By voice vote late Friday, the House approved a floor amendment to prohibit funding to implement Executive Order 13690 (EO) and the new Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS). The amendment is yet another rider to the Energy and Water Development Appropriation for FY 2016 that funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. Representative Ralph Abraham (R-Louisiana) offered the amendment because of concern for its future impact on federal flood insurance rates. While this amendment restricts funding for only the agencies covered in the Energy and Water Development bill, additional amendments are likely to be introduced to prohibit funding for all federal agencies.
The EO and FFRMS empower each federal agency to use new methodology to expand the definition of floodplains to much larger areas than currently mapped by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for flood insurance. Each federal agency must then adopt new restrictions for loans, grants, permits, and other federal actions that are in or could affect the floodplain.
While the EO and FFRMS are not subject to public review, FEMA accepted public comments until May 6, 2015 on guidelines that federal agencies will follow to implement the EO and FFRMS. RCRC submitted comments about the guidelines’ potential impacts projects and programs, including the prospect of federal agencies defining differing boundaries for the floodplain, the lack of consultation with state and local government agencies, the consideration of floodplain areas protected by flood control projects, and the potential for federal agencies to broadly interpret “critical actions” that would require more restrictions in the floodplain. RCRC’s comment letter can be accessed here.