Colorado submits application for National Disaster Resilience Competition

Press Release

Gov. Hickenlooper today announced that Colorado's application was submitted for the National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC), a billion dollar federal competition for communities that have been struck by natural disasters in recent years. The NDRC was announced in July 2014 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

"Resiliency planning is not something that Colorado simply wants to do, it is something that we must do to ensure our safety, vitality and unique way of life for future generations," said Hickenlooper.

The NDRC makes available $1 billion in funds, with a maximum award of $500 million. Eligible applicants must successfully develop innovative resilience projects that both address unmet needs from federally-declared disasters in 2011 through 2013. Colorado is one of 67 eligible applicants for the NDRC.

As part of the application, Colorado proposes the development of local resilience strategies and the implementation of those strategies through innovative public-private partnerships. The partnerships will create a lasting funding mechanism for resiliency in disaster impacted areas throughout Colorado.

The application also explains how communities can apply for resiliency project funds by meeting the criteria developed through the Colorado Resiliency Framework. The framework is set to be adopted by Hickenlooper in May 2015.

Colorado's recovery and commitment to rebuild from recent disasters continues:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced $56.9 million in National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) funds for flood impacted watersheds. The Colorado Water Conservation Board will be administering these funds on behalf of the state. Program guidelines for these funds are expected to be be available this summer. The state will be providing a 12.5 percent match for construction costs on projects that use these NRCS funds.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) third award of $58.2 million is currently being drafted. The amendment will be available April 1, 2015 until April 30, 2015 for public comment at http://dola.colorado.gov/cdbg-dr. This is the third tranche bringing CDBG-DR funds after the 2013 floods to approximately $320 million.

The FEMA temporary housing mission serving Colorado came to a close March 14, 2015. This successful close out was a collaborative effort amongst the Governor's Colorado Recovery Office, FEMA, the Colorado Division of Housing and Disaster Case Managers from the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) continues to work to complete permanent road repairs after the 2013 flooding disaster.

Coloradans can participate in drafting of the State Resiliency Framework:

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