The Texas General Land Office has approved $59,742,000 in projects through its Local Communities Program, directing federal disaster recovery money toward public infrastructure and long-term needs in areas damaged by the 2024 disasters. Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D., announced the awards in a Sept. 9 news release.
The program funds projects that restore public infrastructure, strengthen local economies and address long-term needs to help eligible communities recover from those storms, according to the GLO.
“The Texas General Land Office is honored to support communities as they recover and grow,” Buckingham said in the release. “In 2024, many Texas communities experienced devastating storms that damaged homes and vital infrastructure. These Local Communities Program grants will restore and improve essential infrastructure, boost economic stability, and meet the ongoing needs of regions affected by the 2024 Disasters.”
The funding is provided through a Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the agency said. The competition was open to local governments, meaning cities or counties, and to Indian tribes located in one of the 92 counties HUD designated as eligible.
HUD designated 27 of those counties as most impacted or distressed, a status that carries a spending requirement: at least 80% of program funds must be granted to applications from those areas, according to the release.
Full eligibility requirements, eligible activities and scoring details are provided in the GLO’s 2024 Disasters Action Plan, which the agency posts online, the release said. The agency also maintains a page with additional information about the Local Communities Program for the 2024 disaster cycle.
The GLO press office is listed as the contact for questions about the awards. The agency administers the state’s federal disaster recovery block grants, and the Local Communities Program is one of the funding streams established under the 2024 Disasters Action Plan.