Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a memo, removing critical disaster resilience, community participation, federal oversight, fair housing, and civil rights requirements and standards from nearly $12 billion in disaster recovery funding approved by Congress for disasters occurring in 2023 and 2024.
“HUD’s decision to remove basic requirements from disaster recovery funds will cause even more disaster survivors – particularly those with the lowest incomes and those who are most marginalized – to struggle to recover after disasters and place them at even higher risk of future disaster impacts,” said NLIHC Interim President and CEO Renee Willis. “These harmful changes undermine policies that were developed with direct input from disaster survivors across the nation and will make it harder for federal recovery resources to reach those most in need.”
The memo issued by the Trump administration:
- Removes critical protections to ensure disaster recovery resources are effectively deployed to bring all communities – including historically distressed communities without basic infrastructure – to the level of protection needed to guard against future disasters.
- Weakens oversight of federal funds and undermines efforts to ensure funds reach those most impacted by disasters by eliminating requirements to report on program outcomes by demographics.
- Fails to protect communities from future climate risks by removing all requirements for grantees to consider the impacts of climate change and ensure homes are rebuilt to fully withstand future disasters and are placed outside of flood risk areas.
- Undermines community input and public accountability by removing the requirement for citizen advisory groups.
- Makes it harder for states and local governments to meet the legal requirements of civil rights and fair housing laws that ensure all disaster survivors can access recovery funds.
Low-income disaster survivors are often hardest hit by disasters and face the steepest barriers to recovery. As the only source of federal long-term recovery funding, HUD’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program is meant to address the “unmet needs” of disaster survivors that are not addressed by any other federal program or funding sources. CDBG-DR funds are flexible and can be used by state and municipal governments to rebuild housing and infrastructure and promote economic development after a presidentially declared disaster. Since 1992, Congress has provided over $112 billion through the program, most recently approving $12 billion last year for disasters that occurred in 2023 and 2024.
“Together, these policy changes increase the risk that disaster recovery resources will not reach those with the greatest needs and will make it harder for communities to rebuild in the face of future disasters,” said Willis.