NC Newsline - North Carolina has submitted its Action Plan for $1.4 billion in federal disaster recovery money to address unmet housing, infrastructure and economic revitalization needs in western North Carolina, Gov. Josh Stein’s press office reported Thursday.
The plan was submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for approval on Wednesday after a 30-day public comment period.
If approved by HUD, a little more than 60% — $860.7 million — of the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) money would go to reconstruct and rehabilitate owner-occupied housing damaged during Hurricane Helene. Meanwhile, 13.55% — $193.5 million — of the federal dollars would go to electrical, gas water, sewer, waste and telecom infrastructure repairs and improvements as well as road and bridge repairs. Another 13.4% — $191.3 million would go to rental housing repairs.
The plans also call for 13% — $186 million — for “mitigation set-asides.” HUD describes these as efforts to “increase resilience to disasters and reduce or eliminate the long-term risk of loss of life, injury, damage to and loss of property, and suffering and hardship by lessening the impact of future disasters.” Also, 7.8% — $111 million — is earmarked for economic revitalization.
“To rebuild damaged communities, we must rebuild people’s homes and our critical infrastructure,” Stein said in a news release. “I am grateful to the many North Carolinians who provided input on this plan over the past 30 days, and I urge the federal government to review and approve it swiftly so we can jumpstart permanent home rebuilding as quickly as possible.”
Stein has created a new division at the Commerce Department to administer the HUD CDBG-DR program for western North Carolina. The Division of Community Revitalization is led by Deputy Secretary Stephanie McGarrah, which spearheaded the development of the Action Plan.
CDBG-DR grants focus on longer-term rebuilding rather than immediate needs for shelter. They are intended to address unmet needs in three core areas of recovery – housing, infrastructure, and economic revitalization. The Action Plan proposes that most funds go to housing recovery for low- and moderate-income residents, with the remaining funds targeted for infrastructure rebuilding and economic revitalization, particularly for small businesses and commercial districts.
“We are moving with urgency so that western North Carolina receives the relief it needs,” said N.C. Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley.
As the state awaits HUD approval, the Division of Community Revitalization’s housing recovery work has already gotten underway with a recent appropriation of $120 million in state funds from the General Assembly for home reconstruction and repair. Although damage assessments are still ongoing, the current allotment of $1.42 billion will fall short of the unmet housing needs facing the region. A separate HUD CDBG-DR grant of $225 million was allocated directly to the City of Asheville to administer.
