Court Opinion

ID: 9477432
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 06:23:22.382584+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:52.525640
License: Public Domain

LEVIN H. CAMPBELL, Chief Judge.
This is an appeal from a preliminary injunction entered by the district court which prevents the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) and Corcoran Management Company (“Corcoran”) from employing a controversial tenant selection scheme in the leasing of certain apartments at the Chad Brown public housing project in Rhode Island. This scheme, adopted by the project manager, Corcoran, and approved by HUD, seeks to provide for a broad economic mix of tenants by allowing certain higher income families to “skip” over “very low income” families that are senior to them on the waiting list. Antonia Paris and three other named plaintiffs are “very low income” families who purport to represent a class of the same.
I.
Chad Brown is a public housing project begun in 1943. It is a part of the Providence (Rhode Island) Housing Authority’s public housing system. By the late 1970s, Chad Brown had fallen into disrepair. Not only apartments but entire buildings were vacant and boarded up.
During the late 1970s or early 1980s, HUD itself assumed an active role in the management of Chad Brown, planning a multistage modernization program. In conjunction with the Providence Housing Authority, HUD hired Corcoran to take over the management of Chad Brown and to oversee its modernization.
The modernization program consisted of sequential renovations of groups of apartments. The renovation of the first 134 units was designated “Phase I.” In selecting families to reside in the Phase I apartments, Corcoran adopted criteria designed to ensure that the residents — all of whom were “lower income” for purposes of eligibility for public housing — had a broad range of incomes among themselves. Families eligible for residence at Chad Brown were divided into three groups according to income, and roughly one-third of each type of apartment in Phase I was earmarked for each of the three income groups.1
The Phase I apartments were further subdivided into Phase I.A, I.B, and so on. Phase I.A, consisting of 42 apartments, was completed in August 1986. These apartments were rented to families who were relocated from other Chad Brown apartments. In November 1986, renovations were completed on the 32 units in Phase I.B. The majority of these units were to be rented to new tenants.
The challenged preliminary injunction pertains to the 32 Phase I.B apartments. Corcoran maintains a waiting list for each type of apartment in Chad Brown. If Cor-coran had filled the Phase I.B apartments by taking families in the order in which *563they had appeared on the waiting lists, the income-mixing goals would not have been met. Accordingly, in a September 17,1986, letter to the tenant association’s chairperson, Corcoran stated that it would ask higher income families on other Providence Housing Authority waiting lists to apply for two-bedroom apartments at Chad Brown. The result of this intended procedure was to allow higher income families to “skip over” lower income families on the Chad Brown waiting lists.
In response to Corcoran’s stated “skipping” policy, the named plaintiffs brought the present action on October 6, 1986, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against both HUD and Corcoran. Plaintiffs claimed to represent all “very low income” families on the Chad Brown waiting lists. The complaint alleges that by adopting the income-mixing scheme, HUD and Corcoran have violated the United States Housing Act of 1937 (“Housing Act”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 1437 et seq. (1982 & Supp. III 1985), especially 42 U.S.C. § 1437n thereof; the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq. (1982); and the due process and equal protection clauses of the Constitution of the United States.
On January 14, 1987, the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island entered a memorandum and order allowing plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. The court’s ruling was based solely on the plaintiffs’ Housing Act claim, and it granted class-wide relief although no class had in fact been certified. The effect of the district court’s order was to enjoin preliminarily any future admissions to Chad Brown based on the income-mixing scheme.2
While this appeal was under consideration, one provision of the Housing Act relevant to this appeal was amended by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, Pub. L. No. 100-242, 101 Stat. 1815 (signed Feb. 5, 1988). Paris and HUD have submitted memoranda addressed to the effect of the new law, and we have considered these amendments in our review of the district court’s decision to enjoin the Chad Brown income-mixing scheme. See pages 573-74, infra.
This case comes after this court’s decision in Martinez v. Rhode Island Housing & Mortgage Finance Corp., 738 F.2d 21 (1st Cir.1984). We upheld in Martinez a preliminary injunction enjoining an income-mixing scheme in so-called “Section 8 housing.” The present case poses the question whether a like result should obtain here, in “public housing.” Because of key differences — in both the applicable statutory law and in HUD’s own regulations — we believe that Martinez is not controlling, and we vacate the district court's preliminary injunction.
II.
The Housing Act authorizes two types of federally assisted housing: “public housing” (the kind in issue here) and “section 8 housing” (the kind in the Martinez case, 738 F.2d 21). Public housing was authorized by the original Housing Act of 1937. Section 8 housing was created by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, Pub.L. No. 93-383, § 201(a), 88 Stat. 633, 662. Section 8 housing differs from public housing in several ways. Most important, section 8 housing is owned by private parties who enter into contracts with government authorities, while public housing is owned directly by Public Housing Authorities (“PHAs”). The two types of federally assisted housing are defined at different places within the United States Code. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 1437a-1437e, 1437g-1437m (1982 & Supp. III 1985) (public housing); id. § 1437f (section 8 housing). Separate regulations have been issued by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, who oversees both programs. See 24 C.F.R. §§ 912-999 (1987) (public housing); id. §§ 811-899 (section 8 housing).
Occupancy in both types of federally assisted housing is limited to “lower income families,” defined as “families whose in*564comes do not exceed 80 per centum of the median income for the area.” 42 U.S.C. § 1437a(b)(2) (Supp. Ill 1985). The class of lower income families is divided into two subclasses; low income families,3 whose incomes are from 80 percent to 50 percent of the median, and very low income families, whose incomes are below 50 percent of the median. Id.
Applying the terminology to this case, Paris claims to represent all very low income families on the Chad Brown waiting list. The district court found that the Chad Brown selection procedure, as applied, favors low income families over very low income families. Paris claims that this preference is contrary to law.
III.
In Martinez, 738 F.2d 21, we upheld a preliminary injunction striking down a housing corporation’s rule that no more than 35 percent of its section 8 assisted housing units could be rented to very low income families, leaving the rest for low income tenants. Central to our reasoning in Martinez was Congress’s recent adoption of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (“OBRA”),4 containing a provision, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1437n (1982 & Supp. III. 1985), that for the first time reserved the lion’s share of both public housing and section 8 housing, on a national basis, for very low (as opposed to low) income families. Clause (a) of section 1437n provides that “[n]ot more than 25 per centum5 of the dwelling units which were available for occupancy under [public housing and section 8] before October 1, 1981, and which will be leased on or after such effective date shall be available for leasing by lower income families other than very low income families.” Clause (b) provides that “[n]ot more than 5 per centum of the dwelling units which become available for occupancy under [public housing and section 8] on or after October 1, 1981, shall be available for leasing by lower income families other than very low income families.”
We noted in Martinez that the OBRA amendments had deleted a prior provision of law, relative to section 8 but not to public housing, that required only 30 percent of assisted families to be in the very low income category at the time of the initial renting of dwelling units. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(c)(7) (1976) (repealed). We also noted, as further signifying a change in congressional policy, that the conference report issued in 1981 at the time of OBRA’s adoption had stated as follows:
The conferees are also concerned that in carrying out the policy of creating a mix of families having a broad range of lower incomes in assisted housing that families whose incomes are between 50 and 80 percent of median not be given a priority for occupancy by virtue of their income.
738 F.2d at 25 n. 4 (citing H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 208, 97th Cong., 1st Sess. 695, reprinted in 1981 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 396, 1010, 1054).
In Martinez we balanced the above factors against any remaining indices that the law still allowed preferences for higher income tenants. One indication that the challenged scheme might still be proper was language in the purposes clause of section 8 that one of the purposes of the program is to promote “economically mixed housing.” 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(a). Martinez, 738 F.2d at 25. But we determined that this by itself did not go so far as to allow the challenged preference for higher income tenants given the OBRA amendments and history. Id.
Significantly, we refused to consider in Martinez — because it was specifically made inapplicable to section 8 housing — the income-mixing provision of section 1437d (42 U.S.C. § 1437d(c)(4)(A) (Supp. Ill *565(1985)). This statute, which we discuss below as being critical to the outcome of the present appeal, empowers the Secretary of HUD to prescribe public housing tenant selection criteria ensuring that a project includes families with broad income ranges.
We concluded in Martinez that, on balance, OBRA and its legislative history indicated congressional abandonment of section 8 preferences for higher income families. For this reason, the lower court had not abused its discretion in issuing a preliminary injunction. However, we noted our uneasiness over the fact that HUD still had on its books certain income-mixing regulations pertaining to section 8 housing carried over from the pre-OBRA period. These were technically still in force but, since HUD was in the process of developing new regulations to implement the 1981 amendments, the situation was unclear. We ended the Martinez opinion expressing our concern that HUD, the agency with expertise in the administration of section 8, was not a party; its views, we opined, seemed “essential.” Id. at 26. Accordingly, while in light of OBRA we could not say that the district court had abused its discretion in granting a preliminary injunction “for the present,” we directed the district court to seek HUD’s views and authorized it, in light of these, to modify or revoke the injunction as seemed appropriate. Id.6
IV.
We have summarized our Martinez opinion in detail because of its impact on the district court’s opinion before us. We now proceed to outline the reasoning in the latter.
The court below began by noting that section 1437n(a), added by OBRA, reserves 75 percent of units for very low income families in pre-1981 housing and that section 1437n(b) reserves 95 percent of units for such families in post-1981 housing. The district court concluded, citing to Martinez, that although the income-mixing provisions of the Housing Act were yet to be repealed, “the congressional preference for lower income [i.e., very low income] families in the OBRA and HURRA amendments is clear.” The court went on to say,
The Defendants cannot rely on the economic mix scheme of § 1437d(c)(4)(A)[7] which is at odds with current amendments.
The district court saw no reason why the legislative history of the OBRA amendment and the reasoning of the Martinez decision should apply to only one type of housing, section 8, and not to public housing also.
The district court rejected the argument that since the 75 percent nationwide requirement of very low income tenants in pre-October 1981 projects had already been exceeded, there was no restriction applicable! to Chad Brown under section 1437n(a). The court stated that the 75 percent goal was not just a national goal but had to be met on a project-by-project basis.
The district court further stated that the units in question were likely not pre-1981 housing (to which only a 75 percent very low income occupancy goal applied) but might well be post-1981 housing (to which a 95 percent very low income standard applied). While the units were originally built in 1943 and 1952, only 105 of 350 had been modernized and were capable of occupancy by October 1, 1981, the cut-off date.
The district court concluded that,
A preference for implementing an economic mix scheme is in direct conflict with the legislative intent of the OBRA amendment, § 1437n.
*566V.
In deciding whether the district court correctly issued a preliminary injunction, we shall focus on whether Paris “exhibited a likelihood of success on the merits.” Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts v. Bellotti, 641 F.2d 1006, 1009 (1st Cir.1981). This, of course, is but one of several relevant factors, but since it is dispositive here, we need not consider the others.
We are unable to see this case as a mere replay of Martinez. Unlike the income-mixing scheme there, the present one is authorized by current, post-OBRA, HUD regulations — regulations adopted pursuant to a very specific congressional grant of authority to the Secretary of HUD to regulate tenant selection and income-mixing criteria in public housing. 42 U.S.C. § 1437d(c)(4)(A). No such specific grant of authority existed relative to the section 8 statute considered in Martinez, nor were there, at the time, any up-to-date HUD regulations authorizing what was done. There were, to be sure, some relevant preOBRA regulations promulgated under a very general grant, but we doubted that these deserved great weight given the vast changes wrought by OBRA in respect to enlarged quotas for very low income tenants and OBRA’s legislative history. As explained in Martinez, moreover, we lacked at that time not only any postOBRA HUD regulations but even the views of HUD, the agency charged with administration of the statute. Here we have both.
A. HUD’S REGULATORY AUTHORITY
The most critical relevant difference between the section 8 statute considered in Martinez and the present one governing public housing is the income mixing provision in section 6(c)(4)(A) of the Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1437d(c)(4)(A). Adopted in 1974, this provision was made specifically inapplicable to section 8. 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(h) (1982); see Martinez, 738 F.2d at 25. It is fully applicable, however, to public housing and has survived the 1981 OBRA amendments. It provides that every annual contributions grant to public housing agencies shall provide that,
(4) the public housing agency shall comply with such procedures and requirements as the Secretary may prescribe to assure that sound management practices will be followed in the operation of the project, including requirements pertaining to—
(A) except for projects or portions of projects specifically designated for elderly families with respect to which the Secretary has determined that application of this clause would result in excessive delays in meeting the housing needs of such families, the establishment of tenant selection criteria which gives [sic] preference to families which occupy substandard housing or are involuntarily displaced at the time they are seeking assistance under this chapter or are paying more than 50 per centum of family income for rent[8] and which is designed to assure that, within a reasonable period of time, the project will include families with a broad range of incomes and will avoid concentrations of low-income and deprived families with serious social problems, but this shall not permit maintenance of vacancies to await higher income tenants where lower income tenants are available....
Housing Act § 6(c)(4), 42 U.S.C. § 1437d(c)(4) (Supp. Ill 1985) (emphasis added.)
The current HUD regulations issued pursuant to this statute and pertinent to income mixing in public housing are codified at 24 C.F.R. § 960.204-.205 (1987). Section 960.204 sets forth the general policies which PHAs should follow in the adoption of admission criteria for public housing projects.
*567Such policies and procedures shall be designed to: ... (3) subject to the requirements and limitations of Part 913[9] of this chapter, attain, within a reasonable period of time, a tenant body in each project composed of families with a broad range of incomes and rent-paying ability that is generally representative of the range of incomes of lower income families in the PHA’s area of operation, as defined in state law.
Id. § 960.204(b). Section 960.205 contains the more specific “Standards for PHA tenant selection criteria.”
Subject to the requirements and limitations of Part 913 of this chapter, the criteria to be established [by the public housing authority (PHA)] shall be reasonably related to achieving the basic objective of attaining, within a reasonable period of time, a tenant body in each project composed of families with a broad range of income, generally representative of the range of income, and rent paying ability of lower income families in the PHAs area of operation, as defined in state law. To accomplish the objective PHAs shall:
(8) Utilizing the above information, develop criteria, by preference or otherwise, which will be reasonably calculated to attain the basic objective. The criteria developed shall be sufficiently flexible to assure administrative feasibility. A dwelling unit should not be allowed to remain vacant for the purpose of awaiting application by a family falling within the appropriate range.
Id. § 960.205(c) (emphasis added). The regulations say that the income-mixing criteria may be implemented “by preference or otherwise.” The Chad Brown scheme can be described as a limited preference for low income families over very low income families designed to achieve a tenant body with a broad income range. Thus, as HUD itself believes, the Chad Brown scheme falls squarely within this regulation.
It is important to observe that the HUD regulations here are of the kind which carry the force of law and to which courts must ordinarily defer. That is so because Congress delegated to the Secretary express authority to set “procedures and requirements” establishing “tenant selection criteria ... designed to assure that ... the project will include families with a broad range of incomes and will avoid concentrations of low-income and deprived families....” 42 U.S.C. § 1437d(c)(4)(A). Where Congress expressly delegates to the Secretary the power to prescribe standards,
Congress entrusts to the Secretary, rather than to the courts, the primary responsibility for interpreting the statutory term. In exercising that responsibility, the Secretary adopts regulations with legislative effect. A reviewing court is not free to set aside those regulations simply because it would have interpreted the statute in a different manner.
Batterton v. Francis, 432 U.S. 416, 425, 97 S.Ct. 2399, 2405, 53 L.Ed.2d 448 (1977). Accord Schweiker v. Gray Panthers, 453 U.S. 34, 43-44, 101 S.Ct. 2633, 2639-40, 69 L.Ed.2d 460 (1981). Compare Rowan Companies v. United States, 452 U.S. 247, 253, 101 S.Ct. 2288, 2293, 68 L.Ed.2d 814 (1981). See also Mayburg v. Secretary of Health & Human Services, 740 F.2d 100, 106 (1st Cir.1984) (Breyer, J.) (“If Congress expressly delegates a law-declaring function to the agency, of course, courts must respect that delegation.”).
Only if the Secretary’s regulations exceed the statutory grant or are arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion, may they be set aside. Batterton v. Francis, 432 U.S. at 426, 97 S.Ct. at 2406; Schweiker v. Gray Panthers, 453 U.S. at 44, 101 S.Ct. at 2640. We see no such problems here.
B. THE OBRA AMENDMENTS ARE CONSISTENT WITH SECTION 1437d(c)(4)(A).
The OBRA amendments did not expressly amend or revoke 42 U.S.C. *568§ 1437d(c)(4)(A), leaving it in effect to this day. While, as discussed in Martinez, the increased quotas for very low income tenants set out in section 1437n constrain the amount of income mixing that can be done, section 1437d(c)(4)(A) is not rendered inoperable. The district court took a contrary view, primarily because it believed that the limitations in section 1437n were required to be applied on a project-by-project basis. However, both the statutory language and the legislative history indicate that the quotas express nationwide limits only.
The Conferees, by establishing national percentage limitations, do not intend that each lower income housing project or each individual program be limited to the specific percentage. The HUD Secretary has the discretion to set differing percentages for separate programs (such as public housing, section 8 new-family, section 8 new-elderly, or section 8 existing), which, when aggregated, will comply with the overall national limitation.
H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 208, 97th Cong., 1st Sess. 689, reprinted in 1981 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1010, 1048.10
HUD, when first imposing implementing regulations, said,
For projects that were initially available for occupancy before October 1, 1981, this rule imposes no project-by-project restriction because the Department believes the statutory limit ... can be met without the imposition of these restrictions.
49 Fed.Reg. 21,476, 21,481 (May 21, 1984). The current regulations under section 1437d(c)(4)(A) are expressly made “subject to the [nationwide] requirements and limitations of Part 913” (codifying section 1437n limitations). 24 C.F.R. § 960.204-.205 (1987). HUD insists that the present Chad Brown income-mixing scheme is fully compatible with section 1437n(a) limitations construed on a nationwide basis, and we find nothing in the record to contradict this.11 Nor can we say that it is irrational to apply a provision of this type to some but not all projects (if such is the case). Chad Brown’s past failure might, for example, justify the conclusion that income mixing would be a beneficial stabilizing influence on the project. Whatever the reasons, there is nothing to indicate the challenged provision conflicts in this particular instance with section 1437n.
The Supreme Court has said,
In the absence of some affirmative showing of an intention to repeal, the only permissible justification for a repeal by implication is when the earlier and later statutes are irreconcilable.
Morton v. Mancari, 417 U.S. 535, 550, 94 S.Ct. 2474, 2482, 41 L.Ed.2d 290 (1974). See St. Martin Evangelical Lutheran Church v. South Dakota, 451 U.S. 772, 778, 101 S.Ct. 2142, 2146, 68 L.Ed.2d 612 (1981). Here there is no such irreconcilable conflict between section 1437d(c)(4)(A) and the subsequently enacted section 1437n as *569would lead us to infer a repeal of the former by implication.12
C. THE CONFERENCE REPORT DISAPPROVING INCOME PREFERENCE CANNOT OVERRIDE THE STATUTE.
There remains, however, a troubling question as to whether language in the conference report issued in 1981, when the OBRA amendments including section 1437n were adopted, should be considered as an “affirmative showing of an intention [by Congress] to repeal” the income mixing provision in section 1437d(c)(4)(A). Man-can, 417 U.S. at 550, 94 S.Ct. at 2482. The conference report, as we have previously noted, includes the following statement:
The conferees are also concerned that in carrying out the policy of creating a mix of families having a broad range of lower incomes in assisted housing that families whose incomes are between 50 and 80 percent of median not be given a priority for occupancy by virtue of their income.
H.R.Conf.Rep. No. 208, 97th Cong., 1st Sess. at 695, 1981 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1054. Although what it means to “give a priority” is somewhat ambiguous, we assume arguendo that the Chad Brown practice of sometimes skipping over very low income families on the waiting list in favor of higher income tenants falls within this language.
The conference report must, however, be viewed in its legislative context. The Senate version of OBRA had a provision which would have deleted the very provision here in issue. See S. 1377, 97th Cong., 1st Sess. § 322-4(c) (1981) (deleting the income-mixing provision in Housing Act § 6(c)(4)(A)). The House bill contained no such provision, and the Conference Committee declined to adopt the Senate version. Instead the quoted conference report language appeared.
At this point we come to something of a roadblock. On the face of the statute, and under the authorized regulations, the income-mixing program adopted by Corcoran is lawful. However, the conference report to the OBRA amendments expresses disapproval of the practice embodied in the program. On the one hand, “[w]hen we find the terms of the statute unambiguous, judicial inquiry is complete, except in rare and exceptional circumstances.” Rubin v. United States, 449 U.S. 424, 430, 101 S.Ct. 698, 701, 66 L.Ed.2d 633 (1981). A conference report, moreover, is just that — a report, not a legislative act requiring the votes of the requisite number of legislators. Still, the statement of a conference committee is not to be taken lightly. Because a conference committee acts on behalf of both houses of Congress, many courts have found its views to be a significant indicator of congressional intent. See, e.g., Davis v. Lukhard, 788 F.2d 973, 981 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 107 S.Ct. 231, 93 L.Ed.2d 157 (1986); Sierra Club v. Clark, 755 F.2d 608, 615 (8th Cir.1985); Monterey Coal Co. v. Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission, 743 F.2d 589, 598 (7th Cir.1984).
Our resolution of this dilemma is suggested by the D.C. Circuit’s recent decision in International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union No. 474 v. NLRB, 814 F.2d 697 (D.C.Cir.1987).13
*570In that case, the D.C. Circuit overturned the NLRB’s determination that language in certain committee reports required the NLRB to modify a statutory standard. The court explained that “[wjhile a committee report may ordinarily be used to interpret unclear language contained in a statute, a committee report cannot serve as an independent statutory source having the force of law.” Id. at 712 (emphasis in original; footnote omitted). Judge Buckley, concurring, stated that the language in the committee reports “served a political rather than legal purpose.” Id. at 717 (Buckley, J., concurring). Although the court was not bound by the congressional statement in the committee reports,
[t]his does not mean that the agreement to include the report language was an empty gesture. To the contrary, there can be little doubt that the two committees expected the Board to pay attention to their directive — not because it had the force of law, but because agencies are not given to ignoring the commands of potentates who control their budgets and oversee their operations. As counsel for one agency recently acknowledged in oral argument before this court, while an instruction in an oversight committee’s report did not bind the agency legally, it did so “as a practical matter.” To underscore his point, he added: “[W]e are not talking law school enforcement, legal textbook arguments; we’re talking political reality here.”
This political reality is well understood by professionals. Thus the inclusion of the admonition in the committee reports could be expected to provide the margin of assurance required to secure the support of at least some of the legislators and lobbyists who were concerned over the prospect of proliferating bargaining units.
[This interpretation] suggests an endemic interplay, in Congress, of political and legislative considerations that makes it necessary for judges to exercise extreme caution before concluding that a statement made in floor debate, or at a hearing, or printed in a committee document may be taken as statutory gospel. Otherwise, they run the risk of reading authentic insight into remarks intended to serve quite different purposes.
Id. at 716-17 (citations omitted).
We find the reasoning of both the panel and concurrence in Electrical Workers to be persuasive in this case. To hold that the Chad Brown income-mixing program violated the Housing Act would allow the conference report to serve as an “independent statutory source having the force of law.” We decline to give such weight to this language, especially when the same conference committee declined to adopt a provision which could have removed the Secretary’s authority to approve the Chad Brown program. Cf. NLRB v. Wentworth Institute, 515 F.2d 550, 555 (1st Cir.1975) (“Moreover, a very possible, perhaps the most obvious, interpretation of the rejection of the House exclusion would be that Congress meant to include nonprofit organizations. It is, in any event, doubtful practice to exalt isolated glosses above the statutory text.”).
We add that the difficulties both in Martinez and in this case plainly stem from an ongoing struggle in Congress as between granting priority to those families with the lowest incomes and providing for a mix of incomes. Section 1437d(c)(4)(A), reflecting a mixed-income policy, was adopted in 1974 with these words:
Experience has demonstrated that a cross-section of occupancy is an essential ingredient in creating economically viable housing as well as a healthy social environment. It is recognized by the Committee that existing public housing in many of our largest cities has become a concentration of very poor families and often predominantly of families receiving public assistance.
*571S.Rep. No. 693, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. 40, reprinted in 1974 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 4273, 4311.14
Seven years later the legislative backers of OBRA obviously saw matters differently. But while OBRA represented a victory for those who felt that preference should go to the very poor, it was not a total victory. Those interested in placing higher income, but still poor tenants in public housing were able to fight off deletion of the portion of section 1437d(c)(4)(A) which mirrored the income-mixing policy. That provision thus still carries the force of law, as the conference report does not. Moreover, the measure adopted in 1983 increasing to 25 percent the limits on upper income occupancy in pre-October 1, 1981 housing shows that legislators who favored income mixing still had influence. This amendment appears to have been a compromise following passage by the House of Representatives of a bill which would have revoked OBRA’s strict limits on low income (as opposed to very low income) occupancy. H.R. 1, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. § 212 (1983) (passed by House of Representatives, 129 Cong.Rec. H5097 (July 13, 1983)). The House bill was never enacted into law, but its passage in the House indicates considerable support for that position. The sponsors of the proposed legislation believed that the supporters of OBRA were wrong in cutting back on the availability of public housing for moderate income families. Thus the Report of the House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs stated,
The families who would be displaced as a result of the reduced income eligibility criteria — principally the working poor— provide the backbone of neighborhood stabilization efforts, and help to promote the economic viability of PHAs.
H.R.Rep. No. 123, 98th Cong., 1st Sess. 31 (1983); see generally id. at 3.
This legislative division helps explain why the current housing law shows signs of schizophrenia on the issue before us. At the same time it reinforces our view that confusion, not greater clarity, will result if we seek the intent of Congress beyond the corners of the enacted statute. While the OBRA conference report may serve important subsidiary functions, it cannot override or modify the statute itself. Neither can it suffice to manifest Congress’s affirmative intent to repeal a policy and a grant of regulatory authority set out in a statute. We accordingly hold that the district court abused its discretion when it enjoined an income-mixing scheme adopted in conformity to a HUD regulation lawfully promulgated pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1437d(c)(4)(A).15
*572D. PLAINTIFFS’ FURTHER ARGUMENTS
There are a few remaining issues to be addressed. Paris claims that even before the OBRA amendments Congress disapproved of preferential skipping for low income families. Paris lacks support for this contention — appellee cites to no provision in the pre-OBRA Housing Act which prevents the Secretary from implementing an income-mixing policy through a “skipping” procedure. Instead, Paris advances weak arguments based oñ case law and legislative history. Appellee cites three cases,16 but all of these concern the Housing Act as it existed prior to 1974 — before Congress had enacted the income-mixing provision. In fact, the one federal judge who has addressed the issue of income mixing under the post-1974 Housing Act stated that a program similar to the Chad Brown program was allowed under the Act. See Fletcher v. Housing Authority (“Fletcher II”), 525 F.2d 532, 535 (6th Cir.1975) (Edwards, J., dissenting).17 Paris also looks to two phrases in the legislative history of the income-mixing provision in section 6(c)(4)(A). As discussed in footnote 14 above, we do not find that these statements express disapproval of income-mixing schemes which employ “skipping.”18
*573Paris also argues that we should disallow a preference for low income families so as “to avoid a collision” with the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3608(e)(5) (1982). See generally NAACP v. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development, 817 F.2d 149, 154-57 (1st Cir.1987) (rejecting HUD’s limited interpretation of its duty to further the policies of the Fair Housing Act). However, Paris has not pointed to anything in the current record which presents such a conflict. The injunction cannot be upheld on the basis of a conflict which, at this stage of the proceeding, is entirely hypothetical.
Finally, Paris cites statements in the legislative history of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, Pub. L. No. 100-242,101 Stat. 1815 (1988), which express strong disapproval of skipping.19 Our reasoning that the legislative history of the OBRA amendments cannot amend Housing Act § 6(c)(4)(A), 42 U.S.C. § 1437d(c)(4)(A), applies with even greater force to this legislative history. Unlike the OBRA amendments, the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 in no way reduced the level of income mixing in public housing. In fact, the one amendment relevant to this appeal increases the amount of income mixing in public housing. In implementing the five percent limit on low income family occupancy in post-1981 housing, see 42 U.S.C. § 1437n(b), HUD had promulgated very restrictive regulations on the admission of low income families. See 24 C.F.R. §§ 813.105; 913.105 (1987). The new amendments are apparently aimed at ensuring that low income families remain in post-1981 federally assisted housing.
In developing admission procedures implementing subsection (b) [of 42 U.S.C. § 1437n], the Secretary may not totally prohibit admission of lower income families other than very low income families, and shall establish, as appropriate, differing percentage limitations on admission of lower income families in separate assisted housing programs that, when aggregated, will achieve the overall percentage limitation in subsection (b).
Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, § 103(a) (to be codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1437n(c)). In addition, the new law provides exceptions to the strict percentage limits of section 1437n(b) for certain section 8 housing and for Indian public housing agencies. Id. § 103(b) (to be codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1437n(d)). These new provisions cannot be construed to reduce the Secretary’s authority to implement income-mixing procedures. Thus the language in the committee reports expressing disapproval of HUD’s current income-mixing policy is only relevant insofar as it sheds light on *574the intent of the Congress which, 13 years before, originally enacted Housing Act § 6(c)(4)(A). As a general matter, “the views of a subsequent Congress form a hazardous basis for inferring the intent of an earlier one.” Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 447 U.S. 102, 117, 100 S.Ct. 2051, 2061, 64 L.Ed. 2d 766 (1980) (citation omitted). See also Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans, 441 U.S. 750, 758, 99 S.Ct. 2066, 2072, 60 L.Ed.2d 609 (1979). Given the series of prior congressional disputes over this very same issue, we are not persuaded that the language in the committee reports of the 100th Congress has any impact on the proper interpretation of Housing Act § 6(c)(4)(A).
Instead, Congress’s latest actions with respect to income mixing merely reaffirms the lesson gleaned from the legislative history of OBRA: whether to pursue the goal of income mixing, even if this forces very low income families to remain on waiting lists, is a difficult, even agonizing question of public housing policy. Since we have found that Congress has explicitly delegated this question to HUD, we must abide by HUD’s decision unless it is arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion.
VI. CONCLUSION
In sum, we find that the Chad Brown income-mixing procedure meets the requirements of the HUD regulations considered in this opinion and that these regulations are within the authority granted to the Secretary of HUD under 42 U.S.C. § 1437d(c)(4)(A). Since in granting the injunction the district court relied on its ruling that the income-mixing procedure violated the Housing act,20 the preliminary injunction must be vacated. While the decision to grant or deny a preliminary injunction is reversible only for an abuse of discretion, an incorrect finding of law in determining the likelihood of success on the merits is not within the district court’s discretion. Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts v. Bellotti, 641 F.2d 1006, 1009 (1st Cir.1981). See also Thom-burgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 476 U.S. 747, 106 S.Ct. 2169, 2177, 90 L.Ed.2d 779 (1986).

The order of the district court is vacated.

. Eligible families were divided into the following three classes: very low income, low income, and moderate income. These classifications have little relation to the statutory classification scheme discussed below; all families qualified as “lower income" under the Housing Act. The 134 apartments in Phase I were assigned as follows:
Two Bedrooms (56) Three Bedrooms (73) Four Bedrooms (5)
Very Low - 22 Very Low - 24 Very Low - 1
Low - 23 Low - 26 Low - 2
Moderate - 11 Moderate - 23 Moderate - 2

. Upon stipulation of the parties, the district court allowed Corcoran to lease eight Phase I.B apartments to families who had been relocated from other Chad Brown apartments.

. This term is used here for convenience. The statute labels these families "lower income families other than very low-income families.” See, e.g., 42 U.S.C. § 1437n.

. Pub.L. No. 97-35, §§ 321-3291, 95 Stat. 357, 398-412 (1981).

.When enacted in 1981, the percentage was 10 percent. This was changed by Congress to 25 percent in 1983.

. We understand that because the Martinez litigation was settled soon after, the directed dialogue with HUD never occurred. However, the regulations subsequently adopted by HUD no longer authorize preferences for higher income groups in section 8 housing. See 49 Fed.Reg. 19,926, 19947 (May 10, 1984) (final rule); 47 Fed.Reg. 57,954, 57,960, 57,969 (Dec. 29, 1982) (proposed rule) The Martinez result is accordingly consonant with HUD’s current position. As discussed below, however, HUD has taken a different view regarding public housing.

7. To reiterate, section 1437d(c)(4)(A) authorizes the Secretary to prescribe income-mixing procedures for public housing. Infra at 566.

8. Paris does not claim that the purported class is comprised of these three types of families to which the statute gives a preference.

9. In Part 913 HUD has codified the regulations which implement the section 1437n limits on low income family occupancy in public housing.

. In Gholston v. Housing Authority, 818 F.2d 776 (1987), a panel of the Eleventh Circuit recently stated that every PHA must comply with the limits in section 1437n. Id. at 779. We find this assertion unpersuasive for the following reasons: (1) the court's interpretation of section 1437n was adopted without discussion, and was apparently not contested by the parties; (2) HUD did not participate in Gholston, and thus the court did not have the benefit of HUD’s interpretation of the statute; and (3) the Ghol-ston court makes no reference to the above-quoted explanation in the Conference Report.

. The district court suggested that at least some of the apartments in question, although originally constructed well before 1981, are not pre-Oc-tober 1, 1981, housing but should be viewed as "dwelling units which become available for occupancy” after that date since they were not renovated until then. If so, the nationwide quota for higher income tenants would drop from 25 percent to 5 percent. 42 U.S.C. § 1437n(b). HUD responds by relying upon its own regulations which, it says, both demonstrate to the contrary and deserve deference. 24 C.F.R. §§ 913.104(b); 913.105. We do not reach this issue since no specific evidence has been called to our attention demonstrating that the scheme in question would violate either aspect of the statute as construed on a national basis. See also Housing and Community Development Act of 1987, § 103(a) (to be codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1437n(c)) (instructing the Secretary that the section 1437n(b) limits apply on an aggregate basis).

. Paris argues that to uphold the injunction we need not find that the income-mixing provision is repealed by implication; rather we need only hold that the OBRA amendments limited the Secretary’s discretion to choose the method by which income mixing is achieved. This is a distinction without a difference. The result of Paris’s position would be a revocation of some of the authority granted to the Secretary in section 1437d(c)(4)(A). Furthermore, HUD states that because of the disproportionate number of very low income families on public housing waiting lists, skipping is required to achieve income mixing "within a reasonable period of time.” 42 U.S.C. § 1437d(c)(4)(A).

. HUD argues that the present case is controlled by Oscar Mayer & Co. v. Evans, 441 U.S. 750, 758, 99 S.Ct. 2066, 2072, 60 L.Ed.2d 609 (1979), which holds that the legislative history to an amendment may not be construed to retroactively amend existing law. Oscar Mayer, however, only addressed a situation where the amendments themselves were not related to the change in existing law suggested by the amendment’s legislative history. See id. at 758 n. 5, 99 S.Ct. at 2072 n. 5. In this case, section 1437n is related to section 6(c)(4)(A) of the Housing Act. By imposing aggregate limits on the number of low income families in public housing, the amount of mixing between low income families *570and very low income families is unquestionably reduced. The question with which we are presented is whether Congress wanted to further restrict income mixing between these income classes by forbidding a preference in a given project which disadvantages the poorer class.

. Paris argues that language from this same paragraph in the 1974 Senate Report can be read to show congressional disapproval of the Chad Brown "skipping" policy. First, Paris cites a portion of the following sentence:
While it is expected that public housing agencies will continue to give particular attention and priority to very low income families, the Committee expects that in the long run we would have more housing developments which are not occupied solely by the very poor, but by a cross section of lower income households, representing a variety of household types.
S.Rep. No. 693, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. at 40, 1974 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 4311, (portion quoted by Paris emphasized). In the context of the discussion, we do not find that this language shows a strong disapproval for the Chad Brown income-mixing scheme. Second, Paris quotes the following language: "However, the Committee does not approve the imposition of occupancy requirements which have the effect of denying admission to any family on the basis that its income is too low.” Id. This statement does not mention “skipping”: it refers to admission criteria which act as an absolute bar to certain classes of families. HUD has, in fact, forbidden admission policies or procedures which "automatically deny admission to a particular group or category of otherwise eligible applicants.” 24 C.F.R. § 960.204(c)(1) (1987). See also Gholston v. Housing Authority, 818 F.2d 776, 781-83 (11th Cir.1987). Furthermore, to the extent (if any) these statements show some congressional disapproval of a skipping policy, they do not outweigh Congress’s explicit grant of authority in section 1437d(c)(4)(A).

. In an amended complaint, Paris claims that this revision of the public housing regulations violates the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq., and that HUD should be bound to follow the rule promulgated in the May 1984 final regulations. The complaint was amended after the district court held a hearing on the preliminary injunction, and the district court did not mention this new ground in its memorandum and order granting the injunction. Therefore, we do not address this issue *572and specifically leave open the question of the lawfulness of the HUD regulations in this regard.

. Fletcher v. Housing Authority, 491 F.2d 793 (6th Cir.), vacated and remanded, 419 U.S. 812, 95 S.Ct. 27, 42 L.Ed.2d 39 (1974); Crawford v. Metropolitan Development & Housing Agency, 415 F.Supp. 41 (M.D.Tenn.1976); Colon v. Tompkins Square Neighbors, Inc., 294 F.Supp. 134 (S.D.N.Y.1968).

. In Fletcher v. Housing Authority ("Fletcher I"), 491 F.2d 793 (6th Cir.1974), the court held that an income-mixing scheme violated the Housing Act. The court explained that "HUD will have to win Congressional approval before it may again try to implement such a preference for more affluent applicants.” Id. at 807. Fletcher I was vacated and remanded for reconsideration in light of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, Pub.L. No. 93-383, § 201, 88 Stat. 633, 653, which first enacted the income-mixing provision in section 6(c)(4)(A) of the Housing Act. See 419 U.S. at 812, 95 S.Ct. at 27. On remand, two members of the panel decided that the 1974 amendments did not have retroactive effect, and reinstated the judgment in Fletcher I. Fletcher II, 525 F.2d at 535. In dissent, Judge Edwards did examine the new law, and found that the 1974 amendments were "designed explicitly to command the tenant selection criteria” at issue in the case. Fletcher II, 525 F.2d at 538.

. One of these statements serves as the basis for our dissenting colleague’s contention that the injunction should be upheld. With all respect, we find his contention far-fetched. In our view, skipping was fairly clearly allowed under Housing Act § 6(c)(4)(A). See note 14, supra. Subsequent amendments to Housing Act § 6(c)(4)(A) indicate that skipping is allowed under that provision as originally enacted, or at least that Congress has acquiesced to HUD’s interpretation. (HUD has always believed that skipping was lawful under Housing Act § 6(c)(4)(A) as passed in 1974. See 40 Fed.Reg. 33,445, 33,447 (Aug. 8, 1975) (first promulgating 24 C.F.R. § 860.205(c)(8), which allows income mixing to be attained "by preference or otherwise”). Although, as the dissent points out, HUD at one point seemed to believe that OBRA revoked that authority, the effect of OBRA is a different question, fully addressed in the body of the opinion.) On three different occasions, Congress has amended Housing Act § 6(c)(4)(A) to excuse certain classes of families from the burden imposed by income-mixing procedures. See Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1979, § 206, Pub.L. No. 96-153, 93 Stat. 1101, 1108 (families which occupy substandard housing or are involuntarily displaced); Housing and Community Development Act of 1980, § 201(e), Pub.L. No. 96-399, 94 Stat. 1614, 1625 (elderly families who are applying to projects or portions of projects set aside for the elderly); Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1984, § 203(a), Pub.L. No. 98-181, 97 Stat. 1153, 1178 (1983) (families paying more than 50 percent of family income for rent). The 1980 amendment explicitly adverts to the fact that income mixing may result in delayed admission. See 42 U.S.C. § 1437d(c)(4)(A) (relieving elderly families from the effects of income mixing if the "Secretary has determined that application of this clause would result in excessive delays”). If, as the dissent believes, Congress disagreed with the Secretary’s interpretation that skipping was a lawful method to achieve income mixing, in enacting any one of these laws (as well as OBRA) Congress could have simply refuted the Secretary’s interpretation. Instead, Congress has chosen to relieve only certain very low income families from the burden on income mixing.
Furthermore, neither the statute nor the 1974 legislative history makes any reference to skipping. In interpreting the 1974 Senate Report, the dissent assumes that in the context of a paragraph addressed to income mixing, "denying admission” must mean "skipping.” We did *573not reach that conclusion on our first reading (nor did Paris so argue in his brief), and the dissent’s argument does not convince us. We see no reason why "denying admission” must mean "skipping.” We also decline to follow the dissent’s tortuous path in interpreting the phrase "effect of denying admission”; legislative history simply does not bear such close reading. Finally, even if the statement supports an arguable interpretation that Housing Act § 6(c)(4)(A) prohibited skipping, the interpretation is by no means clear, and the dissent admits as much. It is therefore improper for a reviewing court to set aside legislative regulations "simply because it would have interpreted the statute in a different manner.” Batterton, 432 U.S. at 425, 97 S.Ct. at 2405.
In sum, we believe that skipping was rather clearly lawful under Housing Act § 6(c)(4)(A) as originally enacted.

. S.Rep. No. 21, 100th Cong., 1st Sess. 16 (1987) states
The Committee fully expects that public housing agencies and other owners will make reasonable efforts to find potential tenants with very low incomes and will not by-pass prospective tenants with very low incomes in order to serve those with higher incomes if eligible households with very low incomes are awaiting admission.
H.R.Rep. No. 122, 100th Cong., 1st Sess. 12-13 (1987), 1987 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 3317, 3328, 3329, states
However, the Committee is sensitive to the plight of people who are on long waiting lists for public and other HUD-assisted housing and recognizes that it is fundamentally unfair to skip over applicants with lower incomes who have been on the waiting list for a longer period of time in order to admit higher-income families who have applied more recently. The Committee fully expects that PHAs and other landlords of any HUD-subsidized housing will not skip over families with lower incomes who are waiting to be admitted. The Committee expects that, in implementing this provision, HUD will prohibit PHAs and other landlords from engaging in such unfair practices.

. We express no opinion on the additional grounds for relief claimed in Paris's complaint and amended complaint, nor on the propriety and effect of the district court’s granting of class-wide relief prior to class certification.