This emergency
clearance grants a 6 month approval during which HUD will test
several electronic submission methods to determine the most
effective and least burdensome way to receive and process data
associated with this collection. OMB appreciates HUD’s attempts to
identify data collection procedures that may reduce costs and
respondent burden. As a term of clearance for renewal of this
collection, HUD agrees to provide OMB with a summary of HUD's
findings from the demonstration, including options considered and
actions taken to limit respondents' costs.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
11/30/2019
6 Months From Approved
4,500
0
0
11,950
0
0
0
0
0
Property owners and public housing
agencies that participate in the Demonstration to test a new
inspection protocol will submit information to HUD about the
inspections of their properties that they conduct annually. The
annual inspection self-inspection data includes building profile
information, building system certifications, local code violations
and work orders. Through the analysis of specific property
conditions HUD will refine inspection standards and protocols to
better ensure resident housing is decent, safe, sanitary and in
good repair
The Department is
seeking emergency review of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
requirements regarding the National Standards for the Physical
Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) Demonstration. The Notice of
Paperwork Submission (copy enclosed), proposed for immediate
publication in the Federal Register for 14 days, explains the
burden of the collection requirements and invites public comments.
This is a new information collection. In compliance with the
requirements of 5 CFR § 1320.13, this letter requests emergency
processing within 30 days from the date of publication. This
request for emergency processing is essential to HUD’s mission of
ensuring safe, decent, and habitable housing for the nation’s most
at risk population. It also serves to expedite activities that
support congressional and departmental efforts to protect residents
living in HUD-assisted/insured housing from present and unnecessary
harm through the identification and removal of health and safety
hazards in their homes. In 2017, as a result of the priority placed
on resident health and safety by the Secretary, HUD initiated a
wholesale reexamination of the department’s Real Estate Assessment
Center (REAC) physical inspection process as a means of bringing
more HUD-assisted/insured housing into compliance with HUD’s
standards for acceptable housing. At the same time, the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) conducted an audit that recommended
changes to REAC inspections protocols, which would strengthen the
department’s ability to identify substandard housing. In response
to the Secretary’s concerns and GAO’s recommendations, a
departmental-level task force has initiated the NSPIRE Model – with
the specific intent of expeditiously testing revisions to the
inspection standards and protocol through a demonstration program
to enable enhanced identification and resolution of health and
safety deficiencies in HUD-assisted/insured housing. This PRA
enables the collection of data needed to validate the NSPIRE Model,
thereby allowing HUD to implement the changes necessary to protect
resident health and safety. To obtain input from interested
agencies and members of the public regarding the burden associated
with the collection, HUD has held a series of listening sessions
through which many public housing agencies and property owners
(collectively referred to as POAs) have received information,
offered recommendations, and voiced their support for the NSPIRE
Model. Also, HUD will solicit volunteer participants for the NSPIRE
Demonstration through a separate Federal Register notice, which
will be subject to a public comment period. Through
self-nomination, POAs will indicate they are aware of, and are
willing to meet, the burden required by the self-inspections for
the duration of the Demonstration. Further, HUD will also submit a
PRA package to continue the collection beyond the 6-month emergency
period. HUD believes these actions will offer adequate
opportunities for comment on the collection and submission of POA
self-inspection data. In summary, the expedient transition to the
NSPIRE Model is necessary for the Department to fulfill its
responsibility of ensuring HUD assisted/insured housing is decent,
safe, and habitable. A delay in the collection and evaluation of
the information described in this PRA will result in a substantial,
and possibly unrecoverable, postponement in the Demonstration and
eventual implementation of the NSPIRE Model. Any such delay will
ultimately place some residents living in HUD-assisted/insured
housing at unnecessary risk.
US Code:
42 USC 1437d(f)(3) Name of Law: The United States Housing Act
of 1937
US Code: 42 USC 1437d(f)(3) Name of Law: The
United States Housing Act of 1937
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
NSPIRE Signed Emergency Justification Letter.pdf
83-I-and Supporting Statement.docx
National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate