Representatives David Price (D-NC), chair of the Transportation Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, and Lee Zeldin (R-NY) have introduced the “Flood Resiliency and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2020” to require agencies to plan for future flood risk as they evaluate the expenditure of federal funds on construction projects, including affordable housing projects. The bill also would also require appropriate mitigation strategies where a building constructed with federal funding is identified as at risk of flooding.
By requiring future flood risk to be considered during the construction of federally funded housing, the bill would ensure limited federal funds for affordable housing construction are not spent on buildings unprepared for catastrophic flooding. While local and state-funded projects are currently required to incorporate flood risk, housing projects funded by the federal government do not. Incorporating this standard means that costly repairs can be avoided.
While media coverage of disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires is widespread, flooding is the most common and expensive natural disaster in the U.S. Recent flood seasons in the Midwest and along the Mississippi River have devastated communities and homes, and coastal communities rocked by recent hurricanes have also experienced flooding that threatens to delay recovery efforts. As with many disasters, low-income households often live in areas at higher risk of flooding and receive the least amount of assistance afterward. As climate change continues, the risk to these communities will only increase.
“Far too many federally funded affordable homes are located in floodplains and other areas susceptible to damage from disasters” NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel stated in a press release accompanying the introduction of the bill. “This puts America’s lowest-income and most marginalized seniors, people with disabilities, families with children, and others at greater risk of displacement and, in worst cases, homelessness when disasters strike. Congress should work quickly to protect lives and prevent displacement by enacting the Flood Resiliency and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2020 Act to ensure that federal investments in affordable housing and infrastructure can withstand future disasters.”
Read the text of the “Flood Resiliency and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2020” at: https://bit.ly/36t8gm2
Read Chairman Price and Representative Zeldin’s press release at: https://bit.ly/3l7FhrX