Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 169 / Friday, September 1, 2017 / Notices 41637 

Dated: August 23, 2017. 

Todd M. Richardson, 

Acting General Deputy Assistant Secretary 

for Policy Development and Research. 

[FR Doc. 2017–18578 Filed 8–31–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–6021–N–02] 

Fair Market Rents for the Housing 

Choice Voucher Program, Moderate 

Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy 

Program, and Other Programs Fiscal 

Year 2018 and Adoption of 

Methodology Changes for Estimating 

Fair Market Rents 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Policy Development and 

Research, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice of Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 

Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and adoption 

of methodology changes for estimating 

FMRs. 

SUMMARY: Section 8(c)(1) of the United 

States Housing Act of 1937 (USHA), as 

amended by the Housing Opportunities 

Through Modernization Act of 2016 

(HOTMA), requires the Secretary to 

publish FMRs not less than annually, 

adjusted to be effective on October 1 of 

each year. Section 8(c)(1)(B) of USHA, 

as amended by HOTMA, requires that 

HUD publish for comment a notice of 

proposed material changes in the 

methodology for estimating FMRs and a 

notice containing HUD’s final decisions 

regarding such proposed substantial 

methodological changes. On May 26, 

2017, HUD published a notice 

proposing changes to the methodology 

used for estimating FMRs and requested 

public comment. 

This notice adopts HUD’s May 26, 

2017 proposed material changes to the 

methodology for estimating FMRs and 

notifies interested parties that FY 2018 

FMRs are available at www.huduser.gov. 

This notice also describes the methods 

used to calculate the FY 2018 FMRs and 

enumerates the procedures for Public 

Housing Agencies (PHAs) and other 

interested parties to request 

reevaluations of their FMRs as required 

by HOTMA. Lastly, this notice responds 

to public comments HUD received on its 

May 26, 2017 notice. 

DATES: 

Comment Due Date: October 2, 2017. 

Applicability Date: October 2, 2017 

unless HUD receives a request for 

reevaluation of specific area FMRs as 

described below. 

ADDRESSES: HUD invites interested 

persons to submit comments regarding 

the FMRs and to request reevaluation of 

the FY 2018 FMRs to the Regulations 

Division, Office of General Counsel, 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., 

Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410– 

0001. Communications must refer to the 

above docket number and title and 

should contain the information 

specified in the ‘‘Request for Comments/ 

Request for Reevaluation’’ section. 

There are two methods for submitting 

public comments. 

1. Submission of Comments by Mail. 

Comments or requests for reevaluation 

may be submitted by mail to the 

Regulations Division, Office of General 

Counsel, Department of Housing and 

Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., 

Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410– 

0500. Due to security measures at all 

federal agencies, however, submission 

of comments by mail often results in 

delayed delivery. To ensure timely 

receipt of comments or reevaluation 

requests, HUD recommends that 

comments or requests submitted by mail 

be submitted at least two weeks in 

advance of the deadline. HUD will make 

all comments or reevaluation requests 

received by mail available to the public 

at http://www.regulations.gov. 

2. Electronic Submission of 

Comments. Interested persons may 

submit comments or reevaluation 

requests electronically through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly 

encourages commenters to submit 

comments or reevaluation requests 

electronically. Electronic submission of 

comments or reevaluation requests 

allows the author maximum time to 

prepare and submit a comment or 

reevaluation request, ensures timely 

receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to 

make them immediately available to the 

public. Comments or reevaluation 

requests submitted electronically 

through the http://www.regulations.gov 

Web site can be viewed by other 

submitters and interested members of 

the public. Commenters or reevaluation 

requestors should follow instructions 

provided on that site to submit 

comments or reevaluation requests 

electronically. 

Note: To receive consideration as public 

comments or reevaluation requests, 

comments or requests must be submitted 

through one of the two methods specified 

above. Again, all submissions must refer to 

the docket number and title of the notice. 

No Facsimile Comments or 

Reevaluation Requests. Facsimile (FAX) 

comments or requests for FMR 

reevaluation are not acceptable. 

Public Inspection of Public Comments 

and Reevaluation Requests. All properly 

submitted comments and reevaluation 

requests and communications regarding 

this notice submitted to HUD will be 

available for public inspection and 

copying between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

weekdays at the above address. Due to 

security measures at the HUD 

Headquarters building, an advance 

appointment to review the public 

comments and reevaluation requests 

must be scheduled by calling the 

Regulations Division at 202–708–3055 

(this is not a toll-free number). 

Individuals with speech or hearing 

impairments may access this number 

through TTY by calling the Federal 

Relay Service at 800–877–8339 (toll-free 

number). Copies of all comments and 

reevaluation requests submitted are 

available for inspection and 

downloading at http://

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

technical information on the 

methodology used to develop FMRs or 

a listing of all FMRs, please call the 

HUD USER information line at 800– 

245–2691 or access the information on 

the HUD USER Web site http://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html. FMRs are listed at the 40th or 

50th percentile in Schedule B. For 

informational purposes, 40th percentile 

rents for the areas with 50th percentile 

FMRs will be provided in the HUD FY 

2018 FMR documentation system at 

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ 

datasets/fmr.html#2018_query and 50th 

percentile rents for all FMR areas will 

be published at http://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

50per.html. 

Questions related to use of FMRs or 

voucher payment standards should be 

directed to the respective local HUD 

program staff. Questions on how to 

conduct FMR surveys may be addressed 

to Marie L. Lihn or Peter B. Kahn of the 

Economic and Market Analysis 

Division, Office of Economic Affairs, 

Office of Policy Development and 

Research at HUD headquarters, 451 7th 

Street SW., Room 8208, Washington, DC 

20410; telephone number 202–402–2409 

(this is not a toll-free number), or they 

may be reached at emad-hq@hud.gov. 

Persons with hearing or speech 

impairments may access HUD numbers 

through TTY by calling the Federal 

Relay Service at 800–877–8339 (toll-free 

number). 

Electronic Data Availability. 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/ 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
41638 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 169 / Friday, September 1, 2017 / Notices 

1Separately from the Small Area FMR 

regulations, HUD also calculates and published 

50th percentile rent estimates for the purposes of 

Success Rate Payment Standards as defined at 24 

CFR 982.503(e) (estimates available at: http://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/50per.html), 

which policy was not changed by the Small Area 

FMR rule. 

the U.S. Government Printing Office 

Web site. Complete documentation of 

the methods and data used to compute 

each area’s FY 2018 FMRs is available 

at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ 

datasets/fmr.html#2018_query. FY 2018 

FMRs are available in a variety of 

electronic formats at https://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html. FMRs may be accessed in PDF 

as well as in Microsoft Excel. Small 

Area FMRs based on FY 2018 

Metropolitan Area Rents for the Dallas, 

TX HUD Metro FMR Area are available 

in Microsoft Excel format at the same 

web address. Small Area FMRs for all 

other metropolitan FMR areas are 

available at: http://www.huduser.gov/ 

portal/datasets/fmr/smallarea/ 

index.html. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Section 8 of the USHA (42 U.S.C. 

1437f) authorizes housing assistance to 

aid lower-income families in renting 

safe and decent housing. Housing 

assistance payments are limited by 

FMRs established by HUD for different 

geographic areas. In the Housing Choice 

Voucher (HCV) program, the FMR is the 

basis for determining the ‘‘payment 

standard amount’’ used to calculate the 

maximum monthly subsidy for an 

assisted family. See 24 CFR 982.503. 

HUD also uses the FMRs to determine 

initial renewal rents for some expiring 

project-based Section 8 contracts, initial 

rents for housing assistance payment 

contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation 

Single Room Occupancy program, rent 

ceilings for rental units in both the 

HOME Investment Partnerships program 

and the Emergency Solution Grants 

program, calculation of maximum 

award amounts for Continuum of Care 

recipients and the maximum amount of 

rent a recipient may pay for property 

leased with Continuum of Care funds, 

and calculation of flat rents in Public 

Housing units. In general, the FMR for 

an area is the amount that would be 

needed to pay the gross rent (shelter 

rent plus utilities) of privately owned, 

decent, and safe rental housing of a 

modest (non-luxury) nature with 

suitable amenities and is typically set at 

the 40th percentile of the distribution of 

gross rents. HUD’s FMR calculations 

represent HUD’s best effort to estimate 

the 40th percentile gross rents paid by 

recent movers into standard quality 

units in each FMR area. In addition, all 

rents subsidized under the HCV 

program must meet reasonable rent 

standards. 

As of October 2, 2000 (65 FR 58870), 

HUD required FMRs to be set at the 50th 

percentile for areas where HUD 

determined higher FMRs were needed 

to help families assisted under certain 

HUD programs find and lease decent 

and affordable housing. On November 

16, 2016 (81 FR 80567), HUD published 

a Final Rule entitled ‘‘Establishing a 

More Effective Fair Market Rent System; 

Using Small Area Fair Market Rents in 

the Housing Choice Voucher Program 

Instead of the Current 50th Percentile 

FMRs’’ (Small Area FMR final rule), 

with an effective date of January 17, 

2017. The Small Area FMR final rule 

eliminates the 50th percentile FMR 

provisions in the FMR regulations (24 

CFR 888.113)1 and provides that areas 

currently designated as 50th percentile 

areas remain 50th percentile areas until 

their current 3-year eligibility period 

expires. At the end of the 3-year 

eligibility period, these areas revert to 

40th percentile FMR status. (If they 

meet the deconcentration criteria 

specified in 24 CFR 982.503(f), available 

at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR2016-title24-vol4/pdf/CFR-2016-title24- 

vol4-sec982-503.pdf, they may petition 

HUD to maintain payment standards 

based on 50th percentile rents on that 

basis.) 

The following areas completed their 3 

years of 50th percentile eligibility in FY 

2017 and will revert to 40th percentile 

FMR status in FY 2018: 

FY 2017 50TH-PERCENTILE FMR 

AREAS REVERTING TO 40TH PERCENTILE FMRS IN FY 2018 

Albuquerque, NM Metropolitan Statistical Area 

(MSA). 

Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL HUD Metro FMR Area. 

Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO MSA. 

Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT HUD 

Metro FMR Area. 

Urban Honolulu, HI MSA. 

Kansas City, MO-KS HUD Metro FMR Area. 

Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI MSA. 

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA MSA. 

Tacoma, WA HUD Metro FMR Area. 

Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA. 

The following is a list of FMR areas 

that retain 50th percentile FMRs for FY 

2018, along with the year that they will 

revert to 40th percentile status: 

FY 2018 50TH-PERCENTILE FMR 

AREAS AND YEAR OF REVERSION TO

40TH PERCENTILE FMRS

Bergen-Passaic, NJ HUD Metro FMR 

Area ..................................................... 2020 

FY 2018 50TH-PERCENTILE FMR 

AREAS AND YEAR OF REVERSION TO

40TH PERCENTILE FMRS—Continued 

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD MSA .. 2019 

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PANJ-DE-MD ........................................... 2019 

San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA 

MSA ..................................................... 2020 

Spokane, WA HUD Metro FMR Area ..... 2020 

Washington, DC-VA-MD HUD Metro 

FMR Area ............................................ 2019 

West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL HUD 

Metro FMR Area .................................. 2019 

II. Procedures for the Development of 

FMRs and Changes in FMR 

Methodology 

Section 8(c)(1) of the USHA, as 

amended by HOTMA (Pub. L. 114–201, 

approved July 29, 2016), requires the 

Secretary of HUD to publish FMRs not 

less than annually. Section 8(c)(1)(A) 

states that each FMR ‘‘shall be adjusted 

to be effective on October 1 of each year 

to reflect changes, based on the most 

recent available data trended so the 

rentals will be current for the year to 

which they apply . . .’’ Section 

8(c)(1)(B) requires that HUD publish, 

not less than annually, new FMRs on 

the World Wide Web or in any other 

manner specified by the Secretary, and 

that HUD must also notify the public of 

when it publishes FMRs by Federal 

Register notice. After notification, the 

FMRs ‘‘shall become effective no earlier 

than 30 days after the date of such 

publication,’’ and HUD must provide a 

procedure for the public to comment 

and request a reevaluation of the FMRs 

in a jurisdiction before the FMRs 

become effective. Consistent with the 

statute, HUD is issuing this notice to 

notify the public that FY 2018 FMRs are 

available at https://www.huduser.gov/ 

portal/datasets/fmr.html and will 

become effective on October 2, 2017. 

This notice also provides procedures for 

FMR reevaluation requests. 

In addition, Section 8(c)(1)(B) of the 

USHA, as amended by HOTMA, 

requires that HUD publish for comment 

in the Federal Register a notice of 

proposed material changes in the 

methodology for estimating FMRs and a 

notice containing HUD’s final decisions 

regarding such proposed substantial 

methodological changes and responses 

to public comments. On May 26, 2017 

(82 FR 24377), HUD published a 

Federal Register notice proposing 

changes to the methodology used to 

calculate FMRs (Changes to 

Methodology notice) with a comment 

period that ended on June 26, 2017. 

This notice contains HUD’s final 

decisions on the proposed changes to 


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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 169 / Friday, September 1, 2017 / Notices 41639 

2For FY 2018, the three years of ACS data in 

question are 2013, 2014 and 2015. The 2013 data 

are adjusted to be denominated in 2015 dollars 

using the growth in CPI-based gross rents measured 

between 2013 and 2015. Similarly, the 2014 gross 

rent data is adjusted to 2015 denominated dollars 

using the growth in CPI-based gross rents measured 

between 2014 and 2015. 

3HUD’s regulations incorporate recent mover 

data into FMR calculations because the gross rents 

of those who most recently moved into their units 

likely depicts the most current market conditions 

observable through the ACS. Rents paid by renters 

renewing existing leases may not reflect the most 

current market conditions, in part because these 

renters may have clauses within their leases that 

predetermine the annual increases in rents paid 

(i.e., rent escalator clauses). 

the FMR methodology and responses to 

public comments. 

In the Changes to Methodology notice, 

HUD proposed several methodological 

changes in the way that HUD calculates 

FMRs. Most of the changes focused on 

the way HUD assessed the statistical 

quality of the ACS estimates or on using 

as much local information as possible 

when calculating FMRs. The proposed 

changes were as follows: 

• Add a ‘‘number of observations’’ 

criterion to the existing margin of error 

criterion when assessing the statistical 

reliability of ACS estimates. 

• Use ‘‘all-bedroom’’ rents when 

calculating the recent mover factor 

when the two-bedroom rents are not 

statistically reliable before moving to a 

larger encompassing geography’s twobedroom recent mover rents for this 

factor. 

• Calculate Small Area FMRs 

directly, rather than using the ratio 

method, when statistically reliable 

information at the ZIP Code Tabulation 

Area (ZCTA) level is available. The ratio 

method would still be used when 

statically reliable data was not available 

for individual ZCTAs. 

• Link ZCTAs to the smallest 

metropolitan area available as their 

parent FMR area for the ratio method 

rather than defaulting to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB)— 

defined metropolitan area as the parent. 

This would allow HUD to take 

advantage of the differing recent mover 

factors available across subdivided OMB 

metropolitan areas (areas labeled as 

HUD Metro FMR Areas). 

In response to the Changes to 

Methodology notice, a total of 22 

individual comments were received and 

posted on the Regulations.gov site at 

https://www.regulations.gov/ 

docket?D=HUD-2017-0033. Most of the 

comments that addressed the proposed 

methodology changes responded 

favorably to the changes. HUD provides 

responses to the public comments 

received later in this preamble (see 

section VII below). After considering all 

public comments received, HUD has 

decided to adopt all of the proposed 

methodology changes. HUD calculated 

the FY 2018 FMRs using the revised 

methodology incorporating the adopted 

changes. 

III. FMR Methodology 

This section provides a brief overview 

of how HUD computes the FY 2018 

FMRs. For complete information on 

how HUD determines FMR areas, and 

on how HUD derives each area’s FMRs, 

see the online documentation at https:// 

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html#2018_query. 

In conjunction with the use of 2015 

American Community Survey (ACS) 

data, HUD has implemented the 

following geography changes: Effective 

May 1, 2015, Shannon County, South 

Dakota (state code 46, county code 113) 

changed its name to Oglala Lakota 

County, South Dakota (state code 46, 

county code 102) and effective July 1, 

2015, the Wade Hampton Census Area, 

Alaska (state code 02, county code 270) 

changed its name to the Kusilvak 

Census Area, Alaska (state code 02, 

county code 158). 

A. Base Year Rents 

For FY 2018 FMRs, HUD updates the 

base rents using the U.S. Census 

Bureau’s 5-year ACS data collected 

between 2011 through 2015 (released in 

December of 2016). One of the changes 

proposed in the Changes to 

Methodology notice and adopted in this 

notice addresses the statistical 

reliability of the ACS data used in the 

FMR calculations. In prior years, HUD 

used ACS estimates where the margin of 

error of the estimate is less than half the 

size of the estimate itself. For FY 2018 

FMRs, HUD now pairs this ‘‘margin of 

error’’ test with an additional test based 

on the number of survey observations 

supporting the estimate. The Census 

Bureau does not provide HUD with an 

exact count of the number of 

observations supporting the ACS 

estimate; rather, the Census Bureau 

provides HUD with categories of the 

number of survey responses underlying 

the estimate, including whether the 

estimate is based on more than 100 

observations. Using these categories, 

HUD requires that, in addition to the 

‘‘margin of error’’ test, ACS rent 

estimates must be based on at least 100 

observations in order to be used as base 

rents. 

For areas in which the 5-year ACS 

data for two-bedroom, standard quality 

gross rents do not pass the statistical 

reliability tests (i.e., have a margin of 

error ratio greater than 50 percent or 

fewer than 100 observations), HUD will 

use an average of the base rents over the 

three most recent years (provided that 

there is data available for at least two of 

these years),2 or if such data is not 

available, using the two-bedroom rent 

data within the next largest geographic 

area, which for a non-metropolitan area 

would be the state non-metro area rent 

data. 

HUD has updated base rents each year 

based on new 5-year data since FY 2012, 

for which HUD used 2005–2009 ACS 

data. HUD is also updating base rents 

for Puerto Rico FMRs using the 2011– 

2015 Puerto Rico Community Survey 

(PRCS); HUD first updated the Puerto 

Rico base rents in FY 2014 based on 

2007–2011 PRCS data collected through 

the ACS program. 

HUD historically based FMRs on gross 

rents for recent movers (those who have 

moved into their current residence in 

the last 24 months) measured directly. 

However, due to the way Census 

constructs the 5-year ACS data, HUD 

developed a new method for calculating 

recent-mover FMRs in FY 2012, which 

HUD continues to use in FY 2018: HUD 

assigns all areas a base rent, which is 

the two-bedroom standard quality 5- 

year gross rent estimate from the ACS; 

then, because HUD’s regulations 

mandate that FMRs must be published 

as recent mover gross rents, HUD 

applies a recent mover factor to the base 

rents assigned from the 5-year ACS 

data.3 The calculation of the recent 

mover factor is described below. 

B. Recent Mover Factor 

Following the assignment of the 

standard quality two-bedroom rent 

described above, HUD applies a recent 

mover factor to these rents. HUD 

calculates the recent mover factor as the 

change between the 5-year 2011–2015 

standard quality two-bedroom gross rent 

and the 1 year 2015 recent mover gross 

rent for the recent mover factor area. 

HUD does not allow recent mover 

factors to lower the standard quality 

base rent; therefore, if the 5-year 

standard quality rent is larger than the 

comparable 1-year recent mover rent, 

the recent mover factor is set to 1. 

The calculation of the recent mover 

factor for FY 2018 contains several 

modifications that were proposed in the 

Changes to Methodology notice, and are 

now being adopted. The first change is 

the addition of a new test to determine 

the statistical reliability of the 1-year 

ACS recent mover data. The margin of 

error test is now paired with a count of 

observations test, similar to the test used 

for base rent data. Therefore, in order for 

a recent mover gross rent estimate to be 


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4 ‘‘All-bedroom’’ refers to estimates aggregated 

together regardless of the number of bedrooms in 

the dwelling unit. 

5The ACS is not conducted in the Pacific Islands 

(Guam, Northern Marianas and American Samoa) or 

the US Virgin Islands. As part of the 2010 Decennial 

Census, the Census Bureau conducted ‘‘long-form’’ 

sample surveys for these areas. The results gathered 

by this long form survey have been incorporated 

into the FY 2018 FMRs. 

6The 2012–2016 5-Year ACS data and the 2016 

1-Year ACS data will be used to calculate the FY 

2019 FMRs. These data will be more current than 

the 2014 data from the Vermont survey areas and 

the 2015 survey data in Portland, OR and Oakland, 

CA. Consequently, the 2016 ACS information will 

be used to calculate FMRs in these areas in FY 

2019. 

considered statistically reliable, the 

estimate must have a margin of error 

ratio that is less than 50 percent, and the 

estimate must be based on 100 or more 

observations. 

The second change incorporated into 

the FY 2018 recent mover factor 

calculation concerns the data used 

when an FMR area does not have 

statistically reliable two-bedroom recent 

mover data. In this circumstance, if the 

‘‘all-bedroom’’ 4 1-year recent mover 

ACS data for the FMR area is 

statistically reliable, HUD will use the 

‘‘all-bedroom’’ data to calculate the 

recent mover factor instead of using 

two-bedroom data from the next larger 

geography. Incorporating ‘‘all-bedroom’’ 

rents into the recent mover factor 

calculation when statistically reliable 

two-bedroom data is not available 

preserves the use of local information to 

the greatest extent possible. 

However, where statistically reliable 

‘‘all-bedroom’’ data is not available, 

HUD will continue to base FMR areas’ 

recent mover factors on larger 

geographic areas, following the same 

procedures as in FY 2017: HUD tests 

data from differently sized geographic 

areas in the following order (from small 

to large), and bases the recent mover 

factor on the first statistically reliable 

sample size. 

• For metropolitan areas that are 

subareas of larger metropolitan areas, 

the order is the FMR area, metropolitan 

area, aggregated metropolitan parts of 

the state, and state. 

• For metropolitan areas that are not 

divided, the order is the FMR area, 

aggregated metropolitan parts of the 

state, and state. 

• In non-metropolitan areas, the order 

is the FMR area, aggregated nonmetropolitan parts of the state, and 

state. 

The process for calculating each area’s 

recent mover factor is detailed in the FY 

2018 FMR documentation system 

available at: https://www.huduser.gov/ 

portal/datasets/fmr.html#2018_query. 

Applying the recent mover factor to the 

standard quality base rent produces an 

‘‘as of’’ 2015 recent mover two-bedroom 

base gross rent for the FMR area. 

C. Other Rent Survey Data 

HUD calculated base rents for the 

insular areas using the 2010 decennial 

census of American Samoa, Guam, the 

Northern Mariana Islands, and the 

Virgin Islands beginning with the FY 

2016 FMRs.5 This 2010 base year data 

was updated to 2013 for the FY 2016 

FMRs and is updated through 2015 for 

the FY 2018 FMRs using national ACS 

data. 

HUD does not use ACS data to 

establish the base rent or recent mover 

factor for 12 areas where the FY 2018 

FMR was adjusted based on survey data: 

• Survey data collected in 2014 is 

used to adjust the FMRs for three nonmetropolitan counties in Vermont 

(Bennington County, Windham County 

and Windsor County). 

• Survey data from 2015 is used to 

adjust the FMRs for Portland, OR and 

Oakland, CA. 

• Survey data from 2016 is used to 

adjust the FMRs for Burlington, VT; 

Kauai County, HI; Maui County, HI; San 

Francisco, CA; Portland, ME; and 

Vallejo-Fairfield, CA. 

• Survey data from 2017 is used to 

adjust the FMR for Santa Rosa, CA. 

For larger metropolitan areas that 

have valid ACS one-year recent mover 

data, survey data may not be any older 

than the midpoint of the calendar year 

for the ACS one-year data. Since the 

ACS one-year data used for the FY 2018 

FMRs is from 2015, larger areas may not 

use survey data collected before June 1, 

2015 for the FY 2018 FMRs. Smaller 

areas without 1-year ACS data, 

including the above counties in 

Vermont, may continue to use local 

survey data until the mid-point of the 5- 

year ACS data is more recent than the 

local survey.6

D. Updates From 2015 to 2016 and 

Forecast to FY 2018 

HUD updates the ACS-based ‘‘as of’’ 

2015 rent through the end of 2016 using 

the annual change in gross rents 

measured through the CPI from 2015 to 

2016 (CPI update factor). As in previous 

years, HUD uses local CPI data coupled 

with Consumer Expenditure Survey 

data for FMR areas with at least 75 

percent of their population within Class 

A metropolitan areas covered by local 

CPI data. In FMR areas that don’t meet 

this criterion, including Class B and C 

size metropolitan areas and nonmetropolitan areas, HUD uses CPI data 

aggregated at the Census region level. 

Additionally, HUD is using CPI data 

collected locally in Puerto Rico as the 

basis for CPI adjustments from 2015 to 

2016 for all Puerto Rico FMR areas. 

Following the application of the 

appropriate CPI update factor, HUD 

trends the gross rent estimate from 2016 

to FY 2018 using a national forecast of 

expected growth in gross rents. This 

forecast produces ‘‘as of’’ FY 2018 

FMRs. 

E. Bedroom Rent Adjustments 

HUD updates the bedroom ratios used 

in the calculation of FMRs annually. 

The bedroom ratios which HUD used in 

the calculation of FY 2018 FMRs have 

been updated using average data from 

three five-year ACS data series (2009– 

2013, 2010–2014, and 2011–2015). The 

bedroom ratio methodology used in this 

update is unchanged from previous 

calculations using 2000 Census data. 

HUD only uses estimates with a margin 

of error ratio of less than 50 percent. If 

an area does not have reliable estimates 

in at least two of the previous three ACS 

releases, bedroom ratios for the area’s 

larger parent geography are used. 

HUD uses two-bedroom units for its 

primary calculation of FMR estimates. 

This is generally the most common size 

of rental unit and, therefore, the most 

reliable to survey and analyze. After 

estimating two-bedroom FMRs, HUD 

calculates bedroom ratios for each FMR 

area which relate the prices of smaller 

and larger units to the cost of twobedroom units. To prevent illogical 

results in particular FMR areas, HUD 

establishes bedroom interval ranges 

which set upper and lower limits for 

bedroom ratios nationwide, based on an 

analysis of the range of such intervals 

for all areas with large enough samples 

to permit accurate bedroom ratio 

determinations. 

In the calculation of FY 2018 FMR 

estimates, HUD set the bedroom interval 

ranges as follows: Efficiency FMRs are 

constrained to fall between 0.64 and 

0.85 of the two-bedroom FMR; onebedroom FMRs must be between 0.75 

and 0.87 of the two-bedroom FMR; 

three-bedroom FMRs (prior to the 

adjustments described below) must be 

between 1.15 and 1.34 of the twobedroom FMR; and four-bedroom FMRs 

(again, prior to adjustment) must be 

between 1.26 and 1.64 of the twobedroom FMR. Given that these interval 

ranges partially overlap across bedroom 

sizes, HUD further adjusts bedroom 

ratios for a given FMR area, if necessary, 

to ensure that higher bedroom-count 

units have higher rents than lower 

bedroom-count units within that area. 

The bedroom ratios for Puerto Rico 

follow these constraints. 


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7As mentioned above, HUD applies the interval 

ranges for the three-bedroom and four-bedroom 

FMR ratios prior to making these adjustments. In 

other words, the adjusted three- and four-bedroom 

FMRs can exceed the interval ranges, but the 

unadjusted FMRs cannot. 

8As established in the interim rules 

implementing the provisions of the Quality Housing 

and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (Title V of the 

FY 1999 HUD Appropriations Act; Pub. L. 105– 

276). In 24 CFR 982.604. 

9The Dallas, TX HMFA is also known as the 

Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas Metro Division. This area 

is comprised of the following Texas counties: 

Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Kaufman, and 

Rockwall. 

10For example, for FY 2018 FMRs using this 

methodology, HUD would average the gross rents 

from 2013, 2014 and 2015 5-Year ACS estimates. 

The 2013 and 2014 gross rent estimates would be 

adjusted to 2015 dollars using the metropolitan 

area’s gross rent CPI adjustment factors. 

HUD also further adjusts the rents for 

three-bedroom and larger units to reflect 

HUD’s policy to set higher rents for 

these units.7 This adjustment is 

intended to increase the likelihood that 

the largest families, who have the most 

difficulty in leasing units, will be 

successful in finding eligible program 

units. The adjustment adds 8.7 percent 

to the unadjusted three-bedroom FMR 

estimates and adds 7.7 percent to the 

unadjusted four-bedroom FMR 

estimates. 

HUD derives FMRs for units with 

more than four bedrooms by adding 15 

percent to the four-bedroom FMR for 

each extra bedroom. For example, the 

FMR for a five-bedroom unit is 1.15 

times the four-bedroom FMR, and the 

FMR for a six-bedroom unit is 1.30 

times the four-bedroom FMR. Similarly, 

HUD derives FMRs for single-room 

occupancy units by subtracting 25 

percent from the zero-bedroom FMR 

(i.e., they are set at 0.75 times the zerobedroom (efficiency) FMR).8

F. Limit on FMR Decreases 

Within the Small Area FMR final rule 

published on November 16, 2016, HUD 

amended 24 CFR 888.113 to include a 

limit on the amount that FMRs may 

annually decrease. The current year’s 

FMRs resulting from the application of 

the bedroom ratios, as discussed in 

section (E) above, may be no less than 

90 percent of the prior year’s FMRs for 

units with the same number of 

bedrooms. Accordingly, if the current 

year’s FMRs are less than 90 percent of 

the prior year’s FMRs as calculated by 

the above methodology, HUD sets the 

current year’s FMRs equal to 90 percent 

of the prior year’s FMRs. For areas using 

Small Area FMRs in the administration 

of their voucher programs (i.e., Dallas 

and the demonstration PHAs who opted 

to continue using Small Area FMRs), the 

FY 2018 Small Area FMRs may be no 

less than 90 percent of the FY 2017 

Small Area FMRs. For all other 

metropolitan areas, for which Small 

Area FMRs are calculated so that they 

may be used for other allowable 

purposes if desired (e.g., exception 

payment standards, public housing flat 

rents), the FY 2018 Small Area FMRs 

may be no less than 90 percent of the 

FY 2017 metropolitan area-wide FMRs. 

IV. Manufactured Home Space Surveys 

HOTMA changed the manner in 

which vouchers are used to subsidize 

manufactured home units. Please see 

HUD’s Notice from January 18, 2017 (82 

FR 5458) for more detailed information 

concerning the use of vouchers for 

manufactured home units. Due to the 

nature of these changes, HUD will no 

longer be publishing exception rents for 

Manufactured Home Space pad rents. 

V. Small Area FMRs 

PHAs in the Dallas, TX HUD Metro 

FMR Area (HMFA) 9 continue to use 

Small Area FMRs per the terms of a 

court-entered settlement. These Small 

Area FMRs are listed in the Schedule B 

addendum. Other metropolitan PHAs 

interested in using Small Area FMRs in 

the operation of their Housing Choice 

Voucher program should contact their 

local HUD field office to request 

approval from HUD to do so. 

As proposed in the Changes to 

Methodology notice, HUD is also 

making changes in the manner in which 

FY 2018 Small Area FMRs are 

calculated. In order to use more local 

data, HUD is calculating Small Area 

FMRs directly from the standard quality 

gross rents provided to HUD by the 

Census Bureau for ZIP Code Tabulation 

Areas (ZCTAs), when such data is 

statistically reliable, instead of using the 

current rent ratio calculation. The ZCTA 

two-bedroom equivalent 40th percentile 

gross rent is analogous to the standard 

quality base rents set for metropolitan 

areas and non-metropolitan counties. 

For each ZCTA with statistically reliable 

gross rent estimates, using the expanded 

test of statistical reliability noted 

previously in this notice (i.e., estimates 

with margins of error ratios below 50 

percent and based on at least 100 

observations), HUD will calculate a twobedroom equivalent 40th percentile 

gross rent using the first statistically 

reliable gross rent distribution data from 

the following data sets (in this order): 

two-bedroom gross rents, one-bedroom 

gross rents, and three-bedroom gross 

rents. If either the one-bedroom or threebedroom gross rent data is used because 

the two-bedroom gross rent data is not 

statistically reliable, the one-bedroom or 

three-bedroom 40th percentile gross rent 

will be converted to a two-bedroom 

equivalent rent using the bedroom ratios 

for the ZCTA’s parent metropolitan area. 

In order to add increased stability to 

these Small Area FMR estimates, HUD 

will average the latest three years of 

gross rent estimates.10

For ZCTAs without usable gross rent 

data by bedroom size, HUD will 

continue to calculate Small Area FMRs 

using the rent ratio method similar to 

that HUD has used in past Small Area 

FMR calculations. To calculate Small 

Area FMRs using a rent ratio, HUD 

divides the median gross rent across all 

bedrooms for the small area (a ZIP code) 

by the similar median gross rent for the 

metropolitan area of the ZIP code. In 

small areas where the median gross rent 

is not statistically reliable, HUD 

substitutes the median gross rent for the 

county containing the ZIP code in the 

numerator of the rent ratio calculation. 

HUD multiplies this rent ratio by the 

current two-bedroom rent for the 

metropolitan area containing the small 

area to generate the current year twobedroom rent for the small area. 

Similar to other changes described in 

this notice, HUD is changing the linkage 

between the small area and its 

containing metropolitan area as 

proposed in the May 26, 2017 Federal 

Register notice. For FY 2018 HUD is 

linking each ZCTA to its published FMR 

area; that is, each ZCTA is linked to its 

parent HMFA, if it exists, rather than 

link the ZCTA to its parent OMBdefined metropolitan area (Core-Based 

Statistical Area, or CBSA) as was 

previously done. If no parent HUD FMR 

area exists, the ZCTA will continue to 

be linked to its parent CBSA. This 

change is implemented to take 

advantage of the more localized recent 

mover factors for subareas of OMBdefined metropolitan areas when 

available. 

As in FY 2017, HUD continues to use 

a rolling average of ACS data in 

calculating the Small Area FMR rent 

ratios. HUD believes coupling the most 

current data with previous year’s data 

minimizes excessive year-to-year 

variability in Small Area FMR rent 

ratios due to sampling variance. 

Therefore, for FY 2018 Small Area 

FMRs, HUD has updated the rent ratios 

to use an average of the rent ratios 

calculated from the 2009–2013, 2010– 

2014, and 2011–2015 5-year ACS 

estimates. 

VI. Request for Public Comments and 

FMR Reevaluations 

HUD will continue to accept public 

comments on the methods HUD uses to 

calculate FY 2018 FMRs, including 


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Small Area FMRs and the FMR levels 

for specific areas. Due to its current 

funding levels, HUD no longer has 

sufficient resources to conduct local 

surveys of rents to address comments 

filed regarding the FMR levels for 

specific areas. PHAs may continue to 

fund such surveys independently, as 

specified below, using administrative 

fees if they so choose.) HUD continually 

strives to calculate FMRs that meet the 

statutory requirement of using ‘‘the most 

recent available data’’ while also serving 

as an effective program parameter. 

PHAs or other interested parties 

interested in requesting HUD 

reevaluation of its FY 2018 FMRs, as 

provided for under section 8(c)(1)(B) of 

USHA, must follow the following 

procedures: 

1. By the end of the comment period, 

such reevaluation requests must be 

submitted publicly through 

www.regulations.gov or directly to HUD 

as described above. PHAs representing 

at least half of the voucher tenants in 

multijurisdictional areas must agree that 

the re-evaluation is necessary. 

2. In order for a reevaluation to occur, 

the requestor(s) must supply HUD with 

data more recent than the 2015 

American Community Survey data used 

in the calculation of the FY 2018 FMRs. 

HUD requires data on gross rents paid 

in the FMR area for standard quality 

rental housing units. The data delivered 

must be sufficient for HUD to calculate 

a 40th and 50th percentile two-bedroom 

rent. Should this type of data not be 

available, requestors may gather this 

information using the survey guidance 

available at https://www.huduser.gov/ 

portal/datasets/fmr/NoteRevisedArea

SurveyProcedures.pdf and https://

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

PrinciplesforPHA-ConductedAreaRent

Surveys.pdf. 

3. On or about October 3, HUD will 

post a list, at https://www.huduser.gov/ 

portal/datasets/fmr.html, of the areas 

requesting reevaluations and where FY 

2017 FMRs remain in effect. 

4. Data for reevaluations must be 

supplied to HUD no later than Friday 

January 5, 2018. On Monday January 8, 

2018, HUD will post at https://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html a listing of the areas failing to 

deliver data and making the FY 2018 

FMRs effective in these areas. 

5. HUD will use the data delivered by 

January 5, 2018 to reevaluate the FMRs 

and following the reevaluation, will 

post revised FMRs with an 

accompanying Federal Register notice 

stating the revised FMRs are available, 

which will include HUD responses to 

comments filed during the comment 

period. 

6. Any data supporting a change in 

FMRs supplied after January 5, 2018 

will be incorporated into FY 2019 

FMRs. 

7. PHAs operating in areas where the 

calculated FMR is lower than the 

published FMR (i.e., those areas where 

HUD has limited the decrease in the 

annual change in the FMR to 10 

percent) may request payment standards 

below the basic range (24 CFR 

982.503(d)) and reference the 

‘‘unfloored’’ rents (i.e., the unfinalized 

FMRs calculated by HUD prior to 

application of the 10-percent-decrease 

limit) depicted in the FY 2018 FMR 

Documentation System (available at: 

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ 

datasets/fmr.html#2018_query). 

Questions on how to conduct FMR 

surveys may be addressed to Marie L. 

Lihn or Peter B. Kahn of the Economic 

and Market Analysis Division, Office of 

Economic Affairs, Office of Policy 

Development and Research at HUD 

headquarters, 451 7th Street SW., Room 

8208, Washington, DC 20410; telephone 

number 202–402–2409 (this is not a tollfree number), or they may be reached at 

emad-hq@hud.gov. 

For small metropolitan areas without 

one-year ACS data and nonmetropolitan counties, HUD has 

developed a method using mail surveys 

that is discussed on the FMR Web page: 

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ 

datasets/fmr.html#fmrsurvey. This 

method allows for the collection of as 

few as 100 one-bedroom, two-bedroom 

and three-bedroom recent mover 

(tenants that moved in last 24 months) 

units. 

While HUD has not developed a 

specific method for mail surveys in 

areas with 1-year ACS data, HUD would 

apply the standard established for 

Random-Digit Dialing (RDD) telephone 

rent surveys. HUD will evaluate these 

survey results to determine whether 

they would establish a new FMR 

statistically different from the current 

FMR, which means that the survey 

confidence interval must not include 

the FMR. The survey should collect 

results based on 200 one-bedroom and 

two-bedroom eligible recent mover units 

to provide a small enough confidence 

interval for significant results in large 

market mail surveys. Areas with 

statistically reliable 1-year ACS data are 

not considered to be good candidates for 

local surveys due to the size and 

completeness of the ACS process. 

Other survey methods are acceptable 

in providing data to support 

reevaluation requests if the survey 

method can provide statistically 

reliable, unbiased estimates of the gross 

rent of the entire FMR area. In general, 

recommendations for FMR changes and 

supporting data must reflect the rent 

levels that exist within the entire FMR 

area and should be statistically reliable. 

PHAs in non-metropolitan areas may, 

in certain circumstances, conduct 

surveys of groups of counties. HUD 

must approve all county-grouped 

surveys in advance. PHAs are cautioned 

that the resulting FMRs may not be 

identical for the counties surveyed; each 

individual FMR area will have a 

separate FMR based on the relationship 

of rents in that area to the combined 

rents in the cluster of FMR areas. In 

addition, PHAs are advised that in 

counties where FMRs are based on the 

combined rents in the cluster of FMR 

areas, HUD will not revise their FMRs 

unless the grouped survey results show 

a revised FMR statistically different 

from the combined rent level. 

Survey samples should preferably be 

randomly drawn from a complete list of 

rental units for the FMR area. If this is 

not feasible, the selected sample must 

be drawn to be statistically 

representative of the entire rental 

housing stock of the FMR area. Surveys 

must include units at all rent levels and 

be representative by structure type 

(including single-family, duplex, and 

other small rental properties), age of 

housing unit, and geographic location. 

The current 5-year ACS data should be 

used as a means of verifying if a sample 

is representative of the FMR area’s 

rental housing stock. 

A PHA or contractor that cannot 

obtain the recommended number of 

sample responses after reasonable 

efforts should consult with HUD before 

abandoning its survey; in such 

situations, HUD may find it appropriate 

to relax normal sample size 

requirements. 

HUD has developed guidance on how 

to provide data-supported comments on 

Small Area FMRs using HUD’s special 

tabulations of the distribution of gross 

rents by bedroom unit size for ZIP Code 

Tabulation Areas. This guidance is 

available at https://www.huduser.gov/ 

portal/datasets/fmr.html in the FY 2018 

FMR section and should be used by 

interested parties in commenting on 

whether or not the level of Small Area 

FMRs are too high or too low (i.e., Small 

Area FMRs that are larger than the gross 

rent necessary to make 40 percent of the 

units accessible for an individual zip 

code or that are smaller than the gross 

rent necessary to make 40 percent of the 

units accessible for a given zip code). 

HUD will post revised Small Area FMRs 

after confirming commenters’ 

calculations. 

As stated earlier in this notice, HUD 

is required to use the most recent data 


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available when calculating FMRs. 

Therefore, in order to re-evaluate an 

area’s FMR, HUD requires more current 

rental market data than the 2015 ACS. 

HUD encourages a PHA or other 

interested party that believes the FMR 

in their area is incorrect to file a 

comment even if they do not have the 

resources to provide market-wide rental 

data. In these instances, HUD will use 

the comments, should survey funding 

be restored, when determining the areas 

HUD will select for HUD-funded local 

area rent surveys. 

VII. Public Comments on the May 26, 

2017 Proposed FMR Change Notice 

As noted above, HUD received 22 

comments on the Changes to 

Methodology notice. Most of the 

comments that addressed the proposed 

methodology changes responded 

favorably to the changes. Commenters 

choosing to address these 

methodological changes were 

‘‘cautiously optimistic’’ about these 

changes. However, one commenter 

specifically opposed the use of ‘‘all 

bedroom’’ rents for the recent mover 

factor while another commenter 

specifically supports the use of ‘‘all 

bedroom’’ recent mover rents. 

Based on the limited comments 

received on the proposed methodology 

changes, which are generally favorable 

to HUD’s proposed changes, HUD has 

decided to implement each of the 

proposed methodological changes in the 

calculation of the FY 2018 FMRs. 

The following summaries of 

comments and responses also include 

responses to other comments regarding 

the calculation of FMRs that were not 

responsive to the specific methodology 

changes. 

A. Timeliness and Data Sources 

Comments: A significant number of 

commenters offered comments on the 

timeliness of the data HUD uses in the 

calculation of FMRs and urged HUD to 

consider conducting local surveys or 

otherwise compile its own source of 

national survey data. 

HUD Response: Generally, HUD uses 

the American Community Survey (ACS) 

as the primary source of data to 

calculate FMRs. The ACS is the only 

known source of data from which HUD 

may calculate a 40th percentile gross 

rent paid by recent movers in each FMR 

area. For the FY 2018 FMRs, the most 

current ACS data was collected in 2015. 

The 2015 survey responses are 

aggregated and analyzed by the Census 

Bureau during 2016 and are released in 

September and December 2016. There is 

no more current data on the level of 

gross rents paid available during 2017 

when HUD is calculating the FMRs for 

the upcoming fiscal year. 

HUD augments the data on gross rents 

paid collected through the ACS by the 

change in gross rents measured through 

the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which 

captures the change in gross rents 

between 2015 and 2016. In order to 

measure the change in gross rents, HUD 

constructs a gross rent index using 2 CPI 

components—Rent of Primary 

Residence, and Housing—Fuels and 

Utilities. These gross rent change factors 

are calculated for local metropolitan 

areas and where metropolitan data does 

not exist, HUD uses data available at the 

Census regional level. The local data 

utilized in this process covers 

approximately 46 percent of the 

national population. 

Finally, for FY 2018, HUD continues 

to use HUD’s nationwide forecast of 

expected growth in gross rents. HUD 

continues to explore forecasting 

expected changes in gross rents for 

metropolitan areas; however, HUD has 

yet to generate forecasts that 

consistently provide better estimates 

across all localities. While HUD 

continues to improve the quality of its 

local forecasts, HUD will explore if 

other sources of data provide more 

timely update factors than those 

calculated from the CPI. 

HUD has carefully considered the 

comments concerning HUD conducting 

local rent surveys. The Federal 

Government currently makes a 

significant investment in collecting 

socio-economic data through the Census 

Bureau’s American Community Survey. 

Since the ACS is the replacement for the 

decennial census long form survey, 

households receiving the survey are 

compelled to complete it; consequently, 

the ACS has far superior response rates 

and quality controls embedded in the 

data processing than HUD could achieve 

in any survey program it could 

construct. Therefore, HUD believes that 

is a waste of Federal resources to 

duplicate the efforts of the ACS. 

Comment: HUD’s FMRs should be 

calculated based on average rents per 

square foot with adjustments for local 

rental market conditions. 

HUD Response: Average rent per 

square foot may be a commonly 

available statistic in some markets and 

may provide some additional 

information regarding rental market 

conditions in those markets; however, 

without the underlying data used to 

calculate the average rent per square 

foot statistic, HUD is unable to calculate 

a 40th or 50th percentile rent. 

Furthermore, attempting to incorporate 

rent per square foot metrics into the 

FMR calculations would introduce 

additional complications in determining 

gross rents. 

Comment: Multiple commenters 

suggested that HUD use data from 

Comprehensive Housing Market 

Analysis reports conducted by HUD’s 

field economists in the FMR 

calculations. 

HUD Response: The data used in 

HUD’s Comprehensive Housing Market 

Analysis reports generally captures 

asking rents for newly constructed Class 

A rental units in large housing 

complexes. These data are not 

appropriate for setting Fair Market Rents 

for several reasons. First, asking rents 

typically do not equate to recent mover 

gross rent paid. Additionally, Class A 

apartment rental rates are generally not 

representative of the gross rents 

available across the entire rental stock of 

an FMR area. However, as stated earlier, 

HUD will investigate if there are more 

current and local sources of data that 

could replace the CPI based update 

factors currently used in the FMR 

calculations. 

B. Comments on Proposed Changes 

Comment: The changes to the 

calculation of Small Area FMRs directly 

from the ZCTA data are welcomed; 

however, HUD should aggregate ZCTAs 

to get to a statistically reliable estimate 

rather than move to the county level 

ratios. 

HUD Response: HUD’s use of the 

county level ratios as a proxy for the 

ZCTA level FMRs when there is not 

statistically reliable data is in line with 

HUD’s policy for moving to the next 

higher encompassing geography for 

calculating FMRs. Aggregating ZCTAs 

presents a myriad of challenges that 

cannot be addressed quickly. HUD will 

study what options may be available for 

proxies to ZCTA level rents when the 

ZCTA data are not statistically reliable. 

If HUD finds a suitable method, HUD 

will propose this in a future notice of 

proposed FMR changes. 

Comment: Several commenters 

suggested that following a successful 

FMR ‘‘appeal’’, HUD should 

immediately move to change a PHA’s 

HAP amount. 

HUD Response: HUD incorporates all 

of the reevaluated FMRs in the first 

calculation of Renewal Funding 

Inflation Factors following the effective 

date of the reevaluated FMRs. 

Comment: HUD should review the 

bedroom ratio calculations, with a 

specific review of the 3-bedroom and 4- 

bedroom bonuses incorporated into the 

bedroom ratio calculations. 

HUD Response: HUD updates the 

bedroom ratio calculations each year, 

incorporating the most current ACS data 


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into the process. The ratios are bounded 

and limited so that standard 

relationships are maintained (i.e. 0- 

bedroom ratios are not larger than 1- 

bedroom ratios, etc.). HUD maintains 

that its policy of providing bonuses for 

3- and 4-bedroom units allows voucher 

families to be more competitive for 

these scarce larger rental dwelling units. 

PHAs not having difficulty placing 

families in large units may use payment 

standard flexibility to set 3- and 4- 

bedroom payment standards lower 

relative to the FMRs than other payment 

standards, or use the unadjusted 3- and 

4-bedroom FMRs as the basis for 

exception payment standard requests of 

less than 90 percent of these FMRs. 

Comment: Several commenters 

suggested that HUD should do a better 

job of forward trending FMR estimates. 

HUD Response: As stated earlier, 

HUD continues to refine its forecasting 

of expected changes in gross rents at the 

metropolitan area level. In addition, 

HUD will explore the use of alternative 

measures of rental market growth that 

may be available. 

C. Other Issues 

Comment: The geographic area 

definitions used in certain areas of 

Puerto Rico are not contiguous and 

should be reviewed. Once the area 

definitions are reviewed, the comment 

requests HUD to undertake local rent 

surveys for the new areas and publish 

FMRs based on these new areas and 

survey data. Furthermore, the 

commenter expressed concern about the 

high cost of utilities not being 

incorporated into the FMRs. 

HUD Response: HUD will review the 

area definitions in Puerto Rico and will 

determine if sufficient data exists within 

the Puerto Rico Community Survey 

(PRCS) to allow HUD to adjust the 

discontiguous areas. If changes are 

possible, HUD will propose them in a 

future FMR methodology change 

Federal Register notice. HUD is reliant 

on the PRCS data as HUD does not have 

the funding necessary to conduct its 

own local rent surveys. In past years, 

HUD incorporated an additional utility 

cost adjustment into the calculation of 

FMRs; however, the Consumer Price 

Index (CPI) data collected within Puerto 

Rico never measured an increase in 

expenditures in fuels and utilities 

associated with housing. HUD is using 

CPI data collected in Puerto Rico 

through the end of 2016, which includes 

the December 2016 electricity costs 

cited by the commenter. 

Comment: Single Room Occupancy 

Rents in New Hampshire are too low. 

HUD Response: HUD regulations at 24 

CFR 888.113(f)(2) set the Single Room 

Occupancy FMR at 75 percent of the 0- 

bedroom FMR. HUD updates the 

bedroom ratios used to calculate the 

0-, 1-, 3-, and 4-bedroom FMRs annually 

using the most current data available. 

Comment: The FMRs and Small Area 

FMRs are too high. Data was submitted 

to waive the use of these FMRs, but no 

response from HUD has been received. 

HUD Response: This is likely a Public 

Housing Flat Rent exception rent 

request which is not handled by the 

HUD office that calculates FMRs. Public 

Housing Flat Rent exception rent 

requests are processed by HUD’s Office 

of Public and Indian Housing. HUD 

recommends the commenter reach out 

to their local PIH representative for a 

status update. 

VIII. Environmental Impact 

This Notice involves the 

establishment of FMR schedules, which 

do not constitute a development 

decision affecting the physical 

condition of specific project areas or 

building sites. Accordingly, under 24 

CFR 50.19(c)(6), this Notice is 

categorically excluded from 

environmental review under the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321). 

Accordingly, the Fair Market Rent 

Schedules, which will not be codified in 

24 CFR part 888, are available at https:// 

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html. 

Dated: August 22, 2017. 

Todd M. Richardson, 

Deputy Assistant, Secretary, Office of Policy 

Development, Office of Policy Development 

and Research. 

Fair Market Rents for the Housing 

Choice Voucher Program 

Schedule B—General Explanatory Notes 

1. Geographic Coverage 

a. Metropolitan Areas—Most FMRs 

are market-wide rent estimates that are 

intended to provide housing 

opportunities throughout the geographic 

area in which rental-housing units are 

in direct competition. HUD is using the 

metropolitan CBSAs, which are made 

up of one or more counties, as defined 

by OMB, with some modifications. HUD 

is generally assigning separate FMRs to 

the component counties of CBSA 

Micropolitan Areas. 

b. Modifications to OMB 

Definitions—Following OMB guidance, 

the estimation procedure for the FY 

2018 FMRs incorporates the OMB 

definitions of metropolitan areas based 

on the CBSA standards as implemented 

with 2000 Census data and updated by 

the 2010 Census in February 28, 2013. 

The adjustments made to the 2000 

definitions to separate subparts of these 

areas where FMRs or median incomes 

would otherwise change significantly 

are continued. To follow HUD’s policy 

of providing FMRs at the smallest 

possible area of geography, no counties 

were added to existing metropolitan 

areas due to recent updates in 

metropolitan area definitions. All 

counties added to metropolitan areas by 

the CBSA will still be treated as separate 

counties for FMR calculations; that is, 

the rents from a county that is a sub-area 

will not be used in the remaining 

metropolitan sub-area rent 

determination. All metropolitan areas 

that have been subdivided by HUD will 

use ACS data which conforms to HUD’s 

area definition if statistically reliable 

information exists. If statistically 

reliable data for the HUD defined area 

is not available, HUD uses information 

from larger encompassing geographies, 

as described elsewhere in this notice. 

The specific counties and New 

England towns and cities within each 

state in MSAs and HMFAs were not 

changed by the February 28, 2013 OMB 

metropolitan area definitions. These 

areas are listed in Schedule B, available 

online at https://www.huduser.gov/ 

portal/datasets/fmr.html. 

2. Unit Bedroom Count Adjustments 

Schedule B, available at https://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html, shows the FMRs for zerobedroom through four-bedroom units. 

The Schedule B addendum shows Small 

Area FMRs for all PHAs operating using 

Small Area FMRs (please see section V 

of this notice for a list of participating 

PHAs). The FMRs for unit sizes larger 

than four bedrooms may be calculated 

by adding 15 percent to the fourbedroom FMR for each extra bedroom. 

For example, the FMR for a fivebedroom unit is 1.15 times the fourbedroom FMR, and the FMR for a sixbedroom unit is 1.30 times the fourbedroom FMR. FMRs for single-roomoccupancy (SRO) units are 0.75 times 

the zero-bedroom FMR. 

3. Arrangement of FMR Areas and 

Identification of Constituent Parts 

a. The FMR areas in the online 

Schedule B are listed alphabetically by 

metropolitan FMR area and by nonmetropolitan county within each state 

and are available at https://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html. 

b. The constituent counties (and New 

England towns and cities) included in 

each metropolitan FMR area are listed 

immediately following the listings of the 

FMR dollar amounts. All constituent 

parts of a metropolitan FMR area that 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 169 / Friday, September 1, 2017 / Notices 41645 

are in more than one state can be 

identified by consulting the listings for 

each applicable state. 

c. Two non-metropolitan counties are 

listed alphabetically on each line of the 

non-metropolitan county listings. 

d. The New England towns and cities 

included in a non-metropolitan county 

are listed immediately following the 

county name. 

[FR Doc. 2017–18431 Filed 8–31–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R3–ES–2017–N100; 

FXES11130300000–178–FF03E00000] 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife 

and Plants; Permit Applications 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, invite the public to 

comment on the following applications 

for a permit to conduct activities 

intended to enhance the survival of 

endangered or threatened species. 

Federal law prohibits certain activities 

with endangered species unless a permit 

is obtained. 

DATES: We must receive any written 

comments on or before October 2, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments by 

U.S. Mail to the Regional Director, Attn: 

Carlita Payne, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Ecological Services, 5600 

American Blvd. West, Suite 990, 

Bloomington, MN 55437–1458; or by 

electronic mail to permitsR3ES@fws.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Carlita Payne, (612) 713–5343. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: We, the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invite 

the public to comment on the following 

applications for a permit to conduct 

activities intended to enhance the 

survival of endangered or threatened 

species. Federal law prohibits certain 

activities with endangered species 

unless a permit is obtained. 

Background 

The Endangered Species Act of 1973, 

as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.; 

ESA), prohibits certain activities with 

endangered and threatened species 

unless the activities are specifically 

authorized by a Federal permit. The 

ESA and our implementing regulations 

in part 17 of title 50 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations (CFR) provide for 

the issuance of such permits and require 

that we invite public comment before 

issuing permits for activities involving 

endangered species. 

A permit granted by us under section 

10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA authorizes the 

permittee to conduct activities with U.S. 

endangered or threatened species for 

scientific purposes, enhancement of 

propagation or survival, or interstate 

commerce (the latter only in the event 

that it facilitates scientific purposes or 

enhancement of propagation or 

survival). Our regulations implementing 

section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA for these 

permits are found at 50 CFR 17.22 for 

endangered wildlife species, 50 CFR 

17.32 for threatened wildlife species, 50 

CFR 17.62 for endangered plant species, 

and 50 CFR 17.72 for threatened plant 

species. 

Applications Available for Review and 

Comment 

We invite local, State, Tribal, and 

Federal agencies and the public to 

comment on the following applications. 

Please refer to the permit number when 

you submit comments. Documents and 

other information the applicants have 

submitted with the applications are 

available for review, subject to the 

requirements of the Privacy Act (5 

U.S.C. 552a) and Freedom of 

Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). 

Permit Applications 

Proposed activities in the following 

permit requests are for the recovery and 

enhancement of survival of the species 

in the wild. 

Application No. Applicant Species Location Activity Type of take Permit 

action 

TE36875C ....... Gregory Gerke, Carmel, IN.Rusty patched bumble bee 

(Bombus affinis).

Indiana ........... Conduct presence/ ......

absence surveys .........

Capture, handle, release.New. 

TE37601C ....... Emilie Snell-Rood, 

Saint Paul, MN.

Rusty patched bumble bee 

(Bombus affinis).

Minnesota ...... Conduct presence/ ......

absence surveys, document habitat use.

Capture, handle, release.New. 

TE64070B ....... SWCA Inc., Bismarck, 

ND.

Rusty patched bumble bee 

(Bombus affinis), Dakota 

skipper (Hesperia 

dacotae), poweshiek 

skipperling (Oarisma 

poweshiek).

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,.

Maine, Massachusetts, 

Minnesota,.

Ohio, Virginia, 

Wisconsin.

Conduct presence/ ......

absence surveys .........

Capture, handle, release.Amend, 

renew. 

TE40247C ....... Minnesota Department 

of Natural Resources, Saint Paul, 

MN.

Rusty patched bumble bee 

(Bombus affinis).

Minnesota ...... Conduct presence/ ......

absence surveys .........

Capture, handle, release.New. 

TE41469C ....... G.E.I. Consultants, 

Inc., Green Bay, WI.

Kirtland’s warbler (Setophaga 

kirtlandii).

Wisconsin ...... Conduct presence/ ......

absence surveys .........

Harass, use 

bird call recordings.

New. 

Public Availability of Comments 

We seek public review and comments 

on these permit applications. Please 

refer to the permit number when you 

submit comments. Comments and 

materials we receive in response to this 

notice are available for public 

inspection, by appointment, during 

normal business hours at the address 

listed in ADDRESSES. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES