Second Supplemental Appropriations Disaster Relief Opportunity

Through this Second Supplemental Appropriations Disaster Relief Opportunity, EDA intends to award investments for expenses related to disaster relief, long-term recovery, and restoration of infrastructure related to the consequences of hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters of 2008 for which the President declared a major disaster under title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. § 5121 et seq.) (the “Stafford Act”). Pursuant to this announcement, EDA solicits applications for Economic Adjustment Assistance investments under PWEDA. Through the Economic Adjustment Assistance program (CFDA No. 11.307), selected applicants will utilize EDA’s flexible set of program tools to develop and implement on a regional basis long-term economic redevelopment strategies for the recently disaster-impacted regions in the United States. EDA seeks to fund planning (i.e., strategy grants) and implementation investments that generate new employment opportunities for regions suffering economic distress in the form of high unemployment, underemployment, low per capita incomes, and outmigration due to the 2008 natural disasters. The Economic Adjustment Assistance program can provide a wide range of technical, planning and infrastructure assistance. This program is designed to respond adaptively to pressing economic recovery issues and is well suited to help address the challenges faced by the regions affected by the hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters of 2008. EDA’s economic development activities encourage business growth and increased business establishment, retention and expansion, and help create jobs. Post-disaster recovery activities that do not contribute directly to these goals (such as flood mapping, levee public works or housing) are entirely necessary to the recovery effort and may lead indirectly to economic development. However, those types of activities are funded by other federal agencies and are therefore not within the province of the funding opportunities provided in this announcement. EDA’s statutory mandate, as applied to post-disaster assistance, is to help formulate and implement economic recovery strategies to restore, replace and expand economic activity in disaster-impacted regions and prioritize projects that will diversify the economic base and lead to a stronger, more globally competitive and disaster-resilient regional economy. By maintaining its focus on economic development, EDA fulfills its mission to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting innovation and competitiveness, preparing American regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy.