Climate change included in new federal flood risk standards
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As coastal Texas recovers from the first of what is expected to be a fusillade of dangerous Atlantic hurricanes, the Biden administration unveiled new flood risk standards Wednesday aimed at waterproofing public infrastructure.
Why it matters: A key goal of the standard is to avoid rebuilding in the same vulnerable locations, only to see new structures get hit again, with more taxpayer dollars drained in a repetitive cycle.
- The Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS) requires federal agencies to incorporate current and future flood risks into their decision-making when funding projects, from bridges to fire stations.
Zoom in: Previous standards excluded climate change trends, including the increasing frequency and severity of extreme precipitation events and associated flooding as well as sea level rise.
- By assuming the climate is stationary, and that the past climate is the best guide to future hazards, federally-funded projects such as hospitals, roads and bridges have been put at greater risk of being damaged or destroyed.
- The new standards, officials told reporters on a press call Tuesday, incorporate the non-stationarity of today's climate, including sea level rise.
- Under the new guidelines, which go into effect in early September, FEMA will be permitted to broaden floodplains when planning a project. It also can increase the height for raising buildings and roads in vulnerable areas.
What they're saying: "The new standard also allows us to end the repeat loss cycles of flooding, increasing the safety of families and also saving taxpayer dollars," said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on a conference call with reporters.
- Jean Su, energy justice director and senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, called the rule "an important shift in policy," but said FEMA "still desperately needs to transform" itself to tackle heat waves like the current one in the West.
- "There has to be an urgent mass mobilization of resources to deploy life-saving cooling centers, air conditioning, and community solar, not piecemeal efforts and lackluster leadership," Su said in a statement.
Yes, but: The new standard, like other executive branch agencies' actions, may be vulnerable to a court challenge based on the recent Chevron deference decision.
- In the 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court significantly restricted agencies' abilities to interpret unclear statutes based on their in-house expertise.
- "We believe it is authorized under the statutes that we already have," Criswell said regarding its legal vulnerability.
Zoom out: President Obama had first ordered the revision of the flood risk management standard to improve community resilience. "These impacts are anticipated to increase over time due to the effects of climate change and other threats," his 2015 executive order stated.
- However, the task of completing and implementing the new guidance wasn't completed before he left office.
- The standard was then revoked under President Trump, but Biden reinstated it via executive order in 2021.
How it works: According to the Biden administration, the new flood standard applies to projects that FEMA funds. That includes new construction or repairs of buildings and infrastructure that sustained substantial damage.
- It also covers Hazard Mitigation Assistance projects, in which structures are elevated or other actions are taken to reduce flood exposure.
- Prior to the new standard, FEMA required projects to be protected to the 100-year flood level. Such floods have about a 1% chance of occurring in any given year.
- Some projects, like critical infrastructure, had to be able to withstand a 500-year flood. These have an annual probability of about 0.2%.
The intrigue: FEMA pays a 75% cost share to implement the standard for a particular project, which means communities and project developers will bear some increased cost.
- In a news release, the White House downplayed the cost factor. It noted that with the federal cost share on a $1 million dollar project, the estimated project cost increase to a company applying for assistance would be $4,775.
What they're saying: "FFRMS will allow us to enhance resilience in flood-prone communities by taking future flood risk into consideration when we rebuild structures post-disaster," Criswell said in a statement.
- "This is a huge win that will also allow us to end the repeat loss cycles that stem from flooding and increase the safety of families and save taxpayer dollars."
The bottom line: The new standard illustrates how the federal government is still racing to catch up with the increasingly obvious climate impacts from 1.3°C (2.34°F) of global average warming since 1850.
This story has been updated with comments from Center for Biological Diversity.
