The National Waterways Conference joined with the National Levee Issues Alliance in support of Senator Thad Cochran’s call for public input in the ongoing effort to develop a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard.
U.S. Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, the incoming chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, wrote a letter to the President asking that ongoing Administration activities to develop and issue a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS) be halted. The proposed standard, developed without the benefit of public involvement, would direct federal agencies to increase federal floodplain requirements thereby redefining conditions of eligibility and acceptance for a broad swath of federally funded activities across the country. In his letter, the Senator requested that the expansive new standard, being readied by a multi-agency task force for unilateral issuance by the Office of the President, be stopped to allow for public and congressional input.
The new standard could dramatically expand floodplain area designations around the United States while applying prohibitions on federal investments, expenditures and initiatives that extend well beyond simply federal facility and agency operations. “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 mitigate against undefined threats is premature. The cascading economic effects this action could have on coastal and riverine economies nationwide are significant. The public deserves to understand the costs, benefits, and scientific rationale behind any such standard before it is issued,” Cochran wrote to the President.
Download the full text of Cochran Letter to POTUS_FFRMS 20NOV2014(215KB)
Download the full text of the NWC LIA Press ReleaseFFRMS Nov.20 2014(106KB)
Download the full text of the FINAL FFRMS fact sheet (104KB)