Letter to The Honorable Craig Fugate, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the US Department of Homeland Security - FEMA Mapping Methodology

Letter

Dear Administrator Fugate:

We write today in response to your letter dated March 10, 2011. It was with great interest that we learned FEMA will be re-evaluating its current mapping methodology, and abandoning its all-or-nothing approach with regard to flood mitigation structures, namely levees.

FEMA has undertaken the important task of reviewing and remapping properties across the country to ensure that they are protected against catastrophic loss from flooding. This is an ambitious task and will not be completed perfectly on the first try. As FEMA continues to map New York and the rest of the country, it is imperative that the new and revised flood insurance rate maps utilize the most advanced mapping techniques, use the best data available, and take existing flood mitigation structures, like levees, into account. The consequences of not doing so can be devastating.

The placement of a property into a flood zone will have serious ramifications for both property owner and surrounding community. The designation carries a significant financial burden for the property owner, adding approximately $2,000 to his or her annual expenses. Additionally, adding a property or structure into the special flood hazard area can create a disincentive for purchase or development of that property, adversely impacting local and regional growth.

We are particularly concerned about how FEMA's new levee policy will impact communities across the Southern Tier of New York State. This region has benefitted from the protection that its levees have provided, so FEMA's decision to refine its mapping methodology to include levees and other mitigation structures is welcome news. However, FEMA needs to do more to update communities impacted by its policy shift.

First, FEMA must clarify what criterion FEMA will utilize when evaluating levees and what burden will fall to the communities to meet these criterion. As you know, under the current system a community must fund its own expensive engineering study and present the findings to FEMA before a levee will be certified. The cost of such studies is considerable, sometimes costing as much as twice an annual budget.

Additionally, some communities, such as the Villages of Whitney Point and Nichols, have already entered into PAL agreements as they undertake the aforementioned engineering studies to meet FEMA's certification requirements. These villages are trying to play by the rules, but the rules have changed and have yet to be clarified. It is, therefore, critical that FEMA delay the due date of the engineering certification while it fleshes out its levee policy.

Lastly, FEMA must reach out to impacted communities like Whitney Point and Nichols and carefully explain its new levee policy and when final map determinations will be made as a result of this change.

FEMA's decision to change its "without levee" policy is a step in the right direction, but our local elected officials and residents need more details and an understanding of how this impacts them.

Thank you for your attention to this important issue, and we look forward to hearing from you soon. Please contact Grant Kerr at 202-224-6542 or Liam Fitzsimmons at 202-225-6335 should you have questions or need additional information.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator

Maurice Hinchey
Member of Congress

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