The Texas General Land Office announced on Thursday that it had posted Amendment 18 to the Hurricane Harvey State Action Plan for public review, opening a 30-day comment period on proposed changes to $5.676 billion in federal disaster recovery funds.
The amendment includes budget adjustments for multiple housing and infrastructure programs administered by Harris County and Houston, marking the latest revision to the massive recovery effort from the 2017 storm.
Harris County’s programs slated for budget changes include homeowner assistance, residential buyouts, homeowner reimbursement, and single-family new construction initiatives. The county’s local infrastructure, public service, and planning programs will also see adjustments.
For Houston, the modifications affect homeowner assistance, single-family development, small rental programs, and homebuyer assistance efforts. The city’s homebuyer assistance program will be divided into two rounds.
Additional Houston programs receiving budget adjustments include buyout initiatives, public services, economic revitalization, and planning efforts.
The GLO noted that clarifying language about the HOME program has been added to Harris County’s single-family new construction program. Both jurisdictions requested the changes outlined in the amendment.
Public comments must be submitted to [email protected] by 5 p.m. on July 14. Federal requirements mandate the GLO respond to all public comments before sending the amendment to HUD for final approval.
The full amendment is available for review on the GLO’s disaster recovery public notices webpage.