U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20410-0050

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT DEPUTY SECRETARY

FOR FIELD POLICY AND MANAGEMENT

JAN - 9 2002

Ms. Carolynn Federoff

President, AFGE Council of HUD Locals, 222

P.O. Box 5961

Boston, MA 02114

Dear Ms. Federoff

This is in response to your letter of challenge received by HUD on November 27, 2002, which centers around the inclusion of several functions on the Department's last Commercial Activities Inventory. This response addresses only those employees that were identified by the Department at the time of the last inventory to be employees of the Office of Field Policy and Management. A breakdown of the functions follows:

D000	Administration Support	11	A
D000	Administrative Support	165	B
L200	Grants Monitoring Support	2	A
L200	Grants Monitoring and Support	1	B

It appears from your correspondence that you are challenging the inclusion of these functions as commercial functions. Please note that you may challenge HUD's decision to include the functions in HUD's FAIR Act Inventory, but not their categorization as a Category A, B, or C commercial activity. Their inclusion was based on the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) guidance in determining commercial activities and inherently governmental functions. OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) Letter 92-1, dated September 23, 1992, defines an inherently governmental function as "...a function that is so intimately related to the public interest as to mandate performance by Government employees. These functions include those activities that require either the exercise of discretion in applying government authority or the making of value judgments in making decisions for the Government." Performance of the functions above does not constitute applying government authority or making value judgments for the Government, but rather requires the application of a body of knowledge and expertise within the parameters of established governmental policy.

We are not persuaded that you have shown that the functions in question should not be included as commercial functions on the inventory. We believe their inclusion as such at the time of the inventory was in accordance with OMB guidelines.

In accordance with FAIR Act provisions, please be advised that you have the right to appeal this determination. Appeals should be addressed to:

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Office of the Chief Financial Officer

451 7t^h Street SW, Room 2214
Washington, DC 20410
Attn: Janice W. Blake-Green

Sincerely,

Pamela H. Patenaude Assistant

Deputy Secretary for Field Policy and Management