[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 87 (Thursday, May 6, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24963-24964]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10689]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-5382-N-09]
Notice of Proposed Information Collection for Public Comment: 202
Demonstration Planning Grant Evaluation
AGENCY: Office of Policy Development and Research, HUD.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The proposed information collection requirement described
below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department
is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.
DATES: Comments Due Date: July 6, 2010.
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: Ashaki Robinson Johns, Office of
Policy Development and Research, Department of Housing and Urban
Development, 451 7th Street, SW., Suite 8120, Washington, DC 20410.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ashaki Robinson Johns (202) 402-7545,
(this is not a toll free number) for copies of the proposed forms and
other available documents.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department will submit the proposed
information collection to OMB for review, as required by the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended). This notice
is soliciting comments from members of the public and affected agencies
concerning the proposed collection of information to: (1) Evaluate
whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including if the
information will have practical utility; (2) Evaluate the accuracy of
the agency's estimate of the burden of proposed collection of
information; (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (4) 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.
Title of Proposal: Research Plan for an Evaluation of the Section
202 Demonstration Planning Grant Program.
Description of the need for information and proposed use: The
Department is conducting, through a contract to Abt Associates Inc. and
its subcontractor, VIVA Consulting LLC, a study of the Section 202
Supportive Housing for the Elderly Demonstration Planning Grant
Program. The Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program
provides capital advances and operating funds to nonprofit
organizations (``sponsors'') to develop affordable elderly housing.
HUD's goal for Section 202 properties is for sponsors to reach initial
closing within 18 months of fund reservation. However, a 2003 study of
the Section 202 program by the Governmental Accountability Office (GAO)
found that approximately 70 percent of Section 202 properties funded
between 1998 and 2009 did not meet this goal and that properties that
did not meet the 18-month timeline took an average of 29 months to
reach initial closing. The predevelopment delays were attributed to a
number of factors, including the lack of predevelopment funding.
The Section 202 Demonstration Planning Grant Program (DPG) was
created in 2004 to provide predevelopment funding to Section 202
sponsors to reduce development delays and increase the number of
affordable rental units made available each year for low-income elderly
households. This evaluation will assess the awareness and effectiveness
of the program through telephone surveys with project sponsors. The key
research question is whether the DPG helps sponsors get from Section
202 award to initial closing on the project within 18 months, HUD's
target duration for the predevelopment period.
To collect the information necessary for this study, the Department
will conduct a telephone survey of staff members from a sample of
sponsor organizations. The surveys will be conducted with both staff
from sponsor organizations that have received Demonstration Planning
Grants (``DPG recipients'') and staff from sponsor organizations that
have received Section 202 funding between fiscal years 2004 and 2008
but have not received a Demonstration Planning Grant (``non-
recipients''). Surveys will be conducted with 70 DPG recipients and 30
non-recipients. The samples will be selected purposively to provide
geographic diversity by Census region and a range of durations of
predevelopment periods.
DPG recipients will be asked about their knowledge of and
experience with the DPG program and how the DPG and other factors
influenced their ability to reach initial closing within 18 months.
[[Page 24964]]
Non-recipients will be asked about their familiarity with the DPG
program, the reasons they did not apply for the program, and the
factors that contributed to their ability to reach initial closing
within 18 months.
Members of Affected Public: The telephone sponsor survey will
affect approximately 100 recipients of a Section 202 Supportive Housing
for the Elderly grant.
Estimation of the total number of hours needed to prepare the
information collection including number of respondents, frequency of
response, and hours of response: For the DPG recipient survey, the
researchers will administer a one-time telephone survey to 70 sponsor
staff. These interviews are expected to last 60 minutes for a total
burden hour estimate of 70 hours. For the non-recipient survey, the
researchers will administer a one-time telephone survey to 30 sponsor
staff. The non-recipient interviews are expected to last 30 minutes for
a total burden hour estimate of 15 hours.
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Number Average burden/
Respondents Number of responses per response (in Total burden
respondents respondent hours) hours
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DPG Recipients.................................. 70 1 1.0 70
Non-recipients.................................. 30 1 0.5 15
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Total....................................... 100 100 .............. 85
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Status of the proposed information collection: Pending OMB
approval.
Authority: Section 3506 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended.
Dated: April 28, 2010.
Raphael W. Bostic,
Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research.
[FR Doc. 2010-10689 Filed 5-5-10; 8:45 am]
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