41146 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 156 / Friday, August 14, 2009 / Notices 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice of 

this meeting is given under the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. 

(Pub. L. 92–463). 

Agenda of the Meeting 

The agenda for the September 9 

meeting will be as follows: 

(1) Opening comments. 

(2) Introductions. 

(3) Administrative announcements. 

(4) Pre-approved presentations from 

the public. 

(5) Debriefs from each DRBOSAC Subcommittee. 

(6) Public comments. 

(7) Future Committee business. 

(8) Closing. 

More information and detail on the 

meeting will be available at the 

committee Web site, located at https:// 

homeport.uscg.mil/drbosac. Additional 

detail may be added to the agenda up to 

September 2, 2009. 

Procedural 

This meeting is open to the public. 

All persons entering the Harbor Room 

will need to sign in at the door. Please 

note that the meeting may close early if 

all business is finished. 

The public will be able to make oral 

presentations during the meeting when 

given the opportunity to do so. Members 

of the public may seek pre-approval for 

their oral presentations by contacting 

the Coast Guard no later than September 

2, 2009. The public may file written 

statements with the committee; written 

material should reach the Coast Guard 

no later than September 2, 2009. If you 

would like a copy of your material 

distributed to each member of the 

committee in advance of the meeting, 

please submit 35 copies to the Liaison 

to the DFO no later than September 2, 

2009, and indicate that the material is 

to be distributed to committee members 

in advance of the September 9 meeting. 

Please register your attendance with 

the Liaison to the DFO no later than 

September 2, 2009. 

Information on Services for Individuals 

with Disabilities 

For information on facilities, or 

services for individuals with 

disabilities, or to request special 

assistance at the meeting, contact the 

Liaison to the DFO as soon as possible. 

Dated: August 6, 2009. 

Nakeisha B. Hills, 

Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, 

Preparedness Officer, Sector Delaware Bay 

Acting Designated Federal Officer. 

[FR Doc. E9–19550 Filed 8–13–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–5337–N–01] 

Additional Allocations and Waivers 

Granted to and Alternative 

Requirements for 2008 Community 

Development Block Grant (CDBG) 

Disaster Recovery Grantees 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice of allocations, waivers, 

and alternative requirements. 

SUMMARY: This Notice advises the public 

of the second allocation for grant funds 

for CDBG disaster recovery grants for 

the purpose of assisting in the recovery 

in areas covered by a declaration of 

major disaster under title IV of the 

Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

5121 et seq.) as a result of recent natural 

disasters. As described in the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this Notice, HUD is authorized by 

statute and regulations to waive 

statutory and regulatory requirements 

and specify alternative requirements for 

this purpose, upon the request of the 

state grantees. This Notice also 

describes: (1) How the allocatees may 

implement the common application, 

eligibility, and administrative waivers 

and the common alternative and 

statutory requirements for the grants; 

and (2) additional waivers and 

alternative requirements for certain 

earlier grants. 

DATES: Effective Date: August 19, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Davis, Director, Disaster Recovery 

and Special Issues Division, 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 Information Relay Service at 

telephone number 800–877–8339. 

Facsimile inquiries may be sent to Mr. 

Davis at facsimile number 202–401– 

2044. (Except for the ‘‘800’’ number, 

these telephone numbers are not toll 

free.) 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Authority To Grant Waivers 

The Consolidated Security, Disaster 

Assistance, and Continuing 

Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 110– 

329, approved September 30, 2008) 

(hereinafter, ‘‘Second 2008 Act’’ to 

differentiate it from the earlier 2008 

Supplemental Appropriations Act) (Pub. 

L. 110–252 approved June 30, 2008) 

(hereinafter ‘‘First 2008 Act’’), 

appropriated $6.5 billion, to remain 

available until expended, in CDBG 

funds for necessary expenses related to 

disaster relief, long-term recovery, and 

restoration of infrastructure, housing, 

and economic revitalization in areas 

affected by hurricanes, floods, and other 

natural disasters occurring during 2008, 

for which the President declared a major 

disaster under title IV of the Robert T. 

Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 

To date, $377,139,920 has been 

rescinded, $6,500,000 was set-aside for 

HUD administrative costs, and 

$2,145,000,000 was allocated by HUD in 

November 2008. This Notice allocates 

the remaining $3,971,360,080. 

The First 2008 Act also appropriated 

funds for 2008 disaster recovery 

grantees, although it only provided 

funds for disasters occurring in May and 

June 2008. Both the First 2008 Act and 

the Second 2008 Act authorize 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 of 

these funds and guarantees by the 

recipient, except for requirements 

related to fair housing, 

nondiscrimination, labor standards, and 

the environment (including 

requirements concerning lead-based 

paint), upon a request by the state 

explaining why such waiver is required 

to facilitate the use of such funds or 

guarantees, and a finding by the 

Secretary that such a waiver would not 

be inconsistent with the overall purpose 

of title I of the Housing and Community 

Development Act of 1974 (HCD Act). 

Additionally, regulatory waiver 

authority is provided by 24 CFR 5.110, 

91.600, and 570.5. The following 

application and reporting waivers and 

alternative requirements are in response 

to requests from the states receiving an 

allocation under today’s Federal 

Register Notice. 

The Secretary finds that the following 

waivers and alternative requirements, as 

described below, are necessary to 

facilitate use of the funds for the 

statutory purposes and are not 

inconsistent with the overall purpose of 

title I of the HCD Act or the CranstonGonzalez National Affordable Housing 

Act, as amended. 

Under the requirements of the First 

2008 Act and the Second 2008 Act, 

statutory and regulatory waivers must 

be published in the Federal Register. 

Except as described in this Notice, 

statutory and regulatory provisions 

governing the CDBG program for states, 

including those at 24 CFR part 570, 

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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 156 / Friday, August 14, 2009 / Notices 41147 

shall apply to the use of these funds. In 

accordance with the First and Second 

2008 Acts, HUD will reconsider every 

waiver in today’s Federal Register 

Notice on the 2-year anniversary of the 

day this Notice is published. 

Additional Waivers 

Each state receiving an allocation may 

request additional waivers from the 

Department as needed to address the 

specific needs related to that state’s 

recovery activities. The Department will 

respond separately to the state’s 

requests for waivers of provisions not 

covered in this Notice, after working 

with the state to tailor the program to 

best meet the unique disaster recovery 

needs in its impacted areas. HUD has 

included some additional waivers and 

alternative requirements for individual 

states in this Notice. 

Allocations 

Today’s Notice makes available the 

remainder of the Second Act’s 

supplemental appropriation, 

$3,971,360,080 for the CDBG program 

for necessary expenses related to 

disaster relief, long-term recovery, and 

restoration of infrastructure, housing, 

and economic revitalization in areas 

affected by hurricanes, floods, and other 

natural disasters occurring in 2008, for 

which the President declared a major 

disaster under title IV of the Robert T. 

Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). 

The Second 2008 Act notes: 

That funds provided under this heading 

shall be administered through an entity or 

entities designated by the Governor of each 

state * * * Provided further, that funds 

allocated under this heading shall not 

adversely affect the amount of any formula 

assistance received by a state under the 

Community Development Fund: Provided 

further, that each state may use up to five 

percent of its allocation for administrative 

costs. 

HUD computes allocations based on 

data that are generally available 

covering all the eligible affected areas. 

The 11 states receiving an allocation in 

today’s Notice are indicated in Table 1, 

below. Their estimated unmet needs 

represent more than 97 percent of the 

estimated unmet needs across all 76 

disasters that occurred in 2008. The 

allocation was based on two factors: (i) 

The sum of estimated unmet housing, 

infrastructure, and business needs, 

adjusted by (ii) a HUD calculated risk 

level for recovery challenge. More 

detailed information about the data 

reviewed, the formula process, and the 

possible risks affecting recovery can be 

found in Appendix 1 of this Notice. 

Initial allocations made under the 

Second 2008 Act were announced by 

HUD on November 26, 2008, and 

published in the Federal Register on 

February 13, 2009 (74 FR 7244). Initial 

allocations are included in Table 1. The 

states of Kentucky, Georgia, and 

Mississippi, and the Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico received allocations in the 

February 13, 2009, Federal Register 

Notice, but are not receiving additional 

funds under today’s Notice, bringing to 

15 the total number of grantees allocated 

funding from the Second 2008 Act. 

Table 2 is a reprint from the initial 

allocation notice that shows what the 

allocations were under the First 2008 

Act. Unlike funds allocated under the 

Second 2008 Act, which may be used 

for recovery from any disaster occurring 

during Calendar Year 2008, funds under 

the First 2008 Act are available only for 

use in areas covered by specific 

declarations, so these are also noted. 

TABLE 1—SECOND 2008 ACT DISASTER RECOVERY ALLOCATIONS

State 

This Notice’s 

Second 2008 Act 

allocation 

Initial Second 

2008 Act 

allocation 

(Notice 74 FR 

7244) 

Total Second 

2008 Act 

allocation 

Minimum amount 

for affordable 

rental housing 

Texas ....................................................................................... $1,743,001,247 $1,314,990,193 $3,057,991,440 $342,521,992 

Louisiana .................................................................................. 620,467,205 438,223,344 1,058,690,549 118,582,672 

Iowa ......................................................................................... 516,713,868 125,297,142 642,011,010 71,910,891 

Indiana ..................................................................................... 253,340,079 95,042,622 348,382,701 39,021,933 

Illinois ....................................................................................... 127,207,128 41,984,121 169,191,249 18,950,911 

Missouri .................................................................................... 78,625,549 13,979,941 92,605,490 10,372,631 

Wisconsin ................................................................................. 75,200,572 25,039,963 100,240,535 11,227,823 

Tennessee ............................................................................... 71,881,834 20,636,056 92,517,890 10,362,819 

Arkansas .................................................................................. 70,181,041 20,294,857 90,475,898 10,134,098 

Florida ...................................................................................... 63,606,850 17,457,005 81,063,855 9,079,866 

California .................................................................................. 39,531,784 0 39,531,784 4,427,908 

Kentucky .................................................................................. 0 3,217,686 3,217,686 341,943 

Georgia .................................................................................... 0 4,570,779 4,570,779 485,736 

Mississippi ................................................................................ 0 6,283,404 6,283,404 667,737 

Puerto Rico .............................................................................. 0 17,982,887 17,982,887 1,911,040 

TABLE 2—FIRST 2008 ACT DISASTER RECOVERY ALLOCATIONS

State Disaster No. Incident date Declared date Allocation 

Mississippi ....................................................... 1753 3/20 to 5/19 .................................................... 5/8/08 $2,281,287 

Maine .............................................................. 1755 4/28 to 5/14 .................................................... 5/9/08 2,187,114 

Oklahoma ........................................................ 1756 5/10 to 5/13 .................................................... 5/14/08 1,793,876 

Arkansas ......................................................... 1758 5/2 to 5/12 ...................................................... 5/20/08 4,747,501 

South Dakota .................................................. 1759 5/1 .................................................................. 5/22/08 1,987,271 

Missouri ........................................................... 1760 5/10 to 5/11 .................................................... 5/23/08 3,519,866 

Colorado .......................................................... 1762 5/21 ................................................................ 5/26/08 589,651 

Iowa ................................................................. 1763 5/25 and continuing ........................................ 5/27/08 156,690,815 

Indiana ............................................................ 1766 5/30 to 6/27 .................................................... 6/8/08 67,012,966 

Montana .......................................................... 1767 5/1 .................................................................. 6/13/08 666,672 

Wisconsin ........................................................ 1768 6/5 and continuing .......................................... 6/14/08 24,057,378 

West Virginia ................................................... 1769 6/3 to 6/7 ........................................................ 6/19/08 3,127,935 

Nebraska ......................................................... 1770 5/22 ................................................................ 6/20/08 5,557,736 

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41148 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 156 / Friday, August 14, 2009 / Notices 

TABLE 2—FIRST 2008 ACT DISASTER RECOVERY ALLOCATIONS—Continued 

State Disaster No. Incident date Declared date Allocation 

Illinois .............................................................. 1771 6/1 to 7/22 ...................................................... 6/24/08 17,341,434 

Minnesota ........................................................ 1772 6/7 to 6/12 ...................................................... 6/25/08 925,926 

Missouri ........................................................... 1773 6/1 to 8/13 ...................................................... 6/25/08 7,512,572 

Congress required that states devote 

‘‘not less than $650,000,000’’ of the total 

Second 2008 Act to support ‘‘repair, 

rehabilitation, and reconstruction 

(including demolition, site clearance 

and remediation) of the affordable rental 

housing stock (including public and 

other HUD-assisted housing) in the 

impacted areas where there is a 

demonstrated need as determined by the 

Secretary.’’ Table 1 above shows the 

minimum amount each grantee must 

spend on affordable rental housing from 

its total combined allocation of first and 

second round funding under the Second 

2008 Act. 

Disaster Recovery Enhancement 

Allocations. As stated above, HUD 

calculates CDBG disaster recovery 

allocations, including the above 

allocations, to each grantee based on 

unmet needs data (see Appendix 1). 

These data largely represent an estimate 

of the costs for repairs to a pre-disaster 

condition. Often, this data does not 

adequately reflect the full recovery costs 

associated with a disaster. Also, because 

of cost considerations, state disaster 

recovery grantees may not always 

choose recovery activities that are the 

most advantageous for long-term 

recovery and resilience from a federal 

perspective. For example, relocating a 

repetitively flooded community from a 

floodplain limits future calls on the 

National Flood Insurance program and 

other federal recovery programs. From a 

federal perspective, flood buyouts are 

frequently a good idea; locally, they can 

be politically difficult and somewhat 

more costly to administer than a 

traditional rehabilitation program. 

Therefore, the Secretary has created a 

$311,602,923 Disaster Recovery 

Enhancement Fund (DREF) for 

secondary allocations to grantees that 

anticipate that they will still have 

unmet disaster recovery needs after 

developing and undertaking forwardthinking recovery strategies and 

activities in a timely manner. To be 

eligible to receive an additional 

allocation, a grantee must budget its 

allocated Second 2008 Act funds for the 

specific activities listed in this Notice 

by programming the funds in an Action 

Plan for Disaster Recovery (or an 

amendment thereof) submitted to HUD 

by June 30, 2010. A state receiving an 

additional allocation may use the funds 

for any activity eligible for assistance 

under the Second 2008 Act in 

accordance with this Notice. 

Note that the Stafford Act and the 

Second 2008 Act prohibit use of these 

funds as a substitute or match for 

Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant 

Program (HMGP) funds. Also note that 

CDBG disaster recovery funds must be 

used in the counties declared in the 

applicable covered disaster(s) for each 

state, while HMGP funds may generally 

be used statewide. 

By setting a specific deadline for the 

Action Plan submissions for this DREF 

allocation, HUD is signaling that the 

Department intends to assist grantees 

that will implement these forwardthinking approaches to long-term 

recovery in a timely manner. Funds will 

be allocated dollar-for-dollar for the first 

$15 million budgeted for enhanced 

disaster recovery activities for an 

individual state and on a pro rata basis 

for amounts budgeted above $15 million 

as measured by funds budgeted by grant 

recipients by June 30, 2010, on the 

following specific enhanced disaster 

recovery activities that reduce the risk 

of damage from a future disaster: 

1. Development and adoption of a 

forward-thinking land-use plan that will 

guide use of long-term recovery efforts 

and subsequent land-use decisions 

throughout the community and that 

reduces existing or future development 

in disaster-risk areas; 

2. Floodplain or critical fire or seismic 

hazard area buyouts programs under an 

optional relocation plan that includes 

incentives so that families and private 

sector employers move out of areas at 

severe risk for a future disaster; 

3. Individual mitigation measures 

(IMM) to improve residential properties 

and make them less prone to damage. If 

such activities are incorporated into the 

grantee’s rehabilitation or new 

construction programs generally, the 

cost increment attributed to IMM will be 

the amount considered for the 

additional allocation, not the total 

construction amount budget; or 

4. Implementation of modern disaster 

resistant building codes, including, but 

not limited to, training on new 

standards and code enforcement. 

A grantee must include start and end 

dates for each activity in its Action Plan. 

A grantee must demonstrate in its 

Action Plan submission for any 

additional allocation that it still has 

eligible unmet needs to receive 

assistance from the DREF before HUD 

will add the additional allocation to the 

state’s line of credit. Furthermore, the 

Secretary reserves the right to allocate 

more or less than $311,602,923 under 

this fund, depending on the amount 

grantees actually budget on such 

activities and any amounts available for 

reallocation. 

A grantee may reprogram funds from 

one of the listed enhanced disaster 

recovery activities to another, but if the 

grantee reprograms grant funds to any 

other activity, HUD may recapture the 

DREF allocation, in whole or in part, in 

accordance with section 111 of the HCD 

Act, 24 CFR part 570, subpart O, and 

this Notice. 

The Second 2008 Act requires funds 

to be used in accordance with its 

specific purposes. The statute directs 

that each grantee will describe in its 

Action Plan for Disaster Recovery 

criteria for eligibility and how the use 

of grant funds will address long-term 

recovery and infrastructure restoration, 

housing, and economic revitalization in 

the affected areas. HUD will monitor 

compliance with this direction and may 

be compelled to disallow expenditures 

if it finds uses of funds do not meet the 

statutory purposes, or duplicate other 

benefits. HUD encourages grantees to 

contact their assigned HUD offices for 

guidance in complying with these 

requirements during development of 

their Action Plans for Disaster Recovery 

or if they have any questions regarding 

meeting these requirements. 

As provided for in the Second 2008 

Act, the funds may not be used for 

activities reimbursable by or for which 

funds are made available by FEMA or 

the Army Corps of Engineers. Further, 

none of the funds may be used as the 

required match, share, or contribution 

for another federal program. 

Prevention of Fraud, Abuse, and 

Duplication of Benefits 

Additionally, the Second 2008 Act 

directs the Secretary to: 

Establish procedures to prevent 

recipients from receiving any 

duplication of benefits and report 

quarterly to the Committees on 

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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 156 / Friday, August 14, 2009 / Notices 41149 

Appropriations with regard to all steps 

taken to prevent fraud and abuse of 

funds made available under this 

heading, including duplication of 

benefits. 

To meet this directive, HUD is 

pursuing four courses of action. First, 

the Federal Register Notice published 

February 13, 2009 (74 FR 7244), 

includes specific reporting, written 

procedures, monitoring, and internal 

audit requirements for grantees. Second, 

to the extent its resources allow, HUD 

will institute risk analysis and on-site 

monitoring of grantee management of 

the grants and of the specific uses of 

funds. Third, HUD will be extremely 

cautious in considering any waiver 

related to basic financial management 

requirements. The standard, time-tested 

CDBG financial requirements will 

continue to apply. Fourth, HUD is 

collaborating with the HUD Office of 

Inspector General to plan and 

implement oversight of these funds. 

Waiver Justification 

The waivers, alternative requirements, 

and statutory changes described in the 

February 13, 2009, Federal Register 

Notice (74 FR 7244) apply to all of the 

CDBG supplemental disaster recovery 

funds appropriated in the Second 2008 

Act (Pub. L. 110–329), but not to funds 

provided under the regular CDBG 

program. Similarly, the waivers, 

alternative requirements, and statutory 

changes described in the September 11, 

2008, Federal Register Notice (73 FR 

52870) apply to the CDBG supplemental 

disaster recovery funds appropriated in 

the First 2008 Act, not to funds 

provided under the regular CDBG 

program. These actions, below, provide 

additional flexibility in program design 

and implementation and implement 

statutory requirements. The previous 

notices, referenced above, provide 

further justification for the waivers. 

Common Waivers 

Previously published waivers to 

streamline application and program 

launch. Funds allocated by today’s 

Federal Register Notice will be subject 

to the waivers, alternative requirements, 

and statutory changes described in this 

Notice and those previously published 

in the February 13, 2009, Federal 

Register Notice (74 FR 7244). 

General planning activities use 

entitlement presumption, all grantees. 

Today’s Federal Register Notice notifies 

Congress and the public that the states 

receiving funds under the First 2008 Act 

and/or the Second 2008 Act have 

requested this waiver and HUD is 

granting the waiver. 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 nonproject specific 

plans such as functional land-use plans, 

historic preservation plans, 

comprehensive plans, development of 

housing codes, and neighborhood plans 

related to guiding long-term community 

development efforts comprising 

multiple activities funded by multiple 

sources. In the annual entitlement 

program, these more general stand-alone 

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 CDBG disaster recoveries in the 

past have relied on some form of areawide or comprehensive planning 

activity to guide overall redevelopment 

independent of the ultimate source of 

implementation funds. Therefore, the 

Department is removing the eligibility 

requirement that CDBG disaster 

recovery-assisted planning-only grants 

or state directly administered planning 

activities that will guide recovery in 

accordance with the appropriations act 

must comply with the State CDBG 

program rules at 24 CFR 570.483(b)(5) or 

(c)(3). Instead, 24 CFR 570.208(d)(4) will 

apply. 

State-Specific Waivers 

National Objective Documentation for 

Economic Development Activities— 

States of Iowa, Louisiana, and Texas. 

For the national objective 

documentation for business assistance 

activities, the states of Iowa, Louisiana 

and Texas, which have received funds 

under the First 2008 Act and Second 

2008 Act, have asked to apply 

individual salaries or wages-per-job and 

the income limits for a household of 

one, rather than the usual CDBG 

standard of total household income and 

the limits by total household size. The 

states have asserted that this proposed 

documentation would be simpler and 

quicker for participating lenders to 

administer, easier to verify, and would 

not misrepresent the amount of lowand moderate-income benefit provided. 

Upon consideration, HUD is granting 

this waiver, which also was granted for 

recovery in lower Manhattan following 

September 11, 2001, and in certain 

states following the Gulf Coast 

hurricanes of 2005. Due to the 

significant breadth of many states’ 

economic development programs, this 

waiver will play a key role in 

streamlining the documentation process 

because it allows collection of wage data 

for each position created or retained 

from the assisted businesses, rather than 

from each individual household. 

Section 414 of the Stafford Act— 

States of Louisiana and Texas. In 

addition to the above, the states of 

Louisiana and Texas have also 

requested a waiver of section 414 of the 

Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, 

for their disaster recovery programs. 

Section 414 directs that persons who 

were displaced by a disaster be 

considered to be displaced by a federal 

action, as defined under the Uniform 

Relocation Act (URA), if the property in 

which they were living prior to the 

disaster is assisted with certain federal 

funds. Today’s Federal Register Notice 

grants, in part, the request that the 

Secretary waive that section and 

provides alternative requirements more 

consistent with the purpose of the 

Second 2008 Act, which is to assist and 

support disaster recovery in the areas 

most affected by the effects of the 

disasters in 2008. 

Several states suffered significant 

destruction in the wake of Hurricanes 

Ike and Gustav, and the reconstruction 

will likely last for many years to come— 

much like in the Gulf Coast states 

affected by the hurricanes in 2005. For 

programs or projects covered by this 

waiver (‘‘covered programs or projects’’) 

that are initiated within 3 years after the 

applicable disaster, each state receiving 

this wavier must comply with one of the 

two alternative requirements (for 

programs or projects initiated after the 

3-year period, the alternative 

requirements would not apply; only the 

waiver would be applicable): 

Alternative One 

The state may provide relocation 

assistance to a former residential 

occupant whose former dwelling is 

acquired, rehabilitated, or demolished 

for a covered program or project 

initiated within 3 years after the 

disaster, even though the actual 

displacements were caused by the 

effects of the disaster. To the extent 

practicable, such relocation assistance 

should be offered in a manner 

consistent with the Uniform Relocation 

Assistance and Real Property 

Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (URA), 

as amended, and its implementing 

regulations, except as modified by 

applicable waivers and alternative 

requirements. 

Alternative Two 

If the state determines that the first 

alternative would substantially conflict 

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41150 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 156 / Friday, August 14, 2009 / Notices 

with meeting the disaster recovery 

purposes of the Second 2008 Act, the 

state may establish a re-housing plan for 

a covered program or project initiated 

within 3 years after the disaster. Such 

determinations must be made on a 

program or project basis (not person or 

household). The re-housing plan must 

include, at minimum, the following: 

1. A description of the class(es) of 

persons eligible for assistance, including 

all persons displaced from their 

residences by particular, enumerated, or 

by all, effects of the disaster, and 

including all persons still receiving 

temporary housing assistance from 

FEMA for the covered disaster(s); 

2. A description of the types and 

amount of financial assistance to be 

offered, if any; 

3. A description of other services to be 

made available, including, at minimum, 

outreach efforts to eligible persons and 

housing counseling providing 

information about available housing 

resources. Outreach efforts and housing 

counseling information should be 

provided in languages other than 

English to persons with limited English 

proficiency; and 

4. Contact information and a 

description of any applicable 

application process, including any 

deadlines. 

5. If the program or project involves 

rental housing, the re-housing plan must 

also include the following: 

(i) Placement services for former and 

prospective tenants; 

(ii) A public registry of available 

rental units assisted with CDBG disaster 

recovery and/or other funds; and 

(iii) Application materials, award 

letters, and operating procedures 

requiring property owners to make 

reasonable attempts to contact their 

former residential tenants and offer a 

unit, upon completion, to those tenants 

meeting the program’s eligibility 

requirements. 

(iv) Persons in physical occupancy 

who are displaced by a HUD-assisted 

disaster recovery project will continue 

to be eligible for URA assistance. 

Justification for Waiver 

The reasons for granting this waiver 

are several, and are ably represented by 

the states in their requests. The 

principal reasons are highlighted here: 

• Hurricanes Ike and Gustav caused 

significant destruction that resulted in 

massive displacements and decimated 

the region’s affordable housing stock. 

Continued ambiguity on section 414’s 

applicability may cause substantial 

delays in long-term recovery, 

particularly in Texas and Louisiana; and 

• Simplify the administration of 

disaster recovery projects or programs 

initiated years following the disaster. 

Persons displaced by the effects of the 

disaster may continue to apply for 

assistance under the states’ approved 

disaster recovery programs, which are 

designed to bring affordable housing to 

the affected areas. This waiver does not 

address programs or projects receiving 

other HUD funding, or funding from 

other federal sources. 

A state may already be performing 

some elements of a re-housing plan, 

such as providing a public rental 

registry or undertaking outreach and 

placement services to those former 

residents still receiving FEMA housing 

assistance. A description in the rehousing plan of how those existing 

efforts will be available for covered 

programs or projects may be used in 

satisfying the requirements of this 

Notice. 

Eligibility—buildings for the general 

conduct of government—States of 

Indiana, Louisiana, and Texas. The 

states of Indiana, Louisiana, and Texas 

requested a limited waiver of the 

prohibition on funding buildings for the 

general conduct of government. HUD 

has considered the request and agrees 

that it is consistent with the overall 

purposes of the 1974 Act for requesting 

states to be able to use the grant funds 

under this notice to repair or reconstruct 

buildings used for the general conduct 

of government and that the states have 

selected in accordance with the method 

described in their Action Plans for 

Disaster Recovery and that they have 

determined have substantial value in 

promoting disaster recovery. However, 

as stated by the Second 2008 Act, funds 

allocated under today’s Federal Register 

Notice, or the February 13, 2009, 

Federal Register Notice (74 FR 7244), 

may not be used for activities 

reimbursable by or for which funds are 

made available by FEMA or the Army 

Corps of Engineers. Further, none of the 

funds may be used as the required 

match, share, or contribution for another 

federal program. 

Public benefit for certain economic 

development activities—States of Iowa, 

Louisiana, and Texas. The states of 

Iowa, Louisiana, and Texas have 

requested a waiver of the public benefit 

standards for their economic 

development activities. The public 

benefit provisions set standards for 

individual economic development 

activities (such as a single loan to a 

business) and for economic 

development activities in the annual 

aggregate. Currently, public benefit 

standards limit the amount of CDBG 

assistance per job retained or created, or 

the amount of CDBG assistance per lowand moderate-income person to which 

goods or services are provided by the 

activity. Essentially, the public benefit 

standards are a proxy for all the other 

possible public benefits provided by an 

assisted activity. These dollar 

thresholds were set more than a decade 

ago and, under disaster recovery 

conditions (which often require a larger 

investment to achieve a given result), 

can be too low and, thus, impede 

recovery by limiting the amount of 

assistance the grantee may provide to a 

critical activity. States requesting this 

waiver have made public in their Action 

Plans the disaster recovery needs each 

activity is addressing and the public 

benefits expected. 

After consideration, today’s Federal 

Register Notice waives the public 

benefit standards for the cited activities, 

except that each requesting state shall 

report and maintain documentation on 

the creation and retention of: (a) Total 

jobs, (b) number of jobs within certain 

salary ranges, (c) the average amount of 

assistance per job and activity or 

program, and (d) the types of jobs. As a 

conforming change for the same 

activities or programs, HUD is also 

waiving paragraph (g) of 24 CFR 570.482 

to the extent its provisions are related to 

public benefit. 

Housing incentives to encourage 

housing resettlement consistent with 

local recovery plans; States of Louisiana 

and Texas. The states of Louisiana and 

Texas may offer disaster recovery or 

mitigation housing incentives to 

promote suitable housing development 

or resettlement in particular geographic 

areas. By ‘‘resettlement,’’ HUD is 

referring to resettling the community as 

a whole, which may include buyouts 

and relocation, as well as repopulation 

initiatives if part of a recovery plan. In 

the past, the state of New York 

successfully used an incentive program 

to induce rapid and stable resettlement 

of lower Manhattan following 

September 11, 2001. Also, the city of 

Grand Forks, North Dakota, provided a 

very affordable soft-second loan as an 

incentive to help induce households to 

resettle within the city during its 

recovery. Any state choosing to provide 

incentives must maintain 

documentation, at least at a 

programmatic level, describing how the 

amount of assistance was determined to 

be necessary and reasonable. Generally, 

incentives are offered in addition to 

other programs or funding (such as 

insurance), to try to influence 

individual residential location 

decisions, when these decisions are in 

doubt. For example, a grantee may offer 

an incentive payment (possibly in 

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addition to buyouts) for households that 

volunteer to relocate within a particular 

period of time, or who choose to resettle 

outside a 100- or 500-year floodplain. 

Note, however, that if the grantee 

requires the funds to be used for a 

particular purpose by the household 

receiving the assistance, then the 

activity will be that required use, not an 

eligible incentive. The Department is 

waiving 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) and 

associated regulations to make these 

uses of grant funds eligible. 

Compensation for disaster-related 

losses. The states of Louisiana and 

Texas plan to provide compensation to 

certain homeowners whose homes were 

affected during the covered disasters, if 

the homeowners agree to meet the 

stipulations of the state’s or 

subawardee’s published program 

design. Such stipulations may not 

include requirements related to how the 

homeowner may use the funds, because 

then the assisted activity would be that 

required use, not compensation. Such 

programs were carried out by the states 

of Louisiana and Mississippi following 

the 2005 hurricanes. A strength of these 

compensation programs is that they may 

be able to disburse funding more 

quickly than traditional CDBG 

rehabilitation programs. However, a 

major weakness is the lack of certainty 

about whether an assisted homeowner 

will use the granted assistance in a way 

that supports the community’s longterm recovery goals. Very little data 

exists to verify the degree to which 

compensation funds have been used for 

reconstruction or rehabilitation. Existing 

data suggest that a certain percentage of 

those receiving assistance fail to comply 

with the program stipulations. By 

contrast, a rehabilitation program is 

typically able to demonstrate that all or 

nearly all of its assisted households 

reside (after receiving assistance) in 

reconstructed or rehabilitated homes, 

according to the grantee’s standards. 

Therefore, HUD is granting this 

compensation waiver together with 

alternative requirements. HUD will 

disapprove an action plan if a 

compensation program is not adequately 

justified in accordance with these 

alternative requirements. Any state 

deciding to assist a compensation 

activity must address in its action plan 

and program design: 

(1) How the state will ensure that 

compensation payments will result in 

disaster recovery or economic 

revitalization; 

(2) Why a housing rehabilitation or 

reconstruction or buyouts program is 

not a more appropriate choice; and 

(3) How the state determined the 

appropriate compensation amount(s). 

Further, any state choosing to provide 

compensation assistance must also carry 

out an evaluation of outcomes of the 

program, for a statistically valid sample 

of the program participants, within a 

year of providing the final payment. 

Three-month limitation on emergency 

grant payments. In response to the state 

of Iowa’s request, HUD is waiving 42 

U.S.C. 5305(a) to allow it to extend 

interim mortgage assistance to qualified 

individuals for up to 20 months. The 

state is currently operating an Interim 

Mortgage Assistance Program, limited to 

a maximum of 3 months and a 

maximum of $1,000 per month. It has 

now been almost 12 months since the 

original flooding event occurred but 

many families still require this 

assistance. Furthermore, it will still be 

several months before FEMA buyout 

decisions will be made and 

implemented. Therefore, to permit the 

state of Iowa to adequately assist 

households through this period, and to 

be consistent with the state funding that 

has been supplied separately for this 

purpose, HUD will waive the normal 3- 

month limitation, to provide a total of 

20 months of Interim Mortgage 

Assistance to qualified individuals. 

Summary of States Receiving Waivers 

Texas. Texas has requested and HUD 

has approved the following waivers and 

alternative requirements for funds 

provided to the state under the Second 

2008 Act (Pub. L. 110–329): (1) 

Documentation of job retention, (2) 

section 414 of the Stafford Act, (3) 

eligibility of buildings for the general 

conduct of government, (4) public 

benefit for certain economic 

development activities, and (5) 

compensation for disaster-related losses 

or housing incentives to resettle in 

disaster-affected communities. Texas 

has justified each request and 

documented the need for each waiver. 

Iowa. Iowa has requested and HUD 

has approved the following waivers and 

alternative requirements: (1) 

Documentation of job retention, (2) 

public benefit for certain economic 

development activities, and (3) threemonth limitation on emergency grant 

payments. Iowa has justified each 

request and documented the need for 

each waiver. The waivers granted by 

this Notice will apply to funds received 

under the First 2008 Act (Pub. L. 110– 

252), and to all funds received under the 

Second 2008 Act (Pub. L. 110–329). 

Louisiana. Louisiana has requested 

and HUD has approved the following 

waivers and alternative requirements for 

funds provided to the state under the 

Second 2008 Act: (1) Documentation of 

job retention, (2) section 414 of the 

Stafford Act, (3) eligibility of buildings 

for the general conduct of government, 

(4) public benefit for certain economic 

development activities, and (5) 

compensation for disaster-related losses 

or housing incentives to resettle in 

disaster-affected communities. 

Louisiana has justified each request and 

documented the need for each waiver. 

Indiana. Indiana has requested and 

HUD has approved a waiver regarding 

the eligibility of buildings for the 

general conduct of government for all 

funds received under the First 2008 Act, 

2008 (Pub. L. 110–252). Note, this 

waiver has been neither requested nor 

approved for funds received under the 

Second 2008 Act (Pub. L. 110–329). 

Application for Allocations Under the 

Second 2008 Act 

The waivers and alternative 

requirements streamline the pre-grant 

process and set the guidelines for states’ 

applications for their allocations. Each 

grantee receiving an allocation under 

the Second 2008 Act (which includes 

allocations made under this Notice, as 

well as those made under the February 

13, 2009, Notice) is required, with the 

exception of California, to submit and/ 

or amend its Action Plan for Disaster 

Recovery to program all of each state’s 

allocations by September 30, 2009. The 

state of California (which did not 

receive an allocation under the February 

13, 2009, Notice) is required to submit 

an Action Plan for Disaster Recovery by 

December 30, 2009. Any allocation not 

applied for by these dates may be added 

to the funds available under the DREF 

and reallocated. If any grantee fails to 

meet the requirement to program its 

allocations within the relevant 

timelines, HUD, on the first business 

day after that deadline, will commence 

an action to recapture the funds. 

Applicable Rules, Statutes, Waivers, 

and Alternative Requirements 

1. General note. Prerequisites to a 

grantee’s receipt of CDBG disaster 

recovery assistance include adoption of 

a citizen participation plan; publication 

of its proposed Action Plan for Disaster 

Recovery; public notice and comment; 

and submission to HUD of an Action 

Plan for Disaster Recovery, including 

certifications. Except as described in 

this Notice, statutory and regulatory 

provisions governing the CDGB program 

for states, including those at 42 U.S.C. 

5301 et seq. and 24 CFR part 570, shall 

apply to the use of these funds. 

2. The waivers provided in the 

February 13, 2009, Federal Register 

Notice (74 FR 7244) are granted and the 

alternative requirements of that Notice 

apply to all the states receiving an 

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41152 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 156 / Friday, August 14, 2009 / Notices 

allocation of grant funds under this 

Notice. Each of the states has requested, 

in writing, that HUD grant it the waivers 

and alternative requirements of that 

Notice. 

3. Planning activities. For CDBG 

disaster recovery-assisted general 

planning activities that will guide 

recovery in accordance with the First 

2008 Act (Pub. L. 110–252) and the 

Second 2008 Act (Pub. L. 110–329), the 

State CDBG program rules at 24 CFR 

570.483(b)(5) and (c)(3) are waived and 

the presumption at 24 CFR 

570.208(d)(4) applies for all First 2008 

Act and Second 2008 Act grantees. 

4. National Objective Documentation 

for Economic Development Activities. 

24 CFR 570.483(b)(4)(i) is waived to 

allow the states of Texas, Iowa, and 

Louisiana to establish 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. 

5. Section 414 of the Stafford Act. 

Section 414 of the Stafford Act, 42 

U.S.C. 5181 (including its implementing 

regulation at 49 CFR 24.403(d)), is 

waived to the extent that it would apply 

to CDBG disaster recovery-funded 

programs or projects initiated within 3 

years of the incident-date of Hurricane 

Ike or Hurricane Gustav (as applicable) 

by the states of Texas and Louisiana 

under an approved Action Plan for 

Disaster Recovery for its grants under 

the Second 2008 Act, provided that 

such program or project was not 

planned, approved, or otherwise under 

way prior to the disaster. 

a. For all programs or projects covered 

by this waiver (‘‘covered programs or 

projects’’) that are within 3 years after 

the applicable disaster, the states of 

Texas and Louisiana must comply with 

one of the following two alternative 

requirements (for programs or projects 

initiated after the 3-year period, the 

alternative requirements would not 

apply; only the waiver would be 

applicable): (1) Relocation Assistance. 

The state may provide relocation 

assistance to a former residential 

occupant whose former dwelling is 

acquired, rehabilitated, or demolished 

for a covered program or project 

initiated within 3 years after the 

disaster, even though the actual 

displacements were caused by the 

effects of the disaster. To the extent 

practicable, such relocation assistance 

must be offered in a manner consistent 

with the URA, as amended, and its 

implementing regulations, except as 

modified by prior waivers and 

alternative requirements granted to the 

states. (2) Re-housing Plan. If the state 

determines that the first alternative 

would substantially conflict with 

meeting the disaster recovery purposes 

of the Second 2008 Act, the grantee may 

establish a re-housing plan for a covered 

program or project initiated within 3 

years after the disaster. Such a 

determination must be made on a 

program or project basis (not person or 

household). The re-housing plan must 

include, at minimum, the following: 

(i) A description of the class(es) of 

persons eligible for assistance, including 

all residents displaced from their 

residences by either certain enumerated 

or all effects of the covered disaster, and 

including all disaster-displaced 

residents still receiving temporary 

housing assistance from FEMA for the 

covered disasters; 

(ii) A description of the types and 

amount of financial assistance to be 

provided, if any; 

(iii) A description of other services to 

be made available, including, at a 

minimum, outreach efforts to eligible 

persons and housing counseling, that 

provide information about available 

housing resources; 

(iv) Contact information for additional 

program information; 

(v) A description of any applicable 

application process, including any 

deadlines; and 

(vi) If the program or project covered 

by this waiver involves rental housing, 

the grantee shall establish procedures 

for the following: 

A. Application materials, award 

letters, and operating procedures that 

require property owners to make 

reasonable attempts to contact their 

former tenants and to offer a unit, upon 

completion, to those tenants meeting the 

program’s eligibility requirements; 

B. Placement services for former and 

prospective tenants; and 

C. A public registry of available rental 

units assisted with CDBG disaster 

recovery and/or other funds. 

b. Eligible Project Costs. The costs of 

relocation assistance and the 

reoccupancy plan are eligible project 

costs in the same manner and to the 

same extent as other project costs 

authorized under the Second 2008 Act. 

For covered programs or projects 

involving affordable rental housing, the 

relocation and planning costs required 

by this Notice may be paid from funds 

reserved for the affordable rental 

housing stock in the impacted areas 

under the Second 2008 Act. 

c. Persons in physical occupancy who 

are displaced by a HUD-assisted disaster 

recovery project will continue to be 

eligible for URA assistance. 

6. Buildings for the general conduct of 

government. 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) is waived 

to the extent necessary to allow the 

states of Texas and Louisiana to fund 

the rehabilitation or reconstruction of 

public buildings that are otherwise 

ineligible and that the state selects in 

accordance with its approved Action 

Plan for Disaster Recovery and that the 

state has determined have substantial 

value in promoting disaster recovery. 

The state of Indiana may use funds 

allocated under the September 11, 2008, 

Federal Register Notice (73 FR 52870) 

or December 19, 2008, Federal Register 

Notice (73 FR 77818) to fund the 

rehabilitation or reconstruction of 

public buildings that are otherwise 

ineligible. 

7. Public benefit for certain economic 

development activities. For economic 

development activities designed to 

create or retain jobs or businesses 

(including, but not limited to, long-term, 

short-term, and infrastructure projects), 

the public benefit standards at 42 U.S.C. 

5305(e)(3) and 24 CFR 570.482(f)(1), (2), 

(3), (4)(i), (5), and (6) are waived for the 

states of Texas, Louisiana, and Iowa, 

except that these states 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 for these states 

to the extent its provisions are related to 

public benefit. 

8. Compensation for disaster-related 

losses. HUD is granting a compensation 

waiver together with alternative 

requirements for the states of Louisiana 

and Texas. Either state deciding to assist 

a compensation activity must address 

the following in its action plan and 

program design: 

a. How the state will ensure that 

compensation payments will result in 

disaster recovery or economic 

revitalization; 

b. Why a housing rehabilitation or 

reconstruction or buyouts program is 

not a more appropriate choice than 

providing housing compensation. The 

state must compare and contrast 

schedules, delivery costs, and projected 

recovery resulting from each type of 

activity; and 

c. How the state determined the 

appropriate compensation amount(s). 

Further, any state choosing to provide 

compensation assistance must also carry 

out and publish an evaluation of 

outcomes of the program for a 

statistically valid sample of the program 

participants within a year of providing 

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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 156 / Friday, August 14, 2009 / Notices 41153 

the final compensation payment. If the 

state also provides rehabilitation 

assistance, it must include in its 

evaluation a comparison of the results of 

the compensation and rehabilitation 

activities. 

9. Housing incentives to encourage 

housing resettlement consistent with 

local recovery plans. The states of 

Louisiana and Texas may offer disaster 

recovery or mitigation housing 

incentives to promote suitable housing 

development or resettlement in 

particular geographic areas. Any state 

choosing to provide incentives must 

maintain documentation at least at a 

programmatic level describing how the 

amount of assistance was determined to 

be necessary and reasonable. Note that 

if the grantee requires the funds to be 

used for a particular purpose by the 

household receiving the assistance, then 

the activity will be that required use, 

not an eligible incentive. The 

Department is waiving 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) 

and associated regulations to make these 

uses of grant funds eligible. 

10. Three-month limitation on 

emergency grant payments. 42 U.S.C. 

5305(a) is waived so that Iowa may 

extend interim mortgage assistance to 

qualified individuals for up to 20 

months. This waiver applies to funds 

received under the First 2008 Act (Pub. 

L. 110–252), and to funds received 

under the Second 2008 Act (Pub. L. 

110–329). 

Duration of Funding 

Availability of funds provisions in 31 

U.S.C. 1551–1557, added by section 

1405 of the National Defense 

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 

(Pub. L. 101–510), limit the availability 

of certain appropriations for 

expenditure. This limitation may not be 

waived. However, the Second 2008 Act 

directs that these funds be available 

until expended unless, in accordance 

with 31 U.S.C. 1555, the Department 

determines that the purposes for which 

the appropriation has been made have 

been carried out and no disbursement 

has been made against the appropriation 

for 2 consecutive fiscal years. In such a 

case, the Department shall close out the 

grant prior to expenditure of all funds. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

The Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance numbers for the disaster recovery 

grants under this Notice are as follows: 

14.219; 14.228. 

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. 4332). 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 telephone 

number 202–708–3055 (this is not a tollfree number). Hearing- or speechimpaired individuals may access this 

number through TTY by calling the tollfree Federal Information Relay Service 

at 800–877–8339. 

Dated: July 20, 2009. 

Mercedes Ma ́ rquez, 

Assistant Secretary for Community Planning 

and Development. 

Appendix 1—Allocation Methodology 

Detail 

The Consolidated Security, Disaster 

Assistance, and Continuing 

Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 110– 

329), enacted on September 30, 2008, 

appropriated $6.5 billion through the 

CDBG program for ‘‘necessary expenses 

related to disaster relief, long-term 

recovery, and restoration of 

infrastructure, housing, and economic 

revitalization in areas affected by 

hurricanes, floods, and other natural 

disasters occurring during 2008 for 

which the President declared a major 

disaster.’’ 

It went on to say that ‘‘such funds 

may not be used for activities 

reimbursable by, or for which funds are 

made available by, the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency or the 

Army Corps of Engineers’’ and that 

‘‘none of the funds * * * may be used 

* * * as a matching requirement, share, 

or contribution for any other Federal 

program.’’ It also stated that ‘‘not less 

than $650,000,000 from funds made 

available on a pro-rata basis according 

to the allocation made to each State’’ 

shall be used for affordable rental 

housing. 

Finally, the statute called for ‘‘not 

less’’ than 33 percent of the funds to be 

allocated within 60 days of enactment 

(that is, by November 28th) based ‘‘on 

the best estimates available of relative 

damage and anticipated assistance from 

other Federal sources.’’ 

Schedule for Allocations 

While Congress appropriated $6.5 

billion, $377,139,920 has been 

rescinded, $6.5 million has been set 

aside for HUD administrative costs, and 

$2,145,000,000 was allocated in 

November 2008. This allocation 

distributes the remaining 

$3,971,360,080, with a $311,603,923 setaside to the Disaster Recovery 

Enhancement Fund. 

Disasters in 2008 

There were 76 major disasters that 

occurred in 2008 in 35 states, Puerto 

Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Data on 

damaged housing are available for 36 

disasters from FEMA and Small 

Business Administration (SBA); 

business loss data are available for 39 

disasters from SBA; and 72 disasters 

have data on the cost FEMA and states 

are estimated to spend on infrastructure 

and other Public Assistance costs. 

Available Data 

The data HUD staff have identified as 

being available to calculate ‘‘relative 

damage and anticipated assistance from 

Federal sources’’ at this time for the 

targeted disasters come from the 

following data sources: 

• FEMA Individual Assistance 

program data concerning housing unit 

damage; 

• SBA for management of its disaster 

assistance loan program for housing 

repair and replacement; 

• SBA for management of its disaster 

assistance loan program for business 

real estate repair and replacement, as 

well as content loss; and 

• FEMA estimated and obligated 

amounts under its Public Assistance 

program, including the federal and state 

cost share. 

Formula 

This formula ‘‘allocates’’ the full 

$6,116,360,080 available for allocation 

under this appropriation and then 

subtracts out the $2,145,000,000 that 

was previously allocated and the 

$311,602,923 set-aside reserve fund (on 

a pro-rata basis). HUD has adopted this 

practice to adjust grants to reflect better 

data than were available at the time of 

the November 2008 allocation and to 

treat disasters occurring after November 

equally with disasters that occurred 

earlier in the year. 

The formula mechanics are as follows: 

$6,116,360,080 

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∗ (State sum of HUD-calculated unmet housing, business, and infrastructure needs)

(All disaster sum of HUD-calculated unmet housing, business, and infrastructure needs) 

⎡

⎣

⎢

∗ (State Per Seriously Damaged Home Challenge Score)

(Basi

a

c Allocation National Weighted Challenge Score) ∗ ( % 20 opwer)b ⎤

⎦

⎥

—State total: November $2.145 billion 

allocation 

* Pro-rata adjustment after minimum grant 

threshold and reserve grant set-aside 

aNo state can have its grant adjusted up or 

down by more than 10 percent using this 

factor. bMathematically, each state’s challenge 

factor is divided by the weighted national 

rate (14.7) and multiplied by 0.2 (that is, if 

a state’s ratio was above 1; for example, 1.5 

would become 1.10, [1 + ((1 ¥ 0.5) * 0.2)]; 

if the ratio was below 1, for example, 0.5 

would become 0.9 [1 – ((1 ¥ 0.5) * 0.2)]. 

This allocation does not duplicate 

funding already provided under the 

Supplemental Appropriations Act of 

2008 (Pub. L. 110–252, 122 Stat. 2323), 

enacted on June 30, 2008, which 

appropriated $300 million for disasters 

that were declared and occurred in May 

and June of 2008. This current 

allocation subtracts out of the unmet 

housing and business need estimates the 

amount of funds allocated for housing 

and business under the 2008 June 

appropriation. 

Calculating Unmet Housing Needs 

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. For unmet housing needs, the 

FEMA data are supplemented by SBA 

data from its Disaster Loan Program. 

HUD calculates ‘‘unmet housing needs’’ 

as the number of housing units with 

unmet needs, multiplied by the 

estimated cost to repair those units, 

minus the amount of repair funding 

already provided by FEMA, where: 

• The number of owner-occupied 

units with unmet needs are units FEMA 

housing inspectors determined would 

require more than $3,000 to become 

habitable and were determined by 

FEMA to be eligible for a repair or 

replacement grant (now up to $30,300, 

earlier disasters in the year had a cap of 

$28,800). In general, when HUD refers 

to units ‘‘seriously damaged,’’ it is 

referring to units with a FEMA damage 

assessment of $3,000 or greater. 

• The number of rental units with 

unmet needs are units FEMA housing 

inspectors determined would require 

more than $3,000 to become habitable 

AND are occupied by households with 

an income reported to FEMA of less 

than $20,000. The use of the $20,000 

income cut-off for calculating rental 

unmet needs is in response to the 

statutory language that emphasized the 

use of the funds for affordable rental 

housing. 

• Each of the FEMA inspected units 

are categorized by HUD into one of five 

categories: 

Æ Minor-Low: Less than $3,000 of 

FEMA-inspected damage 

Æ Minor-High: $3,000 to $7,999 of 

FEMA-inspected damage 

Æ Major-Low: $8,000 to $14,999 of 

FEMA-inspected damage 

Æ Major-High: $15,000 to $28,800 of 

FEMA-inspected damage 

Æ Severe: Greater than $28,800 of 

FEMA-inspected damage or -determined 

destroyed. 

Note: FEMA has recently raised its 

maximum grant to $30,300. For this first 

round allocation, HUD continues to use the 

$28,800 as the threshold, because it applied 

for most of the declared disasters. 

• The average cost to fully repair a 

home for a specific disaster within each 

of the damage categories noted above is 

calculated using the average real 

property damage repair costs 

determined by the SBA for its disaster 

loan program for the subset of homes 

inspected by both SBA and FEMA. 

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 FEMA estimates on 

the cost to make the home habitable. If 

fewer than 100 SBA inspections are 

made for homes within a FEMA damage 

category, the estimated damage amount 

in the category for that disaster has a 

cap applied at the 75th percentile of all 

damaged units for that category for all 

disasters and has a floor applied at the 

25th percentile. 

• The base amount of unmet housing 

needs is then increased by 20 percent to 

reflect an assumed premium associated 

with the additional costs needed to run 

a repair program with CDBG funding. 

Calculating Infrastructure Needs 

As noted above, the statute for this 

allocation states that ‘‘such funds may 

not be used for activities reimbursable 

by, or for which funds are made 

available by, the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency or the Army Corps 

of Engineers’’ and that ‘‘none of the 

funds * * * may be used * * * as a 

matching requirement, share, or 

contribution for any other Federal 

program.’’ In past disasters, unmet 

infrastructure need has been calculated 

at the required match portion for the 

public assistance program. Because 

these funds cannot be used as match, we 

must identify a proxy for what 

infrastructure activities are likely to 

require funding beyond FEMA’s Public 

Assistance funding and the state match 

requirement. To best proxy unmet needs 

that would exceed what FEMA and state 

match will pay for under the Public 

Assistance program, this allocation uses 

only a subset of the Public Assistance 

damage estimates reflecting the 

categories of activities most likely to 

require CDBG funding above the Public 

Assistance and State Match 

requirement. Those activities are the 

following categories: C—Roads and 

Bridges; D—Water Control Facilities; 

E—Public Buildings; F—Public Utilities; 

and G—Recreational—Other. Categories 

A (Debris Removal) and B (Protective 

Measures) are largely expended 

immediately after a disaster and reflect 

interim recovery measures, rather than 

the long-term recovery measures the 

CDBG funds are generally used for. 

‘‘Unmet’’ infrastructure needs assume 

that the subset categories of Public 

Assistance needs will have state 

aggregate costs 25 percent higher than 

that covered by FEMA or the state 

match requirement. 

Disasters with 

project(s) Total estimate Percent 

Public Assistance Total ............................................................................................. 75 $5,322,992,430 

A_Debris_Removal .................................................................................................... 71 1,185,035,209 22 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 156 / Friday, August 14, 2009 / Notices 41155 

Disasters with 

project(s) Total estimate Percent 

B_Protective_Measures ............................................................................................. 75 995,171,090 19 

C_Roads_Bridges ...................................................................................................... 73 494,369,300 9 

D_Water_Control_Facilities ........................................................................................ 43 57,455,582 1 

E_Public_Buildings ..................................................................................................... 69 1,509,980,683 28 

F_Public_Utilities ........................................................................................................ 74 837,448,078 16 

G_Recreational_Other ............................................................................................... 64 243,532,488 5 

FEMA Extract: April 14, 2009. 

Calculating Economic Revitalization 

Needs 

Based on SBA disaster loans to 

businesses, HUD used the sum of real 

property and real content loss of small 

businesses not receiving an SBA 

disaster loan. This is adjusted upward 

by the proportion of applications that 

were received for a disaster for which 

content and real property loss were not 

calculated because the applicant had 

inadequate credit or income. For 

example, if a state had 160 applications 

for assistance, and if 150 had calculated 

needs and 10 were denied in the preprocessing stage for not enough income 

or poor credit, the estimated unmet 

need calculation would be increased as 

(1 + 10/160), multiplied by the 

calculated unmet real content loss. 

SBA business loan data shows that 

verified real estate damage and content 

loss not approved for an SBA loan 

equaled $972 million. Across all of the 

disasters there were 17,157 applications 

for a business disaster loan from SBA. 

No inspections were done (and loss 

calculated) for 14 percent of those 

applications. SBA maintains 

information on why an application was 

denied. There are dozens of reasons for 

such denials, but the most common 

relate to income and credit. Of those 

denied at the pre-processing stage 59 

percent were denied because of a low 

credit score and 10 percent for not being 

able to establish repayment ability. The 

remaining applications denied in preprocessing are largely denied for being 

ineligible for the program or similar 

reasons. For the applications that get 

processed and a loss determined but are 

subsequently not approved, the reasons 

for not being approved are 38 percent 

for inability to repay, 2 percent for poor 

credit, and dozens of other reasons, but 

mostly because the applications are 

withdrawn by the applicant. 

Because applications denied for poor 

credit or inadequate income are the 

most likely measure of requiring the 

type of assistance available with CDBG 

recovery funds, the calculated unmet 

business needs for each state are 

adjusted upwards by the proportion of 

total applications that were denied at 

the pre-process stage because of poor 

credit or inability to show repayment 

ability. 

Calculating Challenge To Recover 

The 2005 hurricanes damaged more 

than 1.2 million homes. One year after 

the disaster, 90 percent of those homes 

were occupied. It is in the areas that 

homes were vacant a year after the 

storms that the recovery has been 

especially slow, and a large number of 

those homes vacant a year after the 

storms continue to remain vacant. As 

described in more detail below, two 

variables are very strong predictors of 

whether a home becomes vacant and 

remains vacant over an extended period 

of time. Those variables are the percent 

of homes with serious damage within 

the neighborhood (Census Tract is the 

proxy) and if a home received very 

severe damage. 

The vast majority of households 

impacted by a disaster are able to return 

to their homes within a relatively short 

time frame. For those households 

displaced longer than a year and for the 

neighborhoods where that displacement 

occurs, the recovery challenges are 

much more pronounced. For example, 

areas may decide not to build back and 

to build elsewhere, using buyout 

programs and other strategies. 

Alternatively, homes built back might 

need to be built to a higher standard of 

construction to better resist future 

disasters. These are factors not 

accounted for in the basic repair costs 

calculated in the needs calculations for 

housing, infrastructure, and economic 

revitalization. To account for these 

above normal recovery needs that are 

associated with only the most severe of 

disasters, HUD has used data from 

Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma to 

develop a model for estimating if a 

home is at a high or low risk for 

overcoming these recovery challenges. 

There are many reasons why a recovery 

might not happen for a particular house, 

but just two factors can predict 34 

percent of the variance between homes. 

According to the model, any home with 

serious damage (FEMA-estimated 

damage of greater than $5,200 in a 2005 

disaster) had about a one percent risk 

for being vacant for some period during 

the 43 months following the disaster. A 

home with severe damage (more than 50 

percent damaged) had an additional 20 

percent risk, and if that home was in a 

Census Tract where many other homes 

had major or severe damage, it had an 

additional risk of that proportion of 

homes affected, multiplied by 34 

percent. Such a risk factor can be a 

useful tool for adjusting grants so that 

states with a higher per-damaged home 

risk score get relatively more than states 

with a relatively lower per-damaged 

home risk score. 

Unstandardized 

coefficients Std. Error 

Standardized 

coefficients t Sig. 

B Beta 

(Constant) ........................................................ 0.010695 0.000909 ............................ 11.76848 5.77E–32 

Percent of homes in Census Tract with serious damage .................................................. 0.347154 0.001615 0.375916 214.9506 0 

Home with severe damage .............................. 0.195913 0.001158 0.295827 169.1555 0 

Dependent Variable: A time weighted 

average vacancy risk due to the 

2005 Hurricanes = 

[16 * (1 ¥ ratio of 12–2006 active 

address rate to 2005 pre-storm 

active address rate) 

14 * (1 ¥ ratio of 2–2008 active address 

rate to 2005 pre-storm active 

address rate) 

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41156 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 156 / Friday, August 14, 2009 / Notices 

10 * (1 ¥ ratio of 12–2008 active 

address rate to 2005 pre-storm 

active address rate) 

3 * (1 ¥ ratio of 3–2009 active address 

rate to 2005 pre-storm active 

address rate)] 

Divided by 43 months. (the longer the 

vacancy the higher the average 

score) 

R-square: 0.340 

N: 287,190 

To adjust for this greater recovery 

challenge, the results of the analysis 

above are used in the following model 

for 2008: 

Vacancy Risk Score = 

0.010695 (Constant) 

+ 0.347154 Percent of homes in 

Census Tract with serious damage 

+ 0.195913 Home with major-high or 

severe damage 

The risk score is then aggregated for 

each disaster and divided by the total 

number of housing units with more than 

very minor damage. That is, we 

determine a per-damaged home 

recovery challenge risk score. Such a 

risk factor can be a useful tool for 

adjusting grants so that states with a 

higher risk for long-term recovery 

challenges get a somewhat higher grant 

because of this risk. 

[FR Doc. E9–19488 Filed 8–13–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–5282–N–04] 

Notice of Proposed Information 

Collection: Comment Request; 

Community Development Block Grant 

Recovery (CDBG–R) Program 

AGENCY: Office of Community Planning 

and Development, Department of 

Housing and Urban Development. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed information 

collection. 

SUMMARY: The proposed information 

collection requirement described below 

will be submitted to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review as required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act. The Department is 

soliciting public comments on the 

subject proposal. 

DATES: Comments Due Date: October 13, 

2009. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments regarding 

this proposal. Comments should refer to 

the proposal by name and/or OMB 

Control Number and should be sent to: 

Lillian L. Deitzer, Reports Management 

Officer, QDAM, Department of Housing 

and Urban Development, 451 7th Street, 

SW., Room 4176, Washington, DC 

20410; telephone 202–402–8048 (this is 

not a toll-free number) or e-mail Ms. 

Deitzer at Lillian.L.Deitzer@hud.gov for 

a copy of the proposed form and other 

available information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steve Johnson, Director, Entitlement 

Communities Division, Office of Block 

Grant Assistance, 451 7th Street, SW., 

Room 7282, Washington, DC 20410; 

telephone (202) 708–1577 (this is not a 

toll-free number). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Department is submitting the proposed 

information collection to OMB for 

review, as required by the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35, as amended). The 

Department submitted to OMB for 

emergency processing a proposed 

information collection for the 

Community Development Block Grant 

Recovery (CDBG–R) program. It was 

approved by OMB on April 17, 2009 

and expires on October 31, 2009. Since 

HUD will be using the form (SF 424) 

beyond the emergency clearance time 

period, this is a resubmission to OMB 

under the normal paperwork clearance 

process for a three-year approval. 

This Notice is soliciting comments 

from members of the public and affected 

agencies concerning the proposed 

collection of information to: (1) Evaluate 

whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information; (3) Enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information to be collected; and (4) 

Minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on those who are to 

respond; including through the use of 

appropriate automated collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology, e.g., permitting electronic 

submission of responses. 

This Notice also lists the following 

information: 

Title of Proposal: Community 

Development Block Grant Recovery 

Program. 

OMB Control Number, if Applicable: 

2506–0184. 

Description of the Need for the 

Information and Proposed Use: This 

request identifies the estimated 

reporting burden associated with 

information that CDBG–R grantees will 

report in IDIS for CDBG–R assisted 

activities, recordkeeping requirements, 

and reporting requirements. Section 

1512 of the Recovery Act requires that 

not later than 10 days after the end of 

each calendar quarter, each recipient 

that received recovery funds from a 

Federal agency shall submit a report to 

that agency that contains: (1) The total 

amount of recovery funds received from 

that agency; (2) the amount of recovery 

funds received that were expended or 

obligated to projects or activities; and 

(3) a detailed list of all projects or 

activities for which recovery funds were 

expended or obligated, including the 

name of the project or activity; a 

description of the project or activity; an 

evaluation of the completion status of 

the project or activity; an estimate of the 

number of jobs created and the number 

of jobs retained by the project or 

activity; and for infrastructure 

investments made by State and local 

governments, the purpose, total cost, 

and rationale of the agency for funding 

the infrastructure investment with funds 

made available under the Recovery Act 

and name of the person to contact at the 

agency if there are concerns with the 

infrastructure investment. Not later than 

30 calendar days after the end of each 

calendar quarter, each agency that made 

Recovery Act funds available to any 

recipient shall make the information in 

reports submitted publicly available by 

posting the information on a Web site. 

Agency Form Numbers: Not 

applicable. 

Members of the Affected Public: 

Eligible CDBG grantees (metropolitan 

cities, urban counties, nonentitlement 

counties in Hawaii, and States). 

Estimation of the total numbers of 

hours needed to prepare the information 

collection including number of 

responses, frequency of responses, and 

hours of responses: The number of 

respondents is 1,196. The proposed 

frequency of the response to the 

collection is on a quarterly basis. The 

total estimated burden is 28,704 

quarterly hours. 

Status of the proposed information 

collection: This submission is an 

extension of a previously approved 

emergency information collection. The 

current OMB approval expires on 

October 31, 2009. 

Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act 

of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended. 

Dated: August 6, 2009. 

Mercedes Ma ́ rquez, 

Assistant Secretary for Community Planning 

and Development. 

[FR Doc. E9–19485 Filed 8–13–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

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