A call to push back on federal flood standards

Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran calls for more dialogue on flood standards, says he fears economic fall-out

By Lyle Adriano

Thad Cochran, US Senator, R-Mississippi, and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is pressing the Obama Administration to offer additional details regarding its efforts to establish a new federal flood risk standard, which so far has met with resistance from Congress.

It has been a decade since Hurricane Katrina struck the nation, and the debate over whether the storm’s wind or water caused the most damage continues to this day.

Legal disputes over the winds versus water question have lasted for years without a definitive answer. The insurance industry ultimately took the position that much of the damage caused by the storm was water damage, which many policies excluded from coverage, and this position was largely upheld by courts.

The Obama administration has attempted to include the concept of climate change into the new federal flood risk standard, but the move has been criticized by Cochran and other Republicans in Congress.

Cochran argued that the new standard with climate change written in would indicate a major shift in federal policy. The Federal Emergency Management Administration once stated that it would take global warming into consideration when preparing for severe storms. Other federal agencies, however, continued to rely on historic data over future projections. The new standard would change this dynamic.

Based on the new standards, agencies would have three options for determining the flood elevation and hazard area they use in the siting, design, and construction of federal projects. The options are:
  • Refer to “actionable climate science” to produce a flexible solution
  • Build to 100-year flood elevation levels; constructing buildings two feet above the flood elevation and three feet above for critical buildings such as hospitals and evacuation centers
  • Build to 500-year flood elevation levels
Cochran has protested these proposed standards since 2014, when he wrote to Obama:

“While seeking to ensure federal investments are resilient to floods and other hazards is a commendable goal, compelling government agencies to spend taxpayer dollars to further mitigate against undefined threats is a step that merits careful scrutiny.  The cascading economic effects this action could have on coastal and riverine economies nationwide is significant.  The public deserves to understand the costs, benefits, and scientific rationale behind any such standard before it is issued.  Its issuance alone could stifle housing markets and slow economic recovery,” Cochran wrote to the President.
 
The senator has also voiced his concerns to Interior Secretary Sally Jewel, stating in a letter sent this month that the new guidelines need more congressional and public input.
 
 

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