Department of Housing and Urban Development October 3, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice advises the public of HUD regulations and other administrative requirements governing HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) programs that have been waived in order to facilitate the delivery of safe and decent housing under these programs to families and individuals who have been displaced from their housing by Hurricane Katrina. Entities that administer PIH programs, which include public housing agencies (PHAs), Indian and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs), and local and tribal governments, and are located in an area declared by the President to be a federal disaster area as a result of Hurricane Katrina, may defer compliance with the regulations and other requirements listed in this notice for an initial period of 12 months or such other period as may be specified in this notice. PIH program administrators that are not located in a disaster area but assisting with Hurricane Katrina recovery and relief may request waiver of the regulations and administrative requirements listed in this notice, and HUD review and response is available through an expedited waiver request and response process. PIH program administrators, located in an area declared a federal disaster area as a result of Hurricane Katrina, or PIH program administrators not located in such an area but assisting with Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts, may request waiver of a regulation or other administrative requirement through the expedited waiver process provided in this notice. This notice applies only to PIH programs or to cross-cutting regulatory or administrative requirements that are applicable to PIH program administrators.

The proposed information collection requirement described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Department is soliciting public comments on the subject proposal.

Section 8(c)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (USHA) requires the Secretary to publish FMRs periodically, but not less than annually, adjusted to be effective on October 1 of each year. The primary uses of FMRs are to determine payment standard amounts for the Housing Choice Voucher program, to determine initial renewal rents for some expiring project-based Section 8 contracts, to determine initial rents for housing assistance payment (HAP) contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program, and to serve as a rent ceiling in the HOME rental assistance program. Today's notice provides final FY2006 FMRs for all areas that reflect the estimated 40th and 50th percentile rent levels trended to April 1, 2006. Today's notice, however, does not include final determinations on 50th percentile rent levels, as proposed in HUD's notice published on August 25, 2005. The 30-day public comment period on that notice ended September 26, 2005, and HUD is evaluating the public comments. A notice that provides final determinations on 50th percentile FMRs will be issued subsequently, and as further discussed in Section VII of this notice. This notice also invokes the Secretary's authority to waive regulatory requirements for exception FMRs in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and by displacement of residents of the affected area.