73352 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 205 / Wednesday, October 25, 2023 / Notices 

Written comments and suggestions 

from the public and affected agencies 

should address one or more of the 

following four points: 

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the agency, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; 

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and 

(4) Minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on those who 

are to respond, including through the 

use of appropriate automated, 

electronic, mechanical, or other 

technological collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology, 

e.g., permitting electronic submission of 

responses. 

Overview of This Information 

Collection 

(1) Type of Information Collection 

Request: Revision of a Currently 

Approved Collection. 

(2) Title of the Form/Collection: EVerify Program. 

(3) Agency form number, if any, and 

the applicable component of the DHS 

sponsoring the collection: No Agency 

Form Number; USCIS. 

(4) Affected public who will be asked 

or required to respond, as well as a brief 

abstract: 

Primary: Business or other for-profit. 

E-Verify is a web-based system which 

allows employers to electronically 

confirm the employment eligibility of 

newly hired employees. 

(5) An estimate of the total number of 

respondents and the amount of time 

estimated for an average respondent to 

respond: The estimated total number of 

respondents for the information 

collection E-Verify Program for New 

Users Entry (Employer Enrollment) is 

66,330 and the estimated hour burden 

per response is 2.26 hours; the 

estimated total number of respondents 

for the information collection E-Verify 

Program for New User Training is 

66,330 and the estimated hour burden 

per responses is 1 hour; the estimated 

total number of respondents for the 

information collection E-Verify Program 

for Existing User Annual Training is 

358,670 and the estimated hour burden 

per responses is 0.5 hours; the estimated 

total number of respondents for the 

information collection E-Verify Program 

for Queries and Initial Cases is 235,985 

and the estimated hour burden per 

responses is 0.121 hours. 

(6) An estimate of the total public 

burden (in hours) associated with the 

collection: The total estimated annual 

hour burden associated with this 

collection is 1,966,051 hours. 

(7) An estimate of the total public 

burden (in cost) associated with the 

collection: The estimated total annual 

cost burden associated with this 

collection of information is $1,887,000. 

Dated: October 20, 2023. 

Jerry L. Rigdon, 

Deputy Chief, Regulatory Coordination 

Division, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. 

Citizenship and Immigration Services, 

Department of Homeland Security. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23618 Filed 10–24–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9111–97–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–6426–N–01] 

Small Area Fair Market Rents in the 

Housing Choice Voucher Program 

Metropolitan Areas Subject to Small 

Area Fair Market Rents 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Policy Development and 

Research and the Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Public and Indian 

Housing, U.S. Department of Housing 

and Urban Development (HUD). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In 2016, HUD completed a 

final rule requiring the use of Small 

Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) in 

certain metropolitan areas to use in the 

administration of the Housing Choice 

Voucher (HCV) program. These areas 

were based on certain selection criteria 

and values. These criteria are: at least 

2,500 HCVs must be under lease in the 

metropolitan FMR area; at least 20 

percent of the standard quality rental 

stock within the metropolitan FMR area 

is in small areas (ZIP codes) where the 

Small Area FMR is more than 110 

percent of the metropolitan FMR; the 

percentage of voucher families living in 

concentrated low-income areas within 

the area must be at least 25 percent; the 

measure of the percentage of voucher 

holders living in concentrated lowincome areas relative to all renters 

within these areas over the entire 

metropolitan area exceeds 155 percent 

(or 1.55); and the vacancy rate for the 

metropolitan area is higher than 4 

percent. This notice lists the 

metropolitan areas that will be subject 

to Small Area FMRs based on the final 

rule’s requirement that HUD ‘‘make new 

area designations every 5 years 

thereafter as new data becomes 

available.’’ 

DATES: Implementation date: October 1, 

2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Questions on this notice may be 

addressed to Peter Kahn, Associate 

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of 

Policy Development, Office of Policy 

Development and Research, HUD 

Headquarters, 451 7th Street SW, Room 

8106, Washington, DC 20410, telephone 

number (202) 402–2409; or via email at 

SAFMR_Rule@hud.gov. HUD welcomes 

and is prepared to receive calls from 

individuals who are deaf or hard of 

hearing, as well as individuals with 

speech or communication disabilities. 

To learn more about how to make an 

accessible telephone call, please visit: 

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/ 

telecommunications-relay-service-trs. 

This Federal Register notice will be 

available electronically from the HUD 

User page at https://www.huduser.gov/ 

portal/datasets/fmr.html. Federal 

Register notices also are available 

electronically from https://

www.federalregister.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On November 16, 2016, HUD 

published a final rule entitled 

‘‘Establishing a More Effective Fair 

Market Rent (FMR) System; Using Small 

Area Fair Market Rents (Small Area 

FMRs) in Housing Choice Voucher 

Program Instead of the Current 50th 

Percentile FMRs’’ (81 FR 80567) (‘‘final 

rule’’ or ‘‘Small Area FMRs final rule’’). 

As HUD explained in the 2016 Rule, 

Small Area FMRs complement HUD’s 

other efforts to support households in 

making informed choices about units 

and neighborhoods with the goal of 

increasing the share of households that 

choose to use their vouchers in low 

poverty opportunity areas. In the final 

rule, HUD announced amendments to 

HUD’s FMR regulations applicable to 

the HCV program. Also on November 

16, 2016, HUD published a Federal 

Register notice entitled ‘‘Small Area 

Fair Market Rents in Housing Choice 

Voucher Program Values for Selection 

Criteria and Metropolitan Areas Subject 

to Small Area Fair Market Rents’’ (81 FR 

80678) (‘‘November 2016 notice’’) which 

established the values for the selection 

criteria and listed the initial 

metropolitan areas that are subject to 

SAFMRs implemented through the 

Small Area FMRs final rule. 

The final rule included a requirement 

that HUD make new area designations 

every 5 years as new data becomes 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 205 / Wednesday, October 25, 2023 / Notices 73353 

1Note: All areas used as control groups met the 

2,500 voucher units under lease criteria. 

2 24 CFR 888.113(c)(4) states, in part, that SAFMR 

designations are permanent; therefore, the first 

cohort of areas remain required SAFMR areas and 

were not reevaluated. 

3For criteria (ii)–(iv) the specifics of how the 

criteria is calculated is found in the Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking, available at https:// 

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2016p/ 

SAFMR-Notice-Proposed-Rule.pdf. 

available. Because the PHAs operating 

in the areas mandated in the November 

2016 notice began using SAFMRs 

beginning on April 1, 2018, it is now 

appropriate for HUD to undertake the 

evaluation of new data and identify 

additional areas where SAFMRs will be 

required. 

II. Policy Development Process and 

Stakeholder Engagement 

Staff from the Office of Policy 

Development and Research (PD&R) and 

the Office of Public and Indian Housing 

(PIH) engaged in a process of 

stakeholder outreach and policy 

development to learn about the 

implementation of SAFMRs. HUD 

engaged local PHAs, researchers, and 

key stakeholders, including fair housing 

groups, to better understand PHAs’ 

implementation of SAFMRs and their 

impact on families. 

PD&R and PIH held listening sessions 

with PHAs in several metropolitan areas 

that were required to adopt SAFMRs 

under the 2016 rule. Overall, HUD 

heard from 19 PHAs across these 

metropolitan areas, as well as from a 

statewide agency managing the Housing 

Choice Voucher program. 

HUD also met with researchers 

conducting research on the impacts of 

SAFMRs. PD&R has provided data 

licenses to four research teams to 

conduct SAFMR analyses, and two of 

those teams presented initial findings 

using HUD’s administrative data. (The 

other research teams do not yet have 

research findings to share.) 

In the policy development process, 

HUD sought answers to two basic 

categories of questions: 

(1) What challenges did PHAs 

experience in the implementation and 

administration of SAFMRs? How could 

HUD improve the policy to make 

implementation easier? 

(2) How did the use of SAFMRs 

impact families with vouchers? Is there 

evidence that the use of SAFMRs 

expanded housing choices and 

opportunity, particularly their ability to 

access higher-rent, lower-poverty areas? 

HUD listening sessions with PHAs 

focused on their experience with 

implementing SAFMRs, including 

administrative burdens. PHAs 

emphasized that implementation 

required changes to IT systems, staff 

training, revision of materials and 

briefings for tenants, and a process of 

landlord education. While experience 

varied, many PHAs found the 

implementation challenging in one or 

more of these areas, at least initially. 

Many PHAs also felt that the rollout of 

the initial SAFMRs happened too 

quickly, and that PHAs should have at 

least six months—or perhaps a year—to 

implement the program. Nearly all 

PHAs also emphasized the importance 

of additional training and technical 

assistance to implement SAFMRs. 

The academic research teams’ 

preliminary data analysis using HUD’s 

administrative records identified the 

following key findings: 

New voucher recipients were more 

likely to move to low-poverty 

neighborhoods after SAFMRs were 

implemented. The program reduced 

their overall concentration in low-rent, 

high-poverty neighborhoods. This 

finding held across demographic 

groups, including households of color 

and those with children. However, the 

magnitude of these positive effects is 

modest. These findings for newly 

admitted families are consistent with 

those from prior studies, such as HUD’s 

2017 interim evaluation of the SAFMR 

demonstration at five sites. The latter 

study, however, found much larger 

increases in the share of existing 

voucher holders that moved to high-rent 

areas following SAFMR 

implementation. 

SAFMRs did not affect the success of 

households with vouchers in leasing up 

(i.e., the number of households leasing 

up within 180 days), even for highbarrier households or those living in zip 

codes where SAFMRs were lower than 

FMRs. 

These researchers have not yet 

examined the financial impacts of 

SAFMRs on PHAs, including the 

average HAP paid by PHAs. HUD’s 2017 

study found, however, that average per 

unit costs (PUCs) and housing 

assistance payments (HAPs) declined 

after SAFMR implementation, as 

increased costs in higher-rent areas were 

more than offset by lower costs in 

lower-rent areas. 

HUD’s staff undertook an analysis of 

PHA PUC information between 2015 

and 2022. While the average PUC in the 

mandated metropolitan areas is higher 

than the average PUC in 2 control 

groups identified as part of the analysis, 

there is little discernible difference in 

the annual change in average PUC in 

each of these areas. In other words, 

PUCs did not rise more quickly in 

mandated metropolitan areas than in 

other metropolitan areas. The control 

groups where those areas that met four 

of the five criteria and three of the five 

criteria in 2016.1

III. Selection Parameters for Identifying 

Small Area FMRs Area 

Following the outreach process, 

HUD’s analysis of administrative data 

and the evaluation of updated selection 

criteria, HUD deliberated on the 

appropriate next steps. Following these 

deliberations, HUD committed to 

provide: adequate technical assistance, 

opportunities for peer-to-peer training, 

additional program materials, and 

additional training for HUD field office 

staff. 

Through this notice, HUD is affirming 

the same selection values used to 

determine the first cohort of 

metropolitan FMR areas subject to 

SAFMRs for use in the administration of 

tenant-based assistance under the HCV 

program in this next round of 

determinations.2 Metropolitan FMR 

areas meeting the following 

requirements will be subject to Small 

Area FMRs consistent with 24 CFR 

888.113(c): 

(i) There are at least 2,500 HCVs 

under lease, counted using HUD 

administrative data as of December 31, 

2022; 

(ii) At least 20 percent of the standard 

quality rental stock, within the 

metropolitan FMR area is in small areas 

(ZIP codes) where the Small Area FMR 

is more than 110 percent of the 

metropolitan FMR, measured using 

HUD’s special tabulations of American 

Community Survey (ACS) data through 

the distribution of Adjusted Standard 

Quality Rental Units, and FY 2023 Fair 

Market Rents; 3

(iii) The percentage of voucher 

families living in concentrated lowincome areas within the area must be at 

least 25 percent calculated using 2023 

designations of Qualifies Census Tracts 

and 2021 ACS 5-year tabulations of 

renter occupied units; 

(iv) The measure of the percentage of 

voucher holders living in concentrated 

low-income areas relative to all renters 

within these areas over the entire 

metropolitan area exceeds 155 percent 

(or 1.55) using the 2023 designations of 

Qualified Census Tracts; and 

(v) The vacancy rate for the 

metropolitan area is higher than 4 

percent calculated as the average of the 

vacancy rates for each area calculated 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
73354 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 205 / Wednesday, October 25, 2023 / Notices 

4The calculation of the vacancy rate is defined in 

the Final Rule, available at https://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2016f/ 

SAFMR-Final-Rule.pdf. 

from the 2018, 2019 and 2021 1-year 

ACS tabulations.4

The additional metropolitan FMR 

Areas that meet these requirements are 

as follows: 

Akron, OH MSA 

Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC HUD 

Metro FMR Area 

Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX MSA 

Birmingham-Hoover, AL HUD Metro FMR 

Area 

Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY MSA 

Charleston-North Charleston, SC MSA 

Chattanooga, TN-GA MSA 

Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN HUD Metro FMR Area 

Cleveland-Elyria, OH MSA 

Columbus, OH HUD Metro FMR Area 

Dayton-Kettering, OH MSA 

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA HUD Metro 

FMR Area 

Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI HUD Metro FMR 

Area 

Fort Wayne, IN MSA 

Greensboro-High Point, NC HUD Metro FMR 

Area 

Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA MSA 

Indianapolis-Carmel, IN HUD Metro FMR 

Area 

Jersey City, NJ HUD Metro FMR Area 

Kansas City, MO-KS HUD Metro FMR Area 

Knoxville, TN HUD Metro FMR Area 

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA HUD 

Metro FMR Area 

Louisville, KY-IN HUD Metro FMR Area 

Memphis, TN-MS-AR HUD Metro FMR Area 

Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL HUD Metro 

FMR Area 

Mobile, AL HUD Metro FMR Area 

Montgomery, AL MSA 

Nashville-Davidson—Murfreesboro— 

Franklin, TN HUD Metro FMR Area 

Oklahoma City, OK HUD Metro FMR Area 

Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA HUD Metro 

FMR Area 

Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL MSA 

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA MSA 

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ MSA 

Raleigh, NC MSA 

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA HUD 

Metro FMR Area 

Seattle-Bellevue, WA HUD Metro FMR Area 

St. Louis, MO-IL HUD Metro FMR Area 

Tucson, AZ MSA 

Tulsa, OK HUD Metro FMR Area 

Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VANC HUD Metro FMR Area 

Wichita, KS HUD Metro FMR Area 

Winston-Salem, NC HUD Metro FMR Area 

Consistent with the first cohort of 

Small Area FMR designated areas and as 

stated in 24 CFR 888.113(c)(4), these 

designations are permanent. 

IV. Additional Information 

Since the first cohort of mandatory 

Small Area FMR areas were required to 

begin using Small Area FMRs in the 

administration of the tenant-based 

voucher programs in April of 2018, this 

notice fulfills HUD’s 5-year requirement 

under the Small Area FMR final rule. 

Setting the implementation date of this 

notice as October 1, 2024, provides 

sufficient time for PHAs operating in the 

newly announced required areas to 

acquire sufficient training and provides 

time for further market analysis to 

prepare to set their payments standards 

using Small Area FMRs instead of 

metropolitan area-wide FMRs. Finally, 

setting an implementation date of 

October 1, 2024, provides that PHAs 

operating in this second cohort of 

mandatory areas, under normal voucher 

program operations, must have their 

payment standards aligned with the 

Small Area FMRs in their operating 

areas by January 1, 2025. Should a PHA 

operating in these 41 areas wish to begin 

using Small Area FMRs in the 

administration of their voucher 

programs prior to October 1, 2024, they 

will need to seek HUD permission 

pursuant to an opt-in decision by a PHA 

under 24 CFR 888.113(c)(3): ‘‘A PHA 

administering an HCV program in a 

metropolitan area not subject to the 

application of Small Area FMRs may 

opt to use Small Area FMRs by seeking 

approval from HUD’s Office of Public 

and Indian Housing (PIH) through 

written request to PIH.’’ Until the 

SAFMRs take effect for PHAs in the 41 

metropolitan areas identified in this 

Notice, any decision by a PHA to use 

SAFMRs is an opt-in decision, 

consistent with 24 CFR 88.113(c)(3) and 

Section 5(b) of PIH Notice 2018–01. 

If a PHA operating in one these 41 

areas is unable to implement Small Area 

FMRs within the timeframes provided 

in this notice, they may petition HUD 

for a temporary exemption as specified 

in 24 CFR 888.113 (c)(4), which states 

in part, ‘‘HUD may suspend a Small 

Area FMR designation from a 

metropolitan area, or may temporarily 

exempt a PHA in a Small Area FMR 

metropolitan area from use of Small 

Aree FMRs, when HUD by notice make 

a documented determination that such 

action is warranted. Actions that may 

serve as the basis of a suspension of 

Small Area FMRs are: (i) A 

Presidentially declared disaster area that 

results in the loss of a substantial 

number of housing units; (ii) A sudden 

influx of displaced households needing 

permanent housing; or (iii) Other events 

as determined by the Secretary.’’ For 

additional guidance, PHAs who want to 

petition HUD for an exemption should 

refer to section 9 of PIH Notice 2018– 

01, available at https://www.hud.gov/ 

sites/dfiles/PIH/documents/PIH-2018- 

01.pdf. 

Solomon J. Greene, 

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Policy Development and Research. 

Dominique Blom, 

General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public 

and Indian Housing. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23685 Filed 10–23–23; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Geological Survey 

[GX24NN00TH3L700, OMB Control Number 

1028–NEW] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Central Flyway Online 

Goose Harvest Assessment 

AGENCY: U.S. Geological Survey, 

Department of the Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of information collection; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(PRA), the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS) is proposing a new information 

collection. 

DATES: Interested persons are invited to 

submit comments on or before 

December 26, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Send your comments on 

this information collection request (ICR) 

by mail to USGS, Information 

Collections Clearance Officer, 12201 

Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 159, Reston, 

VA 20192; or by email to gs-info_

collections@usgs.gov. Please reference 

OMB Control Number 1028–NEW 

Central Flyway Goose Harvest 

Assessment in the subject line of your 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To 

request additional information about 

this ICR, contact Jay VonBank by email 

at jvonbank@usgs.gov, or by telephone 

at (701) 368–0177. Individuals in the 

United States who are deaf, deafblind, 

hard of hearing, or have a speech 

disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or 

TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with the PRA (44 U.S.C. 

3501 et seq.) and 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1), all 

information collections require 

approval. We may not conduct or 

sponsor, nor are you required to 


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