HEROS - HUD Environmental Review Online System

HUD's Office of Environment and Energy has developed an online system for developing, documenting, and managing environmental reviews. It covers all levels of environmental reviews for both Part 50 and Part 58 projects and includes on-screen guidance for completing HUD environmental reviews.

HEROS Availability

HEROS is currently available for staff of CPD entitlement communities (Responsible Entities - REs) in all regions. If you work for a CPD entitlement and would like to request HEROS access, please contact your Field or Regional Environmental Office. Include in your email the information in the HEROS Access Chart.

HEROS is not yet available for consultants or users working with state-administered, Native American, or Public Housing programs except as part of pilot testing. For further information, submit a question to Ask a Question under Environmental Review.

The following list provides information on the Part 58 programs for which Responsible Entities may now complete environmental reviews in HEROS:

CDBG (including CDBG-DR and Section 108): HEROS is open to CPD entitlement staff to complete all environmental reviews for CDBG funded activities.
HOME: HEROS is open to CPD entitlement staff to complete all environmental reviews for HOME funded activities.
CoC: Because of the specialized "limited scope" forms that were developed for leasing and rental assistance projects funded by the CoC program, which are not HEROS-compatible, we do not recommend using HEROS to complete reviews for CoC projects. As with all Part 58 CPD Programs, HEROS may be used on an optional basis.
SHOP: Part 58 SHOP Reviews can be entered into HEROS at this time, but please note that SHOP grantees do not yet have access to HEROS. Grantees are encouraged to submit information using HEROS-compatible worksheets posted on the HUD Exchange.
Public and Indian Housing (PIH) programs: Please do not use HEROS to complete environmental reviews for these programs at this time. We know that REs complete environmental reviews for Public Housing projects as well as CDBG and HOME, but we ask that REs do not use HEROS for these programs until user role functionalities have been implemented in the system. We are currently developing and implementing the requirements for these user roles in HEROS and anticipate Part 58 PIH rollout to begin in Summer 2017.

HEROS is available for HUD Staff to prepare Part 50 environmental reviews for the following programs:

CPD Programs: CPD staff is required to use HEROS to complete Part 50 reviews for CPD Programs (including CoC for leasing and rental assistance). Note that nonprofit grantees may not yet get access to HEROS to assist HUD with these reviews, but they are encouraged to submit information using HEROS-partner worksheets posted on the HUD Exchange.
RAD: HEROS is currently open only to Transaction Managers (TMs) to complete RAD reviews. TMs are required to use HEROS to complete all their Part 50 reviews.
Multifamily programs: Multifamily staff is required to use HEROS to complete all environmental reviews prepared following the Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Guide, revised in May 2016. Note that Multifamily partner users cannot yet access HEROS but can assist HUD staff complete environmental reviews by submitting HEROS-partner worksheets with applications.
Healthcare Programs: Healthcare staff is required to use HEROS to complete all environmental reviews prepared following Chapter 7 of the Healthcare Mortgage Insurance Program Handbook (4232.1), revised in January 2017. Note that Healthcare partner users cannot yet access HEROS but can assist HUD staff complete environmental reviews by submitting HEROS-partner worksheets with applications.
Public and Indian Housing (PIH) programs: The HEROS Team is rolling out HEROS to Part 50 PIH users. Please look for information from your program office regarding HEROS registration. We will also be sending out information for upcoming PIH HEROS trainings.

HUD staff who require HEROS access should work with their program office to request access.

Environmental Review Records

HEROS increases transparency of environmental reviews by posting them on the HUD Exchange for public review. Environmental assessments and categorically excluded projects completed through HEROS are posted online during public comment periods and archived for a year after completion.

Search Environmental Review Records

HEROS Training Resources

A suite of HEROS training materials are available for Responsible Entity users and HUD staff:

The HEROS Part 58 User Guide provides information on how to use HEROS. The pdf provides screenshots, and links through out the document that link to the next chronological screen in HEROS.
The HEROS “How to” videos (formerly e-tutorials) are prerecorded videos that are brief, topic-specific tutorials that demonstrate how to use HEROS. There are twenty videos in total, and they range in time from three to seven minutes. You can watch them as you work through different parts of HEROS, or play them all at once.
The HEROS Q&A Webinar Sessions are held quarterly and provides the opportunity for participants to ask and answer questions regarding the use of HEROS.
The HEROS FAQs are updated quarterly with HEROS questions that come in during live webinars and through the AAQ Portal. See information about submitting questions below, keep your questions coming!

Questions?

If you are experiencing a technical problem with HEROS or have a question about using the system you can submit a question through Ask a Question by selecting My question is related to "Environmental Review and HEROS."