A recent decision by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has hampered efforts to ensure that federal civil rights law is being followed in the distribution of disaster mitigation funding in Texas, even while numerous national organizations, including NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC), have urged the federal government to move quickly to ensure compliance with the law.
In March 2022, HUD issued a civil rights determination in response to one of four complaints filed with its Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) office about a program undertaken by the Texas General Land Office (GLO). The determination found that the state had discriminated against non-white communities in southeast Texas when distributing mitigation funds for areas impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The funds were part of $2.1 billion in disaster mitigation funding provided to the state and were distributed through a GLO-established competition that penalized areas with larger overall and larger non-white populations and that directed funds to rural counties with larger white populations. HUD’s determination that the Texas GLO’s program was discriminatory was the result of an administrative complaint filed in June 2021 by NLIHC partners Texas Housers and the Northeast Action Collective. NLIHC issued a statement in March 2022 following the announcement of HUD’s determination calling it a “historic decision.” NLIHC and other national organizations also sent a letter in May 2022 thanking the agency for the decision.
However, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) failed to meet a HUD-imposed deadline to respond to a request by HUD to enter into an agreement to fix aspects of the state’s plan to distribute HUD disaster mitigation funds to county governments. NLIHC and 10 other national housing and civil rights organizations sent a letter to HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge on September 21 requesting that the agency suspend funding for Texas’s disaster mitigation program following the state’s failure to enter into negotiations after the finding of discrimination by HUD’s FHEO. The letter recommended that funds be withheld until the state entered into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) with HUD. The letter also recommended that the case be referred to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for further action.
Thanks to pressure from local, state, and national groups, including the DHRC, HUD finally referred the matter to DOJ, nine months after the GLO failed to meet HUD’s deadline for negotiations. However, just two days later, DOJ announced that it would not be taking any action on the matter, referring it back to HUD while citing a related and ongoing “Fair Housing Act” investigation and urging HUD to continue seeking voluntary compliance from Texas. The DOJ’s response was signed by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who heads the agency’s Office of Equal Rights.
“We urge HUD and DOJ to move quickly to resolve the remaining investigation and if necessary to move to enforcement in order to cure the discrimination that the state of Texas has engaged in,” said Ben Martin, Research Director at Texas Housers, a member of the DHRC, in a news article announcing the DOJ response. “Also, both DOJ and HUD have urged the state to participate in voluntary negotiations to resolve the matter and to get desperately needed assistance to the communities who were discriminated against. We stand ready to act to resolve this issue.”
Administrative, Congressional, and National Updates
President Biden has issued an executive order aiming to revitalize the nation’s commitment to environmental justice. The order directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator to begin a proactive examination of barriers to environmental justice across the nation and, among other items, requires federal agencies to “identify, analyze, and address barriers related to Federal activities that impair the ability of communities with environmental justice concerns to receive equitable access to human health or environmental benefits, including benefits related to natural disaster recovery and climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience.”
Federal lawmakers in California’s Bay Area continue to press for the inclusion of a bipartisan disaster recovery package to assist farmers and ranchers devastated by heavy winter storms in the region. Representatives Zoe Lofgren, Salud Carbajal, Jimmy Panetta, and Jim Costa of the U.S. House of Representatives penned letters to Speaker Kevin McCarthy (D-CA) requesting a package in late April.
Representative Yvette Clarke (D-NY) introduced the “Department of Homeland Security Climate Change Research Act” in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would put the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate in the leading role for researching the impacts of climate change.
Despite championing harmful budget cuts that would gut anti-poverty programs, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) pushed HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge to ensure an allocation of HUD long-term recovery funds for tornado-impacted areas of Mississippi during a HUD budget hearing held by the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriation’s Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development.
Senator Steve Daine (R-MT) and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) announced the creation of a bipartisan Senate Wildfire Caucus. The caucus will focus on bipartisan ways to support forest fire mitigation and fire departments and to address the risk of wildfire across the country.
In a pair of op-eds published in The Hill, environmental, energy, and finance experts discussed how climate change can destabilize household finances and called for greater mitigation investments in flood zones.
May is Building Safety Month. The International Code Council will be providing fact sheets, information, and advocacy opportunities throughout the month focusing on building safety.
State and Local Updates
California
The effort to rebuild Journey’s End, a set of senior apartments in Santa Rosa razed by the Tubbs Fire, is making significant headway. Although the majority of the units will be subsidized, some market rate units will also be included.
Delaware
Residents of Wilmington have banded together to create a climate resilience hub focused on community engagement and climate change disaster readiness. The community-led effort grew out of grassroots efforts undertaken following Hurricane Ida.
Florida
President Biden issued a disaster declaration for Broward County after the area experienced severe flooding from April 12 to 14. The declaration directs FEMA to provide Individual Assistance to eligible impacted households who are able to complete and then successfully appeal their application when denied.
After being hit by Hurricane Ian in 2022, Lee County is now preparing to receive substantial HUD long-term recovery funding. The process includes the creation of an action plan for spending the funds and a series of public information and feedback sessions.
Although the recent Florida Legislative session was marked by the introduction of deeply problematic, authoritarian legislation, it was able to pass a suite of disaster recovery bills, including several that bolster the ability of residents to remain on their properties following disasters and provide temporary shelters for recovery workers.
A proposed temporary housing site for Hurricane Ian survivors in Cape Coral was scrapped by FEMA after it became clear that infrastructure and regulatory requirements would prevent creation of the site until after the deadline for assistance had expired.
Iowa
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation in two counties in response to Mississippi River flooding. Impacted households in Allamakeee and Mustcatine are now eligible for the state’s Individual Assistance program, which provides up to $5,000 in disaster assistance.
Kentucky
Applications are now available for local governments, nonprofits, private companies, and other groups to apply for $124 million in HUD-allocated housing funding on May 1 for areas impacted by 2021 tornados in the western portion of Kentucky.
Louisiana
Community leaders in Baton Rouge met last month to discuss housing solutions that could be implemented with federal disaster recovery funds that are to be disbursed to the city.
The American Red Cross announced a partnership with Terrebonne General Health System and Terrebonne Churches United Food bank to help people in Houma cope with the increasing frequency and intensity of disasters.
Mississippi
Of the 1,906 homes damaged during a tornado outbreak in Mississippi in March, 1,476 were located in Monroe County. The lack of available housing, more than the need for housing funding, is significantly impacting disaster survivors’ ability to relocate from shelters and hotels. Tornado survivors still reeling from their experiences are now attempting to navigate the system and find available shelter.
Nevada
President Biden approved a major disaster declaration for several areas of Nevada following storm and flood damage earlier this month. Members of the Nevada Congressional Delegation had called upon President Biden to provide additional assistance.
New Mexico
After a prescribed burn begun by the U.S. Forest Service ignited the largest wildfire in recent history in New Mexico, disaster survivors are finding it difficult to access and use housing assistance offered by FEMA. Various requirements regulating the placement of FEMA housing have meant that many survivors are being forced to live in substandard housing amidst the wreckage of their former homes.
Oklahoma
The White House approved a request by Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt requesting federal disaster relief after a tornado struck the town of Shawnee in April. The approval includes Individual Assistance by FEMA for impacted households able to apply and successfully appeal application denials. The state was impacted by several tornados and recovery efforts are ongoing.