emergency ltr. to OMB

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

WASHINGTON, DC 20410-0050

OFFICE OF COMMUNITY PLANNING

AND DEVELOPMENT

March 23, 2022

Ms. Jamie Dickinson

OMB Desk Officer

Office of Management and Budget

New Executive Office Building

Washington, DC 20503

Dear Ms. Dickinson:

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is seeking emergency review of the Paperwork Reduction Act requirements associated with the congressional awards titled either Economic Development Initiative or Community Project Funding. These earmarks are congressionally legislated provisions directing that specific approved funding amounts to be awarded to a particular entity for a specific amount and to be spent on the project or purpose identified in the authorizing legislation vis-à-vis all applicable regulations and requirements.

The provision authorizing these funds, including name, city and state of funding recipient, funding amount and general project description, is made explicit in a particular a fiscal year’s appropriations bill. Beyond this information, HUD must collect additional information from the named funding recipient to fulfill various other requirements necessary to make the funds available to the named entity.

To address the timing between when the appropriation bill is passed and when funds are made available to the funding recipients, an emergency PRA approval is requested. This expedited request is essential to ensure that critical technical assistance is provided to the entities named in the appropriation bill. The forms associated with this PRA will be included in the initial materials the awardees will receive from the department. These initial materials include application instructions and guidance on numerous requirements in addition to the forms. While these forms are existing and require no revisions or edits, HUD anticipates that these initials materials will need to be ready for forwarding to the awardees within 60 days after the appropriation bill is signed. With these timeframes as guide, HUD must be ready to forward these materials as soon as possible after the bill is signed.

Therefore, in compliance with the requirements of 5 CFR Part 1320.13, this letter request expedited processing within seven days from the passage of the FY2022 annual appropriation.

Thank you for your consideration and assistance.

Sincerely,

Robin J. Keegan

Deputy Assistant Secretary

for Office of the DAS for Economic Development

www.hud.gov espanol.hud.gov