Letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate - Study of How Sandy Relief Mitigation Projects Will Impact Pending Flood Maps
Letter
U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today urged Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate to conduct an expedited study of how U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects funded by federal Sandy relief would impact the agency's pending Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFE) maps that were released for ten New Jersey counties in December.
Although these ABFEs are not finalized, the state's adoption of the maps in its building code has given them the force of law. Last week, Fugate pledged a willingness to try to better communicate with residents and local governments, and to expeditiously update the maps with any appropriate data provided to them.
"The new advisory flood maps unveiled by FEMA represent a dramatic increase over the current base flood elevations and are putting significant burdens on homeowners at a time when they can least afford it. Many residents believe they have legitimate reasons to question the accuracy of the maps, and we believe they are certainly entitled to have their voices heard before they undertake incredibly costly elevation or other mitigation activities that could be required as a result of those advisory flood maps," the Senators wrote.
In today's letter, the Senators also cited other problems affecting storm-affected residents including:
Homeowners who may be eligible for assistance through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage, and/or a Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loan cannot begin mitigation work while an application is pending. Approval can take over one year.
Only homeowners who suffered "substantial damage" are eligible for ICC, even if they purchased ICC coverage within their flood insurance plan and now face exorbitant costs to comply with the new maps' standards.
Although SBA loans are available for homeowners to make repairs and mitigate against future floods, many families simply cannot afford to take on additional debt after losing everything in the storm. In addition, only 20 percent of the SBA loan taken out to repair a home can be used for mitigation.
Both Senators have been raising concerns about the pending ABFE maps since they were adopted by the state in January.
On February 1, Senators Menendez and Lautenberg called upon the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make additional resources available to New Jersey homeowners who are in the process of rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy and have found their homes subject to new elevation requirements under FEMA's interim floodplain maps.
That was followed by the Senators' joint letter to Administrator Fugate in which they expressed their concerns about the changes in flood elevation maps and their impact on efforts to restore the homes of those affected by the storm.
The text of today's letter is copied below:
March 20, 2013
Dear Administrator Fugate:
Thank you for your ongoing willingness to discuss the issues facing New Jersey residents as they rebuild from the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy. We especially appreciated the recent opportunity to engage with you in a substantive dialog about FEMA's recently released Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFE) maps and ways to help homeowners and local officials understand and respond to these new standards. We are writing to follow up on our previous calls, letters, and meetings with specific questions and concerns we have been hearing from constituents in New Jersey.
As you know, the new advisory flood maps unveiled by FEMA represent a dramatic increase over the current base flood elevations and are putting significant burdens on homeowners at a time when they can least afford it. Many residents believe they have legitimate reasons to question the accuracy of the maps, and we believe they are certainly entitled to have their voices heard before they undertake incredibly costly elevation or other mitigation activities that could be required as a result of those advisory flood maps.
In particular, we understand the ABFE maps did not take into account the protection that would be provided by the completion of Army Corps of Engineers projects funded by the Sandy Emergency Appropriations bill. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been allocated to complete Army Corps projects to their fully designed levels. There is no question that this large investment in flood mitigation will have a significant impact on ABFE levels and flood zone determinations. That is why we respectfully request that FEMA conduct an expedited study into how the Army Corps investments will impact the ABFE maps. Furthermore, this study should identify areas where there is the greatest likelihood of ABFE revisions and FEMA should provide these communities with technical assistance. Communities and residents deserve to have access to accurate flood risk data so that they can make informed decisions about their future.
The need for this information is particularly urgent, given that FEMA regulations and the State's adoption of the ABFEs will force homeowners to comply with the new standards long before they have the opportunity for a full appeal. We were very encouraged to hear from you that FEMA is eager to listen and work with homeowners and communities on the discrepancies with the ABFEs.
Unfortunately, many affected homeowners and community leaders in our state may possess valuable information about local flood risk conditions but lack the resources to compile and submit this data in a form that meets FEMA's detailed technical standards. Many of these small communities did not have the funding to hire hydrologists before the storm, let alone now after their tax base has been devastated and their resources have been stretched. To facilitate this process, we would encourage FEMA to reach out to Stockton College, Stevens Institute of Technology, Rutgers University and any of the other excellent centers of higher learning in New Jersey who may be able to work with communities to help them get a third-party opinion about these maps. We appreciate your openness to view new data and evaluate local concerns, and we encourage you to work to provide communities with the technical assistance they need.
In addition to giving homeowners the opportunity to challenge the ABFEs, we also need to help those who unsuccessfully challenge FEMA's determination and now face tens of thousands of dollars in mitigation costs. While the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), the Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) coverage, and SBA disaster loan program provide assistance in various ways, there is little coordination and many obstacles preventing these funds from being used most efficiently. For example, while HMGP money can be used by homeowners to elevate their homes, mitigation work cannot begin until their application is approved. With all of the steps required, this approval can take well over a year -- time people forced out of their homes simply don't have. If they begin mitigating before their application for HMGP is approved, they will be ineligible for reimbursement, even if the project would have been otherwise eligible.
ICC coverage is another useful tool within the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). ICC is designed to save homeowners and the NFIP millions of dollars by encouraging flood mitigation. Unfortunately, only homeowners who suffered "substantial damage" are eligible for ICC, even if they purchased ICC coverage within their flood insurance plan and now face exorbitant costs to comply with the new standards. Responsible homeowners that purchased insurance and ICC coverage and now face a large increase in their ABFEs or were moved to a higher risk flood zone argue that they should be eligible for ICC funding to help them with the increased cost of complying with these new standards.
Finally, SBA loans are available for homeowners to make repairs and mitigate against future floods. Unfortunately, many families simply cannot afford to take on additional debt after losing everything in the storm. In addition, only 20 percent of an SBA loan taken out to repair a home can be used for mitigation. So if a homeowner suffered $20,000 in damage, they will only be eligible for a $4,000 loan for mitigation, even though in many instances the cost of mitigation may well exceed $50,000. Finally, even if a homeowner is eligible for SBA loans and other grants like HMGP, they cannot use grant money to pay off SBA loans. While we support efforts to combat waste, fraud and abuse by disallowing the duplication of benefits, a loan and a grant are not the same thing. While helpful, loans add to a family's debt and need to be paid back. They should not be considered in the context of duplication of benefits.
Again, thank you for your hard work to help New Jersey rebuild from Superstorm Sandy. We hope we can continue to work together to improve communication with residents and local leaders and that we can work to cut some of the red tape that could slow a complete and speedy recovery.
Sincerely,
Source