Treasury Adds Updates To COVID-19 Program Guidance Documents
The COVID-19 public health emergency may have ended in May, but that hasn’t stopped federal agencies from updating guidance pertaining to their pandemic relief programs. For example, the Department of the Treasury this month amended its guidance under the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) and the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF).
The HAF was established to mitigate financial hardships associated with the coronavirus pandemic by providing funds to eligible entities for the purpose of preventing homeowner mortgage delinquencies, defaults, foreclosures, loss of utilities or home energy services, and displacements of homeowners experiencing financial hardship after Jan. 21, 2020, through qualified expenses related to mortgages and housing.
The updated guidance added a type of qualified expense that would be covered by HAF. This updated qualified expense is payment assistance or principal reduction for Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans, where such expenditures would promote housing stability and prevent foreclosures or homeowner displacement.
Treasury also updated its guidance entitled “Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund Compliance and Reporting Guidance For States, Territories, and Freely Associated States,” which provides additional detail and clarification about reporting and compliance responsibilities for these type of recipients. CPF recipients are required to provide project-level information according to the project use code of the corresponding approved program plan, and among this data, Treasury is now asking for confirmation that the provider is participating in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Affordable Connectivity Program, although this data requirement applies only to states and territories.
Likewise, Treasury updated its guidance entitled “Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund Compliance and Reporting Guidance For Tribal Entities”, amending its reporting requirements for broadband infrastructure projects. These recipients must provide project-level data for several categories, which now includes standardized FCC identifiers (i.e., fabric ID number and FCC-issued provider ID number).
Recipients of funding under COVID-19 assistance programs should be aware that agencies still may update guidance pertaining to these funds. Thompson Grants continues to track agency updates, and is maintaining this guidance at its Grant-Specific COVID-19 Links roundup site. Make sure to check out this site regularly.
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