[Federal Register: January 18, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 11)]
[Notices]
[Page 2395-2420]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18ja07-136]
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Part III
Department of Housing and Urban Development
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Notice of HUD's Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Notice of Funding Availability
(NOFA); Policy Requirements and General Section to the FY2007 SuperNOFA
for HUD's Discretionary Programs; Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-5100-N-01]
Notice of HUD's Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Notice of Funding
Availability (NOFA) Policy Requirements and General Section to the
FY2007 SuperNOFA for HUD's Discretionary Programs
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.
ACTION: Notice of HUD's FY2007 NOFA Policy Requirements and General
Section to the FY2007 SuperNOFA for HUD's Discretionary Programs
(notice).
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SUMMARY: This notice provides prospective applicants for HUD
competitive funding with the opportunity to become familiar with the
General Section of HUD's FY2007 SuperNOFA, in advance of publication of
the FY2007 SuperNOFA. HUD plans to publish its annual SuperNOFA early
in 2007. Early publication of the General Section is one of several
steps instituted to improve the funding process for the grantee
community. Early publication of the General Section gives prospective
applicants additional time to become familiar with and address
provisions in the General Section, which constitute part of almost
every individual program application. HUD will publish with the
SuperNOFA any changes to this General Section made after today's
publication.
HUD will continue to require that applicants submit their
applications electronically via Grants.gov. To submit an application
via Grants.gov, new users will be required to complete a five-step
registration process, which can take 2 to 4 weeks to complete. The
process includes ensuring that information provided by your
organization to Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) matches information previously
provided by your organization and contained in Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) records. If there is a discrepancy in the information, the
registration cannot be completed until discrepancy issues are resolved.
Applicants that are already registered have to update the information
previously provided in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR).
During the update process, the CCR will check the D&B information
against the IRS records for your organization. If there are
discrepancies, the update cannot be completed until the discrepancies
are resolved. Please allow adequate time to resolve any registration
issues. To submit an application to HUD, the Authorized Organization
Representative (AOR) must be able to make a legally binding agreement
for the organizational entity. Please see detailed registration
instructions in Section IV.B. of this notice.
For FY2007, the Continuum of Care applications are the lone
SuperNOFA paper applications that HUD will accept without first
granting a waiver. Continuum of Care applicants should be aware that
HUD intends to have the Continuum of Care applicants applying via
Grants.gov no later than FY2008. Therefore, it is in the interest of
Continuum of Care applicants to complete the Grants.gov registration
process in anticipation of moving to electronic application submission
in 2008. Continuum of Care agencies would benefit from becoming
familiar with the Grants.gov filing requirements so that they do not
limit their ability to apply for funding from federal sources. HUD
recommends that all prospective applicants take the time to carefully
read the Federal Register notice published on October 31, 2006,
entitled ``Notice of Opportunity to Register Early and other Important
Information for Electronic Application Submission via Grants.gov'' and
register prior to the publication of the Program Sections of the FY2007
SuperNOFA. The early registration notice can be found on HUD's Web site
at http://www.hud.gov/offices/[fxsp0]adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of Departmental Grants
Management and Oversight, Office of Administration, Department of
Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room 3156,
Washington, DC 20410-5000; telephone number (202) 708-0667. Persons
with hearing or speech impairments may access this number via TTY by
calling the Federal Information Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Each year, HUD strives to improve its
competitive funding process. In FY 2005, HUD successfully migrated a
majority of its funding opportunities to electronic application
submission. In FY 2006, over 99 percent of applicants successfully
submitted applications electronically for HUD's grant programs. While a
majority of HUD's applicants were able to make the transition to
electronic government, HUD wants to enable all applicants to make the
transition. To ease concerns, HUD has developed a Desktop User Guide
for Submitting Electronic Grant Applications. The user guide provides
step-by-step details and screen shots of the entire registration and
application submission process, including troubleshooting application
submission errors. HUD updates the guide regularly and it is available
at http://www.hud.gov/offices/[fxsp0]adm/grants/deskuserguide.pdf.
In addition, HUD's Early Registration Notice provides step-by-step
instructions for applicants who must register with Grants.gov and also
provides renewal instructions for those who have previously registered.
The renewal instructions are simple and easy to follow, but must be
completed before an applicant's registration in the CCR expires.
Failure to update the registration in the CCR will require an applicant
to go through the entire registration process again. As part of the CCR
renewal process, CCR checks the information provided to Dun and
Bradstreet (D&B) against IRS records. If a discrepancy in the
information is found, the applicant must correct the discrepancy before
the renewal process can be completed. Applicants are urged to check the
information they provided to D&B, CCR, and the IRS to ensure
consistency. HUD believes that early publication of the General Section
is beneficial to prospective applicants by providing advance notice of
the Department's threshold requirements, strategic goals, policy
priorities, and other comprehensive requirements that are applicable to
almost every individual NOFA that comprises the SuperNOFA. The General
Section, as in the past, is structured to refer the reader to the
individual program NOFAs. Although the program NOFAs are not being
published at this time, the references are retained. This way, when the
Program Sections of the FY2007 SuperNOFA are published, they will be
fully reconciled with the General Section, as has been the case since
1998 when the SuperNOFA was first published. Applicants interested in
receiving e-mail notification of the availability of the program
sections should go to http://www.grants.gov/[fxsp0]applicants/email--
[fxsp0]subscription.jsp and sign up for e-mail notification of funding
opportunities. By doing so, you will receive an e-mail as soon as the
program NOFA portion of the SuperNOFA is available on Grants.gov.
It is HUD's intent to have every applicant (the exception being
Continuum of Care applicants who will still be submitting paper
applications in FY 2007) successfully submit an electronic application
via Grants.gov in FY 2007. You can help HUD improve its outreach and
program NOFAs by providing feedback on ways it can improve the
SuperNOFA process. Please note that each application contains a ``You
Are Our Client'' survey questionnaire. HUD requests that you respond to
this survey to let the Department know what improvements
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have been beneficial and to share your ideas on where improvements can
continue to be made. HUD carefully considers the comments received from
its clients and continually strives to improve each year's SuperNOFA
and its funding process. This publication includes a list of programs
anticipated to be in the FY2007 SuperNOFA, subject to the availability
of funds. The program NOFA portion of the SuperNOFA will include any
changes made to this listing and provide projected funding available
and application deadline dates.
HUD hopes that the steps that it has taken to provide information
early in the FY2007 funding process and SuperNOFA requirements will be
of benefit to you, our applicants.
Dated: January 4, 2007.
Roy A. Bernardi,
Deputy Secretary.
Overview Information
A. Federal Agency Name: Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD), Office of the Secretary.
B. Funding Opportunity Title: Policy requirements applicable to all
HUD NOFAs published during FY2007.
C. Announcement Type: Initial announcement of the general policy
requirements that apply to all HUD federal financial assistance NOFAs
for FY2007 issued simultaneous with or after the publication of this
notice.
D. Funding Opportunity Number: FR 5100-N-01.
E. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: A CFDA
number is provided for each HUD federal financial assistance program.
When using ``Apply Step 1'' on the Grants.gov Web site to download an
application, you will be asked for the CFDA number. Please refer to the
program NOFA for the CFDA number assigned to the program(s) for which
you wish to apply. Use only the CFDA number, the Funding Competition
Identification Number, OR the Funding Opportunity Number when using the
search feature on Grants.gov. Using more than one of these items will
result in an error message indicating that the opportunity cannot be
found.
F. Dates: The deadline dates that apply to the federal financial
assistance made available through HUD's FY2007 SuperNOFA will be found
in the program NOFAs contained in the published SuperNOFA. HUD is
currently operating under a Continuing Resolution and it is expected
that appropriations for FY2007 will be enacted soon. Appendix A to this
General Section lists the programs that were included in the FY2006
SuperNOFA. This list should not be understood as a final or
comprehensive list of the programs that will be published in the FY2007
SuperNOFA. For example, the Youthbuild program, which was included in
the FY2006 SuperNOFA, was transferred to the United States Department
of Labor on September 22, 2006 in accordance with Public Law 109-281
and will not be included in the FY2007 SuperNOFA. Additionally, FY2007
appropriations, when enacted, may result in other changes to the list
of programs issued for FY2007. When published, the SuperNOFA will
contain a revised Appendix A to the General Section providing the final
list of programs included in the SuperNOFA, funds available under each
funding opportunity, and key deadline dates. The contents of Appendix A
will be based upon the enacted appropriations.
G. Additional Overview Content Information: Unless otherwise
stated, HUD's general policy requirements set forth in this notice
apply to all HUD federal financial assistance made available through
HUD's FY2007 NOFAs. These policies cover those NOFAs issued through the
FY2007 SuperNOFA, and those NOFAs issued after publication of the
SuperNOFA.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
This notice describes HUD's FY2007 policy requirements applicable
to all of HUD's NOFAs published in FY2007. Each such NOFA will contain
a description of the specific requirements for the program for which
funding is made available and each will refer to applicable policies
described in this General Section. Each program NOFA will also describe
additional procedures and requirements that apply to the individual
program NOFA, including a description of the eligible applicants,
eligible activities, threshold requirements, factors for award, and any
additional program requirements or limitations. To adequately address
all of the application requirements for any program for which you
intend to apply, please carefully read and respond to both this General
Section and the individual program NOFAs.
Authority. HUD's authority for making funding available under its
FY2007 programs is identified in each program NOFA under this section
of the General Section.
II. Award Information
Funding Available. Each program NOFA will identify the estimated
amount of funds available in FY2007 based on available appropriations
plus funds from previous years available for award in FY2007. Appendix
A to this notice contains a chart of the programs that were included in
the FY2006 SuperNOFA. This list should not be understood as a final or
comprehensive list of the programs that will be published in the FY2007
SuperNOFA. For example, the Youthbuild program, which was included in
the FY2006 SuperNOFA, was transferred to the United States Department
of Labor on September 22, 2006 in accordance with Public Law 109-281
and will not be included in the FY2007 SuperNOFA. Additionally, FY2007
appropriations, when enacted, may result in other changes to the list
of programs issued for FY2007. When published, the SuperNOFA will
contain a revised Appendix A to the General Section providing the final
list of programs included in the SuperNOFA, funds available under each
funding opportunity, and key deadline dates. The contents of Appendix A
will be based upon the enacted appropriations. Note that additional
program NOFAs may be published separately from the FY2007 SuperNOFA.
III. Eligibility Information
A. Eligible Applicants
The individual program NOFAs describe the eligible applicants and
eligible activities for each program.
B. Cost Sharing or Matching
The individual program NOFAs describe the applicable cost sharing,
matching requirements, or leveraging requirements related to each
program, if any. Although matching or cost sharing may not be required,
HUD programs often encourage applicants to leverage grant funds with
other funding in order to receive higher rating points.
C. Other Requirements and Procedures Applicable to All Programs
Except as may be modified in the individual program NOFAs, the
requirements, procedures, and principles listed below apply to all HUD
programs in FY2007 for which funding is announced by NOFA and published
in the Federal Register. Please read the individual program NOFAs for
additional requirements and information.
1. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements. To be eligible for
funding under HUD NOFAs issued during FY2007, applicants must meet all
statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to the program or
programs
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for which they seek funding. Applicants requiring program regulations
may obtain them from the NOFA Information Center or through HUD's
Grants Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/[fxsp0]adm/grants/
fundsavail.cfm. See the individual program NOFAs for instructions on
how HUD will respond to proposed activities that are ineligible.
2. Threshold Requirements
a. Ineligible Applicants. HUD will not consider an application from
an ineligible applicant.
b. Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number
Requirement. All applicants seeking funding directly from HUD must
obtain a DUNS number and include the number in its Application for
Federal Assistance submission. Failure to provide a DUNS number will
prevent you from obtaining an award, regardless of whether it is a new
award or renewal of an existing one. This policy is pursuant to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policy issued in the Federal
Register on June 27, 2003 (68 FR 38402). HUD published its regulation
implementing the DUNS number requirement on November 9, 2004 (69 FR
65024). A copy of the OMB Federal Register notice and HUD's regulation
implementing the DUNS number can be found on HUD's Web site at
http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/duns.cfm.
c. Compliance with Fair Housing and Civil Rights Laws
(1) With the exception of federally recognized Indian tribes and
their instrumentalities, applicants must comply with all applicable
fair housing and civil rights requirements in 24 CFR 5.105(a). If you
are a federally recognized Indian tribe, you must comply with the
nondiscrimination provisions enumerated at 24 CFR 1000.12, as
applicable. In addition to these requirements, there may be program-
specific threshold requirements identified in the individual program
NOFAs.
(2) If you, the applicant:
(a) Have been charged with an ongoing systemic violation of the
Fair Housing Act; or
(b) Are a defendant in a Fair Housing Act lawsuit filed by the
Department of Justice alleging an ongoing pattern or practice of
discrimination; or
(c) Have received a letter of findings identifying ongoing systemic
noncompliance under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or Section 109 of the Housing
and Community Development Act of 1974, and the charge, lawsuit, or
letter of findings referenced in subparagraphs (a), (b), or (c) above
has not been resolved to HUD's satisfaction before the application
deadline, then you are ineligible and HUD will not rate and rank your
application. HUD will determine if actions to resolve the charge,
lawsuit, or letter of findings taken before the application deadline
are sufficient to resolve the matter.
Examples of actions that would normally be considered sufficient to
resolve the matter include, but are not limited to:
(i) A voluntary compliance agreement signed by all parties in
response to a letter of findings;
(ii) A HUD-approved conciliation agreement signed by all parties;
(iii) A consent order or consent decree; or
(iv) An issuance of a judicial ruling or a HUD Administrative Law
Judge's decision.
d. Conducting Business in Accordance with Core Values and Ethical
Standards/Code of Conduct. Applicants subject to 24 CFR parts 84 and 85
(most nonprofit organizations and state, local, and tribal governments
or government agencies or instrumentalities that receive federal awards
of financial assistance) are required to develop and maintain a written
code of conduct (see 24 CFR 84.42 and 85.36(b)(3)). Consistent with
regulations governing specific programs, your code of conduct must
prohibit real and apparent conflicts of interest that may arise among
officers, employees, or agents; prohibit the solicitation and
acceptance of gifts or gratuities by your officers, employees, or
agents for their personal benefit in excess of minimal value; and
outline administrative and disciplinary actions available to remedy
violations of such standards. Before entering into an agreement with
HUD, an applicant awarded assistance under a HUD program NOFA announced
in FY2007 will be required to submit a copy of its code of conduct and
describe the methods it will use to ensure that all officers,
employees, and agents of its organization are aware of its code of
conduct. An applicant is prohibited from receiving an award of funds
from HUD if it fails to meet this requirement for a code of conduct. An
applicant who submitted an application during FY2005 or FY2006 and
included a copy of its code of conduct will not be required to submit
another copy if the applicant is listed on HUD's Web site http://www.hud.gov/offices/
[fxsp0]adm/grants/codeofconduct/cconduct.cfm and if
the information has not been revised. An applicant not listed on the
above website must submit a copy of its code of conduct with their
FY2007 application for assistance. An applicant must also include a
copy of its code of conduct if the information listed on the above
website has changed (e.g., the person who submitted the previous
application is no longer your authorized organization representative,
the organization has changed its legal name or merged with another
organization, or the address of the organization has changed, etc.).
Any applicant that needs to may submit its code of conduct to HUD via
facsimile using the form HUD-96011, ``Facsimile Transmittal'' (``Third
Party Documentation Facsimile Transmittal'' on Grants.gov) at the time
of application submission. When using the facsimile transmittal form,
please type the requested information. Use the HUD-96011 as the cover
page to the submission and include the following header in the top line
of the form under ``Name of Document Being Requested:'' ``Code of
Conduct for (insert your organization's name, city, and state).'' Fax
the information to HUD's toll-free number at (800) HUD-1010. If you
cannot access an 800 number or have problems, you may use (215) 825-
8798 (this is not a toll-free number). HUD updates its code of conduct
website annually before publishing the SuperNOFA. Therefore, applicants
that submitted codes of conduct in FY2006 will find that their
information has been updated and is available online for the FY2007
application submission time frame.
e. Delinquent Federal Debts. Consistent with the purpose and intent
of 31 U.S.C. 3720B and 28 U.S.C. 3201(e), HUD will not award federal
funds to an applicant that has an outstanding delinquent federal debt
unless: (1) the delinquent account is paid in full, (2) a negotiated
repayment schedule is established and the repayment schedule is not
delinquent, or (3) other arrangements satisfactory to HUD are made
prior to the deadline date.
f. Pre-Award Accounting System Surveys. HUD may arrange for a pre-
award survey of the applicant's financial management system if the
recommended applicant has no prior federal support, if HUD's program
officials have reason to question whether the applicant's financial
management system meets federal financial management standards, or if
the applicant is considered a high risk based upon past performance or
financial management findings. HUD will not disburse funds to any
applicant that does not have a financial management system that meets
federal standards. (Please see 24 CFR part 84.21 if you are an
institution of higher
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education, hospital, or other nonprofit organization. See 24 CFR part
85.20 if you are a state, local government, or federally recognized
Indian tribe).
g. Name Check Review. Applicants are subject to a name check review
process. Name checks are intended to reveal matters that significantly
reflect on the applicant's management and financial integrity,
including if any key individual has been convicted or is presently
facing criminal charges. If the name check reveals significant adverse
findings that reflect on the business integrity or responsibility of
the applicant or any key individual, HUD reserves the right to: (1)
Deny funding or consider suspension or termination of an award
immediately for cause, (2) require the removal of any key individual
from association with management or implementation of the award, and
(3) make appropriate provisions or revisions with respect to the method
of payment or financial reporting requirements.
h. False Statements. A false statement in an application is grounds
for denial or termination of an award and possible punishment as
provided in 18 U.S.C. 1001.
i. Prohibition Against Lobbying Activities. Applicants are subject
to the provisions of Section 319 of Public Law 101-121 (approved
October 23, 1989) (31 U.S.C. 1352) (the Byrd Amendment), which
prohibits recipients of federal contracts, grants, or loans from using
appropriated funds for lobbying the executive or legislative branches
of the federal government in connection with a specific contract,
grant, or loan. In addition, applicants must disclose, using Standard
Form LLL (SF-LLL), ``Disclosure of Lobbying Activities,'' any funds,
other than federally appropriated funds, that will be or have been used
to influence federal employees, members of Congress, or congressional
staff regarding specific grants or contracts. Federally recognized
Indian tribes and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs)
established by federally recognized Indian tribes as a result of the
exercise of the tribe's sovereign power are excluded from coverage of
the Byrd Amendment, but state-recognized Indian tribes and TDHEs
established only under state law must comply with this requirement.
Applicants must submit the SF-LLL if they have used or intend to use
federal funds for lobbying activities.
j. Debarment and Suspension. In accordance with 24 CFR part 24, no
award of federal funds may be made to applicants that are presently
debarred or suspended, or proposed to be debarred or suspended, from
doing business with the federal government.
3. Other Threshold Requirements. The individual program NOFAs for
which you are applying may specify other threshold requirements.
Additional threshold requirements may be identified in the discussion
of ``eligibility'' requirements in the individual program NOFAs. If a
program NOFA requires a certification of consistency with the
Consolidated Plan and the applicant fails to provide a certification,
and such failure is not cured as a technical deficiency, HUD will not
fund the application. If HUD is provided a signed certification
indicating consistency with the area's approved Consolidated Plan and
HUD finds that the activities are not consistent with the Consolidated
Plan, HUD will not fund the inconsistent activities or will deny
funding the application if a majority of the activities are not
consistent with the approved Consolidated Plan. The determination not
to fund an activity or to deny funding may be determined by a number of
factors, including the number of activities being proposed, the impact
of the elimination of the activities on the proposal, or the percent of
the budget allocated to the proposed activities.
4. Additional Nondiscrimination and Other Requirements. Applicants
and their subrecipients must comply with:
a. Civil Rights Laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.), the Age Discrimination Act of 1974
(42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.), and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act
of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.).
b. Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. Under Section 808(e)(5)
of the Fair Housing Act, HUD has a statutory duty to affirmatively
further fair housing. HUD requires the same of its funding recipients.
If you are a successful applicant, you will have a duty to
affirmatively further fair housing opportunities for classes protected
under the Fair Housing Act. Protected classes include race, color,
national origin, religion, sex, disability, and familial status. Unless
otherwise instructed in the individual program NOFA, your application
must include specific steps to:
(1) Overcome the effects of impediments to fair housing choice that
were identified in the jurisdiction's Analysis of Impediments (AI) to
Fair Housing Choice;
(2) Remedy discrimination in housing; and
(3) Promote fair housing rights and fair housing choice.
Further, you, the applicant, have a duty to carry out the specific
activities provided in your responses to the individual program NOFA
rating factors that address affirmatively furthering fair housing.
These requirements apply to all HUD programs announced via a NOFA,
unless specifically excluded in the individual program NOFA.
c. Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons
(Section 3). Certain programs to be issued during FY2007 require
recipients of assistance to comply with Section 3 of the Housing and
Urban Development Act of 1968 (Section 3), 12 U.S.C. 1701u (Economic
Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons in Connection with
Assisted Projects), and the HUD regulations at 24 CFR part 135,
including the reporting requirements at subpart E. Section 3 requires
recipients to ensure, to the greatest extent feasible, that training,
employment, and other economic opportunities will be directed to low-
and very-low income persons, particularly those who are recipients of
government assistance for housing, and to business concerns that
provide economic opportunities to low- and very low-income persons in
the area in which the project is located. Review the individual program
NOFAs to determine if Section 3 applies to the program for which you
are seeking funding. Applicants required to comply with Section 3
requirements must report annually using form HUD-60002 or HUD's online
system at http://www.hud.gov/offices/[fxsp0]fheo/system/index.cfm. Copies of form HUD-60002 are available on HUDClips at http://
http://www.hudclips.org/[fxsp0]sub--nonhud/html/[fxsp0]nph-
brs.cgi?d=[fxsp0]FRMS&s1=hud-
6$[no]&op1=AND&[fxsp0]SECT1=TXTHLB&[fxsp0]SECT5=FRMS&u=./
forms.htm&p=1&r=3&f=G.
d. Ensuring the Participation of Small Businesses, Small
Disadvantaged Businesses, and Women-Owned Businesses. HUD is committed
to ensuring that small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, and
women-owned businesses participate fully in HUD's direct contracting
and in contracting opportunities generated by HUD financial assistance.
Too often, these businesses still experience difficulty in accessing
information and in successfully bidding on federal contracts. State,
local, and tribal governments are required by 24 CFR 85.36(e) and
nonprofit recipients of assistance (grantees and sub-grantees) by 24
CFR 84.44(b) to take all necessary affirmative steps in contracting for
the purchase of goods or services to assure that minority firms,
women's business enterprises, and labor surplus area firms
[[Page 2400]]
are used whenever possible or as specified in the individual program
NOFAs.
e. Real Property Acquisition and Relocation. HUD-assisted programs
or projects are subject to the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real
Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, as amended (Uniform Act or
URA) (42 U.S.C. 4601), and the government-wide implementing regulations
issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation at 49 CFR part 24. The
Uniform Act's protections and assistance apply to acquisitions of real
property and displacements resulting from the acquisition,
rehabilitation, or demolition of real property for federal or federally
assisted programs or projects. With certain limited exceptions, real
property acquisitions for a HUD-assisted program or project must comply
with 49 CFR part 24, subpart B. Real property acquisitions conducted
without the threat or use of eminent domain, commonly referred to as
``voluntary acquisitions,'' must satisfy the applicable requirements of
49 CFR 24.101(b)(1) through (5) to be exempt from the URA's acquisition
policies. Evidence of compliance with these requirements must be
maintained by the recipient. The URA's relocation requirements remain
applicable to any tenant(s) who are displaced by an acquisition and who
meet the requirements of 49 CFR 24.101(b)(1) through (5).
The relocation requirements of the Uniform Act, and its
implementing regulations at 49 CFR part 24, cover any person who moves
permanently from real property or moves personal property from real
property as a direct result of acquisition, rehabilitation, or
demolition for a program or project receiving HUD assistance. While
there are no statutory provisions for ``temporary relocation'' under
the URA, the URA regulations recognize that there are circumstances
where a person will not be permanently displaced but may need to be
moved from a project for a short period of time. Appendix A of the URA
regulation (49 CFR 24.2(a)(9)(ii)(D)) explains that any tenant who has
been temporarily relocated for a period beyond one year must be
contacted by the displacing agency and offered URA relocation
assistance. Some HUD program regulations provide additional protections
for temporarily relocated tenants. For example, 24 CFR 583.310(f)(1)
provides guidance on temporary relocation for the Supportive Housing
program for the homeless. Before planning their project, applicants
should review the regulations for the programs for which they are
applying. The URA does not apply to displacements resulting from the
demolition or disposition of public housing covered by Section 18 of
the United States Housing Act of 1937.
Additional information and resources pertaining to real property
acquisition and relocation for HUD-funded programs and projects are
available on HUD's Real Estate Acquisition and Relocation Web site at
http://www.hud.gov/relocation. You will find applicable laws and
regulations, policy and guidance, publications, training resources, and
a listing of HUD contacts if you have questions or need assistance.
f. Executive Order 13166, ``Improving Access to Services for
Persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).'' Executive Order 13166
seeks to improve access to federally assisted services, programs, and
benefits for individuals with limited English proficiency. Applicants
obtaining an award from HUD must seek to provide access to program
benefits and information to LEP individuals through translation and
interpretive services in accordance with LEP guidance published on
December 19, 2003 (68 FR 70968). HUD expects final guidance to be
published in January 2007. For assistance and information regarding
your LEP obligation, go to http://www.lep.gov.
g. Executive Order 13279, ``Equal Protection of the Laws for Faith-
Based and Community Organizations.'' HUD is committed to full
implementation of Executive Order 13279. The Executive Order
established fundamental principles and policymaking criteria to guide
federal agencies in formulating and developing policies that have
implications for faith-based and community organizations to ensure the
equal protection for these organizations in social service programs
receiving federal financial assistance. Consistent with this order, HUD
has undertaken a review of all policies and regulations that have
implications for faith-based and community organizations and has
established a policy priority to provide full and equal access to
grassroots faith-based and other community organizations in HUD program
implementation. HUD revised its program regulations in 2003 and 2004 to
remove the barriers by participation of faith-based organizations in
HUD funding programs (68 FR 56396, September 30, 2003; 69 FR 41712,
July 9, 2004; and 69 FR 62164, October 22, 2004). Copies of the
regulatory changes can be found at http://www.hud.gov/offices/[fxsp0
]adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
h. Accessible Technology. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
(Section 508) requires HUD and other federal departments and agencies
to ensure, when developing, procuring, maintaining, or using electronic
and information technology (EIT), that the EIT allow, regardless of the
type of medium of technology, persons with disabilities to access and
use information and data on a comparable basis as is made available to
and used by persons without disabilities. Section 508's coverage
includes, but is not limited to, computers (hardware, software, word
processing, email, and Internet sites), facsimile machines, copiers,
and telephones. Among other things, Section 508 requires that unless an
undue burden would result to the federal department or agency, EIT must
allow individuals with disabilities who are federal employees or
members of the public seeking information or services to have access to
and use information and data on a comparable basis as that made
available to employees and members of the public who are not disabled.
Where an undue burden exists to the federal department or agency,
alternative means may be used to allow a disabled individual use of the
information and data. Section 508 does not require that information
services be provided at any location other than a location at which the
information services are generally provided. HUD encourages its funding
recipients to adopt the goals and objectives of Section 508 by
ensuring, whenever EIT is used, procured, or developed, that persons
with disabilities have access to and use of the information and data
made available through the EIT on a comparable basis as is made
available to and used by persons without disabilities. This does not
affect recipients' required compliance with Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act and, where applicable, the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
i. Procurement of Recovered Materials. State agencies and agencies
of a political subdivision of a state that are using assistance under a
HUD program NOFA for procurement, and any person contracting with such
an agency with respect to work performed under an assisted contract,
must comply with the requirements of Section 6002 of the Solid Waste
Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
In accordance with Section 6002, these agencies and persons must
procure items designated in guidelines of the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) at 40 CFR part 247 that contain the highest percentage of
recovered materials practicable, consistent with maintaining a
satisfactory level of
[[Page 2401]]
competition, where the purchase price of the item exceeds $10,000 or
the value of the quantity acquired in the preceding fiscal year
exceeded $10,000; must procure solid waste management services in a
manner that maximizes energy and resource recovery; and must have
established an affirmative procurement program for procurement of
recovered materials identified in the EPA guidelines.
j. Participation in HUD-Sponsored Program Evaluation. As a
condition of the receipt of financial assistance under a HUD program
NOFA, all successful applicants will be required to cooperate with all
HUD staff or contractors who perform HUD-funded research or evaluation
studies.
k. Executive Order 13202, ``Preservation of Open Competition and
Government Neutrality Towards Government Contractors'' Labor Relations
on Federal and Federally Funded Construction Projects.'' Compliance
with HUD regulations at 24 CFR 5.108 that implement Executive Order
13202 is a condition of receipt of assistance under a HUD program NOFA.
l. Salary Limitation for Consultants. Unless specifically
authorized by law, FY2007 funds may not be used to pay or to provide
reimbursement for payment of the salary of a consultant, whether
retained by the federal government or the grantee, at a rate more than
the equivalent of the high pay for members of the Senior Executive
Service (SES). For information on Executive Pay Band levels, please see
the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Web site at http://www.opm.gov/oca/06tables/html/es.asp
.
m. OMB Circulars and Government-wide Regulations Applicable to
Financial Assistance Programs. Certain OMB Circulars also apply to HUD
programs in the SuperNOFA. The policies, guidance, and requirements of
OMB Circulars A-87 (Cost Principles Applicable to Grants, Contracts and
Other Agreements with State and Local Governments), A-21 (Cost
Principles for Education Institutions), A-122 (Cost Principles for
Nonprofit Organizations), A-133 (Audits of States, Local Governments,
and Non-Profit Organizations), and the regulations at 24 CFR part 84
(Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher Education,
Hospitals, and other Non-Profit Organizations), and 24 CFR part 85
(Administrative Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements to
State, Local, and Federally Recognized Indian Tribal Governments), may
apply to the award, acceptance, and use of assistance under the
individual program NOFAs of the SuperNOFA, and to the remedies for
noncompliance, except when inconsistent with the provisions of HUD's
appropriations act for FY2007, other federal statutes or regulations,
or the provisions of this notice. Compliance with additional OMB
circulars or government-wide regulations may be specified for a
particular program in the Program Section of the SuperNOFA. Copies of
the OMB circulars may be obtained from Executive Office of the
President Publications, New Executive Office Building, Room 2200,
Washington, DC 20503; telephone (202) 395-3080 (this is not a toll-free
number) or (800) 877-8339 (toll-free TTY Federal Information Relay
Service); or from the following Web site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/index.html
.
n. Environmental Requirements. If you become a recipient under a
HUD program that assists in physical development activities or property
acquisition, you are generally prohibited from acquiring,
rehabilitating, converting, demolishing, leasing, repairing, or
constructing property, or committing or expending HUD or non-HUD funds
for these types of program activities, until one of the following has
occurred:
(1) HUD has completed an environmental review in accordance with 24
CFR part 50; or
(2) For programs subject to 24 CFR part 58, HUD has approved a
recipient's Request for Release of Funds (form HUD-7015.15) following a
Responsible Entity's completion of an environmental review.
You, the applicant, should consult the individual program NOFA for
any program for which you are interested in applying to determine the
procedures for, timing of, and any modifications or exclusions from
environmental review under a particular program. For applicants
applying for funding under the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the
Elderly program or Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with
Disabilities program, please note the environmental review requirements
for these programs.
o. Conflicts of Interest. If you are a consultant or expert who is
assisting HUD in rating and ranking applicants for funding under the
SuperNOFA or future NOFAs published in FY2007, you are subject to 18
U.S.C. 208, the federal criminal conflict-of-interest statute, and the
Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch
regulation published at 5 CFR part 2635. As a result, if you have
assisted or plan to assist applicants with preparing applications for
programs in the SuperNOFA or NOFAs published in FY2007, you may not
serve on a selection panel and you may not serve as a technical advisor
to HUD. Persons involved in rating and ranking HUD FY2007 NOFAs,
including experts and consultants, must avoid conflicts of interest or
the appearance of such conflicts. Persons involved in rating and
ranking applications must disclose to HUD's General Counsel or HUD's
Ethics Law Division the following information, if applicable: how the
selection or non-selection of any applicant under the FY2007 SuperNOFA
will affect the individual's financial interests, as provided in 18
U.S.C. 208, or how the application process involves a party with whom
the individual has a covered relationship under 5 CFR 2635.502. The
person must disclose this information before participating in any
matter regarding a FY2007 NOFA. If you have questions regarding these
provisions or concerning a conflict of interest, you may call the
Office of General Counsel, Ethics Law Division, at (202) 708-3815 (this
is not a toll-free number).
p. Drug-Free Workplace. Applicants awarded funds from HUD are
required to provide a drug-free workplace. Compliance with this
requirement means that the applicant will:
(1) Publish a statement notifying employees that it is unlawful to
manufacture, distribute, dispense, possess, or use a controlled
substance in the applicant's workplace and that such activities are
prohibited. The statement must specify the actions that will be taken
against employees for violation of this prohibition. The statement must
also notify employees that, as a condition of employment under the
federal award, they are required to abide by the terms of the statement
and that each employee must agree to notify the employer in writing of
any violation of a criminal drug statute occurring in the workplace no
later than 5 calendar days after such violation;
(2) Establish an ongoing drug-free awareness program to inform
employees about:
(a) The dangers of drug abuse in the workplace;
(b) The applicant's policy of maintaining a drug-free workplace;
(c) Any available drug counseling, rehabilitation, or employee
maintenance programs; and
(d) The penalties that may be imposed upon employees for drug abuse
violations occurring in the workplace;
(3) Notify the federal agency in writing within 10 calendar days
after receiving notice from an employee of a drug abuse conviction or
otherwise receiving actual notice of a drug abuse conviction. The
notification must be
[[Page 2402]]
provided in writing to HUD's Office of Departmental Grants Management
and Oversight, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh
Street, SW., Room 3156, Washington, DC 20410-3000, along with the
following information:
(a) The program title and award number for each HUD award covered;
(b) The HUD staff contact name, phone, and fax numbers;
(c) A grantee contact name, phone, and fax numbers; and
(4) Require that each employee engaged in the performance of the
federally funded award be given a copy of the drug-free workplace
statement required in item (1) above and notify the employee that one
of the following actions will be taken against the employee within 30
calendar days of receiving notice of any drug abuse conviction:
(a) Institution of a personnel action against the employee, up to
and including termination consistent with requirements of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; or
(b) Imposition of a requirement that the employee participate
satisfactorily in a drug abuse assistance or rehabilitation program
approved for such purposes by a federal, state, or local health, law
enforcement, or other appropriate agency.
q. Safeguarding Resident/Client Files. In maintaining resident and
client files, HUD funding recipients shall observe state and local laws
concerning the disclosure of records that pertain to individuals.
Further, recipients are required to adopt and take reasonable measures
to ensure that resident and client files are safeguarded.
r. Compliance with the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-282). Applicants receiving an
award from HUD should be aware of the requirements of the Federal
Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which calls for
the establishment of a central website that makes available to the
public full disclosure of all entities receiving federal funds. The
only exemptions to this law are federal transactions below $25,000 and
credit card transactions prior to October 1, 2006. Grantees should be
aware that the law requires the information provided on the federal
website to include the following elements related to all subaward
transactions, except as noted above:
(1) The name of the entity receiving the award;
(2) The amount of the award;
(3) Information on the award including the transaction type,
funding agency, the North American Industry Classification System code
or Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number (where applicable),
program source, and an award title descriptive of the purpose of each
funding action;
(4) The location of the entity receiving the award and primary
location of performance under the award, including the city, state,
congressional district, and country;
(5) A unique identifier of the entity receiving award and of the
parent entity of the recipient, should the entity be owned by another
entity; and
(6) Any other relevant information specified by OMB.
Additional information regarding these requirements will be
provided when available.
IV. Application and Submission Information
A. Addresses to Request Application Package
This section describes how applicants may obtain application forms
and request technical assistance.
1. Copies of the published NOFAs and application forms for HUD
programs made available at Grants.gov can be found at https://apply.grants.gov/
[fxsp0]forms--apps--idx.html.
2. Technical Assistance and Resources for Electronic Grant
Applications.
a. Grants.gov Customer Support. Applicants having difficulty
accessing the application and instructions or having technical problems
can receive customer support from Grants.gov by calling (800) 518-
GRANTS (this is a toll-free number) or by sending an e-mail to
support@grants.gov. The customer support center is open from 7 a.m. to
9 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.
The customer service representatives will assist applicants in
accessing the information and addressing technology issues.
b. Desktop Users Guide for Submitting Electronic Grant
Applications. HUD has published on its Web site a detailed Desktop
Users Guide that walks applicants through the electronic process,
beginning with finding a funding opportunity, completing the
registration process, and downloading and submitting the electronic
application. The guide includes helpful step-by-step instructions,
screen shots, and error-proof tips to assist applicants in becoming
familiar with submitting applications electronically. The guide is
available online at http://www.hud.gov/offices/[fxsp0]adm/grants/
deskuserguide.pdf.
c. HUD's Registration Brochure. HUD has a registration brochure
that provides detailed information on the registration process. See
http://www.hud.gov/offices/[fxsp0]adm/grants/regbrochure.pdf.
d. HUD's Finding and Applying for Grant Opportunities Brochure. HUD
also has a brochure that will guide you through the process of finding
and applying for grants. See HUD's Finding and Applying for Grant
Opportunities brochure at http://www.hud.gov/offices/[fxsp0]adm/grants/
findapplybrochure.pdf.
e. HUD's NOFA Information Center. Applicants that do not have
Internet access and need to obtain a copy of a NOFA can contact HUD's
NOFA Information Center toll-free at (800) HUD-8929. Persons with
hearing or speech impairments may access this number via TTY by calling
the Federal Information Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. The NOFA
Information Center is open between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
eastern time, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays.
f. HUD Staff. HUD staff will be available to provide you with
general guidance and technical assistance about this notice or about
individual program NOFAs. However, HUD staff is not permitted to help
prepare your application. Following selection of applicants, but before
announcement of awards are made, HUD staff is available to assist in
clarifying or confirming information that is a prerequisite to the
offer of an award or annual contributions contract (ACC) by HUD. If you
have program-related questions, follow the instructions in Section VII
of the Program Section entitled ``Agency Contact(s)'' in the program
NOFA under which you are applying.
g. Connecting with Communities: A User's Guide to HUD Programs and
the FY2007 NOFA Process Guidebook. A guidebook to HUD programs will be
available from the HUD NOFA Information Center and at the HUD's Funds
Available Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/[fxsp0]adm/grants/
fundsavail.cfm after the publication of the SuperNOFA. The guidebook
provides a brief description of all HUD programs that have funding
available in FY2007, identifies eligible applicants for the programs,
and provides examples of how programs can work in combination to serve
local community needs.
h. SuperNOFA Webcasts. HUD provides technical assistance and
training on its programs announced through NOFAs. The NOFA broadcasts
are interactive and allow potential applicants to obtain a better
understanding of the threshold, program, and application submission
requirements for funding. Participation in this training opportunity is
free of
[[Page 2403]]
charge and can be accessed via HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
The SuperNOFA Webcast schedule can be found
via HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/webcasts/index.cfm.
B. Content and Form of Application Submission
1. Instructions on How to Register for Electronic Application
Submission. Applicants must submit their applications electronically
through Grants.gov. Before you can do so, you must complete several
important steps to register as a submitter. The registration process
can take approximately 2 to 4 weeks to complete. Therefore,
registration should be done in sufficient time before you submit your
application. This section provides information on how to register with
Grants.gov. There are five sequential registration steps required for
an applicant to complete:
a. Step one is to obtain a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal
Numbering System (DUNS) number for your organization. All applicants
seeking funding directly from HUD must obtain a DUNS number and include
the number on the form SF-424, Application for Federal Financial
Assistance, which is part of the application submission. Failure to
provide a DUNS number will prevent you from obtaining an award,
regardless of whether it is a new award or renewal of an existing one.
This policy is pursuant to the OMB policy issued in the Federal
Register on June 27, 2003 (68 FR 38402). HUD published its regulation
implementing the DUNS number requirement on November 9, 2004 (69 FR
65024). A copy of the OMB Federal Register notice and HUD's regulation
implementing the DUNS number can be found on HUD's Web site at http://www.hud.gov/offices/
[fxsp0]adm/grants/duns.cfm. Applicants cannot
submit applications electronically without a DUNS number entry.
Applicants should also be aware that the applicant information entered
and used to obtain the DUNS number will be used to pre-populate the
Central Contractor Registration (CCR), which is required as part of the
registration process. Applicants should carefully enter and review
their information when obtaining a DUNS number.
When completing the application, applicants will be asked to
provide their DUNS number on the SF-424. Applicants must carefully
enter the DUNS number on the application package, making sure it is
identical to the DUNS number under which the Authorized Organization
Representative is registered to submit an application. If the DUNS
number entered on the application package does not match the
registration, the application will be rejected. For details about the
error messages received when submitting with the wrong DUNS number,
please see HUD's Desktop Users Guide for Submitting Electronic Grant
Applications at http://www.hud.gov/offices/[fxsp0]adm/grants/
deskuserguide.pdf. Applicants can obtain a DUNS number by calling (866)
705-5711 (this is a toll-free number). The approximate time to get a
DUNS number is 10 to 15 minutes, and there is no charge. You should
wait approximately 24 to 48 hours to register with the CCR so that your
DUNS number can become active in Dun and Bradstreet's (D&B) records.
b. Step two is to register with the CCR.
Grant applicants must register with CCR to begin the electronic
application submission process. The CCR is the primary vendor database
for the federal government. In addition, your CCR registration must be
renewed/updated annually. Failure to update/renew your CCR registration
will cause your Grants.gov registration to be invalid and you will not
be able to submit an application for funding. Registration can take
several weeks, so HUD urges any applicant that has not completed or
updated its registration to do so immediately because the changes to
the CCR registration processing noted below may prohibit you from
attempting to make these changes in the last few days prior to the
deadline date. Applicants can register with the CCR at http://www.ccr.gov/.
The CCR registration process consists of completing a
Trading Partner Profile (TPP), which contains general, corporate, and
financial information about your organization. While completing the
TPP, you will need to identify an E-Business Point of Contact (E-
Business POC), who will be responsible for maintaining the information
in the TPP and giving authorization to individuals to serve as
Authorized Organization Representatives (AORs). The AOR will submit
applications through Grants.gov for your organization.
(1) CCR Use of D&B Information. At the end of July 2006, a policy
change to the CCR name and address information was implemented. Under
this new policy, instead of obtaining name and address information
directly from the registrant, CCR will obtain the following data fields
from D&B: Legal Business Name, Doing Business As Name (DBA), Physical
Address, and Postal Code/Zip+4. Registrants will not be able to enter/
modify these fields in CCR; they will be pre-populated using D&B Data
Universal Numbering System (DUNS) record data. During new registration
or when updating a record, the registrant has a choice to accept or
reject the information provided from D&B. Under the revised system, if
the CCR registrant agrees with the D&B-supplied information, the D&B
data will be accepted into the CCR registrant record. If the registrant
disagrees with the D&B-supplied information, the registrant will need
to go to the D&B Web site http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform to modify the
information currently contained in D&B's records before proceeding with
its CCR registration. Once D&B confirms modifications, the registrant
must revisit the CCR Web site and ``accept'' D&B's changes. Only at
this point will the D&B data be accepted into the CCR record. This
process can take up to 2 business days for D&B to send modified data to
CCR, and that time frame may be longer if data is sent from abroad.
(2) CCR EIN/TIN Validation. On October 30, 2005, CCR began
validating the Employer Identification Number (EIN)/Taxpayer
Identification Number (TIN) and the Employer/Taxpayer Name of each new
and updating CCR registrant with the IRS. The EIN/TIN matching process
is a joint effort between the General Services Administration,
Department of Defense, and IRS to improve the quality of data in
government acquisition systems. A notice has gone out to CCR
registrants informing them of the IRS validation in CCR registration.
In order to complete your CCR registration and qualify as a vendor
eligible to bid for federal government contracts or apply for federal
grants, the EIN/TIN and Employer/Taxpayer Name combination you provide
in the IRS Consent Form must match exactly to the EIN/TIN and Employer/
Taxpayer Name used in federal tax matters. It will take at least one to
two business days to validate new and updated records prior to becoming
active in CCR. Therefore, please be sure that the data items provided
to D&B match information that you have provided to the IRS. Otherwise,
when the validation check with IRS is done, the registrations in D&B
and the CCR will not match the IRS information and an error message
will result. This will prevent the registration from being completed
until the discrepancies have been resolved. Applicants should allow
sufficient time to review their D&B and CCR information. If you have
questions about your EIN or TIN, call (800) 829-4933.
c. Step three requires that the designated Authorized Organization
Representative (AOR) from the organization register with the Credential
[[Page 2404]]
Provider. In order to safeguard the security of your electronic
information, Grants.gov utilizes a Credential Provider to determine
with certainty that someone is really who he or she claims to be. Your
organization will need to be registered with the CCR and you will need
to have your organization's DUNS number available to complete this
process. An assigned AOR must register with the Credential Provider to
create and receive a username and password, which are needed to submit
an application package through Grants.gov. Applicants can register with
the Credential Provider at http://apply.grants.gov/OrcRegister.
Beginning August 30, 2007, organizations will have three federally
approved credential providers from which to choose their authentication
services--the Agriculture Department; OPM's Employee Express; and, the
current provider, Operational Research Consultants, Inc. (ORC). Users
who already hold a Grants.gov user name and password through ORC will
not experience much change. New users will be able to choose from the
credential providers on the list.
d. Step four requires the AOR to register with Grants.gov in order
to submit an electronic grant application. To submit an application to
HUD, an AOR must be able to make a legally binding commitment on behalf
of the applicant. The AOR can register with Grants.gov and submit an
application on the same day. Applicants can register with Grants.gov at
https://apply.grants.gov/GrantsgovRegister.
e. Step five requires the E-Business point of contact (POC) to
approve the designated AORs. The E-Business POC can designate the AOR
to submit applications on behalf of the organization at https://apply.grants.gov/agency/AorMgrGetID
.
2. Instructions on How to Download an Application Package and
Application Instructions
a. The Application Package and Application Instructions. The
general process for downloading, completing, submitting, and tracking
grant application packages is described at http://www.grants.gov/applicants/
[fxsp0]apply--for--grants.jsp. To download the application
and instructions, go to https://apply.grants.gov/forms_[fxsp0]apps--
idx.html and enter the CFDA Number, Funding Opportunity Number, or
Funding Opportunity Competition ID for the application that you are
interested in. If you enter more than one criterion, you will not find
the instructions. You will then come to a page where you will find the
funding opportunity Download Application & Instructions links. The
first thing you should do is download the Instructions by clicking on
the Download Instructions link. The Instructions contain the General
and Program Sections for the funding opportunity, as well as forms that
are not part of the application download but are included as elements
of a complete package as specified in the published NOFA. The second
thing you should do is download the application by clicking on the
Download Application link. Both the Instructions and Application can be
saved to your desktop. You do not need to be registered to download and
read the instructions or complete the application; however, once you
have downloaded the application and intend to submit an application,
you must save it on your computer.
Each program NOFA also includes a checklist. Please review the
checklist in the Program Section to ensure that your application
contains all the required materials.
b. Electronic Grant Application Forms.
(1) Forms contained in the Instructions download are available in
Microsoft Word (.doc) (version 9), Microsoft Excel 2000 (.xls), or
Adobe (.pdf) formats. The pdf files are only fillable forms--not
savable, unless you have Adobe Professional software version 6.0 or
higher.
(2) The Application download will also contain a cover page
entitled ``Grant Application Package.'' The cover page provides
information regarding the application package you have chosen to
download, i.e., Opportunity Title, Agency Name, CFDA Number, etc.
Review this information to ensure that you have selected the correct
application. The Grant Application cover page separates the required
forms into two categories: ``Mandatory Documents'' and ``Optional
Documents.'' Please note that regardless of the box in which the forms
are listed, the published Federal Register document is the official
document HUD uses to solicit applications. Therefore, applicants should
follow the instructions provided in the General Section and Program
Sections of the Instructions download. The individual NOFA sections
will also identify the forms that may be applicable and that need to be
submitted with the application.
(3) Because you will be adding additional attachment files to the
downloaded application, applicants should save the application to their
hard drive. Do not download the application or attempt to upload the
application using a ``thumb'' or ``jump drive,'' as Grants.gov has
found that applicants have problems uploading from a jump drive. Be
sure to read and follow the application submission requirements
published in each individual NOFA for which you are submitting an
application. Each program NOFA will identify all the required forms for
submission.
(4) HUD's standard forms are identified below:
(a) Application for Federal Financial Assistance (SF-424);
(b) Faith-Based EEO Survey (SF-424 Supplement, Survey on Ensuring
Equal Opportunities for Applicants), if applicable;
(c) HUD Detailed Budget (HUD-424-CB, Grant Application Detailed
Budget);
(d) Grant Application Detailed Budget Worksheet (HUD-424-CBW);
(e) Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL), if applicable;
(f) HUD Applicant Recipient Disclosure Report (HUD-2880, Applicant/
Recipient Disclosure/Update Report);
(g) Certification of Consistency with RC/EZ/EC-II Strategic Plan
(HUD-2990), if applicable;
(h) Certification of Consistency with the Consolidated Plan (HUD-
2991), if applicable;
(i) Acknowledgment of Application Receipt (HUD-2993);
(j) You Are Our Client Grant Applicant Survey (HUD 2994-A)
(Optional);
(k) Program Outcome Logic Model (HUD-96010);
(l) HUD Race Ethnic Form (HUD-27061), if applicable;
(m) HUD Communities Initiative (HUD-27300, Questionnaire for HUD's
Removal of Regulatory Barriers), if applicable; and
(n) HUD Facsimile Transmittal (HUD-96011, Third Party Documentation
Facsimile Transmittal).
All HUD ``program specific'' forms not available at the Application
download will be available in the Instructions download in Microsoft
Word .doc (version 9), Microsoft Excel 2000 (.xls), or Adobe (.pdf)
format compatible with Adobe Reader 6.0 or later. The pdf forms are
form fillable but not savable unless you have Adobe Professional 6.0 or
higher. Applicants may use the HUD-96011, ``Third Party Documentation
Facsimile Transmittal'' (``HUD Facsimile Transmittal'' on Grants.gov)
form and fax to HUD any forms they have completed but cannot save.
Copies of the Continuum of Care application forms will be on HUD's
website at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm until
such
[[Page 2405]]
time as HUD places an application on http://www.Grants.gov/Apply. Once an
application is placed on Grants.gov/Apply, applicants should follow the
website instructions for obtaining an application from Grants.gov.
3. Instructions on How to Complete the Selected Grant Application
Package
a. Mandatory Fields on Application Download Forms. Forms in the
Application download contain fields with a yellow background. These
data fields are mandatory and must be completed. Failure to complete
the fields will result in an error message when checking the package
for errors.
b. Completion of SF-424 Fields First. The forms in the application
package are designed to automatically populate common data such as the
applicant name and address, DUNS number, etc. In order to trigger this
function, the SF-424 must be completed first. Once applicants complete
the SF-424, the entered information will transfer to the other forms.
c. Submission of Narrative Statements, Third Party Letters,
Certifications, and Program-Specific Forms. In addition to program-
specific forms, many of the NOFAs require the submission of other
documentation, such as third-party letters, certifications, or program
narrative statements. This section discusses how you should submit this
additional information electronically as part of your application:
(1) Narrative Statements to the Factors for Award. If you are
required to submit narrative statements, you must submit them as an
electronic file in Microsoft Word (version 9 or earlier), Microsoft
Excel (.xls) 2000 (or earlier) or in Adobe (.pdf) format that is
compatible with Adobe Reader 6.0 or earlier. If HUD receives a file in
a format other than those specified, HUD will not be able to read the
file, and it will not be reviewed. Each response to a Factor for Award
should be clearly identified and can be incorporated into a single
attachment or all attachments can be zipped together into a single
attached ZIP file. Program NOFAs may require files to be submitted
separately or as a single ZIP file, so please carefully review the
individual NOFAs when they are published. Documents that applicants
possess in electronic format, e.g., narratives they have written, or
graphic images (such as computer aided design (CAD) files from an
architect) must be saved in PDF format compatible with Adobe Reader 6.0
or an earlier version and attached using the ``Attachments'' form
included in the application package downloaded from Grants.gov. In
addition, some NOFAs may request photographs. If this is the case, then
the photos should be saved in .jpg or jpeg format and attached using
the attachments form. When creating attachments to your application,
please follow these rules:
(a) DO NOT attach a copy of the electronic application with your
attachments as an attachments file. HUD cannot open such files when
they are attached as attachments.
(b) Check the attachment file and make sure it has a file extension
of .doc, .pdf, .xls, .jpg, or .jpeg.
(c) Make sure that file extensions are not in upper case. File
extensions must be lower case for the file to be opened.
(d) DO NOT use special characters (i.e., , %, /, etc.) in
a file name.
(e) DO NOT include spaces in the file name.
(f) Limit file names to not more than 50 characters.
(2) ZIP Files. In order to reduce the size of attachments,
applicants can compress several files using a ZIP utility. Applicants
can then attach the zipped file as described above. HUD's standard zip
utility is WinZip. Files compressed with the WinZip utility must use
either the ``Normal'' option or ``Maximum (portable)'' option available
to ensure that HUD is able to open the file. Files received using
compression methods other than ``Normal'' or ``Maximum (portable)''
cannot be opened and will not be reviewed. Applicants should be aware
that if HUD receives files compressed using another utility, or not in
accord with these directions, it cannot open the files and, therefore,
such files will not be reviewed.
(3) Third-Party Letters, Certifications Requiring Signatures, and
Other Documentation. Applicants required to submit third-party
documentation (e.g., establishing matching or leveraged funds,
documentation of 501(c)(3) status or incorporation papers, documents
that support the need for the program, memoranda of understanding
(MOUs), or program-required documentation that supports your
organization's claims regarding work that has been done to remove
regulatory barriers to affordable housing) can choose from the
following two options as a way to provide HUD with the documentation:
(a) Scanning Documents to Create Electronic Files. Scanning
documents increases the size of files. If your computer has the
capacity to upload scanned documents, submit your documents with the
application by using the Attachment Form in the Mandatory or Optional
Forms section of the application. If your computer does not have the
memory to upload scanned documents, you should submit them via fax as
described below. Electronic files must be labeled so that the recipient
at HUD will know what the file contains. Program NOFAs will indicate
any naming conventions that applicants must use when submitting files
using the attachment form.
(b) Faxing Required Documentation. Applicants may fax the required
documentation as program-specific forms to HUD. Applicants should only
use this method when documents cannot be attached to the electronic
application package as a .pdf, .doc, .xls, .jpeg, or .jpg, or when the
size of the submission is too large to upload from the applicant's
computer. HUD will not accept entire applications by fax and will
disqualify applications submitted entirely in that manner.
(i) Fax Form HUD-96011, ``Third Party Documentation Facsimile
Transmittal'' (``HUD Facsimile Transmittal'' on Grants.gov). Facsimiles
submitted in response to a NOFA must use the form HUD-96011. The
facsimile transmittal form, found in the downloaded application,
contains a unique identifier that allows HUD to match an applicant's
submitted application via Grants.gov with faxes coming from a variety
of sources. Each time the application package is downloaded, the forms
in the package are given a unique ID number. To ensure that all the
forms in your package contain the same unique ID number, after
downloading your application, complete the SF-424, save the forms to
your hard drive, and use the saved forms to create your application.
When you have downloaded your application package from Grants.gov, be
sure to first complete the SF-424, and then provide copies of the form
HUD-96011 to third parties that will submit information in support of
your application. Do not download the same application package from
Grants.gov more than once because if your application submission does
not match the unique identifier on the facsimile transmittal form, HUD
will not be able to match the faxes received to your application
submission. Faxes that cannot be matched to an application will not be
considered in the review process.
If you have to provide a copy of the form HUD-96011 to another
party that will be responsible for faxing an item as part of your
application, make a copy of the facsimile transmittal cover page from
your downloaded application and provide that copy to the third party
for use with the fax transmission. Please instruct third parties to use
the form HUD-96011 that you have provided as
[[Page 2406]]
a cover page when they submit information supporting your application
using the facsimile method, because it contains the embedded ID number
that is unique to your application submission.
(ii) Use Form HUD-96011 as Fax Cover Page. For HUD to correctly
match a fax to a particular application, the applicant must use and
require third parties that fax documentation on its behalf to use the
form HUD-96011 as the cover page of the facsimile. Using the form HUD-
96011 will ensure that HUD can electronically read faxes submitted by
and on behalf of an applicant and match them to the applicant's
application package received via Grants.gov.
Failure to use the form HUD-96011 as the cover page will create a
problem in electronically matching your faxes to the application. If
HUD is unable to match the faxes electronically due to an applicant's
failure to follow these directions, HUD will not hand-match faxes to
applications and will not consider the faxed information in rating the
application. If your facsimile machine automatically creates a cover
page, turn this feature off before faxing information to HUD.
(iii) HUD Fax Number. Applicants and third parties submitting
information on their behalf must use the HUD-96011 facsimile
transmittal cover page and must send the information to the following
fax number: (800) HUD-1010. If you cannot access the toll-free 800
number or experience problems, you may use (215) 825-8798 (this is not
a toll-free number).
(iv) Fax Individual Documents as Separate Transmissions. In
addition, it is highly recommended that applicants fax individual
documents as separate submissions to avoid fax transmission problems.
When faxing two or more documents to HUD, applicants must use the form
HUD-96011 as the cover page for each document (e.g., Letter of Matching
or Leveraging Funds, Memorandum of Understanding, Certification of
Consistency with the Consolidated Plan, etc.). Please be aware that
faxing large documents at one time may result in transmission failures.
(v) Check Accuracy of Fax Transmission. Be sure to check the record
of your transmission issued by the fax machine to ensure that your fax
submission was completed ``OK.'' For large or long documents, HUD
suggests that you divide them into smaller sections for faxing
purposes. Each time you fax a document that you have divided into
smaller sections, you should indicate on the cover sheet what part of
the overall section you are submitting (e.g., ``part 1 of 4 parts'' or
``pages 1-10 of 20 pages'').
Your facsimile machine should provide you with a record of whether
HUD received your transmission. If you get a negative response or a
transmission error, you should resubmit the document until you confirm
that HUD has received your transmission. HUD will not acknowledge that
it received a fax successfully. When receiving a fax electronically,
HUD will electronically read it with an optical character reader and
attach it to the application submitted through Grants.gov. Applicants
and third parties submitting information on their behalf may submit
information by facsimile at any time before the application deadline
date. Applicants must ensure that the form HUD-96011 used to fax
information matches their electronic application (i.e., is part of the
application package downloaded from Grants.gov). As stated previously,
when faxing information, you must ensure that if your facsimile machine
automatically generates a cover page, that you turn that feature off
and use the form HUD-96011 as the cover page. Also ensure that the fax
is transmitted to fit 8\1/2\'' x 11'' letter size paper.
(vi) Preview your Fax Transmission. HUD recommends that you
``preview'' how your fax will be transmitted by using the copy feature
on your facsimile machine and make a copy of the first two or three
pages. You will see what HUD receives as a fax. If the fax is not clear
or cuts off at the bottom of the page, applicants should use a
different facsimile machine or have the machine adjusted. All faxed
materials must be received no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on
the application deadline date. HUD will store the information and match
it to the electronic application when HUD receives it from Grants.gov.
If you are not faxing any documents: Even though you are not faxing any
documents, you must still complete the facsimile transmittal form. In
the section of the form titled ``Name of Document Transmitting,'' enter
the words ``Nothing Faxed with this Application.'' Complete the
remaining highlighted fields and enter the number ``0'' in the section
of the form titled ``How many pages (including cover) are being
faxed?''
Steps to Take Before You Submit Your Application. You should review
the application package and all the attachments to make sure it
contains all the documents you want to submit. If it does, save it to
your computer and remove previously saved versions. Check your AOR
status on Grants.gov to make sure your E-Business POC has authorized
you to submit an application on behalf of your organization. Run the
Check Package for Errors feature on the application package and correct
any problems identified. Contact any persons or entities that were to
submit third-party faxes to make sure that the faxes have been
submitted using the facsimile cover page that you provided.
C. Submission Dates and Times
Applications submitted through Grants.gov must be received and
validated by Grants.gov no later than 11:59:59 p.m. eastern time on the
application deadline date. There are several steps in the upload and
receipt process, so applicants are advised to submit their applications
at least 48 to 72 hours in advance of the deadline date and when the
Grants.gov help desk is open so that any issues can be addressed prior
to the deadline date and time. HUD recommends uploading your
application using Internet Explorer or Netscape.
1. Confirmation of Submission to Grants.gov. When you successfully
upload an application to Grants.gov, you will receive a confirmation
message on your computer screen that your application has been
submitted to Grants.gov and is being processed. This confirmation will
include a tracking number. Print this confirmation out and save it for
your records. If you have submitted multiple applications, be sure to
check to see what application to which each confirmation applies. The
grant number, CFDA, and Funding Opportunity Number, as well as the date
and time of submission, will appear on the confirmation. If you do not
receive this confirmation, it means that your application has not been
successfully uploaded. If your screen goes blank or you have problems
uploading, you need to immediately call Grants.gov support at (800)
518-GRANTS for assistance (this is a toll-free number).
2. Application Submission Validation Check. The application will
then go through a validation process. The validation check ensures
that:
a. The application is virus-free;
b. The application meets the deadline requirements established for
the funding opportunity;
c. The DUNS number submitted on the application matches the DUNS
number in the registration, and that the AOR has been authorized to
submit the application for funding by the organization identified by
its DUNS number; and
d. All the mandatory (highlighted) fields and forms were completed
on the application.
[[Page 2407]]
3. Application Validation and Rejection Notification. If the
application fails any of the above items during the validation check,
the application package will be rejected and the submitter will receive
an email indicating the application has been rejected. The email will
include the reasons why the application was rejected. The validation
check can occur 24 to 48 hours after the application submission.
Therefore, HUD recommends that all applicants submit their application
no later than 72 hours before the deadline. That way, if the
application fails the validation process, the applicant will have time
to make the corrections and resubmit the application before the
deadline. By submitting 72 hours in advance of the deadline, applicants
should have time to cure deficiencies in their application. In
developing the application submission dates, HUD has considered the
validation process and established due dates for all NOFAs that add in
the additional time needed for the validation process. For example, if
HUD previously provided a 60-day application period, HUD will provide a
63-day application period in FY2007. In this scenario, however, in
order to meet the validation requirement, your application must be
submitted by the 60th day.
4. Timely Receipt Requirements and Proof of Timely Submission
a. Proof of Application Submission. Proof of timely submission and
validation is automatically recorded by Grants.gov. An electronic time
stamp is generated within the system when the application has been
successfully received and validated.
b. Confirmation Receipt. Upon submitting an application at
Grants.gov, you will receive a Confirmation, which advises that your
application is being processed. This confirmation will also include the
Grants.gov tracking number. Print the confirmation and save it with
your records.
c. Validation Receipt via E-mail. Within 24 to 48 hours after
receipt of the confirmation, the applicant will receive a validation
receipt via email. The receipt indicates that the application has
passed the validation review at Grants.gov and the application is ready
to be retrieved by the grantor agency for agency processing. Please be
aware that the Grants.gov validation does not indicate that the grantor
agency has reviewed the content of your application; rather, the
validation merely indicates that the application has been successfully
received and is ready for pick-up by the grantor agency.
d. Rejection Notice. If an application fails the validation
process, the applicant will receive a rejection notice within 24 to 48
hours after the confirmation notice. The applicant should review the
rejection notice because it will include the reason for rejection. The
applicant should try to cure the deficiencies and resubmit the
application as soon as possible prior to the deadline. By submitting
the application 72 hours prior to the deadline, applicants who have
completed their registration should have sufficient time to cure the
reasons for rejection and successfully resubmit their application in
time to meet the deadline.
e. Save and File Receipts. Applicants should save all receipts from
Grants.gov, as well as facsimile receipts for proof of timely
submission. Applicants will be considered as meeting the deadline date
requirements when Grants.gov has received and validated your
application no later than the deadline date and time, and when all fax
transmissions have been received by the deadline date and time.
f. Delayed Transmission Time. Applicants using dial-up connections
should be aware that transmitting your application takes extra time
before Grants.gov receives it. Grants.gov will provide either an error
or a successfully received transmission message. The Grants.gov Help
Desk reports that some applicants abort the transmission because they
think that nothing is occurring during the transmission process. Please
be patient and give the system time to process the application.
Uploading and transmitting a large file, particularly electronic forms
with associated eXtensible mark-up language (XML) schema, will take
considerable time to process and be received by Grants.gov. However,
the upload even for large files should not take longer than one hour.
If you are still waiting after one hour for the submission to be
uploaded to Grants.gov, stop the transmission and check the available
disk space and memory on your computer. HUD has found that difficulty
in uploading an application from the applicant's desktop is most
frequently due to: (1) The application package being too large to be
handled by the applicant's computer; (2) the local entity's network
limits the size of files going in or out; or (3) the Internet service
provider has a file size limit. Therefore, in such instances, the
application should be reduced in size by removing attachment files and
submitting the attachments via the facsimile method using the form HUD-
96011 as the cover page. The application without attachments should be
uploaded to Grants.gov. HUD will match applications submitted to
Grants.gov with facsimiles that have been transmitted following the
directions in this notice.
g. Ensure You Have Installed the Free Grants.gov Software. Check to
ensure that the latest version of the software available from
Grants.gov, which is free for system users, has been properly installed
on your computer. Applicants will find a link to the free software for
download at the Download Application page for the funding opportunity
available on Grants.gov. HUD has found that an improper installation
will result in an application not being able to upload properly. If you
are not sure how to determine if the software is properly installed,
call the Grants.gov Support Desk.
5. Late applications. Applications validated by Grants.gov after
the established deadline for the program will be considered late and
will not receive funding consideration. Applicants should pay close
attention to these submission and timely receipt instructions, as they
can make a difference in whether HUD will accept your application for
funding consideration. Similarly, HUD will not consider information
submitted by facsimile as part of the application if received by HUD
after the established deadline. Please take into account the
transmission time required for submitting your application via the
Internet and the time required to fax any related documents. HUD
suggests that applicants submit their applications during the operating
hours of the Grants.gov Help Desk so that, if there are questions
concerning transmission, operators will be available to assist you
through the process. Submitting your application early and during the
Help Desk hours will also ensure that you have sufficient time for the
application to complete its transmission before the application
deadline.
6. Continuum of Care Paper Application Submission. Applicants under
the Continuum of Care program should follow the directions for
application submission and timely receipt that are contained in the
Continuum of Care program section.
D. Intergovernmental Review/State Points of Contact (SPOC)
Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal
Programs,'' was issued to foster intergovernmental partnership and
strengthen federalism by relying on state and local processes for the
coordination and review of federal financial
[[Page 2408]]
assistance and direct federal development. HUD implementing regulations
are published at 24 CFR part 52. The executive order allows each state
to designate an entity to perform a state review function. Applicants
can find the official listing of State Points of Contact (SPOCs) for
this review process at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants/spoc.html.
States not listed on the Web site have chosen not to participate in the
intergovernmental review process and, therefore, do not have a SPOC. If
your state has a SPOC, you should contact the SPOC to see if it is
interested in reviewing your application before submission to HUD.
Please make sure that you allow ample time for this review when
developing and submitting your applications. If your state does not
have a SPOC, you can submit your application directly to HUD using
Grants.gov.
E. Funding Restrictions
The individual program NOFAs will describe any funding restrictions
that apply to each program.
F. Other Submission Requirements
1. Application Kits. There are no application kits for HUD
programs. All the information you need to apply will be in the NOFA and
available at http://www.grants.gov/applicants/apply_for_grants.jsp.
2. Discrepancies between the Federal Register and Other Documents.
The published Federal Register document is the official document that
HUD uses to solicit applications. Therefore, if there is a discrepancy
between any materials published by HUD in its Federal Register
publications and other information provided in paper copy, electronic
copy, at http://www.grants.gov, or at HUD's Web site, the Federal Register
publication prevails. Please be sure to review your application
submission against the requirements in the Federal Register file for
the program NOFA or NOFAs to which you are applying.
3. Application Certifications and Assurances. Applicants are placed
on notice that by signing the SF-424 cover page:
a. The governing body of the applicant's organization has duly
authorized the application for federal assistance. In addition, by
signing or electronically submitting the application, the AOR certifies
that the applicant:
(1) Has the legal authority to apply for federal assistance and has
the institutional, managerial, and financial capacity (including funds
to pay for any non-federal share of program costs) to plan, manage, and
complete the program as described in the application;
(2) Will provide HUD with any additional information it may
require; and
(3) Will administer the award in compliance with requirements
identified and contained in the NOFA (General and Program sections) as
applicable to the program for which funds are awarded and in accordance
with requirements applicable to the program.
b. No appropriated federal funds have been paid or will be paid, by
or on behalf of the applicant, to any person for influencing or
attempting to influence an officer or employee of any agency, a member
of Congress, or an employee of a member of Congress, in connection with
this application for federal assistance or any award of funds resulting
from the submission of this application for federal assistance or its
extension, renewal, amendment, or modification. If funds other than
federal appropriated funds have been or will be paid for influencing or
attempting to influence the persons listed above, the applicant agrees
to complete and submit SF-LLL, Disclosure of Lobbying Activities, as
part of its application submission package. The applicant further
agrees to and certifies that it will require similar certification and
disclosure of all subawards at all tiers, including subgrants and
contracts.
c. Federally recognized Indian tribes and tribally designated
housing entities (TDHEs) established by a federally recognized Indian
tribe, as a result of the exercise of the tribe's sovereign power, are
excluded from coverage by item b. (also known as the Byrd Amendment).
However, state-recognized Indian tribes and TDHEs established under
state law are not excluded from the statute's coverage and therefore
must comply with item b above.
By submitting an application, the applicant affirms its awareness
of these certifications and assurances. The AOR submitting the
application is affirming that these certifications and assurances are
material representations of the facts upon which HUD will rely when
making an award to the applicant. If it is later determined that the
signatory to the application submission knowingly made a false
certification or assurance or did not have the authority to make a
legally binding commitment for the applicant, the applicant may be
subject to criminal prosecution, and HUD may terminate the award to the
applicant organization or pursue other available remedies.
4. Waiver of Electronic Submission Requirements. The regulatory
framework for HUD's electronic submission requirement is the final rule
established in 24 CFR 5.1005. Applicants seeking a waiver of the
electronic submission requirement must request a waiver in accordance
with 24 CFR 5.1005. HUD's regulations allow for a waiver of the
electronic submission requirement for cause. If the waiver is granted,
the applicable program office's response will include instructions on
how many hard copies of the paper application must be submitted as well
as how and where to submit them. Applicants that are granted a waiver
of the electronic submission requirement will not be afforded
additional time to submit their applications. The deadlines for
applications will remain as provided in the program section of the
SuperNOFA and as per the final Appendix A published with the SuperNOFA
program sections. As a result, applicants seeking a waiver of the
electronic application submission requirement should submit their
waiver request with sufficient time to allow HUD to process and respond
to the request. Applicants should also allow themselves sufficient time
to submit their application so that HUD receives the application by the
established deadline date. For this reason, HUD strongly recommends
that if an applicant finds it cannot submit its application
electronically and must seek a waiver of the electronic grant
submission requirement, it should submit the waiver request to the
headquarters of the applicable HUD office no later than 15 days before
the application deadline. This will allow time for HUD to process the
waiver request and give the applicant sufficient time to submit the
paper application to meet the deadline if the waiver is granted. To
expedite the receipt and review of such requests, applicants may email
their requests to the program contact listed in the program NOFA. If
HUD does not have sufficient time to process the waiver request, a
waiver will not be granted. Paper applications received without a prior
approved waiver and/or after the established deadline date will not be
considered.
V. Application Review Information
A. Criteria
1. Factors for Award Used to Evaluate and Rate Applications. For
each program NOFA, the points awarded for the rating factors total 100.
Depending on the program for which you are seeking funding, the funding
[[Page 2409]]
opportunity may provide up to four bonus points, as provided below:
a. RC/EZ/EC-II. HUD will award two bonus points to each application
that includes a valid form HUD-2990 certifying that the proposed
activities/projects in the application are consistent with the
strategic plan for an empowerment zone (EZ) designated by HUD or the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the tax incentive utilization
plan for an urban or rural renewal community designated by HUD (RC), or
the strategic plan for and enterprise community designated in round II
by USDA (EZ-II), and that the proposed activities/projects will be
located within the RC/EZ/EC-II identified above and are intended to
serve the residents. For ease of reference in this notice, all of the
federally designated areas are collectively referred to as ``RC/EZ/EC-
IIs'' and residents of any of these federally designated areas as ``RC/
EZ/EC-II residents.'' The individual funding announcements will
indicate if the bonus points are available under the program. This
notice contains a certification that must be completed for the
applicant to be considered for RC/EZ/EC-II bonus points. Applicants can
obtain a list of RC/EZ/EC-IIs from HUD's grants Web page at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
Applicants can determine
if their program or project activities are located in one of these
designated areas by using the locator on HUD's Web site at http://egis.hud.gov/egis/
.
b. The Five Standard Rating Factors for FY2007. HUD has established
the following five standard factors for awarding funds under the
majority of its FY2007 program NOFAs.
Factor 1: Capacity of the Applicant and Relevant Organizational
Staff.
Factor 2: Need/Extent of the Problem.
Factor 3: Soundness of Approach.
Factor 4: Leveraging Resources.
Factor 5: Achieving Results and Program Evaluation.
Additional details about the five rating factors and the maximum
points for each factor are provided in the program NOFAs. For a
specific funding opportunity, HUD may modify these factors to take into
account explicit program needs or statutory or regulatory limitations.
Applicants should carefully read the factors for award as described in
the program NOFA to which you are responding.
The Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance programs have only two
factors that receive points: (1) Need and (2) Continuum of Care.
c. Additional Criterion. In addition to the Standard Rating
Criterion, HUD will consider the following additional items when rating
your application(s).
(1) Past Performance. In evaluating applications for funding, HUD
will take into account applicants' past performance in managing funds,
including, but not limited to, the ability to account for funds
appropriately; timely use of funds received either from HUD or other
federal, state, or local programs; timely submission and quality of
reports to HUD; meeting performance targets as established in logic
models approved as part of the grant agreement; timelines for
completion of activities and receipt of promised matching or leveraged
funds; and the number of persons to be served or targeted for
assistance. HUD may consider information available from HUD's records;
the name check review; public sources such as newspapers, Inspector
General or Government Accountability Office reports or findings; or
hotline or other complaints that have been proven to have merit.
(2) Deducting Points for Poor Performance. In evaluating past
performance, HUD may elect to deduct points from the rating score or
establish threshold levels as specified under the Factors for Award in
the individual program NOFAs.
B. Reviews and Selection Process
1. HUD's Strategic Goals to Implement HUD's Strategic Framework and
Demonstrate Results. HUD is committed to ensuring that programs result
in the achievement of HUD's strategic mission. To support this effort,
grant applications submitted for HUD programs will be rated on how well
they tie proposed outcomes to HUD's policy priorities and annual goals
and objectives, as well as the quality of the applicant's proposed
evaluation and monitoring plans. HUD's strategic framework establishes
the following goals and objectives for the Department:
a. Increase Homeownership Opportunities.
(1) Expand national homeownership opportunities.
(2) Increase minority homeownership.
(3) Make the home-buying process less complicated and less
expensive.
(4) Reduce predatory lending practices through reform, education,
and enforcement.
(5) Help HUD-assisted renters become homeowners.
(6) Keep existing homeowners from losing their homes.
b. Promote Decent Affordable Housing.
(1) Expand access to and the availability of decent, affordable
rental housing.
(2) Improve the management accountability and physical quality of
public and assisted housing.
(3) Improve housing opportunities for the elderly and persons with
disabilities.
(4) Promote housing self-sufficiency.
(5) Facilitate more effective delivery of affordable housing by
reforming public housing and the Housing Choice Voucher program.
c. Strengthen Communities.
(1) Assist disaster recovery in the Gulf Coast region.
(2) Enhance sustainability of communities by expanding economic
opportunities.
(3) Foster a suitable living environment in communities by
improving physical conditions and quality of life.
(4) End chronic homelessness and move homeless families and
individuals to permanent housing.
(5) Mitigate housing conditions that threaten health.
d. Ensure Equal Opportunity in Housing.
(1) Ensure access to a fair and effective administrative process to
investigate and resolve complaints of discrimination.
(2) Improve public awareness of rights and responsibilities under
fair housing laws.
(3) Improve housing accessibility for persons with disabilities.
(4) Ensure that HUD-funded entities comply with fair housing and
other civil rights laws.
e. Embrace High Standards of Ethics, Management, and
Accountability.
(1) Strategically manage human capital to increase employee
satisfaction and improve HUD performance.
(2) Improve HUD's management and internal controls to ensure
program compliance and resolve audit issues.
(3) Improve accountability, service delivery, and customer service
of HUD and its partners.
(4) Capitalize on modernized technology to improve the delivery of
HUD's core business functions.
f. Promote Participation of Faith-Based and Other Community
Organizations.
(1) Reduce barriers to faith-based and other community
organizations.
(2) Conduct outreach and provide technical assistance to strengthen
the capacity of faith-based and community organizations to attract
partners and secure resources.
(3) Encourage partnerships between faith-based and other community
[[Page 2410]]
organizations and HUD's grantees and subgrantees.
Additional information about HUD's New Strategic Plan FY2006-
FY2011, and 2002-2007 Annual Performance Plans is available at http://www.hud.gov/offices/cfo/reports/cforept.cfm
.
2. Policy Priorities. HUD encourages applicants to undertake
specific activities that will assist the Department in implementing its
policy priorities and achieving its goals for FY2007 and beyond, when
the majority of funding recipients will be reporting programmatic
results and achievements. Applicants that include work activities that
specifically address one or more of these policy priorities will
receive higher rating scores than applicants that do not address these
HUD priorities. Each NOFA issued in FY2007 will specify which
priorities relate to a particular program and how many points will be
awarded for addressing those priorities.
a. Providing Increased Homeownership and Rental Opportunities for
Low- and Moderate-Income Persons, Persons with Disabilities, the
Elderly, Minorities, and Persons with Limited English Proficiency. Too
often, these individuals and families are shut out of the housing
market through no fault of their own. Often, developers of housing,
housing counseling agencies, and other organizations engaged in the
housing industry must work aggressively to open up the realm of
homeownership and rental opportunities to low- and moderate-income
persons, persons with disabilities, the elderly, minorities, and
persons with limited English proficiency. Many of these families are
anxious to have homes of their own, but are not aware of the programs
and assistance that are available. Applicants are encouraged to address
the housing, housing counseling, and other related supportive service
needs of these individuals and coordinate their proposed activities
with funding available through HUD's affordable housing programs and
home loan programs.
Proposed activities support strategic goals a, b, and d.
b. Improving our Nation's Communities. HUD wants to improve the
quality of life for those living in distressed communities. Applicants
are encouraged to include activities that:
(1) Bring private capital into distressed communities;
(2) Finance business investments to grow new businesses;
(3) Maintain and expand existing businesses;
(4) Create a pool of funds for new small and minority-owned
businesses; and
(5) Create decent jobs for low-income persons.
(6) Improve the environmental health and safety of families living
in public and privately owned housing by including activities that:
(i) Coordinate lead hazard reduction programs with weatherization
activities funded by state and local governments and the federal
government; and
(ii) Reduce or eliminate health-related hazards in the home caused
by toxic agents, such as molds and other allergens, carbon monoxide,
and other hazardous agents and conditions;
(7) Make communities more livable by:
(i) Providing public and social services; and
(ii) Improving infrastructure and community facilities.
Activities support strategic goals b, c, and d.
c. Encouraging Accessible Design Features. As described in Section
III.C.2.c., applicants must comply with applicable civil rights laws,
including the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. These laws and the
regulations implementing them provide for nondiscrimination based on
disability and require housing and other facilities to incorporate
certain features intended to provide for their use and enjoyment by
persons with disabilities. HUD is encouraging applicants to add
accessible design features beyond those required under civil rights
laws and regulations. Such features would eliminate many other barriers
limiting the access of persons with disabilities to housing and other
facilities. Copies of the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards
(UFAS) are available from the NOFA Information Center at (800) HUD-8929
and also from the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity,
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW.,
Room 5230, Washington, DC 20410-2000; telephone (202) 755-5404 or toll-
free at (800) 877-8339 (TTY). Persons with hearing or speech
impairments may access these numbers via TTY by calling the Federal
Information Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. (These are toll-free
numbers.)
Accessible design features are intended to promote visitability and
incorporate features of universal design, as described below.
(1) Visitability in New Construction and Substantial
Rehabilitation. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate visitability
standards, where feasible, in new construction and substantial
rehabilitation projects. Visitability standards allow a person with
mobility impairments access into the home, but do not require that all
features be made accessible. Visitability means that there is at least
one entrance at grade (no steps), approached by an accessible route
such as a sidewalk, and that the entrance door and all interior passage
doors are at least 2 feet, 10 inches wide, allowing 32 inches of clear
passage space. A visitable home also serves persons without
disabilities, such as a mother pushing a stroller or a person
delivering a large appliance. More information about visitability is
available at http://www.concretechange.org/.
Activities support strategic goals b, c, and d.
(2) Universal Design. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate
universal design in the construction or rehabilitation of housing,
retail establishments, and community facilities funded with HUD
assistance. Universal design is the design of products and environments
to be usable by all people to the greatest extent possible, without the
need for adaptation or specialized design. The intent of universal
design is to simplify life for everyone by making products,
communications, and the built environment more usable by as many people
as possible at little or no extra cost to the user. Universal design
benefits people of all ages and abilities. In addition to any
applicable required accessibility feature under Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or the design and construction requirements
of the Fair Housing Act, the Department encourages applicants to
incorporate the principles of universal design when developing housing,
community facilities, and electronic communication mechanisms, or when
communicating with community residents at public meetings or events.
HUD believes that by creating housing that is accessible to all, it
can increase the supply of affordable housing for all, regardless of
ability or age. Likewise, creating places where people work, train, and
interact that are usable and open to all residents increases
opportunities for economic and personal self-sufficiency. More
information on universal design is available from the Center for
Universal Design at http://www.design.ncsu.edu:8120/cud/ or the
Resource Center on Accessible Housing and Universal Design at
http://www.abledata.com/abledata.
[fxsp0]cfm?pageid=[fxsp0]113573&top=[fxsp0]16029§ionid[fxsp
0]=19326.
[[Page 2411]]
Activities support strategic goals a thru d.
d. Providing Full and Equal Access to Grassroots Faith-Based and
Other Community Organizations in HUD Program Implementation.
(1) HUD encourages nonprofit organizations, including grassroots
faith-based and other community organizations, to participate in the
vast array of programs for which funding is available through HUD's
programs. HUD also encourages states, units of local government,
universities, colleges, and other organizations to partner with
grassroots organizations (e.g., civic organizations, faith communities,
and grassroots faith-based and other community organizations) that have
not been effectively utilized. These grassroots organizations have a
strong history of providing vital community services, such as assisting
the homeless and preventing homelessness, counseling individuals and
families on fair housing rights, providing elderly housing
opportunities, developing first-time homeownership programs, increasing
homeownership and rental housing opportunities in neighborhoods of
choice, developing affordable and accessible housing in neighborhoods
across the country, creating economic development programs, and
supporting the residents of public housing facilities. HUD seeks to
make its programs more effective, efficient, and accessible by
expanding opportunities for grassroots organizations to participate in
developing solutions for their own neighborhoods. Additionally, HUD
encourages applicants to include these grassroots faith-based and other
community organizations in their work plans. Applicants, their
partners, and participants must review the individual FY2007 HUD
program announcements to determine whether they are eligible to apply
for funding directly or whether they must establish a working
relationship with an eligible applicant in order to participate in a
HUD funding opportunity. Grassroots faith-based and other community
organizations, and applicants that currently or propose to partner,
fund, subgrant, or subcontract with grassroots organizations (including
grassroots faith-based or other community nonprofit organizations
eligible under applicable program regulations) in conducting their work
programs will receive higher rating points, as specified in the
individual FY2007 HUD program announcements.
(2) Definitions of Grassroots Organizations.
(a) HUD will consider an organization a ``grassroots organization''
if the organization is headquartered in the local community in which it
provides services; and
(i) Has a social services budget of $300,000 or less, or
(ii) Has six or fewer full-time equivalent employees.
(b) Local affiliates of national organizations are not considered
``grassroots.'' Local affiliates of national organizations are
encouraged, however, to partner with grassroots organizations, but must
demonstrate that they are currently working with a grassroots
organization (e.g., having a grassroots faith-based or other community
organization provide volunteers).
(c) The cap provided in paragraph (2)(a)(i) above includes only
that portion of an organization's budget allocated to providing social
services. It does not include other portions of the budget, such as
salaries and expenses, not directly expended in the provision of social
services.
Activities support strategic goal f.
e. Participation of Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) in HUD
Programs. Pursuant to Executive Orders 13256, ``President's Board of
Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities,'' 13230,
``President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for
Hispanic Americans,'' 13216, ``Increasing Participation of Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders in Federal Programs,'' and 13270,
``Tribal Colleges and Universities,'' HUD is strongly committed to
broadening the participation of MSIs in its programs. HUD is interested
in increasing the participation of MSIs in order to advance the
development of human potential, strengthen the nation's capacity to
provide high quality education, and increase opportunities for MSIs to
participate and benefit from federal financial assistance programs. HUD
encourages all applicants and recipients to include meaningful
participation of MSIs in their work programs. A listing of MSIs can be
found on the Department of Education Web site at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-
[fxsp0]minorityinst.html or HUD's Web site at
http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm. Activities support
strategic goals c and d.
f. Ending Chronic Homelessness. President Bush has set a national
goal to end chronic homelessness. HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson has
embraced this goal and has pledged that HUD's grant programs will be
used to support the President's goal and better meet the needs of
chronically homeless individuals. A person experiencing chronic
homelessness is defined as an unaccompanied individual with a disabling
condition who has been continuously homeless for a year or more or has
experienced four or more episodes of homelessness over the last 3
years. A disabling condition is defined as a diagnosable substance
abuse disorder, serious mental illness, developmental disability, or
chronic physical illness or disability, including the co-occurrence of
two or more of these conditions. Applicants are encouraged to target
assistance to chronically homeless persons by undertaking activities
that will result in:
(1) Creation of affordable housing units, supportive housing, and
group homes;
(2) Establishment of a set-aside of units of affordable housing for
the chronically homeless;
(3) Establishment of substance abuse treatment programs targeted to
the homeless population;
(4) Establishment of job training programs that will provide
opportunities for economic self-sufficiency;
(5) Establishment of counseling programs that assist homeless
persons in finding housing, managing finances, managing anger, and
building interpersonal relationships;
(6) Provision of supportive services, such as health care
assistance, that will permit homeless individuals to become productive
members of society; and
(7) Provision of service coordinators or one-stop assistance
centers that will ensure that chronically homeless persons have access
to a variety of social services.
Applicants that are developing programs to meet the goals set in
this policy priority should keep in mind the requirements of the
regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, in
particular, 24 CFR 8.4(b)(1)(iv), 8.4(c)(1), and 8.4(d).
Activities support strategic goals b and c.
g. Removal of Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing.
In FY2007, HUD continues to make removal of regulatory barriers a
policy priority. Through the Department's America's Affordable
Communities Initiative, HUD is seeking input into how it can work more
effectively with the public and private sectors to remove regulatory
barriers to affordable housing. Increasing the affordability of rental
and homeownership housing continues to be a high priority of the
Department. Addressing these barriers to housing affordability is a
necessary component of any overall national housing policy.
Under this policy priority, higher rating points are available to:
(1) governmental applicants that are able to
[[Page 2412]]
demonstrate successful efforts in removing regulatory barriers to
affordable housing and (2) nongovernmental applicants that are
associated with jurisdictions that have undertaken successful efforts
in removing barriers. To obtain the policy priority points for efforts
to successfully remove regulatory barriers, applicants must complete
form HUD-27300, ``Questionnaire for HUD's Removal of Regulatory
Barriers'' (``HUD Communities Initiative'' on Grants.gov). Copies of
HUD's notices published on this issue can be found on HUD's Web site at
http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm.
Local jurisdictions and counties with land use and building
regulatory authority applying for funding, as well as PHAs, nonprofit
organizations, and other qualified applicants applying for funds for
projects located in these jurisdictions, are invited to answer the 20
questions under Part A. An applicant that scores at least five in
column 2 will receive one point in the NOFA evaluation. An applicant
that scores ten or more in column 2 will receive two points in the NOFA
evaluation.
State agencies or departments applying for funding, as well as
PHAs, nonprofit organizations, and other qualified applicants applying
for funds for projects located in unincorporated areas or areas not
otherwise covered in Part A, are invited to answer the 15 questions
under Part B. Under Part B, an applicant that scores at least four in
column 2 will receive one point in the NOFA evaluation. Under Part B,
an applicant that scores eight or more will receive a total of two
points in the respective evaluation.
Applicants that will be providing services in multiple
jurisdictions may choose to address the questions in either Part A or
Part B for that jurisdiction in which the preponderance of services
will be performed should an award be made. In no case will an applicant
receive more than two points for barrier removal activities under this
policy priority. An applicant that is an Indian tribe or TDHE may
choose to complete either Part A or Part B after determining whether
the tribe's or TDHE's association with the local jurisdiction or the
state would be the more advantageous for its application.
The form HUD-27300, ``Questionnaire for HUD's Removal of Regulatory
Barriers'' (``HUD Communities Initiative'' on Grants.gov), is available
as part of the application package retrieved from Grants.gov, and at
http://www.hudclips.org/sub_nonhud/html/forms.htm. A limited number of
questions on the form expressly request the applicant to provide brief
documentation with its response. Other questions require that, for each
affirmative statement made, the applicant supply a reference, Internet
address, or brief statement indicating where the back-up information
may be found and a point of contact, including a telephone number or
email address. To obtain an understanding of this policy priority and
how it can affect their score, applicants are encouraged to read HUD's
three notices, which are available at http://www.hud.gov/initiatives/affordablecom.cfm.
Applicants that do not provide the Internet
addresses, references, or documentation will not get the policy
priority points. Activities support strategic goals a and b.
h. Participation in Energy Star. HUD has adopted a wide-ranging
energy action plan for improving energy efficiency in all program
areas. As a first step in implementing the energy plan, HUD, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Energy
(DOE) have signed a partnership to promote energy efficiency in HUD's
affordable housing programs, including public housing, HUD-insured
housing, and housing financed through HUD formula and competitive
programs. The purpose of the Energy Star partnership is to promote
energy-efficient affordable housing stock while protecting the
environment. Applicants constructing, rehabilitating, or maintaining
housing or community facilities are encouraged to promote energy
efficiency in design and operations. They are urged especially to
purchase and use products that display the Energy Star label.
Applicants providing housing assistance or counseling services are
encouraged to promote Energy Star materials and practices, as well as
buildings constructed to Energy Star standards, to both hom