AUSTIN — Today Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced the Texas General Land Office (GLO) posted the final four of six draft Regional Housing Guidelines for the Homeowner Assistance Program for a federally mandated 30-day public comment period. The first two Regional Housing Guidelines released were the Central/Golden Crescent Region and the Coastal Bend Region. Today the GLO released the Regional Housing Guidelines for South East Texas Region, HGAC-W/Lower Colorado Region, HGAC-E/Gulf Coast Region and Deep East Texas Region.

"Hurricane Harvey devastated thousands of homes along the Texas Coast," said Commissioner Bush. "Today marks the beginning of one of the final steps required in the process of implementing the Homeowner Assistance Program. Following the completion of the federally mandated 30-day comment period, we will be able to begin marketing the application for the Homeowner Assistance Program - the largest single program designed to help rebuild the lives of so many Texas families."

The GLO allocated $1.098 billion of the total allocation of Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the Homeowner Assistance Program for rehabilitation and reconstruction of owner-occupied single-family homes damaged by Hurricane Harvey outside of the City of Houston and Harris County. The guidelines detail how the program will be administered at the local level.

For implementation of this program across 48 eligible counties, the GLO divided the program in to six regions. Each region was apportioned an allocation of the available funds and conducted an ongoing Regional Needs Assessment to determine need by income category and other local factors, to inform how outreach should be targeted to direct funds within impacted areas. Each of the Regional Housing Guidelines will be posted for public review and comment on the GLO's website for 30 days from posting.

All comments should be submitted to CDR@recovery.texas.gov.

HAP Regions:

Central/Golden Crescent Region ($116,828,970)
Bastrop, Burleson, Caldwell, Calhoun, Comal, DeWitt, Fayette, Goliad, Gonzales, Grimes, Guadalupe, Jackson, Karnes, Lavaca, Lee, Madison, Milam, Victoria, Washington

Coastal Bend Region ($121,608,469)
Aransas, Bee, Jim Wells, Kleberg, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio

South East Texas Region ($205,019,250)
Hardin, Jefferson, Orange

HGAC-W/Lower Colorado Region ($218,621,431)
Austin, Colorado, Fort Bend, Matagorda, Waller, Wharton

HGAC-E/Gulf Coast Region ($258,049,169)
Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Liberty, Montgomery, Walker

Deep East Texas Region ($127,884,027)
Jasper, Newton, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Tyler

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