(a) General. Recipients will be considered to have complied with requirements in this part, in the absence of evidence to the contrary if they:

(1) Certify that they have followed the prioritization of effort in § 75.19; and

(2) Meet or exceed the applicable Section 3 benchmark as described in paragraph (b) of this section.

(b) Establishing benchmarks. (1) HUD will establish Section 3 benchmarks for Section 3 workers or Targeted Section 3 workers or both through a document published in the Federal Register. HUD may establish a single nationwide benchmark for Section 3 workers and a single nationwide benchmark for Targeted Section 3 workers, or may establish multiple benchmarks based on geography, the nature of the Section 3 project, or other variables. HUD will update the benchmarks through a document published in the Federal Register, subject to public comment, not less frequently than once every 3 years. Such notice shall include aggregate data on labor hours and the proportion of recipients meeting benchmarks, as well as other metrics reported pursuant to § 75.25 as deemed appropriate by HUD, for the 3 most recent reporting years.

(2) In establishing the Section 3 benchmarks, HUD may consider the industry averages for labor hours worked by specific categories of workers or in different localities or regions; averages for labor hours worked by Section 3 workers and Targeted Section 3 workers as reported by recipients pursuant to this section; and any other factors HUD deems important. In establishing the Section 3 benchmarks, HUD will exclude professional services from the total number of labor hours as such hours are excluded from the total number of labor hours to be reported per § 75.25(a)(4).

(3) Section 3 benchmarks will consist of the following two ratios:

(i) The number of labor hours worked by Section 3 workers divided by the total number of labor hours worked by all workers on a Section 3 project in the recipient's program year.

(ii) The number of labor hours worked by Targeted Section 3 workers as defined in § 75.21(a), divided by the total number of labor hours worked by all workers on a Section 3 project in the recipient's program year.