Housing & Development

Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, (D-Wash.) ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced that the U.S. Forest Service will provide nearly $19 million to communities near national forests in Washington state and will hold an additional listening session on the proposed Northwest Forest Plan near the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest on Tuesday, May 5.

In support of the President’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, today at the National Hydropower Association Annual Conference, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy David Danielson announced the release of the 2014 Hydropower Market Report, the first ever report to quantify the current size, scope, and variability of our nation’s hydropower supplies.

Analysis from the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) finds that by making shared solar programs available to households and businesses that currently cannot host on-site photovoltaic (PV) systems shared solar could represent 32 to 49 percent of the distributed photovoltaic market in 2020.

Register online for the National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA)’s Public Policy Issues summer forum in Las Vegas and cross one more item off the to-do list. Visit the Meetings page at www.nahma.org to register. The housing request deadline is May

Journalists who attend NAREE's Spring Conference in Miami can interview dozens of the world's top real estate newsmakers, tour the country's hottest luxury condo market and hone their digital reporting skills.

AGC has celebrated Earth Day (officially April 22) all week long by releasing an article a day exploring how the construction industry contributes to building a green future.  You can help us get the word out by linking to these articles via social media during “Earth Week.”  AGC has explored green buildings, roads, infrastructure, and homes; this final article in the series brings all of these components together and looks at green communities

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, released improved guidelines for the Distressed Asset Stabilization Program, or DASP, the agency’s nonperforming loan sale program. Program improvements appear to include: a commitment to selling more loans through special pools that require investors to achieve a certain percentage of outcomes that help the surrounding neighborhood; the creation of special auctions for nonprofit bidders only; a 12-month foreclosure moratorium on all loans sold through the program; higher standards for loan modifications

HUD announced significant changes to its Distressed Asset Stabilization Program (DASP). In an effort to better serve homeowners looking to avoid foreclosure, loan servicers will now be required to delay foreclosure for a year and to evaluate all borrowers for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) or a similar loss mitigation program. HUD is making additional improvements to the Neighborhood Stabilization Outcome (NSO) sales portion of DASP which are aimed at increasing non-profit participation.

The Alliance to Save Energy’s (Alliance) Board of Directors elected Jane Palmieri, business president of Dow Building and Construction at The Dow Chemical Company, to serve as Industry Co-Chair. Palmieri is the first woman to hold this post and the Alliance’s top three leadership positions are now all held by women: Palmieri, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Alliance President Kateri Callahan. Palmieri replaces Jorge Carrasco as Co-Chair, who is retiring from his position as General Manager and CEO at Seattle City Light and therefore resigning his seat on the Alliance Board.

Border security is a core mission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Department has deployed historic levels of front-line personnel, technology, and infrastructure to the border to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit contraband while, at the same time, fostering legal trade and travel.

In accordance with the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, HUD published a Notice in the April 24, 2015, Federal Register identifying Federal buildings and other real property HUD has reviewed for suitability for use to assist the homeless. The properties were reviewed using information provided to HUD by Federal landholding agencies or by GSA regarding their inventories of excess or surplus property. The list includes buildings and properties in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey

In order to expand eligibility for the Veterans Choice Program, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced that it will determine eligibility for the Veterans Choice Program based on the distance between a veteran’s place of residence and the nearest VA medical facility using driving distance rather than straight-line distance. This change has been published in the Federal Register and is effective immediately.

This week the House Appropriations Committee approved by voice vote two fiscal year (FY) 2016 appropriations bills: Energy-Water and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs. Both the Energy-Water and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs bills were funded above their FY2015 enacted levels, with Energy-Water receiving a $1.2 billion increase and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs receiving a $4.6 billion increase.

“The administration’s Quadrennial Energy Review highlights the importance of electricity transmission to bringing our power grid into the 21st century and saving consumers money by making renewable energy more widely available."

First Lady Michelle Obama praised the renewable energy sector for its efforts to make good jobs available for U.S. military veterans, in marking the fourth anniversary of Joining Forces, the veterans advocacy initiative she co-leads with Dr. Jill Biden.