[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 17, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7748-7749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-3870]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Economic Research Service
Notice of Intent to Seek Approval to Collect Information
AGENCY: Economic Research Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.L.
104-13) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations at 5 CFR
part 1320 (60 FR 44978, August 29, 1995), this notice announces the
Economic Research Service's (ERS) intention to request approval for a
new information collection on multifamily rental housing funded through
USDA's Rural Rental Housing Program. This information will contribute
to a better understanding of how USDA housing programs help to provide
adequate and affordable rental housing for low-income residents in
rural areas.
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by April 23, 1998 to be
assured of consideration.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS: Contact Leslie Whitener, Food
Assistance, Poverty, and Well-Being Branch, Food and Rural Economics
Division, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Room S2079, 1800 M. St., NW, Washington, DC. 20036-5831, 202-694-5444.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Application for ERS collection of information on multifamily
rental housing funded through USDA's Rural Rental Housing Program.
Type of Request: Approval to collect information on multifamily
rental housing funded through USDA's Rural Rental Housing Program.
Abstract: The Economic Research Service has the responsibility to
provide social and economic intelligence on changing rural housing
needs in the United States to help assess the relationship between
Federal housing assistance policies and rural development. Research
activities focus on three major objectives: (1) Identification of
trends in rural housing availability, affordability, and adequacy which
underlie an understanding of rural housing needs; (2) assessment of the
use and effectiveness of Federal housing assistance programs in rural
areas, particularly as they relate to low-income residents; and (3)
investigation of the potential effects of Federal policy changes on
rural housing programs and housing needs in rural communities. Housing
has a major influence on the quality of life of rural residents, and is
an important focus of the Department's rural development efforts.
Research findings are provided to public and private decision-makers
for use in developing and evaluating policies and programs to insure
that adequate and affordable housing is available to low-income and
other rural residents.
USDA's Rural Rental Housing Section 515 Program provides affordable
rental housing to very low-, low-, and moderate-income rural families;
elderly residents; and persons with disabilities. The Program employs a
public-private partnership by providing loans to developers to
construct or renovate modest-cost rental complexes and cooperative
buildings in rural areas. These loans are direct, competitive mortgage
loans made to individuals, partnerships, for-profit corporations,
nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and others to provide
affordable multifamily rental housing in rural areas. The long-term,
low percentage loans provided by this Program allow the debt service on
the property to be sufficiently low to support below market rents
affordable to low-income tenants. Tenants pay basic rent or 30 percent
of adjusted income, whichever is greater. Those living in substandard
housing are given first priority for tenancy. Since 1963, the Program
had funded construction of 515,000 units in 26,000 rental housing
projects across the country. Appropriations for this Program total $150
million in fiscal year 1998.
While the Department maintains a national account tracking system
and a local project information system, information on the impact of
the Rural Rental Housing Program on the community and on the tenants
served by the Program is difficult to obtain on a national basis. The
data collection effort proposed here will provide a unique information
base by soliciting information from a sample of property managers who
oversee multifamily rental housing financed by USDA's Rural Rental
Housing Program. The survey will interview property managers to
ascertain general housing conditions within their projects,
neighborhood quality, access to services, and demographic, employment,
and income information on tenants. This information will help to fill a
serious gap in our understanding of the effects of rental housing
programs on low-income rural residents and their communities, and will
provide USDA and other policy makers with sound information to help
evaluate current programs and develop more effective rural housing
policies.
The Economic Research Service, working with Washington State
University's Social and Economic Sciences Research Center, will conduct
a telephone survey of property managers overseeing multifamily rental
housing funded through USDA's Section 515 Program. Property managers to
be interviewed will be selected from a simple random national sample of
current property managers, taken from USDA's Rural Development
administrative records. Survey data will be collected using Computer-
Assisted
[[Page 7749]]
Telephone Interviewing (CATI) techniques, which are more efficient and
less time consuming than traditional written interview techniques.
Responses are voluntary and confidential. Survey data will be used for
statistical purposes and reported only in aggregate or statistical
form.
Information to be obtained from property managers includes: rental
property characteristics, general conditions within the properties,
neighborhood quality, access to amenities and local services, property
managers' experiences with USDA's Rural Development staff, demographic,
employment, and income information on tenants, and tenant satisfaction.
No existing data sources, including USDA administrative data, U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development's Property Owners and
Managers Survey, or the Bureau of the Census' American Housing Survey,
provide the level of detail necessary to adequately explore these
issues for USDA's Rural Rental Housing Program. These data and the
research they will support are vital to the Department's ability to
assess the impact of its rural housing programs on rural residents and
their communities.
Estimate of Burden: Public reporting burden for this data
collection is estimated to average 15 minutes per completed interview,
including time for listening to instructions, gathering data needed,
and responding to questionnaire items.
Respondents: Property managers who currently oversee multifamily
rental housing funded under USDA's Rural Rental Housing Section 515
Program.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,000
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 250 hours
Information concerning the data collection can be obtained from
Leslie Whitener, Food Assistance, Poverty and Well-Being Branch, Food
and Rural Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Room S2079, 1800 M. St., NW, Washington, DC.
20036-5831, 202-694-5444.
Comments
Comments are invited on (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) the
accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information including the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden
on those who are to respond, such as through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques. Comments may be sent to Leslie Whitener, Food Assistance,
Poverty and Well-Being Branch, Food and Rural Economics Division,
Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Room S2079,
1800 M. St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20036-5831. All responses to this
notice will be summarized and included in the request for OMB approval.
All comments will also become a matter of public record.
Signed at Washington, D.C.
Betsey Kuhn,
Director, Food and Rural Economics Division.
[FR Doc. 98-3870 Filed 2-13-98; 8:45 am]
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