Civic Data Works · the law
Sec. 104: the public land database every CDBG grantee now needs
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law on July 11, 2026. Buried in Sec. 104 is a hard requirement with a hard date: publish a searchable database of the undeveloped land your jurisdiction owns, by October 1, 2026.
The exact words
CDBG grants may be made only if the grantee certifies that, among the other §104(b) conditions:
“…the grantee maintains, on a publicly accessible website, a searchable database that identifies all parcels of undeveloped land owned by the grantee.”
Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 §104(b)(7), 42 U.S.C. 5304(b), as added by Public Law 119-101 · read the enrolled bill
Who it covers
Every CDBG grantee: 1,047 entitlement cities, 198 urban counties, the 51 state programs, and insular areas. Note the word “grantee” — the database covers land the grantee owns. A small town that gets CDBG through its state isn't directly bound; its state program is.
What the database must be
The statute sets three tests and no field list: publicly accessible website, searchable, all parcels of undeveloped land owned by the grantee. Congress didn't define “undeveloped” and HUD has issued no guidance — each grantee documents its own reasonable reading. A PDF is hard to defend as “searchable”; a real queryable table with a map and download is the safe shape.
The deadline and the teeth
Effective October 1, 2026. No fines — the database is now part of the CDBG certification itself, so the exposure is your certification and your next HUD monitoring visit, not a penalty schedule.
Who pays for it
Your CDBG grant can. The Act adds “the creation and maintenance of a database of land as required under section 104(b)(7)” to the eligible-activity list (HCDA §105(a)(27), 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)). Compliance is fundable with money you already have.
The fastest path
Your county assessor already knows every parcel recorded under your city's name. We pre-build the draft from those records, your staff confirms it line-by-line, and the confirmed inventory goes live with a compliance memo for your CDBG file — typically within a week. Here's how the service works, or email us with questions.