NORTH CAROLINA -- The Trump administration will introduce guidelines for another chunk of Hurricane Matthew aid sometime in the next month, moving North Carolina one step closer to receiving an additional $168 million in federal assistance.

• Sec. Ben Carson said HUD will officially post the federal register notice for 2016 and 2017 disaster aid by May 1.
• The North Carolina funding is for mitigation projects, meaning it will be put toward helping reduce the potential impact of future storms.
• North Carolina has already been awarded more than $200 million in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

Appearing before a House panel, Sec. Ben Carson said the Department of Housing and Urban Development will officially post the federal register notice for 2016 and 2017 disaster aid by May 1.

The funding was approved by Congress about a year ago, but so far North Carolina has not had access to it because HUD had not laid out the ground rules for how the money can be spent. In announcing the timeline, Carson noted that the guidelines will be introduced “a couple of months ahead of when we had promised it.”

Carson was appearing before a subcommittee chaired by Rep. David Price, who stressed the urgency of the need.

“You understand very well the pressure on this and the feelings we’re all feeling we need to get this notice out and get this money flowing. We’re talking about disasters that go back to 2016,” Price said.

The North Carolina funding is for mitigation projects, meaning it will be put toward helping reduce the potential impact of future storms.

Once HUD announces its guidelines, it does not mean the cash automatically starts flowing into North Carolina communities. The state will still need to work with HUD to create an official plan for the funding in accordance with HUD’s rules, according to a spokesman for the state’s Emergency Management office.

In a statement, Mike Sprayberry, the director of North Carolina Emergency Management, said Carson’s new timeline is “great news for North Carolina families and communities working hard to recover and rebuild, many of them damaged by both hurricanes Matthew and Florence."

“Our disaster recovery team is prepared to take this funding and aggressively build back stronger and smarter to help ensure a more resilient state,” he continued.

North Carolina has already been awarded more than $200 million in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. The Cooper administration has faced criticism for the speed at which that funding has been distributed.