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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 2021 / Proposed Rules
Similarly, while the proposed rule aligns the Office of Community Planning and Development CPD
programs whenever possible, CPD
programs pose unique challenges to alignment, both across HUD and within CPD. CPD programs provide housing assistance, one-time or time-limited assistance such as mediation with a property owner or a one-time payment of rental arrears to help a family avoid eviction from their existing housing, or payment of rental application fees to help a person in shelter get back into housing, and special housing needs programs. CPD programs also fund various services, such as legal assistance and mediation to prevent eviction and housing search and placement, for special needs populations. The variety of housing assistance and services offered through CPD programs required HUD to adopt, as proposed here, unique inspection frequencies and protocols that account for the needs of these different programs and assistance types.
Furthermore, this alignment accounts for the fact that CPD programs are administered differently. For example, CPDs formula grant-based programs are provided to States, eligible units of local government, the District of Columbia, U.S. Territories and Tribal governments, which often follow local code requirements.
Through the rulemaking process, HUD invites recommendations on opportunities to further consolidate similar regulatory provisions.
With regard to consolidation, HUD is requesting public comments on the following questions:
Question for Comment 1: The Economic Growth and Recovery Act mandates that for small public housing agencies, the same standards apply to small public housing agencies for the acceptable condition of public housing projects also apply to projects assisted under Section 8. Is there a preferable approach to implementing the statutory provision that requires the same standards for small rural Section 8
projects and PHA public housing projects? If so, how should the standards for and small rural PHA
Section 8 projects and public housing projects differ from the standards employed for all other public housing and HCV units while ensuring that all HUD housing must be free of health and safety hazards?
Why HUD Is Implementing NSPIRE
Through Rulemaking As previously noted, the current regulatory footprint of all housing standards is sprawling. HUD believes that consolidating these standardsa
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total of 16 regulations containing many administrative and procedural differencesis required to reduce administrative burden and increase resident safety.
While some of the programmatic modifications made by this proposed rule could have been implemented without formal rulemaking, proceeding with this proposed rule provides a framework for continued stakeholder engagement and ensures transparency throughout the process.
During the NSPIRE implementation and in parallel to formal rulemaking, HUD plans to draft Federal Register notices that would outline the specific standards, scoring, and protocols under NSPIRE. All updated standards and scoring methodologies would be publishedas required by this proposed rulethrough a Federal Register Notice at least once every 3 years with the opportunity for public comment prior to implementation. This would provide opportunity for both industry stakeholders and the general public to examine the proposed changes, provide pertinent comments, and suggest the inclusion of any relevant industry best practices. This would also allow HUD to be more responsive to the changing portfolio and evolving needs in the field and would allow HUD to further ensure resident safety remains at the forefront.
II. The Proposed Rule There are three sections under this heading representing the four types of changes this rule is making: Section A
covers amendments and additions to 24
CFR part 5, which make up the bulk of the changes proposed; Section B covers HUDs implementation of its statutory mandate regarding Small rural PHAs;
and Section C discusses other changes which the proposed rule would make to regulations for programs which are being integrated under NSPIRE.
A: Amendments and Additions to 24
CFR Part 5
Amending 24 CFR part 5 would allow HUD to consolidate multiple physical condition requirements into a single regulation. This would align overarching policies related to the frequency of inspections, the method of appealing results, and the actors responsible for conducting inspections.
It would also make several technical modifications to other regulations.
These changes would ensure transparency, consolidate regulatory sprawl, and reduce overall burden for PHAs and owner/agents.
HUDs consolidation and alignment of the inspections regulations under this part broadly fall into two categories.

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First, amended and aligned 5.703
would generally apply across all HUD
programs covered under the proposed rule. These regulations are meant to convey clear expectations of housing quality and maintenance requirements across HUD programs, ensuring residents have a shared expectation of safe, habitable housing regardless of program type. Second, changes and alignment in 5.705 through 5.713 are generally only applicable to the public housing and multifamily programs as they deal with administrative procedures and scoring for HUDconducted inspections. To clarify, by nature of their differing statutory requirements and programmatic considerations, 5.705 through 5.713
in part 5 generally do not apply to Section 8o programs HCV and PBV, Moderate Rehabilitation, or certain CPD
programs i.e., HOME and Housing Trust Fund HTF.
HUD proposes the following amendments and additions to 24 CFR
part 5:
a. Section 5.701 Applicability The current regulations at 5.701
state that the physical condition standards in 24 CFR part 5 apply to Public Housing and certain programs administered under HUDs Office of Multifamily Housing, including all project-based Section 8 programs and any housing with mortgages insured or held by HUD or receiving insurance from HUD.
Amended 5.701 would extend this subpart to the HCV part 982 and PBV
programs part 983. CPD programs would adopt these standards by reference in the applicable CPD
regulations to include: The HOME
Program part 92; HTF part 93;
Housing Opportunities for Persons with Aids HOPWA part 574; Emergency Solutions Grants ESG Program part 576; and Continuum of Care CoC part 578.
b. Section 5.703 National Standards for the Condition of HUD Housing HUDs housing condition standards are located in two areas in the regulations today: Existing 5.703
applies to public housing, multifamily, and some CPD programs while existing 982.401 applies to HCV and PBV, and to some other CPD programs via crossreference. CPD programs do not apply any scoring, weighting, ranking or enforcement from Part 5. This is outlined in the CPD program rules e.g., HOME rule at 24 CFR 92.251f1i..
CPD programs are fundamentally different than many of the programs subject to REAC inspections as they are
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