The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released mandatory rules for how the more than $4.3 billion in funding may be spent. The federal funding was appropriated by Congress in 2018 for flood mitigation projects associated with the 2015 and 2016 flooding, as well as damage of Hurricane Harvey. The Texas General Land Office (GLO) must develop a state action plan in accordance with the 126 pages of federal rules and receive HUD approval before the funds can be dispersed. As part of the process, the GLO will solicit public feedback and host public hearings on the proposed state action plan. This process is expected to take approximately nine months or more to complete. You can track updates to the statewide action plan here.
In total, HUD allocated $4,383,085,000 in Community Development Block Grant - Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funds to Texas. Altogether, 140 Texas counties are eligible for some part of this allocation of funding for 2015, 2016 and 2017 disasters. Here is the breakdown of funding as directed by HUD:
- Texas General Land Office will administer $4,297,189,000:
- $4,074,456,000 for Hurricane Harvey
- $169,748,000 for 2016 Floods
- $52,985,000 for 2015 Floods
- HUD direct allocations:
- $61,884,000 to City of Houston for 2015 Floods
- $24,012,000 to City of San Marcos for 2015 Floods
GLO Outreach
Federal rules require the GLO to hold at least four public hearings. The GLO will conduct the first two regional public hearings Sept. 25 and 26, 2019 to seek input on the use of $4.3 billion in funding for mitigation projects in the areas affected by the 2015 and 2016 floods and by Hurricane Harvey (2017). The GLO will directly administer this $4.3 billion, while the cities of Houston and San Marcos will administer separate, direct allocations of $61,884,000 and $24,012,000, respectively, for the 2015 and 2016 floods.
Please note: Due to recent flooding, the public hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 25 in Beaumont has been rescheduled to Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019. More details will be provided as available. All hearing announcements and past press releases can be found here. And all public notices will be posted here.
Information for Local Governments
Other information regarding current active disaster programs, resources, HUD requirements, and GLO training for local officials can be found on the GLO page dedicated to local governments. Additional announcements can also be found here.
Information regarding the rules of this batch of recovery funds is likely to come in waves. For more information on the $4.3 billion dollar HUD/GLO grant program, contact Bruce Barr or Aurora Flores.