Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 112 Part 3.djvu/691

 PUBLIC LAW 105-276—OCT. 21, 1998 112 STAT. 2521 (4) the Federal method of overseeing every aspect of public housing by detailed and complex statutes and regulations has • aggravated the problem and has placed excessive administrative burdens on public housing agencies; and (5) the interests of low-income persons, and the public interest, will best be served by a reformed public housing program that— (A) consolidates many public housing programs into programs for the operation and capital needs of public housing; (B) streamlines program requirements; (C) vests in public housing agencies that perform well the maximum feasible authority, discretion, and control with appropriate accountability to public housing residents, localities, and the general public; and (D) rewards employment and economic self-sufficiency of public housing residents. (b) PURPOSES. —The purpose of this title is to promote homes that are affordable to low-income families in safe and healthy environments, and thereby contribute to the supply of affordable / housing, by— (1) deregulating and decontrolling public housing agencies, thereby enabling them to perform as property and asset managers; (2) providing for more flexible use of Federal assistance to public housing agencies, allowing the authorities to leverage and combine assistance amounts with amounts obtained from other sources; (3) facilitating mixed income communities and decreasing concentrations of poverty in public housing; (4) increasing accountability and rewarding effective management of public housing agencies; (5) creating incentives and economic opportunities for residents of dwelling units assisted by public housing agencies to work, become self-sufficient, and transition out of public housing and federally assisted dwelling units; (6) consolidating the voucher and certificate programs for rental assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 into a single market-driven program that will assist in making tenant-based rental assistance under such section more successful at helping low-income families obtain affordable housing and will increase housing choice for lowincome families; and (7) remedying the problems of troubled public housing agencies and replacing or revitalizing severely distressed public housing projects. SEC. 503. EFFECTIVE DATE AND REGULATIONS. 42 USC 1437 (a) IN GENERAL.— The amendments under this title are made on the date of the enactment of this Act, but this title shall take effect, and the amendments made by this title shall apply beginning upon, October 1, 1999, except— (1) as otherwise specifically provided in this title; or (2) as otherwise specifically provided in any amendment made by this title. The Secretary may, by notice, implement any provision of this title or any amendment made by this title before such date, except

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