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___________________________________ <br />Citizen Participation Plan <br />City of San Leandro <br />Page 9 of 14 <br /> <br />In response to the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19), the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and <br />Economic Security Act (CARES Act), Public Law 116-136 was adopted and authorized on <br />March 27, 2020. The CARES Act allows the U.S. Department of Housing and Community <br />Development (HUD) to waive or specify alternative requirements to expedite distribution of <br />funding in response to COVID-19. Soon after the signing of the CARES Act, HUD issued <br />guidance that allows cities to shorten the public comment period for amending the Citizen <br />Participation Plan to maximize the use of CDBG and CDBG-CV funds allocated to entitlement <br />jurisdictions. As a result, on April 13, 2020, HUD issued a waiver to the City of San Leandro <br />that permits a reduced period of 5 days for public noticing and public comment. <br /> <br />6.3.2 EMERGENCY RESPONSE & EXPEDITED SUBSTANTIAL AMENDMENTS <br />1. Declaration of a Disaster and/or Emergency: It may be necessary to expedite Substantial <br />Amendments to the Consolidated Plan and/or Annual Action Plan(s) in the event of a declared <br />disaster or emergency. There are three types of disasters/emergency events that may necessitate <br />an expedited substantial amendment including (1) Human-made disasters, (2) Natural disasters, <br />and (3) Terrorism. Human-made disasters can include chemical spills, mass rioting, power <br />outages, dam failure, plant explosions, etc. Natural disasters can include earthquakes, tsunamis, <br />hurricanes, tornadoes, wild fires, flooding and public health crises such as wide-spread disease <br />such as the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Terrorism events include bomb threats, <br />biochemical attacks like the spread of anthrax, or cyber-attacks like hacking, phishing, and virus <br />distribution, etc. <br />2. Substantial Amendment(s): Expedited Substantial Amendments may include funding new <br />activities and/or the reprogramming of funds including canceling activities to meet needs <br />resulting from a declared disaster or emergency. The City of San Leandro may utilize CDBG or <br />HOME funds to meet these needs. <br />3. Use of funds: With respect to a declared disaster, the City of San Leandro may elect to use <br />CDBG or HOME funds to address needs not provided for by the Federal Emergency Manager <br />Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA), or other disaster relief efforts. <br />Funding for disaster relief may not duplicate other efforts undertaken by federal or local sources <br />unless allowed by the federal government. Potential eligible uses of funds are those that are <br />included in this Citizen Participation Plan, the Consolidated Plan, Annual Action Plan or any <br />other CDBG or HOME eligible use. HUD may provide new guidance on eligible uses in which <br />the City will comply with and may utilize as well. All eligible CDBG activities, including those <br />to address declared disasters or emergencies, must meet one of three national objectives which <br />are: (1) Benefit to low- and moderate-income (LMI) persons; (2) Aid in the prevention of slums <br />or blight; and (3) Meet a need having a particular urgency (referred to urgent need). The City of <br />San Leandro may carryout eligible CDBG activities to meet needs resulting from declared <br />disasters or emergencies under any one of the three national objectives. <br />4. Urgent Need National Objective: To comply with the CDBG National Objective of meeting <br />community development needs having particular urgency, an activity will alleviate existing <br />conditions that the City of San Leandro certifies: (1) Pose a serious and immediate threat to the <br />health and welfare of the community; (2) Are of recent origin or recently became urgent; (3) The <br />78