Need to Know: Key Regulatory Developments

Under this headline, we list recent regulatory developments and upcoming deadlines as mentioned in the monthly Washington Briefs column in the print version of AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE.

Some upcoming comment and grant deadlines:
- Nov. 13: Proposed revised Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) environmental regulations.
- Nov. 13: Major consolidating revisions to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development agency’s guaranteed loan rules.
- Dec. 24: Applications for $32.9 million under the Brownfields Economic Development Initiative.
- Dec. 26: Proposed Internal Revenue Service (IRS) arbitrage guidance for tax-exempt bonds.
- Dec. 26: IRS proposal to make transactions “reportable” if they are the subject of a patent or patent application.

Other regulatory news:
- HUD released its lists of Difficult Development Areas and final Fair Market Rents or 2008, both available at www.huduser.org. The Qualified Census Tracts remain unchanged for 2008.
- Despite fervent protests, HUD approved plans to demolish 4,500 units of New Orleans public housing.
- A Brookings Institute study found housing construction gluts correlate more with income inequality and economic segregation than with population growth.