HUD Announces Waivers to Help Mississippi Communities Recover from Storms and Tornadoes

HUD ANNOUNCES WAIVERS TO HELP MISSISSIPPI COMMUNITIES RECOVER FROM STORMS AND TORNADOES

Announcement Represents Collections of Regulatory and Administrative Waivers Issued by HUD at One Time

Secretary Fudge: Waivers "Build on HUD's Continued Post-Disaster Efforts and Unprecedented Aid from the Biden-Harris Administration"

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a package of 29 regulatory and administrative waivers aimed at helping communities in Mississippi accelerate their recovery from severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes. Today's announcement represents one of the largest collections of regulatory and administrative waivers ever issued by the Department at one time and builds on other support HUD is providing in the wake of the storm.

"The tornadoes and severe storms caused extensive damage to families living in Mississippi and these waivers will help them rebuild expeditiously," said Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. "The Biden-Harris Administration continues to help and give our state and local partners the flexibility they need to reconstruct their homes and communities."

The regulatory and administrative relief announced today covers the following HUD programs: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Housing Trust Fund (HTF), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and Continuum of Care (CoC).

To expedite the use of these funds, HUD's state and local partners can now access a waiver through a new simplified notification process. Through this waiver package, HUD is providing flexibility by:

• Allowing new housing construction with CDBG funding in declared-disaster areas.
• Suspending the CDBG public services cap to provide additional support services related to the effects of the disaster on individuals and families.
• Waiving the HOME matching contribution requirements and CHDO set-aside to expeditiously provide housing to displaced persons and repair properties damaged by the disaster.
• Providing flexibility in HOME tenant based rental assistance requirements to reduce burden for those seeking assistance.
• Extending term limits for certain types of assistance, including CDBG emergency grant payments and ESG rental assistance.

This waiver follows HUD flexibilities announced on March 27 following the national disaster declaration:

Below are examples of what CPD funding can be used for in the wake of a disaster:

• housing rehabilitation
• housing reconstruction,
• homebuyer programs replacing disaster damaged residences,
• acquisition and relocation programs to help people move out of floodplains,
• infrastructure improvements,
• demolition of buildings,
• reconstruction or replacement of public facilities,
• small business grants and loans,
• and assistance to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness after a disaster.

In March, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced an overhaul of the agency's disaster recovery efforts to better serve communities who face the direct impacts of weather-related disasters. Based on the increasing number of disasters and the increasingly important role that HUD is playing in federal government's preparedness, response, and recovery efforts, the Department established the Office of Disaster Management (ODM) in the Office of the Deputy Secretary, the Office of Disaster Recovery (ODR) within the Office of Community Planning and Development and has added of dozens of new HUD staff members to help expedite recovery processes. These steps will streamline the agency's disaster recovery and resilience work by increasing coordination, reducing bureaucracy, and increasing capacity to get recovery funding to communities more quickly by facilitating collaborative, transparent disaster recovery planning with communities earlier in the process.

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