Emergency Letter

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

WASHINGTON, DC 20410

Mr. Ross Rutledge

OMB Desk Officer

Office of Management and Budget

New Executive Office Building

Washington, DC 20503

Dear Mr. Rutledge

The Department is seeking emergency review of the Paperwork Reduction Act requirements for a new information collection in support of the implementation of a new DOE rule, published on January 25, 2010, for its Weatherization Assistance Program (71 CFR 3487).

Under the new rule, if a public housing, assisted multi-family or Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) building is identified by HUD and included on a list published by DOE, that building meets DOE’s weatherization program income requirements without the need for further evaluation or verification, and may meet certain other program requirements.

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. As noted above, 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 this letter. This emergency processing is essential in order for HUD to respond to requests that have already been received from owners of public and assisted housing properties to have HUD review their records for the purpose of certifying that these properties are eligible for the Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program.

On March 3, 2010, DOE published a list of eligible multifamily public and assisted housing properties for DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Programs. Due to certain data limitations, not all eligible properties were posted. Since that date, HUD has received numerous requests from public housing authorities and owners of multifamily assisted housing for HUD to check to see whether additional properties may qualify for weatherization assistance.

We are anxious to fulfill these requests so that these individuals may apply for DOE weatherization assistance funds, should they qualify based on HUD’s determination. The funds involved are subject to expenditure and obligation deadlines established by the Recovery Act, and are therefore extremely time sensitive.

Thank you for your consideration and assistance.

Sincerely,

Shelley Poticha,

Director, Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities

Enclosures

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

Previous edition is obsolete.

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