HUD published a notice, “Allocations and Implementation of Consolidated Waivers and Alternative Requirements,” in the Federal Register on February 3. The notice details program requirements for states and territories receiving HUD Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding for 2020 disasters. The notice contains the regulations concerning the more than $2 billion in 2020 long-term disaster recovery funds that HUD announced in November 2021. The states and territories receiving funds are Alabama, California, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon, Puerto Rico, and Tennessee. The largest amounts of funding were provided to Louisiana (for recovery following Hurricanes Delta and Laura), Oregon (for recovery from the 2020 wildfires), and Alabama (for recovery following Hurricanes Sally and Zeta).
The notice covers a wide variety of subjects relevant to states and territories implementing long-term recovery programs and mitigation measures to protect communities against future disasters. The funds can be used for a broad range of activities, including the construction of new housing, the repair of damaged housing, the building and protection of infrastructure, and the funding of economic development programs. Eighty percent of program funds must be spent within areas that were designated by HUD as “Most Impacted and Distressed” (MID) by a disaster, and 70% of program funds must be used to benefit low- and moderate-income households (though this provision is waivable). Non-mitigation activities must be directly related to the impacts of 2020 disasters and must meet a “national objective” of the CDBG program. A percentage of each allocation must be spent on mitigation efforts to strengthen communities’ abilities to withstand future disasters. The states and territories receiving funds will use these rules to create action plans detailing proposed uses, to collect public comments on the plans, and ultimately to submit the plans to HUD for approval.
HUD officials touted new language in the notice, explaining that the language bolstered transparency, encouraged public input, and increased equity in the program. The new language includes a requirement that any state or territory collect public comments when seeking to waive the requirement that 70% of program funds assist low- and moderate-income families. The new language also requires that states and territories include information on how programs would affect racial and ethnic minorities within disaster areas and that public comments receive direct responses. However, while the new language describes equity goals more explicitly, the program still leaves those states and territories directly running programs with the tasks of identifying potential discriminatory distributions of program funds and instances in which information is potentially inaccessible.
The notice also contains new requirements that focus on aligning long-term recovery programs with pre-existing mitigation strategies. For instance, new buildings will be required to meet industry green standards – such as those established in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Energy Star programs – and to be elevated to withstand future flooding.
HUD officials had initially planned to issue a “universal notice” making sweeping changes to the program and consolidating the numerous iterations of program regulations currently in effect for various allocations of funding. The agency had planned to issue this notice without input from stakeholders and disaster survivors. After pressure from advocates, including NLIHC and members of the DHRC, the agency announced it would be releasing a Request for Information in the Federal Register for the public to provide feedback and suggestions for future changes to program rules. NLIHC will be collecting input from DHRC members on the subject as programs begin to be implemented. The February 8 meeting of the DHRC’s Disaster Recovery Working Group will be dedicated to collecting input from DHRC members.
Because the CDBG-DR program is unauthorized, new notices are required whenever Congress approves funding under the program. The “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2021” – supported by the NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) – would formally authorize the program and allow for a more permanent and equitable framework to be created, ensuring that funds reach disaster survivors more quickly. That bill, introduced by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Todd Young (R-IN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Representative Al Green (D-TX), would implement important safeguards to ensure that disaster funds reach those most in need. (Over 40 organizations joined a sign-on letter created by NLIHC, Enterprise Community Partners, and the National Association of Counties in support of the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act. Please reach out to your Republican senators and urge them to cosponsor and quickly enact this critically important legislation!)
Read HUD’s new notice at: https://bit.ly/34b8VtM
Register for the DHRC’s Disaster Recovery Working Group at: https://bit.ly/34Efwsa