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Public Law 119-101 · 42 U.S.C. 5304(b)(7)
The Public Land Database: what every CDBG grantee must do by October 1, 2026
Everything a CDBG grantee needs to know about the new public land database requirement — what the law actually says, who it covers, how to pay for it, and how to comply before the deadline.
1. The statute
What the law says
On July 11, 2026, Congress enacted Public Law 119-101, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Section 2 of the Act — which originated as Section 104 of the bill, the name this requirement usually goes by — added a new certification condition to the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, codified at 42 U.S.C. 5304(b)(7).
“(7) the grantee maintains, on a publicly accessible website, a searchable database that identifies all parcels of undeveloped land owned by the grantee.”
42 U.S.C. § 5304(b)(7), added by Public Law 119-101 (July 11, 2026)
The requirement takes effect October 1, 2026. From that date, maintaining this database isn’t a best practice or a recommendation — it’s one of the certifications a CDBG grantee has to make truthfully in order to receive its grant.
2. Coverage
Who must comply
The requirement applies to every jurisdiction that receives Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding:
- CDBG entitlement grantees — cities and urban counties that receive CDBG funds directly from HUD.
- State CDBG programs, and by extension the non-entitlement local governments they fund.
Because the requirement sits in 42 U.S.C. 5304(b) — the certifications section of the Act — it isn’t a side program requirement. It’s part of what a grantee certifies to be true when it accepts CDBG funds.
3. The standard
What counts as compliant
The statutory text is short, but it sets three concrete requirements:
- Publicly accessible. Live on the open web, with no login or request process required to view it.
- Searchable. A resident or staff member can find a specific parcel — not just scroll a static PDF or spreadsheet.
- Complete. It identifies all parcels of undeveloped land the grantee owns, not a partial or sample list.
Because it’s a public-facing government resource, we’d also expect it to meet Section 508 / WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards — the same bar the rest of a jurisdiction’s official website is held to.
4. Funding
How to pay for it
The same law that creates the requirement also makes it fundable. Public Law 119-101 added a new eligible activity to the CDBG program:
“(27) the creation and maintenance of a database of land as required under section 104(b)(7).”
42 U.S.C. § 5305(a)(27), added by Public Law 119-101
In practice, that means most grantees can fund the database from their existing CDBG allocation — no separate appropriation or budget request needed.
Depending on cost, many jurisdictions can procure a service like this as a micro-purchase, without a competitive bid process. The micro-purchase threshold is defined in 2 CFR 200.1 and is adjusted periodically, and your own agency’s written procurement policy may set a lower threshold than the federal maximum — check both before proceeding.
5. The stakes
What happens if you do nothing
This is a certification-of-funding requirement, not a separate penalty program. Because 42 U.S.C. 5304(b)(7) sits within the certifications a CDBG grantee makes to receive its grant, a jurisdiction that has not published a compliant database by October 1, 2026 has not met one of the conditions attached to that funding.
The practical fix is straightforward, and most jurisdictions have time to handle it in the ordinary course of business — the section below covers what that looks like.
6. The turnkey path
How to comply in days, not months.
Public Land Index turns your jurisdiction’s own parcel data into a compliant, searchable database — built from the same process already in place for hundreds of jurisdictions.
Embedded or linked
Drop it into your official website as a simple embed, or link out to it directly — either way, it reads as part of your jurisdiction’s own site.
HUD-ready reporting
Data refreshes on a schedule we agree with you, and a compliance report demonstrating the database meets Section 104 is available on request.
7. Looking ahead
What’s next in regulation
Public Law 119-101 is a statute — the underlying law. HUD is expected to issue implementing regulations at 24 CFR that spell out the operational details of this requirement in more depth, as it typically does after Congress amends the Housing and Community Development Act.
No such rule has been proposed or finalized as of this writing, so we won’t guess at a citation that doesn’t exist yet. We’ll update this page — including this section — as soon as HUD issues proposed or final rules.
Common questions
Questions about the requirement.
Public Law 119-101, enacted July 11, 2026, added 42 U.S.C. 5304(b)(7): every CDBG grantee must maintain, on a publicly accessible website, a searchable database that identifies all parcels of undeveloped land it owns. The requirement takes effect October 1, 2026.
Every CDBG grantee — entitlement cities and counties that receive CDBG funds directly from HUD, and state CDBG programs. Because the requirement sits in 42 U.S.C. 5304(b), it is a certification condition of receiving CDBG funds, not an optional best practice.
A database that is publicly accessible on the open web, searchable rather than a static document, and identifies all parcels of undeveloped land the grantee owns. As a public-facing government resource, it should also meet Section 508 / WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.
The same law that creates the requirement makes it an eligible CDBG activity under 42 U.S.C. 5305(a)(27), fundable from a grantee's existing CDBG allocation. Many jurisdictions can procure it as a micro-purchase under 2 CFR 200.1, subject to their own procurement policy and the current threshold.
Because the requirement is a certification condition under 42 U.S.C. 5304(b), a grantee that has not published a compliant database by October 1, 2026 has not met one of the conditions for receiving CDBG funds.
Public Land Index turns a jurisdiction's own parcel data into a hosted, searchable database in days once the data is ready — embedded in or linked from your official website, with a HUD-ready compliance report available on request.
HUD is expected to issue implementing regulations at 24 CFR for this statute, though none have been published as of this writing. This page will be updated once proposed or final rules are issued.
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