HUD published in the Federal Register on August 16 an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: Streamlining and Enhancements,” inviting public comment on amending the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule. NLIHC previously reported that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget received a “prerule” on August 2 (see Memo, 8/6). OIRA concluded its review of the prerule after only five working days. Comments are due October 15.
According to an August 13 Wall Street Journal interview with HUD Secretary Ben Carson, HUD is aiming to have a new rule in place by the fall. Compared with the five years the previous administration took to gather stakeholder input before issuing the AFFH rule, the current administration is seeking to rush through drastic changes in a matter of months.
The opening summary of the ANPR lists five changes HUD seeks to make:
- Minimize regulatory burden.
- Create a process focused primarily on accomplishing positive results, rather than on performing an analysis of community characteristics.
- Provide for greater local control.
- Encourage actions that lead to greater housing supply.
- Use HUD resources more efficiently.
The ANPR asks the public to comment on eight sets of questions. Read NLIHC’s comprehensive assessment of the ANPR at: https://bit.ly/2Pq2xlV
The Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is at: https://bit.ly/2OD43jG
More information about AFFH is on page 7-5 of NLIHC’s 2018 Advocates’ Guide.