This rule amends the Department's existing regulations to completely replace the current regulations for Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategies (CHAS) with a rule that consolidates into a single consolidated submission the planning and application aspects of the Department's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), and Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) formula programs with the requirements for the CHAS. This new consolidated submission will replace the current CHAS, the HOME program description, the Community Development plan and the CDBG final statement, and the ESG and HOPWA applications. The rule also consolidates the reporting requirements for these programs, replacing five general performance reports with one performance report. Thus, in total, the consolidated plan and consolidated report will replace 12 documents. Although this rule does not incorporate the public housing Comprehensive Grant process into the consolidated planning and application process, it makes a modification to the Comprehensive Grants rule to encourage cooperation in the development of the Comprehensive Grant plan and the consolidated plan. The changes are intended to ensure that the needs and resources of public housing authorities are included in a comprehensive planning effort to revitalize distressed neighborhoods and help low-income residents locally. In addition, the rule amends the separate regulations for the CDBG, HOME, ESG, and HOPWA programs to remove some duplicative provisions, cross-reference the new provisions, and to conform terminology to that used in the consolidated plan rule (revised part 91).