Sneak Preview: HUD Proposes CDBG, Section 108 Program Revisions
(The following was excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently proposed to revise its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Indian CDBG (ICDBG) and related Section 108 loan guarantee program regulations to make it easier for recipients to promote economic development and recovery in low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities and support investments in underserved areas. The amendments would be the most extensive revisions to the CDBG regulations since 1995.
The proposed rule, which would amend HUD regulations at 24 C.F.R. Parts 91, 570 and 1003, also would revise provisions related to consolidated plans and citizen participation requirements for the CDBG program, and implement quarterly reporting as a method to improve performance. Comments on the proposed rule can be submitted by March 11 to Regulations.gov by referring to Docket No. FR–6148–P–01.
“HUD has not substantively updated the [CDBG] national objectives criteria and public benefit standards for economic development activities carried out with CDBG, ICDBG and Section 108 funds for over 20 years,” the agency states in the proposal. “Changes over time in market conditions, inflation and evolving community development practices have effectively limited the types of activities grantees could carry out. As a consequence, the grantee’s plans could be short-circuited by the inability or unwillingness of a business to comply with the current requirements. The limitations under the current regulations have thus deprived grantees of viable alternatives when developing programs that would best address their needs, and in some cases, prevented communities from using CDBG funds to stimulate potentially transformative economic revitalization outcomes.”
(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)
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