[Federal Register: February 25, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 37)] [Notices] [Page 8684-8697] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr25fe02-116] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Rural Housing Service Notice of Availability of Funds; Multi-Family Housing, Single Family Housing AGENCY: Rural Housing Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Rural Housing Service (RHS) announces the availability of housing funds for fiscal year 2002 (FY 2002). This action is taken to comply with 42 U.S.C. 1490p, which requires that RHS publish in the Federal Register notice of the availability of any housing assistance. EFFECTIVE DATE: February 25, 2002. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information regarding this notice contact Teresa Sumpter, Loan Specialist, Single Family Housing Direct Loan Division, telephone 202-720-1485, Stop 0783, for single family housing (SFH) issues and Tammy S. Daniels, Loan Specialist, Multi- Family Housing Processing Division, telephone 202-720-0021, Stop 0781 for multi-family housing (MFH) issues, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20250. (The telephone numbers listed are not toll free numbers). For information on applying for assistance, visit our Internet Web site at www.rurdev.usda.gov/ recd__map.html and select your State or check the blue pages in your local telephone directory under ``Rural Development'' for the office serving your area. Also attached for information purposes is a listing of Rural Development State Directors, State Office addresses and phone numbers. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Programs Affected The following programs are subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12372 that requires intergovernmental consultation with State and local officials. These programs or activities are listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance under Nos. 10.405 Farm Labor Housing (LH) Loans and Grants 10.410 Very Low to Moderate Income Housing Loans 10.411 Rural Housing Site Loans and Self-Help Housing Land Development Loans 10.415 Rural Rental Housing Loans 10.417 Very Low Income Housing Repair Loans and Grants 10.420 Rural Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance 10.427 Rural Rental Assistance Payments 10.433 Rural Housing Preservation Grants 10.442 Housing Application Packaging Grants Discussion of Notice Part 1940, subpart L of 7 CFR contains the ``Methodology and Formulas for [[Page 8685]] Allocation of Loan and Grant Program Funds.'' To apply for assistance under these programs or for more information, contact the Rural Development Office for your area. Separate guidance has been provided to our State offices for assistance available in our Multi- and Single- Family Housing programs as follows: Multi-Family Housing (MFH) I. General A. This provides guidance on MFH funding for the Rural Rental Housing program (RRH) for FY 2002 (does not include carryover funds). Allocation computations have been performed in accordance with 7 CFR 1940.575 and 1940.578. For FY 2002, State Directors, under the Rural Housing Assistance Grants (RHAG), will have the flexibility to transfer their initial allocations of budget authority between the Single Family Housing (SFH) section 504 Rural Housing Grants and section 533 Housing Preservation Grant (HPG) programs. B. MFH loan and grant levels for FY 2002 are as follows: MFH Loan Programs Credit Sales: $1,778,515 Section 514 Farm Labor Housing (LH) loans: *$28,459,099 Section 515 Rural Rental Housing (RRH) loans: *$114,068,998 Section 521 Rental Assistance (RA) and 502(c)(5)(C) Advance: *$701,004,000 Section 516 LH grants: *$17,967,000 Section 525 Technical and Supervisory Assistance grants (TSA) and 509 Housing Application Packaging grants: $1,415,977 (HAPG) (Shared between single and multi-family housing): (includes carryover) Section 533 Housing Preservation grants (HPG): *$7,982,000 Section 538 Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing program: *$99,770,992 * Does not include disaster or regular program carryover. II. Funds Not Allocated to States A. Credit Sales Authority. For FY 2002, $1,778,515 will be set aside for credit sales to program and nonprogram buyers. Credit sale funding will not be allocated by State. B. Section 538 Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing Program. Guaranteed loan funds will be made available under a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) being published in the Federal Register. Additional guidance will be provided at that time. III. Farm Labor Housing (LH) Loans and Grants. The Administrator has the authority to transfer funds between the two programs. Upon NOFA closing the Administrator will evaluate the responses and determine proper distribution of funds between loans and grants. A. Section 514 Farm LH Loans 1. These loans are funded in accordance with 7 CFR 1940.579(a). FY 2002 Appropriation: $28,459,099 Available for Off-Farm Loans: $22,459,099 Available for On-Farm Loans: $2,500,000 National Office Reserve: $3,500,000 2. Off-farm loan funds will be made available under a NOFA being published in the Federal Register. Additional guidance will be provided in the NOFA. B. Section 516 Farm LH Grants 1. Grants are funded in accordance with 7 CFR 1940.579(b). Unobligated prior year balances and cancellations will be added to the amount shown. FY 2002 Appropriation: $17,967,000 Available for LH Grants for Off-Farm: $13,967,000 Available for Technical Assistance Grants: $1,500,000 National Office Reserve: $2,500,000 2. Labor Housing grant funds for Off-Farm will be made available under a NOFA being published in this Federal Register. Additional guidance will be provided in the NOFA. C. Labor Housing Rental Assistance (RA) will be held in the National Office for use with LH loan and grant applications. RA is only available with an LH loan of at least 5 percent of the total development cost. Projects without a LH loan cannot receive RA. IV. Section 515 RRH Loan Funds FY 2002 section 515 Rural Rental Housing allocation (Total): $114,068,998 New Construction funds and set-asides: $49,000,000 New construction loans: $16,715,502 Set-aside for nonprofits: $10,266,209 Set-aside for underserved counties and colonias: $5,703,450 Earmark for EZ, EC, or REAP Zones: $14,814,839 State RA designated reserve: $1,500,000 Rehab and repair funds and equity: $55,000,000 Rehab and repair loans: $50,000,000 Designated equity loan reserve: $5,000,000 General Reserve: $10,068,998 A. New construction loan funds. New construction loan funds will be made available using a national NOFA being published in the Federal Register. Upon closing of the NOFA, States will submit a list, in rank order of the eligible projects. B. National Office New Construction Set-asides. The following legislatively mandated set-asides of funds are part of the National office set-aside: 1. Nonprofit Set-aside. An amount of $10,266,209 has been set aside for nonprofit applicants. All Nonprofit loan proposals must be located in designated places as defined in RD Instruction 1944-E. 2. Underserved Counties and Colonias Set-Aside. An amount of $5,703,450 has been set aside for loan requests to develop units in the underserved 100 most needy counties or colonias as defined in section 509(f) of the Housing Act of 1949 as amended. Priority will be given to proposals to develop units in colonias or tribal lands. 3. EZ, EC or REAP Zone Earmark. An amount of $14,814,839 has been earmarked for loan requests to develop units in EZ or EC communities or REAP Zones until June 30, 2002. C. Rental Assistance (RA). Limited new construction RA will be held in the National office for use with section 515 Rural Rental Housing loans. D. Designated Reserves for State RA. An amount of $1.5 million of section 515 loan funds has been set aside for matching with projects in which an active State sponsored RA program is available. The State RA program must be comparable to the RHS RA program. E. Repair and Rehabilitation Loans. Tenant health and safety continues to be the top priority. Repair and rehabilitation funds must be first targeted to RRH facilities that have physical conditions that affect the health and safety of tenants and subsequently made available to facilities that have deferred maintenance. All funds will be held in the National office and will be distributed based upon indicated rehabilitation needs in the MFH survey conducted in October 2001. F. Designated Reserve for Equity Loans. An amount of $5 million has been designated for the equity loan preservation incentive described in RH Instruction 1965-E. The $5 million will be further divided into $4 million for equity loan requests currently on the pending funding list and $1 million to facilitate the transfer of properties from for-profit owners to nonprofit corporations and public bodies. Funds for such transfers would be authorized [[Page 8686]] only for for-profit owners who are currently on the pending funding list who agree to transfer to nonprofit corporations or public bodies rather than to remain on the pending list. If insufficient transfer requests are generated to utilize the full $1 million set aside for nonprofit and public body transfers, the balance will revert to the existing pending equity loan funding list. G. General Reserve. There is one general reserve fund of $10,068,998. Some examples of immediate allowable uses include, but are not limited to, hardships and emergencies, RH cooperatives or group homes, or RRH preservation. V. Section 533 Housing Preservation Grants (HPG). Total Available: $7,982,000 Less General reserve: $782,000 Less Earmark for EZ, EC, or REAP Zones: $600,000 Total Available for Distribution: $6,600,000 Amount available for allocation. See end of this Notice for HPG State allocations. Fund availability will be announced in a NOFA being published in the Federal Register. The amount of $600,000 is earmarked for EZ, EC or REAP Zones until June 30, 2002. Single Family Housing (SFH) I. General All SFH programs are administered through field offices. For more information or to make application, please contact the Rural Development office servicing your area. To locate these offices, contact the appropriate State Office from the attached State Office listing, visit our web site at www.rurdev.usda.gov/recd__map.html or check the blue pages in your local telephone directory under ``Rural Development'' for the office serving your area. A. This notice provides SFH allocations for FY 2002. Allocation computations have been made in accordance with 7 CFR 1940.563 through 1940.568. Information on basic formula criteria, data source and weight, administrative allocation, pooling of funds, and availability of the allocation are located on a chart at the end of this notice. B. The SFH levels authorized for FY 2002 are as follows: Section 502 Guaranteed Rural Housing (RH) loans Nonsubsidized Guarantees: $3,137,968,750 Section 502 Direct RH loans Very low-income subsidized loans: $475,133,131 Low-income subsidized loans: $604,714,893 Credit sales (Nonprogram): $10,000,000 Section 504 housing repair loans: $32,324,929 Section 504 housing repair grants: ***$30,053,395 Section 509 compensation for construction defects: **$574,204 Section 523 mutual and self-help housing grants **: ***$56,055,462 Section 523 Self-Help Site Loans: $5,000,000 Section 524 RH site loans: $5,090,909 Section 306C Water and waste disposal grants: **$1,458,569 Section 525 Supervisory and technical assistance and section 509 Housing Application: Packaging Grants Total Available for single and multi-family: **$1,415,977 North Carolina Elderly Demonstration Program Modular Home Loans: **$1,961,244 Modular Home Grants: **$3,998,627 Natural disaster funds (Section 502 loans): **$2,274,638 Natural disaster funds (Section 504 loans): **$13,462,253 Natural disaster funds (Section 504 grants): **$5,035,979 *Includes $600,000 for EZ/EC and REAP communities until June 30, 2002. **Carryover funds are included in the balance. ***Includes $1,000,000 for EZ/EC and REAP communities until June 30, 2002. c. SFH Funding Not Allocated to States. The following funding is not allocated to States by formula. Funds are made available to each state on a case-by-case basis. 1. Credit sale authority. Credit sale funds in the amount of $10,000,000 are available only for nonprogram sales of Real Estate Owned (REO) property. 2. Section 509 Compensation for Construction Defects. $574,204 is available for compensation for construction defects. 3. Section 523 Mutual and Self-Help Technical Assistance Grants. $56 million is available for section 523 Mutual and Self-Help Technical Assistance Grants. Of these funds, $1 million is earmarked for EZ, EC or REAP Zones until June 30, 2002. A technical review and analysis must be completed by the Technical and Management Assistance (T&MA) contractor on all predevelopment, new, and existing (refunding) grant applications. 4. Section 523 Mutual and Self-Help Site Loans and Section 524 RH Site Loans. $5,000,000 and $5,090,909 are available for section 523 Mutual Self-Help and Section 524 RH Site loans, respectively. 5. Section 306C WWD Grants to Individuals in Colonias. The objective of the section 306C WWD individual grant program is to facilitate the use of community water or waste disposal systems for the residents of the colonias along the U.S.-Mexico border. The total amount available to Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas will be $1,458,569 for FY 2002. This amount includes the carryover unobligated balance of $458,569 and the transferred amount of $1 million from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to RHS for processing individual grant applications. 6. Section 525 Technical and Supervisory Assistance (TSA) and Section 509 Housing Application Packaging Grants (HAPG). $998,000 of new funds and $417,977 of carryover funds from previous years remain available for the TSA and HAPG programs. The 29 eligible States under HAPG that have active grantees operating will be able to access up to $5,000 for section 502 or 504 loan and grant programs in order to continue operations. Reserve requests will be considered on a first- come, first-served basis. 7. North Carolina Elderly Demonstration Program. Budget authority was earmarked in FY 2001 for the North Carolina Elderly Demonstration Program. These funds were used to provide Section 502 loans and grants in North Carolina for very low- and low-income elderly families who lost their housing as a result of a major disaster declared by the President. Unobligated funds have been carried over into FY 2002 for this demo program. These funds will remain available until they are exhausted. 8. Natural Disaster Funds. Funds are available until exhausted to those States with active Presidential Declarations. 9. Deferred Mortgage Payment Demonstration. There is no FY 2002 funding provided for deferred mortgage authority or loans for deferred mortgage assumptions. D. Contingency Reserve. For the Section 502 direct and Section 504 loan and grant programs, a 5 percent contingency reserve will be held in the National Office pending a potential rescission of funds which may be used to offset federal outlays to address the tragic events of September 11, 2001. If no rescession occurs, these funds will be distributed to the States based upon the allocation formula. [[Page 8687]] II. State allocations A. Section 502 Nonsubsidized Guaranteed RH (GRH) Loans 1. Amount Available for Allocation. Total Available: $3,137,968,750 Less National Office General Reserve: $700,348,107 Less Special Outreach Area Reserve: $300,120,643 Basic Formula--Administrative Allocation: $2,137,500,000 2. National Office General Reserve. The Administrator may restrict access to this reserve for States not meeting their goals in special outreach areas. 3. Special Outreach Areas. FY 2002 GRH funding is allocated to States in two funding streams (70/30) similar to the 60/40 income split for direct SFH funds. Seventy percent of GRH funds may be used in any eligible area. Thirty percent of GRH funds are to be used in special outreach areas. Special outreach areas are counties with median incomes at or below the State's nonmetropolitan median income. Each funding stream will independently be subject to pooling. 4. National Office Special Area Outreach Reserve. A special outreach area reserve fund has been established at the National office. Funds from this reserve may only be used in special outreach areas. B. Section 502 Direct RH Loans 1. Amount Available for Allocation. Total Available: $1,079,848,024 Less Required Set Aside for: Underserved Counties and Colonias: $53,992,401 EZ, EC and REAP Earmark: $38,000,000 Less 5% contingency: $53,000,000 Less General Reserve: $145,000,623 Administrator's Reserve: $30,000,623 Hardships & Homelessness: $3,500,000 Rural Housing Demonstration Program: $1,500,000 Homeownership Partnership: $95,000,000 Program funds for the sale of REO properties: $15,000,000 Less Designated Reserve for Self-Help: $110,000,000 Basic Formula Administrative Allocation: $679,855,000 2. Reserves. a. State Office Reserve. State Directors must maintain an adequate reserve to fund the following applications: (i) Hardship and homeless applicants including the direct section 502 loan and section 504 loan and grant programs. (ii) Mutual Self-Help loans. (iii) Subsequent loans for essential improvements or repairs and transfers with assumptions. (iv) Financing for the purchase of program REOs when the National office reserve has been exhausted. (v) States will leverage an amount equal to 25 percent of their initial low-income allocation and 5 percent of their initial very low- income allocation with funding from other sources. For example, if a State receives an initial low-income allocation of $900,000 the amount to be leveraged from other sources would be $225,000 ($900,000 x 25 percent) for a total RHS and other funding source of $1,125,000 ($900,000 + $225,000). (vi) Areas targeted by the State according to its strategic plan. b. National Office Reserves. (i) General Reserve. The National office has a general reserve of $145 million. Of this amount, the Administrator's reserve is $30 million. One of the purposes of the Administrator's reserve will be for loans in Indian Country. Indian Country is defined as land inside the boundaries of Indian reservations, communities made up mainly of Native Americans, Indian trust and restricted land, and tribal allotted lands. The remaining reserves will be established as follows: (ii) Hardship and Homelessness Reserve. $3.5 million has been set aside for hardships and homeless. (iii) Rural Housing Demonstration Program. $1.5 million has been set aside for innovative demonstration initiatives. (iv) Program credit sales. $20 million has been set aside for program sales of REO property. (c) Homeownership Partnership. $95 million has been set aside for Homeownership Partnerships. These funds will be used to expand existing partnerships and create new partnerships, such as the following: (i) Department of Treasury, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI)--Funds will be available to fund leveraged loans made in partnership with the Department of Treasury CDFI participants. (ii) Partnership initiatives established to carry out the objectives of the rural home loan partnership (RHLP). (d) Designated Reserve for Self-Help. $110 million has been set aside for matching funds to assist participating Self-Help applicants. The matching funds were established on the basis of the National office contributing 75 percent from the National office reserve and States contributing 25 percent of their allocated section 502 RH funds. (e) Underserved Counties and Colonias. An amount of $53,992,401 has been set aside for the 100 underserved counties and colonias. (f) Empowerment Zone (EZ) and Enterprise Community (EC) or Rural Economic Area Partnership (REAP) earmark. An amount of $38,000,000 has been earmarked until June 30, 2002, for loans in EZ, EC or REAP Zones. Further information will follow. (g) State Office Pooling. If pooling is conducted within a State, it must not take place within the first 30 calendar days of the first, second, or third quarter. (There are no restrictions on pooling in the fourth quarter.) (h) Suballocation by the State Director. The State Director may suballocate to each area office using the methodology and formulas required by 7 CFR part 1940, subpart L. If suballocated to the area level, the Rural Development Manager will make funds available on a first-come, first-served basis to all offices at the field or area level. No field office will have its access to funds restricted without the prior written approval of the Administrator. B. Section 504 Housing Loans and Grants. Section 504 grant funds are included in the Rural Housing Assistance Grant program (RHAG) in the FY 2002 appropriation. 1. Amount available for allocation. Section 504 Loans Total Available: $32,324,929 Less 5% for 100 Underserved Counties and Colonias: $1,616,247 EZ, EC or REAP Zone Earmark: $1,200,000 Less 5% contingency: $1,600,000 Less General Reserve: $1,500,682 Basic Formula--Administrative Allocation: $26,408,000 Section 504 Grants Total Available: $30,053,395 Less 5% for 100 Underserved Counties and Colonias: $1,496,700 Less EZ, EC or REAP Earmark: $600,000 Less 5% contingency: $1,400,000 Less General Reserve: $1,619,395 Basic Formula-Administrative Allocation: $24,937,300 2. Reserves and Set-asides. a. State Office Reserve. State Directors must maintain an adequate reserve to handle all anticipated hardship applicants based upon historical data and projected demand. b. Underserved Counties and Colonias. Approximately $1.6 million and $1.5 million have been set aside for the 100 underserved counties and colonias until June 30, 2002, for the section 504 loan and grant programs, respectively. c. Empowerment Zone (EZ) and Enterprise Community (EC) or Rural Economic Area Partnership (REAP) [[Page 8688]] Earmark (Loan Funds Only). Approximately $1.2 million and $600,000 have been earmarked through June 30, 2002, for EZ, EC or REAPs for the section 504 loan and grant programs, respectively. d. General Reserve. $1.5 million for section 504 loan hardships and $1.6 million for section 504 grant extreme hardships have been set- aside in the general reserve. For section 504 grants, an extreme hardship case is one requiring a significant priority in funding, ahead of other requests, due to severe health or safety hazards, or physical needs of the applicant. Information on Basic Formula Criteria, Data Source and Weight, Administrative Allocation, Pooling of Funds, and Availability of the Allocation ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Section 502 No. Description nonsubsidized Section 502 direct RH Section 504 loans and guaranteed RH loans loans grants ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Basic formula criteria, See 7 CFR 1940.563(b). See 7 CFR 1940.565(b). See 7 CFR 1940.566(b) data source, and weight. and 1940.567(b). 2 Administrative Allocation: $1,000,000............ $1,000,000............ $1,000,000 loan Western Pacific Area. $500,000 grant. 3 Pooling of funds: a. Mid-year pooling........ If necessary.......... If necessary.......... If necessary. b. Year-end pooling........ August 16, 2002....... August 16, 2002....... August 16, 2002. c. Underserved counties and N/A................... June 30, 2002......... June 30, 2002. colonias. d. EZ, EC or REAP.......... N/A................... June 30, 2002......... June 30, 2002. e. Credit sales............ N/A................... June 30, 2002......... N/A. 4 Availability of the allocation: a. first quarter........... 50 percent............ 50 percent............ 50 percent. b. second quarter.......... 75 percent............ 70 percent............ 70 percent. c. third quarter........... 90 percent............ 90 percent............ 90 percent. d. fourth quarter.......... 100 percent........... 100 percent........... 100 percent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Data derived from the 1990 U.S. Census was provided to each State by the National office on August 12, 1993. 2. Due to the absence of Census data. 3. All dates are tentative and are for the close of business (COB). Pooled funds will be placed in the National office reserve and made available administratively. The Administrator reserves the right to redistribute funds based upon program performance. 4. Funds will be distributed cumulatively through each quarter listed until the National office year-end pooling date. Dated: February 15, 2002. James C. Alsop, Acting Administrator, Rural Housing Service. BILLING CODE 3410-XV-P [[Page 8689]] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25FE02.002 [[Page 8690]] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25FE02.003 [[Page 8691]] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25FE02.004 [[Page 8692]] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25FE02.005 [[Page 8693]] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25FE02.006 [[Page 8694]] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25FE02.007 [[Page 8695]] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25FE02.008 [[Page 8696]] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25FE02.009 [[Page 8697]] [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN25FE02.010 [FR Doc. 02-4333 Filed 2-22-02; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-XV-C