NAHMA HUD Update: HUD withdraws proposed rules to reduce regulatory burden; deadline delayed for local governments to submit an Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH)

January 5, 2018

Please find the following two HUD regulatory updates:

  • Recently, HUD published a Withdrawal of Proposed Rules to Reduce Regulatory and Financial Burden. As part of its Regulatory Reform Task Force efforts, HUD has determined not to pursue five proposed rules published in the Federal Register. HUD is taking this action consistent with two regulatory relief Executive Orders issued in January and February of 2017.

HUD withdraws the following five proposed rules from its Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions:

1.       Floodplain Management Protection of Wetlands; Minimum Property Standards for Flood Hazard Exposure; Building to the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard

2.       Demolition or Disposition of Public Housing Projections and Conversion of Public Housing to Tenant-Based Assistance

3.       Streamlining Requirements Applicable to Formation of Consortia of Public Housing Agencies

4.       Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Rural Housing Stability Program

5.       Public Housing: Physical Needs Assessments

These proposed rules have been withdrawn as of December 22, 2017. HUD’s Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions is available here. To view the attached notice online, please click here.

  • Today, HUD issued a notice delaying the full implementation of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule. The notice, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: Extension of Deadline for Submission of Assessment of Fair Housing for Consolidated Plan Participants, states “This notice extends the deadline for submission of an Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) to all local government consolidated plan program participants until their next AFH submission deadline that falls after October 31, 2020….Based on the initial AFH reviews, HUD believes that local government program participants need additional time and technical assistance from HUD to adjust to the new AFFH process and complete acceptable AFH submissions. HUD also believes it can use this time to improve its Data and Mapping Tool (AFFH-T) and the User Interface (AFFH-UI). The extension period allows HUD to further refine its materials to provide additional guidance to program participants. Finally, this extension allows HUD staff to devote additional time to providing program participants, and program participants in an AFH collaboration, with technical assistance on the legal objective to affirmatively further fair housing.”

The attached notice is available on the NAHMA website here.