State officials are asking for public input on how $600 million in hurricane recovery funds will be spent.
The Louisiana Office of Community Development is accepting public comments on an action plan to spend $600 million in federal funding for recovery from Hurricanes Laura and Delta as part of the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022. The 30-day public comment period starts today and ends at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 14.
“In 2020, five named storms made landfall in Louisiana, breaking our record for the most strikes in a single season,” OCD Executive Director Pat Forbes said. “Recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allocated $600 million in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funding to help us recover from two of these storms, Laura and Delta.
“Storms are becoming more frequent and more intense, and our most vulnerable citizens are the most heavily impacted by them,” Forbes said. “The programs in this plan are aimed at building long-term resilience and ensuring equity in our recovery.”
To view the plan in English, Spanish or Vietnamese and to submit comments, click here [doa.us17.list-manage.com].
To collect input on the proposed action plan, the state is hosting a series of public meetings in impacted areas throughout the state. To learn more about the public hearing schedule and the methods for submitting public comments, click here [doa.us17.list-manage.com].
After incorporating public comments, the state will submit the plan to HUD for final approval. Once HUD approves the plan, the state can access the federal funds and launch the next phase of the Restore Louisiana programs, such as:
At this time, HUD has only allocated funding to Louisiana for Hurricanes Laura and Delta. Gov. Edwards continues to work with Louisiana’s congressional delegation to secure additional funds for these and other disasters that impacted the state in 2020 and 2021.
To learn more about Restore Louisiana, and to sign up for program updates, visit restore.la.gov [doa.us17.list-manage.com].
- the Restore Louisiana Homeowner Assistance Program to address the rehabilitation of owner-occupied households, with a focus on serving the most vulnerable populations;
- affordable rental and homeless prevention programs to repair and increase the inventory of affordable rental housing for affected renters and provide rental assistance and support services to households displaced by the disaster and at risk of becoming homeless;
- economic recovery and revitalization programs that provide loans, grants and technical assistance to small businesses;
- infrastructure and non-federal cost-share assistance programs; and
- mitigation investments that improve resilience.
