STATEMENT: CAP’s Cathleen Kelly on New Flood Standard to Protect Communities and Reduce the Cost of Future Flood Disasters

Washington, D.C. — President Barack Obama signed an executive order today to establish a new Federal Flood Risk Management Standard designed to reduce the risk and cost of future flood disasters. The executive order requires all federal investments in and affecting floodplains to meet the new standard. Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Cathleen Kelly issued the following statement on the executive order:

The new flood risk standard is a significant step toward building 21st century infrastructure for 21st century communities. The effects of climate change are already being felt across the country in more frequent and severe storms, floods, and sea-level rise. These effects can damage homes and shut down infrastructure that people rely on daily. The new standard will ensure that federal agencies are investing in resilient drinking and wastewater facilities, roads, bridges, public transit, affordable housing, and power generation, among other projects. These investments in resilient infrastructure and communities—which were championed by CAP—will reduce flood damage and disaster rebuilding costs, as well as improve public health and safety, making us more prepared to withstand the inevitable effects of a changing climate.

Related resources:

• Rising Waters, Rising Threat: How Climate Change Endangers America’s Neglected Wastewater Infrastructure by Ben Bovarnick, Shiva Polefka, and Arpita Bhattacharyya
• How State Future Funds Can Help States Build Resilient Infrastructure and Cut Carbon Pollution by Cathleen Kelly and Greg Dotson
• One Storm Shy of Despair: A Climate-Smart Plan for the Administration to Help Low-Income Communities by Cathleen Kelly and Tracey Ross
• The Crushing Cost of Climate Change: Why We Must Rethink America’s Infrastructure Investments by Cathleen Kelly and Fran Sussman
• Storm-Ready Cities: How Climate Resilience Boosts Metro Areas and the Economy by Cathleen Kelly and Arpita Bhattacharyya

For more information, contact Tom Caiazza at [email protected] or 202.481.7141.

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