[Federal Register: October 7, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 194)]
[Notices]
[Page 58941-58943]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07oc05-169]
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Part VII
Department of Housing and Urban Development
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HUD's Draft Section 504 Self-Evaluation Report on HUD-Conducted
Programs and Activities; Reopening of Comment Period Grant Guideline;
Notice
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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
[Docket No. FR-4994-N-02; HUD-2005-0020]
HUD's Draft Section 504 Self-Evaluation Report on HUD-Conducted
Programs and Activities; Reopening of Comment Period
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity, HUD.
ACTION: Notice; Reopening of Comment Period.
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SUMMARY: On June 22, 2005, HUD published a notice in the Federal
Register soliciting comments on its draft section 504 self-evaluation
report of HUD-conducted programs, activities, and regional office
facilities. The draft report was prepared consistent with HUD's
responsibilities under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,
as amended, and under HUD's implementing regulations. The public
comment period closed on July 22, 2005. HUD has received numerous
requests to re-open the period for public comment. This notice
announces the reopening of the public comment period on the section 504
draft self-evaluation report.
DATES: Comment Due Date: November 7, 2005
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding
this notice to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel,
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW.,
Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410-0500. Electronic comments may be
submitted through either:
The Federal eRulemaking Portal: at http://www.regulations.gov
; or
The HUD electronic Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/feddocket.
Follow the link entitled ``View Open HUD Dockets.''
Commenters should follow the instructions provided on that site to
submit comments electronically. Facsimile (FAX) comments are not
acceptable. In all cases, communications must refer to the docket
number and title.
All comments and communications submitted will be available,
without charge, for public inspection and copying between 8 a.m. and 5
p.m. weekdays at the above address. Due to security measures at the HUD
Headquarters building, please schedule an appointment to review the
public comments by calling the Regulations Division at (202) 708-3055
(this is not a toll-free number). Copies of the public comments are
also available for inspection and downloading at http://www.epa.gov/feddocket
.
Oral Comments: Persons desiring to provide oral comments may call
(202) 708-9410 and leave comments on voice mail. For individuals who
are hearing or speech impaired and who use a TTY, oral comments may be
submitted by calling (202) 401-1247. Please note that these numbers are
not toll free. Summaries of the oral comments and the TTY transcripts
will be available, without charge, for inspection and copying between 8
a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at the above address. Due to security measures
at the HUD Headquarters building, please schedule an appointment to
review the public comments by calling the Regulations Division at (202)
708-3055 (this is not a toll-free number). The telephone numbers for
oral comments will be in operation throughout the comment period and
will be disconnected at the close of the public comment period.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Milton Turner, Director, Compliance
and Disability Rights Division, Office of Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh
Street, SW., Room 5240, Washington, DC 20410-2000; telephone (202) 708-
2333, extension 7057 (this is not a toll free number). Hearing or
speech-impaired individuals may access this number via TTY by calling
the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HUD recently conducted a self-evaluation of
its regional office facilities and its policies and practices
consistent with HUD's responsibilities under section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) (Section 504). The objective
of the self-evaluation was two-fold: (1) To determine whether current
HUD policies and practices (including regulations, handbooks, notices,
and other written guidance) discriminate, or have the effect of
discriminating, on the basis of disability; and (2) to determine if HUD
facilities are accessible to persons with disabilities. The types of
disability discrimination the self-evaluation sought to disclose
included those situations where:
1. Otherwise qualified persons are excluded from participation in,
or denied benefits of, HUD programs and activities on the basis of
disability;
2. HUD policies that, although neutral on their face, in operation
limit the ability of persons with disabilities to benefit from program
opportunities (e.g., requiring a person to make a written request for
information on HUD's assisted housing programs); and
3. Separate or different benefits or services are provided to
persons on the basis of disability where such action is not required to
provide a benefit or service as effective as those provided to others
(e.g., holding a separate training program for persons with hearing
impairments is discriminatory when the training can be effectively held
in an integrated setting with the provision of interpreters).
HUD prepared a draft report presenting the results of its section
504 self-evaluation. The draft report, located at http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/disabilities/index.cfm
, discusses the methodology HUD used
to conduct the self-evaluation and contains recommendations for
addressing identified barriers.
On June 22, 2005 (70 FR 36318), HUD published a Federal Register
notice seeking public comment on this draft report. Following
publication of the notice, many interested parties, who, citing the
complexity of the report and the difficulty of evaluating and
commenting on the report within 30 days, sought an extension of the 30-
day comment period. HUD understands the complexity of the report and
the difficulty of evaluating the report; therefore, in order to give
all interested persons sufficient time to submit comments, HUD is
reopening the public comment period for comments on HUD's draft self-
evaluation report. Additionally, HUD is now accepting both oral and
written comments on the section 504 draft report. HUD will issue a
final self-evaluation report after consideration of all public comments
received on the section 504 draft report.
A number of interested parties commented that the draft report on
the HUD Web page did not contain Appendix 3, which were the blank
worksheets that were completed internally by HUD Program Offices and
Divisions. While the Department referenced Appendix 3 in the text of
the draft report, it did not originally release the checklists because
they were just one of several processes that were used to develop the
final draft report. Since there is interest in the release of the blank
worksheets contained in Appendix 3, they have been included in the
draft Section 504 report posted on the HUD Web page.
In addition to those comments, both oral and written, that HUD will
receive between today's date and November 7, 2005, all comments that
were postmarked on or before July 22, 2005 (the original due date for
public comments) will be considered in the
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development of the final HUD section 504 self-evaluation report on HUD-
conducted programs and activities.
Dated: September 29, 2005.
Floyd O. May,
General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity.
[FR Doc. 05-20151 Filed 10-6-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-28-P