Waiver allows HUD funds to go to Windham County
MONTPELIER, Vt.—Vermont has been granted a waiver to use certain federal disaster relief funds in Windham County to recover from Tropical Storm Irene, Vermont's congressional delegation said.
The waiver applies to $21.6 million in Community Development Block Grant funds that the state received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in January.
The delegation said Friday that 80 percent of the funds were required to be used in the "most impacted and distressed" counties.
HUD's initial assessments of the Irene damage indicated that Washington and Windsor counties were most in need of the funding.
But the state requested that HUD funding also go to cover housing and economic recovery needs in Windham County.
The waiver allows the state to use up to $4.5 million in Windham County, the delegation said.
"This waiver provides crucial flexibility to the state and will help the cities and towns of Windham County continue on the road to recovery," U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch said in a joint statement.
