(a) The total budget authority available for any fiscal year shall be determined by adding any available unreserved budget authority from prior fiscal years to any newly appropriated budget authority for each housing program.

(b) Budget authority available for the fiscal year, except for that retained pursuant to § 791.407, shall be allocated to the field offices as follows:

(1) Budget authority shall be allocated as needed for uses that the Secretary determines are incapable of geographic allocation by formula, including—

(i) Amendments of existing contracts, renewal of assistance contracts, assistance to families that would otherwise lose assistance due to the decision of the project owner to prepay the project mortgage or not to renew the assistance contract, assistance to prevent displacement or to provide replacement housing in connection with the demolition or disposition of public housing, assistance in support of the property disposition and loan management functions of the Secretary;

(ii) Assistance which is—

(A) The subject of a line item identification in the HUD appropriations law, or in the table customarily included in the Conference Report on the appropriation for the Fiscal Year in which the funds are to be allocated;

(B) Reported in the Operating Plan submitted by HUD to the Committees on Appropriations; or

(C) Included in an authorization statute where the nature of the assistance, such as a prescribed set-aside, is, in the determination of the Secretary, incapable of geographic allocation by formula,

(iii) Assistance determined by the Secretary to be necessary in carrying out the following programs authorized by the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act: the Homeownership and Opportunity Through HOPE Act under title IV and HOPE for Elderly Independence under section 803.

(2) Budget authority remaining after carrying out allocation steps outlined in paragraph (b)(1) of this section shall be allocated in accordance with the housing needs percentages calculated under paragraphs (b), (c), (d), and (e) of § 791.402. HUD may allocate assistance under this paragraph in such a manner that each State shall receive not less than one-half of one percent of the amount of funds available for each program referred to in § 791.101(a) in each fiscal year. If the budget authority for a particular program is insufficient to fund feasible projects, or to promote meaningful competition, at the field office level, budget authority may be allocated among the ten geographic areas of the country. The funds so allocated will be assigned by Headquarters to the field office(s) with the highest ranked applications within the ten geographic areas.

(c) At least annually HUD will publish a notice in the Federal Register informing the public of all allocations under § 791.403(b)(2).

[61 FR 10849, Mar. 15, 1996, as amended at 64 FR 26640, May 14, 1999]