Emergency Justification Letter

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

WASHINGTON, DC 20410-5000

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AND INDIAN HOUSING

Ms. Rita Young

OMB Desk Office

Office of Management and Budget

New Executive Office Building

Washington, DC 20503

Dear Ms. Young:

HUD is seeking emergency review of an Information Collection Request (ICR) under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) for HUD’s Emergency Housing Vouchers and Housing Stability Vouchers that is required under the American Rescue Plan as enacted on March 11, 2021 and the Fiscal Year 2021 Appropriation (H.R. 133-691 (8)). Under the national impact of the coronavirus, and in compliance with the requirements of 5 CFR §1320.13, this letter requests the information collection undergo immediate processing. This action is essential to HUD’s mission of providing safe and affordable rental housing.

Public Housing Authorities that receive vouchers from either of these two new appropriations must report on their leasing and expenditures on a monthly basis. For each new HUD program it is essential to have the ability to monitor and track the expenses and lease-up of these new vouchers to ensure utilization and appropriate program oversight.

Furthermore, as stated in the American Rescue Plan, HUD must allocate the Emergency Housing Vouchers to Public Housing Authorities within 60 days of enactment and HUD must monitor utilization so that vouchers may be revoked and redistributed if a PHA fails to use the voucher. Therefore, it is imperative that HUD can collect leasing and expenditure data as soon as funds are disbursed.

Following approval of the emergency request, HUD will complete the normal clearance procedures with full 60- and 30-day public comment periods. Any delay in the collection of this information will result in a delayed, and possibly unrecoverable, opportunity to responsibly analyze data on the utilization of the Emergency Housing Vouchers and the Housing Stability Vouchers. The Notice, proposed for immediate publication in the Federal Register for 7 days, explains the collections and invites public comments.

In summary, the expedient approval of this emergency processing is necessary to ensure the proper tracking and monitoring of these Emergency Housing Vouchers and to ensure that HUD can comply with the Congressional directive to reallocate these vouchers if unused.

Sincerely,

Dominique Blom

Acting Assistant Secretary

www.hud.gov espanol.hud.gov