AUSTIN — Today Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush applauded the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) approval of the state action plan for Community Development Block Grant for Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funding. The plan was sent to HUD on February 3, 2020. With this approval, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) can now move forward in implementing the plan.

"Texas continues to move the recovery effort forward, despite new challenges presented by COVID-19," Commissioner Bush said. "HUD's announcement that it has approved our state action plan for mitigation funding is very welcome news. While teleworking and abiding by state and federal recommendations for health and safety, we continue to work each and every day to get federal resources to communities to rebuild and mitigate against future disasters."

On February 3, 2020, the GLO announced modifications to its original draft of the state action plan, which were guided by input gathered through an extraordinary public outreach effort. The Texas General Land Office (GLO) incorporated valuable feedback from local leaders, residents of affected communities, and other stakeholders, received during a 50-day public comment period - including eight public hearings across a 140 eligible county region, seeking input on the distribution and eligible uses of $4,297,189,000 to assist eligible communities with mitigation projects. HUD had until April 3, 2020, (60 days from the date of submission) to review the action plan and approve or reject the plan with comments.

The GLO extended the required 45-day public comment period to 50 days and surpassed HUD requirements by hosting eight public hearings - three public hearings prior to the completion of the draft plan and five following publication of the draft plan. HUD rules only required two public hearings prior to the draft plan and two following the publication of the draft plan.

The GLO hosted twice the amount of public hearings required by our federal partners because we believe local jurisdictions know best how to protect their communities. This historic level of community input helped shape revisions to a stronger, more robust action plan that will improve the resiliency of Texas homes, business and infrastructure from future storms.

Revisions made to the action plan include:

• The minimum application for Hurricane Harvey State Mitigation Competition applications decreased to $3 million from $5 million.
• For the Hurricane Harvey State Mitigation Competition applicants may submit 3 applications individually and 3 in partnership with other entities.
• In the draft plan for the three State mitigation competitions, an entity could not be awarded a second application before every eligible entity had received a first award. This is changed to set a minimum score for applications receiving a first award before anyone receives a second award.
• Councils of Governments (COGs) are eligible to apply for the Resilient Communities Program.

About the State Action Plan for Mitigation

The state's action plan provides for the distribution of mitigation funds based on HUD's requirements outlined in the Federal Register notice released on Aug. 30, 2019. These funds were appropriated by Congress on February 9, 2018. For additional information on the timeline, please visit recovery.texas.gov/mitigation.

All CDBG-MIT activities must meet HUD's definition of mitigation: Those activities that increase resilience to disasters and reduce or eliminate the long-term risk of loss of life, injury, damage to and loss of property, and suffering and hardship, by lessening the impact of future disasters.

General overview of funding:

• $4,383,085,000 in total HUD CDBG-MIT funds allocated to Texas.
  • Texas General Land Office will administer $4,297,189,000:
    • $4,074,456,000 for Hurricane Harvey
    • $169,748,000 for 2016 Floods
    • $52,985,000 for 2015 Floods
    • In total, 140 Texas counties eligible for CDBG-MIT funding due to 2015, 2016, and 2017 (Hurricane Harvey) disasters.
  • HUD directed allocations:
    • $61,884,000 to City of Houston for 2015 Floods
    • $24,012,000 to City of San Marcos for 2015 Floods

The draft plan incorporates critical stakeholder input received during CDBG-MIT planning public hearings conducted in September, regional input sessions at various councils of governments, and a mitigation needs survey that captured detailed information from 416 respondents across the state. Additionally, the GLO consulted with federal and state agencies to develop the Mitigation Needs Assessment and the state's proposed mitigation programs and competitions. 

In accordance with the CDBG-MIT requirements, to address risk related to hurricanes, tropical storms, tropical depression and flooding, and to expedite mitigation funding, the GLO will directly administer and oversee the following competitions and programs:

2015 Floods State Mitigation Competition ($46 million): Provides funds for mitigation projects with a minimum award amount of $3 million and the maximum of $10 million. Eligible applicants include units of general local government (cities and counties), Indian tribes, and COGs located in 2015 MID counties.

2016 Floods State Mitigation Competition ($147 million): Provides funds for mitigation projects with a minimum award amount of $3 million and the maximum of $10 million. Eligible applicants include units of general local government (cities and counties), Indian tribes, and COGs located in 2016 MID counties.

 Hurricane Harvey State Mitigation Competition ($2.1 billion): Provides funds for mitigation projects to address risk in the Hurricane Harvey impacted areas with a minimum award amount of $3 million and the maximum of $100 million. Eligible applicants include units of general local government (cities and counties), Indian tribes, COGs, state agencies, special purpose districts (e.g., drainage districts), port authorities, and river authorities.

Regional Mitigation Program ($500 million): Councils of Governments (COG) impacted by Hurricane Harvey will develop a method of distribution (MOD) to allocate funds to local units of government and Indian tribes.

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP): Supplemental ($170 million), will fund CDBG-MIT eligible HMGP projects submitted to TDEM after Hurricane Harvey but, due to program oversubscription, remain unfunded.

Coastal Resiliency Program ($100 million): Funds Tier 1 projects identified in the Texas Coastal Resiliency Master Plan that mitigate coastal risks through green and gray infrastructure and nonstructural measures.

Housing Oversubscription Supplemental ($400 million): Addresses oversubscription in the Hurricane Harvey Homeowner Assistance Program of eligible applicants that have been waitlisted. Hurricane Harvey damage homes will be reconstructed with mitigation measures, such as elevation.

Resilient Home Program ($100 million): Will reconstruct Hurricane Harvey damaged single-family homes with homes that meet additional resiliency and mitigation standards. Waitlisted homeowners in the oversubscribed Hurricane Harvey Homeowner Assistance Program will be eligible.

Hazard Mitigation Plans ($30 million): GLO partnership with TDEM will contribute to the development of an enhanced State Hazard Mitigation Plan and fund the development of Local Hazard Mitigation Action Plans (LHMAP) for entities located in the CDBG-MIT eligible counties.

Resilient Communities Program ($100 million): Funds the development, adoption, and implementation of resilient building codes, flood damage prevention ordinances, zoning ordinances, land use and comprehensive plans, and public service activities for cities, counties, COGs and Indian tribes located in the CDBG-MIT eligible counties.

Regional and State Planning ($214 million): Provides funding for regional and state planning studies and tools that work to reduce risk and impacts of future disasters.

HUD reduced the amount of grant funds that must be expended in the HUD-designated most impacted and distressed areas (MID) to 50 percent, with the caveat that up to 50 percent may be spent in State MID areas. A total of 140 counties are eligible under this CDBG-MIT grant, 23 of which are HUD MID: Aransas, Brazoria, Chambers, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Harris, Hays, Hidalgo, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Montgomery, Newton, Nueces, Orange, Refugio, San Jacinto, San Patricio, Travis, Victoria, and Wharton. HUD also declared the following 10 zip codes to be most impacted: 75979 (Tyler), 77320 (Walker), 77335/77351 (Polk), 77414/77482 (Matagorda), 77423/77493 (Waller), 77979 (Calhoun), 78934 (Colorado).

The remaining 117 counties are State MID: Anderson, Angelina, Archer, Atascosa, Austin, Bandera, Bastrop, Baylor, Bee, Blanco, Bosque, Bowie, Brazos, Brown, Burleson, Caldwell, Calhoun, Callahan, Cameron, Cass, Cherokee, Clay, Coleman, Collingsworth, Colorado, Comal, Comanche, Cooke, Coryell, Dallas, Delta, Denton, DeWitt, Dickens, Duval, Eastland, Edwards, Ellis, Erath, Falls, Fannin, Fisher, Frio, Gaines, Garza, Gillespie, Goliad, Gonzales, Grayson, Gregg, Grimes, Guadalupe, Hall, Harrison, Hartley, Henderson, Hill, Hood, Hopkins, Houston, Jack, Jackson, Jim Wells, Johnson, Jones, Karnes, Kaufman, Kendall, Kleberg, Lamar, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Limestone, Lubbock, Lynn, Madison, Marion, Matagorda, McLennan, Milam, Montague, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Polk, Real, Red River, Robertson, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Somervell, Starr, Stephens, Tarrant, Throckmorton, Tom Green, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Uvalde, Van Zandt, Walker, Waller, Washington, Wichita, Willacy, Williamson, Wilson, Wise, Wood, Young and Zavala.

Background on $4.29 billion CDBG-MIT funding allocation

The Further Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2018 (Division B, Subdivision 1 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, Pub. L. 115-123, approved February 9, 2018), made available funds for mitigation activities proportional to the amounts that CDBG-DR grantees received for qualifying disasters in 2015, 2016, and 2017. On August 30, 2019, the Federal Register published the HUD allocation notice (84 FR 45838) CDBG-MIT funds. Governor Abbott has designated the Texas General Land Office (GLO) to administer the state's CDBG-MIT allocation.

About GLO Community Development and Revitalization (CDR)

In addition to short-term housing in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the CDR division of the Texas General Land Office was appointed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to administer both Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) on behalf of the state of Texas. More than $14 billion have been allocated for recovery and mitigation following Hurricanes Rita, Dolly, and Ike, the 2011 wildfires, the 2015 and 2016 floods, Hurricane Harvey, 2018 South Texas floods and the 2019 disasters. These grants can be used for a wide variety of activities including housing redevelopment, infrastructure repair and long-term planning. For more information, please visit recovery.texas.gov.