H-GAC has been working with the Texas General Land Office and our local communities to develop a Method of Distribution to allocate federal Community Development Block Grant - Mitigation funds to local governments. The Houston-Galveston region is currently the focus for two Methods of Distribution representing a total regional investment of $1,238,762,000.  H-GAC's Method of Distribution will allocate $488,762,000 (or 39% of the regional total), and Harris County's Method of Distribution will allocate $750,000,000 (or 61% of the regional total). These funds can be used to support a variety of eligible activities that mitigate future risks from natural disasters impacting the region. The H-GAC Board of Directors previously approved a draft Method of Distribution at its February meeting, which received conditional approval from the Texas General Land Office and has gone through a subsequent public comment process. 

H-GAC conducted a formal public comment process on the conditionally-approved Method of Distribution from July 1 to July 28, 2022; including an informational meeting on July 14, 2022, a public hearing on July 21, 2022, and a series of outreach efforts to the general public.  Public comments were accepted in-person, by phone, email, and mail, and at the public hearing.  The proposed final Method of Distribution is available on our website at https://www.h-gac.com/community-development-block-grant-mitigation-funds. A summary of the comments received is presented in Attachment A. A summary of the proposed reallocation for declined funds is included as Attachment B. The full list of public comments and H-GAC responses, and tables of the allocations local governments, are available via Sharefile. Upon Board approval, H-GAC will submit the proposed final Method of Distribution to the Texas General Land Office for their consideration. Following Texas General Land Office approval, H-GAC will notify eligible recipients of their final allocations, after which they will work directly with the Texas General Land Office to propose projects. H-GAC staff will work with the H-GAC Board to identify and propose projects to the Texas General Land Office for H-GAC's regional priority projects allocation. 

Request approval of the federal Community Development Block Grant – Mitigation Funding Method of Distribution. (Staff Contact: Justin Bower)