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Building on the President’s Climate Action Plan, the Corporation for National Community Service (CNCS) and Federal partners, along with The Rockefeller Foundation and Cities of Service, today announced the selection of ten Resilience AmeriCorps cities. Today’s announcement responds to a recommendation made by the President’s State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience to enhance commitments to building resilience in vulnerable communities disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change – many of which are already facing economic or health-related challenges

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) issued the following statement on the death of three firefighters fighting the Twisp River Fire near the town of Twisp, Wash

The percentage of renewable electricity purchased by U.S. companies in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector is growing and will likely increase significantly by the start of the next decade, according to a first-ever analysis by the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Fire departments in Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico have been awarded more than $2.4 million in preparedness grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In Arkansas, the grants total $413,524 and cover firefighting equipment for the Lake Village Fire Department and the Lone Rock Volunteer Fire Department in Norfork.

Individuals affected by Typhoon Soudelor that occurred August 1-3, 2015 are urged to begin cleaning up their homes and personal property as soon as possible. Officials from the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) emphasize that it is not necessary to wait for a housing inspection before beginning this process.

The Federal Housing Administration today announced a new method for evaluating the lending practices of FHA-approved lenders and understanding the sorts of borrowers they are serving. FHA’s new Supplemental Performance Metric will complement the agency’s existing ‘compare ratio’ and offer more nuanced insight into a lender’s specific performance while encouraging lenders to serve eligible underserved borrowers.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast of the United States, forcing more than a million people from their homes and tragically taking more than 1,800 lives.  Katrina remains the most devastating and costliest natural disaster in our nation’s history.  Today, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro and a team

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for July 2015

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that it has revised its regulation regarding the presence of animals on VA property. The updated regulation will ensure VA practices remain consistent with applicable federal law. It will also assist individuals entering VA facilities in developing a clear and consistent understanding of the criteria governing facility access for service animals.

Government should not be permitted to tell property owners, in essence, “the more land you own, the less you’ll be allowed to use.”  So argue Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the constitutional takings case of Donna Murr and her siblings Joseph Murr, Michael Murr, and Peggy Heaver.  They have been barred from developing a vacant lot they own along the St. Croix River, in St. Croix County, Wisconsin — and a state appellate court said they weren’t entitled to Fifth Amendment takings compensation because they also own a neighboring lot with a recreational cabin on it

The Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will serve as the lead organization in developing a tool travelers and transportation officials can use in helping guide people through a city in the most energy-efficient way possible

USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Lisa Mensah today joined U.S. Senator John Hoeven to announce that Central Power Electric Cooperative will receive a $46 million loan from USDA to make critical infrastructure improvements.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Lisa Mensah joined Under Secretary Kevin Concannon of the Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, community members, and residents of the Laurel Woods Apartments in Ashland, Va., to celebrate an interagency partnership against childhood hunger

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that three Maryland men have agreed to settle charges that they defrauded investors in a company that owns and operates residential and commercial real estate. Boston-based Signator Investors Inc. and one of its supervisors agreed to settle separate charges that they failed to supervise two of the men who worked in Signator’s Maryland office.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today unveiled the HUD Resource Locator – an innovative mobile app and website to further expand and enhance traditional HUD customer service.  The resource locator will offer real-time HUD housing information at the fingertips of people looking to quickly connect with building managers, public housing authority representatives, and property management companies to inquire about housing availability and other housing-related questions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a poster contest to highlight green infrastructure and low-impact development projects in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. Did your business build a parking garage with a green roof? Do your city government buildings harvest rainwater? EPA wants to hear about projects like these in preparation for the EPA Region 6 Stormwater Conference.

Enterprise Community Partners Inc. (Enterprise), a national organization that creates and advocates for affordable housing in thriving communities, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today released a national emergency preparedness staffing toolkit for multifamily housing. Enterprise and HUD developed Ready to Respond: Disaster Staffing Toolkit to help affordable housing organizations build emergency plans that promote business continuity, resident engagement and building protection

As part of the Obama Administration’s effort to cut energy waste in the nation’s buildings, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today recognized Arizona’s Dysart Unified School District (USD) for increasing the use of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies at 25 schools. Through the department’s Better Buildings Challenge, Dysart USD has committed to 20 percent energy savings over 10 years, spanning more than three million square feet of building space.

The installed price of distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the United States continues to fall precipitously. This is according to the latest edition of Tracking the Sun, an annual PV cost tracking report produced by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 36 months in prison for his role in a large-scale mortgage fraud scheme that caused millions of dollars in losses, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.