New Federal Direction to Communities on HUD Disaster Recovery Funds

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released an updated notice on how communities can plan and use funds for disaster recovery under the CDBG-DR program. The new notice is designed to align CDBG-DR practices with a series of new Executive Orders and streamline the recovery process. The order immediately affects roughly $12 billion in disaster assistance already approved by Congress but will also guide future HUD disaster funding.

Among the changes in the notice are provisions for previous requirements to prioritize "underserved communities," which has been replaced with a focus on small businesses. The notice removes requirements to consider the future impacts of climate change and the use of citizen advisory groups. In addition, there are new flexibility provisions for building codes and some environmental standards. References and requirements associated with Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing have also been removed.