NLIHC Summarizes Key Provisions of August 14 Disaster Recovery Block Grant Federal Register Notice

NLIHC has prepared summaries of the key provisions of the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) Federal Register Notice published on August 14. The Notice guides states’ use of $10 billion in CDBG-DR funding. Although Congress appropriated $28 billion for the 2017 disasters, the Notice applies only to the $10 billion for “unmet needs.” A future Notice will provide direction pertaining to the use of mitigation funds and the electrical power systems in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (see Memo, 8/13).

The top four key features of the Notice are: 

1. The public review and comment period is increased to 30 calendar days from 14.
2. For multifamily housing, the required affordability period is changed from 20 years to:
   1. 15 years if CDBG-DR is used to rehabilitate or reconstruct a multifamily rental property that has eight or more units.
   2. 20 years if CDBG-DR is used to newly construct a multifamily rental property that has five or more units.
3. There is no reduction in the requirement that 70% of the funds be used for activities that benefit low and moderate income households, those with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income.
4. Because incomes in Puerto Rico are “unusually low,” HUD will increase the low and moderate income thresholds for determining whether an activity benefits “low and moderate income” people. HUD will publish the new thresholds on the HUD Exchange website.

NLIHC has prepared two versions of the summary. One covers key provisions of the August 14 Notice. Because the Notice amends the February 9 Federal Register Notice that guided the states on use of the $7.4 billion previously awarded to them, NLIHC’s second version integrates the August 14 provisions into an NLIHC outline related to the earlier Notice.

The August 14 Federal Register Notice is at: https://bit.ly/2w5LnRZ

NLIHC’s summary of selected features of the Notice is at: https://bit.ly/2nIyTM2  

NLIHC’s summary integrating the key features of the August 14 Notice into NLIHC’s outline of the February 8 Notice is at: https://bit.ly/2OJYQ9v

Page numbers referenced in NLIHC’s summaries are from a large format version of the August 14 Federal Register Notice at: https://bit.ly/2OqPXSm and the February 9 Federal Register Notice at: http://bit.ly/2EdocMr