# Presentation: 689541

## 49 CFR Part 24Subpart C

*General Relocation Requirements*

## Key Topics

- Relocation planning.
- Advisory services.
- Payments and benefits.

- C-

- March 2005

## Relocation Planning

- Business and residential requirements are now parallel in:
- Estimating, searching replacement sites.
- Interviewing.
- Planning emphasis.

- C-

- March 2005

**Notes:**
NOTES:  In the prior rule, the emphasis was on replacement housing sites. Nothing has changed regarding the residential survey of available housing sites or the residential interview requirement. However, the new rule, in § 205(a)(4), requires an estimate of available business sites. The new item on relocation interviews is also related to businesses, with the addition of six specified items to be covered, at the minimum, in the nonresidential relocation interview.

## Relocation Planning – Nonresidential

*National Business Relocation Study*.
*	*_[www.fhwa.dot.gov/realestate/nbrs2002.htm](http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/realestate/nbrs2002.htm)_
- § 24.205(a)(4) Availability of replacement business sites:
- Impacts of any shortage
- Complexity and length of moving process.
- Impact on small financially constrained businesses

- C-

- March 2005

**Notes:**
NOTES:  The new rule emphasizes planning.  In § 205(a)(4), an estimate of available business sites and some preliminary planning to identify and develop solutions is required.

FHWA’s 2002 National Business Relocation Study provides a resource to understand the background of this provision and the one that follows relating to the business interview.

## Relocation Planning – Nonresidential (cont.)

- § 24.205(c)(2)(i) Personal interview:
- (A) Site requirements.
- (B) Outside specialists.
- (C) Personalty/realty issues.
- (D) Time required to vacate.
- (E) Site availability.
- (F) Advance payment needs.

- C-

- March 2005

**Notes:**
NOTES:  For nonresidential relocation (primarily businesses), the personal interview requirement is expanded to include, at a minimum, a specified six items. (Please refer to the Instructional Guide for additional topical suggestions for consideration during the business interview.) The rule reads as follows:

“This shall include a personal interview with each business. At a minimum, interviews with displaced business owners and operators should include the following items:
(A)	The business's replacement site requirements, current lease terms and other contractual obligations and the financial capacity of the business to accomplish the move.
(B)	Determination of the need for outside specialists in accordance with § 24.301(g)(12) that will be required to assist in planning the move, assistance in the actual move, and in the reinstallation of machinery and/or other personal property.
(C)	For businesses, an identification and resolution of personalty/realty issues. Every effort must be made to identify and resolve realty/personalty issues prior to, or at the time of, the appraisal of the property. * This ties back to Subpart B requirement for determination in appraisal.  Note to instructor: refer class to earlier discussion of this in the appraisal requirements in Subpart B, § 24.103(a)(2)(i).  The appraiser is to identify realty/personalty items and Appendix A.
(D)	An estimate of the time required for the business to vacate the site.
(E)	An estimate of the anticipated difficulty in locating a replacement property.
(F)	An identification of any advance relocation payments required for the move, and the Agency's legal capacity to provide them.”

The new interview provisions are solely in the rule with no additional language in Appendix A. Again, many of these came from the National Business Relocation Study published by FHWA in 2002.

## “Let’s See How It Works”

**Please refer to example entitled:**
**Suggested Information to be Obtained During a Business Interview**

- C-

- March 2005

## Advisory Services– Residential

- Decent, safe, and sanitary standard relies on local codes.
- Subsidized housing program requirements may apply.
- Transportation offered to _**all**_ displaced persons.

- C-

- March 2005

**Notes:**
INSTRUCTOR NOTES : Remind the audience that the new regulations greatly enhance pre-displacement business planning, but there are also several new aspects relevant to residential displacement in this subpart 

The definition for “decent, safe, and sanitary” was revised slightly and linked closely to local codes and ordinances.

The subsidized housing program requirements work and contrast with URA benefits for private housing.

The requirement to offer transportation was always in place, but it now is clarified that it applies to all displaced persons, not just handicapped or elderly.  This can be accomplished in various ways, including providing cab fare, etc.

## Decent, Safe, and Sanitary

- Lead-based paint:
- § 24.2(a)(8).
- Appendix A.
- Bedrooms needed:
- § 24.2(a)(8)(iv).
- Physical disability:
- § 24.2(a)(8)(vii).
- Appendix A.

- C-

- March 2005

**Notes:**
NOTES:  Lead-based paint is NOT in the rule but is addressed in Appendix A as a public policy consideration. The guidance in Appendix A refers to local code requirements as they pertain to the existence of lead-based paint and the health and safety of the public. If such local code requirements exist, they must be honored. Even if local law does not mandate adherence to such standards, it is strongly recommended that standards be considered as a matter of public policy.

The number of bedrooms needed relates to how many individuals can share a bedroom and the requirement for separate bedrooms for children of different genders. Again, local housing codes govern if this issue is addressed; in the absence of any code requirement, the policy of the displacing Agency will be followed.

A minor revision highlights that any physical disability (not just one that requires a wheelchair) needs to be accommodated. The concept of this change is that all relevant disabilities or special needs (e.g., vision, hearing, little people, and displaced persons with service animals) must be considered.

## Decent, Safe, and Sanitary (cont.)

**Local**

**Housing**

**Codes**

**§** **24.2(a)(8)**

- Primary: Local Codes
- Secondary: § 24.2(a)(8)

- C-

- March 2005

**Notes:**
NOTES:  The primary determinates of housing standards are local codes, both occupancy codes and housing standards codes.   Absent a local code, or when the local codes are less protective than the regulatory definition of DSS, then the provisions of § 24.2(a)(8) apply as a minimum.   The "core" of the DSS standard is the definition of Decent, Safe and Sanitary contained in § 24.2(a)(8), but the real "meat" of the standard is the local codes. 

## Relocation Assistance Advisory Services

- Discussions should address:
- Availability of subsidized housing.
- § 24.205(c)(2)(ii)(F) Government assisted housing may limit size of replacement dwelling.
- § 24.2(a)(6)(ix) Relative duration of government-assisted housing versus the limited 42-month URA rental assistance payments.

- C-

- March 2005

**Notes:**
NOTES:  The wording of the advisory services related to new comparable replacement dwellings addresses pointing out the short-term nature of the URA benefits against the longer term nature of those for housing subsidies.

This applies to persons being displaced from subsidized housing or to persons who qualify for and opt to occupy a subsidized unit. The replacement unit may not be the same size as the displacement dwelling due to criteria of the subsidized housing program.

The second point pertains to the expected duration of government-assisted housing and relocation under the URA where rental assistance is limited to 42 months. The availability of a large lump-sum payment may encourage some displaced persons to forego government-assisted housing.

## “Let’s See How It Works”

**Please refer to example entitled:**
**Comparability Requirements – Government Assisted Housing**

- C-

- March 2005

## No Waiver of Relocation Assistance or Benefits

- § 24.207(f) No soliciting waivers of relocation assistance or benefits.

- C-

- March 2005

**Notes:**
NOTES:  A new requirement was added in § 24.207(f) and in the related item in Appendix A to prohibit Agencies from proposing or requesting that displaced persons waive their rights to relocation assistance or benefits.  The purpose is to make sure displacees understand their benefits and are not pressured into foregoing those benefits.  The relocation Agency may not suggest or request a waiver.  A displaced person may refuse the benefits on his/her own initiative.

## Expenditure of Payments

- § 24.207(g) Expenditure of relocation funds by displacee does not constitute Federal financial assistance.

- C-

- March 2005

**Notes:**
A new requirement was added in § 24.207(g) to codify the longstanding practice and understanding that relocation benefits are not to be considered Federal financial assistance. This is an important distinction in situations where replacement properties are acquired by displaced persons.

EXAMPLE: The action of a displaced person renting a replacement dwelling does not cause the present occupant of that replacement dwelling to gain eligibility for any relocation benefits.  Likewise, the construction of a new home or business by a displaced person does not require NEPA or other actions because relocation funds are used in this effort.