36932 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 130 /Wednesday, July 8, 1998 / Notices

2Sections 1332(c) and 1333(c).

3Sections 1332(c)(2) and 1333(c)(2).

4 24 CFR 81.2.

5 Id.

6 Id.

7The AHS means have been adjusted to reflect

the 5.7 percent increase in the Consumer Price

Index for Fuel and Other Utilities (CPIFOU)

between the fourth quarter of 1995 (the approximate

midpoint of August 1995–February 1996, the period

when the 1995 AHS was conducted) and the fourth

quarter of 1997 and the projected 0.3 percent

decrease in the CPIFOU between the fourth quarter

of 1997 and the fourth quarter of 1998, as projected

by Data Resources, Inc.

special affordable housing, i.e., housing

meeting the needs of, and affordable to,

low-income families in low-income

areas and very low-income families. On

January 2, 1996, the Secretary’s

regulation on the GSEs, codified at 24

CFR, part 81, became effective. (See 60

FR 61846, Dec. 1, 1995).

Under the Act and regulations, in

considering whether a rental dwelling

unit that is financed by a GSE mortgage

purchase is affordable and counts

toward any housing goal, the Secretary

must consider the income of tenants if

income information is available. Where

income information is not available,

rent on the dwelling unit is used as a

proxy and compared to the rent levels

affordable to very low-, low-, and

moderate-income families and families

whose incomes do not exceed 50

percent of the area median income

(‘‘especially low-income families’’).2 To

be considered affordable and count

under the goal, the rent cannot exceed

30 percent of the maximum income

level of the family’s classification, with

adjustments for unit size.3

Under the regulation, ‘‘rent’’ is

defined as contract rent, but only where

the contract rent includes the cost of all

utilities.4 In all other instances, rent is

contract rent plus (1) the actual cost of

utilities or (2) a utility allowance.5 The

regulation allows the GSEs to choose

from two different utility allowances—

the allowances used in the HUD Section

8 Program or the utility allowances

derived from the American Housing

Survey (AHS) and issued annually by

the Secretary.6

On May 1, 1996, a notice was issued

establishing the utility allowances for

1996 and 1997 (61 FR 19466). Those

utility allowances were based on the

Department’s analysis of data from the

1993 AHS.

This notice announces the AHSderived utility allowances for 1998 and

1999. In establishing these allowances,

the Department analyzed 1995 AHS data

on the mean costs, based on unit type

(i.e., number of bedrooms), paid by

renters in both multifamily and singlefamily properties for electricity, gas, oil,

water, and other utilities.7

The GSEs were advised by letter dated

May 12, 1998, that these allowances

would be published in the Federal

Register and that they would become

effective on July 1, 1998, but could be

implemented sooner at the GSEs’

option.

The Utility Allowances

In accordance with sections 1321,

1331–33, and 1336 of the Federal

Housing Enterprises Financial Safety

and Soundness Act (12 U.S.C. 4541,

4561–63, and 4566), and as provided in

paragraph (1) under the definition of

‘‘utility allowance’’ in section 81.2(b) of

Title 24 of the Code of Federal

Regulations, the AHS-derived utility

allowances for 1998 and 1999 are as

follows:

Type of property

Number of bedrooms in dwelling unit

Efficiency 1 2 3 or more

Multifamily ........................................................................................................................ $51 $61 $79 $105

Single family ..................................................................................................................... 61 81 111 145

These utility allowances are

applicable to the GSEs’ determination of

eligibility of rental units to count

toward their annual housing goals and

not to other programs or regulatory

functions of the Department of Housing

and Urban Development.

Effect of Notice Beyond 1999

For 2000 and thereafter, the Secretary

shall establish AHS-derived utility

allowances by subsequent notice.

Pending establishment of such

allowances for 2000 and thereafter, the

allowances in this notice shall continue

to be used by the GSEs.

Dated: July 1, 1998.

Andrew Cuomo,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–18094 Filed 7–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–27–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Receipt of Applications for

Permit

The following applicants have

applied for a permit to conduct certain

activities with endangered species. This

notice is provided pursuant to Section

10(c) of the Endangered Species Act of

1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531, et

seq.):

PRT–844265

Applicant: Zoological Society of San Diego,

San Diego, CA.

The applicant requests a permit to

export four captive-hatched Andean

condors (Vultur gyphus) to Columbia to

enhance the survival of the species

through reintroduction into the wild.

PRT–843149

Applicant: International Snow Leopard

Trust, Seattle, WA.

The applicant requests a permit to

import and re-export non-invasively

collected biological samples from

endangered and threatened mammals in

Asia, for the purpose of scientific

research.

PRT–843877

Applicant: White Oak Conservation Center,

Yulee, FL.

The applicant requests a permit to

import six captive-held visayan deer

(Cervus alfredi) from the Phillippines to

enhance the survival of the species

through captive breeding.

Written data or comments should be

submitted to the Director, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, Office of Management

Authority, 4401 North Fairfax Drive,

Room 700, Arlington, Virginia 22203

and must be received by the Director

within 30 days of the date of this

publication.

Documents and other information

submitted with these applications are

available for review, subject to the

requirements of the Privacy Act and

Freedom of Information Act, by any

party who submits a written request for

a copy of such documents to the

following office within 30 days of the

date of publication of this notice: U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of

Management Authority, 4401 North
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 130 /Wednesday, July 8, 1998 / Notices 36933

Fairfax Drive, Room 700, Arlington,

Virginia 22203. Phone: (703/358–2104);

FAX: (703/358–2281).

Dated: July 2, 1998.

MaryEllen Amtower,

Acting Chief, Branch of Permits, Office of

Management Authority.

[FR Doc. 98–18090 Filed 7–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Geological Survey

Federal Geographic Data Committee

(FGDC); Public Comment on the

Proposal To Develop the ‘‘NSDI

Framework Road Data Model

Standard’’ as a Federal Geographic

Data Committee Standard

ACTION: Notice; Request for comments.

SUMMARY: The FGDC is soliciting public

comments on the proposal to develop a

‘‘NSDI Framework Road Data Model

Standard.’’ If the proposal is approved,

the standard will be developed

following the FGDC standards

development and approval process and

will be considered for adoption by the

FGDC.

In its assigned federal leadership role

in the development of the National

Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), the

Committee recognizes that FGDC

standards must also meet the needs and

recognize the views of State and local

governments, academia, industry, and

the public. The purpose of this notice is

to solicit such views. The FGDC invites

the community to review the proposal

and comment on the objectives, scope,

approach, and usability of the proposed

standard; identify existing related

standards; and indicate their interest in

participating in the development of the

standard.

DATES: Comments must be received on

or before July 25, 1998.

CONTACT AND ADDRESSES: Comments

may be submitted via Internet mail or by

submitting electronic copy on diskette.

Send comments via internet to: gdcrdmod@www.fgdc.gov.

A soft copy version, on a 3.5 x 3.5

diskette in WordPerfect 5.0 or 6.0/6.1

format, along with one hardcopy version

of the comments may be sent to the

FGDC Secretariat (attn: Jennifer Fox) at

U.S. Geological Survey, 590 National

Center, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive,

Reston, Virginia, 20192.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Following

is the complete proposal for the ‘‘NSDI

Framework Road Data Model Standard’’.

Project Title: NSDI Framework Road

Data Model Standard

Submitting Organization: FGDC Ground

Transportation Subcommittee

Point of Contact: Bruce D. Spear, U.S.

Department of Transportation, Bureau

of Transportation Statistics (BTS),

(202) 366–8870, bruce.spear@bts.gov

Objectives

To provide a logical data model for

identifying unique road segments which

are independent of cartographic or

analytic network representation. These

road segments will form the basis for

maintenance of NSDI framework road

data (through transactions or other

means), and for establishing links

among road segments and attribute data.

Scope

In accordance with the FGDC

Standards Reference Model, the NSDI

Framework Road Data Model is being

proposed under the classification of a

data content standard. However, it also

includes mandatory standards for

assigning and reporting identification

codes as well as voluntary guidelines for

data collection under the classification

of a process standard.

This standard will specify a

conceptual model for identifying

physical road segments that are

temporally stable and independent of

any cartographic representation, scale,

level of detail or network application,

and a process for combining the road

segments to create topologically

connected analytical networks. The

model will include a set of locational

descriptors for each road segment

included in the NSDI framework road

layer, and a format for a unique

identification code to be assigned to

each identified segment. The standard

will also specify a process for assigning,

modifying and recording road segment

identification codes.

Guidelines for selecting and locating

the end points of appropriate road

segments will be included as an

informative appendix. The user of the

standard does not have to follow the

guidelines to be in conformance with

the standard.

The basic road data model can be

extended to cover other transportation

networks including railroads,

commercial waterways, pipelines, and

public transit guideways. Other network

layers may require different process

standards for assigning and recording

identification codes. These additional

process standards are not included as

part of this initial standard.

Justification/Benefits

There are currently no national

standards for identifying, segmenting, or

representing road segments in digital

geo-spatial databases. Database

developers segment road networks to

satisfy their specific application needs;

however, the specific segmentation

scheme may not be appropriate for other

applications. Furthermore, there is no

standard approach for documenting the

relationship between a digitized road

segment and the physical road feature

that it represents. Consequently, the

exchange of attribute information

between two different road databases

representing the same geographic area is

difficult, time consuming and error

prone.

A national standard for identifying

and documenting road segments will

facilitate data exchange among different

users by providing well defined,

common reference segments that are

tied to the physical road feature, rather

than to any cartographic or network

abstraction of that feature. Furthermore,

the proposed standard road data model

will allow users to create customized

topological networks from the reference

segments without modifying the

properties of the reference segments

themselves. This will facilitate

transactional updates to framework road

databases by allowing new road features

to be added without changing existing

road segments.

Development Approach

A Road Data Model Team will be

assembled to review the technical

development of the standard and to

provide appropriate outreach to the

transportation community. (See

POTENTIAL PARTICIPANTS, below.)

An initial draft of the road data model

will be prepared under contract, funded

by BTS (in progress). The initial draft

will be based, in large part, on the

preliminary road data models emerging

from the NSDI Framework Road Data

Modeling Workshop, held at

Wrightsville Beach, NC, in December

1997. These preliminary data models

are compatible with the generic linear

data model developed under the

National Cooperative Highway Research

Program (NCHRP) Project 20–27.

The initial draft will be reviewed by

the Road Data Model Team and revised

based on concerns and

recommendations expressed by team

members. Depending on the nature of

the review comments, one or more

meetings may be convened to resolve

differences among the team. Team

members will also be responsible for

informing their constituencies about the

road data model standard and for

collecting and summarizing the

requirements of their respective

stakeholders groups.