Emergency Approval Letter

Mr. Alexander T. Hunt

OMB Desk Officer

Office of Management and Budget

New Executive Office Building

Washington, DC 20503

Dear Mr. Hunt:

The Department is seeking an emergency review of the Paperwork Reduction Act requirements contained in the Alternative Housing Pilot Program (AHPP) Evaluation Baseline Survey (Request). The Notice of Paperwork Submission (copy enclosed), proposed for immediate Federal Register publication, explains the burden of the collection requirements and invites public comments on them. This is a new information collection.

In compliance with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.13, this letter requests emergency processing within 14 days from the date of publication. This emergency processing is essential to ensure baseline survey is collected before the AHPP program is implemented. Due to the continuing housing needs of residents in the Gulf region, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the AHPP grantees are on a fast track to produce the new temporary housing units. The largest grantee, Mississippi, has indicated that it plans to start accepting applications in May. As such, it is critical that this survey be available for collecting baseline data prior to states making resident selections. Knowing whether or not you will receive a unit is very likely to bias the responses to the baseline survey.

Four states affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita received AHPP grants to test out alternative approaches to providing temporary housing after a disaster. HUD is charged with measuring what benefits and costs are associated with each of the alternatives being implemented by the states. Measuring the program impact on health, satisfaction, and general well-being of the occupants are a key part of the evaluation. This baseline survey is needed to know the characteristics of eligible households applying to participate in the program.

Thank you for your consideration and assistance.

Sincerely,

Darlene F. Williams

Assistant Secretary for Policy

Development and Research

Enclosures

Internal HUD Distribution:
RRE CHRON		RRE RICHARDSON
R 8100
RR GATONS
RRE NEARY
Identification Lines:
RRE :RICHARDSON :tmr/sjl 4-23-07 x5706 J:\RRE\TMR\EXPEDITED LTR 4-23-07
Correspondence Code	Originator		Concurrence	Concurrence	Concurrence		Concurrence	Concurrence
Name	Richardson		Neary	Gatons
Date

Official Record Copy U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development form HUD-713.1 (02/03)

Previous edition is obsolete.