Paperwork change may lead to repeat flooding
Revision in FEMA form could allow bought-out sites to be redeveloped
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is proposing to directly acquire some of the most repetitively flooded structures in the country, but its latest plan also would allow these properties to be redeveloped and potentially flood again.
This little-noticed effort to change FEMA paperwork reverses a longstanding practice that bought-out properties remain as open space forever.
Under current programs, FEMA offers grant money to state and local governments to acquire structures and the land they occupy. It also allows governments to offer grants for elevating or floodproofing structures. The form change would allow homeowners to select a new path: Sell the home to FEMA at pre-flood market value, but keep the land, which then could be sold and redeveloped later.
“If you weren't paying attention, you would miss it, which is really problematic if you just look at this past year for flood damages,” said Joel Scata, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
It's not clear that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers federal flood insurance, intended for the form change to create the opportunity for repeated floods and buyouts at the public expense. The agency did not immediately re-
spond to inquiries on Tuesday.
But the defense council and the Association of State Floodplain Managers say they worry that could be the net effect of the new forms, and they are trying to get more information from FEMA. The proposed paperwork was not included in the public notice in the Federal Register, but the Houston Chronicle obtained copies.
In places such as Houston, where repetitively flooded properties abound, the program could upend efforts to convert vulnerable land to public space, instead clearing the way for developers to build new homes that would be eligible for federal flood insurance.
The new homes could be more expensive than their predecessors, potentially putting taxpayers on the hook for even greater flood exposure.
Repetitively flooded properties have long been recognized as a drain on the federal flood insurance program.
They account for 1 percent of insured properties but as much as 30 percent of claims, costing the program $200 million annually and accounting for as much as half of its debt.
Because FEMA would institute the program under its existing legal authority by making changes to forms that flooded homeowners fill out, it did not use the typical rulemaking process, which requires greater opportunity for public input. The comment period on the proposal ends Monday and only 10 comments have been submitted so far.
“It is highly unusual to make a major policy change in a form,” said David Conrad, a consultant with the floodplain managers.
Any new structure, of course, would have to meet current codes, presumably including higher elevation standards. But there is no guarantee those standards would protect against future flooding, or that the community would not roll back standards to ease the burden of rebuilding on residents, as Friendswood did after Hurricane Harvey. Some communities might not change standards after a flood.
“The bottom line is that floodplains are hazardous areas and the acquisition option, as it currently exists, is the one ... that not only ensures taxpayers are not on the hook for future costs, but protects and preserves the natural floodplain,” the association said in its written comments to FEMA.
Ironically, the association lobbied for the 2004 legislation that gave FEMA the authority to do what it is now proposing. The intent, said Larry Larson, senior policy adviser to the association, was to provide FEMA an avenue to acquire properties in instances where state and local authorities were overburdened or underfunded and unable to do administer grants on their own.
But the association always envisioned FEMA coordinating closely with the locals so that their floodplain management goals wouldn't be undermined. The form changes provide no indication of how such coordination would occur.
“What if a local government does want to clear out an entire neighborhood and FEMA comes along and allows someone to rebuild?” Larson asked.
Houston flood czar Stephen Costello met with FEMA twice immediately after Harvey and suggested the agency pursue alternatives to existing, locally administered FEMA grants. The grants often aren’t enough to allow people in affluent neighborhoods like Meyerland to rebuild and keep the tax base intact, he said.
“People don’t want to leave,” Costello said. “They want to figure something out because they want to stay in their community.”
He said he knew FEMA had been working the issue but was unaware they'd come up with a specific alternative.