[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 24, Volume 4]
[Revised as of April 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 24CFR971.3]

[Page 553-554]
 
                 TITLE 24--HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
 
CHAPTER IX--OFFICE OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC AND INDIAN HOUSING, 
               DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
 
PART 971_ASSESSMENT OF THE REASONABLE REVITALIZATION POTENTIAL OF CERTAIN 
PUBLIC HOUSING REQUIRED BY LAW--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 971.3  Standards for identifying developments.

    (a) PHAs shall use the following standards for identifying 
developments or portions thereof which are subject to section 202's 
requirement that PHAs develop and carry out plans for the removal over 
time from the public housing inventory. These standards track section 
202(a) of OCRA. The development, or portions thereof, must:
    (1) Be on the same or contiguous sites. (OCRA Sec. 202(a)(1)). This 
standard and the standard set forth in paragraph (a)(2) of this section 
refer to the actual number and location of units, irrespective of HUD 
development project numbers.
    (2) Total more than 300 dwelling units. (OCRA Sec. 202(a)(2)).
    (3) Have a vacancy rate of at least ten percent for dwelling units 
not in funded, on-schedule modernization. (OCRA Sec. 202(a)(3)). For 
this determination, PHAs and HUD shall use the data the PHA relied upon 
for its last Public Housing Management Assessment Program (PHMAP) 
certification, as reported on the Form HUD-51234 (Report on Occupancy), 
or more recent data which demonstrates improvement in occupancy rates. 
Units in the following categories shall not be included in this 
calculation:
    (i) Vacant units in an approved demolition or disposition program;
    (ii) Vacant units in which resident property has been abandoned, but 
only if State law requires the property to be left in the unit for some 
period of time, and only for the period stated in the law;
    (iii) Vacant units that have sustained casualty damage, but only 
until the insurance claim is adjusted; and
    (iv) Units that are occupied by employees of the PHA and units that 
are utilized for resident services.
    (4) Have an estimated cost of continued operation and modernization 
of the developments as public housing in excess of the cost of providing 
tenant-based assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act 
of 1937 for all families in occupancy, based on appropriate indicators 
of cost (such as the percentage of total development cost required for 
modernization). (OCRA Sec. 202(a)(5)).
    (i) For purposes of this determination, the costs used for public 
housing shall be those necessary to produce a revitalized development as 
described in the paragraph (a)(5) of this section.
    (ii) These costs, including estimated operating costs, modernization 
costs and accrual needs must be used to develop a per unit monthly cost 
of continuing the development as public housing.
    (iii) That per unit monthly cost of public housing must be compared 
to the per unit monthly Section 8 cost.
    (iv) Both the method to be used and an example are included in the 
Appendix to this part.
    (5) Be identified as distressed housing that the PHA cannot assure 
the long-term viability as public housing through reasonable 
revitalization, density reduction, or achievement of a broader range of 
household income. (OCRA Sec. 202(a)(4)). [See Sec. 971.5.]
    (b) Properties meeting the standards set forth in paragraphs (a)(1) 
through (3) of this section will be assumed to be ``distressed'' unless 
the PHA can show that the property fails the standard set forth in 
paragraph (a)(3) of this section for reasons that are temporary in 
duration and are unlikely to recur.
    (c) Where the PHA will demolish all of the units in a development, 
or the portion thereof, that is subject to section 202, section 202 
requirements will be satisfied once the demolition occurs and its 
standards will not be applied further to the use of the site.
    (d) PHAs will meet the test for assuring long-term viability of 
identified housing only if it is probable that, after reasonable 
investment, for at least twenty years (or at least 30 years for 
rehabilitation equivalent to new construction) the development can 
sustain structural/system soundness and full occupancy; will not be 
excessively

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densely configured relative to standards for similar (typically family) 
housing in the community; will not constitute an excessive concentration 
of very low-income families; and has no other site impairments which 
clearly should disqualify the site from continuation as public housing.