[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 13, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-16977]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: July 13, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Office of the Secretary
[Docket No. N-94-3754; FR-3699-N-02]

 

Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments Program--Fair Market Rent 
(FMR) Schedules for Use in the Rental Certificate Program, Loan 
Management and Property Disposition Programs, Moderate Rehabilitation 
Program and Rental Voucher Program

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.

ACTION: Notice to extend FMR public comment period.

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SUMMARY: This Notice advises the public that HUD is extending the 
public comment period for the FMRs until October 14, 1994 in order to 
give PHAs in FMR areas with small rental housing inventories the 
opportunity to use the new survey guide HUD has recently developed.
    HUD is also announcing in this Notice that there will be two final 
FMR publications again this year. The first publication will make the 
proposed FMRs for all areas effective on October 1, 1994. The second 
publication, to be issued late in the year, will announce revised final 
FMRs for the areas for which HUD has made a determination that the 
rental housing surveys submitted provided a sufficient basis for such 
revision.

DATES: Comments are due October 14, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments to the 
Office of the General Counsel, Rules Docket Clerk, room 10276, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20410. Communications should refer to the above docket 
number and title. To expedite processing, each commenter is requested 
to simultaneously submit a copy of its comments to the Economic and 
Market Analysis Staff in the appropriate HUD Field Office. A copy of 
each communication submitted will be available for public inspection 
and copying during regular business hours (7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Eastern 
Time) at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael R. Allard, Economic and Market 
Analysis Division, Office of Policy Development and Research, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20410; (202) 708-0577 (TDD: (202) 708-0770). (Telephone 
numbers are not toll-free).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 8(c)(1) of the United States Housing 
Act of 1937 requires the Secretary to publish FMRs periodically, but 
not less frequently than annually, to be effective on October 1 of each 
year. On June 23, 1994, HUD published the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 
1995 FMRs with a 60-day public comment period to August 22, 1994.
    With this Notice, HUD is extending the public comment period until 
October 14, 1994 to ensure that PHAs and other interested parties who 
wish to use the new rental housing survey guide will have sufficient 
time to do so.
    The guide is intended for PHAs administering Section 8 programs in 
small FMR areas, for whom the formal Random Digit Dialing (RDD) 
methodology would not be cost effective. It enables a PHA to carry out 
a rental housing survey by itself, for a fraction of the cost of a 
formal RDD. The guide provides instruction on how to choose the best, 
most cost-effective means of surveying the rental housing stock in the 
FMR area. It describes survey options and provides specific advice and 
guidelines for conducting valid surveys and submitting comments in 
accordance with statistical requirements. The simplified methods 
presented in this guide offer the least costly means of obtaining valid 
FMR estimates for public housing agencies that manage under 500 Section 
8 units in FMR areas with under 5,000 total rental units. Even the 
smallest PHAs might wish to review this guide for its suggestions on 
how to develop representative samples and conduct statistically 
acceptable surveys.
    HUD is not mandating use of the new guide for PHAs in small FMR 
areas or use of the RDD method for larger areas. However, it is 
strongly urged that commenters consider these approaches because they 
are much more likely to result in an end product that is acceptable to 
HUD.
    Copies of the new survey guide are available from HUD USER, at 
(800) 245-2691. Questions concerning the guide may be directed to HUD 
field office economists.

    Dated: July 8, 1994.
Michael A. Stegman,
Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research.
[FR Doc. 94-16977 Filed 7-12-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P