PRO-Housing-NOFO-Extension_FR-6800-N-98.pdf

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Community Planning and Development

FY24 Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing)

FR-6800-N-98

10/22/2024

Table of Contents

OVERVIEW

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. Program Description

B. Authority

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. Available Funds

B. Number of Awards

C. Minimum/Maximum Award Information

D. Period of Performance

E. Type of Funding Instrument

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. Eligible Applicants

B. Ineligible Applicants

C. Cost Sharing or Matching

D. Threshold Eligibility Requirements

E. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements Affecting Eligibility

F. Program-Specific Requirements

G. Criteria for Beneficiaries

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. Obtain an Application Package

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

C. System for Award Management (SAM) and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)

D. Application Submission Dates and Times

E. Intergovernmental Review

F. Funding Restrictions

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. Review Criteria

B. Review and Selection Process

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. Award Notices

B. Administrative, National and Departmental Policy Requirements and Terms for HUD Applicants and Recipients of Financial Assistance Awards

C. Reporting

D. Debriefing

VII. AGENCY CONTACT(S)

VIII. OTHER INFORMATION

APPENDIX

Program Office:

Community Planning and Development

Funding Opportunity Title:

FY24 Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) Funding Opportunity Number:

FR-6800-N-98

Assistance Listing Number:

14.023 Due Date for Applications:

10/22/2024

OVERVIEW

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issues this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to invite applications from eligible applicants for the program and purpose described within this NOFO. You, as a prospective applicant, should carefully read all instructions in all sections to avoid sending an incomplete or ineligible application. HUD funding is highly competitive. Failure to respond accurately to any submission requirement could result in an incomplete, ineligible, or noncompetitive proposal.

In accordance with Title 24 part 4, subpart B of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), during the selection process (which includes HUD’s NOFO development and publication, and concludes with the announcement of the selection of recipients of assistance), HUD is prohibited from disclosing covered selection information. Examples of impermissible disclosures include:

1) information regarding any applicant’s relative standing; 2) the amount of assistance requested by any applicant; and 3) any information contained in the application. Prior to the application deadline, HUD may not disclose the identity of any applicant or the number of applicants who have applied for assistance.

For further information regarding this NOFO, direct questions regarding the specific requirements of this NOFO to the agency contact identified in section VII.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. §§ 3501- 3520) (PRA), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the information collection requirements in this NOFO. HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless the collection displays a valid OMB control number. This NOFO identifies the applicable OMB control number, unless the collection of information is excluded from these requirements under 5 CFR Part 1320.

OMB Control Number(s):

2506-0220

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. Program Description

1. Purpose

Communities nationwide are suffering from a lack of affordable housing, and housing production is not meeting the increasing demand for accessible and available units in many urban and rural areas, particularly areas of high opportunity. Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) empowers communities that are actively taking steps to remove barriers to affordable housing and seeking to increase housing production and lower housing costs over https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/subtitle-A/part-4/subpart-B https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-5/chapter-III/subchapter-B/part-1320?toc=1 the long term. Barriers to affordable housing may take the form of restrictive zoning designations, land use policies, or regulations; discretionary, costly or prolonged procedures;

deteriorating or inadequate infrastructure; lack of neighborhood amenities; neighborhood opposition to new or affordable housing; or challenges to preserving existing housing stock such as increasing threats from natural hazards, redevelopment that reduces the number of affordable units, displacement pressures, or expiration of affordability requirements.

Across the United States, regulatory and other barriers have made it difficult to produce, preserve, and access affordable housing. Constrained supply drives up housing costs and reduces affordability. According to American Community Survey estimates in 2021, 39.3 million households (20.9 million renters and 18.4 million homeowners) have been classified as “cost-burdened,” spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Cost burden is even greater for underserved populations. Black families face affordability challenges as homeowners and renters more than any other racial or ethnic group, spending between 30 to 50 percent of their income on housing. In Puerto Rico, cost-burdened households face severe affordability challenges, spending between 50 to 90 percent of their income on housing. Limited access to housing has long-term effects on access to opportunity and ability to build generational wealth, especially for underserved communities of color and low-income people. Affordability challenges and the lack of affordable housing supply further increase eviction pressures and likelihood of homelessness for low-income people.

In 2024, HUD awarded the inaugural PRO Housing competitive grants to 21 winners to advance housing opportunities in communities across 19 states and the District of Columbia. The first-round competition was greatly oversubscribed. For every dollar made available for fiscal year 2023, thirteen dollars were requested. HUD received over 150 applications from nearly every state and territory. The considerable interest in this first-of-its-kind funding is an indication of the need for resources for local communities to address barriers to housing production and preservation across the country. The applicants and winners represent rural, suburban, and urban communities ranging from under 5,000 residents to millions. While communities have seen historic levels of federal investments in housing and infrastructure, there is still a need to address the barriers that inhibit or slow housing production. Barriers such as high cost of land, lack of available units, inadequate infrastructure, gaps in financing, restrictive zoning, risks of displacement, expiring affordability, increased threats from extreme weather, and an aging housing stock were common themes throughout the initial applications. PRO Housing funding enables awardees to address those barriers through planning, infrastructure, development, and preservation actions to further local housing goals.

HUD is issuing this second PRO Housing NOFO under the authority of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118-42, approved March 9, 2024) (Appropriations Act), which appropriates $100 million for competitive grant funding for the identification and removal of barriers to affordable housing production and preservation. Congress has directed HUD to undertake a competition using the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) statutory and regulatory framework. Under this NOFO, HUD will provide PRO Housing grants to identify and remove barriers to affordable housing production and preservation. Grantees may use awards to further develop, evaluate, and implement housing policy plans, improve housing strategies, and facilitate affordable housing production and preservation. Eligible applicants are State and local governments, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and multijurisdictional entities.

HUD has six goals for this competition:

• Fairly and effectively award the PRO Housing grant funding;

• Elevate and enable promising practices dedicated to identifying and removing barriers to affordable housing production and preservation, while preventing displacement, including through rewarding jurisdictions that have enacted laws and regulations that will lead to more affordable housing production and preservation;

• Institutionalize state and local analysis and implementation of effective, equitable, and resilient approaches to affordable housing production and preservation;

• Provide technical assistance to help communities better fulfill the Consolidated Plan’s requirement of identifying barriers to affordable housing and implementing solutions to address these barriers;

• Affirmatively further fair housing by addressing and removing barriers that perpetuate segregation, inhibit access to well-resourced areas of opportunity for protected class groups and vulnerable populations, and concentrate affordable housing in under-resourced areas; and

• Facilitate collaboration and harness innovative approaches from jurisdictions, researchers, advocates, and stakeholders.

HUD will prioritize applicants that demonstrate: (1) progress and a commitment to overcoming local barriers to facilitate the increase in affordable housing production and preservation, primarily by having enacted improved laws and regulations that HUD reasonably expects to preserve or produce new housing units; and (2) an acute need for housing affordable to households with incomes below 100 percent of the area median income. Proposals must also explain how the funds will be used to identify and remove barriers to affordable housing in a manner that affirmatively furthers fair housing. HUD will also prioritize applicants that demonstrate a commitment and ability to identify and remove barriers to: (1) expanding affordable housing in a manner that promotes desegregation; (2) expanding affordable housing in well-resourced areas of opportunity for protected class groups that have systematically been denied equitable access to such areas; or (3) deconcentrating affordable housing and increasing housing choice. Applicants should incorporate a discussion of key barriers related to land-use regulations, permitting, or related procedural issues. HUD further encourages applicants to outline and discuss how their proposed activities will advance equity, locate affordable accessible housing near transit and bolster access to services and opportunities, increase community resilience and mitigate the effects of natural and environmental hazards, and develop and preserve affordable housing in accordance with input from community members and other stakeholders.

As with all CDBG assistance, the priority is to serve low- and moderate-income people.

PRO Housing grantees must administer the PRO Housing grant in a manner that affirmatively furthers fair housing, which means taking meaningful actions, in addition to combating discrimination, to overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities free from barriers that restrict access to opportunity based on protected characteristics. Specifically, affirmatively furthering fair housing means taking meaningful actions that, taken together, address significant disparities in housing needs and in access to opportunities, replacing segregated living patterns with truly integrated and balanced living patterns, transforming racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity, and fostering and maintaining compliance with civil rights and fair housing laws.

2. HUD and Program-Specific Goals and Objectives

HUD’s Strategic Plan sets the direction and focus of our programs and staff to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality, affordable homes for all. This NOFO supports HUD’s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years (FY) 2022-2026 to accomplish HUD’s mission and vision. Each of the five goals in the Strategic Plan include what HUD hopes to accomplish, the strategies to accomplish those objectives, and the indicators of success.

HUD will pursue two overarching priorities focused on increasing equity and improving customer experience across all HUD programs. Five strategic goals and several objectives undergird the Plan; however the following goals are applicable to this NOFO.

You are expected to align your application to the applicable strategic goals and objectives below.

Use the information in this section to describe in your application the specific goals, objectives, and measures that your project is expected to help accomplish. If your project is selected for funding, you are also expected to establish a plan to track progress related to those goals, objectives, and measures. HUD will monitor compliance with the goals, objectives, and measures in your project.

Applicable Goals and Objectives from HUD’s Strategic Plan Strategic Goal 1: Support Underserved Communities Fortify support for underserved communities and support equitable community development for all people.

1A: Advance Housing Justice Fortify support for vulnerable populations, underserved communities, and Fair Housing enforcement.

1B: Reduce Homelessness Strengthen Federal, State, Tribal, and community implementation of the Housing First approach to reducing the prevalence of homelessness, with the ultimate goal of ending homelessness.

1C: Invest in the Success of Communities Promote equitable community development that generates wealth-building for underserved communities, particularly for communities of color.

Strategic Goal 2: Ensure Access to and Increase the Production of Affordable Housing Ensure housing demand is matched by adequate production of new homes and equitable access to housing opportunities for all people.

2A: Increase the Supply of Housing Enhance HUD's programs that increase the production and supply of housing across the country.

Strategic Goal 3: Promote Homeownership Promote homeownership opportunities, equitable access to credit for purchase and improvements, and wealth-building in underserved communities.

3A: Advance Sustainable Homeownership Advance the deployment of tools and capital that put sustainable homeownership within reach.

https://www.hud.gov/HUD-FY22-26-Strategic-Plan-Focus-Areas https://www.hud.gov/HUD-FY22-26-Strategic-Plan-Focus-Areas

Strategic Goal 4: Advance Sustainable Communities Advance sustainable communities by strengthening climate resilience and energy efficiency, promoting environmental justice, and recognizing housing's role as essential to health.

4A: Guide Investment in Climate Resilience Invest in climate resilience, energy efficiency, and renewable energy across HUD programs.

4B: Strengthen Environmental Justice Reduce exposure to health risks, environmental hazards, and substandard housing, especially for low-income households and communities of color.

3. Changes from Previous NOFO

• Maximum award amount decreased to $7m

• Total funding increased to $100m

• Increased number of expected awards to 30

• Added language encouraging overlapping jurisdictions to partner, rather than submitting competing applications

• Updated prompt language in Need, Soundness of Approach, and Long-term Effect to emphasize focus on barrier removal

• Added criteria for review of pass-through programs into rating factors

• Updated Need rating factor to reflect FY24 Appropriations Act directive to prioritize applicants who can demonstrate progress and commitment to overcoming local barriers ‘primarily by having enacted improved laws and regulations’

• Added a definition of ‘geographic scope’

• Prior (FY23) PRO Housing awards may not be used as leverage

• New required Attachment B: Certification of Compliance with NOFO Public

Participation requirements

• Unscored narratives for Advancing Racial Equity, Experience Promoting Racial Equity, and Affirmative Marketing and Outreach are required

• Awardee reporting in the Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting (DRGR) system will now occur quarterly, instead of the FY23 requirement for annual reporting

4. Definitions

a. Standard Definitions

Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) means taking meaningful actions, in addition to combating discrimination to overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities free from barriers that restrict access to opportunity based on protected characteristics. Specifically, affirmatively furthering fair housing means taking meaningful actions that, taken together, address significant disparities in housing needs and in access to opportunities, replacing segregated living patterns with truly integrated and balanced living patterns, transforming racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity, and fostering and maintaining compliance with civil rights and fair housing laws.

The duty to affirmatively further fair housing extends to all program participant’s activities and programs relating to housing and urban development.

Assistance Listing number refers to the unique number assigned to each Federal assistance program publicly available in the Assistance Listing, which is managed and administered by the General Services Administration. The Assistance Listing number was formerly known as the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number.

Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) is a person authorized to legally bind your organization and submit applications via Grants.gov. The AOR is authorized by the E-Business Point of Contact (E-Biz POC) in the System for Award Management (see E-Biz POC definition).

An AOR may include an Expanded AOR and/or a Standard AOR.

Expanded Authorized Organization Representative is a user in Grants.gov who is authorized by the E-Biz POC to perform the functions of a Standard AOR, initiate and submit applications on behalf of your organization, and is allowed to modify organization-level settings and certifications in Grants.gov.

Standard Authorized Organization Representative is a user in Grants.gov who is authorized by the E-Biz POC to initiate and submit applications in Grants.gov. A Grants.gov user with the Standard AOR role can only submit applications when they are a Participant for that workspace.

Consolidated Plan is the document submitted to HUD that serves as the comprehensive housing affordability strategy, community development plan, and submission for funding under any of the Community Planning and Development formula grant programs (e.g., CDBG, ESG, HOME, and HOPWA). This Plan is prepared in accordance with the process described in 24 CFR part 91.

This plan is completed by engaging in a participatory process to assess affordable housing and community development needs and market conditions, and to make data-driven, place-based investment decisions with funding from formula grant programs. (See 24 CFR part 91 for HUD’s requirements regarding the Consolidated Plan and related Action Plan).

Contract means, for the purpose of Federal financial assistance, a legal instrument by which a recipient or subrecipient purchases property or services needed to carry out the project or program under a Federal award. For additional information on contractor and subrecipient determinations, see 2 CFR 200.331.

Contractor means an entity that receives a contract as defined above and in 2 CFR 200.1.

Cooperative agreement has the same meaning defined at 2 CFR 200.1.

Deficiency, with respect to the making of an application for funding, is information missing or omitted within a submitted application. Examples of deficiencies include missing documents, missing or incomplete information on a form, or some other type of unsatisfied information requirement. Depending on specific criteria, a deficiency may be either Curable or Non-Curable.

A Curable Deficiency is missing or incomplete application information that may be corrected by the applicant with timely action. To be curable, the deficiency must:

• Not be a threshold requirement, except for documentation of applicant eligibility;

• Not influence how an applicant is ranked or scored versus other applicants; and

• Be remedied within the time frame specified in the notice of deficiency.

A Non-Curable Deficiency is missing or incomplete application information that cannot be corrected by an applicant after the submission deadline. A non-curable deficiency is a https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/subtitle-A/part-91 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/subtitle-A/part-91 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-D/subject-group-ECFR031321e29ac5bbd/section-200.331 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200 deficiency that is a threshold requirement, or a deficiency that, if corrected, would change an applicant’s score or rank versus other applicants. If an application includes a non-curable deficiency, the application may receive an ineligible determination, or the non-curable deficiency may otherwise adversely affect the application’s score and final funding determination.

E-Business Point of Contact (E-Biz POC) is an individual associated with the applicant organization who is responsible for the administration and management of award activities for the applicant organization. The E-Biz POC is likely to be an organization's chief financial officer or authorizing official. The E-Biz POC authorizes representatives of their organization to apply on behalf of the organization (see Authorized Organization Representative definition). There can only be one E-Biz POC per unique entity identifier (see definition of Unique Entity Identifier below).

Eligibility requirements are mandatory requirements for an application to be eligible for funding.

Environmental Justice means investing in environmental improvements, remedying past environmental inequities, and otherwise developing, implementing, and enforcing environmental laws and policies in a manner that advances equity and provides meaningful involvement for people and communities that have been environmentally underserved or overburdened, such as Black and Brown communities, indigenous groups, and individuals with disabilities. This definition does not alter the requirements under HUD’s regulations at 24 CFR 58.5(j) and 24 CFR 50.4(l) implementing Executive Order 12898. E.O. 12898 requires a consideration of how Federally assisted projects may have disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority and/or low-income populations. For additional information on environmental review compliance, refer to:

https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/environment_energy/regulations.

Equity has the meaning given to that term in Section 2(a) of Executive Order 13985 and means the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.

Federal award, has the meaning, depending on the context, in either paragraphs (1) or (2) of this definition:

(1)

(a) The Federal financial assistance that a recipient receives directly from a Federal awarding agency or indirectly from a pass-through entity, as described in 2 CFR 200.101; or

(b) The cost-reimbursement contract under the Federal Acquisition Regulations that a non- Federal entity receives directly from a Federal awarding agency or indirectly from a pass- through entity, as described in 2 CFR 200.101.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/subtitle-A/part-58/subpart-A/section-58.5 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/subtitle-A/part-50/subpart-A/section-50.4 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/subtitle-A/part-50/subpart-A/section-50.4 https://www.archives.gov/files/federal-register/executive-orders/pdf/12898.pdf https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/environment_energy/regulations https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200

(2) The instrument setting forth the terms and conditions. The instrument is the grant agreement, cooperative agreement, other agreement for assistance covered in paragraph (2) of the definitions of Federal financial assistance in 2 CFR 200.1, and this NOFO, or the cost-reimbursement contract awarded under the Federal Acquisition Regulations.

(3) Federal award does not include other contracts that a Federal agency uses to buy goods or services from a contractor or a contract to operate Federal Government owned, contractor operated facilities (GOCOs).

(4) See also definitions of Federal financial assistance, grant agreement, and cooperative agreement in 2 CFR 200.1.

Federal Financial Assistance has the same meaning defined at 2 CFR 200.1.

Grants.gov is the website serving as the Federal government’s central portal for searching and applying for Federal financial assistance throughout the Federal government. Registration on Grants.gov is required for submission of applications to prospective agencies unless otherwise specified in this NOFO.

Non-Federal Entity (NFE) means a state, local government, Indian tribe, Institution of Higher Education (IHE), or non-profit organization that carries out a Federal award as a recipient or subrecipient.

Primary Point of Contact (PPOC) is the person who may be contacted with questions about the application submitted by the AOR. The PPOC is listed in item 8F on the SF-424.

Racial Equity is the elimination of racial disparities and is achieved when race can no longer predict opportunities, distribution of resources, or outcomes – particularly for Black and Brown persons.

Recipient means an entity, usually but not limited to non-Federal entities, that receives a Federal award directly from HUD. The term recipient does not include subrecipients or individuals that are beneficiaries of the award.

Small business is defined as a privately-owned corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship that has fewer employees and less annual revenue than regular-sized business. The definition of “small”—in terms of being able to apply for government support and qualify for preferential tax policy—varies by country and industry. The U.S. Small Business Administration defines a small business according to a set of standards based on specific industries. See 13 CFR part 121.

Subaward means an award provided by a pass-through entity to a subrecipient for the subrecipient to carry out part of a Federal award received by the pass-through entity. It does not include payments to a contractor or payments to an individual that is a beneficiary of a Federal program. A subaward may be provided through any form of legal agreement, including an agreement that the pass-through entity considers a contract.

Subrecipient means an entity, usually but not limited to non-Federal entities, that receives a subaward from a pass-through entity to carry out part of a Federal award but does not include an individual that is a beneficiary of such award. A subrecipient may also be a recipient of other Federal awards directly from a Federal awarding agency.

System for Award Management (SAM) is the Federal Repository into which an entity must provide information required for the conduct of business as a recipient. Registration with SAM is https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-13/chapter-I/part-121?toc=1 required for submission of applications via Grants.gov. You can access the website at https://www.sam.gov/SAM/. There is no cost to use SAM.

Threshold Requirements are eligibility requirements that must be met for an application to be reviewed, rated, and ranked. Threshold requirements are not curable, except for documentation of applicant eligibility, which are listed in Section III.D., Threshold Eligibility Requirements.

Similarly, there are eligibility requirements under Section III.E., Statutory and Regulatory Requirements Affecting Eligibility.

Underserved Communities has the meaning given to that term in Section 2(b) of Executive Order 13985 and refers to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life, as exemplified by the list in the definition of “equity” above.

Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) means the identifier assigned by SAM to uniquely identify entities. As of April 4, 2022, the Federal government has transitioned from the use of the DUNS Number to the use of UEI, as the primary means of entity identification for Federal awards government-wide.

b. Program Definitions.

For the purposes of the PRO Housing program, the following definitions of key terms apply. As needed, other definitions related to specific thresholds and rating factors will be provided in those sections of the NOFO. All definitions in Section 102 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302) and in 24 CFR 570.3 apply except as indicated below.

Affordable Housing. HUD recognizes that Federal, state, local, and nonprofit housing financial assistance programs apply a range of specific affordable housing definitions. Further, the CDBG program regulations and the Consolidated Plan regulations do not define affordable housing;

grantees must meet affordability requirements applicable to specific programs. Also, CDBG-assisted housing activities must demonstrate benefit to income-qualified households to meet the CDBG low- and moderate-income national objective. However, for the purposes of this PRO Housing competition, consistent use of one definition may assist applicants and reviewers, so HUD will expect any rating factor responses relying on a definition of affordable housing to apply, at a minimum, the HOME program standards to affordable housing as defined in 24 CFR 92.252(a), (e), and (f) for rental housing and 24 CFR 92.254 (a)(1)-(4) for homeownership.

CDBG means the annual Community Development Block Grant program as authorized by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.), and its regulations as codified in 24 CFR Part 570.

Geographic Scope refers to the range or variety covered by the proposal, including high opportunity areas and underserved areas. It may also refer to multiple communities or regions.

Local government shall have the same meaning as “unit of general local government” in section 102(a)(1) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. This term “local government” includes entitlement CDBG grantees and non-entitlement communities.

https://www.sam.gov/SAM/ https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government

Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) shall have the same meaning as defined in Section 8 of the Federal Transit Act of 1991 at 23 U.S.C. 134(b).

Multijurisdictional entity refers to any association of local governments or public agencies which are bound by collective agreement (such as a memorandum of understanding, joint powers authority, interstate compact, or the like), such that HUD determines that the entity is authorized and has administrative capability to carry out the activities under this NOFO on behalf of its member jurisdiction(s).

State government shall have the same meaning as “State” in section 102(a)(2) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302).

B. Authority The funding for PRO Housing under this NOFO is provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118-42, approved March 9, 2024) [FY24 Appropriations Act] and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328, approved December 29, 2022) [FY23 Appropriations Act]. The program authority for PRO Housing is Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) and the FY24 and FY23 Appropriations Acts.

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. Available Funds Funding of approximately $100,064,100 is available through this NOFO. Subject to appropriations, HUD reserves the right to award fiscal year 2025 funds based on this NOFO competition.

Additional funds may become available for award under this NOFO consistent with VI.A.2.e., Adjustments to Funding. Use of these funds is subject to statutory constraints. All awards are subject to the funding restrictions contained in this NOFO.

Funding of approximately $100,064,100 includes $100,000,000 from the FY24 Appropriations Act and approximately $64,100 from the FY23 Appropriations Act. If FY25 funds become available, HUD expects the funding level to be approximately the same.

B. Number of Awards HUD expects to make approximately 30 awards from the funds available under this NOFO.

If FY25 funds become available, HUD expects to make approximately the same number of awards.

C. Minimum/Maximum Award Information Estimated Total Funding:

$100,064,100 Minimum Award Amount:

$1,000,000 Per Project Period

Maximum Award Amount:

$7,000,000 Per Project Period

D. Period of Performance Estimated Project Start Date:

02/10/2025 Estimated Project End Date:

09/30/2030 Length of Project Periods:

Other

Length of Periods Explanation of Other:

6-year period of performance

E. Type of Funding Instrument Funding Instrument Type:

G (Grant)

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. Eligible Applicants 00 (State governments)

01 (County governments)

02 (City or township governments)

25 (Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification))

Additional Information on Eligibility Other eligible applicants include Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and Multijurisdictional Entities. Refer to the Program Definitions in Section I.A to review how these terms are defined in the PRO Housing program.

Prospective eligible applicants with overlapping geographies (e.g., a county government and a city government located within that county) are encouraged to partner on a single application, rather than submitting two competing applications.

B. Ineligible Applicants HUD will not award grants to nor evaluate applications from individuals or any entity that is not an eligible applicant.

C. Cost Sharing or Matching This Program does not require cost sharing or matching, but provides points based on leverage, as described below.

HUD will award points under Rating Factor d. (Leverage) for applications that propose qualified financial leverage and provide the required firm commitments and/or supporting documentation to support each source of financial leverage. Applicants must secure and use all financial leverage by the end of the period of performance. Grantees may use other Federal sources as financial leverage only if a program’s authorizing statute permits such use. Recipients will also report on any leveraged funds received and used in association with this application.

D. Threshold Eligibility Requirements Applicants who fail to meet any of the following threshold eligibility requirements are deemed ineligible. Applications from ineligible applicants are not rated or ranked and will not receive HUD funding.

1. Resolution of Civil Rights Matters

Outstanding civil rights matters must be resolved before the application submission deadline.

Applicants with unresolved civil rights matters at the application deadline are deemed ineligible.

Applications from ineligible applicants are not rated or ranked and will not receive HUD funding.

a. An applicant is ineligible for funding if the applicant has any of the charges, cause determinations, lawsuits, or letters of findings referenced in subparagraphs (1) – (5) that are not resolved to HUD’s satisfaction before or on the application deadline date for this NOFO.

(1) Charges from HUD concerning a systemic violation of the Fair Housing Act or receipt of a cause determination from a substantially equivalent state or local fair housing agency concerning a systemic violation of a substantially equivalent state or local fair housing law proscribing discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, disability or familial status;

(2) Status as a defendant in a Fair Housing Act lawsuit filed by the United States alleging a pattern or practice of discrimination or denial of rights to a group of persons raising an issue of general public importance under 42 U.S.C. § 3614(a);

(3) Status as a defendant in any other lawsuit filed or joined by the Department of Justice, or in which the Department of Justice has intervened, or filed an amicus brief or statement of interest, alleging a pattern or practice or systemic violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 109 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Violence Against Women Act, or a claim under the False Claims Act related to fair housing, non-discrimination, or civil rights generally including an alleged failure to affirmatively further fair housing;

(4) Receipt of a letter of findings identifying systemic non-compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 109 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974; Violence Against Women Act; or the Americans with Disabilities Act; or

(5) Receipt of a cause determination from a substantially equivalent state or local fair housing agency concerning a systemic violation of provisions of a state or local law prohibiting discrimination in housing based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or lawful source of income.

b. HUD will determine if actions to resolve the charge, cause determination, lawsuit, or letter of findings taken before the application deadline date will resolve the matter. Examples of actions that may be sufficient to resolve the matter include, but are not limited to:

(1) Current compliance with a voluntary compliance agreement signed by all the parties;

(2) Current compliance with a HUD-approved conciliation agreement signed by all the parties;

(3) Current compliance with a conciliation agreement signed by all the parties and approved by the state governmental or local administrative agency with jurisdiction over the matter;

(4) Current compliance with a consent order or consent decree;

(5) Current compliance with a final judicial ruling or administrative ruling or decision; or

(6) Dismissal of charges.

2. Timely Submission of Applications

Applications submitted after the deadline stated within this NOFO that do not meet the requirements of the grace period policy are marked late. Late applications are ineligible and are not considered for funding. See Section IV. D. Application Submission Dates and Times.

3. Eligible Applicant

Applicants must be an eligible applicant in accordance with Section III.A of this NOFO and must identify which type of eligible applicant they are in their application.

Multijurisdictional entities must demonstrate partnership among all parties. The parties must demonstrate a partnership by attaching relevant documentation, such as a memorandum of understanding or another foundational document (such as a CDBG joint agreement between an urban county and a metropolitan city, HOME consortium agreement, joint powers agreement, interstate compact, or letter of intent) to an application.

4. Number of Applications

a. An eligible applicant may submit only one application.

b. If HUD receives multiple versions of an application, HUD will review the last version of the application that meets the timely receipt requirements. HUD will not consider another application (i.e., a prior version). If applicants find, after submitting an application, that they want to amend or adjust their application and it is prior to the deadline date, applicants must resubmit the entire application to ensure that HUD gets a complete application.

E. Statutory and Regulatory Requirements Affecting Eligibility Eligibility Requirements for Applicants of HUD’s Financial Assistance Programs The following requirements affect applicant eligibility. Detailed information on each requirement is found in the “Eligibility Requirements for Applicants of HUD’s Competitive Programs” document on HUD’s Funding Opportunities page. Applicants who fail to meet any of these eligibility requirements are deemed ineligible to receive HUD funding.

1. Universal Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM.gov) Requirements

2. Outstanding Delinquent Federal Debts

3. Debarments or Suspensions, or both

4. Mandatory Disclosure Requirement

5. Pre-selection Review of Performance

6. Sufficiency of Financial Management System https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/spm/gmomgmt/grantsinfo/fy24eligibility https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/spm/gmomgmt/grantsinfo/fy24eligibility

7. False Statements

8. Prohibition Against Lobbying Activities

In addition, each applicant under this NOFO must have the necessary processes and systems in place to comply with the Award Term in Appendix A of 2 CFR part 170 if the applicant receives an award, unless an exception applies as provided in 2 CFR170.110.

F. Program-Specific Requirements

1. National objectives. Each activity, other than general administration and planning, proposed to be carried out with PRO Housing assistance must meet a CDBG national objective pursuant to section 101(c) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974:

a. Benefiting low- and moderate-income persons,

b. Preventing or eliminating slums or blight, or

c. Meeting other community development needs having a particular urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community and other financial resources are not available to meet such needs

2. Eligible activities.

a. Each proposed activity must be eligible pursuant to section 105(a) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 and applicable program regulations at 24 CFR part 570, as applied and modified by this NOFO, or receive an eligibility waiver for the activity, requested in the application. Applicants may submit a waiver request pursuant to Appendix A (Waiver Requests) of this NOFO. HUD does not guarantee that it will grant such waivers, but it will evaluate any request prior to determining whether to award funds for an application. Please note that PRO Housing funds can be used for new construction of affordable accessible housing. HUD is waiving 42 U.S.C. 5305(a) and 24 CFR 570.207(b)(3) and adopting alternative requirements to the extent necessary to permit new construction of housing, subject to the same requirements that apply to rehabilitation activities under the provisions at section 105(a)(4) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(4)) and 24 CFR 570.202(b).

b. Eligible activities must identify and seek to remove one or more barriers to affordable housing production and preservation. Additionally, each proposed activity must do one or more of the following:

i. Further develop, evaluate, and implement housing policy plans

ii. Improve housing strategies

iii. Facilitate affordable housing production and preservation

c. Eligible activities may include, but are not limited to, the following:

i. Planning and policy activities supporting affordable housing. Grantees may use PRO Housing funds to develop proposals for planning and policy activities that support affordable housing production and preservation, including activities that build on previously enacted reforms that will lead to the development of more affordable housing. Grantees may not fund the general conduct of government, as described in Section III.F.3.e. Examples include but are not limited to:

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-I/part-170/appendix-Appendix%20A%20to%20Part%20170 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-I/part-170/subpart-A/section-170.110

A. Developing or updating housing plans, community development strategies, and zoning and land use policies such as overlays to encourage multifamily and mixed-use development or access to affordable housing, floating zones (such as redevelopment, workforce housing, or live/work zones in high opportunity areas), incentive zoning, transit-oriented development zones, floodplain management or climate resilience plans, or ordinances to encourage housing development or preservation B. Developing or updating housing plans, community development strategies, and zoning and land use policies to simplify, streamline, or change overlays that create a barrier to affordable housing development or preservation, such as architectural review or historic preservation overlays C. Developing proposals for new by-right permitting procedures to streamline affordable housing development and reduce discretionary approvals D. Developing new incentive programs for affordable housing development E. Expanding existing affordable housing incentive programs to wider geographies, including high-opportunity neighborhoods F. Developing proposals to reduce or eliminate requirements related to parking, building height, lot coverage, setbacks, minimum unit size, minimum lot size, floor area ratio, and other common land use controls G. Establishing incentive programs or flexibilities to enable and promote the adaptive reuse of vacant or underutilized properties for housing or mixed-use development H. Developing proposals to streamline and modernize local permit processing, such as by enabling one-stop or parallel-process permitting I. Developing proposals to streamline or eliminate requirements that unduly delay the permitting process or establish unreasonable thresholds for approvals, such as duplicative and burdensome hearings and documentation for variances, rezonings, or similar planning approvals J. Developing proposals to rezone to allow multifamily or mixed-use development including housing in office, commercial, and light industrial zones K. Developing proposals to expedite approvals for affordable housing development that meets certain criteria L. Developing proposals for higher-density zoning for current single-family and multi-family zones, including rezones to allow duplexes, triplexes, or fourplexes by-right in all areas zoned primarily for single-family homes and encourage property owners to ensure that any infill development improves or maintains walkability M. Establishing incentive programs, designing pre-approved floorplans, or introducing more flexible zoning to enable and promote accessory dwelling units N. Developing proposals to replace discretionary design review procedures with objective design and development standards O. Developing proposals to eliminate restrictions on lower-cost housing types such as prefabricated or manufactured homes P. Developing proposals to update zoning or incentives to facilitate affordable housing on land owned by faith-based organizations Q. Developing proposals to restructure fee schedules to eliminate burdensome costs for affordable housing development R. Creating affordable housing planning resources for member jurisdictions

S. Developing regional planning models that enhance location efficiency by focusing on connecting housing, transportation, and economic growth T. Providing affordable housing developers a first look at tax sale properties and other government properties U. Developing proposals to eliminate, subsidize, waive, or otherwise reduce fees or other costs of property subdivision that may discourage the construction of affordable housing V. Developing proposals for policies that incentivize mixed-income development, such as density bonuses for the inclusion of affordable units in market rate properties W. Developing proposals to reform building codes, including through adopting or modifying model codes or consensus standards, to facilitate more affordable housing or otherwise reduce construction costs X. Developing proposals to harmonize land-use policies or building codes among adjoining municipalities and facilitate consistent regional development standards that streamline housing development

ii. Development activities. Examples include:

A. Financing the construction or rehabilitation of affordable housing B. Acquisition or disposition of land or real property for the development of affordable housing C. Facilitating the conversion of commercial or other properties to new housing D. Establishing or assisting a community development financial institution (CDFI) to carry out financing strategies E. Providing large-scale technical assistance to affordable or non-profit developers, community land trusts, or other entities which leads to the development of affordable housing

iii. Infrastructure activities. Examples include:

A. Installing new utilities and/or infrastructure improvements necessary for the development or preservation of affordable housing B. Upgrading existing utilities or improvements to increase an area’s overall capacity for new housing C. Establishing tax-increment financing districts to fund infrastructure improvements or affordable housing development, especially those that incentivize affordable housing development D.