The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced it will be allocating more than $2 billion in CDBG-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) and CDBG-Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funds through the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act (PL 117-43), signed into law on Sept. 30, 2021.
The goals:
– HUD and the Biden-Harris administration hope to equitably improve the country’s disaster recovery and build “long-term, inclusive resilience to meet the impacts of climate change, particularly for historically marginalized communities.”
– The funds will be used for “disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, economic revitalization and mitigation, in the most impacted and distressed areas” impacted by climate disasters.
– Ten states will be receiving funding, covering 15 major disasters that occurred in 2020.
– The remaining CDBG-DR/MIT funds will be allocated over the next few months, addressing unmet needs from disasters occurring in 2021, including Hurricane Ida.
The takeaway:
Among the risks related to climate change are rising costs to maintain and repair damaged infrastructure from more frequent and extreme weather events, as well as the health and safety challenges facing communities across the country. Equitable disaster recovery and resilience priorities are outlined in HUD’s newly published Climate Action Plan.
“These disaster recovery and mitigation funds are essential to advancing the Biden-Harris Administration’s climate and equity priorities by building long-term and inclusive resilience to the impacts of climate change, particularly for underserved and marginalized communities,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge, in a statement. “With these allocations, we are addressing climate justice in hard-hit communities that can now begin the process of building back better from disasters and improving long-term, equitable resilience to future impacts of climate change.”
