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The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) received an allocation of $62,000,200 in Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funds under the recently approved Method of Distribution (MOD) for the H-GAC region. This allocation of funds from the Texas General Land Office’s (GLO) Regional Mitigation Program is intended to support local government projects of regional significance or urgent local need. H-GAC formally applied to the GLO in April 2023 to use these funds for a variety of projects identified by H-GAC’s Board of Directors (H-GAC Board).
As specified in the GLO Regional Mitigation Plan Application Guidance Texas General Land Office CDBG-MIT Competition Application Guide, H-GAC posted our substantially completed applications for a 14-day public comment period. H-GAC followed a detailed citizen participation plan that provides for and encourages citizen participation.
The Projects
Following the approval of the MOD for the Houston-Galveston region on September 6, 2022, the H-GAC Board considered local government projects for inclusion in applications to the GLO under the regional priority projects allocation. On October 18, 2022, the H-GAC Board formally approved a list of projects to use in developing the applications. After discussions with the local government partners, five projects were selected to move forward, including a mix of regional and local efforts designed to increase community resilience to future storm events.
Further information about the projects and the selection process can be found in the draft applications. These content in these initial applications does not reflect changes made during the review process with the GLO in the intervening time period.
The Applications
GLO must formally review and approve the proposed projects. The substantially complete applications available on this page represent:
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four projects being proposed by H-GAC in Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) designated Most Impacted and Distressed (MID) areas; and
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one project being proposed for State-designated MID areas.
From March 21, 2023 to April 3, 2023, H-GAC took public comments on the applications via online comment form, email, phone, and mail. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Houston-Galveston Area Council will provide reasonable accommodations for persons submitting a public comment.
Following the public comment period, H-GAC considered all comments received, amended the applications as necessary, and submitted them to GLO in April 2023.
Beneficiaries
Low-to-moderate income individuals are often more economically vulnerable and less resilient to flooding conditions and other disasters. At least 50% of the funding to be disseminated through the projects in these applications will benefit areas whose population are at least 51% low-to-moderate income.
Method of Distribution (MOD)
On September 6, 2022, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) approved the Houston-Galveston Area Council&'s (H-GAC) Method of Distribution (MOD) for the allocation of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Regional Mitigation Program funds to counties and local jurisdictions for risk mitigation projects related to flooding, hurricanes, and other natural disasters.
The approved MOD includes the amount of funding available for eligible jurisdictions (counties and cities) for risk mitigation projects. A complete list of eligible activities is available in the Texas General Land Office (GLO) guidelines for the Regional Mitigation Program - Council of Governments Method of Distribution (COG MODs).
With the exception of the City of Houston which received reallocated funding from funding declined by another city, neither Harris County nor cities wholly within Harris County are included in this funding allocation. However, cities located partially in other counties are eligible for partial funding allocations for the portions of the cities outside of Harris County.
Developing the Method of Distribution
The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is administering the CDBG-MIT Regional Mitigation Program at the state level under a federally approved State Action Plan. Under this plan, the GLO issued guidelines for regional councils of governments, including H-GAC, for the development of regional MODs.
The GLO allocated $488,762,000 of CDBG-MIT Regional Mitigation Program funds to the H-GAC region and partnered with H-GAC to develop and submit a MOD for the funding.
Following a public comment period and H-GAC Board of Directors review in February 2022, H-GAC submitted the preliminary MOD to the GLO.
In June 2022, the GLO issued conditional approval this preliminary MOD allocating funding to governments in the following counties of the H-GAC service area: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, Waller, Walker, and Wharton.
Public Involvement
Informational Meeting
H-GAC staff hosted an informational meeting to provide an overview of the conditionally approved preliminary MOD, including information about data used in its development. At this meeting participants heard asked questions and speakers addressed the questions. The meeting was Thursday, July 14, 2022, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Zoom.
Public Hearing
H-GAC accepted oral and written comments related to the conditionally approved preliminary MOD during a public hearing on Thursday, July 21, 2022, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The hearing was held in person at 3555 Timmons Lane, Houston, Texas, second floor conference room, and on Zoom. Participants heard a brief overview of the conditionally approved MOD and were able to make comments about the MOD.
Public Comments
H-GAC accepted oral and written comments on the conditionally approved preliminary MOD until Thursday, July 28, 2022, at 5 p.m. Comments were accepted by:
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Email
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Phone Message
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Postal Mail
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Hand Delivery
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Online Form
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Public Hearing