Trump Revokes Federal Flood Protections Again
This puts homes, schools, and critical infrastructure increasingly at risk.
Flooding on a Highway 26 in Glencoe, California
HyperCar1 via Wikicommons, CC-BY 4.0
On his first day in office, President Trump revoked Executive Order 14030, the Climate-Related Financial Risk order signed by President Biden May 20, 2021. President Biden’s EO 14030 reinstated EO 13630, which established the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS). President Trump also revoked EO 13690 during his first term.
The FFRMS was developed because it is no longer safe or adequate to build for the flood risks of the past. More extreme rainfall and rising seas are exacerbating flood risk across the nation. Per the Fifth National Climate Assessment – the federal government’s definitive climate change report– climate change is and will continue to increase the frequency of water-related disasters across the nation.
Figure 1.10. (top row) Maps show (a) the average number of minor high tide flooding events per year in 2020 (with historical sea level rise) and (b) the expected number of events per year in 2050 (when driven by extrapolated sea level rise). (bottom row) Maps show (c) average annual loss (AAL) from all types of flooding in millions of dollars in 2020 and (d) the projected changes in AAL in 2050 relative to 2020. AAL estimates were made only for the contiguous US. Over the next three decades, the number of flooding days along all coastlines of the US is expected to increase. These increases in the occurrence of flooding will drive greater AALs, especially in coastal areas of the US. (a, b) Adapted from Sweet et al. 2022; (c, d) adapted from Wing et al. 2022
As such, homes, schools, and critical infrastructure are increasingly damaged by flooding, which not only costs the American taxpayer, but disrupts the lives and livelihoods of everyone who relies on such infrastructure.
EO 13690 and the FFRMS directed federal agencies to use more protective siting and design requirements for infrastructure projects that received federal funding, such as emergency response facilities, public highways, and water and wastewater systems. Projects were required to be located outside of low-lying areas vulnerable to flooding whenever practicable. When not practicable, they were required to be more resilient against future flood conditions, including the impacts of sea-level rise.
Although President Trump's recent executive order has rescinded EO13690, FEMA and HUD both adopted rules last summer for implementing the FFRMS, and those will remain in effect. That ensures that post-disaster recovery and rebuilding will be done to the standards set forth in the FFRMS. Those rules will remain the law until any potential rulemaking is undertaken to undo them. That is a process that could take years and would be subject to potential litigation. While the nation will continue to have a partial implementation of the FFRMS from FEMA and HUD, other federal agencies are likely to be hamstrung on their ability to implement the FFRMS. For example, USDOT’s proposed guidelines to implement the FFRMS are likely to be stopped.
When federal funds are used to build, rebuild, or subsidize structures, the government has a responsibility to ensure those investments are safe, sustainable, and resilient for the entire design life. Otherwise, the federal government is setting up public infrastructure to be damaged by flooding and wasting taxpayer dollars.
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