Allocations, Common Application, Waivers, and Alternative Requirements for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Grantees, 83254-83275 [2016-27969]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 224 (Monday, November 21, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 83254-83275]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-27969]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5989-N-01]


Allocations, Common Application, Waivers, and Alternative 
Requirements for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery 
Grantees

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and 
Development, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This notice allocates $500 million in Community Development 
Block Grant disaster recovery (CDBG-DR) funds appropriated by the 
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2017 for the purpose of assisting long-
term recovery in Louisiana, Texas and West Virginia. This notice 
describes applicable waivers and alternative requirements, relevant 
statutory provisions for grants provided under this notice, the grant 
award process, criteria for plan approval, and eligible disaster 
recovery activities. Given the extent of damage to housing in the 
largest eligible disaster and the very limited data at present on unmet 
infrastructure and economic revitalization needs, this notice requires 
each grantee to primarily consider and address its unmet housing 
recovery needs.

DATES: Effective Date: November 28, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessie Handforth Kome, Acting 
Director, Office of Block Grant Assistance, Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room 7286, Washington, DC 20410, 
telephone number 202-708-3587. Persons with hearing or speech 
impairments may access this number via TTY by calling the Federal Relay 
Service at 800-877-8339. Facsimile inquiries may be sent to Ms. Kome at 
202-401-2044. (Except for the''800'' number, these telephone numbers 
are not toll-free.). Email inquiries may be sent to 
disaster_recovery@hud.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Allocations
II. Use of Funds
III. Management and Oversight of Funds
IV. Authority To Grant Waivers
V. Overview of Grant Process
VI. Applicable Rules, Statutes, Waivers, and Alternative 
Requirements
    A. Grant Administration
    B. Housing and Related Floodplain Issues
    C. Infrastructure
    D. Economic Revitalization
    E. Certifications and Collection of Information
VII. Duration of Funding
VIII. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
IX. Finding of No Significant Impact
Appendix A: Allocation Methodology

I. Allocations

    Section 145 of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2017 (Pub. L. 
114-223, approved September 29, 2016) (Appropriations Act) makes 
available $500 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) 
funds for necessary expenses for activities authorized under title I of 
the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et 
seq.) related to disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of 
infrastructure and housing, and economic revitalization in the most 
impacted and distressed areas resulting from a major disaster declared 
in 2016 and occurring prior to enactment of the Appropriations Act, 
pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) (Stafford Act). Given 
the extent of damage to housing in the largest eligible disaster and 
the very limited data at present on unmet infrastructure and economic 
revitalization needs, HUD is requiring each grantee to primarily 
consider and address its unmet housing recovery needs. This notice 
allows grantees to allocate funds to address unmet economic 
revitalization and infrastructure needs, but in doing so, the grantee 
must identify how unmet housing needs will be addressed or how its 
economic revitalization or infrastructure activities will contribute to 
the long-term recovery and restoration of housing in the most impacted 
and distressed areas. The law provides that grants shall be awarded 
directly to a State or unit of general local government at the 
discretion of the Secretary. The Secretary has elected to award funds 
only to States in this allocation. Unless noted otherwise, the term 
``grantee'' refers to the State receiving a direct award from HUD under 
this notice. To comply with statutory direction that funds be used for 
disaster-related expenses in the most impacted and distressed areas, 
HUD allocates funds using the best available data that cover all of the 
eligible affected areas.
    Based on a review of the impacts from these disasters, and 
estimates of unmet need, HUD is making the following allocations:

                                                      Table 1--Allocations under Public Law 114-223
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                             Minimum amount that must be
                                                                                                                               expended for recovery in
            Disaster No.                         State                            Grantee                     Allocation      the HUD-identified ``most
                                                                                                                                   impacted'' areas
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4277, 4263, 4272....................  Louisiana.................  State of Louisiana....................       $437,800,000  ($350,240,000) East Baton
                                                                                                                              Rouge, Livingston,
                                                                                                                              Ascension, Tangipahoa,
                                                                                                                              Ouachita, Lafayette
                                                                                                                              (Parishes).
4269, 4266..........................  Texas.....................  State of Texas........................         45,200,000  ($36,160,000) Harris,
                                                                                                                              Newton, Montgomery
                                                                                                                              (Counties).
4273................................  West Virginia.............  State of West Virginia................         17,000,000  ($13,600,000) Kanawha,
                                                                                                                              Greenbrier (Counties).
                                                                                                         -------------------
    Total...........................  ..........................  ......................................        500,000,000  ...........................
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table 1 also shows the HUD-identified ``most impacted and 
distressed'' areas impacted by the disasters that did not receive a 
direct award. At least 80 percent of the total funds provided within 
each State under this notice must address unmet needs within the HUD-
identified ``most impacted and distressed'' areas, as identified in the 
last column in Table 1. Grantees may determine where the remaining 20 
percent may be spent by

[[Page 83255]]

identifying areas it determines to be ``most impacted and distressed.'' 
A detailed explanation of HUD's allocation methodology is provided at 
Appendix A.
    Each grantee receiving an allocation under this notice must submit 
an action plan for disaster recovery, or ``action plan,'' no later than 
90 days after the effective date of this notice. HUD will only approve 
action plans that meet the specific requirements identified in this 
notice under section VI, ``Applicable Rules, Statutes, Waivers, and 
Alternative Requirements.''

II. Use of Funds

    The Appropriations Act requires that prior to the obligation of 
CDBG-DR funds a grantee shall submit a plan detailing the proposed use 
of all funds, including criteria for eligibility, and how the use of 
these funds will address long-term recovery and restoration of 
infrastructure and housing and economic revitalization in the most 
impacted and distressed areas. This action plan for disaster recovery 
must describe uses and activities that: (1) Are authorized under title 
I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (HCD Act) or 
allowed by a waiver or alternative requirement published in this 
notice; and (2) respond to disaster-related impact to infrastructure, 
housing, and economic revitalization in the most impacted and 
distressed areas. To inform the plan, grantees must conduct an 
assessment of community impacts and unmet needs to guide the 
development and prioritization of planned recovery activities, pursuant 
to paragraph A.2.a. in section VI below.
    In accordance with the HCD Act, funds may be used to meet a 
matching, share, or contribution requirement for any other Federal 
program when used to carry out an eligible CDBG-DR activity. This 
includes programs or activities administered by the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), 
among other Federal sources. CDBG-DR funds, however, may not be used 
for activities reimbursable by or for which funds are made available by 
FEMA or USACE.
    This notice also requires each grantee to expend 100 percent of its 
allocation of CDBG-DR funds on eligible activities within 6 years of 
HUD's execution of the grant agreement.

III. Management and Oversight of Funds

    The Appropriations Act requires the Secretary to certify, in 
advance of signing a grant agreement, that the grantee has in place 
proficient financial controls and procurement processes and has 
established adequate procedures to prevent any duplication of benefits 
as defined by section 312 of the Stafford Act, ensure timely 
expenditure of funds, maintain comprehensive Web sites regarding all 
disaster recovery activities assisted with these funds, and detect and 
prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds. To provide a basis for the 
certification, each grantee must submit documentation to the Department 
demonstrating its compliance with the above requirements. For a 
complete list of the required certification documentation, see 
paragraph A.1.a. under section VI of this notice. The certification 
documentation must be submitted within 60 days of the effective date of 
this notice, or with the grantee's submission of its action plan, 
whichever is earlier.
    In advance of signing a grant agreement and consistent with 2 CFR 
200.205 of the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, 
and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Requirements), HUD 
will evaluate each grantee's capacity to effectively manage the funds 
and the associated risks they pose through a review of supplemental 
risk analysis documentation. This notice requires each grantee to 
submit risk analysis documentation demonstrating that it can 
effectively manage the funds, ensure timely communication of 
application status to applicants for disaster recovery assistance, and 
that it has adequate capacity to manage the funds and address any 
capacity needs. For a complete listing of the required risk analysis 
documentation, see paragraph A.1.b. under section VI of this notice. 
Documentation applicable to the risk analysis must be submitted within 
60 days of the effective date of this notice, or with the grantee's 
submission of its action plan, whichever is earlier.
    Additionally, this notice requires grantees to submit to the 
Department for approval a projection of expenditures and outcomes as 
part of its action plan. Any subsequent changes, updates or revision of 
the projections will require the grantee to amend its action plan to 
reflect the new projections. This will enable HUD, the public, and the 
grantee to track planned versus actual performance.
    Grantees must also enter expected completion dates for each 
activity in HUD's Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting (DRGR) system. When 
target dates are not met or are extended, a grantee is required to 
explain the reason for the delay in the Quarterly Performance Report 
(QPR) activity narrative. For additional guidance on DRGR system 
reporting requirements, see paragraph A.3 under section VI of this 
notice. More information on the timely expenditure of funds is included 
in paragraphs A.24 of section VI of this notice. Other reporting, 
procedural, and monitoring requirements are discussed under ``Grant 
Administration'' in section VI of this notice.
    The grant terms and specific conditions of the award will reflect 
HUD's risk assessment of the grantee and will require the grantee to 
adhere to the description of its implementation plan submitted in its 
certification and risk analysis documentation. HUD will also institute 
an annual risk analysis as well as on-site monitoring of grantee 
management to further guide oversight of these funds.

IV. Authority To Grant Waivers

    The Appropriations Act authorizes the Secretary to waive or specify 
alternative requirements for any provision of any statute or regulation 
that the Secretary administers in connection with the obligation by the 
Secretary, or use by the recipient, of these funds, except for 
requirements related to fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor 
standards, and the environment. Waivers and alternative requirements 
are based upon a determination by the Secretary that good cause exists 
and that the waiver or alternative requirement is not inconsistent with 
the overall purposes of title I of the HCD Act. HUD also has regulatory 
waiver authority under 24 CFR 5.110, 91.600, and 570.5. Grantees may 
request waivers as described in section VI of this notice.

V. Overview of Grant Process

    To begin expenditure of CDBG-DR funds, the following expedited 
steps are necessary:
     Grantee follows citizen participation plan for disaster 
recovery in accordance with the requirements in paragraph A.4 of 
section VI of this notice.
     Grantee consults with stakeholders, including required 
consultation with affected local governments and public housing 
authorities (as identified in section VI of this notice).
     Within 60 days of the effective date of this notice (or 
when the grantee submits its action plan, whichever is earlier), the 
grantee submits certification documentation providing a basis for the 
Secretary's certification that the grantee has in place proficient 
financial controls and procurement processes and has established 
adequate procedures to prevent any duplication of benefits as defined 
by section 312 of the Stafford

[[Page 83256]]

Act, ensure timely expenditure of funds, maintain comprehensive Web 
sites regarding all disaster recovery activities assisted with these 
funds, and detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds;
     Within 60 days of the effective date of this notice (or 
when the grantee submits its action plan, whichever is earlier) the 
grantee submits its risk analysis documentation allowing HUD to 
evaluate the grantee's risk and capacity to effectively manage the 
funds.
     Grantee publishes its action plan for disaster recovery on 
the grantee's required disaster recovery Web site for no less than 14 
calendar days to solicit public comment.
     Grantee responds to public comment and submits its action 
plan (which includes Standard Form 424 (SF-424) and certifications) to 
HUD no later than 90 days after the date of this notice.
     HUD expedites review (allotted 60 days from date of 
receipt) and approves the action plan according to criteria identified 
in this notice.
     HUD sends an action plan approval letter, grant terms and 
conditions, and grant agreement to the grantee. If the action plan is 
not approved, a letter will be sent identifying its deficiencies; the 
grantee must then resubmit the action plan within 45 days of the 
notification letter.
     Grantee signs and returns the grant agreement.
     Grantee ensures that the final HUD-approved action plan is 
posted on its official Web site.
     HUD establishes the grantee's line of credit.
     Grantee requests and receives DRGR system access (if the 
grantee does not already have DRGR access).
     Grantee enters the activities from its published action 
plan into the DRGR system and submits its DRGR action plan to HUD 
(funds can be drawn from the line of credit only for activities that 
are established in the DRGR system).
     The grantee may draw down funds from the line of credit 
after the Responsible Entity completes applicable environmental 
review(s) pursuant to 24 CFR part 58 or as authorized by the 
Appropriations Act and, as applicable, receives from HUD or the State 
an approved Request for Release of Funds and certification.
     The grantee must begin to draw down funds no later than 
180 days after the effective date of this notice.

VI. Applicable Rules, Statutes, Waivers, and Alternative Requirements

    This section of the notice describes requirements imposed by the 
Appropriations Act, as well as applicable waivers and alternative 
requirements. For each waiver and alternative requirement, the 
Secretary has determined that good cause exists and is consistent with 
the overall purpose of the HCD Act. The waivers and alternative 
requirements provide additional flexibility in program design and 
implementation to support full and swift recovery following the 
disasters, while also ensuring that statutory requirements are met. The 
following requirements apply only to the CDBG-DR funds appropriated in 
the Appropriations Act, and not to funds provided under the annual 
formula State or Entitlement CDBG programs, or those provided under any 
other component of the CDBG program, such as the Section 108 Loan 
Guarantee Program, or any prior CDBG-DR appropriation.
    Grantees may request additional waivers and alternative 
requirements from the Department as needed to address specific needs 
related to their recovery activities. Except where noted, waivers and 
alternative requirements described below apply to all grantees under 
this notice. Under the requirements of the Appropriations Act, waivers 
and alternative requirements are effective five days after they are 
published in the Federal Register.
    Except as described in this notice, statutory and regulatory 
provisions governing the State CDBG program shall apply to grantees 
receiving an allocation under this notice. Applicable statutory 
provisions can be found at 42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq. Applicable State CDBG 
regulations can be found at 24 CFR part 570. References to the action 
plan in these regulations shall refer to the action plan required by 
this notice. All references in this notice pertaining to timelines and/
or deadlines are in terms of calendar days unless otherwise noted. The 
date of this notice shall mean the effective date of this notice unless 
otherwise noted.

A. Grant Administration.

    1. Preaward Evaluation of Management and Oversight of Funds.
    a. Certification of proficient controls, processes and procedures. 
The Appropriations Act requires that the Secretary certify, in advance 
of signing a grant agreement, that the grantee has in place proficient 
financial controls and procurement processes and has established 
adequate procedures to prevent any duplication of benefits as defined 
by section 312 of the Stafford Act, ensure timely expenditure of funds, 
maintain comprehensive Web sites regarding all disaster recovery 
activities assisted with these funds, and detect and prevent waste, 
fraud, and abuse of funds. To enable the Secretary to make this 
certification, each grantee must submit to HUD the certification 
documentation listed below. This information must be submitted within 
60 days of the effective date of this notice, or with the grantee's 
submission of its action plan, whichever date is earlier. Grant 
agreements will not be executed until HUD has issued a certification in 
response to the grantee's submission. For each of the items (1) through 
(6) below, the grantee must also provide a table that clearly indicates 
which unit and personnel are responsible for each task along with 
contact information. The grantee must certify to the accuracy of its 
certification documentation as required by paragraph E.47 of section VI 
of this notice.
    (1) Financial Controls. A grantee has proficient financial controls 
if each of the following criteria is satisfied:
    a. The grantee's most recent single audit and consolidated annual 
financial report (CAFR) indicates that the grantee has no material 
weaknesses, deficiencies, or concerns that HUD considers to be relevant 
to the financial management of the CDBG program. If the single audit or 
CAFR identified weaknesses or deficiencies, the grantee must provide 
documentation showing how those weaknesses have been removed or are 
being addressed; and
    b. The grantee has assessed its financial standards and has 
completed the HUD monitoring guide for financial standards (FY2017 
Guide for Review of Financial Management (the Financial Management 
Guide), available on the HUD Exchange Web site at https://www.hudexchange.info/cdbg-dr/cdbg-dr-laws-regulations-and-federal-register-notices/). The grantee's standards must conform to the 
requirements of the Financial Management Guide. The grantee must 
identify which sections of its financial standards address each of the 
questions in the guide.
    (2) Procurement. A grantee has in place a proficient procurement 
process if it has either: (a) Adopted 2 CFR 200.318 through 200.326 
(subject to 2 CFR 200.110, as applicable); or (b) the effect of the 
grantee's procurement process/standards are equivalent to the effect of 
procurements under 2 CFR 200.318 through 200.326, meaning that the 
process/standards, while not identical, operate in a manner that 
provides for full and open competition.

[[Page 83257]]

The grantee must provide its procurement process/standards for HUD 
review so HUD may evaluate the overall effect of the grantee's 
procurement/process standards. The grantee's provided procurement 
process/standards must comply with the procurement requirements at 24 
CFR 570.489(g), as provided in paragraph A.22 of Section VI of this 
notice.
    (3) Duplication of benefits. A grantee has adequate procedures to 
prevent the duplication of benefits where the grantee identifies its 
uniform processes for each of the following: (a) Verifying all sources 
of disaster assistance received by the grantee or applicant, as 
applicable; (b) determining an applicant's unmet need(s) before 
awarding assistance; and (c) ensuring beneficiaries agree to repay the 
assistance if they later receive other disaster assistance for the same 
purpose. Grantee procedures shall provide that prior to the award of 
assistance, the grantee will use the best, most recent available data 
from FEMA, the Small Business Administration (SBA), insurers, and other 
sources of funding to prevent the duplication of benefits. Departmental 
guidance to assist in preventing a duplication of benefits is provided 
in a notice published in the Federal Register at 76 FR 71060 (November 
16, 2011), in HUD Guidance on Duplication of Benefits Requirements and 
Provision of CDBG Disaster Recovery (DR) Assistance, as amended, 
(https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/3137/cdbg-dr-duplication-of-benefit-requirements-and-provision-of-assistance-with-sba-funds/) and 
in paragraph A.21 of section VI of this notice.
    (4) Timely expenditures. A grantee has adequate procedures to 
determine timely expenditures if it indicates to HUD how the grantee 
will track expenditures each month, how it will monitor expenditures of 
its recipients and subrecipients, how it will reprogram funds in a 
timely manner for activities that are stalled, and how it will project 
expenditures to provide for the expenditure of all CDBG-DR funds within 
the period provided for in paragraph A.24 of section VI of this notice.
    (5) Comprehensive disaster recovery Web site. A grantee has 
adequate procedures to maintain a comprehensive Web site regarding all 
disaster recovery activities if its procedures indicate that the 
grantee will have a separate page dedicated to its disaster recovery 
that includes the information described at paragraph A.23 of section VI 
of this notice. The procedures should also indicate the frequency of 
Web site updates. At minimum, grantees must update their Web site 
quarterly.
    (6) Procedures to detect fraud, waste and abuse. A grantee has 
adequate procedures to detect fraud, waste and abuse if its procedures 
indicate how the grantee will verify the accuracy of information 
provided by applicants; if it provides a monitoring policy indicating 
how and why monitoring is conducted, the frequency of monitoring, and 
which items are monitored; and if it demonstrates that it has an 
internal auditor and includes a document signed by the internal auditor 
that describes his or her role in detecting fraud, waste, and abuse.
    b. Evaluation of Risk and Management Capacity. Before signing a 
grant agreement, HUD is requiring each grantee to demonstrate that it 
has sufficient capacity to manage these funds and the associated risks.
    Evidence of grantee management capacity will be provided through 
the grantee's risk analysis documentation which must be submitted 
within 60 days of the effective date of this notice or with the 
grantee's submission of its action plan, whichever date is earlier. The 
grantee must certify to the accuracy of its risk analysis documentation 
submissions as required by paragraph E.47 in section VI of this notice. 
A grantee has sufficient management capacity if each of the following 
criteria is satisfied:
    (1) Timely information on application status. A grantee has 
adequate procedures to inform applicants of the status of their 
applications for recovery assistance, at all phases, if its procedures 
indicate methods for communication (i.e., Web site, telephone, case 
managers, letters, etc.), ensure the accessibility and privacy of 
individualized information for all applicants, indicate the frequency 
of applicant status updates and identify which personnel or unit is 
responsible.
    (2) Preaward Implementation Plan. To enable HUD to assess risk as 
described in 2 CFR 200.205(c), the grantee will submit an 
implementation plan to the Department. The plan must describe the 
grantee's capacity to carry out the recovery and how it will address 
any capacity gaps. HUD will determine a plan is adequate to reduce risk 
if, at a minimum it addresses:
    a. Capacity Assessment. The grantee has conducted an assessment of 
its capacity to carry out recovery efforts, and has developed a 
timeline with milestones describing when and how the grantee will 
address all capacity gaps that are identified.
    b. Staffing. The plan shows that the grantee has assessed staff 
capacity and identified personnel for the purpose of case management in 
proportion to the applicant population; program managers who will be 
assigned responsibility for each primary recovery area (i.e., housing, 
economic revitalization, and infrastructure, as applicable); and staff 
responsible for procurement/contract management, environmental 
compliance, as well as staff responsible for monitoring and quality 
assurance, and financial management. An adequate plan will also provide 
for an internal audit function with responsible audit staff reporting 
independently to the chief elected or executive officer or board of the 
governing body of any designated administering entity.
    c. Internal and Interagency Coordination. The grantee's plan 
describes how it will ensure effective communication between different 
departments and divisions within the grantee's organizational structure 
that are involved in CDBG-DR-funded recovery efforts; between its lead 
agency and subrecipients responsible for implementing the grantee's 
action plan; and with other local and regional planning efforts to 
ensure consistency.
    d. Technical Assistance. The grantee's implementation plan 
describes how it will procure and provide technical assistance for any 
personnel that the grantee does not employ at the time of action plan 
submission, and to fill gaps in knowledge or technical expertise 
required for successful and timely recovery implementation where 
identified in the capacity assessment.
    e. Accountability. The grantee's plan identifies the principal lead 
agency responsible for implementation of the State's CDBG-DR award and 
indicates that the head of that agency will report directly to the 
Governor of the State.
    2. Action Plan for Disaster Recovery waiver and alternative 
requirement. Requirements for CDBG actions plans, located at 42 U.S.C. 
12705(a)(2), 42 U.S.C. 5304(a)(1), 42 U.S.C. 5304(m), 42 U.S.C. 
5306(d)(2)(C)(iii), and 24 CFR 91.320, are waived for these disaster 
recovery grants. Instead, grantees must submit to HUD an action plan 
for disaster recovery which will describe disaster recovery programs 
that conform to applicable requirements as specified in this notice. 
During the course of the grant, HUD will monitor the grantee's actions 
and use of funds for consistency with the plan, as well as meeting the 
performance and timeliness objectives therein. The Secretary may 
disapprove an action plan as substantially incomplete if it is 
determined that the

[[Page 83258]]

plan does not satisfy all of the required elements identified in this 
notice.
    a. Action Plan. The action plan must identify the proposed use of 
all funds, including criteria for eligibility, and how the uses address 
long-term recovery needs. Funds dedicated for uses not described in 
accordance with paragraphs b. or c. under this section will not be 
obligated until the grantee submits, and HUD approves, an action plan 
amendment programming the use of those funds, at the necessary level of 
detail.
    The action plan must contain:
    1. An impact and unmet needs assessment. Each grantee must develop 
a needs assessment to understand the type and location of community 
needs and to target limited resources to those areas with the greatest 
need. Grantees receiving an award under this notice must conduct a 
needs assessment to inform the allocation of CDBG-DR resources. At a 
minimum, the needs assessment must:
     Evaluate all aspects of recovery including housing 
(interim and permanent, owner and rental, single-family and 
multifamily, affordable and market rate, and housing to meet the needs 
of persons who were homeless pre-disaster), infrastructure, and 
economic revitalization;
     Account for the various forms of assistance available to, 
or likely to be available to, affected communities (e.g., projected 
FEMA funds) and individuals (e.g., estimated insurance) to ensure CDBG-
DR funds meet needs that are not likely to be addressed by other 
sources of funds;
     Assess whether public services (e.g., housing counseling, 
legal counseling, job training, mental health, and general health 
services) are necessary to complement activities intended to address 
housing, infrastructure and economic revitalization;
     Use the most recent available data (cite data sources) to 
inform the action plan, particularly with regard to estimating the 
portion of need likely to be addressed by insurance proceeds, other 
Federal assistance, or any other funding sources (thus producing an 
estimate of unmet need);
     Describe impacts geographically by type at the lowest 
level practicable (e.g., county level or lower if available for States, 
and neighborhood or census tract level for cities); and
     Take into account the costs of incorporating mitigation 
and resilience measures to protect against future hazards, including 
the anticipated effects of climate change on those hazards.
    CDBG-DR funds may be used to reimburse costs for developing the 
action plan, including the needs assessment, environmental review, and 
citizen participation requirements. HUD has developed a Disaster Impact 
and Unmet Needs Assessment Kit to guide CDBG-DR grantees through a 
process for identifying and prioritizing critical unmet needs for long-
term community recovery, and it is available on the HUD Exchange Web 
site at https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/Disaster_Recovery_Disaster_Impact_Needs_Assessment_Kit.pdf.
    Disaster recovery needs evolve over time and the needs assessment 
and action plan are expected to be amended as conditions change and 
additional needs are identified.
    2. A description of the connection between identified unmet needs 
and the allocation of CDBG-DR resources. Grantees must propose an 
allocation of CDBG-DR funds that primarily considers and addresses 
unmet housing needs. Grantees may also allocate funds for economic 
revitalization and infrastructure activities, but in doing so, must 
identify how any remaining unmet housing needs will be addressed or how 
its economic revitalization and infrastructure activities will 
contribute to the long-term recovery and restoration of housing in the 
most impacted and distressed areas. Grantee action plans may provide 
for the allocation of funds for administration and planning activities 
and for public service activities, subject to the caps on such 
activities as described below.
    3. Each grantee must include a description of how it will identify 
and address the rehabilitation (as defined at 24 CFR 570.202), 
reconstruction, replacement, and new construction of housing and 
shelters in the areas affected by the disaster. This includes any 
rental housing that is affordable to low or moderate income households 
(as defined by the grantee as provided in B.31 of section VI of this 
notice); public housing (including administrative offices); emergency 
shelters and housing for the homeless; private market units receiving 
project-based assistance or with tenants that participate in the 
Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program; and any other housing that is 
assisted under a HUD program.
    4. A description of how the grantee's programs will promote housing 
for vulnerable populations, including a description of activities it 
plans to address: (a) The transitional housing, permanent supportive 
housing, and permanent housing needs of individuals and families 
(including subpopulations) that are homeless and at-risk of 
homelessness; (b) the prevention of low-income individuals and families 
with children (especially those with incomes below 30 percent of the 
area median) from becoming homeless; and (c) the special needs of 
persons who are not homeless but require supportive housing (e.g., 
elderly, persons with disabilities, persons with alcohol or other drug 
addiction, persons with HIV/AIDS and their families, and public housing 
residents, as identified in 24 CFR 91.315(e)). Grantees are reminded 
that the use of recovery funds must meet accessibility standards, 
provide reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities, and 
take into consideration the functional needs of persons with 
disabilities in the relocation process. A checklist of relocation 
considerations for persons with disabilities may be found in Chapter 3 
of HUD's Relocation Handbook 1378.0. Grantees must also assess how 
planning decisions may affect racial, ethnic, and low-income 
concentrations, and ways to promote the availability of affordable 
housing in low-poverty, nonminority areas where appropriate and in 
response to natural hazard-related impacts.
    5. A description of how the grantee plans to minimize displacement 
of persons or entities, and assist any persons or entities displaced.
    6. A description of the maximum amount of assistance available to a 
beneficiary under each of the grantee's disaster recovery programs. A 
grantee may find it necessary to provide exceptions on a case-by-case 
basis to the maximum amount of assistance and must describe the process 
it will use to make such exceptions in its action plan. At minimum, 
each grantee must adopt policies and procedures that communicate how it 
will analyze the circumstances under which an exception is needed and 
how it will demonstrate that the amount of assistance is necessary and 
reasonable.
    7. A description of how the grantee plans to: (a) Adhere to the 
advanced elevation requirements established in paragraph B.28 of 
section VI of this notice; (b) promote sound, sustainable long-term 
recovery planning informed by a post-disaster evaluation of hazard 
risk, especially land-use decisions that reflect responsible flood 
plain management and take into account continued sea level rise, if 
applicable; and (c) coordinate with other local and regional planning 
efforts to ensure consistency. This information should be based on the 
history of FEMA flood mitigation efforts, and take into account 
projected increase in sea level (if applicable) and frequency and 
intensity

[[Page 83259]]

of precipitation events, which are not considered in current FEMA maps 
and National Flood Insurance Program premiums.
    Additionally, a grantee proposing an allocation of grant funds for 
infrastructure must include a description of how the proposed 
infrastructure activities will advance long-term resilience to natural 
hazards and how the grantee intends to align these investments with 
other planned state or local capital improvements. Grantees should 
describe how preparedness and mitigation measures will be integrated 
into rebuilding activities and how the grantee will promote community-
level and/or regional (e.g. multiple local jurisdictions) post-disaster 
recovery and mitigation planning.
    The action plan must provide for the use of CDBG-DR funds to 
develop a disaster recovery and response plan that addresses long-term 
recovery and pre- and post-disaster hazard mitigation, if one does not 
currently exist.
    8. A description of how the grantee will leverage CDBG-DR funds 
with funding provided by other Federal, State, local, private, and 
nonprofit sources to generate a more effective and comprehensive 
recovery. Examples of other Federal sources are those provided by HUD, 
FEMA (specifically the Public Assistance Program, Individual Assistance 
Program, and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program), SBA (specifically the 
Disaster Loans program), Economic Development Administration, USACE, 
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The grantee should seek to 
maximize the number of activities and the degree to which CDBG funds 
are leveraged. Grantees shall identify leveraged funds for each 
activity, as applicable, in the DRGR system.
    9. A description of how the grantee will: (a) Design and implement 
programs or activities with the goal of protecting people and property 
from harm; (b) emphasize high quality, durability, energy efficiency, 
sustainability, and mold resistance; (c) support adoption and 
enforcement of modern building codes and mitigation of hazard risk, 
including possible sea level rise, high winds, storm surge, and 
flooding, where appropriate; and (d) implement and ensure compliance 
with the Green Building standards required in paragraph B.28 of section 
VI of this notice. All rehabilitation, reconstruction, and new 
construction should be designed to incorporate principles of 
sustainability, including water and energy efficiency, resilience, and 
mitigating the impact of future disasters. Whenever feasible, grantees 
should follow best practices such as those provided by the U.S. 
Department of Energy's Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals--
Professional Certifications and Standard Work Specifications. HUD also 
encourages grantees to implement green infrastructure policies to the 
extent practicable. Additional tools for green infrastructure are 
available at the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site https://www.epa.gov/green-infrastructure; the Indoor AirPlus Web site https://www.epa.gov/indoorairplus; the Healthy Indoor Environment Protocols for 
Home Energy Upgrades Web site https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-12/documents/epa_retrofit_protocols.pdf; and the ENERGY STAR 
Web site www.epa.gov/greenbuilding.
    10. A description of the standards to be established for 
construction contractors performing work in the jurisdiction and a 
mechanism for homeowners and small business owners to appeal 
rehabilitation contractor work. HUD strongly encourages the grantee to 
require a warranty period post-construction, with formal notification 
to homeowners on a periodic basis (e.g., 6 months and one month prior 
to expiration date of the warranty).
    11. A description of how the grantee will manage program income, 
and the purpose(s) for which it may be used. Waivers and alternative 
requirements related to program income can be found in this notice at 
paragraph A.17 of section VI.
    12. A description of monitoring standards and procedures that are 
sufficient to ensure program requirements, including an analysis for 
duplication of benefits, are met and that provide for continual quality 
assurance and adequate program oversight.
    b. Method of Distribution. The action plan shall describe the 
method of distribution of funds to units of general local government 
(UGLG) and/or descriptions of specific programs or activities the State 
will carry out directly. The description must include:
    1. How the needs assessment informed allocation determinations, 
including the rationale behind the decision(s) to provide funds to 
State-identified ``most impacted and distressed'' areas that were not 
defined by HUD as being ``most impacted and distressed,'' if 
applicable.
    2. The threshold factors and grant size limits that are to be 
applied.
    3. The projected uses for the CDBG-DR funds, by responsible entity, 
activity, and geographic area, when the State carries out an activity 
directly.
    4. For each proposed program and/or activity carried out directly, 
its respective CDBG activity eligibility category (or categories) as 
well as national objective(s).
    5. How the method of distribution to local governments or programs/
activities carried out directly will result in long-term recovery from 
specific impacts of the disaster.
    6. When funds are allocated to UGLGs, all criteria used to 
distribute funds to local governments including the relative importance 
of each criterion.
    7. When applications are solicited for programs carried out 
directly, all criteria used to select applications for funding, 
including the relative importance of each criterion.
    c. Clarification of disaster-related activities. All CDBG-DR funded 
activities must clearly address an impact of the disaster for which 
funding was allocated. Given standard CDBG requirements, this means 
each activity must: (1) Be a CDBG-eligible activity (or be eligible 
under a waiver or alternative requirement in this notice); (2) meet a 
national objective; and (3) address a direct or indirect impact from 
the disaster in a Presidentially-declared county. A disaster-related 
impact can be addressed through any eligible CDBG-DR activity. 
Additional details on disaster-related activities are provided under 
section VI, parts B through D. Additionally, HUD has developed a series 
of CDBG-DR toolkits that guide grantees through specific grant 
implementation activities. These can be found on the HUD Exchange Web 
site at https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg-dr/toolkits/.
    1. Housing. Typical housing activities include new construction and 
rehabilitation of single-family or multifamily units. Most often, 
grantees use CDBG-DR funds to rehabilitate damaged homes and rental 
units. However, grantees may also fund new construction (see paragraph 
B.28 of section VI of this notice) or rehabilitate units not damaged by 
the disaster if the activity clearly addresses a disaster-related 
impact and is located in a disaster-affected area. This impact can be 
demonstrated by the disaster's overall effect on the quality, quantity, 
and affordability of the housing stock and the resulting inability of 
that stock to meet post-disaster needs and population demands.
    a. Prohibition on forced mortgage payoff. In some instances, 
homeowners with an outstanding mortgage balance are required, under the 
terms of their loan agreement, to repay the balance of the mortgage 
loan prior to using

[[Page 83260]]

assistance to rehabilitate or reconstruct their homes. CDBG-DR funds, 
however, may not be used for a forced mortgage payoff. The 
ineligibility of a forced mortgage payoff with CDBG-DR funds does not 
affect HUD's longstanding guidance that when other non-CDBG disaster 
assistance is taken by lenders for a forced mortgage payoff, those 
funds are not considered to be available to the homeowner and do not 
constitute a duplication of benefits for the purpose of housing 
rehabilitation or reconstruction.
    b. Housing Counseling Services. Grantees are encouraged to 
coordinate with HUD-approved housing counseling services to ensure that 
information and services are made available to both renters and 
homeowners. Additional information is available for Louisiana at: 
https://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm?&webListAction=search&searchstate=LA, for Texas at: https://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm?webListAction=search&searchstate=TX, and for West Virginia at: 
https://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm?webListAction=search&searchstate=WV.
    2. Economic Revitalization. For CDBG-DR purposes, economic 
revitalization may include any CDBG-DR eligible activity that 
demonstrably restores and improves some aspect of the local economy. 
The activity may address job losses, or negative impacts to tax 
revenues or businesses. Examples of eligible activities include 
providing loans and grants to businesses, funding job training, making 
improvements to commercial/retail districts, and financing other 
efforts that attract/retain workers in devastated communities.
    All economic revitalization activities must address an economic 
impact(s) caused by the disaster (e.g., loss of jobs, loss of public 
revenue). Through its needs assessment and action plan, the grantee 
must clearly identify the economic loss or need resulting from the 
disaster, and how the proposed activities will address that loss or 
need. In proposing an allocation of CDBG-DR funds for economic 
revitalization under this notice, a grantee must identify how any 
remaining unmet housing needs will be addressed or how its economic 
revitalization activities will contribute to the long-term recovery and 
restoration of housing in the most impacted and distressed areas.
    3. Infrastructure. Typical infrastructure activities include the 
repair, replacement, or relocation of damaged public facilities and 
improvements including, but not limited to, bridges, water treatment 
facilities, roads, and sewer and water lines. In proposing an 
allocation of CDBG-DR funds under this notice for infrastructure, a 
grantee must identify how any remaining unmet housing needs will be 
addressed or how its infrastructure activities will contribute to the 
long-term recovery and restoration of housing in the most impacted and 
distressed areas.
    Grantees that use CDBG-DR funds to assist flood control structures 
(i.e., dams and levees) are prohibited from using CDBG-DR funds to 
enlarge a dam or levee beyond the original footprint of the structure 
that existed prior to the disaster event. Grantees that use CDBG-DR 
funds for levees and dams are required to: (1) Register and maintain 
entries regarding such structures with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 
National Levee Database or National Inventory of Dams; (2) ensure that 
the structure is admitted in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers PL 84-99 
Program (Levee Rehabilitation and Improvement Program); (3) ensure the 
structure is accredited under the FEMA National Flood Insurance 
Program; (4) upload into DRGR the exact location of the structure and 
the area served and protected by the structure; and (5) maintain file 
documentation demonstrating that the grantee has both conducted a risk 
assessment prior to funding the flood control structure and that the 
investment includes risk reduction measures.
    4. Preparedness and Mitigation. The Appropriations Act states that 
funds shall be used for recovering from a Presidentially declared major 
disaster and all assisted activities must respond to the impacts of the 
declared disaster. HUD encourages grantees to incorporate preparedness 
and mitigation measures into the aforementioned rebuilding activities, 
to rebuild communities that are more resilient to future disasters. 
Mitigation measures that are not incorporated into those rebuilding 
activities must be a necessary expense related to disaster relief or 
long-term recovery that responds to the eligible disaster. Furthermore, 
the costs associated with these measures may not prevent the grantee 
from meeting unmet needs.
    5. Connection to the Disaster. Grantees must maintain records about 
each activity funded, as described in paragraph A.14 of section VI of 
this notice. In regard to physical losses, damage or rebuilding 
estimates are often the most effective tools for demonstrating the 
connection to the disaster. For housing market, economic, and/or 
nonphysical losses, post-disaster analyses or assessments may best 
document the relationship between the loss and the disaster.
    d. Clarity of Action Plan. All grantees must include sufficient 
information so that all interested parties will be able to understand 
and comment on the action plan and, if applicable, be able to prepare 
responsive applications to the grantee. The action plan (and subsequent 
amendments) must include a single chart or table that illustrates, at 
the most practical level, how all funds are budgeted (e.g., by program, 
subrecipient, grantee-administered activity, or other category).
    e. Review and Approval of Action Plan. For funds provided under the 
Appropriations Act, the action plan must be submitted to HUD (including 
SF-424 and certifications) within 90 days of the date of the effective 
date this notice. HUD will review each action plan within 60 days from 
the date of receipt. The Secretary may disapprove an action plan as 
substantially incomplete if it is determined that the action plan does 
not meet the requirements of this notice.
    f. Obligation and expenditure of funds. Once HUD approves the 
action plan, it will then issue a grant agreement obligating all funds 
to the grantee. In addition, HUD will establish the line of credit and 
the grantee will receive DRGR system access (if it does not already 
have DRGR system access). The grantee must also enter its action plan 
activities into the DRGR system in order to draw funds for those 
activities. Each activity must meet the applicable environmental 
requirements prior to the use of funds. After the Responsible Entity 
(usually the grantee) completes environmental review(s) pursuant to 24 
CFR part 58 (as applicable) or as authorized by the Appropriations Act 
and receives from HUD or the State an approved Request for Release of 
Funds and certification (as applicable), the grantee may draw down 
funds from the line of credit for an activity. The disbursement of 
grant funds must begin no later than 180 days after the effective date 
of this notice.
    g. Amending the Action Plan. The grantee must amend its action plan 
to update its needs assessment, modify or create new activities, or 
reprogram funds, as necessary. Each amendment must be highlighted, or 
otherwise identified, within the context of the entire action plan. The 
beginning of every action plan amendment must include a: (1) Section 
that identifies exactly what content is being added, deleted, or 
changed; (2) chart or table that clearly illustrates where funds are 
coming from and where they are moving to; and (3) revised budget 
allocation

[[Page 83261]]

table that reflects the entirety of all funds, as amended. A grantee's 
current version of its entire action plan must be accessible for 
viewing as a single document at any given point in time, rather than 
the public or HUD having to view and cross-reference changes among 
multiple amendments.
    h. Projection of expenditures and outcomes. Each grantee must amend 
its published action plan to project expenditures and outcomes within 
90 days of action plan approval. The projections must be based on each 
quarter's expected performance--beginning with the quarter funds are 
available to the grantee and continuing each quarter until all funds 
are expended. The projections will enable HUD, the public, and the 
grantee to track proposed versus actual performance. The published 
action plan must be amended for any subsequent changes, updates or 
revision of the projections. Guidance on the preparation of projection 
is available on the HUD Web site.
    3. HUD performance review authorities and grantee reporting 
requirements in the Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting (DRGR) System.
    a. Performance review authorities. 42 U.S.C. 5304(e) requires that 
the Secretary shall, at least on an annual basis, make such reviews and 
audits as may be necessary or appropriate to determine whether the 
grantee has carried out its activities in a timely manner, whether the 
grantee's activities and certifications are carried out in accordance 
with the requirements and the primary objectives of the HCD Act and 
other applicable laws, and whether the grantee has the continuing 
capacity to carry out those activities in a timely manner.
    This notice waives the requirements for submission of a performance 
report pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 12708 and 24 CFR 91.520. Alternatively, 
HUD is requiring that grantees enter information in the DRGR system in 
sufficient detail to permit the Department's review of grantee 
performance on a quarterly basis through the Quarterly Performance 
Report (QPR) and to enable remote review of grantee data to allow HUD 
to assess compliance and risk. HUD-issued general and appropriation-
specific guidance for DRGR reporting requirements can be found on the 
HUD exchange at https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/drgr/.
    b. DRGR Action Plan. Each grantee must enter its action plan for 
disaster recovery, including performance measures, into HUD's DRGR 
system. As more detailed information about uses of funds is identified 
by the grantee, it must be entered into the DRGR system at a level of 
detail that is sufficient to serve as the basis for acceptable 
performance reports and permit HUD review of compliance requirements.
    The action plan must also be entered into the DRGR system so that 
the grantee is able to draw its CDBG-DR funds. The grantee may enter 
activities into the DRGR system before or after submission of the 
action plan to HUD. To enter an activity into the DRGR system, the 
grantee must know the activity type, national objective, and the 
organization that will be responsible for the activity.
    All funds programmed or budgeted at a general level in the DRGR 
system will be restricted from access on the grantee's line of credit. 
Grantees must describe activities in DRGR at the necessary level of 
detail in order for HUD to release funds and make them available for 
use by the grantee.
    Each activity entered into the DRGR system must also be categorized 
under a ``project.'' Typically, projects are based on groups of 
activities that accomplish a similar, broad purpose (e.g., housing, 
infrastructure, or economic revitalization) or are based on an area of 
service (e.g., Community A). If a grantee describes just one program 
within a broader category (e.g., single family rehabilitation), that 
program is entered as a project in the DRGR system. Further, the budget 
of the program would be identified as the project's budget. If a State 
grantee has only identified the Method of Distribution (MOD) upon HUD's 
approval of the published action plan, the MOD itself typically serves 
as the projects in the DRGR system, rather than activity groupings. 
Activities are added to MOD projects as subrecipients decide which 
specific CDBG-DR programs and projects will be funded.
    c. Tracking oversight activities in the DRGR system; use of DRGR 
data for HUD review and dissemination. Each grantee must also enter 
into the DRGR system summary information on monitoring visits and 
reports, audits, and technical assistance it conducts as part of its 
oversight of its disaster recovery programs. The grantee's QPR will 
include a summary indicating the number of grantee oversight visits and 
reports (see subparagraph e for more information on the QPR). HUD will 
use data entered into the DRGR action plan and the QPR, transactional 
data from the DRGR system, and other information provided by the 
grantee, to provide reports to Congress and the public, as well as to: 
(1) Monitor for anomalies or performance problems that suggest fraud, 
abuse of funds, and duplication of benefits; (2) reconcile budgets, 
obligations, funding draws, and expenditures; (3) calculate 
expenditures to determine compliance with administrative and public 
service caps and the overall percentage of funds that benefit low- and 
moderate-income persons; and (4) analyze the risk of grantee programs 
to determine priorities for the Department's monitoring. No personally 
identifiable information shall be reported in DRGR.
    d. Tracking program income in the DRGR system. Grantees must use 
the DRGR system to draw grant funds for each activity. Grantees must 
also use the DRGR system to track program income receipts, 
disbursements, revolving loan funds, and leveraged funds (if 
applicable). If a grantee permits local governments or subrecipients to 
retain program income, the grantee must establish program income 
accounts in the DRGR system. The DRGR system requires grantees to use 
program income before drawing additional grant funds, and ensures that 
program income retained by one organization will not affect grant draw 
requests for other organizations.
    e. DRGR system Quarterly Performance Report (QPR). Each grantee 
must submit a QPR through the DRGR system no later than 30 days 
following the end of each calendar quarter. Within 3 days of submission 
to HUD, each QPR must be posted on the grantee's official Web site. In 
the event the QPR is rejected by HUD, the grantee must post the revised 
version, as approved by HUD, within 3 days of HUD approval. The 
grantee's first QPR is due after the first full calendar year quarter 
after HUD enters the grant award into the DRGR system. For example, a 
grant award made in April requires a QPR to be submitted by October 30. 
QPRs must be submitted on a quarterly basis until all funds have been 
expended and all expenditures and accomplishments have been reported. 
If a satisfactory report is not submitted in a timely manner, HUD may 
suspend access to CDBG-DR funds until a satisfactory report is 
submitted, or may withdraw and reallocate funding if HUD determines, 
after notice and opportunity for a hearing, that the jurisdiction did 
not submit a satisfactory report.
    Each QPR will include information about the uses of funds in 
activities identified in the DRGR action plan during the applicable 
quarter. This includes, but is not limited to, the project name, 
activity, location, and national objective; funds budgeted, obligated, 
drawn down, and expended; the funding source and total amount of any 
non-CDBG-DR funds to be

[[Page 83262]]

expended on each activity; beginning and actual completion dates of 
completed activities; achieved performance outcomes, such as number of 
housing units completed or number of low- and moderate-income persons 
served; and the race and ethnicity of persons assisted under direct-
benefit activities. For all housing and economic development 
activities, the address of each CDBG-DR assisted property must be 
recorded in the QPR. Grantees must not include such addresses in its 
public QPR; when entering addresses in the QPR, grantees must select 
``Not Visible on PDF'' to exclude them from the report required to be 
posted on its Web site. The DRGR system will automatically display the 
amount of program income receipted, the amount of program income 
reported as disbursed, and the amount of grant funds disbursed. 
Grantees must include a description of actions taken in that quarter to 
affirmatively further fair housing, within the section titled ``Overall 
Progress Narrative'' in the DRGR system.
    4. Citizen participation waiver and alternative requirement. To 
permit a more streamlined process, and ensure disaster recovery grants 
are awarded in a timely manner, provisions of 42 U.S.C. 5304(a)(2) and 
(3), 42 U.S.C. 12707, 24 CFR 570.486, and 24 CFR 91.115(b) and (c), 
with respect to citizen participation requirements, are waived and 
replaced by the requirements below. The streamlined requirements do not 
mandate public hearings but do require providing a reasonable 
opportunity (at least 14 days) for citizen comment and ongoing citizen 
access to information about the use of grant funds. The streamlined 
citizen participation requirements for a grant under this notice are:
    a. Publication of the action plan, opportunity for public comment, 
and substantial amendment criteria. Before the grantee adopts the 
action plan for this grant or any substantial amendment to the action 
plan, the grantee will publish the proposed plan or amendment. The 
manner of publication must include prominent posting on the grantee's 
official Web site and must afford citizens, affected local governments, 
and other interested parties a reasonable opportunity to examine the 
plan or amendment's contents. The topic of disaster recovery should be 
navigable by citizens from the grantee (or relevant agency) homepage. 
Grantees are also encouraged to notify affected citizens through 
electronic mailings, press releases, statements by public officials, 
media advertisements, public service announcements, and/or contacts 
with neighborhood organizations.
    Grantees are responsible for ensuring that all citizens have equal 
access to information about the programs, including persons with 
disabilities and limited English proficiency (LEP). Each grantee must 
ensure that program information is available in the appropriate 
languages for the geographic areas to be served. Since State grantees 
under this notice may make grants throughout the State, including to 
entitlement communities, States should carefully evaluate the needs of 
disabled persons and those with limited English proficiency. For 
assistance in ensuring that this information is available to LEP 
populations, recipients should consult the Final Guidance to Federal 
Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI, Prohibition Against 
National Origin Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient 
Persons, published on January 22, 2007, in the Federal Register (72 FR 
2732).
    Subsequent to publication of the action plan, the grantee must 
provide a reasonable time frame (again, no less than 14 days) and 
method(s) (including electronic submission) for receiving comments on 
the plan or substantial amendment. In its action plan, each grantee 
must specify criteria for determining what changes in the grantee's 
plan constitute a substantial amendment to the plan. At a minimum, the 
following modifications will constitute a substantial amendment: A 
change in program benefit or eligibility criteria; the addition or 
deletion of an activity; or the allocation or reallocation of a 
monetary threshold specified by the grantee in their action plan. The 
grantee may substantially amend the action plan if it follows the same 
procedures required in this notice for the preparation and submission 
of an action plan for disaster recovery.
    b. Nonsubstantial amendment. The grantee must notify HUD, but is 
not required to undertake public comment, when it makes any plan 
amendment that is not substantial. HUD must be notified at least 5 
business days before the amendment becomes effective. However, every 
amendment to the action plan (substantial and nonsubstantial) must be 
numbered sequentially and posted on the grantee's Web site. The 
Department will acknowledge receipt of the notification of 
nonsubstantial amendments via email within 5 business days.
    c. Consideration of public comments. The grantee must consider all 
comments, received orally or in writing, on the action plan or any 
substantial amendment. A summary of these comments or views, and the 
grantee's response to each must be submitted to HUD with the action 
plan or substantial amendment.
    d. Availability and accessibility of the Action Plan. The grantee 
must make the action plan, any substantial amendments, and all 
performance reports available to the public on its Web site and on 
request. In addition, the grantee must make these documents available 
in a form accessible to persons with disabilities and those with 
limited English proficiency. During the term of the grant, the grantee 
will provide citizens, affected local governments, and other interested 
parties with reasonable and timely access to information and records 
relating to the action plan and to the grantee's use of grant funds.
    e. Public Web site. HUD is requiring grantees to maintain a public 
Web site that provides information accounting for how all grant funds 
are used and managed/administered, including links to all action plans, 
action plan amendments, performance reports, citizen participation 
requirements, and activity/program information for activities described 
in the action plan, including details of all contracts and ongoing 
procurement policies. To meet this requirement, each grantee must have 
a separate page dedicated to its disaster recovery that includes the 
information described at paragraph A.23 of section VI of this notice.
    f. Application status. HUD is requiring grantees to provide 
multiple methods of communication, such as Web sites, toll-free 
numbers, or other means that provide applicants for recovery assistance 
with timely information on the status of their application, as provided 
for in paragraph A.1.b(2) in section VI of this notice.
    g. Citizen complaints. The grantee will provide a timely written 
response to every citizen complaint. The response will be provided 
within 15 working days of the receipt of the complaint.
    5. Direct grant administration and means of carrying out eligible 
activities. Requirements at 42 U.S.C. 5306 are waived to the extent 
necessary to allow a State to use its disaster recovery grant 
allocation directly to carry out State-administered activities eligible 
under this notice, rather than distribute all funds to local 
governments. Pursuant to this waiver, the standard at 24 CFR 570.480(c) 
and the provisions at 42 U.S.C. 5304(e)(2) will also include activities 
that the State carries out directly. Activities eligible under this 
notice may be carried out, subject to State law, by the State through 
its employees, through procurement

[[Page 83263]]

contracts, or through assistance provided under agreements with 
subrecipients or recipients. State grantees continue to be responsible 
for civil rights, labor standards, and environmental protection 
requirements, for compliance with 24 CFR 570.489 relating to conflicts 
of interest and for compliance with 24 CFR 570.489(m) relating to 
monitoring and management of subrecipients.
    For activities carried out by entities eligible under section 
105(a)(15) of the HCD Act, such entity will be subject to the 
definition of a nonprofit under that section rather than the definition 
located in 24 CFR 570.204, even in cases where the entity is receiving 
assistance through a local government that is an Entitlement 
jurisdiction.
    6. Consolidated Plan waiver. HUD is temporarily waiving the 
requirement for consistency with the consolidated plan (requirements at 
42 U.S.C. 12706, 24 CFR 91.325(a)(5) and 24 CFR 91.325(b)(2)), because 
the effects of a major disaster alter a grantee's priorities for 
meeting housing, employment, and infrastructure needs. In conjunction, 
42 U.S.C. 5304(e), to the extent that it would require HUD to annually 
review grantee performance under the consistency criteria, is also 
waived. However, this waiver applies only until the grantee submits its 
next full (3-5 year) consolidated plan, or for 24 months after the 
effective date of this notice, whichever is less. If the grantee is not 
scheduled to submit a new 3-5 year consolidated plan within the next 2 
years, HUD expects each grantee to update its existing 3-5 year 
consolidated plan to reflect disaster-related needs no later than 24 
months after the effective date of this notice. Additionally, grantees 
are encouraged to incorporate disaster-recovery needs into their 
consolidated plan updates as soon as practicable, but any unmet 
disaster-related needs and associated priorities must be incorporated 
into the grantee's next consolidated plan update no later than its 
Fiscal Year 2019 update. HUD has issued guidance for incorporating 
CDBG-DR funds into consolidated plans via HUD's eCon Planning Suite. 
This guidance is on the HUD Exchange at: https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/4400/updating-the-consolidated-plan-to-reflect-disaster-recovery-needs-and-associated-priorities/. This waiver does not affect 
the requirements of HUD's July 16, 2015, final rule on Affirmatively 
Furthering Fair Housing (80 FR 42272), which requires grantees, among 
other requirements, to complete an Assessment of Fair Housing in 
accordance with the requirements of 24 CFR 5.160 and incorporate fair 
housing strategies and actions consistent with the AFH into the 
Consolidated Plan.
    7. Requirement for consultation during plan preparation. Currently, 
the HCD Act and regulations require States to consult with affected 
local governments in nonentitlement areas of the State in determining 
the State's proposed method of distribution. HUD is waiving 42 U.S.C. 
5306(d)(2)(C)(iv), 42 U.S.C. 5306(d)(2)(D), 24 CFR 91.325(b), and 24 
CFR 91.110, with the alternative requirement that States receiving an 
allocation under this notice consult with all disaster-affected local 
governments (including any CDBG-entitlement communities and any local 
public housing authorities) in determining the use of funds. This 
ensures that State grantees sufficiently assess the recovery needs of 
all areas affected by the disaster. Additional guidance on consultation 
with local stakeholders can be found in the National Disaster Recovery 
Framework and its discussion of pre- and post-disaster planning, at: 
https://www.fema.gov/national-disaster-recovery-framework.
    Consistent with the approach encouraged through the National 
Disaster Recovery Framework and National Preparedness Goal, all 
grantees must consult with States, tribes, local governments, Federal 
partners, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and other 
stakeholders and affected parties in the surrounding geographic area to 
ensure consistency of the action plan with applicable regional 
redevelopment plans. Grantees are encouraged to establish a recovery 
task force with representative members of each sector to advise the 
grantee on how its recovery activities can best contribute towards the 
goals of regional redevelopment plans.
    8. Overall benefit requirement. The primary objective of the HCD 
Act is the ``development of viable urban communities, by providing 
decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic 
opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income'' (42 
U.S.C. 5301(c)). To carry out this objective, the statute requires that 
70 percent of the aggregate of CDBG program funds be used to support 
activities benefitting low- and moderate-income persons. To ensure that 
maximum assistance is provided initially to low- and moderate-income 
persons, the 70 percent overall benefit requirement shall remain in 
effect for this allocation, subject to a waiver request by an 
individual grantee to authorize a lower overall benefit for its CDBG-DR 
grant based on a determination by HUD of compelling need for the 
reduction.
    A grantee may seek to reduce the overall benefit requirement below 
70 percent of the total grant, but must submit a justification that, at 
a minimum: (a) Identifies the planned activities that meet the needs of 
its low- and moderate-income population; (b) describes proposed 
activity(ies) and/or program(s) that will be affected by the 
alternative requirement, including their proposed location(s) and 
role(s) in the grantee's long-term disaster recovery plan; (c) 
describes how the activities/programs identified in (b) prevent the 
grantee from meeting the 70 percent requirement; and (d) demonstrates 
that low- and moderate-income persons' disaster-related needs have been 
sufficiently met and that the needs of non-low- and moderate-income 
persons or areas are disproportionately greater, and that the 
jurisdiction lacks other resources to serve them.
    9. Use of the ``upper quartile'' or ``exception criteria'' for low- 
and moderate-income area benefit activities. Section 101(c) of the HCD 
Act requires each funded activity to meet a national objective of the 
CDBG program, including the national objective of benefiting low- and 
moderate-income persons. Grantees may meet this national objective on 
an area basis, through an activity which is available to benefit all of 
the residents of an area where at least 51 percent of the residents are 
low- and moderate income. In some cases, HUD permits an exception to 
the low- and moderate-income area benefit requirement that an area 
contain at least 51 percent low- and moderate-income residents. This 
exception applies to entitlement communities that have few, if any, 
areas within their jurisdiction that have 51 percent or more low- and 
moderate-income residents. These communities are allowed to use a 
percentage less than 51 percent to qualify activities under the low- 
and moderate-income area benefit category. This exception is referred 
to as the ``exception criteria'' or the ``upper quartile.'' A grantee 
qualifies for this exception when less than one quarter of the 
populated-block groups in its jurisdictions contain 51 percent or more 
low- and moderate-income persons. In such communities, activities must 
serve an area that contains a percentage of low- and moderate-income 
residents that is within the upper quartile of all census-block groups 
within its jurisdiction in terms of the degree of concentration of low- 
and moderate-income residents. HUD assesses each grantee's census-block 
groups to determine whether a grantee qualifies to

[[Page 83264]]

use this exception and identifies the alternative percentage the 
grantee may use instead of 51 percent for the purpose of qualifying 
activities under the low- and moderate-income area benefit. HUD 
determines the lowest proportion a grantee may use to qualify an area 
for this purpose and advises the grantee, accordingly. Disaster 
recovery grantees are required to use the most recent data available in 
implementing the exception criteria. The ``exception criteria'' apply 
to disaster recovery activities funded pursuant to this notice in 
jurisdictions covered by such criteria, including jurisdictions that 
receive disaster recovery funds from a State.
    10. Grant administration responsibilities and general 
administration cap.
    a. Grantee responsibilities. Each grantee shall administer its 
award in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations and shall 
be financially accountable for the use of all funds provided in this 
notice.
    b. General administration cap. For all grantees under this notice, 
the annual CDBG program administration requirements must be modified to 
be consistent with the Appropriations Act, which allows up to 5 percent 
of the grant (plus program income) to be used for administrative costs, 
by the grantee, UGLGs or by subrecipients. Thus, the total of all costs 
classified as administrative must be less than or equal to the 5 
percent cap.
    (1) Combined technical assistance and administrative expenditures 
cap. The provisions of 42 U.S.C. 5306(d) and 24 CFR 570.489(a)(1)(i) 
and (iii) will not apply to the extent that they cap administration and 
technical assistance expenditures, limit a State's ability to charge a 
nominal application fee for grant applications for activities the State 
carries out directly, and require a dollar-for-dollar match of State 
funds for administrative costs exceeding $100,000. 42 U.S.C. 5306(d)(5) 
and (6) are waived and replaced with the alternative requirement that 
the aggregate total for administrative and technical assistance 
expenditures must not exceed 5 percent of the grant plus program 
income. A State remains limited to spending a maximum of 20 percent of 
its total grant amount on a combination of planning and program 
administration costs. Planning costs subject to the 20 percent cap are 
those defined in 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(12).
    11. Planning-only activities. The annual State CDBG program 
requires that local government grant recipients for planning-only 
grants must document that the use of funds meets a national objective. 
In the State CDBG program, these planning grants are typically used for 
individual project plans. By contrast, planning activities carried out 
by entitlement communities are more likely to include non-project-
specific plans such as functional land-use plans, master plans, 
historic preservation plans, comprehensive plans, community recovery 
plans, development of housing codes, zoning ordinances, and 
neighborhood plans. These plans may guide long-term community 
development efforts comprising multiple activities funded by multiple 
sources. In the CDBG Entitlement program, these more general planning 
activities are presumed to meet a national objective under the 
requirements at 24 CFR 570.208(d)(4).
    The Department notes that almost all effective recoveries in the 
past have relied on some form of area-wide or comprehensive planning 
activity to guide overall redevelopment independent of the ultimate 
source of implementation funds. To assist grantees, the Department is 
waiving the requirements at 24 CFR 570.483(b)(5) or (c)(3), which limit 
the circumstances under which the planning activity can meet a low- and 
moderate-income or slum-and-blight national objective. Instead, States 
must comply with 24 CFR 570.208(d)(4) when funding disaster recovery-
assisted, planning-only grants, or directly administering planning 
activities that guide recovery in accordance with the Appropriations 
Act. In addition, the types of planning activities that States may fund 
or undertake are expanded to be consistent with those of entitlement 
communities identified at 24 CFR 570.205.
    As provided in paragraph A.2 of section VI of this notice, grantees 
are required to use their planning funds to develop a disaster recovery 
and response plan that addresses long-term recovery and pre- and post-
disaster hazard mitigation.
    Plans should include an assessment of natural hazard risks, 
including risks expected to increase due to climate change, to low- and 
moderate-income residents based on an analysis of data and findings in 
(1) the National Climate Assessment (NCA),\1\ the U.S. Climate 
Resilience Toolkit,\2\ The Impact of Climate Change and Population 
Growth on the National Flood Insurance Program Through 2100,\3\ or the 
Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure 
Systems prepared by the National Institute of Standards and Technology 
(NIST); \4\ or (2) other climate risk related data published by the 
Federal Government, or other State or local government climate risk 
related data, including FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plans that 
incorporate climate change; and (3) other climate risk data identified 
by the jurisdiction. For additional guidance also see: The Coastal 
Hazards Center's State Disaster Recovery Planning Guide \5\ and FEMA's 
Guide on Effective Coordination of Recovery Resources for State, 
Tribal, Territorial and Local Incidents.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/highlights#submenu-highlights-overview.
    \2\ See https://toolkit.climate.gov.
    \3\ See https://www.acclimatise.uk.com/login/uploaded/resources/FEMA_NFIP_report.pdf.
    \4\ See https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.1197.pdf.
    \5\ https://coastalhazardscenter.org/dev/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/State-Disaster-Recovery-Planning-Guide_2012.pdf.
    \6\ https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/101940.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    12. Use of the urgent need national objective. The CDBG 
certification requirements for documentation of urgent need, located at 
24 CFR 570.483(d), are waived for the grants under this notice and 
replaced with the following alternative requirement. In the context of 
disaster recovery, the standard urgent need certification requirements 
may impede recovery. Since the Department only provides CDBG-DR awards 
to grantees with documented disaster-related impacts and each grantee 
is limited to spending funds only in the most impacted and distressed 
areas, the following streamlined alternative requirement recognizes the 
urgency in addressing serious threats to community welfare following a 
major disaster.
    Grantees need not issue formal certification statements to qualify 
an activity as meeting the urgent need national objective. Instead, 
grantees must document how each program and/or activity funded under 
the urgent need national objective responds to a disaster-related 
impact. For each activity that will meet an urgent need national 
objective, grantees must reference in their action plan needs 
assessment the type, scale, and location of the disaster-related 
impacts that each program and/or activity is addressing within 24-
months of its first obligation of grant funds. Following this 24-month 
period, no new program or activity intended to meet the urgent need 
national objective may be introduced and allocated funds without a 
waiver from HUD. Grantees are advised to use the low- and moderate-
income benefit national objective for all activities that qualify under 
the criteria for that national objective. At least 70 percent of the 
entire CDBG-DR grant award must

[[Page 83265]]

be used for activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons.
    13. Waiver and alternative requirement for distribution to CDBG 
metropolitan cities and urban counties. 42 U.S.C 5302(a)(7) (definition 
of ``nonentitlement area'') and provisions of 24 CFR part 570, 
including 24 CFR 570.480, are waived to permit a State to distribute 
CDBG-DR funds to units of local government and tribes.
    14. Recordkeeping. When a State carries out activities directly, 24 
CFR 570.490(b) is waived and the following alternative provision shall 
apply: The State shall establish and maintain such records as may be 
necessary to facilitate review and audit by HUD of the State's 
administration of CDBG-DR funds, under 24 CFR 570.493. Consistent with 
applicable statutes, regulations, waivers and alternative requirements, 
and other Federal requirements, the content of records maintained by 
the State shall be sufficient to: (1) Enable HUD to make the applicable 
determinations described at 24 CFR 570.493; (2) make compliance 
determinations for activities carried out directly by the State; and 
(3) show how activities funded are consistent with the descriptions of 
activities proposed for funding in the action plan and/or DRGR system. 
For fair housing and equal opportunity purposes, and as applicable, 
such records shall include data on the racial, ethnic, and gender 
characteristics of persons who are applicants for, participants in, or 
beneficiaries of the program.
    15. Change of use of real property. This waiver conforms to the 
change of use of real property rule to the waiver allowing a State to 
carry out activities directly. For purposes of this program, all 
references to ``unit of general local government'' in 24 CFR 
570.489(j), shall be read as ``unit of general local government (UGLG) 
or State.''
    16. Responsibility for review and handling of noncompliance. This 
change is in conformance with the waiver allowing the State to carry 
out activities directly. 24 CFR 570.492 is waived and the following 
alternative requirement applies for any State receiving a direct award 
under this notice: The State shall make reviews and audits, including 
on-site reviews of any subrecipients, designated public agencies, and 
UGLGs, as may be necessary or appropriate to meet the requirements of 
section 104(e)(2) of the HCD Act, as amended, as modified by this 
notice. In the case of noncompliance with these requirements, the State 
shall take such actions as may be appropriate to prevent a continuance 
of the deficiency, mitigate any adverse effects or consequences, and 
prevent a recurrence. The State shall establish remedies for 
noncompliance by any designated subrecipients, public agencies, or 
UGLGs.
    17. Program income alternative requirement. The Department is 
waiving applicable program income rules at 42 U.S.C. 5304(j) and 
570.489(e) to the extent necessary to provide additional flexibility as 
described under this notice. The alternative requirements provide 
guidance regarding the use of program income received before and after 
grant close out and address revolving loan funds.
    a. Definition of program income.
    (1) For purposes of this subpart, ``program income'' is defined as 
gross income generated from the use of CDBG-DR funds, except as 
provided in subparagraph (d) of this paragraph, and received by a 
State, local government, tribe or a subrecipient of a State, local 
government, or tribe. When income is generated by an activity that is 
only partially assisted with CDBG-DR funds, the income shall be 
prorated to reflect the percentage of CDBG-DR funds used (e.g., a 
single loan supported by CDBG-DR funds and other funds; a single parcel 
of land purchased with CDBG funds and other funds). Program income 
includes, but is not limited to, the following:
    (a) Proceeds from the disposition by sale or long-term lease of 
real property purchased or improved with CDBG-DR funds.
    (b) Proceeds from the disposition of equipment purchased with CDBG-
DR funds.
    (c) Gross income from the use or rental of real or personal 
property acquired by a State, UGLG, or tribe or subrecipient of a 
State, local government, or tribe with CDBG-DR funds, less costs 
incidental to generation of the income (i.e., net income).
    (d) Net income from the use or rental of real property owned by a 
State, local government, or tribe or subrecipient of a State, local 
government, or tribe, that was constructed or improved with CDBG-DR 
funds.
    (e) Payments of principal and interest on loans made using CDBG-DR 
funds.
    (f) Proceeds from the sale of loans made with CDBG-DR funds.
    (g) Proceeds from the sale of obligations secured by loans made 
with CDBG-DR funds.
    (h) Interest earned on program income pending disposition of the 
income, including interest earned on funds held in a revolving fund 
account.
    (i) Funds collected through special assessments made against 
nonresidential properties and properties owned and occupied by 
households not of low- and moderate-income, where the special 
assessments are used to recover all or part of the CDBG-DR portion of a 
public improvement.
    (j) Gross income paid to a State, local government, or tribe, or 
paid to a subrecipient thereof, from the ownership interest in a for-
profit entity in which the income is in return for the provision of 
CDBG-DR assistance.
    (2) ``Program income'' does not include the following:
    (a) The total amount of funds that is less than $35,000 received in 
a single year and retained by a State, local government, tribe, or 
retained by a subrecipient thereof.
    (b) Amounts generated by activities eligible under section 
105(a)(15) of the HCD Act and carried out by an entity under the 
authority of section 105(a)(15) of the HCD Act.
    b. Retention of program income. State grantees may permit a local 
government or tribe that receives or will receive program income to 
retain the program income, but are not required to do so.
    c. Program income--use, close out, and transfer.
    (1) Program income received (and retained, if applicable) before or 
after close out of the grant that generated the program income, and 
used to continue disaster recovery activities, is treated as additional 
disaster recovery CDBG funds subject to the requirements of this notice 
and must be used in accordance with the grantee's action plan for 
disaster recovery. To the maximum extent feasible, program income shall 
be used or distributed before additional withdrawals from the U.S. 
Treasury are made, except as provided in subparagraph D of this 
paragraph.
    (2) In addition to the regulations dealing with program income 
found at 24 CFR 570.489(e) and 570.504, the following rules apply: A 
grantee may transfer program income before close out of the grant that 
generated the program income to its annual CDBG program. In addition, 
State grantees may transfer program income before close out to any 
annual CDBG-funded activities carried out by a local government or 
tribe within the State. Program income received by a grantee, or 
received and retained by a subrecipient, after close out of the grant 
that generated the program income, may also be transferred to a 
grantee's annual CDBG award. In all cases, any program income received 
that is not used to continue the disaster recovery activity will not be 
subject to the waivers and alternative requirements of this notice. 
Rather, those funds will be subject to

[[Page 83266]]

the grantee's regular CDBG program rules.
    d. Revolving loan funds. State grantees, and local governments or 
tribes (provided assistance by a State grantee) may establish revolving 
funds to carry out specific, identified activities. A revolving fund, 
for this purpose, is a separate fund (with a set of accounts that are 
independent of other program accounts) established to carry out 
specific activities. These activities generate payments, which will be 
used to support similar activities going forward. These payments to the 
revolving fund are program income and must be substantially disbursed 
from the revolving fund before additional grant funds are drawn from 
the U.S. Treasury for payments that could be funded from the revolving 
fund. Such program income is not required to be disbursed for 
nonrevolving fund activities.
    State grantees may also establish a revolving fund to distribute 
funds to local governments or tribes to carry out specific, identified 
activities. The same requirements, outlined above, apply to this type 
of revolving loan fund. Note that no revolving fund established per 
this notice shall be directly funded or capitalized with CDBG-DR grant 
funds, pursuant to 24 CFR 570.489(f)(3).
    18. Reimbursement of disaster recovery expenses. The provisions of 
24 CFR 570.489(b) are applied to permit a State to charge to the grant 
otherwise allowable costs incurred by itself, its recipients or 
subrecipients (including public housing authorities (PHAs)) on or after 
the incident date of the covered disaster. The Department expects State 
grantees to include all preagreement activities in their action plans. 
Additionally, grantees are permitted to charge to grants the preaward 
and preapplication costs of homeowners, businesses, and other 
qualifying entities for eligible costs they have incurred in response 
to an eligible disaster covered under this notice. However, a grantee 
may not charge such preaward or preapplication costs to grants if the 
preaward or preapplication action results in an adverse impact to the 
environment. Grantees receiving an allocation under this notice are 
also subject to HUD's guidance on preaward expenses published in CPD 
Notice 2015-07, ``Guidance for Charging Pre-Application Costs of 
Homeowners, Businesses, and Other Qualifying Entities to CDBG Disaster 
Recovery Grants,'' as amended (https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/4777/notice-cpd-1507-guidance-for-charging-preapplication-costs-to-cdbg-disaster-recovery-grants/). Grantees are required to consult with 
the State Historic Preservation Officer, Fish and Wildlife Service and 
National Marine Fisheries Service, to obtain formal agreements for 
compliance with section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act 
(54 U.S.C. 306108) and section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (16 
U.S.C. 1536) when designing a reimbursement program. Grantees may also 
not use CDBG-DR funds to provide compensation to beneficiaries.
    19. One-for-One Replacement Housing, Relocation, and Real Property 
Acquisition Requirements. Activities and projects assisted by CDBG-DR 
are subject to the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property 
Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, as amended, (42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.) 
(``URA'') and section 104(d) of the HCD Act (42 U.S.C. 5304(d)) 
(Section 104(d)). The implementing regulations for the URA are at 49 
CFR part 24. The regulations for Section 104(d) are at 24 CFR part 42, 
subpart C. For the purpose of promoting the availability of decent, 
safe, and sanitary housing, HUD is waiving the following URA and 
Section 104(d) requirements for grantees under this notice:
    a. One-for-one replacement. One-for-one replacement requirements at 
section 104(d)(2)(A)(i) and (ii) and (d)(3) and 24 CFR 42.375 are 
waived in connection with funds allocated under this notice for lower-
income dwelling units that are damaged by the disaster and not suitable 
for rehabilitation. The section 104(d) one-for-one replacement 
requirements generally apply to demolished or converted occupied and 
vacant occupiable lower-income dwelling units. This waiver exempts 
disaster-damaged units that meet the grantee's definition of ``not 
suitable for rehabilitation'' from the one-for-one replacement 
requirements. Before carrying out a program or activity that may be 
subject to the one-for-one replacement requirements, the grantee must 
define ``not suitable for rehabilitation'' in its action plan or in 
policies/procedures governing these programs and activities. Grantees 
with questions about the one-for-one replacement requirements are 
encouraged to contact the HUD regional relocation specialist 
responsible for their State.
    HUD is waiving the one-for-one replacement requirements because 
they do not account for the large, sudden changes that a major disaster 
may cause to the local housing stock, population, or economy. Further, 
the requirement may discourage grantees from converting or demolishing 
disaster-damaged housing when excessive costs would result from 
replacing all such units. Disaster-damaged housing structures that are 
not suitable for rehabilitation can pose a threat to public health and 
safety and to economic revitalization. Grantees should reassess post-
disaster population and housing needs to determine the appropriate type 
and amount of lower-income dwelling units to rehabilitate and/or 
rebuild. Grantees should note, however, that the demolition and/or 
disposition of PHA-owned public housing units is covered by section 18 
of the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, and 24 CFR part 
970.
    b. Relocation assistance. The relocation assistance requirements at 
section 104(d)(2)(A) of the HCD Act and 24 CFR 42.350 are waived to the 
extent that they differ from the requirements of the URA and 
implementing regulations at 49 CFR part 24, as modified by this notice, 
for activities related to disaster recovery. Without this waiver, 
disparities exist in relocation assistance associated with activities 
typically funded by HUD and FEMA (e.g., buyouts and relocation). Both 
FEMA and CDBG funds are subject to the requirements of the URA; 
however, CDBG funds are subject to Section 104(d), while FEMA funds are 
not. The URA provides that a displaced person is eligible to receive a 
rental assistance payment that covers a period of 42 months. By 
contrast, Section 104(d) allows a lower-income displaced person to 
choose between the URA rental assistance payment and a rental 
assistance payment calculated over a period of 60 months. This waiver 
of the Section 104(d) requirements assures uniform and equitable 
treatment by setting the URA and its implementing regulations as the 
sole standard for relocation assistance under this notice.
    c. Arm's length voluntary purchase. The requirements at 49 CFR 
24.101(b)(2)(i) and (ii) are waived to the extent that they apply to an 
arm's length voluntary purchase carried out by a person who uses funds 
allocated under this notice and does not have the power of eminent 
domain, in connection with the purchase and occupancy of a principal 
residence by that person. Given the often large-scale acquisition needs 
of grantees, this waiver is necessary to reduce burdensome 
administrative requirements following a disaster. Grantees are reminded 
that tenants occupying real property acquired through voluntary 
purchase may be eligible for relocation assistance.
    d. Rental assistance to a displaced person. The requirements at 
sections 204(a) and 206 of the URA, 49 CFR 24.2(a)(6)(viii), 
24.402(b)(2), and 24.404

[[Page 83267]]

are waived to the extent that they require the grantee to use 30 
percent of a low-income, displaced person's household income in 
computing a rental assistance payment if the person had been paying 
rent in excess of 30 percent of household income without ``demonstrable 
hardship'' before the project. Thus, if a tenant has been paying rent 
in excess of 30 percent of household income without demonstrable 
hardship, using 30 percent of household income to calculate the rental 
assistance would not be required. Before carrying out a program or 
activity in which the grantee provides rental assistance payments to 
displaced persons, the grantee must define ``demonstrable hardship'' in 
its action plan or in the policies and procedures governing these 
programs and activities. The grantee's definition of demonstrable 
hardship applies when implementing these alternative requirements.
    e. Tenant-based rental assistance. The requirements of sections 204 
and 205 of the URA, and 49 CFR 24.2(a)(6)(vii), 24.2(a)(6)(ix), and 
24.402(b) are waived to the extent necessary to permit a grantee to 
meet all or a portion of a grantee's replacement housing financial 
assistance obligation to a displaced tenant by offering rental housing 
through a tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) housing program subsidy 
(e.g., Section 8 rental voucher or certificate), provided that the 
tenant is provided referrals to comparable replacement dwellings in 
accordance with 49 CFR 24.204(a) where the owner is willing to 
participate in the TBRA program, and the period of authorized 
assistance is at least 42 months. Failure to grant this waiver would 
impede disaster recovery whenever TBRA program subsidies are available 
but funds for cash relocation assistance are limited.
    f. Moving expenses. The requirements at section 202(b) of the URA 
and 49 CFR 24.302, which require that a grantee offer a displaced 
person the option to receive a fixed moving-cost payment based on the 
Federal Highway Administration's Fixed Residential Moving Cost Schedule 
instead of receiving payment for actual moving and related expenses, 
are waived. As an alternative, the grantee must establish and offer the 
person a ``moving expense and dislocation allowance'' under a schedule 
of allowances that is reasonable for the jurisdiction and that takes 
into account the number of rooms in the displacement dwelling, whether 
the person owns and must move the furniture, and, at a minimum, the 
kinds of expenses described in 49 CFR 24.301. Without this waiver and 
alternative requirement, disaster recovery may be impeded by requiring 
grantees to offer allowances that do not reflect current local labor 
and transportation costs. Persons displaced from a dwelling remain 
entitled to choose a payment for actual reasonable moving and related 
expenses if they find that approach preferable to the locally 
established ``moving expense and dislocation allowance.''
    g. Optional relocation policies. The regulation at 24 CFR 
570.606(d) is waived to the extent that it requires optional relocation 
policies to be established at the grantee level. Unlike the regular 
CDBG program, States may carry out disaster recovery activities 
directly or through subrecipients but 24 CFR 570.606(d) does not 
account for this distinction. This waiver makes clear grantees, 
including subrecipients, receiving CDBG disaster funds may establish 
separate optional relocation policies. This waiver is intended to 
provide States with maximum flexibility in developing optional 
relocation policies with CDBG-DR funds.
    20. Environmental requirements.
    a. Clarifying note on the process for environmental release of 
funds when a State carries out activities directly. Usually, a State 
distributes CDBG funds to local governments and takes on HUD's role in 
receiving environmental certifications from the grant recipients and 
approving releases of funds. For this grant, HUD will allow a State 
grantee to also carry out activities directly, in addition to 
distributing funds to subrecipients. Thus, per 24 CFR 58.4, when a 
State carries out activities directly, the State must submit the 
Certification and Request for Release of Funds to HUD for approval.
    b. Adoption of another agency's environmental review. In accordance 
with the Appropriations Act, recipients of Federal funds that use such 
funds to supplement Federal assistance provided under sections 402, 
403, 404, 406, 407, or 502 of the Stafford Act may adopt, without 
review or public comment, any environmental review, approval, or permit 
performed by a Federal agency, and such adoption shall satisfy the 
responsibilities of the recipient with respect to such environmental 
review, approval, or permit that is required by the HCD Act. The 
grantee must notify HUD in writing of its decision to adopt another 
agency's environmental review. The grantee must retain a copy of the 
review in the grantee's environmental records.
    c. Unified Federal Review. The Sandy Recovery Improvement Act was 
signed into law on January 29, 2013, and directed the Administration to 
``establish an expedited and unified interagency review process (UFR) 
to ensure compliance with environmental and historic requirements under 
Federal law relating to disaster recovery projects, in order to 
expedite the recovery process, consistent with applicable law.'' The 
process aims to coordinate environmental and historic preservation 
reviews to expedite planning and decision-making for disaster recovery 
projects. This can improve the Federal Government's assistance to 
States, local, and tribal governments; communities; families; and 
individual citizens as they recover from future presidentially declared 
disasters. Grantees receiving and allocation of funds under this notice 
are encouraged to in this process as one means of expediting recovery. 
Tools for the UFR process can be found at here: https://www.fema.gov/unified-federal-environmental-and-historic-preservation-review-presidentially-declared-disasters.
    d. Release of funds. In accordance with the Appropriations Act, and 
notwithstanding 42 U.S.C. 5304(g)(2), the Secretary may, upon receipt 
of a Request for Release of Funds and Certification, immediately 
approve the release of funds for an activity or project assisted with 
allocations under this notice if the recipient has adopted an 
environmental review, approval, or permit under subparagraph b above, 
or the activity or project is categorically excluded from review under 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
    e. Historic preservation reviews.
    To facilitate expedited historic preservation reviews under section 
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (54 U.S.C. 
Section 306108), HUD strongly encourages grantees to allocate general 
administration funds to retain a qualified historic preservation 
professional, and support the capacity of the State Historic 
Preservation Officer/Tribal Historic Preservation Officer to review 
CDBG-DR projects. For more information on qualified historic 
preservation professional standards see https://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/arch_stnds_9.htm.
    21. Duplication of benefits. Section 312 of the Stafford Act, as 
amended, generally prohibits any person, business concern, or other 
entity from receiving financial assistance with respect to any part of 
a loss resulting from a major disaster for which such person, business 
concern, or other entity has received financial assistance under any 
other program or from insurance or any other source. To comply with 
Section 312 and the limitation on the use of CDBG-DR

[[Page 83268]]

funds under the Appropriations Act for necessary expenses, each grantee 
must ensure that each activity provides assistance to a person or 
entity only to the extent that the person or entity has a disaster 
recovery need that has not been fully met. Grantees are subject to the 
requirements of a separate notice explaining the duplication of benefit 
requirements (76 FR 71060, published November 16, 2011). As a reminder, 
and as noted in the November 16, 2011, notice, in paragraph B of 
section VI, CDBG-DR funds may not be used to pay an SBA home or 
business loan. Additionally, this notice does not require households 
and businesses to apply for SBA assistance prior to applying for CDBG-
DR assistance. However, CDBG-DR grantees may institute such a 
requirement in order to target assistance to households and businesses 
with the greatest need. In addition to the requirements described here 
and in the November 16, 2011 notice, grantees must comply with HUD's 
guidance published on July 25, 2013, ``HUD Guidance on Duplication of 
Benefits and CDBG Disaster Recovery (DR) Assistance,'' as amended, in 
regards to declined SBA loans (https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/3137/cdbg-dr-duplication-of-benefit-requirements-and-provision-of-assistance-with-sba-funds/).
    22. Procurement. States must comply with the procurement 
requirements at 24 CFR 570.489(g).
    Additionally, if a State grantee chooses to provide funding to 
another State agency, the State may specify in its procurement policies 
and procedures whether that State agency must follow the procurement 
policies and procedures that the State is subject to, or whether the 
State agency must follow the same policies and procedures to which all 
other subrecipients are subject.
    HUD may request periodic updates from grantees that employ 
contractors. A contractor is a third-party firm that the grantee 
acquires through a procurement process to perform specific functions, 
consistent with the procurement requirements in the CDBG program 
regulations. For contractors employed to provide discrete services or 
deliverables only, HUD is establishing an additional alternative 
requirement to expand on existing provisions of 2 CFR 200.317 through 
200.326 and 24 CFR 570.489(g) as follows:
    a. Grantees are also required to ensure all contracts and 
agreements (with subrecipients, recipients, and contractors) clearly 
state the period of performance or date of completion;
    b. Grantees must incorporate performance requirements and 
liquidated damages into each procured contract or agreement. Contracts 
that describe work performed by general management consulting services 
need not adhere to this requirement; and
    c. Grantees may contract for administrative support but may not 
delegate or contract to any other party any inherently governmental 
responsibilities related to management of the funds, such as oversight, 
policy development, and financial management. Technical assistance 
resources for procurement are available to grantees either through HUD 
staff or through technical assistance providers engaged by HUD or the 
grantee.
    23. Public Web site. HUD is requiring grantees to maintain a public 
Web site that provides information accounting for how all grant funds 
are used and managed/administered, including links to all action plans, 
action plan amendments, performance reports, citizen participation 
requirements, and activity/program information for activities described 
in the action plan, including details of all contracts and ongoing 
procurement policies. The creation and maintenance of the public Web 
site is one component of the Department's certification of a grantee's 
proficient financial controls and procurement processes as provided in 
paragraph A.1.a. of section VI of this notice. To meet this 
requirement, each grantee must make the following items available on 
its Web site: The action plan (including all amendments); each QPR (as 
created using the DRGR system); procurement policies and procedures; 
description of services or goods currently being procured by the 
grantee; a copy of contracts the grantee has procured directly; and a 
summary of all procured contracts, including those procured by the 
grantee, recipients, or subrecipients (e.g., a summary list of 
procurements, the phase of the procurement, requirements for proposals, 
and any liquidation of damages associated with a contractor's failure 
or inability to implement the contract, etc.). Grantees should post 
only contracts as defined in 2 CFR 200.22. To assist grantees in 
preparing this summary, HUD has developed a template. The template can 
be accessed at: https://www.hudexchange.info/cdbg-dr/cdbg-dr-laws-regulations-and-federal-register-notices/. Grantees are required to use 
this template, and attach an updated version to the DRGR system each 
quarter as part of their QPR submissions. Updated summaries must also 
be posted quarterly on each grantee's Web site.
    24. Timely distribution of funds. The provisions at 24 CFR 570.494 
and 24 CFR 570.902 regarding timely distribution of funds are waived 
and replaced with alternative requirements under this notice. Each 
grantee must expend 100 percent of its allocation of CDBG-DR funds on 
eligible activities within 6 years of HUD's execution of the grant 
agreement.
    25. Review of continuing capacity to carry out CDBG-funded 
activities in a timely manner. If HUD determines that the grantee has 
not carried out its CDBG activities and certifications in accordance 
with the requirements in this notice, HUD will undertake a further 
review to determine whether or not the grantee has the continuing 
capacity to carry out its activities in a timely manner. In making the 
determination, the Department will consider the nature and extent of 
the recipient's performance deficiencies, types of corrective actions 
the recipient has undertaken, and the success or likely success of such 
actions, and apply the corrective and remedial actions specified in 
paragraph A.26 of section VI of this notice.
    26. Corrective and remedial actions. To ensure compliance with the 
requirements of the Appropriations Act and to effectively administer 
the CDBG-DR program in a manner that facilitates recovery, particularly 
the alternative requirements permitting States to act directly to carry 
out eligible activities, HUD is waiving 42 U.S.C. 5304(e) to the extent 
necessary to establish the following alternative requirement: HUD may 
undertake corrective and remedial actions for States in accordance with 
the authorities applicable to entitlement grantees in subpart O 
(including corrective and remedial actions in 24 CFR 570.910, 570.911, 
and 570.913) or under subpart I of the CDBG regulations at 24 CFR part 
570. This may include the termination, reduction or limitation of 
payments to State grantees receiving funds under this notice.
    27. Reduction, withdrawal, or adjustment of a grant, or other 
appropriate action.
    Prior to a reduction, withdrawal, or adjustment of a CDBG-DR grant, 
or other actions taken pursuant to this section, the recipient shall be 
notified of the proposed action and be given an opportunity for an 
informal consultation.
    Consistent with the procedures described in this notice, the 
Department may adjust, reduce, or withdraw the CDBG-DR grant or take 
other actions as appropriate, except for funds that have been expended 
for eligible approved activities.

[[Page 83269]]

B. Housing and Related Floodplain Issues

    28. Housing-related eligibility waivers. The broadening of eligible 
activities under the HCD Act is necessary following major disasters in 
which large numbers of affordable housing units have been damaged or 
destroyed, as is the case of the disasters eligible under this notice.
    Therefore, 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(24) is waived to the extent necessary 
to allow: (1) Homeownership assistance for households with up to 120 
percent of the area median income; and (2) down payment assistance for 
up to 100 percent of the down payment (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(24)(D)). While 
homeownership assistance may be provided to households with up to 120 
percent of the area median income, only those funds used to serve 
households with up to 80 percent of the area median income may qualify 
as meeting the low- and moderate-income person benefit national 
objective.
    In addition, 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) is waived and alternative 
requirements adopted to the extent necessary to permit new housing 
construction, and to require the following construction standards on 
structures constructed or rehabilitated with CDBG-DR funds as part of 
activities eligible under 42 U.S.C. 5305(a). All references to 
``substantial damage'' and ``substantial improvement'' shall be as 
defined in 44 CFR 59.1 unless otherwise noted:
    a. Green Building Standard for Replacement and New Construction of 
Residential Housing. Grantees must meet the Green Building Standard in 
this subparagraph for: (i) All new construction of residential 
buildings and (ii) all replacement of substantially damaged residential 
buildings. Replacement of residential buildings may include 
reconstruction (i.e., demolishing and rebuilding a housing unit on the 
same lot in substantially the same manner) and may include changes to 
structural elements such as flooring systems, columns, or load bearing 
interior or exterior walls.
    b. Meaning of Green Building Standard. For purposes of this notice, 
the Green Building Standard means the grantee will require that all 
construction covered by subparagraph a, above, meet an industry-
recognized standard that has achieved certification under at least one 
of the following programs: (i) ENERGY STAR (Certified Homes or 
Multifamily High-Rise), (ii) Enterprise Green Communities; (iii) LEED 
(New Construction, Homes, Midrise, Existing Buildings Operations and 
Maintenance, or Neighborhood Development), (iv) ICC-700 National Green 
Building Standard, (v) EPA Indoor AirPlus (ENERGY STAR a prerequisite), 
or (vi) any other equivalent comprehensive green building program 
acceptable to HUD.
    c. Standards for rehabilitation of nonsubstantially damaged 
residential buildings. For rehabilitation other than that described in 
subparagraph (a), above, grantees must follow the guidelines specified 
in the HUD CPD Green Building Retrofit Checklist, available at https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/3684/guidance-on-the-cpd-green-building-checklist/. Grantees must apply these guidelines to the extent 
applicable to the rehabilitation work undertaken, including the use of 
mold resistant products when replacing surfaces such as drywall. When 
older or obsolete products are replaced as part of the rehabilitation 
work, rehabilitation is required to use ENERGY STAR-labeled, 
WaterSense-labeled, or Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)-
designated products and appliances. For example, if the furnace, air 
conditioner, windows, and appliances are replaced, the replacements 
must be ENERGY STAR-labeled or FEMP-designated products; WaterSense-
labeled products (e.g., faucets, toilets, showerheads) must be used 
when water products are replaced. Rehabilitated housing may also 
implement measures recommended in a Physical Condition Assessment (PCA) 
or Green Physical Needs Assessment (GPNA).
    d. Implementation of green building standards. (i) For construction 
projects completed, under construction, or under contract prior to the 
date that assistance is approved for the project, the grantee is 
encouraged to apply the applicable standards to the extent feasible, 
but the Green Building Standard is not required; (ii) for specific 
required equipment or materials for which an ENERGY STAR- or 
WaterSense-labeled or FEMP-designated product does not exist, the 
requirement to use such products does not apply.
    e. Elevation standards for new construction, repair of substantial 
damage, or substantial improvement. The following elevation standards 
apply to new construction, repair of substantial damage, or substantial 
improvement of structures located in an area delineated as a flood 
hazard area or equivalent in FEMA's data source identified in 24 CFR 
55.2(b)(1). All structures, defined at 44 CFR 59.1, designed 
principally for residential use and located in the 1 percent annual (or 
100-year) floodplain that receive assistance for new construction, 
repair of substantial damage, or substantial improvement, as defined at 
24 CFR 55.2(b)(10), must be elevated with the lowest floor, including 
the basement, at least two feet above the 1 percent annual floodplain 
elevation. Residential structures with no dwelling units and no 
residents below two feet above the 1 percent annual floodplain, must be 
elevated or floodproofed, in accordance with FEMA floodproofing 
standards at 44 CFR 60.3(c)(3)(ii) or successor standard, up to at 
least two feet above the 1 percent annual floodplain.
    All Critical Actions, as defined at 24 CFR 55.2(b)(3), within the 
0.2 percent annual floodplain (or 500-year) floodplain must be elevated 
or floodproofed (in accordance with the FEMA standards) to the higher 
of the 0.2 percent annual floodplain flood elevation or three feet 
above the 1 percent annual floodplain. If the 0.2 percent annual 
floodplain or elevation is unavailable for Critical Actions, and the 
structure is in the 1 percent annual floodplain, then the structure 
must be elevated or floodproofed at least three feet above the 1 
percent annual floodplain level. Applicable State, local, and tribal 
codes and standards for floodplain management that exceed these 
requirements, including elevation, setbacks, and cumulative substantial 
damage requirements, will be followed.
    f. Broadband infrastructure in housing. Any new construction or 
substantial rehabilitation, as defined by 24 CFR 5.100, of a building 
with more than four rental units must include installation of broadband 
infrastructure, except where the grantee documents that: (a) The 
location of the new construction or substantial rehabilitation makes 
installation of broadband infrastructure infeasible; (b) the cost of 
installing broadband infrastructure would result in a fundamental 
alteration in the nature of its program or activity or in an undue 
financial burden; or (c) the structure of the housing to be 
substantially rehabilitated makes installation of broadband 
infrastructure infeasible.
    g. Resilient Home Construction Standard. Grantees are strongly 
encouraged to incorporate a Resilient Home Construction Standard, 
meaning that all construction covered by subparagraph (a) meet an 
industry-recognized standard such as those set by the FORTIFIED 
HomeTM Gold level for new construction of single-family, 
detached homes; and FORTIFIED HomeTM Silver level for 
reconstruction of the roof, windows and doors; or FORTIFIED 
HomeTM Bronze level for repair or reconstruction of the 
roof; or any other equivalent comprehensive

[[Page 83270]]

resilient or disaster resistant building program. Further, grantees are 
strongly encouraged to meet the FORTIFIED HomeTM Bronze 
level standard for roof repair or reconstruction, for all construction 
covered under subparagraph c. FORTIFIED HomeTM is a risk-
reduction program providing construction standards for new homes and 
retrofit standards for existing homes, which will increase a home's 
resilience to natural hazards, including high wind, hail, and tropical 
storms. Insurers can provide discounts for homeowner's insurance for 
properties certified as FORTIFIED. Grantees should advise property 
owners to contact their insurance agent for current information on what 
discounts may be available. More information is also available at 
https://disastersafety.org/fortified/fortified-home/.
    29. Primary Consideration of Unmet Housing Needs. Grantees must 
propose an allocation of CDBG-DR funds that gives primary consideration 
to addressing unmet housing needs. Grantees may also allocate funds for 
infrastructure or economic revitalization, but in doing so grantees 
must identify how any remaining unmet housing needs will be addressed 
or how the economic revitalization or infrastructure activities will 
contribute to the long-term recovery and restoration of housing in the 
most impacted and distressed areas.
    30. Addressing Unmet Public Housing Needs. The grantee must 
identify how it will address the rehabilitation, mitigation, and new 
construction needs of each disaster-impacted PHA within its 
jurisdiction, if applicable. The grantee must work directly with 
impacted PHAs in identifying necessary and reasonable costs and ensure 
that adequate funding from all available sources is dedicated to 
addressing the unmet needs of damaged public housing (e.g., FEMA, 
insurance, and funds available from HUD's Office of Public and Indian 
Housing. In the rehabilitation, reconstruction and replacement of 
public housing provided for in the action plan pursuant to paragraph 
A.2.a.3 of section VI of this notice, each grantee must identify 
funding to specifically address the unmet needs described in this 
subparagraph. Grantees are reminded that public housing is eligible for 
FEMA Public Assistance and must ensure that there is no duplication of 
benefits when using CDBG-DR funds to assist public housing. Information 
on the PHAs impacted by the disaster is available on the Department's 
Web site.
    31. Addressing Unmet Affordable Rental Housing Needs. As part of 
the requirement to give primary consideration to unmet housing needs, 
the grantee must identify how it will address the rehabilitation, 
reconstruction, replacement, and new construction of rental housing 
that is affordable to low or moderate income households in the most 
impacted and distressed areas and identify funding to specifically 
address the unmet needs identified in its action plan pursuant to 
paragraph A.2.a.3 of section VI of this notice. In order to meet the 
low-moderate housing national objective, affordable rental housing 
funded under this notice must be rented to a low and moderate income 
person at affordable rents. The period that the rental housing is 
affordable must be reasonably related to the amount of CDBG-DR funding 
used for the rental housing. The grantee should impose the minimum 
period of affordability through recorded use restrictions or other 
mechanisms to ensure that rental housing remains affordable for a 
stated period of time. The action plan must, at a minimum, provide (1) 
a definition of ``affordable rents''; (2) the income limits for tenants 
of rental housing; (3) and a minimum period of affordability. Grantees 
may adopt the HOME program standards at 24 CFR 92.252(a), (c), (e), and 
(f) to comply with this requirement.
    32. Housing incentives in disaster-affected communities. Incentive 
payments are generally offered in addition to other programs or funding 
(such as insurance), to encourage households to relocate in a suitable 
housing development or an area promoted by the community's 
comprehensive recovery plan. For example, a grantee may offer an 
incentive payment (possibly in addition to a buyout payment) for 
households that volunteer to relocate outside of floodplain or to a 
lower-risk area.
    Therefore, 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) and associated regulations are waived 
to the extent necessary to allow the provision of housing incentives. 
These grantees must maintain documentation, at least at a programmatic 
level, describing how the amount of assistance was determined to be 
necessary and reasonable, and the incentives must be in accordance with 
the grantee's approved action plan and published program design(s). 
This waiver does not permit a compensation program. If the grantee 
requires the incentives to be used for a particular purpose by the 
household receiving the assistance, then the eligible use for that 
activity will be that required use, not an incentive.
    In undertaking a larger scale migration or relocation recovery 
effort that is intended to move households out of high-risk areas, the 
grantee should consider how it can protect and sustain the impacted 
community and its assets. Grantees must also weigh the benefits and 
costs, including anticipated insurance costs, of redeveloping high-risk 
areas that were impacted by a disaster. Accordingly, grantees are 
prohibited from offering incentives to return households to disaster-
impacted floodplains, unless the grantee can demonstrate to HUD how it 
will resettle such areas in a way that mitigates the risks of future 
disasters and increasing insurance costs resulting from continued 
occupation of high-risk areas, through mechanisms that can reduce risks 
and insurance costs, such as new land use development plans, building 
codes or construction requirements, protective infrastructure 
development, or through restrictions on future disaster assistance to 
such properties.
    33. Limitation on emergency grant payments--interim mortgage 
assistance. 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(8) is modified to extend interim mortgage 
assistance to qualified individuals from 3 months to up to 20 months. 
Interim mortgage assistance is typically used in conjunction with a 
buyout program, or the rehabilitation or reconstruction of single-
family housing, during which mortgage payments may be due but the home 
is uninhabitable. The time required for a household to complete the 
rebuilding process may often extend beyond 3 months, during which 
mortgage payments may be due but the home is inhabitable. Thus, this 
interim assistance will be critical for many households facing 
financial hardship during this period. Grantees may use interim housing 
rehabilitation payments to expedite recovery assistance to homeowners, 
but must establish performance milestones for the rehabilitation that 
are to be met by the homeowner in order to receive such payments. A 
grantee using this alternative requirement must document, in its 
policies and procedures, how it will determine the amount of assistance 
to be provided is necessary and reasonable.
    34. Rental assistance to displaced homeowners. The requirement of 
42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(8) are modified to authorize grantees to extend 
rental assistance payments on behalf of qualified homeowners for up to 
24 months. After a disaster, many homeowners encounter unanticipated 
delays and scarcity of available construction and/or elevation 
contractors in their area. While undergoing rehabilitation of their 
homes, most of these homeowners are forced to pay not only a mortgage, 
but

[[Page 83271]]

a rental payment as well since their homes are not inhabitable. In 
other cases, homeowners who have paid off their mortgages must 
accommodate this additional rental expense into their budgets. In order 
to provide temporary financial assistance to these families, many of 
whom are low- or moderate-income households, HUD is modifying the 
requirements at 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(8) to the extent necessary to allow 
grantees to provide up to 24 months of homeowner rental assistance to 
eligible applicants within the grantee's single-family rehabilitation/
reconstruction programs. In the case of rehabilitation programs in 
which the homeowner is responsible for construction oversight, the 
grantee must establish performance milestones for the rehabilitation 
that are to be met by the homeowner in order to receive such payments. 
A grantee using this alternative requirement must document, in its 
policies and procedures, how it will determine the amount of assistance 
to be provided is necessary and reasonable. Homeowners receiving 
interim mortgage assistance are not eligible for rental assistance.
    35. Acquisition of real property; flood and other buyouts. Grantees 
under this notice are able to carry out property acquisition for a 
variety of purposes. However, the term ``buyouts'' as referenced in 
this notice refers to acquisition of properties located in a floodway 
or floodplain that is intended to reduce risk from future flooding or 
the acquisition of properties in Disaster Risk Reduction Areas as 
designated by the grantee and defined below. HUD is providing 
alternative requirements for consistency with the application of other 
Federal resources commonly used for this type of activity.
    Grantees are encouraged to use buyouts strategically, as a means of 
acquiring contiguous parcels of land for uses compatible with open 
space, recreational, natural floodplain functions, other ecosystem 
restoration, or wetlands management practices. To the maximum extent 
practicable, grantees should avoid circumstances in which parcels that 
could not be acquired through a buyout remain alongside parcels that 
have been acquired through the grantee's buyout program.
    a. Clarification of ``Buyout'' and ``Real Property Acquisition'' 
activities. Grantees that choose to undertake a buyout program have the 
discretion to determine the appropriate valuation method, including 
paying either pre-disaster or post-disaster fair market value (FMV). In 
most cases, a program that provides pre-disaster FMV to buyout 
applicants provides compensation at an amount greater than the post-
disaster FMV. When the purchase price exceeds the current FMV, any 
CDBG-DR funds in excess of the FMV are considered assistance to the 
seller, thus making the seller a beneficiary of CDBG-DR assistance. If 
the seller receives assistance as part of the purchase price, this may 
have implications for duplication of benefits calculations or for 
demonstrating national objective criteria, as discussed below. However, 
a program that provides post-disaster FMV to buyout applicants merely 
provides the actual value of the property; thus, the seller is not 
considered a beneficiary of CDBG-DR assistance.
    Regardless of purchase price, all buyout activities are a type of 
acquisition of real property (as permitted by 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(1)). 
However, only acquisitions that meet the definition of a ``buyout'' are 
subject to the post-acquisition land use restrictions imposed by the 
applicable prior notices. The key factor in determining whether the 
acquisition is a buyout is whether the intent of the purchase is to 
reduce risk from future flooding or to reduce the risk from the hazard 
that lead to the property's Disaster Risk Reduction Area designation. 
To conduct a buyout in a Disaster Risk Reduction Area, the grantee must 
establish criteria in its policies and procedures to designate the area 
subject to the buyout, pursuant to the following requirements: (1) The 
hazard must have been caused or exacerbated by the Presidentially 
declared disaster for which the grantee received its CDBG-DR 
allocation; (2) the hazard must be a predictable environmental threat 
to the safety and well-being of program beneficiaries, as evidenced by 
the best available data and science; and (3) the Disaster Risk 
Reduction Area must be clearly delineated so that HUD and the public 
may easily determine which properties are located within the designated 
area.
    The distinction between buyouts and other types of acquisitions is 
important, because grantees may only redevelop an acquired property if 
the property is not acquired through a buyout program (i.e., the 
purpose of acquisition was something other than risk reduction). When 
acquisitions are not acquired through a buyout program, the purchase 
price must be consistent with applicable uniform cost principles (and 
the pre-disaster FMV may not be used).
    b. Buyout requirements:
    1. Any property acquired, accepted, or from which a structure will 
be removed pursuant to the project will be dedicated and maintained in 
perpetuity for a use that is compatible with open space, recreational, 
or floodplain and wetlands management practices.
    2. No new structure will be erected on property acquired, accepted, 
or from which a structure was removed under the acquisition or 
relocation program other than: (a) A public facility that is open on 
all sides and functionally related to a designated open space (e.g., a 
park, campground, or outdoor recreation area); (b) a rest room; or (c) 
a flood control structure, provided that structure does not reduce 
valley storage, increase erosive velocities, or increase flood heights 
on the opposite bank, upstream, or downstream and that the local 
floodplain manager approves, in writing, before the commencement of the 
construction of the structure.
    3. After receipt of the assistance, with respect to any property 
acquired, accepted, or from which a structure was removed under the 
acquisition or relocation program, no subsequent application for 
additional disaster assistance for any purpose or to repair damage or 
make improvements of any sort will be made by the recipient to any 
Federal entity in perpetuity.
    The entity acquiring the property may lease it to adjacent property 
owners or other parties for compatible uses in return for a maintenance 
agreement. Although Federal policy encourages leasing rather than 
selling such property, the property may also be sold.
    In all cases, a deed restriction or covenant running with the 
property must require that the buyout property be dedicated and 
maintained for compatible uses in perpetuity.
    4. Grantees have the discretion to determine an appropriate 
valuation method (including the use of pre-flood value or post-flood 
value as a basis for property value). However, in using CDBG-DR funds 
for buyouts, the grantee must uniformly apply whichever valuation 
method it chooses.
    5. All buyout activities must be classified using the ``buyout'' 
activity type in the DRGR system.
    6. Any State grantee implementing a buyout program or activity must 
consult with affected UGLGs.
    7. When undertaking buyout activities, in order to demonstrate that 
a buyout meets the low- and moderate-income housing national objective, 
grantees must meet all requirements of the HCD Act and applicable 
regulatory criteria described below. Grantees are encouraged to consult 
with HUD prior to undertaking a buyout program with the intent of using 
the low- and moderate-income housing (LMH) national objective. 42 
U.S.C. 5305(c)(3) provides that any assisted activity under

[[Page 83272]]

this chapter that involves the acquisition or rehabilitation of 
property to provide housing shall be considered to benefit persons of 
low- and moderate-income only to the extent such housing will, upon 
completion, be occupied by such persons. In addition, the State CDBG 
regulations at 24 CFR 570.483(b)(3) and entitlement CDBG regulations at 
24 CFR 570.208(a)(3) apply the LMH national objective to an eligible 
activity carried out for the purpose of providing or improving 
permanent residential structures that, upon completion, will be 
occupied by low- and moderate-income households. Therefore, a buyout 
program that merely pays homeowners to leave their existing homes does 
not result in a low- and moderate-income household occupying a 
residential structure and, thus, cannot meet the requirements of the 
LMH national objective. Buyout programs that assist low- and moderate-
income persons can be structured in one of the following ways:
    (a) The buyout program combines the acquisition of properties with 
another direct benefit--Low- and Moderate-Income housing activity, such 
as down payment assistance--that results in occupancy and otherwise 
meets the applicable LMH national objective criteria in 24 CFR part 570 
(e.g., if the structure contains more than two dwelling units, at least 
51 percent of the units must be occupied by low- and moderate-income 
households;
    (b) The program meets the low- and moderate income area benefit 
criteria to demonstrate national objective compliance, provided that 
the grantee can document that the properties acquired through buyouts 
will be used in a way that benefits all of the residents in a 
particular area where at least 51 percent of the residents are low- and 
moderate-income persons. When using the area benefit approach, grantees 
must define the service area based on the end use of the buyout 
properties; or
    (c) The program meets the criteria for the low- and moderate-income 
limited clientele national objective, including the prohibition on the 
use of the limited clientele national objective when an activity's 
benefits are available to all residents of the area. A buyout program 
could meet the national objective criteria for the limited clientele 
national objective if it restricts buyout program eligibility to 
exclusively low- and moderate-income persons, and the buyout provides 
an actual benefit to the low- and moderate income sellers by providing 
pre-disaster valuation uniformly to those who participate in the 
program.
    c. Redevelopment of acquired properties.
    1. Properties purchased through a buyout program may not typically 
be redeveloped, with a few exceptions. (see subparagraph a.2 above).
    2. Grantees may redevelop an acquired property if the property is 
not acquired through a buyout program and the purchase price is based 
on the property's post-disaster value, consistent with applicable cost 
principles (the pre-disaster value may not be used). In addition to the 
purchase price, grantees may opt to provide relocation assistance to 
the owner of a property that will be redeveloped if the property is 
purchased by the grantee or subrecipient through voluntary acquisition, 
and the owner's need for additional assistance is documented.
    3. In carrying out acquisition activities, grantees must ensure 
they are in compliance with their long-term redevelopment plans.
    36. Alternative requirement for housing rehabilitation--assistance 
for second homes. The Department is instituting an alternative 
requirement to the rehabilitation provisions at 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) as 
follows: Properties that served as second homes at the time of the 
disaster, or following the disaster, are not eligible for 
rehabilitation assistance, residential incentives, or to participate in 
a CDBG-DR buyout program (as defined by this notice). ``Second homes'' 
are defined in Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Publication 936 (Mortgage 
Interest Deductions).
    37. Flood insurance. Grantees, recipients, and subrecipients must 
implement procedures and mechanisms to ensure that assisted property 
owners comply with all flood insurance requirements, including the 
purchase and notification requirements described below, prior to 
providing assistance. For additional information, please consult with 
the field environmental officer in the local HUD field office or review 
the guidance on flood insurance requirements on HUD's Web site.
    a. Flood insurance purchase requirements. HUD does not prohibit the 
use of CDBG-DR funds for existing residential buildings in a Special 
Flood Hazard Area (or 100-year floodplain). However, Federal, State, 
local, and tribal laws and regulations related to both flood insurance 
and floodplain management must be followed, as applicable. With respect 
to flood insurance, a HUD-assisted homeowner for a property located in 
a Special Flood Hazard Area must obtain and maintain flood insurance in 
the amount and duration prescribed by FEMA's National Flood Insurance 
Program. Section 102(a) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 
(42 U.S.C. 4012a) mandates the purchase of flood insurance protection 
for any HUD-assisted property within a Special Flood Hazard Area. HUD 
also recommends the purchase of flood insurance outside of a Special 
Flood Hazard Area for properties that have been damaged by a flood, to 
better protect property owners from the economic risks of future floods 
and reduce dependence on Federal disaster assistance in the future, but 
this is not a requirement.
    b. Future Federal assistance to owners remaining in a floodplain.
    1. Section 582 of the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994, 
as amended, (42 U.S.C. 5154a) prohibits flood disaster assistance in 
certain circumstances. In general, it provides that no Federal disaster 
relief assistance made available in a flood disaster area may be used 
to make a payment (including any loan assistance payment) to a person 
for repair, replacement, or restoration for damage to any personal, 
residential, or commercial property if that person at any time has 
received Federal flood disaster assistance that was conditioned on the 
person first having obtained flood insurance under applicable Federal 
law and the person has subsequently failed to obtain and maintain flood 
insurance as required under applicable Federal law on such property. 
This means that a grantee may not provide disaster assistance for the 
repair, replacement, or restoration to a person who has failed to meet 
this requirement and must implement a process to check and monitor for 
compliance.
    2. Section 582 also imposes a responsibility on a grantee that 
receives CDBG-DR funds or that designates annually appropriated CDBG 
funds for disaster recovery. That responsibility is to inform property 
owners receiving disaster assistance that triggers the flood insurance 
purchase requirement that they have a statutory responsibility to 
notify any transferee of the requirement to obtain and maintain flood 
insurance, and that the transferring owner may be liable if he or she 
fails to do so. These requirements are enumerated at https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:U.S.C.-prelim-title42-section5154a&num=0&edition=prelim.

C. Infrastructure (Public Facilities, Public Improvements, Public 
Buildings)

    38. Buildings for the general conduct of government. 42 U.S.C. 
5305(a) is waived to the extent necessary to allow grantees to fund the 
rehabilitation or reconstruction of public buildings that are otherwise 
ineligible. HUD believes

[[Page 83273]]

this waiver is consistent with the overall purposes of the HCD Act, and 
is necessary for many grantees to adequately address critical 
infrastructure needs created by the disaster.
    39. Elevation of Nonresidential Structures. Nonresidential 
structures must be elevated or floodproofed, in accordance with FEMA 
floodproofing standards at 44 CFR 60.3(c)(3)(ii) or successor standard, 
up to at least two feet above the 1 percent annual floodplain. All 
Critical Actions, as defined at 24 CFR 55.2(b)(3), within the 0.2 
percent annual floodplain (or 500-year) floodplain must be elevated or 
floodproofed (in accordance with the FEMA standards) to the higher of 
the 0.2 percent annual floodplain flood elevation or three feet above 
the 1 percent annual floodplain. If the 0.2 percent annual floodplain 
or elevation is unavailable for Critical Actions, and the structure is 
in the 1 percent annual floodplain, then the structure must be elevated 
or floodproofed at least three feet above the 1 percent annual 
floodplain level. Applicable State, local, and tribal codes and 
standards for floodplain management that exceed these requirements, 
including elevation, setbacks, and cumulative substantial damage 
requirements, will be followed.
    40. Use of CDBG as Match. Additionally, as provided by the HCD Act, 
funds may be used to meet a matching, share, or contribution 
requirement for any other Federal program when used to carry out an 
eligible CDBG-DR activity. This includes programs or activities 
administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). By law, the amount of CDBG-DR 
funds that may be contributed to a USACE project is $250,000 or less. 
Note that the Appropriations Act prohibits the use of CDBG-DR funds for 
any activity reimbursable by, or for which funds are also made 
available by FEMA or USACE.

D. Economic Revitalization.

    41. National Objective Documentation for Economic Revitalization 
Activities. 24 CFR 570.483(b)(4)(i) is waived to allow the grantees 
under this notice to identify the low- and moderate-income jobs benefit 
by documenting, for each person employed, the name of the business, 
type of job, and the annual wages or salary of the job. HUD will 
consider the person income-qualified if the annual wages or salary of 
the job is at or under the HUD-established income limit for a one-
person family. This method replaces the standard CDBG requirement--in 
which grantees must review the annual wages or salary of a job in 
comparison to the person's total household income and size (i.e., the 
number of persons). Thus, it streamlines the documentation process 
because it allows the collection of wage data for each position created 
or retained from the assisted businesses, rather than from each 
individual household.
    42. Public benefit for certain Economic Revitalization activities. 
The public benefit provisions set standards for individual economic 
revitalization activities (such as a single loan to a business) and for 
economic revitalization activities in the aggregate. Currently, public 
benefit standards limit the amount of CDBG assistance per job retained 
or created, or the amount of CDBG assistance per low- and moderate-
income person to which goods or services are provided by the activity. 
These dollar thresholds were set two decades ago and can impede 
recovery by limiting the amount of assistance the grantee may provide 
to a critical activity.
    This notice waives the public benefit standards at 42 U.S.C. 
5305(e)(3), 24 CFR 570.482(f)(1), (f)(2), (f)(3), (f)(4)(i), (f)(5), 
and (f)(6) for economic revitalization activities designed to create or 
retain jobs or businesses (including, but not limited to, long-term, 
short-term, and infrastructure projects). However, grantees shall 
report and maintain documentation on the creation and retention of 
total jobs; the number of jobs within certain salary ranges; the 
average amount of assistance provided per job, by activity or program; 
and the types of jobs. Paragraph (g) of 24 CFR 570.482 is also waived 
to the extent these provisions are related to public benefit.
    43. Clarifying note on Section 3 resident eligibility and 
documentation requirements. The definition of ``low-income persons'' in 
12 U.S.C. 1701u and 24 CFR 135.5 is the basis for eligibility as a 
section 3 resident. This notice authorizes grantees to determine that 
an individual is eligible to be considered a section 3 resident if the 
annual wages or salary of the person are at, or under, the HUD-
established income limit for a one-person family for the jurisdiction. 
This authority does not impact other section 3 resident eligibility 
requirements in 24 CFR 135.5. All direct recipients of CDBG-DR funding 
must submit form HUD-60002 annually through the Section 3 Performance 
Evaluation and Registry System (SPEARS) which can be found on HUD's Web 
site: https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/section3/section3/spears.
    44. Waiver and modification of the job relocation clause to permit 
assistance to help a business return. CDBG requirements prevent program 
participants from providing assistance to a business to relocate from 
one labor market area to another if the relocation is likely to result 
in a significant loss of jobs in the labor market from which the 
business moved. This prohibition can be a critical barrier to 
reestablishing and rebuilding a displaced employment base after a major 
disaster. Therefore, 42 U.S.C. 5305(h), 24 CFR 570.210, and 24 CFR 
570.482 are waived to allow a grantee to provide assistance to any 
business that was operating in the disaster-declared labor market area 
before the incident date of the applicable disaster and has since 
moved, in whole or in part, from the affected area to another State or 
to a labor market area within the same State to continue business.
    45. Prioritizing small businesses. To target assistance to small 
businesses, the Department is instituting an alternative requirement to 
the provisions at 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) to require grantees to prioritize 
assisting businesses that meet the definition of a small business as 
defined by SBA at 13 CFR part 121 or, for businesses engaged in 
``farming operations'' as defined at 7 CFR 1400.3, and that meet the 
United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (FSA), 
criteria that are described at 7 CFR 1400.500, which are used by the 
FSA to determine eligibility for certain assistance programs.
    46. Prohibiting assistance to private utilities. Funds made 
available under this notice may not be used to assist a privately owned 
utility for any purpose.

E. Certifications and Collection of Information

    47. Certifications waiver and alternative requirement. 24 CFR 
91.325 is waived. Each State receiving a direct allocation under this 
notice must make the following certifications with its action plan:
    a. The grantee certifies that it has in effect and is following a 
residential anti-displacement and relocation assistance plan in 
connection with any activity assisted with funding under the CDBG 
program.
    b. The grantee certifies its compliance with restrictions on 
lobbying required by 24 CFR part 87, together with disclosure forms, if 
required by part 87.
    c. The grantee certifies that the action plan for disaster recovery 
is authorized under State and local law (as applicable) and that the 
grantee, and any entity or entities designated by the grantee, and any 
contractor, subrecipient, or

[[Page 83274]]

designated public agency carrying out an activity with CDBG-DR funds, 
possess(es) the legal authority to carry out the program for which it 
is seeking funding, in accordance with applicable HUD regulations and 
this notice. The grantee certifies that activities to be undertaken 
with funds under this notice are consistent with its action plan.
    d. The grantee certifies that it will comply with the acquisition 
and relocation requirements of the URA, as amended, and implementing 
regulations at 49 CFR part 24, except where waivers or alternative 
requirements are provided for in this notice.
    e. The grantee certifies that it will comply with section 3 of the 
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701u), and 
implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 135.
    f. The grantee certifies that it is following a detailed citizen 
participation plan that satisfies the requirements of 24 CFR 91.115 
(except as provided for in notices providing waivers and alternative 
requirements for this grant). Also, each UGLG receiving assistance from 
a State grantee must follow a detailed citizen participation plan that 
satisfies the requirements of 24 CFR 570.486 (except as provided for in 
notices providing waivers and alternative requirements for this grant).
    g. The grantee certifies that it has consulted with affected UGLGs 
in counties designated in covered major disaster declarations in the 
non-entitlement, entitlement, and tribal areas of the State in 
determining the uses of funds, including the method of distribution of 
funding, or activities carried out directly by the State.
    h. The grantee certifies that it is complying with each of the 
following criteria:
    1. Funds will be used solely for necessary expenses related to 
disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and 
housing and economic revitalization in the most impacted and distressed 
areas for which the President declared a major disaster in 2016 
pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) but prior to September 
29, 2016.
    2. With respect to activities expected to be assisted with CDBG-DR 
funds, the action plan has been developed so as to give the maximum 
feasible priority to activities that will benefit low- and moderate-
income families.
    3. The aggregate use of CDBG-DR funds shall principally benefit 
low- and moderate-income families in a manner that ensures that at 
least 70 percent (or another percentage permitted by HUD in a waiver 
published in an applicable Federal Register notice) of the grant amount 
is expended for activities that benefit such persons.
    4. The grantee will not attempt to recover any capital costs of 
public improvements assisted with CDBG-DR grant funds, by assessing any 
amount against properties owned and occupied by persons of low- and 
moderate-income, including any fee charged or assessment made as a 
condition of obtaining access to such public improvements, unless: (a) 
Disaster recovery grant funds are used to pay the proportion of such 
fee or assessment that relates to the capital costs of such public 
improvements that are financed from revenue sources other than under 
this title; or (b) for purposes of assessing any amount against 
properties owned and occupied by persons of moderate income, the 
grantee certifies to the Secretary that it lacks sufficient CDBG funds 
(in any form) to comply with the requirements of clause (a).
    i. The grantee certifies that the grant will be conducted and 
administered in conformity with title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d).
    j. The grantee certifies that the grant will be conducted and 
administered in conformity with the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601-
3619) and implementing regulations, and that it will affirmatively 
further fair housing, which means that it will take meaningful actions 
to further the goals identified in an AFH conducted in accordance with 
the requirements of 24 CFR 5.150 through 5.180, and that it will take 
no action that is materially inconsistent with its obligation to 
affirmatively further fair housing.
    k. The grantee certifies that it has adopted and is enforcing the 
following policies, and, in addition, States receiving a direct award 
must certify that they will require UGLGs that receive grant funds to 
certify that they have adopted and are enforcing:
    1. A policy prohibiting the use of excessive force by law 
enforcement agencies within its jurisdiction against any individuals 
engaged in nonviolent civil rights demonstrations; and
    2. A policy of enforcing applicable State and local laws against 
physically barring entrance to or exit from a facility or location that 
is the subject of such nonviolent civil rights demonstrations within 
its jurisdiction.
    l. The grantee certifies that it (and any subrecipient or 
administering entity) currently has or will develop and maintain the 
capacity to carry out disaster recovery activities in a timely manner 
and that the grantee has reviewed the requirements of this notice and 
requirements of the Appropriations Act applicable to funds allocated by 
this notice, and certifies to the accuracy of its certification 
documentation referenced at A.1.a. under section VI and its risk 
analysis document referenced at A.1.b. under section VI.
    m. The grantee certifies that it will not use CDBG-DR funds for any 
activity in an area identified as flood prone for land use or hazard 
mitigation planning purposes by the State, local, or tribal government 
or delineated as a Special Flood Hazard Area in FEMA's most current 
flood advisory maps, unless it also ensures that the action is designed 
or modified to minimize harm to or within the floodplain, in accordance 
with Executive Order 11988 and 24 CFR part 55. The relevant data source 
for this provision is the State, local, and tribal government land use 
regulations and hazard mitigation plans and the latest-issued FEMA data 
or guidance, which includes advisory data (such as Advisory Base Flood 
Elevations) or preliminary and final Flood Insurance Rate Maps.
    n. The grantee certifies that its activities concerning lead-based 
paint will comply with the requirements of 24 CFR part 35, subparts A, 
B, J, K, and R.
    o. The grantee certifies that it will comply with environmental 
requirements at 24 CFR part 58.
    p. The grantee certifies that it will comply with applicable laws.

VII. Duration of Funding

    The Appropriations Act directs that these funds be available until 
expended. However, in accordance with 31 U.S.C. 1555, HUD shall close 
the appropriation account and cancel any remaining obligated or 
unobligated balance if the Secretary or the President determines that 
the purposes for which the appropriation has been made have been 
carried out and no disbursements have been made against the 
appropriation for two consecutive fiscal years. In such case, the funds 
shall not be available for obligation or expenditure for any purpose 
after the account is closed.

VIII. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance numbers for the disaster 
recovery grants under this notice are as follows: 14.218; 14.228.

IX. Finding of No Significant Impact

    A Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) with respect to the 
environment has been made in accordance with HUD regulations at 24 CFR 
part 50, which implement section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

[[Page 83275]]

4332(2)(C)). The FONSI is available for public inspection between 8 
a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays in the Regulations Division, Office of General 
Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street 
SW., Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410-0500. Due to security measures at 
the HUD Headquarters building, an advance appointment to review the 
docket file must be scheduled by calling the Regulations Division at 
202-708-3055 (this is not a toll-free number). Hearing- or speech-
impaired individuals may access this number through TTY by calling the 
Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339 (this is a toll-free number).

    Dated: November 15, 2016.
Nani A. Coloretti,
Deputy Secretary.

Appendix A--Allocation of CDBG-DR Funds to Most Impacted and Distressed 
Areas Due to 2016 Federally Declared Disasters Thru September 29, 2016

    This section describes the methods behind HUD's allocation of 
$500 million in the 2016 CDBG-DR Funds. Section 145(a) of Division C 
of the Continuing Appropriations Act, Public Law 114-223, enacted on 
September 29, 2016, appropriates $500 million through the Community 
Development Block Grant (CDBG) program for necessary expenses for 
authorized activities related to disaster relief, long-term 
recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, and economic 
revitalization in the most impacted and distressed areas resulting 
from a major disaster declared in 2016 and occurring prior to 
September 29, 2016.
    This section requires that funds be awarded directly to the 
State or unit of general local government at the discretion of the 
Secretary. The key underlying metric used in the allocation process 
is the unmet need that remains to be addressed from qualifying 
disasters. Although funds may be used to address infrastructure and 
economic revitalization needs in addition to housing, this 
allocation only uses unmet needs related to housing to determine the 
most impacted and distressed areas that are eligible for grants and 
then to determine the amount of funding to be made available to each 
grantee. HUD only uses unmet housing needs for two reasons: (1) 
There is very limited data on infrastructure and economic 
revitalization unmet needs for the largest of the eligible 
disasters, and (2) the total funding provided through this 
allocation is limited relative to need.
    Methods for estimating unmet housing needs. The data HUD staff 
have identified as being available to calculate unmet needs for 
qualifying disasters come from the FEMA Individual Assistance 
program data on housing-unit damage as of September 28, 2016.
    The core data on housing damage for both the unmet housing needs 
calculation and the concentrated damage are based on home inspection 
data for FEMA's Individual Assistance program. HUD calculates 
``unmet housing needs'' as the number of housing units with unmet 
needs times the estimated cost to repair those units less repair 
funds already provided by FEMA, where:
    Each of the FEMA inspected owner units are categorized by HUD 
into one of five categories:
    [cir] Minor-Low: Less than $3,000 of FEMA inspected real 
property damage.
    [cir] Minor-High: $3,000 to $7,999 of FEMA inspected real 
property damage.
    [cir] Major-Low: $8,000 to $14,999 of FEMA inspected real 
property damage.
    [cir] Major-High: $15,000 to $28,800 of FEMA inspected real 
property damage and/or 4 to 6 feet of flooding on the first floor.
    [cir] Severe: Greater than $28,800 of FEMA inspected real 
property damage or determined destroyed and/or 6 or more feet of 
flooding on the first floor.
    To meet the statutory requirement of ``most impacted'' in this 
legislative language, homes are determined to have a high level of 
damage if they have damage of ``major-low'' or higher. That is, they 
have a real property FEMA inspected damage of $8,000 or flooding 
over 1 foot. Furthermore, a homeowner is determined to have unmet 
needs if they reported damage and no insurance to cover that damage.
    FEMA does not inspect rental units for real property damage so 
personal property damage is used as a proxy for unit damage. Each of 
the FEMA inspected renter units are categorized by HUD into one of 
five categories:
    [cir] Minor-Low: Less than $1,000 of FEMA inspected personal 
property damage.
    [cir] Minor-High: $1,000 to $1,999 of FEMA inspected personal 
property damage.
    [cir] Major-Low: $2,000 to $3,499 of FEMA inspected personal 
property damage.
    [cir] Major-High: $3,500 to $7,499 of FEMA inspected personal 
property damage or 4 to 6 feet of flooding on the first floor.
    [cir] Severe: Greater than $7,500 of FEMA inspected personal 
property damage or determined destroyed and/or 6 or more feet of 
flooding on the first floor.
    For rental properties, to meet the statutory requirement of 
``most impacted'' in this legislative language, homes are determined 
to have a high level of damage if they have damage of ``major-low'' 
or higher. That is, they have a FEMA personal property damage 
assessment of $2,000 or greater or flooding over 1 foot. 
Furthermore, landlords are presumed to have adequate insurance 
coverage unless the unit is occupied by a renter with income of 
$20,000 or less. Units that are occupied by a tenant with income 
less than $20,000 are used to calculate likely unmet needs for 
affordable rental housing.
    The average cost to fully repair a home for a specific disaster 
to code within each of the damage categories noted above is 
calculated using the average real property damage repair costs 
determined by the Small Business Administration for its disaster 
loan program for the subset of homes inspected by both SBA and FEMA 
for 2011 to 2013 disasters. Because SBA is inspecting for full 
repair costs, it is presumed to reflect the full cost to repair the 
home, which is generally more than the FEMA estimates on the cost to 
make the home habitable.
    For each household determined to have unmet housing needs (as 
described above), their estimated average unmet housing need less 
assumed assistance from FEMA, SBA, and Insurance was calculated at 
$27,455 for major damage (low); $45,688 for major damage (high); and 
$59,493 for severe damage.
    Most Impacted and Distressed Designation. President Obama signed 
the Continuing Resolution into law on September 29, 2016 and 33 
disasters had received major declarations in calendar year 2016 by 
that date. To meet the statutory requirement that the funds be 
targeted to ``the most impacted or distressed areas,'' this 
allocation:
    (1) Limits allocations to those disasters where FEMA had 
determined the damage was sufficient to declare the disaster as 
eligible to receive Individual and Households Program (IHP) funding. 
Only 11 of 33 disasters that were declared in 2016 have an IHP 
designation.
    (2) Limits the allocations to data from counties with high 
levels of damage. For this allocation, HUD is using the amount of 
serious unmet housing need as its measure of concentrated damage and 
limits the data used for the allocation only to counties exceeding a 
``natural break'' in the data for their total amount of serious 
unmet housing needs. For the 2016 events, the serious unmet housing 
needs break at the county level occurs at $25 million.
    (3) Among disasters with data meeting the first two thresholds, 
HUD limits the allocation to jurisdictions that have substantially 
higher unmet needs than other jurisdictions. Louisiana, Texas, and 
West Virginia have far greater unmet needs than other jurisdictions 
affected by major disasters declared since January 1, 2016.

[FR Doc. 2016-27969 Filed 11-18-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-67-P