​This notice provides information and guidance regarding Public Housing Agencies’ (PHAs) compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321) and other related laws and authorities. This notice clarifies the applicability of environmental reviews under 24 CFR parts 50 and 58 to all PHA activities at project site(s) assisted or to be assisted by HUD and to the use of all HUD funds, including operating funds. This notice also reiterates the prohibition on the obligation or expenditure of any funding without environmental clearance and presents submission and processing requirements using a five-year submission period as long as there are no changes to the project scope or environmental conditions. Finally, this notice includes a Part 50 programmatic determination for administrative, management, and certain maintenance activities and for Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) activities.

HUD issued a Federal Register Notice implementing the statutory exemption from environmental review (ER) found in the Economic Growth Act Section 209, citable as Section 38 to the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.).  The statutory exemption from ER requirements applies to eligible small and rural PHAs for their development and modernization projects not exceeding $100,000.  The exemption applies to any section 9(d) Capital Fund, section 9(e) Operating Fund, or section 8(o)(13) PBV eligible work activity with a total project cost of $100,000 or less, for the aggregated project measured at the project site level.  Eligible PHAs may carry out such exempted activities without a request for an ER or determination from a Responsible Entity (RE) under Part 58 or HUD under Part 50. List of eligible Section 209 Small and Rural PHAs available on the Small Rural Assessment System website.

• Capital Fund Guidebook

The Capital Fund Guidebook details the requirements contained under the Public Housing Capital Fund Program Final Rule, including but not limited to: Eligible and Ineligible Activities and Cost Limits; Decoupling of the Capital Fund from the PHA Plan Submission; Replacement Housing Factor Grants (RHF) and Demolition and Disposition Transitional Funding (DDTF); Changes in Obligation and Expenditure End Dates and Close-out Requirements; Emergency, [Non-Presidentially Declared] Natural Disaster, and Safety and Security Grant Program Requirements; Streamlined Mixed-Finance, and other Public Housing Modernization and Development Requirements; Changes to Demonstration Programs such as RAD and MTW; and Capital Fund Rule Impact on Security Interests and Financing Activities.

• Public Housing Capital Fund Program Final Rule Publication: The Public Housing Capital Fund Program Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on October 24, 2013 (Docket No. 5236-F-02) and will be effective on November 25, 2013.  This new regulation combines the Capital Fund requirements for modernization and development into a single regulation.  It also updates and streamlines many of the Capital Fund and development requirements, incorporates recent energy requirements, and directs more funding toward modernization.  This rule along with a new Capital Fund guidebook, which is under development and expected to be available in the Spring, will ensure that the Capital Fund Program is more efficiently and uniformly implemented by PHAs and managed more effectively by the HUD Field Offices.  A copy of the published rule can be found here.
• Education and Training Community Facilities

HUDPIH-516391410-394(395) Last Updated 10/1/2024