As announced at the end of 2019, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has allocated $108.9 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to support Nebraska’s disaster relief, long-term recovery and restoration efforts in the aftermath of the March 2019 floods. This week, HUD published a notice in the Federal Register detailing rules and regulations for the use of these funds. As such, the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) has officially begun the approximately six-month process that will culminate in the distribution of disaster recovery grant funds to Nebraska’s flood-impacted areas. (Note that local governments are eligible recipients under CDBG-DR; funding will not be made available directly to individuals, businesses, or homeowners/landowners).
The State of Nebraska is required to perform a number of steps before it can begin to distribute CDBG-DR funds, such as preparing and receiving HUD approval for an implementation plan and action plan. As a part of this process, DED will develop and make available application materials for local governments. Moreover, the State will seek to expand the HUD-imposed limitations on the target area delineated in the federal notice.
These steps take time, but ultimately will help to ensure that funding is distributed in the most impactful manner as possible to address Nebraska’s recovery needs.
DED has prepared a visual timeline describing the necessary steps, which is attached to this press release and can also be accessed on DED’s CDBG-DR webpage at https://opportunity.nebraska.gov/cdbg-dr. Note that the webpage will serve as an informational resource in the coming weeks and months for potential grantees and the interested public; affected stakeholders are encouraged to create a bookmark and visit this page regularly for potential news and updates.
Local governments preparing for the availability of CDBG-DR funds are encouraged to begin the planning process, but should anticipate not being able to apply for CDBG-DR funding for several months. Note that CDBG-DR funds can be used as non-federal match for funds from other agencies, including the U.S Corps of Army Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Highway Administration and FEMA.
DED will continue to distribute information as it becomes available. In the meantime, direct immediate questions to ded.cdbgdr@nebraska.gov.