40314 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 157 / Tuesday, August 14, 2018 / Notices 

the use of appropriate automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology, e.g., permitting 

electronic submission of responses. 

HUD encourages interested parties to 

submit comment in response to these 

questions. 

Authority: Section 3507 of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35. 

Dated: August 8, 2018. 

Inez C. Downs, 

Department Reports Management Officer, 

Office of the Chief Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17445 Filed 8–13–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–6109–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: On April 10, 2018, HUD 

allocated nearly $28 billion in 

Community Development Block Grant 

disaster recovery (CDBG–DR) funds 

appropriated by the Further Additional 

Supplemental Appropriations for 

Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2018. 

HUD allocated $10.03 billion for the 

purpose of assisting in addressing 

unmet needs from disasters that 

occurred in 2017; $2 billion for 

improved electrical power systems in 

areas impacted by Hurricane Maria; and 

$15.9 billion for mitigation activities. 

This notice applies only to the $10.03 

billion allocated for long-term recovery 

from disasters that occurred in 2017. A 

future notice will specify the 

requirements and process for the 

electrical power systems funding and 

the mitigation funds. 

This $10.03 billion allocation for 

addressing unmet recovery needs 

supplements the $7.4 billion in CDBG– 

DR funds appropriated by the 

Supplemental Appropriations for 

Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2017, 

which allocated funds to Texas, Florida, 

Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands 

in response to qualifying disasters in 

2017. In HUD’s Federal Register notice 

published on February 9, 2018 (the 

‘‘Prior Notice’’), HUD described those 

allocations, applicable waivers and 

alternative requirements, relevant 

statutory and regulatory requirements, 

the grant award process, criteria for 

action plan approval, and eligible 

disaster recovery activities. 

DATES: Applicability Date: August 20, 

2018. 

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 

10166, 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 

202–708–0033. (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. Overview of Grant Process 

A. Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 115–123) 

Initial Action Plan Process 

B. Prior Appropriation (Pub. L. 115–56) 

Substantial Action Plan Amendment 

Process 

IV. Applicable Rules, Statutes, Waivers, and 

Alternative Requirements 

A. Grant Administration 

B. Housing 

C. Infrastructure 

D. Economic Revitalization 

V. Duration of Funding 

VI. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

VII. Finding of No Significant Impact 

Appendix A: Allocation Methodology 

I. Allocations 

The Further Additional Supplemental 

Appropriations for Disaster Relief 

Requirements Act, 2018 (Division B, 

Subdivision 1 of the Bipartisan Budget 

Act of 2018), approved February 9, 2018 

(Pub. L. 115–123) (the ‘‘Appropriations 

Act’’), appropriated nearly $28 billion in 

CDBG–DR funds. Of this amount, up to 

$16 billion is available to address unmet 

disaster recovery needs through 

activities authorized under title I of the 

Housing and Community Development 

Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) 

(HCD Act) related to disaster relief, 

long-term recovery, restoration of 

infrastructure and housing, economic 

revitalization, and mitigation in the 

‘‘most impacted and distressed’’ areas 

(identified by HUD using the best 

available data) resulting from a major 

declared disaster that occurred in 2017. 

Amounts allocated for these purposes 

supplement $7.4 billion in CDBG–DR 

funds appropriated on September 8, 

2017, by the Supplemental 

Appropriations for Disaster Relief 

Requirements, 2017 (Pub. L. 115–56) 

(the ‘‘Prior Appropriation’’). HUD 

allocated the first $7.4 billion in the 

Prior Notice (83 FR 5844, February 9, 

2018). This notice amends the Prior 

Notice to ensure consistency across 

allocations for the same qualifying 

disasters, and to give effect to 

requirements of the Appropriations Act, 

including that funds allocated under the 

Prior Notice are subject to the terms and 

conditions applicable to CDBG–DR 

funds under the Appropriations Act. 

Based on the remaining unmet needs 

allocation methodology outlined in 

Appendix A, this notice allocates 

$10,030,484,000 for unmet disaster 

recovery needs under the 

Appropriations Act. The allocation 

amounts for unmet recovery needs 

included in Table 1 exclude the $2 

billion set-aside for Puerto Rico and the 

Virgin Islands for electrical system 

improvements. The Appropriations Act 

further provided that of the nearly $28 

billion, HUD must allocate not less than 

$12 billion for mitigation activities 

undertaken by grantees receiving an 

allocation of CDBG–DR funds for 

recovery from 2015, 2016, or 2017 

disasters. On April 10, 2018, HUD 

announced that after addressing 

remaining 2017 unmet needs, HUD 

would allocate an additional $3.9 

billion for mitigation, bringing the 

amount designated for mitigation to 

$15.9 billion. A subsequent notice will 

govern the allocations for mitigation and 

the allocations for electrical power 

system enhancements and 

improvements. 

In accordance with the 

Appropriations Act, $10,000,000 of the 

total amounts appropriated under the 

Act will be transferred to the 

Department’s Office of Community 

Planning and Development (CPD), 

Program Office Salaries and Expenses, 

for necessary costs of administering and 

overseeing CDBG–DR funds made 

available under the Appropriations Act 

and $15,000,000 is to be transferred to 

the CPD office to provide necessary 

capacity building and technical 

assistance to grantees. The 

Appropriations Act also provides 

$10,000,000 to the Department’s Office 

of the Inspector General for oversight of 

the appropriated CDBG–DR funds. 

Although the Prior Notice requires 

each grantee to primarily consider and 

address its unmet housing recovery 

needs, grantees under this notice and 

the Prior Notice may also propose an 

allocation of funds that includes unmet 

economic revitalization and 

infrastructure needs that are unrelated 

to unmet housing needs after the grantee 

demonstrates in its needs assessment 

that there is no remaining unmet 


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housing need or that the remaining 

unmet housing need will be addressed 

by other sources of funds. The law 

provides that grants shall be awarded 

directly to a State, local government, or 

Indian tribe at the discretion of the 

Secretary. To comply with statutory 

direction that funds be used for disasterrelated expenses in the most impacted 

and distressed areas, HUD allocates 

funds using the best available data that 

cover all eligible affected areas. 

Pursuant to the Appropriations Act, 

HUD has identified the most impacted 

and distressed areas based on the best 

available data for all eligible affected 

areas. A detailed explanation of HUD’s 

allocation methodology is provided in 

Appendix A of this notice. For Puerto 

Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, all 

components of each territory are 

considered most impacted and 

distressed as defined in Table 1. For all 

other grantees, at least 80 percent of all 

allocations provided to the grantee 

under the Prior Notice and this notice 

must address unmet disaster needs 

within the HUD-identified most 

impacted and distressed areas, as 

identified in the last column of Table 1. 

These grantees may determine where to 

use the remaining 20 percent of their 

allocation, but that portion of the 

allocation may only be used to address 

unmet disaster needs in those areas that 

the grantee determines are ‘‘most 

impacted and distressed’’ and that 

received a presidential major disaster 

declaration pursuant to the disaster 

numbers listed in Table 1. 

Based on further review of the 

impacts from the eligible disasters, and 

estimates of unmet need, Table 1 shows 

the areas and the minimum amount of 

funds from the combined allocations 

under the Appropriations Act and the 

Prior Appropriation that must be 

expended in the HUD-identified most 

impacted and distressed areas. For some 

grantees funded under the Prior 

Appropriation, updated data and 

methodology led to additional areas 

being defined as most impacted and 

distressed. Therefore, the most impacted 

and distressed areas identified in Table 

1 of this notice amend the Prior Notice 

to replace the most impacted and 

distressed areas identified in Table 1 of 

the Prior Notice. The areas are listed 

alphabetically by county/municipio/ 

island and numerically by Zip Code and 

govern all CDBG–DR funds allocated for 

unmet needs from the 2017 disasters 

identified in Table 1. 

TABLE 1—ALLOCATIONS FOR UNMET NEEDS UNDER PUBLIC LAWS 115–56 AND 115–123 

Disaster No. Grantee 

Allocation 

under Public 

Law 115–56 

(covered by 

previous 

Notice 83 FR 

5844) 

Unmet needs 

allocation 

under Public 

Law 115–123 

(covered by 

this Notice) * 

Combined 

allocation for 

unmet needs 

(Pub. L. 115– 

56 and Pub. L. 

115–123) * 

Minimum combined amount from Public Law 

115–56 and Public Law 115–123 that must be 

expended for unmet needs recovery in the HUDidentified ‘‘most impacted and distressed’’ areas 

listed herein 

4344 and 4353 ...... State of California $0 $124,155,000 $124,155,000 (No less than $99,324,000) Sonoma and Ventura counties; 93108, 94558, 95422, 95470, 

and 95901 Zip Codes. 

4337 and 4341 ...... State of Florida ..... 615,922,000 157,676,000 773,598,000 (No less than $618,878,400) Brevard, Broward, 

Clay, Collier, Duval, Hillsborough, Lee, MiamiDade, Monroe, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, 

Polk, St. Lucie, and Volusia counties; 32084, 

32091, 32136, 32145, 32771, 33440, 33523, 

33825, 33870, 33935, and 34266 Zip Codes. 

4294, 4297, and 

4338.

State of Georgia .... 0 37,943,000 37,943,000 (No less than $30,354,400) 31520, 31548, and 

31705 Zip Codes. 

4317 ...................... State of Missouri ... 0 58,535,000 58,535,000 (No less than $46,828,000) 63935, 63965, 

64850, 65616, and 65775 Zip Codes. 

4336 and 4339 ...... Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico.

1,507,179,000 8,220,783,000 9,727,962,000 ($9,727,962,000) All components of Puerto 

Rico.*** 

4332 ...................... State of Texas ** ... 5,024,215,000 652,175,000 5,676,390,000 (No less than $4,541,112,000) Aransas, 

Brazoria, Chambers, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Harris, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Montgomery, Newton, Nueces, Orange, 

Refugio, San Jacinto, San Patricio, Victoria, 

and Wharton counties; 75979, 77320, 77335, 

77351, 77414, 77423, 77482, 77493, 77979, 

and 78934 Zip Codes. 

4335 and 4340 ...... U.S. Virgin Islands 242,684,000 779,217,000 1,021,901,000 ($1,021,901,000) All components of the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

* The $2 billion required for electric grid enhancements and improvements are considered unmet needs for allocation purposes, but the allocation and use of the funds will be governed by a forthcoming notice and thus are not included in this table. 

** State of Texas has also received $57.8 million for disaster recovery in respect to Hurricane Harvey from Public Law 115–31 that is not reflected here. 

*** The areas defined as most impacted in HUD’s formula calculation include more than 68 of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipios as Most Impacted 

Counties and all 10 municipios that are non-Most Impacted Counties do each have a Most Impacted Zip Code. This results in nearly 100% coverage of Puerto Rico both in terms of geography and population, so for program implementation purposes, HUD has determined to include all 

areas of Puerto Rico as Most Impacted. 

Grantees may use up to 5 percent of 

the total combined grant award for grant 

administration. Therefore, for grantees 

other than Puerto Rico and the U.S. 

Virgin Islands, HUD will include 80 

percent of a grantee’s expenditures for 

grant administration in its 

determination that 80 percent of the 

total award has been expended in the 

most impacted and distressed areas 

identified in Table 1. Additionally, for 

grantees other than Puerto Rico and U.S. 

Virgin Islands, expenditures for 

planning activities may be counted 

towards a grantee’s 80 percent 


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expenditure requirement, provided that 

the grantee describes in its action plan 

how those planning activities benefit 

the HUD-identified most impacted and 

distressed areas. 

II. Use of Funds 

Unless otherwise indicated, funds 

allocated under this notice and under 

the Prior Notice are subject to the 

requirements of this notice and the Prior 

Notice (as amended). This notice 

outlines additional requirements 

imposed by Public Laws 115–141 and 

115–123 that apply to funds allocated 

under this notice and the Prior Notice. 

These requirements are outlined in 

section IV.A.1 and 2 of this notice. 

The Appropriations Act requires that 

prior to the obligation of CDBG–DR 

funds by the Secretary, a grantee shall 

submit a plan to HUD for approval 

detailing the proposed use of all funds. 

The plan must include the 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 notice requires the grantee to 

submit an action plan that addresses 

unmet recovery needs related to the 

applicable disasters. Therefore, the 

action plan submitted in response to 

this notice 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 (see section IV below); and 

(2) respond to disaster-related impacts 

to infrastructure, housing, and economic 

revitalization in the most impacted and 

distressed areas. Additionally, grantees 

may include disaster related 

preparedness and mitigation measures 

as part of assisted activities as 

authorized pursuant to paragraph 

A.2.c.(4) of section VI of the Prior 

Notice. Grantees must conduct an 

assessment of community impacts and 

unmet needs to inform the plan and 

guide the development and 

prioritization of planned recovery 

activities, pursuant to paragraph A.2.a. 

in section VI of the Prior Notice, as 

amended in this notice. 

An alternative requirement 

established by the Prior Notice 

authorized the U.S. Virgin Islands to 

administer a CDBG–DR allocation in 

accordance with the regulatory and 

statutory provisions governing the State 

CDBG program, as modified by 

applicable waivers and alternative 

requirements. Therefore, all references 

to States and State grantees in this 

notice and the Prior Notice include the 

U.S. Virgin Islands. 

III. Overview Grant Process 

A. Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 115–123) 

Initial Action Plan Process 

Grantees receiving an initial 

allocation under this notice for disasters 

occurring in 2017 (California, Georgia, 

and Missouri) must submit an action 

plan per the requirements in section 

VI.A.2. of the Prior Notice not later than 

120 days after the applicability date of 

this notice. All requirements of the Prior 

Notice related to the action plan 

submission apply except the public 

comment period, which has been 

extended to no less than 30 calendar 

days under this notice. Grantees must 

publish the action plan in a manner that 

affords citizens, affected local 

governments, and other interested 

parties a reasonable opportunity to 

examine the contents and provide 

feedback. The manner of publication 

must include, at a minimum, prominent 

posting on the grantee’s official website 

for not less than 30 calendar days for 

public comment. These grantees must 

also submit the Financial Management 

and Grant Compliance submissions and 

the Pre-Award Implementation Plan per 

section VI.A.1 of the Prior Notice within 

60 days of the applicability date of this 

notice. 

B. Prior Appropriation (Pub. L. 115–56) 

Substantial Amendment Process To 

Incorporate Additional Funds 

Each grantee that received an 

allocation pursuant to the Prior 

Appropriation (Texas, Florida, Puerto 

Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands) is 

required to submit a substantial 

amendment amending the initial action 

plan that was submitted in response to 

the Prior Notice. The substantial 

amendment must be submitted not later 

than 90 days after the initial action plan 

is approved in whole or in part by HUD 

or not later than 90 days after the 

applicability date of this notice, 

whichever comes later. The substantial 

amendment must include the additional 

allocation of funds and address the 

requirements of this notice. For the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

substantial amendment must be 

reviewed for consistency with the 

Commonwealth’s 12- and 24-month 

economic and disaster recovery plan 

required by Section 21210 of Public Law 

115–123, the Commonwealth’s fiscal 

plan, and CDBG–DR eligibility. The 

certification of financial controls and 

procurement processes and the 

Department’s determination of the 

adequacy of the grantee’s 

implementation and capacity 

assessment pursuant to the Prior Notice, 

shall remain in effect for this allocation. 

Provided, however, that grantees shall 

be required to update the Financial 

Management and Grant Compliance 

submissions and the Pre-Award 

Implementation Plan per section VI.A.1 

of the Prior Notice to reflect any 

material changes in the submissions. 

Additionally, each grantee that 

received an allocation under the Prior 

Notice must meet the following 

requirements to amend the initial action 

plan. These steps are only applicable to 

the substantial amendment process to 

add the additional allocation under this 

notice. 

• Grantee must consult with affected 

citizens, stakeholders, local 

governments, and public housing 

authorities to determine updates to its 

needs assessment; 

• Grantee must amend its initial 

action plan to update its impact and 

needs assessment, modify or create new 

activities, or reprogram funds. Each 

amendment must be highlighted, or 

otherwise identified within the context 

of the entire action plan. The beginning 

of every substantial 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) a revised budget allocation 

table that reflects all funds; 

• Grantee must publish the 

substantial amendment to its previously 

approved action plan for disaster 

recovery in a manner that affords 

citizens, affected local governments, and 

other interested parties a reasonable 

opportunity to examine the 

amendment’s contents and provide 

feedback. The manner of publication 

must include, at a minimum, prominent 

posting on the grantee’s official website 

for not less than 30 calendar days for 

public comment (see section VI.A.4.e of 

the Prior Notice for details about the 

website requirements); 

• Grantee must respond to public 

comment and submit its substantial 

amendment to HUD no later than 90 

days after the grantee’s initial action 

plan is approved in whole or in part by 

HUD or not later than 90 days after the 

applicability date of this notice, 

whichever comes later. The substantial 

amendment submitted to HUD must 

also be prominently posted on the 

grantee’s official website; 

• HUD will review the substantial 

amendment within 45 days from date of 

receipt and determine whether to 

approve the substantial amendment per 

criteria identified in this notice and the 

Prior Notice; 

• HUD will send a substantial 

amendment approval letter, revised 


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grant conditions, and an amended 

unsigned grant agreement to the grantee. 

If the substantial amendment is not 

approved, a letter will be sent 

identifying its deficiencies; the grantee 

must then re-submit the substantial 

amendment within 45 days of the 

notification letter; 

• Grantee must ensure that the HUDapproved substantial amendment and 

initial HUD-approved action plan are 

posted prominently on its official 

website. Each 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; 

• Grantee must enter the activities 

from its published substantial 

amendment into the Disaster Recovery 

Grant Reporting (DRGR) system and 

submit the updated DRGR action plan 

(revised to reflect the substantial 

amendment) to HUD within the DRGR 

system; 

• Grantee must sign and return the 

grant agreement to HUD; 

• HUD will sign the grant agreement 

and revise the grantee’s CDBG–DR line 

of credit amount to reflect the total 

amount of available funds; 

• Grantee may draw down CDBG–DR 

funds from its line of credit after the 

Responsible Entity completes applicable 

environmental review(s) pursuant to 24 

CFR part 58, or adopts another Federal 

agency’s environmental review as 

authorized under the Appropriations 

Act and the Prior Appropriation, and, as 

applicable, receives from HUD the 

Authority to Use Grant Funds (AUGF) 

form and certification; 

• Grantee must amend and submit its 

projection of CDBG–DR expenditures 

and performance outcomes with the 

substantial amendment. 

IV. Applicable Rules, Statutes, Waivers, 

and Alternative Requirements 

This section of the notice describes 

rules, statutes, waivers, and alternative 

requirements that apply to allocations 

under this notice or the Prior Notice. 

The Secretary has determined that good 

cause exists for each waiver and 

alternative requirement established in 

this notice, and for the extension of 

waivers and alternative requirements in 

the Prior Notice to allocations made 

under this notice, and that the waivers 

and alternative requirements are not 

inconsistent with the overall purpose of 

the HCD Act. 

Grantees may request additional 

waivers and alternative requirements 

from the Department as needed to 

address specific needs related to their 

recovery activities. Waivers and 

alternative requirements are effective 

five (5) days after they are published in 

the Federal Register. 

A. Grant Administration 

1. Applicability of waivers, alternative 

requirements, and other requirements. 

All funds allocated under the Prior 

Notice and this notice are subject to the 

requirements of this notice and the Prior 

Notice. The waivers, alternative 

requirements, and other provisions of 

the Prior Notice, as amended, are also 

incorporated and made applicable to 

funds allocated under this notice. 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 under the 

Appropriations Act, the Prior 

Appropriation, as well as requirements 

in Public Laws 115–141 and 115–72, 

made applicable by the terms of the 

Appropriations Act and the Prior 

Appropriation, are met. 

2. Additional requirements and 

modifications of requirements in the 

Prior Notice. The following 

clarifications or modifications apply to 

all grantees in receipt of an allocation 

under this notice and to funds allocated 

under the Prior Notice: 

a. Substantial amendments for 

grantees receiving an allocation of funds 

under the Prior Notice. Grantees that 

received an allocation under the Prior 

Notice (Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and 

U.S. Virgin Islands) must submit a 

substantial amendment, including an 

updated needs assessment, per the 

requirements outlined in this notice, in 

addition to meeting the requirements for 

substantial amendments under the Prior 

Notice. 

b. Action plan and other submission 

requirements for grantees receiving an 

initial allocation under this notice. 

Grantees that did not receive an 

allocation under the Prior Notice 

(California, Georgia, and Missouri) shall 

be subject to deadlines for the 

submission of financial controls and 

procurement processes, implementation 

plans, and action plans, as established 

in the Prior Notice, which shall be based 

upon the applicability date of this 

notice. Grantees that did not receive an 

allocation under the Prior Notice must 

submit an action plan not later than 120 

days after the applicability date of this 

notice. 

c. Cost or price analysis. References in 

the Prior Notice to ‘‘an evaluation of the 

cost and price of a product or service’’ 

and to the ‘‘evaluation of the cost or 

price of a product or service’’ shall be 

read to require ‘‘an evaluation of the 

cost or price of a product or service.’’ 

d. Additional requirements for the 

comprehensive disaster recovery 

website. The Prior Notice requires all 

grantees to maintain a comprehensive 

disaster recovery website. The 

Appropriations Act requires that certain 

content be included on a CDBG–DR 

grantee’s website. These requirements 

apply to funds allocated under this 

notice and the Prior Notice. Each 

grantee must maintain on its 

comprehensive disaster recovery 

website information containing common 

reporting criteria established by the 

Department that permits individuals 

and entities awaiting assistance and the 

general public to see how all grant funds 

are used, including copies of all relevant 

procurement documents, grantee 

administrative contracts, and details of 

ongoing procurement processes, as 

determined by the Secretary. HUD will 

post guidance related to this 

requirement on the HUD exchange 

website. 

e. Working capital to aid in recovery. 

The Appropriations Act provides that 

grantees may establish grant programs to 

assist small businesses for working 

capital purposes to aid in recovery with 

funds allocated under this notice or the 

Prior Notice. This proviso does not 

establish a new eligible activity. All 

funds to assist small businesses for 

working capital must be expended for 

eligible CDBG activities that meet a 

national objective and the other 

requirements applicable to the use of 

funds. 

f. Underwriting. Notwithstanding 

section 105(e)(1) of the HCD Act, no 

funds allocated under this notice or the 

Prior Notice may be provided to a forprofit entity for an economic 

development project under section 

105(a)(17) unless such project has been 

evaluated and selected in accordance 

with guidelines developed by HUD 

pursuant to section 105(e)(2) for 

evaluating and selecting economic 

development projects. States and their 

subrecipients are required to comply 

with the underwriting guidelines in 

Appendix A to 24 CFR part 570 if they 

are using grant funds to provide 

assistance to a for-profit entity for an 

economic development project under 

section 105(a)(17) of the HCDA. The 

underwriting guidelines are found at 

Appendix A of Part 570. https://www.

ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=88dced

3d630ad9fd8ab91268dd829f1e&mc=

true&node=ap24.3.570_1913.a&rgn=

div9. 

g. Limitation on use of funds for 

eminent domain. No funds allocated 

under this notice or the Prior Notice 


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may be used to support any Federal, 

State, or local projects that seek to use 

the power of eminent domain, unless 

eminent domain is employed only for a 

public use. For purposes of this 

paragraph, public use shall not be 

construed to include economic 

development that primarily benefits 

private entities. Any use of funds for 

mass transit, railroad, airport, seaport or 

highway projects, as well as utility 

projects which benefit or serve the 

general public (including energyrelated, communication-related, waterrelated, and wastewater-related 

infrastructure), other structures 

designated for use by the general public 

or which have other common-carrier or 

public-utility functions that serve the 

general public and are subject to 

regulation and oversight by the 

government, and projects for the 

removal of an immediate threat to 

public health and safety or brownfields 

as defined in the Small Business 

Liability Relief and Brownfields 

Revitalization Act (Pub. L. 107–118) 

shall be considered a public use for 

purposes of eminent domain. 

3. Citizen participation waiver and 

alternative requirement. Section VI.A.4 

of the Prior Notice established citizen 

participation requirements for input on 

grantee action plans and substantial 

amendments. To ensure adequate 

citizen participation and access to 

action plans and substantial 

amendments, the Department is deleting 

and replacing the first paragraph in 

section VI.A.4 and the entirety of 

section VI.A.4.a of the Prior Notice with 

the following to extend the minimum 

amount of time grantees are required to 

publish action plans and substantial 

amendments for public comment from 

14 calendar days to at least 30 calendar 

days. These paragraphs shall apply to 

initial action plans and all substantial 

amendments submitted pursuant to this 

notice. 

‘‘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, 24 CFR 1003.604, 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 the grantee to 

provide a reasonable opportunity (at 

least 30 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 website 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’s (or relevant agency’s) 

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. Plan 

publication efforts must meet the 

effective communications requirements 

of 24 CFR 8.6 and other fair housing and 

civil rights requirements, such as the 

effective communication requirements 

under the Americans with Disabilities 

Act. 

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 and take appropriate 

steps to ensure effective 

communications with persons with 

disabilities pursuant to 24 CFR 8.6 and 

other fair housing and civil rights 

requirements, such as the effective 

communication requirements under the 

Americans with Disabilities Act. Since 

State grantees under this notice may 

make grants throughout the State, 

including to entitlement communities, 

States should carefully evaluate the 

needs of persons with disabilities 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) and at: https://

www.lep.gov/guidance/HUD_guidance_

Jan07.pdf 

Subsequent to publication of the 

action plan, the grantee must provide a 

reasonable time frame (again, no less 

than 30 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 its 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.’’ 

4. Cost Verification. Section VI.A.2.a 

of the Prior Notice established the 

requirements for contents of action 

plans submitted in response to the Prior 

Notice and this notice. To further 

strengthen the ability of grantees to 

demonstrate that project costs funded 

with CDBG–DR are necessary and 

reasonable, section VI.A.2.a of the Prior 

Notice is amended by adding a new 

paragraph (14) to read as follows. This 

requirement shall apply to the 

substantial amendment submitted by 

Puerto Rico, Texas, Florida, and the U.S. 

Virgin Islands pursuant to section 

IV.A.2.a of this notice: 

‘‘14. A description of the grantee’s 

controls for assuring that construction 

costs are reasonable and consistent with 

market costs at the time and place of 

construction. The method and degree of 

analysis may vary dependent upon the 

circumstances surrounding a particular 

project (e.g., project type, risk, costs), 

but the description must address 

controls for housing projects involving 

eight or more units (whether new 

construction, rehabilitation, or 

reconstruction), economic revitalization 

projects (involving, construction, 

rehabilitation or reconstruction), and 

infrastructure projects. HUD may issue 

guidance to grantees and may require a 

grantee to verify cost reasonableness 

from an independent and qualified 

third-party architect, civil engineer, or 

construction manager.’’ 

5. Additional Specific Criteria and 

Conditions to Mitigate Risk. HUD is 

required to design an internal control 

plan for disaster relief funding based on 

standard guidance issued by the 

Director of the Office of Management 

and Budget on March 30, 2018, to 

address known internal control risks 

related to disaster funding provided 

under the Appropriations Act and the 

Prior Appropriation. Both the 


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Appropriations Act and the Prior 

Appropriation also require the Secretary 

to certify in advance of signing a grant 

agreement, that the grantee has 

proficient financial controls and 

procurement processes, and has 

established adequate procedures to 

prevent any duplication of benefits as 

defined by section 312 of the Robert T. 

Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5155), ensure 

timely expenditure of funds, maintain 

comprehensive websites regarding all 

disaster recovery activities assisted with 

these funds, and detect and prevent 

waste, fraud, and abuse of funds. 

Additionally, 2 CFR 200.205 requires 

the Department to assess the risk of each 

grantee and 2 CFR 200.207(a) provides 

that specific conditions may be placed 

on the grant award based upon that 

assessment of risk. To ensure the 

effective implementation of the internal 

controls discussed above, the 

Department is adding a new paragraph 

VI.A.32 to the Prior Notice. This 

paragraph will also apply to funds 

provided under this notice as well as 

the Prior Notice: 

‘‘32. Additional Criteria and Specific 

Conditions to Mitigate Risk. To ensure 

the effective implementation of the 

internal control plan required under the 

Appropriations Act and grantee 

implementation of the financial 

controls, procurement processes, and 

other procedures that are the subject of 

the certification by the Secretary, the 

Department has and may continue to 

establish specific criteria and conditions 

for each grant award as provided for at 

2 CFR 200.205 and 200.207(a), 

respectively, to mitigate the risk of the 

grant. The Secretary shall specify any 

such criteria and the resulting 

conditions in the grant conditions 

governing the award. These criteria may 

include, but need not be limited to, a 

consideration of the internal control 

framework established by the grantee to 

ensure compliant implementation of its 

financial controls, procurement 

processes and payment of funds to 

eligible entities, as well as the grantee’s 

risk management strategy for 

information technology systems 

established to implement CDBG–DR 

funded programs. Additionally, the 

Secretary may amend the grant 

conditions to mitigate risk of a grant 

award at any point at which the 

Secretary determines a condition to be 

required to protect the Federal financial 

interest or to advance recovery.’’ 

6. Clarification of Waiver of Section 

414 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

(42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.). The Prior 

Notice established a waiver associated 

with Section 414 of the Stafford Act for 

homeowner occupants and tenants 

displaced because of the disaster. The 

waiver is applicable to ‘‘CDBG–DR 

funded projects commencing more than 

one year after the date of the 

Presidentially declared disaster.’’ The 

Department is amending this provision 

to clarify the point at which a project is 

determined to have ‘‘commenced,’’ by 

amending paragraph VI.A.23.f of the 

Prior Notice by replacing it in its 

entirety with the following: 

‘‘f. Waiver of Section 414 of the 

Stafford Act. Section 414 of the Stafford 

Act (42 U.S.C. 5181) provides that 

‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision 

of law, no person otherwise eligible for 

any kind of replacement housing 

payment under the Uniform Relocation 

Assistance and Real Property 

Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (Pub. L. 

91–646) [42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.] 

[‘‘URA’’] shall be denied such eligibility 

as a result of his being unable, because 

of a major disaster as determined by the 

President, to meet the occupancy 

requirements set by [the URA].’’ 

Accordingly, homeowner occupants and 

tenants displaced from their homes as a 

result of the identified disasters and 

who would have otherwise been 

displaced as a direct result of any 

acquisition, rehabilitation, or 

demolition of real property for a 

federally funded program or project may 

become eligible for a replacement 

housing payment notwithstanding their 

inability to meet occupancy 

requirements prescribed in the URA. 

Section 414 of the Stafford Act 

(including its implementing regulation 

at 49 CFR 24.403(d)(1)), is waived to the 

extent that it would apply to real 

property acquisition, rehabilitation or 

demolition of real property for a CDBG– 

DR funded project commencing more 

than one year after the date of the latest 

applicable Presidentially declared 

disaster undertaken by the grantees, or 

subrecipients, provided that the project 

was not planned, approved, or 

otherwise underway prior to the 

disaster. For purposes of this paragraph, 

a CDBG–DR funded project shall be 

determined to have commenced on the 

earliest of: (1) The date of an approved 

Request for Release of Funds and 

certification, or (2) the date of 

completion of the site-specific review 

when a program utilizes Tiering, or (3) 

the date of sign-off by the approving 

official when a project converts to 

exempt under 24 CFR 58.34(a)(12). The 

Department has surveyed other Federal 

agencies’ interpretation and 

implementation of Section 414 and 

found varying views and strategies for 

long-term, post-disaster projects 

involving the acquisition, rehabilitation, 

or demolition of disaster-damaged 

housing. The Secretary has the authority 

to waive provisions of the Stafford Act 

and its implementing regulations that 

the Secretary administers in connection 

with the obligation of funds made 

available by this notice, or the grantees’ 

use of these funds. The Department has 

determined that good cause exists for a 

waiver and that such waiver is not 

inconsistent with the overall purposes 

of title I of the HCD Act. 

(1) The waiver will simplify the 

administration of the disaster recovery 

process and reduce the administrative 

burden associated with the 

implementation of Stafford Act Section 

414 requirements for projects 

commencing more than one year after 

the date of the Presidentially declared 

disaster considering most of such 

persons displaced by the disaster will 

have returned to their dwellings or 

found another place of permanent 

residence. 

(2) This waiver does not apply with 

respect to persons that meet the 

occupancy requirements to receive a 

replacement housing payment under the 

URA nor does it apply to persons 

displaced or relocated temporarily by 

other HUD-funded programs or projects. 

Such persons’ eligibility for relocation 

assistance and payments under the URA 

is not impacted by this waiver.’’ 

7. Clarification of the Environmental 

Review requirements. The Prior Notice 

provided guidance on the adoption of 

another Federal agency’s environmental 

review for CDBG–DR projects as 

permitted by the Prior Appropriation. 

The Appropriations Act goes beyond the 

Prior Appropriation and authorizes 

recipients of CDBG–DR funds under the 

Appropriations Act that use such funds 

to supplement Federal assistance 

provided under section 408(c)(4) of the 

Stafford Act to adopt, without review or 

public comment, any environmental 

review, approval, or permit performed 

by a Federal agency to satisfy 

responsibilities with respect to 

environmental review, approval or 

permit. Accordingly, the Department is 

amending paragraph VI.A.24.b of the 

Prior Notice by replacing it in its 

entirety with the following: 

‘‘b. Adoption of another agency’s 

environmental review. In accordance 

with the Appropriations Act, grant 

recipients of Federal funds that use such 

funds to supplement Federal assistance 

provided under section 408(c)(4) as well 

as sections 402, 403, 404, 406, 407 or 

502 of the Stafford Act may adopt, 

without review or public comment, any 

environmental review, approval, or 


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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 grant recipient must 

notify HUD in writing of its decision to 

adopt another agency’s environmental 

review. The grant recipient must retain 

a copy of the review in the grantee’s 

environmental records.’’ 

8. Low- and moderate-income 

national objective standard 

(Commonwealth of Puerto Rico only). 

Section 102(a)(20) of the HCD Act 

defines ‘‘persons of low and moderate 

income’’ and ‘‘low- and moderate 

income persons.’’ Subparagraph (B) of 

this definition authorizes the Secretary 

to establish for any area percentages of 

median income that are higher or lower 

than the percentages defined as ‘‘lowand moderate-income’’ under 

102(a)(20)(A), if the Secretary finds such 

variations to be necessary because of 

unusually high or low family incomes 

in such areas. Due to the unusually low 

incomes in Puerto Rico, residents that 

meet the CDBG program definition of 

‘‘low- and moderate-income’’ by having 

incomes of 80 percent AMI or less, also 

remain below the Federal poverty level. 

Therefore, the Department is increasing 

the income limits for low- and 

moderate-income persons in Puerto 

Rico, which will be listed in income 

tables posted on the HUD Exchange 

website. Under this adjustment, Puerto 

Rico may use these alternative income 

limits when determining that activities 

undertaken with CDBG–DR funds meet 

the low- and moderate-income benefit 

CDBG national objective criteria. These 

income limits apply only to the use of 

CDBG–DR funds under this notice and 

the Prior Notice. 

B. Housing 

9. Modification of Affordability 

Periods. The Prior Notice imposed a 

twenty-year (20-year) affordability 

period for all rental properties assisted 

with CDBG–DR funds under the Prior 

Appropriation. The Department, 

however, is amending this requirement 

to apply the affordability requirements 

to rental projects as defined below. The 

Department is amending paragraph 

VI.B.34 of the Prior Notice by replacing 

it in its entirety with the following: 

‘‘34. Addressing Unmet Affordable 

Rental Housing Needs. The grantee must 

identify in its action plan how it will 

address the rehabilitation, 

reconstruction, replacement, and new 

construction of rental housing that is 

affordable to low- and moderate-income 

households in the most impacted and 

distressed areas and ensure that 

adequate funding from all available 

sources, including CDBG–DR grant 

funds, are dedicated to addressing the 

unmet needs identified in its action 

plan pursuant to paragraph A.2.a.(3) of 

section VI of this notice. To meet the 

low- and moderate-income housing 

national objective, affordable rental 

housing funded under this notice must 

be rented to a low- and moderateincome person at affordable rents. This 

notice requires grantees to impose the 

following minimum affordability 

periods enforced with recorded use 

restrictions, covenants, deed 

restrictions, or other mechanisms to 

ensure that rental housing remains 

affordable for the required period of 

time: 

Rental housing activity 

Minimum 

period of 

affordability 

(years) 

Rehabilitation or reconstruction of multi-family rental projects with eight or more units .................................................................... 15 

New construction multi-family rental projects with five or more units ................................................................................................. 20 

The action plan must, at a minimum, 

provide (1) a definition of ‘‘affordable 

rents’’; (2) the income limits for tenants 

of rental housing that is rehabilitated, 

reconstructed or constructed with 

CDBG–DR funds; and (3) a minimum 

affordability period of fifteen (15) years 

for the rehabilitation or reconstruction 

of multi-family rental projects with 

eight or more units, and a minimum 

affordability period of twenty (20) years 

for the new construction of multi-family 

rental units with five or more units. If 

a rental project that requires 

rehabilitation or reconstruction is 

subject to existing affordability 

requirements associated with other 

funding sources, grantees may provide 

in their action plan that the 15-year 

affordability period required under this 

notice may run concurrently (or 

overlap) with the affordability 

requirements associated with such other 

funding. 

10. Affordability Period for New 

Construction of Single-Family LMI 

Homeowner Housing. Grantees receiving 

funds under this notice are required to 

implement a minimum five-year 

affordability period on all newly 

constructed single-family housing that 

is to be made available for low- and 

moderate-income homeownership. This 

requirement for an affordability period 

does not apply to the rehabilitation or 

reconstruction of single-family housing. 

This notice requires grantees to develop 

and impose affordability (i.e., resale and 

recapture) restrictions for single-family 

housing newly constructed with CDBG– 

DR funds and made available for 

affordable homeownership to low- and 

moderate-income persons, and to 

enforce those restrictions through 

recorded deed restrictions, covenants, or 

other similar mechanisms, for a period 

not less than five years. Grantees shall 

establish resale or recapture 

requirements for housing funded 

pursuant to this paragraph and shall 

outline those requirements in the action 

plan or substantial amendment in which 

the activity is proposed. The resale and 

recapture provisions must clearly 

describe the terms of the resale and 

recapture provisions, the specific 

circumstances under which these 

provisions will be used, and how the 

provisions will be enforced. 

11. CDBG–DR Housing Assistance and 

FEMA’s Permanent and SemiPermanent Housing Programs. The Prior 

Appropriation and the Appropriations 

Act prohibit the use of CDBG–DR funds 

for activities that are reimbursable by 

FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers. In addition, paragraph 

VI.A.25 of the Prior Notice requires 

grantees to ensure that CDBG–DR funds 

are not used to duplicate funding 

provided by these agencies or any other 

potential sources of assistance. As with 

all sources of FEMA assistance, grantees 

are reminded that in jurisdictions in 

which FEMA has implemented its 

Permanent or Semi-Permanent Housing 

program, grantees must ensure that 

CDBG–DR funds are not used in 

violation of the above two prohibitions. 

Grantees must also establish policies 

and procedures to provide for the 

repayment of a CDBG–DR award when 

assistance is subsequently provided for 

that same purpose from FEMA or other 

sources. 


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12. Rehabilitation and Reconstruction 

Cost-Effectiveness. In its Federal 

Register notice allocating additional 

CDBG–DR funds for Louisiana floods 

and 2016 disasters (82 FR 5591), the 

Department required grantees receiving 

funds under that notice to consider costeffectiveness of residential 

rehabilitation or reconstruction projects 

relative to other alternatives. In this 

notice, the Department is similarly 

requiring each grantee to establish 

policies and procedures to assess the 

cost-effectiveness of each proposed 

project undertaken to assist a household 

under any residential rehabilitation or 

reconstruction program funded under 

this notice or the Prior Notice. The 

policies and procedures must address 

criteria for determining when the cost of 

the rehabilitation or reconstruction of 

the unit will not be cost-effective 

relative to other means of assisting the 

property-owner, such as buyout or 

acquisition of the property, or the 

construction of area-wide protective 

infrastructure, rather than individual 

building mitigation solutions designed 

to protect individual structures (such as 

elevating an existing structure). For 

example, as the grantee in designing its 

program, it might choose as comparison 

criteria the rehabilitation costs derived 

from the RS Means Residential Cost 

Data and costs to buyout or acquire the 

property as a means of determining 

whether to fund a rehabilitation project. 

A grantee may also consider offering 

different housing alternatives, as 

appropriate, such as manufactured 

housing options. A grantee may find it 

necessary to provide exceptions on a 

case-by-case basis to the maximum 

amount of assistance or cost 

effectiveness criteria and must describe 

the process it will use to make such 

exceptions in its policies and 

procedures. Each grantee must adopt 

policies and procedures that 

communicate how it will analyze the 

circumstances under which an 

exception is needed, how it will 

demonstrate that the amount of 

assistance is necessary and reasonable, 

and how the grantee will make 

reasonable accommodations to provide 

accessibility features necessary to 

accommodate an occupant with a 

disability. All CDBG–DR expenditures 

remain subject to the cost principles in 

2 CFR part 200, subpart E—Cost 

Principles, including the requirement 

that costs be necessary and reasonable 

for the performance of the grantee’s 

CDBG–DR grant. 

C. Infrastructure 

13. Infrastructure planning and 

design. CDBG–DR allocations provided 

for under this notice are informed in 

part by the Department’s assessment of 

unmet infrastructure needs and 

accordingly, the Department is 

establishing infrastructure planning and 

design requirements for grantees subject 

to the provisions of this notice and the 

Prior Notice. For funds allocated 

pursuant to the Prior Notice and this 

notice, the Department is requiring 

grantees to address long-term recovery 

and hazard mitigation planning in the 

action plan or substantial amendment, 

whichever is applicable under this 

notice. Each grantee must include a 

description of how the grantee plans to: 

a. Promote sound, sustainable longterm 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 future possible 

extreme weather events and other 

natural hazards and long-term risks; 

b. Adhere to the elevation 

requirements established in paragraph 

B.32.e of section VI of the Prior Notice; 

c. Coordinate with local and regional 

planning efforts to ensure consistency, 

including how the grantee will promote 

community-level and/or regional (e.g., 

multiple local jurisdictions) postdisaster recovery and mitigation 

planning; 

d. For infrastructure allocations, the 

grantee must also describe: 

i. How mitigation measures will be 

integrated into rebuilding activities and 

the extent to which infrastructure 

activities funded through this grant will 

achieve objectives outlined in regionally 

or locally established plans and policies 

that are designed to reduce future risk 

to the jurisdiction; 

ii. How infrastructure activities will 

be informed by a consideration of the 

costs and benefits of the project; 

iii. How the grantee will seek to 

ensure that infrastructure activities will 

avoid disproportionate impact on 

vulnerable populations as referenced in 

paragraph A.2.a(4) of section VI in the 

Prior Notice and create opportunities to 

address economic inequities facing local 

communities; 

iv. How the grantee will align 

investments with other planned state or 

local capital improvements and 

infrastructure development efforts, and 

will work to foster the potential for 

additional infrastructure funding from 

multiple sources, including existing 

state and local capital improvement 

projects in planning, and the potential 

for private investment; and 

v. The extent to which the grantee 

will employ adaptable and reliable 

technologies to guard against premature 

obsolescence of infrastructure. 

Grantees are encouraged to review the 

additional guidance on predevelopment 

principles are described in the Federal 

Resource Guide for Infrastructure 

Planning and Design: (http://portal.hud.

gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=

BAInfraResGuideMay2015.pdf) 

14. Discipline and Accountability in 

the Environmental Review and 

Permitting of Infrastructure Projects. 

Executive Order 13807, signed by the 

President on August 15, 2017, 

establishes a coordinated, predictable, 

and transparent process for the review 

and permitting of infrastructure 

projects. In addition, the Federal 

Permitting Improvement Steering 

Council has issued a standard operating 

procedure to coordinate Federal agency 

reporting on the environmental review 

and permitting of covered projects 

pursuant to the Fixing America’s 

Surface Transportation Act (FAST–41) 

(Pub. L. 114–94). Under FAST–41, a 

covered project is defined as any 

activity in the United States that 

requires authorization or environmental 

review by a Federal agency involving 

construction of infrastructure for 

renewable or conventional energy 

production, electricity transmission, 

surface transportation, aviation, ports 

and waterways, water resource projects, 

broadband, pipelines, manufacturing, or 

any other sector as determined by a 

majority vote of the Council that (1) is 

subject to National Environmental 

Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA); is likely to 

require a total investment of more than 

$200,000,000; and does not qualify for 

abbreviated authorization or 

environmental review processes under 

any applicable law; or (2) is subject to 

NEPA and the size and complexity of 

which, in the opinion of the Council, 

make the project likely to benefit from 

enhanced oversight and coordination, 

including a project likely to require 

authorization from or environmental 

review involving more than two Federal 

agencies; or the preparation of an 

environmental impact statement under 

NEPA. CDBG–DR grantees may choose 

to participate in reporting on their 

environmental review and permitting of 

covered projects under FAST–41. 

15. CDBG–DR Funds as Match for 

FEMA 428 Public Assistance Projects. In 

response to a disaster, FEMA may 

implement, and grantees may elect to 

follow alternative procedures for 

FEMA’s Public Assistance Program, as 

authorized pursuant to Section 428 of 

the Stafford Act. Grantees may use 

CDBG–DR funds as a matching 

requirement, share, or contribution for 

Public Assistance Projects financed 

pursuant to Section 428, but as in other 

instances in which grantee use CDBG– 


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DR funds to meet local matching 

requirements, grantees must document 

that CDBG–DR funds have been used for 

the actual costs incurred for the assisted 

project and for costs that are eligible, 

meet a national objective, and meet 

other applicable CDBG requirements. 

D. Economic Revitalization 

16. Waiver to permit tourism 

marketing (U.S. Virgin Islands only). 

The U.S. Virgin Islands has requested a 

waiver to allow the Territory to use up 

to $5,000,000 in CDBG–DR funds to 

promote travel to disaster-impacted 

areas. Tourism is the primary economic 

contributor to the U.S. Virgin Island’s 

economy, estimated to account for 

between 30 and 80 percent of the 

Territory’s economy. The U.S. Virgin 

Islands indicated that for several weeks 

following the disasters, airports and 

seaports remained closed and due to 

damage to hotels and a perception that 

the islands have been completely 

decimated, tourism has remained low. 

The Territory indicates that many of its 

largest hotels will not reopen until late 

2019 or 2020, with weekly 

accommodation capacity dropping from 

23,000 in February 2017 to 13,000 in 

February 2018. The Territory’s request 

also notes that the decline in tourism 

has had a particularly adverse impact on 

low- and moderate-income residents 

that depend on the industry for 

employment. 

The Territory has documented a sharp 

decline in visitors to the islands, with 

a corresponding decline in visitor 

spending and Territory revenues. Prior 

to the disasters, the Territory reported 

total monthly visitor expenditures of 

$84.8 million in October 2016, 

contrasted to total tourist spending of 

$49.8 million and lost excursionist 

spending of $71.1 million in October 

2017, after the storms. The Territory 

estimates that total tourism-related 

losses caused by the 2017 disasters are 

expected to approach $1 billion in the 

12 months following the storms, 

amounting to almost 70% of the total 

revenue generated by tourism in 2016. 

Tourism industry support, such as a 

national and international consumer 

awareness advertising campaign for an 

area in general, is ineligible for CDBG 

assistance. However, HUD recognizes 

that such support can be a useful 

recovery tool in a damaged regional 

economy that depends on tourism for 

most of its jobs and tax revenues. In the 

past, HUD has granted tourism waivers 

for several CDBG–DR disaster recovery 

efforts. As the U.S. Virgin Islands is 

proposing advertising and marketing 

activities rather than direct assistance to 

tourism-dependent businesses, and 

because the measures of long-term 

benefit from the proposed activities 

must be derived using indirect means, 

42 U.S.C. 5305(a) is waived only to the 

extent necessary to make eligible use of 

no more than $5,000,000 for assistance 

to promote the Territory in general or 

specific components of the islands. 

Additionally, no elected officials shall 

appear in tourism marketing materials 

financed with CDBG–DR funds. Given 

the importance of tourism to the overall 

economy, HUD is authorizing this use of 

funds without regard to unmet housing 

need. This waiver will expire two years 

after the Territory first draws CDBG–DR 

funds under the allocation provided in 

the Prior Notice. In providing similar 

waivers for other CDBG–DR grantees, 

the Department has often identified 

issues in the procurement of tourism 

marketing services, with grantees 

adding CDBG–DR funds to existing 

tourism marketing contracts procured 

with other sources of funds. In 

providing this waiver, HUD advises the 

Territory to ensure that contracts funded 

pursuant to this waiver with CDBG–DR 

funds comply with applicable 

procurement requirements. The grantee 

must also develop metrics to 

demonstrate the impact of CDBG–DR 

expenditures on the tourism sector of 

the economy and shall identify those 

metrics in the initial substantial 

amendment submitted pursuant to this 

notice. 

17. Waiver to permit tourism and 

business marketing (Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico only). The Commonwealth 

of Puerto Rico has requested a waiver to 

allow the Commonwealth to use up to 

$15,000,000 in CDBG–DR funds to 

promote travel and to attract new 

businesses to disaster-impacted areas. 

Puerto Rico’s request indicated that 

prior to the storms, tourism accounted 

for 8 percent of the economy. One 

month after the disasters, however, one 

third of the island’s hotels remained 

shuttered and beaches remained closed 

for swimming due to possible water 

contamination. The Commonwealth’s 

request notes that insular areas of the 

island have been particularly slow to 

recover to historic levels of tourism 

activity. Puerto Rico anticipates the 

addition of over 2,000 tourist 

accommodations this year and 

accordingly, seeks to use CDBG–DR 

funds to target outreach efforts through 

a marketing campaign to reach potential 

visitors that may not be aware of the 

pace of recovery in the island’s tourist 

areas. 

The Commonwealth’s waiver request 

includes the proposed use of CDBG–DR 

funds to also market the island to new 

businesses. Puerto Rico notes that its 

declining economic conditions prior to 

the storms, as reflected through the 

largest-ever federal bankruptcy by a 

local government, were exacerbated by 

the disasters. The top five economic 

sectors with reported losses to the U.S. 

Small Business Administration as result 

of the storms include real estate, 

accommodations and food services, 

health care, retail trade, and 

manufacturing. Unemployment in 

February 2016 was reported at 10.6%, 

with a decline in jobs in non-farm 

industries from 871,200 jobs in 

September 2017 to 848,300 jobs in 

February 2018. The Commonwealth’s 

request notes that the unprecedented 

federal investment in the island’s 

damaged housing stock and 

infrastructure also presents an 

opportunity to introduce and reintroduce businesses across the nation 

and around the world to Puerto Rico as 

an attractive location for new business 

investment. 

Tourism and business advertising 

campaigns for an area in general, are 

ineligible for CDBG–DR assistance. 

However, HUD recognizes that such 

support can be a useful recovery tool in 

a damaged regional economy that 

depends on tourism and seeks to attract 

new business investment to generate 

new jobs and tax revenues. HUD has 

previously granted similar waivers for 

several CDBG–DR disaster recovery 

efforts. As the Commonwealth of Puerto 

Rico is proposing advertising and 

marketing activities rather than direct 

assistance to tourism-dependent and 

other businesses, and because the 

measures of long-term benefit from the 

proposed activities must be derived 

using indirect means, 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) 

is waived only to the extent necessary 

to make eligible use of no more than 

$15,000,000 for assistance to promote 

the Commonwealth in general or 

specific communities. No elected 

officials shall appear in tourism or 

business marketing materials financed 

with CDBG–DR funds. Given the 

importance of tourism to the overall 

economy, HUD is authorizing this use of 

funds without regard to unmet housing 

need. This waiver will expire two years 

after the Commonwealth first draws 

CDBG–DR funds under the allocation 

provided in the Prior Notice. In 

providing similar waivers for other 

CDBG–DR grantees, the Department has 

often identified issues in the 

procurement of tourism and business 

marketing services, with grantees 

adding CDBG–DR funds to existing 

tourism and business marketing 

contracts procured with other sources of 

funds. In providing this waiver, HUD 


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advises the Commonwealth to ensure 

that contracts funded pursuant to this 

waiver with CDBG–DR funds comply 

with applicable procurement 

requirements. The grantee must also 

develop metrics to demonstrate the 

impact of CDBG–DR expenditures on 

the tourism and other sectors of the 

economy and shall identify those 

metrics in the initial substantial 

amendment submitted pursuant to this 

notice. 

V. Duration of Funding 

The law, as amended, requires that 

funds provided under the 

Appropriations Act and Prior 

Appropriation be expended within two 

years of the date that HUD obligates 

funds to a grantee, but also authorizes 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) to provide a waiver of this 

requirement. OMB has waived this 

requirement for a combined total of 

$35,390,000,000 of CDBG–DR funds 

appropriated under the Prior 

Appropriation and the Appropriations 

Act. Notwithstanding the OMB waiver, 

however, the provision of the Prior 

Notice that requires each grantee to 

expend 100 percent of its total 

allocation of CDBG–DR funds on 

eligible activities within six years of 

HUD’s initial obligation of funds 

remains in effect. For grantees receiving 

an allocation of funds under the Prior 

Notice, the six-year expenditure 

deadline commences with initial 

obligation of funds provided under the 

Prior Notice. For grantees receiving an 

initial allocation of funds under this 

Notice, the six-year expenditure 

deadline commences with the initial 

obligation of funds provided under this 

notice. Further, consistent with 31 

U.S.C. 1555 and OMB Circular No. A– 

11, 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, any remaining unobligated 

balance will be made unavailable for 

obligation or expenditure. 

VI. Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance 

The Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance numbers for the disaster 

recovery grants under this notice are as 

follows: 14.228 for State CDBG grantees. 

VII. 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(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). Hearingor 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: August 8, 2018. 

Neal J. Rackleff, 

Assistant Secretary. 

Appendix A—Detailed Methodology 

(for Federal Notice Appendix) 

Allocation of CDBG–DR Funds to Most 

Impacted and Distressed Areas Due to 2017 

Federally Declared Disasters and Allocation 

of Mitigation Funds for 2015, 2016, and 2017 

Federally Declared Disasters 

Background 

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, Public 

Law 115–123, enacted on February 9, 2018, 

appropriated $28,000,000,000 through the 

Community Development Block Grant 

disaster recovery (CDBG–DR) program. The 

statutory text related to the allocation is as 

follows: 

For an additional amount for ‘‘Community 

Development Fund’’, $28,000,000,000, to 

remain available until expended, 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, economic revitalization, and 

mitigation in the most impacted and 

distressed areas resulting from a major 

declared disaster that occurred in 2017 

(except as otherwise provided under this 

heading) pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford 

Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

(42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.): Provided, That funds 

shall be awarded directly to the State, unit 

of general local government, or Indian tribe 

(as such term is defined in section 102 of the 

Housing and Community Development Act of 

1974) at the discretion of the Secretary: 

Provided further, That of the amounts made 

available under this heading, up to 

$16,000,000,000 shall be allocated to meet 

unmet needs for grantees that have received 

or will receive allocations under this heading 

for major declared disasters that occurred in 

2017 or under the same heading of Division 

B of Public Law 115–56, except that, of the 

amounts made available under this proviso, 

no less than $11,000,000,000 shall be 

allocated to the States and units of local 

government affected by Hurricane Maria, and 

of such amounts allocated to such grantees 

affected by Hurricane Maria, $2,000,000,000 

shall be used to provide enhanced or 

improved electrical power systems: Provided 

further, That to the extent amounts under the 

previous proviso are insufficient to meet all 

unmet needs, the allocation amounts related 

to infrastructure shall be reduced 

proportionally based on the total 

infrastructure needs of all grantees: Provided 

further, That of the amounts made available 

under this heading, no less than 

$12,000,000,000 shall be allocated for 

mitigation activities to all grantees of funding 

provided under this heading, section 420 of 

division L of Public Law 114–113, section 

145 of division C of Public Law 114–223, 

section 192 of division C of Public Law 114– 

223 (as added by section 101(3) of division 

A of Public Law 114–254), section 421 of 

division K of Public Law 115–31, and the 

same heading in division B of Public Law 

115–56, and that such mitigation activities 

shall be subject to the same terms and 

conditions under this subdivision, as 

determined by the Secretary: Provided 

further, That all such grantees shall receive 

an allocation of funds under the preceding 

proviso in the same proportion that the 

amount of funds each grantee received or 

will receive under the second proviso of this 

heading or the headings and sections 

specified in the previous proviso bears to the 

amount of all funds provided to all grantees 

specified in the previous proviso: Provided 

further, That of the amounts made available 

under the second and fourth provisos of this 

heading, the Secretary shall allocate to all 

such grantees an aggregate amount not less 

than 33 percent of each such amounts of 

funds provided under this heading within 60 

days after the enactment of this subdivision 

based on the best available data (especially 

with respect to data for all such grantees 

affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and 

Maria), and shall allocate no less than 100 

percent of the funds provided under this 

heading by no later than December 1, 2018: 

. . . Provided further, That of the amounts 

made available under this heading, up to 

$15,000,000 shall be made available for 

capacity building and technical assistance, 

including assistance on contracting and 

procurement processes, to support States, 

units of general local government, or Indian 

tribes (and their subrecipients) that receive 

allocations pursuant to this heading, received 

disaster recovery allocations under the same 

heading in Public Law 115–56, or may 

receive similar allocations for disaster 

recovery in future appropriations Acts: 

Provided further, That of the amounts made 

available under this heading, up to 

$10,000,000 shall be transferred, in aggregate, 

to ‘‘Department of Housing and Urban 

Development—Program Office Salaries and 

Expenses—Community Planning and 

Development’’ for necessary costs, including 

information technology costs, of 

administering and overseeing the obligation 

and expenditure of amounts under this 

heading: 

Further, under the General Provisions of 

the Act in Section 21102: 

Any funds made available under the 

heading ‘‘Community Development Fund’’ 


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under this subdivision that remain available, 

after the other funds under such heading 

have been allocated for necessary expenses 

for activities authorized under such heading, 

shall be used for additional mitigation 

activities in the most impacted and 

distressed areas resulting from a major 

declared disaster that occurred in 2014, 2015, 

2016 or 2017: Provided, That such remaining 

funds shall be awarded to grantees of funding 

provided for disaster relief under the heading 

‘‘Community Development Fund’’ in this 

subdivision, section 420 of division L of 

Public Law 114–113, section 145 of division 

C of Public Law 114–223, section 192 of 

division C of Public Law 114–223 (as added 

by section 101(3) of division A of Public Law 

114–254), section 421 of division K of Public 

Law 115–31, and the same heading in 

division B of Public Law 115–56 subject to 

the same terms and conditions under this 

subdivision and such Acts respectively: 

Provided further, That each such grantee 

shall receive an allocation from such 

remaining funds in the same proportion that 

the amount of funds such grantee received 

under this subdivision and under the Acts 

specified in the previous proviso bears to the 

amount of all funds provided to all grantees 

specified in the previous proviso. 

The methodology for allocating these funds 

has two core parts: 

• Unmet Needs: Up to $16 billion for the 

remaining unmet needs of communities 

most impacted by a disaster in 2017. 

After factoring in the $35 million setaside for HUD expenses, up to $15.965 

billion is available for unmet needs, of 

which no less than $11 billion is 

provided to communities impacted by 

Hurricane Maria, specifically the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and 

United States Virgin Islands. These 

funds are allocated based on a 

calculation of unmet needs as described 

below after taking into account the 

$7.458 billion of CDBG–DR previously 

allocated for 2017 disasters. 

• Mitigation: No less than $12 billion for 

mitigation activities for grantees who 

have received CDBG–DR funding under 

this appropriation or earlier 

appropriations covering disasters in 

2015, 2016, and 2017. This allocation is 

based on each grantee’s proportional 

share of total funds allocated for all of 

the eligible disasters. 

Allocating for remaining unmet needs of 

2017 

Most impacted and distressed areas 

As with prior CDBG–DR appropriations, 

HUD is not obligated to allocate funds for all 

major disasters declared in 2017. HUD is 

directed to use the funds ‘‘in the most 

impacted and distressed areas.’’ HUD has 

implemented this directive by limiting 

CDBG–DR formula allocations to 

jurisdictions with major disasters that meet 

three standards: 

(1) Individual Assistance/IHP designation. 

HUD has limited 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. 

(2) Concentrated damage. HUD has limited 

its estimate of serious unmet housing 

need to counties and Zip Codes with 

high levels of damage, collectively 

referred to as ‘‘most impacted areas’’. For 

this allocation, HUD is defining most 

impacted areas as either most impacted 

counties—counties exceeding $10 

million in serious unmet housing 

needs—and most impacted Zip Codes— 

Zip Codes with $2 million or more of 

serious unmet housing needs. The 

calculation of serious unmet housing 

needs is described below. 

(3) Disasters meeting the most impacted 

threshold. Only 2017 disasters that meet 

this requirement for most impacted 

damage are funded: 

a. One or more most impacted county 

b. An aggregate of most impacted Zip 

Codes of $10 million or greater 

For disasters that meet the most impacted 

threshold described above, the unmet need 

allocations are based on the following factors 

summed together less previous CDBG–DR 

allocations for the 2017 disasters unmet 

needs: 

(1) Repair estimates for seriously damaged 

owner-occupied units without insurance 

(with some exceptions) in most impacted 

areas after FEMA and SBA repair grants 

or loans; 

(2) Repair estimates for seriously damaged 

rental units occupied by renters with 

income less than 50 percent of Area 

Median Income in most impacted areas; 

(3) Repair and content loss estimates for 

small businesses with serious damage 

denied by SBA; 

(4) The estimated local cost share for Public 

Assistance Category C to G projects; 

(5) $2 billion for Maria-impacted disasters for 

improvements to the electric grid; and 

(6) An amount to ensure that Maria impacted 

disasters do not receive less than $11 

billion from Public Law 115–123, with 

the split between the eligible disasters in 

Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands based 

on their relative share of needs as 

calculated under number 1 to 5 above. 

Methods for estimating unmet needs for 

housing 

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 February 22, 2018. 

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 and SBA. Puerto 

Rico and the Virgin Island owner damage is 

calculated based on both real property and 

personal property inspections based on 

findings by HUD that this likely is a more 

accurate estimate of serious homeowner 

damage in those areas. For the continental 

U.S., HUD finds its traditional approach of 

just using real property damage assessments 

for owner-occupied units continues to be 

effective. 

Each of the FEMA inspected owner units 

are categorized by HUD into one of five 

categories: 

• Minor-Low: Less than $3,000 of FEMA 

inspected real property damage. 

• Minor-High: $3,000 to $7,999 of FEMA 

inspected real property damage. 

• Major-Low: $8,000 to $14,999 of FEMA 

inspected real property damage and/or 1 

to 4 feet of flooding on the first floor. 

• 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. 

• 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. 

For the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the 

damage grouping would be the higher 

damage categorization based on the 

calculation above or: 

• Minor-Low: Less than $2,500 of FEMA 

inspected personal property damage. 

• Minor-High: $2,500 to $3,499 of FEMA 

inspected personal property damage. 

• Major-Low: $3,500 to $4,999 of FEMA 

inspected personal property damage or 1 

to 4 feet of flooding on the first floor. 

• Major-High: $5,000 to $8,999 of FEMA 

inspected personal property damage or 4 

to 6 feet of flooding on the first floor. 

• Severe: Greater than $9,000 of FEMA 

inspected personal 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 and 

was outside the 1% risk flood hazard area; 

for homeowners inside the flood hazard area, 

only homeowners without insurance below 

120% of Area Median Income are determined 

to have unmet needs. Homeowners without 

hazard insurance with non-flood damage 

with incomes below the greater of national 

median or 120% of Area Median Income are 

included as having unmet needs. 

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: 

• Minor-Low: Less than $1,000 of FEMA 

inspected personal property damage. 

• Minor-High: $1,000 to $1,999 of FEMA 

inspected personal property damage. 

• Major-Low: $2,000 to $3,499 of FEMA 

inspected personal property damage or 1 

to 4 feet of flooding on the first floor. 

• Major-High: $3,500 to $7,499 of FEMA 

inspected personal property damage or 4 

to 6 feet of flooding on the first floor. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 157 / Tuesday, August 14, 2018 / Notices 40325 

• 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 less 

than the greater of the Federal poverty level 

or 50 percent of Area Median Income. Units 

occupied by a tenant with income less than 

the greater of the Federal poverty level or 50 

percent of Area Median Income 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 median 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 each eligible disaster. 

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 assistance from FEMA and SBA 

provided for repair to homes with serious 

unmet needs. No unmet housing need cost 

multiplier can be less than the 25th 

percentile estimate across all disasters of 

2017. Those minimum cost multipliers are: 

$40,323 for major damage (low); $55,812 for 

major damage (high); and $77,252 for severe 

damage. The multipliers used for each 

disaster is shown below. 

Serious Unmet Housing Need Multipliers 

Major-Low Major-High Severe 

California ...................................................................................................................................... $40,323 $55,812 $124,481 

Florida .......................................................................................................................................... $42,837 $56,113 $79,096 

Georgia ........................................................................................................................................ $40,323 $55,812 $77,252 

Missouri ........................................................................................................................................ $40,323 $66,545 $100,947 

Puerto Rico .................................................................................................................................. $40,323 $55,812 $77,252 

Texas ........................................................................................................................................... $56,342 $75,414 $101,390 

Virgin Islands ............................................................................................................................... $80,142 $97,672 $116,351 

Methods for estimating unmet economic 

revitalization needs 

Based on SBA disaster loans to businesses 

as of 3–22–2018, HUD calculates the median 

real estate and content loss by the following 

damage categories for each state: 

• Category 1: real estate + content loss = 

below 12,000 

• Category 2: real estate + content loss = 

12,000–30,000 

• Category 3: real estate + content loss = 

30,000–65,000 

• Category 4: real estate + content loss = 

65,000–150,000 

• Category 5: real estate + content loss = 

above 150,000 

For properties with real estate and content 

loss of $30,000 or more, HUD calculates the 

estimated amount of unmet needs for small 

businesses by multiplying the median 

damage estimates for the categories above by 

the number of small businesses denied an 

SBA loan, including those denied a loan 

prior to inspection due to inadequate credit 

or income (or a decision had not been made), 

under the assumption that damage among 

those denied at pre-inspection have the same 

distribution of damage as those denied after 

inspection. 

Methods for estimating unmet infrastructure 

needs 

To calculate unmet needs for infrastructure 

projects, HUD is using data obtained from 

FEMA as of March 30, 2018, showing the 

amount FEMA estimates will be needed to 

repair the permanent public infrastructure 

(Categories C to G) to their pre-storm 

condition. HUD uses these data to calculate 

two infrastructure unmet needs: 

• The estimated local cost share for Public 

Assistance Category C to G projects. 

• An allocation of $2 billion for Maria 

affected disasters (Puerto Rico and the 

Virgin Islands) for ‘‘enhanced or improved 

electrical power systems.’’ This is allocated 

between Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 

based on their relative share of total 

estimated Category F Public Assistance 

cost to repair public utilities. 

Allocation Calculation 

Once eligible entities are identified using 

the above criteria, the allocation to 

individual grantees represents their 

proportional share of the estimated unmet 

needs. For the formula allocation, HUD 

calculates total serious unmet recovery needs 

as the aggregate of: 

• Serious unmet housing needs in most 

impacted counties less amounts of CDBG– 

DR previously allocated for serious unmet 

housing needs 

• Serious unmet business needs less 

amounts of CDBG–DR previously allocated 

for serious business needs 

• FEMA Public Assistance Category C to G 

local cost share and the $2 billion 

additional amount for enhanced or 

improved electrical power systems in 

Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands 

Prior allocations for 2017 disasters are 

subtracted from this amount. Because this 

results in less than $11 billion being 

allocated to Maria affected disasters (Puerto 

Rico and the Virgin Islands) from Public Law 

115–123, an additional amount is added to 

those two grantees to reach $11 billion based 

on their relative share of needs as calculated 

under the three bullets above. 

This results in an estimate of unmet needs 

to be allocated from Public Law 115–123 of 

$12.031 billion, allowing $3.935 billion to be 

allocated to mitigation. 

Allocating for mitigation 

The allocation of $15.935 billion in 

mitigation funds (the $12 billion 

appropriated for mitigation plus the $3.935 

billion remaining after allocation of 100% of 

unmet needs) is allocated proportionally 

based on each grantee’s relative share of the 

$22.425 billion of CDBG–DR funds allocated 

for unmet needs to disasters occurring in 

2015, 2016, and 2017. For example, the 

combination of all grants to Puerto Rico for 

unmet needs represents 52 percent of the 

$22.425 billion allocated for unmet needs. As 

a result, Puerto Rico receives 52 percent of 

the $15.935 billion made available for 

mitigation funding. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17365 Filed 8–13–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R3–ES–2018–N044; 

FXES11130300000–189–FF03E00000] 

Draft Environmental Assessment and 

Draft Habitat Conservation Plan; 

Receipt of an Application for an 

Incidental Take Permit, Headwaters 

Wind Farm, Randolph County, Indiana 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), have received 

an application from Headwaters Wind 

Farm LLC (applicant), for an incidental 

take permit (ITP) under the Endangered 

Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA), 

for its Headwaters Wind Farm 

(Headwaters) (project). If approved, the 

ITP would be for a 27-year period and 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1