Action Plan
Approved July 12, 2021
The Territory’s CDBG – Mitigation Action Plan to spend $774 million on housing; infrastructure & public facilities; economic resilience & revitalization; public services and planning is published.
Overview
Welcome to the USVI Housing Finance Authority’s dedicated site for managing the Community Development Block Grants for Mitigation (CDBG-MIT), provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Unlike the Community Development Block Grant for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds, which have been awarded for hurricane-specific disaster recovery, mitigation dollars can fund projects of a varying nature to serve the Territory’s most important mitigation needs, even without a clear tie-back to a specific disaster.
On this page, you will find resources on mitigation programs and activities, as well as information on tracking and reporting the responsible use of these funds.
What is CDBG-MIT?
Hurricanes Irma and Maria had a devastating impact on the United States Virgin Islands. The two back-to-back Category 5 storms in September 2017 caused significant destruction to housing, infrastructure, and the economy in the Territory.
- HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) Program supports strategic and high-impact activities to mitigate disaster risks and reduce future losses by lessening the impact of future disasters.
- HUD mitigation activities increase resilience to disasters, reducing or eliminating the long-term risk of loss of life, injury, damage to and loss of property, and suffering and hardship. Learn more about the CDBG-MIT Program.
- The U.S. Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority (VIHFA) manages this money, submitting to HUD the Territory’s CDBG-MIT Action Plan prior to expending the CDBG-MIT funds. The plan proposes activities to address unmet infrastructure and public facilities, economic resilience, housing, public services, and planning needs, in accordance with HUD requirements and public input, using data-driven decision making to establish priorities.
Published Notices
HUD published the CDBG-MIT U.S. Virgin Islands Notice on September 10, 2019.
HUD published theCDBG-MIT Notice on August 30, 2019.
CDBG-MIT Action Plan
As with CDBG-DR, VIHFA must submit a distinct CDBG-MIT Action Plan, which now is due to HUD no later than January 4, 2021.
The Territory’s CDBG-MIT Action Plan must meet the requirements set forth by HUD in Federal Register Vol. 84, No. 169 (August 30, 2019), 84 FR 45838, and Federal Register Vol. 85 No. 17 (January 27, 2020), 85 FR 4676. In general, these requirements include:
- Connecting mitigation programs and projects to identified risks in the Territory.
- A Mitigation Needs Assessment, which takes into consideration characteristics and impacts of current and future hazards that put at risk indispensable infrastructure and services.
- Consideration of the potential impacts that mitigation activities may have on the seven (7) community lifelines encompassed in the nation-wide planning model set forth by FEMA and adopted by HUD, which include:
- Energy
- Food, Water, and Shelter
- Health and Medical
- Safety and Security
- Communication accessibility
- Hazardous Materials
- Transportation
- Long-term planning and risk mitigation considerations that promote local and regional planning and implementation informed by the Mitigation Needs Assessment, in consultation with the public, the private sector and government agencies.
- Robust citizen participation through the scheduling of at least five (5) public hearings held at different times in the planning process to seek community input.
Public Outreach Meetings
Public hearings to discuss proposed programs and activities funded by CDBG-MIT were held on November 12 and 19, 2020. The public comment period for the MIT action plan was open from November 4 to December 22. Below are links to the meeting recordings and presentations.
Past Meetings
Given the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) VIHFA held virtual public meetings during the development of the action plan for citizens affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, beginning on Thursday, June 11, 2020.
- June 11, 2020 –VIHFA hosted a Town Hall meeting via Go To Meeting and telephone to provide an overview on the CDBG-MIT Federal Register, outlining the rules and regulations tied to the Territory’s allocation and gathering comments.
- July 9, 2020 –VIHFA hosted a Town Hall meeting via Zoom, telephone, and simulcast on Facebook Live to provide an overview on the CDBG-MIT Federal Register, outlining the rules and regulations tied to the Territory’s allocation and gathering comments.
- August 6, 2020 – VIHFA hosted a Town Hall meeting via Zoom and simulcast on radio station 107.9FM Da Vybe to provide an overview of the CDBG-MIT Federal Register, outlining the rules and regulations tied to the Territory’s allocation and gathering comments.
- November 12, 2020– VIHFA hosted a Town Hall meeting via Zoom and simulcast on Facebook Live to receive feedback and comments following the publication of the Action Plan Draft.
- November 19, 2020 – VIHFA hosted a Town Hall meeting via Zoom and simulcast on Facebook Live to receive feedback and comments following the publication of the Action Plan Draft.
- December 3, 2020 VIHFA hosted a Town Hall meeting via Zoom and simulcast on Facebook Live to receive feedback and comments following the publication of the Action Plan Draft.