National Support for the Flood Resiliency and Taxpayer Savings Act
Flooding is the most common and expensive natural disaster in the United States, costing the nation more than $845 billion in estimated losses from flood- and hurricane-related disasters since 2000, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This growing disaster toll has strained the capacity of federal, state, and local governments to respond and recover. The federal government – using taxpayer dollars — often pays a significant portion of these repair and recovery costs, sometimes paying to rebuild the same school, fire station, road, or other structure multiple times.
This increasingly costly cycle of flood damage and repair is driven in part by the outdated approach of federal agencies focusing on historical data that fails to account for today’s weather patterns and future risk.
The legislation addresses this problem by directing federal agencies to plan for future risk as they evaluate spending taxpayer dollars in flood-prone areas. To accomplish this the bill calls on agencies to use the best available data, including FEMA maps, state and local assessments, hydrologic and hydraulic studies, and other relevant information. In cases where insufficient data exists, it provides agencies with the flexibility to assume higher flood levels throughout the intended life of projects. When shielding federal investments from future damages a range of potential safeguards can be utilized—such as nature-based systems, structural elevation, hardening, or other resilience strategies.
Forward-looking, pragmatic approaches like this are not only critically needed but well-supported across the political spectrum. Recent polling by The Pew Charitable Trusts found that 85 percent of Americans (80 percent of Republicans, 91 percent of Democrats, and 87 percent of Independents) support a requirement that all federally funded projects in flood-prone areas be constructed to better withstand future flooding.
Increasing the resiliency of federal investments through better planning for future flood risk and by leveraging natural systems and other mitigation strategies will reduce damages, protect people and property, and accelerate post-disaster recovery – all while saving taxpayer dollars.
We strongly support this important legislation and urge Congress to quickly support and pass it.
Thank you,
American Institute of Architects
American Planning Association
American Property Casualty Insurance Association
American Public Works Association
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Landscape Architects
Association of State Floodplain Managers
Center for American Progress
ConservAmerica
Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers
Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.
Environment and Energy Study Institute
FreedomWorks
Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety
National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
National Institute of Building Sciences
National Low Income Housing Coalition
National Taxpayers Union
National Wildlife Federation
Natural Resources Defense Council
R Street Institute
Reinsurance Association of America
Rise to Resilience
Smart Home America
Taxpayers for Common Sense
Taxpayer Protection Alliance
The Alliance for National and Community Resilience
The Nature Conservancy
The Pew Charitable Trusts
U.S. Resiliency Council
Union of Concerned Scientists
Waterfront Alliance
