rent burdens within a reasonable time pe-
riod or explain its reasons for not making 
such adjustment. The Secretary may not 
deny the request of a public housing agency 
to set a payment standard up to 120 per-
cent of the fair market rent to remedy rent 
burdens in excess of the national average or 
undue concentration of families assisted 
under this subsection in lower rent, higher 
poverty sections of a metropolitan area ex-
cept on the basis that an agency has not 
demonstrated that its request meets these 
criteria. If a request of a public housing 
agency has not been denied or approved 
with 45 days after the request is made, the 
request shall be considered to have been ap-
proved.’’. 
(b) 
PUBLIC
HOUSING
AGENCY
PLAN.—Section 
5A(d)(4) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
U.S.C. 1437c–1(d)(4)) is amended by inserting before the 
period at the end the following: ‘‘, including the report with 
respect to the agency furnished by the Secretary pursuant 
to section 8(o)(1)(E) concerning rent burdens and, if appli-
cable, geographic concentration of voucher holders, any 
changes in rent or other policies the public housing agency 
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is making to address excessive rent burdens or concentra-
tion, and if the public housing agency is not adjusting its 
payment standard, its reasons for not doing so’’. 
(c) RENT BURDENS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABIL-
ITIES.—Subparagraph (D) of section 8(o)(1) is amended by 
inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, except 
that a public housing agency may establish a payment 
standard of not more than 120 percent of the fair market 
rent where necessary as a reasonable accommodation for a 
person with a disability, without approval of the Secretary. 
A public housing agency may seek approval of the Secretary 
to use a payment standard greater than 120 percent of the 
fair market rent as a reasonable accommodation for a per-
son with a disability’’. 
SEC. 13. ESTABLISHMENT OF FAIR MARKET RENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 8(c) of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(c)(1)) 
is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after the paragraph des-
ignation; 
(2) by striking the seventh, eighth, and ninth 
sentences; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B)(i) The Secretary shall endeavor to define market 
areas for purposes of this paragraph in a manner that re-
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sults in fair market rentals that are adequate to cover typ-
ical rental costs of units suitable for occupancy by persons 
assisted under this section in as wide a range of commu-
nities as is feasible, including communities with low pov-
erty rates. 
‘‘(ii) The Secretary at a minimum shall define a sepa-
rate market area for each— 
‘‘(I) metropolitan city, as such term is defined in 
section 102(a) of the Housing and Community Devel-
opment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302(a)), with more 
than 40,000 rental dwelling units; and 
‘‘(II) urban county or portion of an urban coun-
ty, as such term is defined in such section 102(a), lo-
cated outside the boundaries of any metropolitan city 
specified in subclause (I). 
‘‘(iii) The Secretary shall, at the request of one or more 
public housing agencies, establish a separate market area 
for part or all of the area under the jurisdiction of such 
agencies, if— 
‘‘(I) the requested market area contains at least 
20,000 rental dwelling units; 
‘‘(II) the areas contained in the requested market 
area are geographically contiguous and share similar 
housing market characteristics; 
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‘‘(III) adequate data are available to establish a 
reliable fair market rental for the requested market 
area, and for the remainder of the market area in 
which it is currently located; and 
‘‘(IV) establishing the requested market area 
would raise or lower the fair market rental by 10 per-
cent or more at the time the requested market area is 
established. 
For purposes of subclause (III), data for an area shall be 
considered adequate if they are sufficient to establish from 
time to time a reliable benchmark fair market rental based 
primarily on data from that area, whether or not those data 
need to be supplemented with data from a larger area for 
purposes of annual updates. 
‘‘(iv) The Secretary shall not reduce the fair market 
rental in a market area as a result of a change in the per-
centile of the distribution of market rents used to establish 
the fair market rental.’’. 
(b) PAYMENT STANDARD.—Subparagraph (B) of sec-
tion 8(o)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
U.S.C. 1437f(o)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting before the 
period at the end the following: ‘‘, except that no public 
housing agency shall be required as a result of a reduction 
in the fair market rental to reduce the payment standard 
applied to a family continuing to reside in a unit for which 
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