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Proposed Rules
Federal Register Vol. 86, No. 8
Wednesday, January 13, 2021

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains notices to the public of the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
24 CFR Parts 5, 92, 93, 200, 574, 576, 578, 880, 882, 884, 886, 902, 982, 983
and 985
Docket No. FR6086P01
RIN 2577AD05

Economic Growth Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act:
Implementation of National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate NSPIRE
Office of the Assistant Secretary for HousingFederal Housing Commissioner, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, HUD.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:

This rule proposes a new approach to defining and assessing housing quality: The National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate NSPIRE. This proposed rule is part of a broader effort across HUD to revise the way HUD-assisted housing is inspected and evaluated. The purpose of NSPIRE is to reduce regulatory burden and improve HUD oversight through the alignment and consolidation of the inspection regulations used to evaluate HUD housing across multiple programs, which are currently evaluating housing quality through differing standards, protocols, and frequencies. The goal of this alignment and consolidation is to create a unified assessment of housing quality. In advancement of HUDs mission to create quality affordable housing and strong, sustainable, and inclusive communities, this rule would establish the method HUD will use for the implementation of specific NSPIRE
standards, scoring, and processes through Federal Register notices.
Additionally, the proposed rule seeks to apply a safe, habitable dwellings standard; reduce the categories of current inspectable areas for physical
SUMMARY:

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condition standards for covered housing programs from five to three; implement a new annual self-inspection and reporting requirement for certain HUD
housing; establish an administrative process for the treatment of health and safety deficiencies; and incorporate provisions of the Economic Growth and Recovery, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act that will reduce administrative burden on small rural PHAs.
DATES: Comment Due Date: March 15, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments to the Office of the General Counsel, Rules Docket Clerk, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW, Room 10276, Washington, DC 204100001. Communications should refer to the above docket number and title and should contain the information specified in the Request for Comments section. There are two methods for submitting public comments.
1. Submission of Comments by Mail.
Comments may be submitted by mail to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451
7th Street SW, Room 10276, Washington, DC 204100500. Due to security measures at all federal agencies, however, submission of comments by mail often results in delayed delivery.
To ensure timely receipt of comments, HUD recommends that comments submitted by mail be submitted at least two weeks in advance of the public comment deadline.
2. Electronic Submission of Comments. Interested persons may submit comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http www.regulations.gov. HUD
strongly encourages commenters to submit comments electronically.
Electronic submission of comments allows the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, ensures timely receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make comments immediately available to the public. Comments submitted electronically through the http www.regulations.gov website can be viewed by other commenters and interested members of the public.
Commenters should follow instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.

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Note: To receive consideration as public comments, comments must be submitted through one of the two methods specified above. Again, all submissions must refer to the docket number and title of the notice.
No Facsimile Comments. Facsimile fax comments are not acceptable.
Public Inspection of Comments. All comments and communications submitted to HUD will be available for public inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at the above address. Due to security measures at the HUD Headquarters building, an advance appointment to review the public comments must be scheduled by calling the Regulations Division at 202 708
3055 this is not a toll-free number.
Copies of all comments submitted are available for inspection and downloading at http
www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Timothy Weese and Samuel Franco, Real Estate Assessment Center, Office of Public and Indian Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 550 12th St SW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 204104000, telephone number 202
7081112 this is not a toll-free number. Individuals with hearing or speech impediments may access this number via TTY by calling the Federal Relay during working hours at 800877
8339 this is a toll-free number.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background There are currently two inspection models used across the majority of HUD
housing programs: The Housing Quality Standards HQS developed in the 1970s, which are currently found at 24
CFR 982.401, and the Uniform Physical Condition Standards UPCS developed in the 1990s, which are currently found at 24 CFR 5.703. Both remain largely unchanged since their inception. The housing portfolio that was once dominated by government-owned properties has changed in the past two decades to become largely increasingly owned by private entities. This shift has caused Congress and HUDs evolving list of stakeholders to demand revisions to the physical inspection products and services that will both provide reliable evaluations of housing conditions and protect residents.
HUD analyzed the way inspections are conducted under both models to
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