Sponsors (4)
The bill expands CDBG to fund disaster mitigation—boosting community resilience and directly helping vulnerable households—at the cost of reallocating limited CDBG dollars away from other priorities and introducing accountability and eligibility risks for some communities.
Local governments, homeowners, and renters can use CDBG funds to carry out disaster mitigation projects (including new construction and rehabilitation), strengthening community resilience and reducing future damage and threats to residents' health and safety.
Low-income households in high-risk areas can receive federally funded mitigation upgrades, lowering the risk of displacement and reducing future recovery costs for vulnerable families.
Local governments and grantees gain HUD-required technical assistance and a one-year rulemaking deadline, which should speed program implementation and help recipients meet regulatory requirements.
Low-income individuals and local governments may see less CDBG funding available for other priorities (like affordable housing or neighborhood services) because mitigation becomes an allowable use, potentially shifting resources away from existing needs.
Treating assisted housing units as a single structure and exempting them from aggregate public-benefit standards could reduce the amount of measurable direct public benefit per dollar and limit oversight and accountability for outcomes affecting renters and homeowners.
Relying on FEMA's National Risk Index or State risk indices to determine mitigation eligibility may miss local hazard nuances and produce uneven eligibility across communities, disadvantaging rural and some low-income areas.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows CDBG funds to be used for weather-related natural disaster mitigation, sets eligibility/certification rules, and requires HUD rulemaking within one year.
Official title: To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to allow certain grantees to use Community Development Block Grant amounts for natural disaster mitigation activities, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 30, 2026 by Sam T. Liccardo · Last progress June 30, 2026
Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to explicitly allow Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to be used for natural disaster mitigation. It defines mitigation activities, sets conditions for grantee eligibility based on FEMA’s National Risk Index or a State hazard index, allows certain aggregation and public-benefit treatments for assisted housing, requires HUD technical assistance, and directs HUD to issue implementing rules within one year. The changes enable local and state grantees to carry out new construction and rehabilitation projects that reduce long-term risks to life, health, and property from weather-related disasters, subject to documentation and HUD certification requirements.