Category: Announcements

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Blue Acres $34M HUD-funded Buyout Eligibility Application Opens for Authorized Homeowners

Last modified on November 16th, 2023 at 11:25 am

May 18, 2023

Flooding in New Jersey after Ida in September 2021. Photo Credit: Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Blue Acres is now accepting HUD Buyout Eligibility Applications from homeowners, in consultation with the NJ Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Division of Disaster Recovery and Mitigation (DDRM) and the NJ Governor’s Disaster Recovery Office.

HUD buyout eligibility intake invitations were emailed out and the homeowner response window closes June 22, 2023. Blue Acres has $34M in HUD Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds for buyouts post-Hurricane Ida.

Here is a fact sheet on Blue Acres buyouts funded by HUD.

More Details:

Homeowners were invited to complete the HUD Buyout Eligibility Application if they met the criteria below, which are guided by HUD’s spending requirements and national objectives:

  • The homeowner expressed interest in a buyout by submitting the Blue Acres Application for Acquisition before May 3, 2023, and provided an e-mail address in connection with the application.
  • The buyout property is in a county declared “Most Impacted and Distressed” after Ida in September 2021: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Passaic, Somerset, Union, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Warren.
  • The buyout property is in a Low-to-Moderate Income census block group, according to HUD data.

Approximately 150 homeowners who met the above requirements received the HUD Buyout Eligibility Application via email on May 8th, 2023. Blue Acres staff are available to directly assist homeowners with application questions and concerns. For technical issues with the HUD Buyout Eligibility Application online applications, please contact blueacres@deptest.nj.gov and include screenshots of any error messages if applicable.

This intake round for HUD Buyout Eligibility Applications will close on June 22, 2023. When the intake round closes, Blue Acres will analyze all completed applications and develop a buyout plan, in partnership with DCA, to ensure full use of the $34M in HUD CDBG-DR funding. Blue Acres will open additional intake rounds as necessary; for example, if the first intake round does not yield enough eligible applicants to fully spend DEP’s post-Ida HUD buyout funding or if additional funding is made available.

Hurricane Ida Recovery Community Meeting in Manville on March 14, 2023.

The HUD Buyout Eligibility Application is designed to determine whether willing seller homeowners meet HUD’s income eligibility criteria established for a HUD-funded buyout. Not all homeowners who complete the HUD Buyout Eligibility Application are expected to be eligible for a HUD CDBG-DR buyout. Homeowners who are deemed eligible based on their completed HUD application will be notified and proposed for a Blue Acres buyout funded by HUD later this summer. All other homeowners interested in a Blue Acres buyout will be carried forward for future buyout planning and grant making opportunities.

To prepare for the launch of the HUD Buyout Eligibility Application, Blue Acres participated in community meetings in Ida-impacted counties, focused on promoting awareness of disaster recovery assistance available through programs funded by HUD CDBG-DR. These community meetings were hosted by partners including DCA and New Jersey Organizing Project. Learn more about additional Ida recovery programs that DCA is administering.

Blue Acres is administering these HUD CDBG-DR funds in partnership with the DCA, and in accordance with the Hurricane Ida Action Plan.

All state led buyouts via Blue Acres must be from willing sellers, and homeowners can express their voluntary interest to sell by completing and submitting a Blue Acres Application for Acquisition online or via post mail. More details about the Blue Acres program is available on the website.

Blue Acres prepares and submits buyout funding requests on an ongoing basis to various federal sources with differing homeowner eligibility requirements. Currently, Blue Acres anticipates that its next funding request will be submitted to FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant Program.

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Blue Acres Applies for $40M FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant for Buyouts Across 20 Communities, 8 Counties

Last modified on November 16th, 2023 at 11:26 am

December 22, 2022

In consultation with its state and local partners, Blue Acres has submitted a funding request to FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) under NJ-DR-4488 to purchase and demolish 96 homes across 20 municipalities and 8 counties.

Click image to open full size in new tab.

Blue Acres identified the 96 residential properties which have a strong history of flooding and damage because they were severely impacted by Ida in September 2021. The properties also meet the eligibility requirements of the federal funding source and the goals of the state hazard mitigation plan. Specifically:

  • 43 homes were “substantially damaged” because of Ida (this means the local floodplain manager certified that the home’s damage was greater than 50% of the building’s value);
  • 42 homes are located within the floodway (this means the home sits in the channel of a river or watercourse, within the area of direct hydrological flow or in the adjacent buffer area reserved to reduce flood volume during a significant storm event);
  • 53 homes are located in the flood fringe, which is beyond the floodway but within the 100-year floodplain (this means the home has a 1% chance of seeing a base flood every year, as mapped by FEMA and publicly available);
  • 75 homes have “repetitive losses” or “severe repetitive losses” (this is determined by calculating damage claims over time, against policy coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program); and
  • 59 homes are located within areas identified as overburdened or socially vulnerable, per New Jersey’s environmental justice law and/or the CDC’s social vulnerability index.

The application covers properties in the following 20 communities across 8 counties:

  • Bergen County: Borough of Hillsdale and Borough of New Milford
  • Hunterdon County: Township of Delaware and City of Lambertville
  • Mercer County: Township of Hopewell
  • Middlesex County: Borough of Dunellen, Borough of Highland Park, Borough of Middlesex, Borough of South Plainfield, and Township of Woodbridge
  • Morris County: Borough of Lincoln Park
  • Passaic County: City of Clifton
  • Somerset County: Township of Bernards, Township of Branchburg, Township of Hillsborough, Borough of Manville, Borough of Millstone, Township of Montgomery, and Borough of Raritan
  • Union County: City of Rahway

The property owners have been notified about the funding request and they will be updated with information regarding the award as soon as FEMA completes its review and announces a funding decision. All Blue Acres acquisitions must be from willing sellers. Most property owners in the FEMA HMGP funding request have submitted Blue Acres buyout applications, but new homeowners can express their voluntary interest to sell by completing and submitting an Application for Acquisition online or via post mail. 

The funding request from Blue Acres seeks the full $40M that Governor Murphy committed for buyouts out of the nearly $150M federal funds allocated to New Jersey for disaster recovery in response to presidentially-declared disaster DR-4488-NJ. Blue Acres prepares and submits buyout funding applications, on an ongoing basis. Blue Acres anticipates that its next funding request will be for buyouts under HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program.

If funded, this project will advance implementation of the 2021 New Jersey Climate Change Resilience Strategy which specifically recommends incentivizing movement to safer areas by buying out repeatedly flooding properties and deploying natural or nature-based solutions for resilience. It will also advance state and federal environmental justice goals, in that thirteen of the properties are located within areas identified as overburdened or socially vulnerable, per New Jersey’s environmental justice law and/or the CDC’s social vulnerability index.

Buyouts are the most permanent and cost-effective mitigation project for protecting human lives and private property against inevitable future flood events. When homes are removed from the floodplain, there are fewer people who will need assistance evacuating in times of disaster. There are also fewer residential structures contributing to and exposed to hazard conditions, including debris, contaminants, and gas and power lines. After a buyout, the land is preserved as open space, providing community benefits such as floodwater absorption, wetland transition areas and reducing the need for future disaster response by police, fire, emergency crews and other first responders. 

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Blue Acres Receives $10M from FEMA for Buyouts in the Borough of Manville

Last modified on December 7th, 2022 at 9:44 am

December 5, 2022

On December 1, 2022, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) grant program approved $10 million for the voluntary buyout of 31 homes in flood-prone sections of Manville. The Borough of Manville sustained extensive flooding from the Raritan River and Millstone River, as remnants of Hurricane Ida came through New Jersey in September of 2021.

Maxar satellite imagery shows flooding in Manville from remnants of Hurricane Ida in September 2021.

The approval comes in response to a funding request DEP Blue Acres submitted on July 29, 2022. The $10 million award reflects the full amount of funding allocated to New Jersey through FEMA FMA’s “Swift Current” initiative which seeks to expedite the distribution of assistance to disaster survivors and in advance of FMA’s annual grant process.

Blue Acres directly notified the homeowners when the application was submitted and again when the award was announced. Properties not part of the FMA Swift Current buyout project in Manville will continue to be considered for inclusion within forthcoming and rolling grant applications prepared by Blue Acres in coordination with its partners. In the coming weeks, DEP will be guiding individual homeowners throughout the buyout process to reduce red tape and provide a facilitated experience.

All 31 properties approved for FEMA Swift Current funding meet one or more eligibility requirements of the Swift Current initiative, such as:

  • the home is covered by an active flood insurance policy under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP);
  • the home is within the 100-year floodplain, or Special Flood Hazard Area (this means the property has a 1% chance of seeing a base flood every year, as mapped by FEMA and publicly available);
  • the home incurred “substantial damages” because of Hurricane Ida (this means the local floodplain manager certified that the home’s damage was greater than 50% of the building’s value); or,
  • the home incurred “repetitive losses” or “severe repetitive losses” because of Hurricane Ida (this is determined by calculating damage claims over time covered by a contract under the NFIP).

28 out of the 31 homes incurred severe repetitive losses over the years and/or were designated substantially damaged by Ida. FEMA is funding either 90% or 100% for each house, depending on its flood loss severity.

This funding award will advance implementation of the 2021 New Jersey Climate Change Resilience Strategy which specifically recommends incentivizing movement to safer areas by buying out repeatedly flooding properties and deploying natural or nature-based solutions for resilience. It will also advance state and federal environmental justice goals, in that thirteen of the properties are located within areas identified as overburdened or socially vulnerable, per New Jersey’s environmental justice law and/or the CDC’s social vulnerability index.

See FEMA’s Swift Current award announcement here.

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Blue Acres Applies to FEMA for $10M in Buyouts in the Borough of Manville

Last modified on December 7th, 2022 at 9:44 am

August 31, 2022

In consultation with NJ Office of Emergency Management, NJ Governor’s Disaster Recovery Office, the Borough of Manville, and other local partners, Blue Acres has submitted an application to FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance program to fund buyouts for 31 homes in the Borough of Manville in Somerset County. The Borough of Manville sustained extensive flooding from the Raritan River and Millstone River, as remnants of Hurricane Ida came through New Jersey in September of 2021. 

Maxar satellite imagery shows flooding in Manville from remnants of Hurricane Ida in September 2021.

Blue Acres’ application requests the full $10M allocation made available to New Jersey through the FMA grant program’s Swift Current Initiative which was designed to make flood mitigation assistance available to homeowners in a timelier fashion than is feasible under traditional disaster recovery funding cycles and opportunities. 

The 31 properties included in the application all meet the Swift Current Initiative’s funding eligibility requirements, as actively insured by FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program and designated as Severe Repetitive Loss, Repetitive Loss, or Substantially Damaged as a result of Hurricane Ida. Additionally, all 31 properties are located within a FEMA flood zone, and several are located within areas of relatively high social vulnerability according to prevailing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

The owners of the 31 properties have been notified about the application submission and they will be updated with information regarding the award as soon as FEMA completes its review and announces a decision. All Blue Acres acquisitions must be from willing sellers, and homeowners can express their voluntary interest to sell by completing and submitting an offer application online or via post mail.       

Blue Acres prepares and submits buyout funding applications, in an ongoing basis, to various federal sources with differing requirements for property eligibility. Currently, Blue Acres anticipates that its next application will be submitted to FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program for $40M, a portion dedicated for acquisitions by the Murphy Administration from emergency aid made available to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by the coronavirus pandemic.