(b) Responding to the public health emergency or its negative economic impacts. A recipient may use funds to respond to the public health emergency or its negative economic impacts, including for one or more of the following purposes:

1. (1) COVID-19 response and prevention. Expenditures for the mitigation and prevention of COVID-19, including:

   1. (i) Expenses related to COVID-19 vaccination programs and sites, including staffing, acquisition of equipment or supplies, facilities costs, and information technology or other administrative expenses;
   2. (ii) COVID-19-related expenses of public hospitals, clinics, and similar facilities;
   3. (iii) COVID-19 related expenses in congregate living facilities, including skilled nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, incarceration settings, homeless shelters, residential foster care facilities, residential behavioral health treatment, and other group living facilities;
   4. (iv) Expenses of establishing temporary public medical facilities and other measures to increase COVID-19 treatment capacity, including related construction costs and other capital investments in public facilities to meet COVID-19-related operational needs;
   5. (v) Expenses of establishing temporary public medical facilities and other measures to increase COVID-19 treatment capacity, including related construction costs and other capital investments in public facilities to meet COVID-19-related operational needs;
   6. (vi) Costs of providing COVID-19 testing and monitoring, contact tracing, and monitoring of case trends and genomic sequencing for variants;
   7. (vii) Emergency medical response expenses, including emergency medical transportation, related to COVID-19;
   8. (viii) Expenses for establishing and operating public telemedicine capabilities for COVID-19-related treatment;
   9. (ix) Expenses for communication related to COVID-19 vaccination programs and communication or enforcement by recipients of public health orders related to COVID-19;
   10. (x) Expenses for acquisition and distribution of medical and protective supplies, including sanitizing products and personal protective equipment;
   11. (xi) Expenses for disinfection of public areas and other facilities in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency;
   12. (xii) Expenses for technical assistance to local authorities or other entities on mitigation of COVID-19-related threats to public health and safety;
   13. (xiii) Expenses for quarantining or isolation of individuals;
   14. (xiv) Expenses of providing paid sick and paid family and medical leave to public employees to enable compliance with COVID-19 public health precautions;
   15. (xv) Expenses for treatment of the long-term symptoms or effects of COVID-19, including post-intensive care syndrome;
   16. (xvi) Expenses for the improvement of ventilation systems in congregate settings, public health facilities, or other public facilities;
   17. (xvii) Expenses related to establishing or enhancing public health data systems; and
   18. (xviii) Mental health treatment, substance misuse treatment, and other behavioral health services.
2. (2) Public health and safety staff. Payroll and covered benefit expenses for public safety, public health, health care, human services, and similar employees to the extent that the employee's time is spent mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
3. (3) Hiring State and local government staff. Payroll, covered benefit, and other costs associated with the recipient increasing the number of its employees up to the number of employees that it employed on January 27, 2020.
4. (4) Assistance to unemployed workers. Assistance, including job training, for individuals who want and are available for work, including those who have looked for work sometime in the past 12 months or who are employed part time but who want and are available for full-time work.
5. (5) Contributions to State unemployment insurance trust funds. Contributions to an unemployment trust fund up to the level required to restore the unemployment trust fund to its balance on January 27, 2020 or to pay back advances received under Title XII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1321) for the payment of benefits between January 27, 2020 and May 17, 2021.
6. (6) Small businesses. Assistance to small businesses, including loans, grants, in-kind assistance, technical assistance or other services, that responds to the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
7. (7) Nonprofits. Assistance to nonprofit organizations, including loans, grants, in-kind assistance, technical assistance or other services, that responds to the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
8. (8) Assistance to households. Assistance programs, including cash assistance programs, that respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
9. (9) Aid to impacted industries. Aid to tourism, travel, hospitality, and other impacted industries that responds to the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
10. (10) Expenses to improve efficacy of public health or economic relief programs. Administrative costs associated with the recipient's COVID-19 public health emergency assistance programs, including services responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency or its negative economic impacts, that are not federally funded.
11. (11) Survivor's benefits. Benefits for the surviving family members of individuals who have died from COVID-19, including cash assistance to widows, widowers, or dependents of individuals who died of COVID-19.

12. (12) Disproportionately impacted populations and communities. A program, service, or other assistance that is provided in a qualified census tract, that is provided to households and populations living in a qualified census tract, that is provided by a Tribal government, or that is provided to other households, businesses, or populations disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency, such as:

    1. (i) Programs or services that facilitate access to health and social services, including:

       1. (A) Assistance accessing or applying for public benefits or services;
       2. (B) Remediation of lead paint or other lead hazards; and
       3. (C) Community violence intervention programs;

    2. (ii) Programs or services that address housing insecurity, lack of affordable housing, or homelessness, including:

       1. (A) Supportive housing or other programs or services to improve access to stable, affordable housing among individuals who are homeless;
       2. (B) Development of affordable housing to increase supply of affordable and high-quality living units; and
       3. (C) Housing vouchers and assistance relocating to neighborhoods with higher levels of economic opportunity and to reduce concentrated areas of low economic opportunity;

    3. (iii) Programs or services that address or mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency on education, including:

       1. (A) New or expanded early learning services;
       2. (B) Assistance to high-poverty school districts to advance equitable funding across districts and geographies; and
       3. (C) Educational and evidence-based services to address the academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of students; and

    4. (iv) Programs or services that address or mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency on childhood health or welfare, including:

       1. (A) New or expanded childcare;
       2. (B) Programs to provide home visits by health professionals, parent educators, and social service professionals to individuals with young children to provide education and assistance for economic support, health needs, or child development; and
       3. (C) Services for child welfare-involved families and foster youth to provide support and education on child development, positive parenting, coping skills, or recovery for mental health and substance use.

(d) Providing government services. For the provision of government services to the extent of a reduction in the recipient's general revenue, calculated according to paragraphs (d)(1) and (2) of this section.

1. (1) Frequency. A recipient must calculate the reduction in its general revenue using information as-of December 31, 2020, December 31, 2021, December 31, 2022, and December 31, 2023 (each, a calculation date) and following each calculation date.

2. (2) Calculation. A reduction in a recipient's general revenue equals:

   

   Where: Base Year Revenue is the recipient's general revenue for the most recent full fiscal year prior to the COVD-19 public health emergency; Growth Adjustment is equal to the greater of 4.1 percent (or 0.041) and the recipient's average annual revenue growth over the three full fiscal years prior to the COVID-19 public health emergency. n equals the number of months elapsed from the end of the base year to the calculation date. Actual General Revenue is a recipient's actual general revenue collected during 12-month period ending on each calculation date; Subscript t denotes the specific calculation date.

(e) To make necessary investments in infrastructure. A recipient may use funds to make investments in:

1. (1) Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund investments. Projects or activities of the type that would be eligible under section 603(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)) or section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-12); or,

2. (2) Broadband. Broadband infrastructure that is designed to provide service to unserved or underserved households and businesses and that is designed to, upon completion:

   1. (i) Reliably meet or exceed symmetrical 100 Mbps download speed and upload speeds; or

   2. (ii) In cases where it is not practicable, because of the excessive cost of the project or geography or topography of the area to be served by the project, to provide service meeting the standards set forth in paragraph (e)(2)(i) of this section:

      1. (A) Reliably meet or exceed 100 Mbps download speed and between at least 20 Mbps and 100 Mbps upload speed; and
      2. (B) Be scalable to a minimum of 100 Mbps download speed and 100 Mbps upload speed.