Louisiana Senator Accuses President of ‘Meddling’ with Floodplain Standards

U.S. Sen. David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana, says a climate action plan set forth by President Barak Obama would drastically change floodplain maps and result in increased flood insurance rates.

Vitter is chairman of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee. In a letter to Obama dated Jan. 26, Vitter accused the President of “meddling” with floodplain standards and manipulating climate issues in order to appeal to Obama’s “far-left base.”

Vitter said the “majority of the worst incidents of flooding predate significant burning of fossil fuels. Before your administration meddles in floodplain standards, it would be prudent to consider important background on flood insurance from the perspective of someone representing an impacted state.”

Recent rate hikes sought by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program “would have made flood insurance simply unaffordable for small businesses and middle class families,” Vitter said.

He said that “preparing for flooding and other extreme weather events has been a priority and should continue to be in the future.” As such, Vitter requested that Obama and the “appropriate agency staff” consider and respond to set of questions, including but not limited to:

• What potential restrictions on federal investments have been reviewed as a potential impact of expanding floodplain area designations?
• How would new standards impact permit issuance, emergency preparation response and recovery programs administered by the Corps; USDA agricultural assistance programs; Federal highway aid and USDOT TIGER grants; HUD CDBG grants; Federal loan guarantees; FEMA flood insurance; and floodplain management and disaster response programs?
• What cost-benefit analysis has been completed in promulgating the flood risk management standards, and how can the public obtain access to that analysis? Where can discussion documents be found on alternatives that have been considered, including alternatives for restructuring or improving floodplain use and occupancy?
• Who was involved in developing the science and technical knowledge upon which the standard is based?
• Why has the Administration chosen to forego any public participation in developing the standard? In particular, why have regions of the country with known floodplain risks been excluded from the development process?
• In developing the increased flood base elevation requirements what processes were used to develop those requirements? What cost-benefit analysis was performed, and in particular, what scientific research are you using as a baseline from which to develop the flood risk associated with climate change?

Vitter requested that the administration respond by Feb. 10.

The full letter to Obama can be found on Vitter’s U.S. Senate website at www.vitter.senate.gov.