With $100 million in funding, HUD could shift regional planning and development across the country to a new focus on sustainability.

HUD is developing a Notice of Funding Availability document after seeking comments on an advance notice for the Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program. The newly established Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities at HUD will oversee the program in partnership with the Department of Transportation and Environmental Protection Agency.

For more information, please visit p4sc.org/News__HUD_s_New_Dir_1.html

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is implementing a Sustainable Communities Planning Grants Program. The goal of this program is to support multi-jurisdictional regional planning efforts that integrate housing, economic development, and transportation decision making in a manner that empowers jurisdictions to simultaneously consider the interdependent challenges of economic growth, social equity and environmental impact.

The program will make available $100,000,000 to support the integration of housing, transportation and land use planning. There are three funding categories being considered…

• Funding to support the preparation of regional plans for sustainable development that address housing, economic development, transportation, and environmental quality in an integrated fashion where such plans do not currently exist
• Funding to support the preparation of more detailed execution plans and programs to implement existing regional sustainable development plans that address housing, economic development, transportation, and environmental quality in an integrated fashion
• Implementation funding to support regions that have regional sustainable development plans and implementation strategies in place and need support for a catalytic project or program that demonstrates commitment to and implementation of the broader plan

For more information, please visit p4sc.org/News__HUD_s_SCP_Grants.html

HUD secretary Shaun Donovan announced today that HUD is in the process of approving a final round of plans submitted by state housing finance agencies totaling over a billion dollars to jump start affordable housing programs in 26 states throughout the country that are currently stalled due to economic depression. Louisiana will be receiving over $39 million in a grant from this program.