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50,00'0., and metropolitar, areas in the denominators are defined as SMSA's. Extension of the boundarie~ of an SMSA could result in Increasing the oenominators of these ratios, consequently decreasing the share of funding available to individual entitlement co~unities. SMSA's also enter into the definition of "low and moderate income families" that the Block Grant Program by statute is designed to benefit. These are defined in the regulations as families whose incomes do not exceed 80 percent of the median family income in either the applicant's SMSA or the nonmetropo!itan portion of the State, depending on where the applicant is located. When counties are added to or deleted from an SMSA, the median income in both the SMSA and the nonmetropolitan portion of the State is likely to change. SMSA's are used in the Housing Assistance Plan (HAP) of the Annual Community Development Program. Each applicant community is required to formulate a BAP which serves as a measure of the needs of low and moderate income persons for housing assistance. Regulations provide e formula used in the HAP for deriving a m~_nimum estimate of the number of tow income households that can be expected to reside in the applicant community during the three- year period of applicability of the H~_p. The formula for this estimate is tied to the SI.ISA in which the applicant community is located. The timing of the announcement of SMSA designation can affect eligibility for Block Grants. Section 102(b) of the Housing and Community Development AQt of 1974 stipulates that the definitions, which include SMSA's and all' formula elements, shall be based on the most recent data compiled by the Bureau' of the Census and ' the latest published reports of OMB (now of OFSPS) available 90 days prior to the beginning of a given fiscal year. An SMSA desigdated between July t and October ! would not meet this statutory requirement and could not be used to determine qualification for the Block Grant Program until the fiscal year beginning~ the following October. Announcements of SMSA's in April or May, or in mid-October ' or November, could alleviate this problem. In brief, the Community Development Block Grant Program 'makes use of the SMSA definition to determine the distribution :~:::='='"'. ........ of funds, and changes in SMSA's have potential impact '3~333:33:3: ~i~':' :'~ ': I