I. Objective

A. To improve the quality of affordable housing by targeting funds under Rural Housing Targeting Set Aside (RHTSA) to designated areas that have extremely high concentrations of poverty and substandard housing and have severe, unmet rural housing needs.

B. To provide for the eligibility of certain colonias for rural housing funds.

II. Background

The Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 (herein referred to as the “Act”) requires that Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 set aside section 502, 504, 514, 515, and 524 funds for assistance in targeted, underserved areas. An appropriate amount of section 521 new construction rental assistance (RA) is set aside for use with section 514 and 515 loan programs. Under the Act, certain colonias are now eligible for FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 housing assistance.

III. Colonias

A. Colonia is defined as any identifiable community that:

1. Is in the State of Arizona, California, New Mexico or Texas;

2. Is in the area of the United States within 150 miles of the border between the United States and Mexico, except that the term does not include any standard metropolitan statistical area that has a population exceeding 1 million;

3. Is designated by the State or county in which it is located as a colonia;

4. Is determined to be a colonia on the basis of objective criteria, including lack of potable water supply, lack of adequate sewage systems, and lack of decent, safe, and sanitary housing; and

5. Was in existence and generally recognized as a colonia before November 28, 1990.

B. Requests for housing assistance in colonias have priority as follows:

1. When the State did not obligate its allocation in one or more of its housing programs during the previous 2 fiscal years (FYs), priority will be given to requests for assistance, in the affected program(s), from regularly allocated funds, until an amount equal to 5 percent of the current FY program(s) allocation is obligated in colonias. This priority takes precedence over other processing priority methods.

2. When the State did obligate its allocation in one or more of its housing programs during the previous 2 FYs, priority will be given to requests for assistance, in the affected program(s), from RHTSA funds, until an amount equal to 5 percent of the current FY program(s) allocation is obligated in colonias. This priority takes precedence over other processing priority methods.

C. Colonias may access pooled RHTSA funds as provided in paragraph IV G of this exhibit.

IV. RHTSA

A. Amount of Set Aside. Set asides for RHTSA, from the current FY allocations, are established in attachment 1 of this exhibit (available in any FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 State Office).

B. Selection of Targeted Counties—1. Eligibility. Eligible counties met the following criteria: (1) 20 percent or more of the county population is at, or below, poverty level; (2) 10 percent or more of the occupied housing units are substandard; and (3) the average funds received on a per capita basis in the county, during the previous 5 FYs, were more than 40 percent below the State per capita average during the same period. Data from the most recent available Census was used for all three criteria, with criteria (2) and (3) based on the FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 rural area definition.

2. Selection. The Act requires that 100 of the most underserved counties be initially targeted for RHTSA funds. In establishing the 100 counties, those with 28 percent or more of their population at, or below, poverty level and 13 percent or more of their occupied housing units substandard, have preference. If less than 100 counties meet this criteria, the remaining counties meeting the criteria in paragraph IV B 1 of this exhibit will be ranked, based upon a total of their substandard housing and poverty level percentages. The highest-ranking counties are then selected until the list reaches 100. The remaining counties are eligible for pool funds only.

C. State RHTSA Levels. In the section 502, 504, and 515 programs, each State's RHTSA level will be based on its number of eligible counties, with each county receiving a pro rata share of the total funds available. In order to ensure that a meaningful amount of assistance is available to each State, minimum funding levels may be established. When minimum levels are established, they are set forth on Attachment 1 of this exhibit (available in any FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 State Office).

D. Use of Funds. To maximize the assistance to targeted counties, allocated program funds should be used in addition to RHTSA funds, where possible. The State Director has the discretion to determine the most effective delivery of RHTSA funds among the targeted counties within his/her jurisdiction. The 100 counties listed in attachment 2 of this exhibit (available in any FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 State Office) are eligible for RHTSA funding consideration immediately. Colonias are also eligible for RHTSA funds as described in paragraph III of this exhibit.

E. National Office RHTSA Reserve. A limited National Office reserve is available on an individual case basis when the State is unable to fund a request from its regular or RHTSA allocation. The amount of the reserve, and the date it can be accessed and any conditions thereof, if applicable, are contained in attachment 1 of this exhibit (available in any FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 State Office).

F. Requests for Funds and RA. All RHTSA funds are reserved in the National Office and requests for these funds and/or RA units must be submitted by the State Director, using the applicable format shown on attachment 4 or 5 of this exhibit (available in any FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 State Office). The State Director is responsible for notifying the Director of Single Family Housing Processing Division (SFHPD) or Multi-Family Housing Processing Division (MFHPD) of any RHTSA funds and RA units authorized, but not obligated, by RHTSA pooling date.

G. Pooling. Unused RHTSA funds and RA will be pooled. Pooling dates and any pertinent information thereof are available on attachment 1 of this exhibit (available in any FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 State Office). Pooled funds will be available on a first-come, first-served basis to all eligible colonias and all counties listed on attachments 2 and 3 of this exhibit (available in any FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 State Office). Pooled RHTSA funds will remain available until the year-end pooling date.

H.-I. [Reserved]

J. Requests for Assistance. Requests for assistance in targeted counties must meet all loan making requirements of the applicable program Instructions, except as modified for colonias in paragraph III of this exhibit. For section 515, States may:

1. Issue Form AD-622, “Notice of Preapplication Review Action,” up to 150 percent of the amount shown in attachment 1 of this exhibit (available in any FmHA or its successor agency under Public Law 103-354 State Office).

2. All AD-622s issued for applicants in targeted counties will be annotated, in Item 7, under “Other Remarks,” with the following: “Issuance of this AD-622 is contingent upon receiving funds from the Rural Housing Targeting Set Aside (RHTSA). Should RHTSA funds be unavailable, or the county in which this project will be located is no longer considered a targeted county, this AD-622 will no longer be valid. In these cases, the request for assistance will need to compete with other preapplications in non-targeted counties, based upon its priority point score.”

V. [Reserved]

[57 FR 3924, Feb. 3, 1992]