The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law in May 2018, made various changes in the Dodd-Frank Act, including provisions related to small PHAs, which it defined as those that administer 550 or fewer combined public housing units and vouchers and predominantly operate in a rural area. It provides those PHAs with streamlined requirements related to program inspections and evaluations, corrective action requirements, environmental reviews, and energy conservation. HUD is asking for comments on its implementation of these provisions. The statute does define rural area and the CFPB has adopted regulations spelling out the definition, but one of HUD’s questions is how it should interpret “predominantly operates” in a rural area. HUD also asks other questions about provisions applicable to these small PHAs.
This notice also requests comments on requirements for new information systems for public housing consortia, and shared waiting list software.
Comments are due April 15, 2019.

Because of the government shutdown, on January 9, 2019, HUD published a Federal Register notice waiving its own deadlines for review of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Action Plans for Disaster Recovery and Action Plan amendments that were pending approval as of December 22, 2018. HUD is now announcing that it will review some by March 1 and some by March 15, 2019.