Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1

32692

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 117 / Tuesday, June 22, 2021 / Notices
technical assistance expenditures must not exceed 5 percent of the grant amount plus 5 percent of program income generated by the grant. Under this alternative requirement, the grantee is limited to spending a maximum of 15
percent of its total grant on planning costs. Planning costs subject to this cap are those defined in 42 U.S.C.
5305a12.
V.A.8. Purpose, eligibility, overall benefit, and national objective alternative requirements.
V.A.8.a. Purpose. As stated in section III, the Appropriations Act requires grantees to use funds for electrical power system improvements. HUD
encourages grantees to use CDBGDR
funds for electrical power system improvements in a manner that leverages other sources of federal and public utility funds to increase the longterm impact of Federal investments on the electrical power system.
For purposes of this notice:
i An electrical power system shall be defined as an interconnected or autonomous set of transmission lines, distribution lines, substations, central power generation stations, other sources of power, distributed energy resources, or enabling technologies and services, such as industry standard billing, accounting information technology, cybersecurity enhancements, microgrids and fuel transfer delivery systems, that are necessary for the provision of reliable, resilient, stable, and costeffective electrical service; and ii electrical power system improvements shall be defined as the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation or installation of facilities, improvements, or other components including interim assistance, and financing public or private acquisition for reconstruction or rehabilitation, and reconstruction or rehabilitation, of privately owned property that are undertaken to extend, upgrade, and otherwise enhance and improve the cost-effectiveness, reliability, efficiency, sustainability, or long-term financial viability of the grantees electrical power system including activities to increase the resilience of the electrical power system to future disasters and to address the impacts of climate change.
The refinancing or paying down of debt shall be an electrical power system improvement only for the purpose of acquiring a facility and subject to the requirements of section V.B.3 of this notice.
To align with long term decarbonization goals, the term electrical power system improvements, as applied to central power generating
VerDate Sep<11>2014

18:17 Jun 21, 2021

Jkt 253001

stations, shall only include an improvement or replacement of a central power generating station operating on the applicability date of this notice if HUD, in consultation with DOE and EPA, determines that such improvement or replacement will result in a net decrease in carbon emissions from that generating power station at comparable levels of operation. A
central power generating station is defined as a large-scale centralized facility for the generation of electricity that qualifies as a major stationary source of air pollutants per the requirements of 40 CFR part 70.
V.A.8.b. Eligibility. A grantee must use grant funds for electrical power system improvements that satisfy all requirements for an electrical power system improvement activity as described in V.A.8.a. above. HUD will consider grantee requests for additional waivers and alternative requirements if needed to carry out other activities that enhance or improve their electrical power systems. All requests must include supporting data that demonstrates the need for the waiver and alternative requirement. Grantees should work with the assigned CPD
representative to request any additional waivers or alternative requirements from HUD headquarters.
HUD is granting the following waiver and alternative requirement to establish a new eligible activity, the electrical power systems improvements activity.
The Department has determined that the aggregate of electrical power system improvements to be completed with CDBGDR funds subject to this notice are together, critical components of the regions long-term recovery from Hurricane Maria and to the resilience of the region to future weather events.
HUD recognizes that the broad scope of these activities may limit the ability of grantees to categorize these CDBGDR
funds into discrete categories of CDBG
eligibility and to appropriately assign a CDBG national objective to each component of the planned improvements. For grants under other appropriations acts, HUD has established similar waivers to create an eligible activity for large complex projects that are composed of multiple activities that, in and of themselves, may not all be CDBG-eligible, but which nonetheless contribute to the mitigation of disaster risk and to long-term disaster recovery. This waiver will similarly ease administration and facilitate the use of grant funds for their intended purpose.
Accordingly, HUD is waiving section 105a 42 U.S.C. 5305a of the HCDA
and establishing an alternative requirement only to the extent necessary
PO 00000

Frm 00021

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

to create a new eligible activity, electrical power system improvements, which shall be applicable only for the grant funded pursuant to this notice.
Under this activity, all uses of funds that meet the definition of electrical power system improvements above and comply with the alternative requirements below are both eligible under this waiver and alternative requirement and meet the statutory purpose of the funds. This activity includes the use of funds for payment of the non-Federal share required in connection with a Federal grant-in-aid program undertaken as part of an activity that meets the definition of electrical power system improvements and otherwise complies with grant requirements. This activity also includes relocation payments and assistance for displaced individuals, families, businesses, organizations, and farm operations, when determined by the grantee to be appropriate.
Electrical power system improvements that can be demonstrated to have a public benefit may be installed or applied on private lands. The definition of an electrical power system and the use of funds for electrical power system improvements shall not include ineligible activities as provided at 24
CFR 570.207, including costs for the operation and maintenance of the system. This definition and the use of funds for electrical power system improvements shall also not include the use of CDBGDR funds for the operation and maintenance costs of a public utility or the costs of fuel or energy purchase contracts in effect prior to the applicability date of this notice. HUD
encourages grantees to use CDBGDR
funds for electrical power system improvements in a manner that leverages other sources of federal and public utility funds to increase the longterm impact of Federal investments on the electrical power system.
V.A.8.c. Overall benefit and national objective requirements. The primary objective of the HCDA is the development of viable urban communities, by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income 42 U.S.C.
5301c. Consistent with the HCDA, this notice requires grantees to comply with the overall benefit requirements in the HCDA and 24 CFR 570.484 that 70
percent of funds be used for activities that benefit lowand moderate-income persons. For purposes of this grant, HUD is establishing an alternative requirement that the overall benefit test shall apply only to the use of CDBGDR

E:FRFM22JNN1.SGM

22JNN1