43244 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 149 / Friday, August 6, 2021 / Notices 

1The CDC Director renewed the Order until 

March 31, 2021. On March 28, 2021, the CDC 

Director modified and extended the Order until 

June 30, 2021. On June 24, 2021 the CDC Director 

extended the Order until July 31, 2021. 

2For purposes of this Order, ‘‘person’’ includes 

corporations, companies, associations, firms, 

partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies, 

as well as individuals. 

3To the extent any provision of this Order 

conflicts with prior Orders, this Order is 

controlling, as this is a new order. 

employing user-friendly, easily 

accessible web-based instruments to 

collect necessary information for both 

progress reports and continuation 

applications including work plans. This 

approach enables recipients to save 

pertinent information from one 

reporting period to the next and reduces 

the administrative burden on the annual 

continuation application and the 

performance monitoring process. 

Awardee program staff can review the 

completeness of data needed to generate 

required reports, enter basic summary 

data for reports annually, and finalize 

and save required reports for upload 

into other reporting systems as required. 

Information to be collected will 

provide crucial data for program 

performance monitoring and provide 

CDC with the capacity to respond in a 

timely manner to requests for 

information about the program from the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS), the White House, 

Congress, and other sources. 

Information to be collected will also 

strengthen CDC’s ability to monitor 

awardee progress, provide data-driven 

technical assistance, and disseminate 

the most current surveillance data on 

suicide and suicide attempts. CDC 

requests approval for an estimated 132 

annual burden hours. There is no cost 

to respondents other than their time to 

participate. 

ESTIMATED ANNUALIZED BURDEN HOURS

Type of respondents Form name Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Average 

burden per 

response 

(in hours) 

Total burden 

(in hours) 

CSP Program Recipients .................. Annual Progress Report ................... 11 1 12 132 

Total ........................................... ........................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 132 

Jeffrey M. Zirger, 

Lead, Information Collection Review Office, 

Office of Scientific Integrity, Office of Science, 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2021–16824 Filed 8–5–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

Temporary Halt in Residential 

Evictions in Communities With 

Substantial or High Transmission of 

COVID–19 To Prevent the Further 

Spread of COVID–19 

AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC), Department of Health 

and Human Services (HHS). 

ACTION: Agency Order. 

SUMMARY: The Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention (CDC), located 

within the Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS) announces a 

new Order under Section 361 of the 

Public Health Service Act to temporarily 

halt residential evictions in 

communities with substantial or high 

transmission of COVID–19 to prevent 

the further spread of COVID–19. 

DATES: This Order is effective August 3, 

2021 through October 3, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tiffany Brown, Deputy Chief of Staff, 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS 

H21–10, Atlanta, GA 30329. Phone: 

404–639–7000. Email: cdcregulations@

cdc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On September 4, 2020, the CDC 

Director issued an Order temporarily 

halting evictions in the United States for 

the reasons described therein. That 

Order was set to expire on December 31, 

2020, subject to further extension, 

modification, or rescission. Section 502 

of Title V, Division N of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 

extended the Order until January 31, 

2021, and approved the Order as an 

exercise of the CDC’s authority under 

Section 361 of the Public Health Service 

Act (42 U.S.C. 264). With the extension 

of the Order, Congress also provided 

$25 billion for emergency rental 

assistance for the payment of rent and 

rental arrears. Congress later provided 

an additional $21.55 billion in 

emergency rental assistance when it 

passed the American Rescue Plan. The 

Order was extended multiple times due 

to the changing public health landscape 

and expired on July 31, 2021 after what 

was intended to be the final extension.1

Absent an unexpected change in the 

trajectory of the pandemic, CDC did not 

plan to extend the Order further. 

Following the recent surge in cases 

brought forth by the highly 

transmissible Delta variant, the CDC 

Director now issues a new Order 

temporarily halting evictions for 

persons in counties or U.S. territories 

experiencing substantial or high rates of 

transmission, for the reasons described 

herein. It is more limited in scope than 

prior orders, intended to target specific 

areas of the country where cases are 

rapidly increasing, which likely would 

be exacerbated by mass evictions. 

Accordingly, subject to the limitations 

listed in the new Order, a landlord, 

owner of a residential property, or 2

person with a legal right to pursue 

eviction or possessory action, shall not 

evict any covered person from any 

residential property in any county or 

U.S. territory while the county or 

territory is experiencing substantial or 

high levels of community transmission 

levels of SARS–CoV–2. This Order will 

expire on October 3, 2021, but is subject 

to further extension, modification, or 

rescission based on public health 

circumstances.3

A copy of the Order is provided 

below. A copy of the signed Order and 

Declaration form can be found at 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- 

ncov/covid-eviction-declaration.html. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 149 / Friday, August 6, 2021 / Notices 43245 

4For purposes of this Order, ‘‘person’’ includes 

corporations, companies, associations, firms, 

partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies, 

as well as individuals. 

5This definition is based on factors that are 

known to contribute to evictions and thus increase 

the need for individuals to move into close quarters 

in new congregate or shared living arrangements or 

experience homelessness. Individuals who suffer 

job loss, have limited financial resources, are low 

income, or have high out-of-pocket medical 

expenses are more likely to be evicted for 

nonpayment of rent than others not experiencing 

these factors. See Desmond, M., Gershenson, C., 

Who gets evicted? Assessing individual, 

neighborhood, and network factors, Soc Sci Res. 

2017;62:362–377. doi:10.1016/ 

j.ssresearch.2016.08.017, (identifying job loss as a 

possible predictor of eviction because renters who 

lose their jobs experience not only a sudden loss of 

income but also the loss of predictable future 

income). According to one survey, over one quarter 

(26%) of respondents also identified job loss as the 

primary cause of homelessness. See 2019 San 

Francisco Homeless Count & Survey 

Comprehensive Report, Applied Survey Research, 

at 22, https://hsh.sfgov.org/wp-content/uploads/ 

2020/01/2019HIRDReport_SanFrancisco_

FinalDraft-1.pdf. (last viewed Mar. 24, 2021). 

6As used throughout this Order, this would 

include, without limitation, an agent or attorney 

acting on behalf of the landlord or the owner of the 

residential property. 

7A person who previously filed a declaration 

under prior CDC eviction moratoria issued on 

September 4, 2020, January 29, 2021, March 28, 

2021, or June 24, 2021 may be eligible for protection 

under this Order and does not need to file a new 

declaration, if they live in a county experiencing 

substantial or high rates of transmission of 

community levels of SARS–CoV–2 and meet the 

definition of a covered person under this Order. 

8According to one study, the national twobedroom housing wage in 2020 was $23.96 per hour 

(approximately, $49,837 annually), meaning that an 

hourly wage of $23.96 was needed to afford a 

modest two-bedroom house without spending more 

than 30% of one’s income on rent. The hourly wage 

needed in Hawaii (the highest cost U.S. State for 

rent) was $38.76 (approximately $80,621 annually). 

See Out of Reach: How Much do you Need to Earn 

to Afford a Modest Apartment in Your State?, 

National Low Income Housing Coalition, https://

reports.nlihc.org/oor (last visited Mar. 23, 2021). As 

further explained herein, because this Order is 

intended to serve the critical public health goal of 

preventing evicted individuals from potentially 

contributing to the interstate spread of COVID–19 

through movement into close quarters in new 

congregate, shared housing settings, or through 

homelessness, the higher income thresholds listed 

here have been determined to better serve this goal. 

9 ‘‘Stimulus check’’ includes payments made 

pursuant to Section 2201 of the CARES Act, to 

Section 9601 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 

2021, or to any similar federally authorized 

payments made to individual natural persons in 

2020 and 2021. Eligibility for the 2020 or 2021 

stimulus checks has been based on an income that 

is equal to or lower than the income thresholds 

described above and does not change or expand 

who is a covered person under this Order since it 

was entered into on September 4, 2020. 

10A person is likely to qualify for protection 

under this Order if they receive the following 

benefits: (a) Temporary Assistance for Needy 

Families (TANF); (b) Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program (SNAP); (c) Supplemental 

Security Income (SSI); or (d) Social Security 

Disability Insurance (SSDI) to the extent that 

income limits for these programs are less than or 

equal to the income limits for this Order. However, 

it is the individual’s responsibility to verify that 

their income is within the income limits described. 

11Extraordinary expenses are defined as those 

that prevented you from paying some or all of your 

rent or providing for other basic necessities like 

food security. To qualify as an extraordinary 

medical expense, the unreimbursed medical 

expense is one that is likely to exceed 7.5% of one’s 

adjusted gross income for the year. 

12Counties experiencing substantial transmission 

levels are experiencing (1) 50.99–99.99 new cases 

in the county in the past 7 days divided by the 

population in the county multiplied by 100,000; 

and (2) 8.00–9.99% positive nucleic acid 

amplification tests in the past 7 days (number of 

positive tests in the county during the past 7 days 

divided by the total number of tests performed in 

the county during the past 7 days). Christie A, 

Brooks JT, Hicks LA, et al. Guidance for 

Implementing COVID–19 Prevention Strategies in 

the Context of Varying Community Transmission 

Levels and Vaccination Coverage. MMWR Morb 

Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:1044–1047. DOI: http://

dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7030e2. See 

COVID–19 Integrated County View, Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention; https://

covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view (last 

updated August 1, 2021). 

13 Id. (defining high transmission levels as (1) 

≥100 new cases in the county in the past 7 days 

divided by the population in the county multiplied 

by 100,000; and (2) ≥10.00% positive nucleic acid 

amplification tests in the past 7 days (number of 

positive tests in the county during the past 7 days 

divided by the total number of tests performed in 

the county during the past 7 days)). 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, Department of Health and 

Human Services 

Order Under Section 361 of the Public 

Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 264) and 

42 Code of Federal Regulations 70.2 

Temporary Halt in Residential 

Evictions in Communities With 

Substantial or High Levels of 

Community Transmission of COVID–19 

To Prevent the Further Spread of 

COVID–19 

Summary 

The U.S. Centers for Disease and 

Control (CDC) is issuing a new order 

temporarily halting evictions in 

counties with heightened levels of 

community transmission in order to 

respond to recent, unexpected 

developments in the trajectory of the 

COVID–19 pandemic, including the rise 

of the Delta variant. It is intended to 

target specific areas of the country 

where cases are rapidly increasing, 

which likely would be exacerbated by 

mass evictions. Accordingly, subject to 

the limitations under ‘‘Applicability,’’ a 

landlord, owner of a residential 

property, or other person 4 with a legal 

right to pursue eviction or possessory 

action, shall not evict any covered 

person from any residential property in 

any county or U.S. territory while the 

county or territory is experiencing 

substantial or high levels of community 

transmission of SARS–CoV–2. 

Definitions 

‘‘Available government assistance’’ 

means any governmental rental or 

housing payment benefits available to 

the individual or any household 

member. 

‘‘Available housing’’ means any 

available, unoccupied residential 

property, or other space for occupancy 

in any seasonal or temporary housing, 

that would not violate federal, state, or 

local occupancy standards and that 

would not result in an overall increase 

of housing cost to such individual. 

‘‘Covered person’’ 5 means any tenant, 

lessee, or resident of a residential 

property who provides to their landlord, 

the owner of the residential property, or 

other person with a legal right to pursue 

eviction or a possessory action,6 a 

declaration 7 under penalty of perjury 

indicating that: 

(1) The individual has used best 

efforts to obtain all available 

governmental assistance for rent or 

housing; 

(2) The individual either (i) earned no 

more than $99,000 (or $198,000 if filing 

jointly) in Calendar Year 2020 or 

expects to earn no more than $99,000 in 

annual income for Calendar Year 2021 

(or no more than $198,000 if filing a 

joint tax return),8 (ii) was not required 

to report any income in 2020 to the U.S. 

Internal Revenue Service, or (iii) 

received an Economic Impact Payment 

(stimulus check).9 10

(3) The individual is unable to pay the 

full rent or make a full housing payment 

due to substantial loss of household 

income, loss of compensable hours of 

work or wages, a lay-off, or 

extraordinary 11 out-of-pocket medical 

expenses; 

(4) The individual is using best efforts 

to make timely partial rent payments 

that are as close to the full rent payment 

as the individual’s circumstances may 

permit, taking into account other 

nondiscretionary expenses; 

(5) Eviction would likely render the 

individual homeless—or force the 

individual to move into and reside in 

close quarters in a new congregate or 

shared living setting—because the 

individual has no other available 

housing options; and 

(6) The individual resides in a U.S. 

county experiencing substantial 12 or 

high 13 rates of community transmission 

levels of SARS–CoV–2 as defined by 

CDC. 

‘‘Evict’’ and ‘‘Eviction’’ means any 

action by a landlord, owner of a 

residential property, or other person 

with a legal right to pursue eviction or 

possessory action, to remove or cause 

the removal of a covered person from a 


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43246 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 149 / Friday, August 6, 2021 / Notices 

14Mobile home parks may also be referred to as 

manufactured housing communities. 

15COVID–19 Dashboard by the Center for 

Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns 

Hopkins University (JHU), Johns Hopkins 

Coronavirus Resource Center, https://

coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html (last updated August 

3, 2021). 

16COVID Data Tracker, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, https://covid.cdc.gov/ 

covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home (last updated 

August 1, 2021). 

17United States Forecasting, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, https://covid.cdc.gov/ 

covid-data-tracker/#forecasting_weeklycases 

(updated July 28, 2021) (citing data an estimated 

608,569 weekly COVID–19 cases by early 

September 2021). 

18 Kimball A., Hatfield K.M., Arons M., et al. 

Asymptomatic and Presymptomatic SARS–CoV–2 

Infections in Residents of a Long-Term Care Skilled 

Nursing Facility—King County, Washington, March 

2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:377– 

381. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/ 

mmwr.mm6913e1. 

19Razzaghi H., Wang Y., Lu H., et al. Estimated 

County-Level Prevalence of Selected Underlying 

Medical Conditions Associated with Increased Risk 

for Severe COVID–19 Illness—United States, 2018. 

MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:945–950. 

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6929a1. 

20Abdool Karim S.S., de Oliveira T. New SARS– 

CoV–2 Variants—Clinical, Public Health, and 

Vaccine Implications [published online ahead of 

print, 2021 Mar 24]. N Engl J Med. 2021;10.1056/ 

NEJMc2100362. doi:10.1056/NEJMc2100362. 

21 Id. 

22 Dougherty K., Mannell M., Naqvi O., Matson 

D., Stone J. SARS–CoV–2 B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant 

COVID–19 Outbreak Associated with a Gymnastics 

Facility—Oklahoma, April–May 2021. MMWR 

Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:1004–1007. DOI: 

http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7028e2 

(describing a B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant COVID–19 

outbreak associated with a gymnastics facility and 

finding that the Delta variant is highly transmissible 

in indoor sports settings and households, which 

might lead to increased incidence rates). 

23 Variant Proportions, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, https://covid.cdc.gov/ 

covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions (citing data 

for the two-week interval ending July 17, 2021). 

24About Variants of the Virus that Causes 

COVID–19, Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- 

ncov/variants/variant.html (last updated June 28, 

2021). 

25Riemersma et al. Vaccinated and unvaccinated 

individuals have similar viral loads in communities 

with a high prevalence of the SARS–CoV–2 Delta 

variant. Pre-print. Available at https://

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/ 

2021.07.31.21261387v1. 

26COVID–19 Integrated County View, Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention, https://

covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view (last 

updated July 28, 2021). 

residential property. This definition also 

does not prohibit foreclosure on a home 

mortgage. 

‘‘Residential property’’ means any 

property leased for residential purposes, 

including any house, building, mobile 

home or land in a mobile home park,14

or similar dwelling leased for residential 

purposes, but shall not include any 

hotel, motel, or other guest house rented 

to a temporary guest or seasonal tenant 

as defined under the laws of the state, 

territorial, tribal, or local jurisdiction. 

‘‘State’’ shall have the same definition 

as under 42 CFR 70.1, meaning ‘‘any of 

the 50 states, plus the District of 

Columbia.’’ 

‘‘U.S. territory’’ shall have the same 

definition as under 42 CFR 70.1, 

meaning ‘‘any territory (also known as 

possessions) of the United States, 

including American Samoa, Guam, the 

Northern Mariana Islands, the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the 

U.S. Virgin Islands.’’ 

Statement of Intent 

This Order shall be interpreted and 

implemented in a manner as to achieve 

the following objectives: 

• Mitigating the spread of COVID–19 

within crowded, congregate or shared 

living settings, or through unsheltered 

homelessness; 

• Mitigating the further spread of 

COVID–19 from one state or territory 

into any other state or territory; 

• Mitigating the further spread of 

COVID–19 by temporarily suspending 

the eviction of covered persons from 

residential property for nonpayment of 

rent; and 

• Supporting response efforts to 

COVID–19 at the federal, state, local, 

territorial, and tribal levels. 

Background 

COVID–19 in the United States 

Since January 2020, the respiratory 

disease known as ‘‘COVID–19,’’ caused 

by a novel coronavirus (SARS–COV–2), 

has spread globally, including cases 

reported in all fifty states within the 

United States, plus the District of 

Columbia and U.S. territories. As of 

August 3, 2021, there have been almost 

200 million cases of COVID–19 globally, 

resulting in over 4,240,000 deaths.15

Almost 35,000,000 cases have been 

identified in the United States, with 

new cases reported daily, and almost 

610,000 deaths have been attributed to 

the disease.16 A renewed surge in cases 

in the United States began in early July 

2021; case counts rose from 19,000 cases 

on July 1, 2021 to 103,000 cases on July 

30, 2021. Forecasted case counts predict 

that cases will continue to rise over the 

next four weeks.17

The virus that causes COVID–19 

spreads very easily and sustainably 

between people, particularly those who 

are in close contact with one another 

(within about 6 feet, but occasionally 

over longer distances), mainly through 

respiratory droplets produced when an 

infected person coughs, sneezes, or 

talks. Individuals without symptoms 

can also spread the virus.18 Among 

adults, the risk for severe illness from 

COVID–19 increases with age, with 

older adults at highest risk. Severe 

illness means that persons with COVID– 

19 may require hospitalization, 

intensive care, or a ventilator to help 

them breathe, and may be fatal. People 

of any age with certain underlying 

medical conditions (e.g., cancer, obesity, 

serious heart conditions, or diabetes) are 

at increased risk for severe illness from 

COVID–19.19

New variants of SARS–CoV–2 have 

emerged globally,20 several of which 

have been identified as variants of 

concern,21 including the Alpha, Beta, 

Gamma, and Delta variants. These 

variants of concern have evidence of an 

increase in transmissibility, which may 

lead to higher incidence.22

Currently, the Delta variant is the 

predominant SARS–CoV–2 strain 

circulating in the United States, 

estimated to account for over 82% of 

cases as of July 17, 2021.23 The Delta 

variant has demonstrated increased 

levels of transmissibility compared to 

other variants.24 Furthermore, early 

evidence suggests that people who are 

vaccinated and become infected with 

the Delta variant may transmit the virus 

to others.25

Transmission of the Delta variant has 

led to accelerated community 

transmission in the United States. CDC 

recommends assessing the level of 

community transmission using, at a 

minimum, two metrics: new COVID–19 

cases per 100,000 persons in the last 7 

days and percentage of positive SARS– 

CoV–2 diagnostic nucleic acid 

amplification tests in the last 7 days. For 

each of these metrics, CDC classifies 

transmission values as low, moderate, 

substantial, or high. As of August 1, 

2021, over 80% of the U.S. counties 

were classified as experiencing 

substantial or high levels of community 

transmission.26 In areas of substantial or 

high transmission, CDC recommends 

community leaders encourage 

vaccination and universal masking in 

indoor public spaces in addition to 

other layered prevention strategies to 

prevent further spread. 

COVID–19 vaccines are now widely 

available in the United States, and 

vaccination is recommended for all 

people 12 years of age and older. Three 

COVID–19 vaccines are currently 

authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug 

Administration (FDA) for emergency 

use: Two mRNA vaccines and one viral 

vector vaccine, each of which has been 

determined to be safe and effective 

against COVID–19. As of July 28, 2021, 

over 163 million people in the United 

States (57.6% of the population 12 years 

or older) have been fully vaccinated and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 149 / Friday, August 6, 2021 / Notices 43247 

27COVID–19 Vaccinations in the United States, 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https:// 

covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations 

(last updated July 28, 2021). 

28Barry V., Dasgupta S., Weller D.L., et al. 

Patterns in COVID–19 Vaccination Coverage, by 

Social Vulnerability and Urbanicity—United States, 

December 14, 2020–May 1, 2021. MMWR Morb 

Mortal Wkly Rep 2021;70:818–824. DOI: http://

dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7022e1. 

29Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

COVID–19 Vaccination Equity. Accessed 8/3/21. 

Available at: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-datatracker/#vaccination-equity. 

30Laurie Goodman, Karan Kaul, and Michael 

Neal. The CARES Act Eviction Moratorium Covers 

All Federally Financed Rentals—That’s One in Four 

US Rental Units. The Urban Institute. April 2, 2020. 

https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/cares-acteviction-moratorium-covers-all-federally-financedrentals-thats-one-four-us-rental-units. 

31 Vincent Reina et al, COVID–19 Emergency 

Rental Assistance: Analysis of a National Survey of 

Programs, Research Brief, https://nlihc.org/sites/ 

default/files/HIP_NLIHC_Furman_Brief_FINAL.pdf 

(last visited Mar. 26, 2021). 

32Census Household Pulse Survey: Key Phase 3 

Housing Payment Findings. Office of Policy 

Development and Research, HUDUser (April 26, 

2021). https://www.huduser.gov/portal/pdredge/ 

pdr-edge-trending-042621.html. 

33Ashley Gromis. Eviction: Intersection of 

Poverty, Inequality, and Housing. Eviction Lab, 

Princeton University (May 2019). https://

www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/wp-content/ 

uploads/sites/22/2019/05/GROMIS_Ashley_

Paper.pdf. 

34The CDC Director renewed the Order until 

March 31, 2021. On March 28, 2021, the CDC 

Director modified and extended the Order until 

June 30, 2021. On June 24, 2021 the CDC Director 

extended the Order until July 31, 2021. 

35Hepburn P., Louis R., Fish J., et al. U.S. 

Eviction Filing Patterns in 2020. Socius. January 

2021. doi:10.1177/23780231211009983. 

36Peter Hepburn and Renee Louis. Preliminary 

Analysis: Six Months of the CDC Eviction 

Moratorium (March 8, 2021). https://

evictionlab.org/six-months-cdc/. 

37Eviction Lab. Accessed 8/2/21. Available at: 

https://evictionlab.org/eviction-tracking/. 

over 189 million people in the United 

States (66.8% of the population 12 years 

or older) have received at least one 

dose.27 Changes in vaccine uptake and 

the extreme transmissibility of the Delta 

variant have resulted in rising numbers 

of COVID–19 cases, primarily and 

disproportionately affecting the 

unvaccinated population. 

The COVID–19 vaccination effort has 

a slower rate of penetration among the 

populations most likely to experience 

eviction.28 29 In combination with the 

continued underlying COVID–19 

spread, and the overlapping factors 

described above, this creates 

considerable risk for rapid transmission 

of COVID–19 in high-risk settings. 

In the context of a pandemic, eviction 

moratoria—like quarantine, isolation, 

and social distancing—can be an 

effective public health measure utilized 

to prevent the spread of communicable 

disease. Eviction moratoria facilitate 

self-isolation and self-quarantine by 

people who become ill or who are at 

risk of transmitting COVID–19. 

Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, 

Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) 

Act (Pub. L. 116–136) to aid individuals 

and businesses adversely affected by 

COVID–19 in March 2020. Section 4024 

of the CARES Act provided a 120-day 

moratorium on eviction filings as well 

as other protections for tenants in 

certain rental properties with federal 

assistance or federally related mortgage 

financing. These protections helped 

alleviate the public health consequences 

of tenant displacement during the 

COVID–19 pandemic. The CARES Act 

eviction moratorium expired on July 24, 

2020. The protections in the CARES Act 

supplemented temporary eviction 

moratoria and rent freezes implemented 

by governors and other local officials 

using emergency powers. 

Researchers estimated that this 

temporary federal moratorium provided 

relief to over one-quarter a material 

portion of the nation’s roughly 43 

million renters.30 The CARES act also 

provided funding streams for emergency 

rental assistance; surveys estimate that 

this assistance became available to the 

public through rental assistance 

programs by July 2020.31

The Federal moratorium provided by 

the CARES Act, however, did not reach 

all renters. Many renters who fell 

outside the scope of the Federal 

moratorium were instead protected 

under state and local moratoria. In early 

March 2021, the Census Household 

Pulse Survey estimated that 6.4 million 

households were behind on rent and 

just under half fear imminent eviction.32

In 2016, research showed that there 

were 3.6 million eviction filings and 1.5 

million eviction judgments over the 

span of a whole year,33 meaning that the 

pandemic would cause a wave of 

evictions on a scale that would be 

unprecedented in modern times. A large 

portion of those who are evicted may 

move into close quarters in shared 

housing or, as discussed below, become 

homeless, thus becoming at higher risk 

of COVID–19. 

On September 4, 2020, the CDC 

Director issued an Order temporarily 

halting evictions in the United States for 

the reasons described therein. That 

Order was set to expire on December 31, 

2020, subject to further extension, 

modification, or rescission. Section 502 

of Title V, Division N of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 

extended the Order until January 31, 

2021, and approved the Order as an 

exercise of the CDC’s authority under 

Section 361 of the Public Health Service 

Act (42 U.S.C. 264). With the extension 

of the Order, Congress also provided 

$25 billion for emergency rental 

assistance for the payment of rent and 

rental arrears. Congress later provided 

an additional $21.55 billion in 

emergency rental assistance when it 

passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 

2021. The Order was extended multiple 

times due to the changing public health 

landscape and expired on July 31, 2021 

after what was intended to be the final 

extension.34 Absent an unexpected 

change in the trajectory of the 

pandemic, CDC did not plan to extend 

the Order further. 

Following the recent surge in cases 

brought forth by the highly 

transmissible Delta variant, the CDC 

Director now issues a new Order 

temporarily halting evictions for 

persons in counties experiencing 

substantial or high rates of transmission, 

for the reasons described herein. This 

Order will expire on October 3, 2021, 

but is subject to further extension, 

modification, or rescission based on 

public health circumstances. 

Researchers estimate that, in 2020, 

Federal, state, and local eviction 

moratoria led to over 1.5 million fewer 

evictions filings than the previous 

year.35 Additional research shows that, 

despite the CDC eviction moratorium 

leading to an estimated 50% decrease in 

eviction filings compared to the 

historical average,36 there have still 

been over 450,000 eviction filings 

during the pandemic just within 

approximately 31 cities and six states 

with more readily available data. This 

data covers approximately 1 in 4 renter 

households in the country, suggesting 

high demand and likelihood of mass 

evictions nationwide.37

Eviction, Crowding, and Interstate 

Transmission of COVID–19 

By February 10, 2021, the U.S. 

Department of the Treasury had paid all 

of the $25 billion made available by the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 

to states, territories, localities and tribes 

for the purpose of providing emergency 

rental assistance to eligible households 

in their jurisdictions. Additionally, as 

directed in the Act, Treasury has also 

made available 40 percent—more than 

$8.6 billion—of the additional funding 

to states, territories and localities for 

emergency rental assistance provided in 

the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. 

While some emergency rental assistance 

programs were slow to open, every State 

program had opened by early June. 

Based on data collected from grantees, 

Treasury reports that over 85,000 renter 

households received rental and utility 


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43248 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 149 / Friday, August 6, 2021 / Notices 

38Household Pulse Survey Interactive Tool. U.S. 

Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/data-tools/ 

demo/hhp/#/ (last visited June 23, 2021). 

39Qin-Long Jing, et al. Household secondary 

attack rate of COVID–19 and associated 

determinants in Guangzhou, China: a retrospective 

cohort study. The Lancet. 2020 June 17; vol. 20.10; 

doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30471- 

0. 

40Ukachi N. Emeruwa, et al. Associations 

Between Built Environment, Neighborhood 

Socioeconomic Status, and SARS–CoV–2 Infection 

Among Pregnant Women in New York City. JAMA. 

2020;324(4):390–392. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.11370. 

41Nande A, Sheen J, Walters EL, Klein B, 

Chinazzi M, Gheorghe AH, Adlam B, Shinnick J, 

Tejeda MF, Scarpino SV, Vespignani A, Greenlee 

AJ, Schneider D, Levy MZ, Hill AL. The effect of 

eviction moratoria on the transmission of SARS– 

CoV–2. Nat Commun. 2021 Apr 15;12(1):2274. doi: 

10.1038/s41467–021–22521–5. PMID: 33859196; 

PMCID: PMC8050248. 

42Leifheit KM, Linton SL, Raifman J, Schwartz 

GL, Benfer EA, Zimmerman FJ, Pollack CE. Expiring 

Eviction Moratoriums and COVID–19 Incidence and 

Mortality. Am J Epidemiol. 2021 Jul 26:kwab196. 

doi: 10.1093/aje/kwab196. Epub ahead of print. 

PMID: 34309643. 

43Leifheit, Kathryn M. and Linton, Sabriya L. and 

Raifman, Julia and Schwartz, Gabriel and Benfer, 

Emily and Zimmerman, Frederick J and Pollack, 

Craig, Expiring Eviction Moratoriums and COVID– 

19 Incidence and Mortality (November 30, 2020). 

Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/ 

abstract=3739576 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ 

ssrn.3739576. 

assistance to support their housing 

stability by the end of March and this 

number increased to more than 100,000 

in April, more than 156,000 in May and 

over 290,000 in June. Though 

emergency rental assistance has clearly 

started to reach increasing numbers of 

families over recent months, state and 

local agencies have hundreds of 

thousands of applications for assistance 

that currently remain outstanding as 

programs accelerate their activity. The 

level of assistance continued to increase 

in June, with nearly 300,000 households 

served. Based on analysis of grantee 

reporting, Treasury believes that the 

monthly deployment of rental assistance 

by state and local emergency rental 

assistance programs will continue to 

increase from the significant 

deployment in June. In addition to 

Emergency Rental Assistance, there are 

coordinated efforts across Federal 

agencies to—in partnership with states 

and localities—promote eviction 

prevention strategies. 

Recent data from the U.S. Census 

Household Pulse Survey demonstrates 

that just under half of households 

behind on rent believe that an eviction 

is likely in the next two months.38 A 

surge in evictions could lead to the 

immediate and significant movement of 

large numbers of persons from lower 

density to higher density housing at a 

time in the United States when the 

highly transmissible Delta variant is 

driving COVID–19 cases at an 

unprecedented rate. 

Evicted renters must move, which 

leads to multiple outcomes that increase 

the risk of COVID–19 spread. 

Specifically, many evicted renters move 

into close quarters in shared housing or 

other congregate settings. These moves 

may require crossing state borders. 

According to the 2017 Census Bureau 

American Housing Survey, 32% of 

renters reported that they would move 

in with friends or family members upon 

eviction, which would introduce new 

household members and potentially 

increase household crowding. Studies 

show that COVID–19 transmission 

occurs readily within households. The 

secondary attack rate in households has 

been estimated to be 17%, and 

household contacts are estimated to be 

6 times more likely to become infected 

by an index case of COVID–19 than 

other close contacts.39 A study of 

pregnant women in New York City 

showed that women in large households 

(greater number of residents per 

household) were three times as likely to 

test positive for SARS–CoV–2 than 

those in smaller households, and those 

in neighborhoods with greater 

household crowding (>1 resident per 

room) were twice as likely to test 

positive.40 Throughout the United 

States, counties with the highest 

proportion of crowded households have 

experienced COVID–19 mortality rates 

2.6 times those of counties with the 

lowest proportion of crowded 

households. 

Shared housing is not limited to 

friends and family. It includes a broad 

range of settings, including transitional 

housing and domestic violence and 

abuse shelters. Special considerations 

exist for such housing because of the 

challenges of maintaining social 

distance. Residents often gather closely 

or use shared equipment, such as 

kitchen appliances, laundry facilities, 

stairwells, and elevators. Residents may 

have unique needs, such as disabilities, 

chronic health conditions, cognitive 

decline, or limited access to technology, 

and thus may find it more difficult to 

take actions to protect themselves from 

COVID–19. CDC recommends that 

shelters provide new residents with a 

clean mask, keep them isolated from 

others, screen for symptoms at entry, or 

arrange for medical evaluations as 

needed depending on symptoms. 

Accordingly, an influx of new residents 

at facilities that offer support services 

could potentially overwhelm staff and, 

if recommendations are not followed, 

lead to exposures. 

Modeling studies and observational 

data from the pre-vaccine phase of the 

COVID–19 pandemic comparing 

incidence between states that 

implemented and lifted eviction 

moratoria indicate that evictions 

substantially contribute to COVID–19 

transmission. In mathematical models 

where eviction led exclusively to 

sharing housing with friends or family, 

lifting eviction moratoria led to a 30% 

increased risk of contracting COVID–19 

among people who were evicted and 

those with whom they shared housing 

after eviction.41 Compared to a scenario 

where no evictions occurred, the models 

also predicted a 4%–40% increased risk 

of infection, even for those who did not 

share housing, as a result of increased 

overall transmission. The authors 

estimated that anywhere from 1,000 to 

100,000 excess cases per million 

population could be attributable to 

evictions depending on the eviction and 

infection rates. 

An analysis of observational data from 

state-based eviction moratoria in 43 

states and the District of Columbia 

showed significant increases in COVID– 

19 incidence and mortality 

approximately 2–3 months after eviction 

moratoria were lifted.42 Specifically, the 

authors compared the COVID–19 

incidence and mortality rates in states 

that lifted their moratoria with the rates 

in states that maintained their 

moratoria. In these models, the authors 

accounted for time-varying indicators of 

each state’s test count as well as major 

public-health interventions including 

lifting stay-at-home orders, school 

closures, and mask mandates. After 

adjusting for these other changes, they 

found that the incidence of COVID–19 

in states that lifted their moratoria was 

1.6 times that of states that did not at 

10 weeks post-lifting (95% CI 1.0, 2.3), 

a ratio that grew to 2.1 at ≥16 weeks (CI 

1.1, 3.9). Similarly, they found that 

mortality in states that lifted their 

moratoria was 1.6 times that of states 

that did not at 7 weeks post-lifting (CI 

1.2, 2.3), a ratio that grew to 5.4 at ≥16 

weeks (CI 3.1, 9.3). The authors 

estimated that, nationally, over 433,000 

cases of COVID–19 and over 10,000 

deaths could be attributed to lifting state 

moratoria.43

Although data are limited, available 

evidence suggests evictions lead to 

interstate spread of COVID–19 in two 

ways. First, an eviction may lead the 

evicted members of a household to 

move across state lines. Of the 35 

million people in America who move 

each year, 15% move to a new state. 

Second, even if a particular eviction, 

standing alone, would not always result 

in interstate displacement, the mass 


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44Count Us In 2020. KCRHA (July 2020). https:// 

kcrha.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Count-Us_

In-2020-Final_7.29.2020.pdf. 

45Chester Hartman and David Robinson. 

‘‘Evictions: The Hidden Housing Problem’’ in 

Housing Policy Debate. 2003. 

46Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Interim Guidance for Homeless Service Providers to 

Plan and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 

(COVID–19). Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/ 

coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/homelessshelters/plan-prepare-respond.html. 

47Of course, eviction moratoria are only effective 

to the degree that consumers know about them and 

to the degree they are complied with by landlords, 

owners of residential property, others who have a 

right to evict, or their agents. 

48Barry V, Dasgupta S, Weller DL, Kriss JL, 

Cadwell BL, Rose C, Pingali C, Musial T, Sharpe JD, 

Flores SA, Greenlund KJ, Patel A, Stewart A, 

Qualters JR, Harris L, Barbour KE, Black CL. 

Patterns in COVID–19 Vaccination Coverage, by 

Social Vulnerability and Urbanicity—United States, 

December 14, 2020–May 1, 2021. MMWR Morb 

Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021 Jun 4;70(22):818–824. doi: 

10.15585/mmwr.mm7022e1. PMID: 34081685; 

PMCID: PMC8174677. 

49Treasury Emergency Rental Assistance 

Programs in 2021: Analysis of a National Survey. 

National Low Income Housing Coalition. June 2021. 

https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/HIP_NLIHC_

Furman_2021_6-22_FINAL_v2.pdf. 

evictions that would occur in the 

absence of this Order would inevitably 

increase the interstate spread of COVID– 

19. This Order cannot effectively 

mitigate interstate transmission of 

COVID–19 without covering intrastate 

evictions (evictions occurring within the 

boundaries of a state or territory), as the 

level of spread of SARS–CoV–2 

resulting from these evictions can lead 

to SARS–CoV–2 transmission across 

state borders. 

Moreover, intrastate spread facilitates 

interstate spread in the context of 

communicable disease spread, given the 

nature of infectious disease. In the 

aggregate, the mass-scale evictions that 

will likely occur in the absence of this 

Order in areas of substantial or high 

transmission will inevitably increase 

interstate spread of COVID–19. 

Eviction, Homelessness, and COVID–19 

Transmission 

Evicted individuals without access to 

support or other assistance options may 

become homeless, including older 

adults or those with underlying medical 

conditions, who are more at risk for 

severe illness from COVID–19 than the 

general population. In Seattle-King 

County, 5–15% of people experiencing 

homelessness between 2018 and 2020 

cited eviction as the primary reason for 

becoming homeless.44 Additionally, 

some individuals and families who are 

evicted may originally stay with family 

or friends, but subsequently seek 

homeless services. Data collection by an 

emergency shelter in Columbus, Ohio, 

showed that 35.4% of families and 

11.4% of single adults reported an 

eviction as the primary or secondary 

reason for their seeking shelter.45

Extensive outbreaks of COVID–19 

have been identified in homeless 

shelters. In Seattle, Washington, a 

network of three related homeless 

shelters experienced an outbreak that 

led to 43 cases among residents and staff 

members. In Boston, Massachusetts, 

universal COVID–19 testing at a single 

shelter revealed 147 cases, representing 

36% of shelter residents. COVID–19 

testing in a single shelter in San 

Francisco led to the identification of 101 

cases (67% of those tested). Data from 

634 universal diagnostic testing events 

at homeless shelters in 21 states show 

an average of 6% positivity among 

shelter clients. Data comparing the 

incidence or severity of COVID–19 

among people experiencing 

homelessness directly to the general 

population are limited. However, during 

the 15-day period of the outbreak in 

Boston, MA, researchers estimated a 

cumulative incidence of 46.3 cases of 

COVID–19 per 1000 persons 

experiencing homelessness, as 

compared to 1.9 cases per 1000 among 

Massachusetts adults (pre-print). 

Among other things, CDC guidance 

recommends increasing physical 

distance between beds in homeless 

shelters, which is likely to decrease 

capacity, while community 

transmission of COVID–19 is occurring. 

To adhere to this guidance, shelters 

have limited the number of people 

served throughout the United States. In 

many places, considerably fewer beds 

are available to individuals who become 

homeless. Shelters that do not adhere to 

the guidance, and operate at ordinary or 

increased occupancy, are at greater risk 

for the types of outbreaks described 

above. 

Application of COVID–19 Prevention 

Strategies Based on Community 

Transmission 

CDC recommends strengthening or 

adding effective COVID–19 mitigation 

strategies in communities with 

considerable transmission risk. As 

discussed above, CDC guidance 

specifies that everyone, regardless of 

vaccination status, should wear masks 

in indoor and public settings in 

communities experiencing substantial 

or high rates of community 

transmission. Similarly, CDC guidance 

for homeless shelters recommends 

maintaining layered COVID–19 

precautions as long as community 

transmission is occurring and provides 

options for scaling back precautions 

when community transmission is low.46

Eviction moratoria represent a 

COVID–19 transmission prevention 

measure that can similarly be applied 

when the epidemiological context is 

appropriate, for example in 

communities with substantial or high 

transmission of COVID–19.47 Prevention 

strategies like these should only be 

relaxed or lifted after two weeks of 

continuous sustained improvement in 

the level of community transmission. In 

areas with low or no SARS–CoV–2 

transmission and with testing capacity 

in place to detect early introduction or 

increases in spread of the virus, layered 

prevention strategies might be removed 

one at a time while monitoring closely 

for any evidence that COVID–19 cases 

are increasing. Decisions to add or 

remove prevention strategies should be 

based on local data and public health 

recommendations. The emergence of 

more transmissible SARS–CoV–2 

variants, including Delta, increases the 

urgency for public health agencies and 

other organizations to collaboratively 

monitor the status of the pandemic in 

their communities and continue to 

apply layered prevention strategies. 

Persons at Higher Risk of Eviction May 

Also Be at Higher Risk of Being 

Unvaccinated 

Communities with high rates of 

eviction have been shown to have lower 

coverage of COVID–19 vaccination—a 

focus for current vaccination campaigns. 

A study in the spring of 2021 showed 

that counties with high social 

vulnerability (i.e., social and structural 

factors associated with adverse health 

outcome inclusive of socioeconomic 

indicators related to risk of eviction) 

had lower levels of COVID–19 

vaccination.48

CDC Eviction Moratorium 

The Department of the Treasury has 

made funding available to states, 

territories, localities, and Tribal 

governments, which continue to 

distribute emergency rental assistance 

funds that may help mitigate spikes in 

COVID–19 transmission due to 

increases in evictions. Alongside other 

federal and state efforts to prevent 

evictions, these funds are expected to 

make a meaningful difference for 

hundreds of thousands of people who 

are expected to receive the rental 

assistance.49

On September 4, 2020, the CDC 

Director issued an Order temporarily 

halting evictions in the United States for 

the reasons described therein. That 

Order was set to expire on December 31, 

2020, subject to further extension, 

modification, or rescission. Section 502 

of Title V, Division N of the 


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50As used in this Order, the term ‘‘county’’ refers 

to both counties in the United States and U.S. 

territories. 

51Supra note 7. 

52Supra. note 8. 

53 Individuals who might have COVID–19 are 

advised to stay home except to get medical care. 

Accordingly, individuals who might have COVID– 

19 and take reasonable precautions to not spread 

the disease should not be evicted on the ground that 

they may pose a health or safety threat to other 

residents. See What to Do if You are Sick, Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention, https://

www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-aresick/steps-when-sick.html (last updated Mar. 17, 

2021). 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 

extended the Order until January 31, 

2021. With the extension of the Order, 

Congress also provided $25 billion for 

emergency rental assistance for the 

payment of rent and rental arrears. 

Congress later provided an additional 

$21.55 billion in emergency rental 

assistance when it passed the American 

Rescue Plan. 

On January 29, 2021, following an 

assessment of the ongoing pandemic, 

the CDC Director renewed the Order 

until March 31, 2021. On March 28, the 

CDC Director renewed the Order until 

June 30, 2021. On June 24, the CDC 

Director renewed the Order until July 

31, 2021 (July Order). The CDC Director 

indicated that the July Order would be 

the final extension of the nationwide 

eviction moratorium absent an 

unexpected change in the trajectory of 

the pandemic. Unfortunately, the rise of 

the Delta variant and corresponding rise 

in cases in numerous counties in the 

United States have altered the trajectory 

of the pandemic. As a result, CDC is 

issuing this narrower, more targeted 

Order to temporarily halt evictions in 

the hardest hit areas. Without this 

Order, evictions in these areas would 

likely exacerbate the increase in cases. 

To the extent any provision of this 

Order conflicts with prior Orders, this 

Order is controlling. 

Applicability 

This Order applies in U.S. counties 50

experiencing substantial 51 and high 52

levels of community transmission levels 

of SARS–CoV–2 as defined by CDC, as 

of August 3, 2021. If a U.S. county that 

is not covered by this Order as of 

August 3, 2021 later experiences 

substantial or high levels of community 

transmission while this Order is in 

effect, then that county will become 

subject to this Order as of the date the 

county begins experiencing substantial 

or high levels of community 

transmission. If a U.S. county that is 

covered by this Order no longer 

experiences substantial or high levels of 

community transmission for 14 

consecutive days, then this Order will 

no longer apply in that county, unless 

and until the county again experiences 

substantial or high levels of community 

transmission while this Order is in 

effect. 

This Order does not apply in any 

state, local, territorial, or tribal area with 

a moratorium on residential evictions 

that provides the same or greater level 

of public-health protection than the 

requirements listed in this Order or to 

the extent its application is prohibited 

by Federal court order. In accordance 

with 42 U.S.C. 264(e), this Order does 

not preclude state, local, territorial, and 

tribal authorities from imposing 

additional requirements that provide 

greater public-health protection and are 

more restrictive than the requirements 

in this Order. 

This Order is a temporary eviction 

moratorium to prevent the further 

spread of COVID–19. This Order does 

not relieve any individual of any 

obligation to pay rent, make a housing 

payment, or comply with any other 

obligation that the individual may have 

under a tenancy, lease, or similar 

contract. Nothing in this Order 

precludes the charging or collecting of 

fees, penalties, or interest as a result of 

the failure to pay rent or other housing 

payment on a timely basis, under the 

terms of any applicable contract. 

Nothing in this Order precludes 

evictions based on a tenant, lessee, or 

resident: (1) Engaging in criminal 

activity while on the premises; (2) 

threatening the health or safety of other 

residents; 53 (3) damaging or posing an 

immediate and significant risk of 

damage to property; (4) violating any 

applicable building code, health 

ordinance, or similar regulation relating 

to health and safety; or (5) violating any 

other contractual obligation, other than 

the timely payment of rent or similar 

housing-related payment (including 

non-payment or late payment of fees, 

penalties, or interest). 

Any evictions for nonpayment of rent 

initiated prior to issuance of this Order 

but not yet completed, are subject to this 

Order. Any tenant, lessee, or resident of 

a residential property who previously 

submitted a Declaration, still qualifies 

as a ‘‘Covered Person’’ and is still 

present in a rental unit is entitled to 

protections under this Order. Any 

eviction that was completed before 

issuance of this Order including from 

August 1 through August 3, 2021 is not 

subject to this Order, as it does not 

operate retroactively. 

Under this Order, covered persons 

may be evicted for engaging in criminal 

activity while on the premises. But 

covered persons may not be evicted on 

the sole basis that they are alleged to 

have committed the crime of trespass (or 

similar state-law offense) where the 

underlying activity is a covered person 

remaining in a residential property for 

nonpayment of rent. Permitting such 

evictions would result in substantially 

more evictions overall, thus increasing 

the risk of disease transmission as 

otherwise covered persons move into 

congregate settings or experience 

homelessness. This result would be 

contrary to the stated objectives of this 

Order, and therefore would diminish 

their effectiveness. Moreover, to the 

extent such criminal trespass laws are 

invoked to establish criminal activity 

solely based on a tenant, lessee, or 

resident of a residential property 

remaining in a residential property 

despite the nonpayment of rent, such 

invocation conflicts with this Order and 

is preempted pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 

264(e). 

Individuals who are confirmed to 

have, who have been exposed to, or who 

might have COVID–19 and take 

reasonable precautions to not spread the 

disease may not be evicted on grounds 

that they may pose a health or safety 

threat to other residents. 

This Order is in effect through 

October 3, 2021, based on the current 

and projected epidemiological context 

of SARS–CoV–2 transmission 

throughout the United States. This 

timeframe will allow the assessment of 

natural changes to COVID–19 incidence, 

the influences of new variants, 

additional distribution of emergency 

rental assistance funds, and the 

expansion of COVID–19 vaccine uptake. 

Declaration Forms 

To qualify for the protections of this 

Order, a tenant, lessee, or resident of a 

residential property must provide a 

completed and signed copy of a 

declaration with the elements listed in 

the definition of ‘‘Covered person’’ to 

their landlord, owner of the residential 

property where they live, or other 

person who has a right to have them 

evicted or removed from where they 

live. To assist tenants and landlords, the 

CDC created a standardized declaration 

form that can be downloaded here: 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- 

ncov/downloads/declaration-form.pdf. 

Tenants, lessees, and residents of 

residential property are not obligated to 

use the CDC form. Any written 

document that an eligible tenant, lessee, 

or resident of residential property 

presents to their landlord will comply 

with this Order, as long as it contains 

the required elements of ‘‘Covered 

person’’ as described in this Order. In 


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54COVID Data Tracker, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, https://covid.cdc.gov/ 

covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailytrendscases (last 

updated June 22, 2021). 

55Chambless Enters., LLC v. Redfield, No. 20– 

1455, 2020 WL 7588849 (W.D. La. 2020). 

addition, tenants, lessees, and residents 

of residential property are allowed to 

declare in writing that they meet the 

elements of ‘‘Covered person’’ in other 

languages. 

All declarations, regardless of form 

used, must be signed, and must include 

a statement that the tenant, lessee, or 

resident of a residential property 

understands that they could be liable for 

perjury for any false or misleading 

statements or omissions in the 

declaration. This Order does not 

preclude a landlord challenging the 

truthfulness of a tenant’s, lessee’s, or 

resident’s declaration in court, as 

permitted under state or local law. 

In certain circumstances, such as 

individuals filing a joint tax return, it 

may be appropriate for one member of 

the residence to provide an executed 

declaration on behalf of the other adult 

residents party to the lease, rental 

agreement, or housing contract. The 

declaration may be signed and 

transmitted either electronically or by 

hard copy. 

As long as the information in a 

previously signed declaration submitted 

under a previous order remains truthful 

and accurate, covered persons do not 

need to submit a new declaration under 

this Order. However, eligibility for 

protection will be based on the terms of 

this Order. 

Findings and Action 

Determination 

For the reasons described herein, I 

have determined based on the 

information below that issuing a 

temporary halt in evictions in counties 

experiencing substantial or high levels 

of COVID–19 transmission constitutes a 

reasonably necessary measure under 42 

CFR 70.2 to prevent the further spread 

of COVID–19 throughout the United 

States. I have further determined that 

measures by states, localities, or 

territories that do not meet or exceed 

these minimum protections are 

insufficient to prevent the interstate 

spread of COVID–19. 

State and local jurisdictions continue 

to distribute emergency rental assistance 

funds, provided by the Department of 

Treasury, that will help avert a spate of 

evictions and thus mitigate 

corresponding spikes in COVID–19 

transmission. Trends have dramatically 

worsened since June 2021 and 

transmission is rapidly accelerating in 

the United States.54

Congress has appropriated 

approximately $46 billion—of which 

almost three-quarters is currently 

available to state and local grantees—to 

help pay rent and rental arrears for 

tenants who may otherwise be at high 

risk of eviction. According to estimates 

based on the U.S. Census Household 

Pulse Survey, approximately 6.9 million 

renter households were behind on their 

rent in late June. At that time, about 4.6 

million renter households were 

concerned that they could not pay next 

month’s rent. The successful delivery of 

those funds by states and localities 

should greatly reduce the incidence of 

eviction that would occur in the absence 

of that support. However, many states 

and localities are still ramping up the 

collection and processing of 

applications and the delivery of 

assistance and putting in place other 

eviction prevention strategies. It was 

only in the beginning of June that all 

state-run emergency rental assistance 

programs had opened for applications. If 

the moratorium is not in place, a wave 

of evictions, on the order of hundreds of 

thousands, could occur in late summer 

and early fall, exacerbating the spread of 

COVID–19 among the significant 

percentage of the population that 

remains unvaccinated. In appropriating 

these emergency rental assistance funds, 

Congress intended that the funding 

would work in concert with the eviction 

moratorium, providing time for rental 

assistance to reach eligible tenants and 

landlords to sustainably reduce the 

threat of an eviction wave after an 

eviction moratorium was no longer in 

effect. While the pace of assistance is 

continuing to increase, without 

additional time for states and localities 

to deliver this needed relief and engage 

in other efforts to prevent evictions, a 

surge of evictions would occur upon the 

conclusion of the national moratorium. 

A surge in evictions would lead to 

immediate movement, crowding, and 

increased stress on the homeless service 

system. In combination with surging 

COVID–19 rates across the country, and 

the overlapping factors described above, 

this would create considerable risk for 

the rapid transmission of COVID–19 in 

high-risk settings. 

Based on the convergence of these 

issues, I have determined that issuing a 

new Order temporarily halting evictions 

is appropriate. 

Accordingly, a landlord, owner of a 

residential property, or other person 

with a legal right to pursue eviction or 

possessory action shall not evict any 

covered person from any residential 

property in any county or U.S. territory 

while COVID–19 transmission is 

substantial or high and the relevant 

state, county, locality, or territory has 

provided a level of public-health 

protections below the requirements 

listed in this Order. 

This Order is not a rule within the 

meaning of the Administrative 

Procedure Act (APA) but rather an 

emergency action taken under the 

existing authority of 42 CFR 70.2. The 

purpose of section 70.2, which was 

promulgated through notice-andcomment rulemaking, is to enable CDC 

to take swift steps to prevent contagion 

without having to seek a second round 

of public comments and without a delay 

in effective date.55

Good Cause 

In the event this Order qualifies as a 

rule under the APA, there is good cause 

to dispense with prior public notice and 

comment and a delay in effective date. 

See 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), (d)(3). Good 

cause exists, in sum, because the public 

health emergency caused by the 

COVID–19 pandemic and the 

unpredictability of the trajectory of the 

pandemic make it impracticable and 

contrary to the public health, and by 

extension the public interest, to delay 

the issuance and effective date of this 

Order. 

I have determined that good cause 

exists because the public health 

emergency caused by COVID–19 makes 

it impracticable and contrary to the 

public health, and by extension the 

public interest, to delay the issuance 

and effective date of the Order. A delay 

in the effective date of the Order would 

permit the occurrence of evictions— 

potentially on a mass scale—that would 

have potentially significant public 

health consequences. I conclude that the 

delay in the effective date of the Order 

would defeat the purpose of the Order 

and endanger the public health and, 

therefore, determine that immediate 

action is necessary. 

The rapidly changing nature of the 

pandemic requires not only that CDC act 

swiftly, but also deftly to ensure that its 

actions are commensurate with the 

threat. This necessarily involves 

assessing evolving conditions that 

inform CDC’s determinations. Despite 

promising trends in the spring of 2021, 

the surge of cases spurred by the Delta 

variant has confirmed that the 

fundamental public health threat—of 

the risk of large numbers of residential 

evictions contributing to the spread of 

COVID–19 throughout the United 

States—continues to exist. Without this 

Order, there is every reason to expect 

that evictions will increase dramatically 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
43252 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 149 / Friday, August 6, 2021 / Notices 

56 Vincent Reina et al, COVID–19 Emergency 

Rental Assistance: Analysis of a National Survey of 

Programs, Research Brief, https://nlihc.org/sites/ 

default/files/HIP_NLIHC_Furman_Brief_FINAL.pdf 

(last visited Mar. 26, 2021). 

at a time when COVID–19 infections in 

the United States are increasing sharply. 

It is imperative that public health 

authorities act quickly to mitigate such 

an increase of evictions, which could 

increase the likelihood of new spikes in 

SARS–CoV–2 transmission. Such mass 

evictions and the attendant public 

health consequences would be very 

difficult to reverse. 

For all of these reasons, I hereby 

conclude that immediate action is again 

necessary and that notice-and-comment 

rulemaking and a delay in effective date 

would be impracticable and contrary to 

the public interest. 

Miscellaneous 

Similarly, if this Order qualifies as a 

rule under the APA, the Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs 

(OIRA) has determined that it would be 

an economically significant regulatory 

action pursuant to Executive Order 

12866 and a major rule under Subtitle 

E of the Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (the 

Congressional Review Act or CRA), 5 

U.S.C. 804(2). Thus, this action has been 

reviewed by OIRA. CDC has determined 

that for the same reasons given above, 

there would be good cause under the 

CRA to make the requirements herein 

effective immediately. 5 U.S.C. 808(2). 

If any provision of this Order, or the 

application of any provision to any 

persons, entities, or circumstances, shall 

be held invalid, the remainder of the 

provisions, or the application of such 

provisions to any persons, entities, or 

circumstances other than those to which 

it is held invalid, shall remain valid and 

in effect. 

This Order shall be enforced by 

federal authorities and cooperating state 

and local authorities through the 

provisions of 18 U.S.C. 3559, 3571; 42 

U.S.C. 243, 268, 271; and 42 CFR 70.18. 

However, this Order has no effect on the 

contractual obligations of renters to pay 

rent and shall not preclude charging or 

collecting fees, penalties, or interest as 

a result of the failure to pay rent or other 

housing payment on a timely basis, 

under the terms of any applicable 

contract. 

Criminal Penalties 

Under 18 U.S.C. 3559, 3571; 42 U.S.C. 

271; and 42 CFR 70.18, a person 

violating this Order may be subject to a 

fine of no more than $100,000 or one 

year in jail, or both, if the violation does 

not result in a death, or a fine of no 

more than $250,000 or one year in jail, 

or both if the violation results in a 

death, or as otherwise provided by law. 

An organization violating this Order 

may be subject to a fine of no more than 

$200,000 per event if the violation does 

not result in a death or $500,000 per 

event if the violation results in a death 

or as otherwise provided by law. The 

U.S. Department of Justice may initiate 

criminal proceedings as appropriate 

seeking imposition of these criminal 

penalties. 

Notice to Cooperating State and Local 

Officials 

Under 42 U.S.C. 243, the U.S. 

Department of Health and Human 

Services is authorized to cooperate with 

and aid state and local authorities in the 

enforcement of their quarantine and 

other health regulations and to accept 

state and local assistance in the 

enforcement of Federal quarantine rules 

and regulations, including in the 

enforcement of this Order. 

Notice of Available Federal Resources 

While this Order to prevent eviction 

is effectuated to protect the public 

health, the states and units of local 

government are reminded that the 

Federal Government has deployed 

unprecedented resources to address the 

pandemic, including housing assistance. 

The Department of Housing and 

Urban Development (HUD), the 

Department of Agriculture, and the 

Department of the Treasury have 

informed CDC that unprecedented 

emergency resources have been 

appropriated through various Federal 

agencies that assist renters and 

landlords during the pandemic, 

including $46.55 billion to the Treasury 

through the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act of 2021 and the 

American Rescue Plan (ARP). 

Furthermore, in 2020 44 states and 310 

local jurisdictions allocated about $3.9 

billion toward emergency rental 

assistance, largely from funds 

appropriated to HUD from the 

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 

Security (CARES).56 These three rounds 

of federal appropriations also provided 

substantial resources for homeless 

services, homeowner assistance, and 

supplemental stimulus and 

unemployment benefits that low-income 

renters used to pay rent. 

Visit https://covid.cdc.gov/coviddata-tracker/#county-view for an 

integrated, county view of levels of 

community transmission for monitoring 

the COVID–19 pandemic in the United 

States. Visit https://home.treasury.gov/ 

policy-issues/cares/state-and-localgovernments for more information about 

the Coronavirus Relief Fund and https:// 

home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/cares/ 

emergency-rental-assistance-program 

for more information about the 

Emergency Rental Assistance Program. 

Visit www.consumerfinance.gov/ 

renthelp to access the Rental Assistance 

Finder that connects renters and 

landlords with the state and local 

programs that are distributing billions of 

dollars in federal assistance. Relevant 

agencies have informed CDC that 

forbearance policies for mortgages 

backed by the federal government 

provide many landlords, especially 

smaller landlords, with temporary relief 

as new emergency rental assistance 

programs are deployed. 

Treasury, HUD, and USDA grantees 

and program participants play a critical 

role in prioritizing efforts to support this 

goal. All communities should assess 

what resources have already been 

allocated to prevent evictions and 

homelessness through temporary rental 

assistance and homelessness 

prevention, particularly to the most 

vulnerable households. 

Treasury, HUD, and USDA stand at 

the ready to support American 

communities in taking these steps to 

reduce the spread of COVID–19 and 

maintain economic prosperity. 

For program support, including 

technical assistance, please visit 

www.hudexchange.info/programsupport. For further information on 

HUD resources, tools, and guidance 

available to respond to the COVID–19 

pandemic, state and local officials are 

directed to visit https://www.hud.gov/ 

coronavirus. These tools include 

toolkits for Public Housing Authorities 

and Housing Choice Voucher landlords 

related to housing stability and eviction 

prevention, as well as similar guidance 

for owners and renters in HUD-assisted 

multifamily properties. Furthermore, 

tenants can visit consumerfinance.gov/ 

housing for up-to-date information on 

rent relief options, protections, and key 

deadlines. 

Effective Date 

This Order is effective on August 3, 

2021 and will remain in effect through 

October 3, 2021, subject to revision 

based on the changing public health 

landscape. 

Authority: The authority for this 

Order is Section 361 of the Public 

Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 264) and 

42 CFR 70.2. 

Sherri Berger, 

Chief of Staff, Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2021–16945 Filed 8–4–21; 2:00 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 


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