has recognized
that these project and program-specific mechanisms do not fully address
the broad-based fair housing problems which actually exist. The
Department has also identified the problem of concentration of persons
by race and income as a major barrier to the achievement of the
objectives of fair housing in the United States. The Department is in
the process of formulating appropriate responses that will be tested in
the near future through special demonstration projects similar to this
lab, including the feasibility of implementing a metropolitan areawide
affirmative fair housing marketing plan through a clearinghouse
mechanism.
(2) The FHIP Program
Section 561 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987,
42 U.S.C. 3616 note, established as a demonstration program the Fair
Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) to strengthen the Department's
enforcement of the Fair Housing Act and to further fair housing. This
program assists projects and activities designed to enforce and enhance
compliance with the Fair Housing Act and substantially equivalent State
and local fair housing laws. Implementing regulations are found at 24
CFR part 125.
Three general categories of activities were established at 24 CFR
part 125 for FHIP funding under section 561 of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1987: The Administrative Enforcement
Initiative, the Education and Outreach Initiative, and the Private
Enforcement Initiative. Section 905 of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1992 (HCDA 1992) (Pub. L. 102-550, approved October
28, 1992), amended section 561 by adding specific eligible applicants
and activities to the Education and Outreach and Private Enforcement
Initiatives, as well as an entirely new Fair Housing Organization
Initiative. Section 905 also gave the program permanent status.
The regulations at 24 CFR part 125, subpart C, describe the purpose
and eligible activities under the Education and Outreach Initiative,
the segment of the FHIP program under which the activity proposed in
this NOFA is to be funded. Section 125.303(b) describes eligible
outreach projects that may be funded under this initiative, including
but not limited to the following:
``(1) Developing national, regional and local media campaigns;
(2) Bringing housing industry and civic or fair housing groups
together to identify illegal real estate practices and to determine how
to correct them;
(3) Designing specialized outreach projects to inform all persons
of the availability of housing opportunities;
(4) Developing and implementing a response to new or more
sophisticated housing practices that may result in discriminatory
housing practices; and
(5) Developing mechanisms for the identification of and quick
response to housing discrimination cases that involve physical harm.''
The activities set forth in this NOFA are eligible activities under
the Education and Outreach Initiative of the FHIP program, since they
relate to various eligible activities of this initiative. Other
sections of this NOFA will specifically illustrate how this
relationship is facilitated.
(3) Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Requirements
The Fair Housing Act states that it is the policy of the United
States to provide, within constitutional limitations, for fair housing
throughout the United States. The Act also states at Section 808(e)(5)
that the Department of Housing and Urban Development shall administer
its programs in a manner affirmatively to further the objectives of the
Fair Housing Act. Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing has, since 1972,
been one of the means by which the Department has carried out Section
808(e)(5) of the Act through the programs it has administered. The
purpose of Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing as stated in the
regulations at 24 CFR 200.600, is to ``achieve a condition in which
individuals of similar income levels in the same housing market area
have a like range of housing choices available to them regardless of
their race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national
origin.'' These regulations also apply to all applicants for
participation in HUD insured subsidized or unsubsidized housing
programs whose applications are approved for:
Multifamily projects and manufactured home parks of five or more
lots, units or spaces, and initial submissions by a lender for an
application for mortgage insurance on a single family property, where
the property is located in a subdivision and the builder or developer
intends to sell five or more properties in the subdivision;1 and
dwelling units when the applicant's participation would exceed five or
more HUD-insured single-family homes within the preceding twelve-month
period. Such participants are required to develop an affirmative
marketing program on a HUD-approved form. The regulations describe the
specific components of an Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan
(AFHM) at 24 CFR 200.620.
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\1\ See the Federal Register of August 3, 1993, HUD Systems for
Approval of Single-Family Subdivisions. This Final Rule included
amendments to the Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Regulations
that added handicap and familial status as protected classes under
these Regulations.
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The Department reviews and evaluates these affirmative marketing
plans submitted on Form HUD-935.2 (see attachment) as part of an
applicant's request for funding under a number of single-family and
multifamily mortgage insurance and subsidy programs. These reviews and
evaluations, as well as the monitoring of the implementation of these
Affirmative Marketing Plans, are conducted under procedures outlined in
HUD Handbook 8025.1 REV-2, Implementation of Affirmative Fair Housing
Marketing Requirements. The Department also conducts compliance-related
activities under the regulations at 24 CFR Part 108, Affirmative Fair
Housing Marketing Compliance Regulations.
A number of evaluations of both the administration of affirmative
fair housing marketing and the underlying objectives of the policy
conducted since 1974 have raised questions about AFHM's effectiveness
and results, especially in terms of its effects on racial housing
patterns within housing market areas. These evaluations and recent
assessments of how the review of Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing
(AFHM) Plans fits into the overall workload of the Field Office FHEO
Divisions and Program Operations Divisions in the Regional Offices have
also raised questions about the overall cost-effectiveness and
efficiency of the review process itself. The 1990 evaluation of AFHM
performed by the Office of Program Standards and Evaluation recommended
that the Department pilot test the use of a third party to accept
applications, check references, and provide an applicant a list of all
available housing opportunities under HUD-assisted and insured single-
family and multifamily programs. The evaluation also recommended that
the Department conduct studies of the manner in which various groups
search for rental and sales housing and the costs and benefits of
various marketing techniques. The activities described in this NOFA
address these recommendations in large part.
(b) Allocation Amounts
For FY 1993, the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and
Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993
(approved October 6, 1992, Pub. L. 102-389), (93 Appropriations Act)
appropriated $10.6 million for the FHIP program. Of this amount, $1
million of Education and Outreach Initiative funds is made available
under this NOFA to carry out an affirmative fair housing marketing
``lab'' experiment. The balance of $9.6 million in FY 1993 funds was
made available in a NOFA published on December 22, 1993 (58 FR 68000)
and amended on February 25, 1994 (59 FR 9235).
The Department estimates that the affirmative fair housing
marketing lab project will function approximately 18 months at a cost
to the federal government not to exceed $1.0 million dollars. The final
cost will depend upon submissions from eligible applicants. In no case
will the cost to the federal government for implementing the project
under this NOFA exceed $1.0 million dollars. The continuing operation
of the clearinghouse following completion of the lab will depend
entirely on the income generated from fees and other funding sources.
(c) Project Objectives
As a means of implementing the Department's strong commitment to
administer its programs affirmatively to further fair housing, the
Department seeks to implement an affirmative fair housing marketing
lab. This lab will test an areawide affirmative marketing approach
intended to expand affordable housing opportunities for those persons
identified as least likely to apply for the housing because of where it
is located. The specific objectives of this lab are:
(1) To promote greater awareness and acceptance on the part of
housing providers and the entire community of the need to market
assisted housing on a nondiscriminatory basis throughout the
metropolitan area to increase housing choice and advance equal housing
opportunity;
(2) To develop a model for the use of metropolitan areawide
affirmative marketing as an effective tool to affirmatively further
fair housing and provide greater affordable housing choice and
opportunity throughout a metropolitan area;
(3) To determine whether use of a clearinghouse is an effective
method over the long-term for assisted and insured multifamily housing
providers and builders and developers of HUD-insured single-family
housing to carry out their responsibilities under the Affirmative Fair
Housing Marketing Regulations; and
(4) To test ways for metropolitan areawide affirmative marketing
clearinghouses to become and remain financially self-supporting.
(d) Eligible Applicants
The following entities, either individually or in combination, are
eligible to apply for funding under this NOFA: Non-profit civil rights
and housing organizations; organizations representing segments of the
housing or mortgage lending industries; higher education institutions
with expertise in civil rights and housing. While location within the
Chicago metropolitan area would be highly desirable, it is not
required.
(e) Project Components
HUD seeks to implement a fair housing marketing lab to examine new
methods for offering privately operated federally assisted and insured
multifamily housing, within the Chicago metropolitan area to all
eligible residents of the area. For the purpose of this NOFA, the
Chicago metropolitan area includes the City of Chicago and Cook,
DuPage, Will, Kane, McHenry and Lake Counties. This area was selected
because of its extensive past experience in implementing areawide
interjurisdictional programs to promote fair housing and increased
housing choice and because of the existing infrastructure for carrying
out such programs. It is hoped that a new approach to affirmative fair
housing marketing will result in a breakdown of jurisdictional barriers
to housing opportunities and promote initiatives that diminish
residential segregation and encourage residential diversity. The $1
million offered through this NOFA will be targeted toward affirmative
fair housing marketing activities affecting either multifamily housing
alone, single-family housing alone, or both simultaneously. In
addition, an applicant may focus its proposed activities on either the
entire metropolitan area or specific target areas which it may
designate.
The Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Lab involves three distinct
elements:
(1) The first element of the lab entails the establishment of a
metropolitan areawide clearinghouse that will:
(i) Develop and administer a metropolitan areawide affirmative fair
housing marketing plan affecting participating privately-owned
federally assisted and insured multifamily housing. A complete
description of this Plan is found at Section IV (a)(2) of this NOFA.
The plan would not include assisted housing owned by the public housing
authorities in the Chicago metropolitan area, since at this time the
Department's Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Regulations do not
apply to PHA-operated housing. Furthermore, the Department plans to
conduct similar, larger-scale experiments on metropolitan-wide
strategies which will combine both privately-operated and PHA-operated
housing.
(ii) Develop and maintain the following databases:
(A) A metropolitan areawide database of all families eligible for
privately operated HUD-assisted (including insured) multifamily housing
who have used the services offered by the clearinghouse. The database
would be compiled through any of the following methods:
(1) Encouraging families already on waiting lists of participating
projects to take advantage of the housing opportunities offered by the
clearinghouse. Under this concept, the project manager would notify in
writing all families on his or her individual project waiting list of
the existence of the clearinghouse and the availability of both the
services and the expanded housing choices it will offer. The notice
would also say that any family which was found to be eligible for any
housing opportunity offered by the clearinghouse would not lose its
position on the individual project's waiting list and would in fact be
``crosslisted'' for all projects for which the family was eligible.
Note: A participant may opt to continue to maintain its own
project waiting list while using the other application intake
services.
(2) Recruiting families who respond to advertisements placed in
various media as part of the proposer's metropolitan areawide
affirmative marketing plan;
(B) An areawide list of housing opportunities offered by managers
of participating multifamily projects subject to AFHM requirements.
These housing opportunities may be categorized by jurisdiction within
the Chicago metropolitan area, by neighborhood within the City of
Chicago, by assisted or insured housing program, and by bedroom size;
(C) The demographics of each development and the neighborhoods in
which the assisted and insured housing opportunities are located must
be included and updated as turnover occurs. Information on the social
services, transportation, schools, churches, employment opportunities
and other facets of the community must also be included.
(iii) Carry out a major effort to secure voluntary participation in
the clearinghouse by a significant number of housing providers subject
to AFHM requirements that do business within the area designated by the
applicant. For purposes of this NOFA, housing providers include
corporations, individuals, or other entities who own and/or operate
apartment complexes of 10 or more units (including the Illinois Housing
Development Authority which operates Section 8 Housing projects subject
to AFHM requirements), realty companies and home builders who build,
rehabilitate or sell 10 or more new single-family homes annually, and
financial institutions involved in the making of loans on residential
property. This effort shall include outreach and education programs
targeted at apartment managers, real estate sales organizations and
housing industry professionals, and shall describe the roles of the
clearinghouse and the providers in helping individual families take
advantage of expanding affordable housing choices throughout the
Chicago metropolitan area. These outreach activities should be targeted
especially toward those housing professionals that do business outside
of racially-impacted, ethnically-impacted and lower-income impacted
neighborhoods and are willing to attract applicants to those areas in
which their race does not predominate. Such activities should also be
targeted to housing professionals who do business in predominantly
minority areas and are willing to attempt to attract non-minority
applicants.
The clearinghouse operator will have to explain the financial
benefits and obligations of participating in the clearinghouse, which
can include the participants' being relieved of their AFHM and
eligibility determination responsibilities. To encourage participation
by housing providers, HUD will waive the AFHM requirements and, as
necessary to permit participation, other regulatory and contractual
requirements pertaining to tenant selection and assignment that are not
required by statute throughout the period of the lab. These waivers
would affect those who would otherwise be subject to the waived
programmatic requirements (i.e., all persons approved for the
development or rehabilitation of single-family subdivisions,
multifamily projects of 10 or more units, and all other persons subject
to AFHM Plan requirements in Departmental programs). This affirmative
fair housing marketing lab will not alter in any way the requirement
for Public Housing Authorities to develop and submit an Equal Housing
Opportunity Plan (EHOP) for Section 8 existing housing.
(iv) Operate a one-stop metropolitan areawide housing center which
shall perform the following services:
(A) Processing applications for participating federally-assisted
and/or insured privately-owned and operated multifamily housing
submitted by families who desire to investigate housing opportunities
offered by participating owners, managers and real estate brokers.
While making applicants aware of all housing opportunities in the area
designated by the applicant, the office shall emphasize housing
opportunities within areas in which the applicant is least likely to
apply for the housing without special outreach activities, because of
where the housing is located, and offer additional fair housing
counseling for those persons desiring to relocate within such areas.
The clearinghouse shall also encourage the creation of housing
opportunities within predominantly minority sections of the lab area,
so that applicants regardless of race or ethnicity may take advantage
of them. The clearinghouse shall also make available information on
transportation, schools, social services, employment opportunities and
other facets of living in the area selected by the applicant.
For all families that have not previously been on an assisted
project's waiting list, the clearinghouse could review for eligibility,
perform income and employment verification, secure all information
necessary to determine federal or local preferences, and automatically
crosslist the applicant for each type of housing project within the
program for which he or she is eligible. For example, if a family were
to apply for a Section 221(d)(3) unit and were to be found eligible
under that program, the family would be crosslisted for all of that
program's projects which were participating in the clearinghouse.
(B) Conduct testing and other related activities, particularly in
the event that an applicant served by the clearinghouse appears to have
encountered discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex,
national origin, handicap or familial status or other prohibited
conduct that may violate the Fair Housing Act or Executive Order 11063.
However, testing for enforcement purposes may be funded only from
sources other than this NOFA, and the proposer shall indicate clearly
the purpose of any testing and the source and amount of funding devoted
to this purpose. Testing, if carried out for educational purposes only,
may be funded through this NOFA.
(C) Provide escort and other services to families willing to
explore housing opportunities in neighborhoods where their race or
ethnic group does not predominate and where they would have been least
likely to apply without special outreach.
(v) The applicant can also propose any of the following activities
affecting FHA-insured, VA or conventionally financed single-family
housing which is affordable for low-income families. These activities
may be funded either exclusively from this NOFA, exclusively from
sources other than this NOFA or from both federal and non-federal
sources:
(A) An areawide affirmative fair housing marketing plan which
emphasizes the single-family market;
(B) An areawide list of single-family homeownership opportunities
generated from financial institutions, realty companies and local
governments. These entities may refer prospective home purchasers to
the clearinghouse upon request, so that such purchasers can avail
themselves of the homeownership opportunities listed by the
clearinghouse; and
(C) A campaign that targets: (1) Realty companies and home builders
who build, rehabilitate or sell 10 or more new single-family homes
annually, and
(2) financial institutions involved in the making of loans on
residential property through the outreach program to housing providers
contained in the proposed areawide affirmative marketing plan.
(2) The second element of the lab consists of an evaluation of the
clearinghouse concept. The evaluation shall address:
(i) How the clearinghouse concept compares with the present system
of HUD review of individual affirmative marketing plans and with the
participation by local affiliates of the National Association of
Realtors, the National Association of Homebuilders, the National
Association of Real Estate Brokers and several other major national
real estate industry organizations in the Voluntary Affirmative
Marketing Agreement Program, in terms of cost-effectiveness; and
(ii) How effective the clearinghouse is in creating greater housing
choice and opportunity and in affecting change in a community's housing
occupancy and homeownership patterns.
The Department has decided that the evaluation of the activities
conducted under this NOFA will be conducted by an independent
contractor prior to the end of the project.
(3) The third element of the lab requires the development of new
ways to:
(i) Identify groups within the eligible population that are less
likely to apply for housing without special outreach;
(ii) Encourage those groups to take advantage of housing
opportunities in nontraditional areas;
(iii) Identify effective advertising methods;
(iv) Increase awareness of nondiscriminatory tenant selection and
application processing; and
(v) Test other ways to implement affirmative fair housing
marketing.
(f) Selection Criteria/Ranking Factors
(1) Selection Criteria for Ranking Applications for Assistance
All proposals submitted in response to this NOFA will be ranked on
the basis of the following selection criteria:
(i) The anticipated impact of the proposal on the concerns
identified in the application. (25 points). In determining the
anticipated impact of each proposal, HUD will evaluate whether the
proposal is well-conceived and likely to be successful if implemented,
and will consider the degree to which the proposal addresses the
significant fair housing issues affecting the Chicago metropolitan area
which had been identified in the fair housing analysis required under
this NOFA. Particular emphasis will be placed on how the proposer
describes the potential impact of the proposed plan on the fair housing
environment. This criterion will be judged on the basis of the
applicant's submissions in response to Paragraphs IV (a)(1), (a)(2) and
(a)(6) of this NOFA under the heading ``Checklist of Application
Submission Requirements''.
(ii) The extent to which the proposal will provide benefits in
support of fair housing after the lab has been completed. (25 points)
In determining the extent to which the proposal will continue providing
benefits after funded activities have been completed, HUD will consider
the degree to which the concept can be used as a model for similar
metropolitan areawide affirmative marketing clearinghouses in other
parts of the country. HUD will also evaluate how the applicant plans to
insure the long-term financial viability of the clearinghouse
fundraising from public and private sources or other means. This
criterion will be judged on the basis of the applicant's submissions in
response to Paragraphs IV (a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(5), and (a)(8) of this
NOFA under the heading ``Checklist of Application Submission
Requirements''.
(iii) The extent to which the project will provide the maximum
benefits in a cost-effective manner (20 points). In determining the
extent to which the proposal will provide the maximum benefit for the
metropolitan area covered by this NOFA in a cost-effective manner, HUD
will consider the quality and reasonableness of the proposed statement
of work, and the timeline and budget for implementation and completion
of the lab.
HUD will consider as well the adequacy and clarity of proposed
procedures to be used by the proposer for monitoring the progress of
the lab and ensuring its timely completion. These procedures may
consist of a system for checking whether or not the milestones
established are being met.
The applicant's capability in handling financial resources (e.g.,
adequate financial control and accounting procedures) demonstrated
through previous project management experience will be taken into
account as part of the assessment. HUD will also consider the degree to
which the applicant proposes to use funds for program costs as opposed
to administrative costs. This criterion will be judged on the basis of
the proposer's submissions in response to Paragraphs IV(a)(3), (a)(5)
and (a)(7) of this NOFA under the heading ``Checklist of Application
Submission Requirements''.
(iv) The extent to which the applicant's professional and
organizational experience will further the achievement of the
proposal's goals (20 points). In determining the extent to which the
applicant's professional and organizational experience are likely to
further the achievement of the proposal's goals, HUD will consider the
applicant's experience in formulating and carrying out programs to
prevent or eliminate discriminatory practices, including the
applicant's management of past or current projects, including projects
that have addressed the problem of providing housing on a
nondiscriminatory basis to minorities, women, the disabled and other
protected classes.
HUD will also consider these qualifications in the context of the
applicant's overall knowledge of the fair housing environment in the
Chicago metropolitan area. It will also consider the experience and
qualifications of existing personnel identified for key positions, or a
description of the qualifications of new staff that will be hired,
including subcontractors and consultants. This criterion will be judged
on the basis of the proposer's submissions in response to Paragraph
IV(a)(3) of this NOFA under the heading ``Checklist of Application
Submission Requirements''.
(v) The extent to which the project will utilize other public or
private resources that may be available (10 points). The applicant
shall describe whether in addition to the $1.0 million provided by this
NOFA it plans to use other public or private resources. The other
resources must be clearly and specifically targeted for this project
and must be over and above the resources available to the applicant as
part of its present, non-project operations for such expenses as
salaries, equipment, supplies and rent. This criterion will be judged
on the basis of the applicant's response to Paragraph IV (a)(4) of this
NOFA under the heading ``Checklist of Application Submission
Requirements''.
(vi) Minority Business Enterprise/Women-Owned Business Enterprise
(5 points). The applicant shall also describe its experience in
Minority Business Enterprise/Women-Owned Business Enterprise
contracting. The applicant shall provide a summary of the total amount
awarded in each of the two categories for the previous three years and
the percentage that amount represents of the total contracts awarded by
the applicant in the relevant time period.
(2) Selection Process. Each application for funding will be
evaluated competitively and awarded points based on the General
Selection Criteria identified in the previous section. The final
decision rests with the Assistant Secretary or her designee. After
eligible applications are evaluated against the factors for award and
assigned a score, they will be organized by rank order.
(3) Cost factors. The Department expects to fund one proposal as a
result of this NOFA. It is possible, however, that two or more complete
and eligible applications, after evaluation against the Selection
Criteria, may be considered equal in technical merit. Should that
occur, their relative evaluated cost will become the deciding factor.
Furthermore, an applicant's proposal will not be funded whose costs are
determined to be unrealistically low or unreasonably high.
(f) Applicant Notification and Award Procedures
(1) Notification
No information will be available to applicants during the period of
HUD evaluation, except for notification in writing to those applicants
that are determined to be ineligible or that have technical
deficiencies in their applications that may be corrected. The Selectee
will be announced by HUD upon completion of the evaluation process,
subject to final negotiations and award.
(2) Negotiations
After HUD has ranked the applications and made an initial
determination of applicants whose scores are within the funding range
(but before the actual award), HUD may require that applicants in this
group participate in negotiations to determine the specific terms of
the grant agreement. In cases where it is not possible to conclude the
necessary negotiations successfully, awards will not be made. If an
award is not made to an applicant whose application is in the initial
funding ranking because of an inability to complete successful
negotiations, and if funds are available to fund any applications that
may have fallen outside the initial funding ranking, HUD will select
the next highest ranking applicant and proceed as described in the
preceding paragraph.
(3) Funding Instrument
HUD expects to award a cost reimbursable or fixed-price cooperative
agreement to the successful applicant. HUD reserves the right, however,
to use the form of assistance agreement determined to be appropriate
after negotiations with the applicant.
(4) Reduction of Requested Grant Amounts and Special Conditions
HUD may approve an application for an amount lower than the amount
requested, withhold funds after approval, and/or the grantee will be
required to comply with special conditions added to the grant
agreement, in accordance with 24 CFR 85.12, the requirements of this
NOFA, or where:
(i) HUD determines the amount requested for one or more of the
components of the proposal is unreasonable or unnecessary.
(ii) The applicant has demonstrated an inability to manage HUD
grants;
(iii) For any other reason where good cause exists.
(5) Performance Sanctions
A recipient failing to comply with the procedures set forth in its
grant agreement will be liable for such sanctions as may be authorized
by law, including repayment of improperly used funds, termination of
further participation in FHIP, and denial of further participation in
programs of the Department or of any federal agency.
III. Application Process
An application kit is required as the formal submission to apply
for funding. The kit includes information on the Statement of Work and
Budget for activities proposed by the applicant. An application may be
obtained by writing the Fair Housing Information Clearinghouse, Post
Office Box 6091, Rockville, MD 20850, or by calling the toll-free
number 1-800-343-3442. To ensure a prompt response, it is suggested
that requests for application kits be made by telephone.
Completed applications are to be submitted to Laurence D. Pearl,
Director, Office of Program Standards and Evaluation, Office of Fair
Housing and Equal Opportunity, Department of Housing and Urban
Development, room 5224, 451 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20410.
The application due date and time will be specified in the application
kit. In no event, however, will the application be due before August
15, 1994. The application deadline is firm as to date and hour. In the
interest of fairness to all competing applicants, the Department will
treat as ineligible for consideration any application that is received
after the deadline. Applicants should take this practice into account
and make early submission of their materials to avoid any risk of loss
of eligibility brought about by unanticipated delays or other delivery-
related problems. A transmission by facsimile machine (``FAX'') will
not constitute delivery.
IV. Checklist of Application Submission Requirements
(a) General Requirements
The application kit will contain a checklist of application
submission requirements to complete the application process. Each
proposal submitted under this NOFA must contain the following items:
(1) A metropolitan areawide analysis of the impediments to fair
housing choice faced by individual homeseekers within the Chicago
metropolitan area, taking into account any of the institutional
problems involving the major segments of the real estate and lending
industries. This analysis must include a discussion of the problems
which specifically relate to the marketing of single-family and
multifamily housing to all segments of the population, with particular
emphasis on marketing to persons considered protected under the Fair
Housing Act and other statutes. The analysis must also discuss the
connections between the effectiveness of marketing and the processes of
selecting tenants for multifamily projects and evaluating the
creditworthiness of applicants for home mortgages. The analysis must
also address how its proposed clearinghouse concept will (i) address
any and all impediments identified, (ii) help effect change in the
current racial and income related housing patterns within the Chicago
metropolitan area affected by this NOFA, and (iii) help increase the
awareness of all participants in the housing process, especially
participants from the real estate industry, of their obligations under
fair housing statutes.
(2) A metropolitan areawide affirmative fair housing marketing plan
with the following components:
(i) A description of an overall advertising campaign targeted
toward groups identified as least likely to apply for assisted housing
located within areas for reasons such as the race or national origin of
the persons in the area, the lack of units that are accessible to
physically disabled persons in the area and the absence of significant
numbers of families with children in the area. The campaign may be
organized to reach the entire area affected by this NOFA or may be
segmented to reach particular jurisdictions, sections within individual
jurisdictions or particular segments of the eligible population. The
plan shall describe the media to be used, including minority media,
community organizations and contacts, referral services that assist
disabled persons, and other tactics. The objective of this part of the
plan is to encourage prospective renters and home purchasers to use the
services of the clearinghouse in their housing searches, especially
those services that will support their searches within non-traditional
areas.
(ii) A campaign to involve the various provider communities in the
clearinghouse on a voluntary basis, e.g., assisted multifamily housing
managers, local boards of realtors, home builders associations and
individual home builders. The plan shall describe the methods to be
used to recruit within the provider community, and how it plans to
describe the incentives and obligations (both financial and otherwise)
for participation in the clearinghouse. All such financial and other
incentives and obligations shall be reviewed and approved by the
Department prior to the implementation of this lab. The plan shall also
describe any and all training programs to be presented to clearinghouse
participants on their obligations under federal, state and local fair
housing laws.
(iii) A fair housing counseling program to be given all prospective
renters and homebuyers who use the clearinghouse's services to search
for dwellings located within areas in which their race or ethnic group
does not predominate and in areas where they would be otherwise least
likely to apply for housing without special outreach activities due to
factors pertaining to the racial or ethnic composition of the
neighborhood.
(iv) A goals statement on ensuring increased housing choice and
causing deconcentration by race and income in different sections of the
community. These goals may be stated in terms of achieving socio-
economic changes, e.g., in the racial/ethnic composition of particular
neighborhoods or projects, or of getting individual homeseekers to feel
that their housing options were increased by availing themselves of the
services offered by the clearinghouse. The goals can also be stated in
terms of bringing about changes in the attitudes and practices of
financial institutions, real estate offices, apartment management
companies and other entities that make decisions about their customers'
housing choices.
(v) Description of the structure of a consolidated areawide
database for multifamily housing units offered by the clearinghouse's
fair housing center. This database can be generated from applicants who
avail themselves of the services offered by the fair housing center
after it opens, or from the waiting lists maintained by the individual
participating private owners or management companies prior to the
center's opening. The proposer shall also describe the mechanics of
actual tenant selection, e.g., selection by the fair housing center
staff or by the individual apartment management company or landlord;
the procedures to be used by the clearinghouse in processing
applications from individual apartment seekers and the arrangements to
be made with participating multifamily project managers with respect to
referrals from the clearinghouse and the actual selection of tenants;
(vi) Descriptions of activities appropriate to the single-family
market, to be included by applicants who wish to emphasize marketing to
the prospective home purchaser. Such activities may include:
(A) Testing appropriate methods of involving local financial
institutions under the aegis of the fair housing center in activities
which will increase the sensitivity and awareness of such institutions
and their professional staff about the impact of their lending and
mortgage credit review practices upon properties and individuals
located in lower-income and racially and ethnically impacted
neighborhoods;
(B) Testing new methods of marketing to nontraditional home
purchasers, e.g., low-income families, persons with disabilities, and
first-time home purchasers who desire to increase their knowledge of
the responsibilities of homeownership;
(C) Testing a clearinghouse system geared toward referring
prospective home purchasers to real estate professionals who will
assist them in navigating the home purchase process.
(3) A statement of work, a budget--which must include a realistic
amount, not to exceed $2,000, in travel costs for financial management
training sponsored by the Department--and a timeline for the
implementation of the proposed activities, consisting of a description
of the specific activities to be conducted with these funds, the
geographic areas to be served by the activities, the cost of each
proposed activity and a schedule for the implementation and completion
of the activities.
(4) A description of the applicant's experience in formulating or
carrying out programs to prevent or eliminate discriminatory housing
practices or in implementing other civil rights programs, the
experience and qualifications of existing personnel identified for key
positions, or a description of the qualifications of new staff to be
hired, including subcontractors/consultants.
(5) A description of the financial mechanisms to be used by the
clearinghouse operator in addition to the federal funds to make the
clearinghouse self-sustaining. Such a mechanism shall be reviewed and
approved by the Department prior to the implementation of this lab.
(6) A description of the procedures to be used by the applicant for
monitoring the progress of the proposed activities.
(7) A description of the fair housing benefits that successful
completion of the project will produce, and the indicators by which
these benefits are to be measured. These possible benefits can include
changes in racial, ethnic and income-related housing patterns that may
have taken place during the testing period, increases in awareness and
changes in lending, or sales and rental practices which result in
fairer treatment for persons protected by civil rights statutes.
Particular emphasis must be placed on measuring and comparing the costs
and the benefits of the present system of HUD AFHM Plan processing and
the clearinghouse concept being tested under this NOFA.
(8) A description of how the clearinghouse will be of continuing
use in dealing with housing discrimination after the completion of the
demonstration. In this section, the proposer shall explain how the
clearinghouse plans to continue its existence after the expiration of
this grant, describing the public and private sources of financing and
the services which are both similar to and different from the services
to be offered during the period of this grant.
(9) HUD Form 2880, Applicant Disclosures.
(10) The applicant must submit a certification and disclosure in
accordance with the requirements of section 319 of the Department of
the Interior Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 101-121, approved October 23,
1989), as implemented in HUD's interim final rule at 24 CFR part 87,
published in the Federal Register on February 26, 1990 (55 FR 6736).
This statute generally prohibits recipients and subrecipients of
federal contracts, grants, cooperative agreements and loans from using
appropriated funds for lobbying the Executive and Legislative Branches
of the federal government in connection with a specific contract,
grant, or loan. If warranted, the applicant should include the
Disclosure of Lobbying Activities Form (SF-LLL).
V. Corrections to Deficient Applications
Applicants will not be disqualified from being considered for
funding because of technical deficiencies in their application
submission, e.g., an omission of information such as regulatory/program
certifications, inadequate budget data, or incomplete signatory
requirements for application submission.
HUD will notify an applicant in writing of any technical
deficiencies in the application. The applicant must submit corrections
within 14 calendar days from the date of HUD's letter notifying the
applicant of any technical deficiency.
The 14-day correction period pertains only to non-substantive,
technical deficiencies or errors. Technical deficiencies relate to
items that:
(a) Are not necessary for HUD review under selection criteria/
ranking factors; and
(b) Would not improve the substantive quality of the proposal.
VI. Other Matters
Section 504 Requirements
Recipients will be expected to comply with the requirements of
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 794, and 24
CFR part 8. Section 504 prohibits discrimination based on handicap in
federally assisted programs.
Prohibition Against Lobbying
On February 26, 1990, at 55 FR 6736, the Department joined in the
issuance of a government-wide interim rule advising recipients and
subrecipients of federal contracts, grants, cooperative agreements and
loans exceeding $100,000 of a new prohibition against use of
appropriated funds for lobbying the Executive or Legislative Branches
of the federal government in connection with a specific contract,
grant, or loan. In general, this rule prohibits the awarding of
contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or loans unless the
recipient has made an acceptable certification regarding lobbying. In
addition, the recipient must file a disclosure if it has made or has
agreed to make any payment with nonappropriated funds that would be
prohibited if paid with appropriated funds. The law provides
substantial monetary penalties for failure to file the required
certification or disclosure.
Environmental Impact
A Finding of No Significant Impact with respect to the environment
has been made in accordance with the Department's regulations at 24 CFR
part 50 which implement Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). The Finding of No Significant
Impact is available for public inspection between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30
p.m. weekdays at the Office of the Rules Docket Clerk, room 10276,
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20410.
Executive Order 12606, The Family
The General Counsel, as the Designated Official under Executive
Order 12606, The Family, has determined that the policies announced in
this Notice would not have a significant impact on the formation,
maintenance, and general well-being of families except indirectly to
the extent of the social and other benefits expected from this program
of assistance.
Executive Order 12612, Federalism
The General Counsel has determined, as the Designated Official for
HUD under section 6(a) of Executive Order 12612, Federalism, that the
policies contained in this Notice will not have federalism implications
and, thus, are not subject to review under the Order. The promotion of
fair housing policies is a recognized goal of general benefit without
direct implications on the relationship between the national government
and the states or on the distribution of power and responsibilities
among various levels of government.
Drug-Free Workplace Certification
The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 requires grantees of federal
agencies to certify that they will provide drug-free workplaces. Thus,
each applicant must certify that it will comply with drug-free
workplace requirements in accordance with 24 CFR part 24, subpart F.
Section 102 HUD Reform Act Documentation and Public Access
Requirements; Applicant/Recipient disclosures
Documentation and Public Access Requirements
HUD will ensure that documentation and other information regarding
each application submitted pursuant to this NOFA are sufficient to
indicate the basis upon which assistance was provided or denied. This
material, including any letters of support, will be made available for
public inspection for a five-year period beginning not less than 30
days after the award of the assistance. Material will be made available
in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and
HUD's implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 15. In addition, HUD will
include the recipients of assistance pursuant to this NOFA in its
quarterly Federal Register notice of all recipients of HUD assistance
awarded on a competitive basis. (See 24 CFR 12.14(a) and 12.16(b), and
the notice published in the Federal Register on January 16, 1992 (57 FR
1942), for further information on these documentation and public access
requirements.)
Disclosures
HUD will make available to the public for five years all applicant
disclosure reports (HUD Form 2880) submitted in connection with this
NOFA. Update reports (also Form 2880) will be made available along with
the applicant disclosure reports, but in no case generally for a period
of less than three years. All reports--both applicant disclosures and
updates--will be made available in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and HUD's implementing regulations at 24
CFR part 15. (See 24 CFR subpart C, and the notice published in the
Federal Register on January 16, 1992 (57 FR 1942), for further
information on these disclosure requirements.)
Section 103 HUD Reform Act
HUD's regulation implementing section 103 of the Department of
Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 was published May 13,
1991 (56 FR 22088) and became effective on June 12, 1991. That
regulation, codified as 24 CFR part 4, applies to the funding
competition announced today. The requirements of the rule continue to
apply until the announcement of the selection of successful applicants.
HUD employees involved in the review of applications and in the making
of funding decisions are limited by part 4 from providing advance
information to any person (other than an authorized employee of HUD)
concerning funding decisions, or from otherwise giving any applicant an
unfair competitive advantage. Persons who apply for assistance in this
competition should confine their inquiries to the subject areas
permitted under 24 CFR part 4.
Applicants who have questions should contact the HUD Office of
Ethics (202) 708-3815 (TDD/Voice). (This is not a toll-free number.)
The Office of Ethics can provide information of a general nature to HUD
employees, as well. However, a HUD employee who has specific program
questions, such as whether particular subject matter can be discussed
with persons outside the Department, should contact his or her Regional
or Field Office Counsel, or Headquarters counsel for the program to
which the question pertains.
Section 112 HUD Reform Act
Section 13 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act
contains two provisions dealing with efforts to influence HUD's
decisions with respect to financial assistance. The first imposes
disclosure requirements on those who are typically involved in these
efforts--those who pay others to influence the award of assistance or
the taking of a management action by the Department and those who are
paid to provide the influence. The second restricts the payment of fees
to those who are paid to influence the award of HUD assistance, if the
fees are tied to the number of housing units received or are based on
the amount of assistance received, or if they are contingent upon the
receipt of assistance.
Section 13 was implemented by final rule published in the Federal
Register on May 17, 1991 (56 FR 22912). If readers are involved in any
efforts to influence the Department in these ways, they are urged to
read the final rule, particularly the examples contained in Appendix A
of the rule.
Authority: Section 561 of the Housing and Community Development
Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616 note); Title VIII, Civil Rights Act of
1968, as amended (42 U.S.C. 3601-3619); Sec. 7(d), Department of
Housing and Urban Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3535(d)).
Dated: June 10, 1994.
Paul Williams,
General Deputy, Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity.
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TN16JN94.000
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[FR Doc. 94-14688 Filed 6-15-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-28-C
_______________________________________________________________________
Part X
Department of the Interior
_______________________________________________________________________
Bureau of Indian Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
Plan for the Use of the Gila River Indian Community Indian Judgment
Funds in Docket No. 236-N Before the United States Court of Federal
Claims; Notice
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Plan for the Use of the Gila River Indian Community Indian
Judgment Funds in Docket No. 236-N Before the United States Court of
Federal Claims
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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EFFECTIVE DATE: This plan was effective as of May 9, 1994.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terry Lamb, Historian, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Division of Tribal Government Services, 2611 MS/MIB,
1849 C Street NW., Washington, DC 20240.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Act of October 19, 1973 (Pub. L. 93-134,
87 Stat. 466), as amended, requires that a plan be prepared and
submitted to Congress for the use and distribution of funds
appropriated to pay a judgment of the Indian Claims Commission or Court
of Claims to any Indian tribe. Funds were appropriated on January 25,
1993 in satisfaction of the award granted to the Gila River Indian
Community before the United States Court of Federal Claims in Docket
236-N. The plan for the use of the funds was submitted to Congress with
a letter dated January 24, 1994 and was received (as recorded in the
Congressional Record) by the Senate on February 7, 1994 and by the
House of Representatives on January 25, 1994. The plan became effective
May 9, 1994 as provided by the 1973 Act, as amended by Pub. L. 97-458,
since a joint resolution disapproving it was not enacted. The plan
reads as follows:
Plan
for the Use of the Gila River Indian Community Judgment Funds in Docket
No. 236-N before the United States Claims Court
The funds appropriated January 25, 1993 in satisfaction of the
award granted in Docket No. 236-N to the Gila River Indian Community
before the U.S. Claims Court, less attorney fees and litigation
expenses, and including all interest and investment income accrued,
shall be used and distributed as follows:
Per Capita Aspect
The Secretary of the Interior (``Secretary'') shall make a per
capita distribution of eighty percent (80%) of the principal, interest,
and investment income accrued, in a sum as equal as possible, to each
member of the Gila River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, born on or
prior to and living on the effective date of this plan. Any remaining
amount, after the per capita payment to the members, shall revert to
the tribe for use in the programming aspect of this plan.
Programming Aspect
Twenty percent (20%) of the principal, interest and investment
income accrued shall continue to be invested with the interest to be
available to the community's general fund on an annual budgetary basis
to be used for operation of community programs.
If at some future date, the Gila River Indian Community decides to
amend this Plan, the Plan may be amended with the approval of the
Secretary.
General Provisions
The per capita shares of living, competent adults shall be paid
directly to them. The per capita shares of deceased individual
beneficiaries shall be determined and distributed in accordance with 43
CFR part 4, subpart D. Per capita shares of legal incompetents and
minors shall be handled as provided in the Act of October 19, 1973, 87
Stat. 466, as amended January 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2512.
None of the funds made available under this plan for programming or
per capita distribution shall be subject to Federal or State income
taxes, nor shall such funds nor their availability be considered as
income or resources, nor otherwise utilized as the basis for denying or
reducing the financial assistance or other benefits to which such
household or member would otherwise be entitled under the Social
Security Act or, except for any per capita shares in excess of $2,000,
any Federal or federally assisted programs.
Hilda A. Manuel,
Acting Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 94-14630 Filed 6-15-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-02-M
