Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA2) — Undrawn Funds Assessment — U.S. Department of the Treasury (July 26, 2023)

Summary

This U.S. Department of the Treasury notice, dated July 26, 2023, concerns Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA2) under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and the ERA2 Final Undrawn Funds Assessment. It says ERA2 grantees have drawn down 99% of the ERA2 funds, so Treasury does not currently plan to conduct the optional Final Undrawn Funds Assessment or further rounds of general pool reallocation. It says Treasury will continue to process requests from grantees with undrawn funds to voluntarily reallocate those funds to an eligible in-state grantee. The notice states that across ERA1 and ERA2, grantees have made nearly 11 million unique household payments and committed over 90% of available funding, and that ERA2's period of performance ends on September 30, 2025.

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Full text

                                 U.S. Department of the Treasury
                              Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA2)
                           Under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
                   Notice Regarding the ERA2 Final Undrawn Funds Assessment
                                          July 26, 2023


This notice provides information on the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s plans for ERA2
reallocation following the Quarter 3 2022 Assessment under the ERA2 Reallocation Guidance
published on March 30, 2022 and updated on June 30 and November 15, 2022 (as amended, the
Guidance). 1

Section 3201(e) of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 requires Treasury to reallocate among
eligible grantees 2 funds not yet drawn by the grantees to which such funds were initially allocated.
To carry out this duty, the Guidance provides for quarterly “assessments” to determine the amount
of each grantee’s “excess funds” subject to reallocation. 3

As of the date of this notice, ERA2 grantees have drawn down 99% of the ERA2 funds made
available by the American Rescue Plan Act, diminishing the need to conduct additional
reallocation following the already-completed Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 2022 Assessments.
Accordingly, Treasury does not currently plan to conduct the optional Final Undrawn Funds
Assessment described in the Guidance or to perform further rounds of undirected (or
“general pool”) reallocation. Treasury will continue to process requests from grantees with
undrawn funds to voluntarily reallocate those funds to an eligible in-state grantee, as provided in
the Guidance.

This determination is based on state and local governments’ creation of unprecedented rental
assistance infrastructure to deliver funds to families in need under the Emergency Rental
Assistance programs. 4 Across ERA1 and ERA2, grantees have made nearly 11 million unique
household payments and committed over 90% of available funding to assist renters and their
families at risk of eviction during the pandemic.

With ERA funds almost fully exhausted, Treasury is making this announcement to allow grantees
with remaining funds to plan ahead for their programs. Treasury encourages grantees to continue to
use ERA funds to make long-term investments in affordable housing and eviction prevention
infrastructure, consistent with their jurisdictional needs, through the end of ERA2’s period of
performance on September 30, 2025. Treasury further encourages states, territories, and local

1
  The Guidance is available on Treasury’s website for the ERA program: https://treasury.gov/era.
2
  “Grantees” are states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and units of local government participating in the
ERA2 program.
3
  With respect to the last of these assessments, the Guidance states that “Treasury may determine any ERA2 funds that
are undrawn as of December 31, 2022 to be excess funds subject to reallocation.” Each grantee’s first tranche of funds,
comprising 40% of the grantee’s initial ERA2 allocation, is exempt from this provision of the Guidance and is not
subject to reallocation.
4
  Congress authorized ERA1 under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 and ERA2 under the American Rescue
Plan Act of 2021.
                                                          1
governments to build on their ERA infrastructure with other sources of funding to extend these key
initiatives.

If the ERA2 allocation of one or more grantees still includes significant undrawn funds in advance
of the end of the period of performance, Treasury may elect to reallocate those funds. Treasury
does not currently anticipate making any further excess funds determinations and will do so only if
necessary to ensure available funds are obligated by ERA2’s statutory deadline, September 30,
2025. However, any grantee that has not drawn its total ERA2 allocation by the end of 2024
should prepare for the possibility that such funds will be deemed excess funds and
reallocated.

Treasury continues to urge grantees to promptly deploy remaining ERA2 funds, including for
eviction prevention and affordable housing initiatives as provided in the ERA2 statute and the ERA
FAQs. 5 In the statutes authorizing ERA, Congress instructed Treasury to reallocate funds to
eligible grantees, and Treasury has consistently worked to redirect resources to grantees with
demonstrated jurisdictional needs and the capacity to deliver assistance. As a result of Treasury’s
efforts, reallocation across ERA1 and ERA2 has helped deploy approximately $4.8 billion to
support renters in need—funds that may have otherwise gone unspent. Most of these reallocated
funds represent reallocations between grantees in the same state, facilitated by Treasury.




5
 See ERA FAQ 46, https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-state-local-and-tribal-
governments/emergency-rental-assistance-program/faqs#46.
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