NORTH CAROLINA — President Donald Trump’s inauguration day repeals of Biden administration climate policies included recently enacted flood protection rules meant to safeguard federally funded developments from future disasters.
READ MORE: Trump talks dismantling, cutting back FEMA during NC stop
The Federal Flood Risk Management Standard requires projects receiving public assistance money to mitigate flood risk with more stringent design requirements, such as building outside low-lying flood plains when possible and elevating developments above the anticipated height of significant funds. It applies to a broad range of structures, including public highways, emergency response facilities, schools, and wastewater treatment plants.
Former President Barack Obama signed an executive order to implement the standards in 2015, but it stalled amid pushback from the National Association of Home Builders. Trump rescinded the order upon taking office in 2017. The Biden administration again issued a directive guiding federal agencies to adopt it in 2021, but Trump revoked the standards last month on the first day of his second administration.
“It covers a wide variety of infrastructure,” Natural Resources Defense Council senior attorney Joel Scata told Port City Daily. “Anything that would receive funding FEMA assistance to rebuild from flooding will now be impacted.”
FEMA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development adopted formal rules to enforce the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard last year. But according to the New York Times, FEMA chief counsel Adrian Sevier issued an internal memo earlier this month directing the agency to stop enforcing it until a decision is made to rescind or amend it. This comes as both agencies face drastic personnel and spending cuts.
FEMA approved former Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for a federal Major Disaster Declaration in New Hanover, Brunswick, Onslow, and Carteret counties in October after Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 deluged some areas in the tri-county region with 20 inches of rain in September. The declaration allows public assistance funding to repair and replace damaged facilities in the areas and request public assistance.
The floods caused severe damage to properties in municipalities including Carolina Beach and Leland and collapsed roadways in Brunswick County, some of which remain closed still, such as N.C. 133 between Leland and Southport. After PTC8, many local governments considered adopting stronger stormwater and flood protections, such as prohibiting new developments in flood zones.
Scata emphasized concerns that rescinding federal flood protection guidelines could impede the long-term sufficiency of disaster recovery efforts throughout North Carolina. He emphasized its relation to ongoing Hurricane Helene reconstruction work in Western North Carolina, including $5 billion in damages to the region’s roadway and transportation network.
Port City Daily reached out to the North Carolina Department of Transportation to ask if the agency had a position on federal flood protection roll back and how it could impact transportation recovery efforts; a spokesperson said they were working on a response, though it wasn’t received by press.
“If the federal government wants to save money and make sure they’re spending taxpayer dollars responsibly,” Scata said, “then when the government rebuilds after a disaster, it has a responsibility to ensure investments are safe and sustainable. That was the purpose of the Federal Flood Management Standard.”
FEMA recently withdrew from participating in the most recent effort to update the International Code Council’s triennial model building code updates. Most states implement the ICC’s updated standards in three-year cycles to execute advancements in resiliency and efficiency. FEMA’s withdrawn recommendations include updates to flooding and severe winds protection standards.
A December Office of State Management and Budget assessment on Hurricane Helene recovery estimated adopting national building code standards would save $11 for every $1 spent.
North Carolina still relies on the International Code Council’s 2015 standards for much of the state’s building regulations, primarily due to the influence of the state’s powerful home builder association lobby. A NCHBA-backed 2013 bill, H.B. 120, shifted most of North Carolina’s building code updates from three-year to six-year cycles. In July 2023, the General Assembly overrode Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of H.B. 488 — a bill banning proposed energy efficiency updates for residential homes until 2031.
Cooper sent out a press release last summer warning North Carolina will lose millions in FEMA and Inflation Reduction Act grant funding because the agency incentivizes the adoption of current standards in its selection process. Former FEMA director Craig Fugate and former FEMA national flood insurance program director Roy Wright voiced similar concerns about the impact of the law on storm resiliency.
The National Home Builders Association has pushed to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act’s $1 billion energy code grant program and extend FEMA grant eligibility to states with outdated building codes.
