Natural Disaster Preparation

Floor Speech

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Mr. NEGUSE. Madam Speaker, I first want to thank the gentleman from California for his courtesy and, of course, that of the majority leader.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to call attention to a failure of our government to issue a promised and required set of regulatory guidance in a timely manner and a failure of our government to adequately prepare the American people for natural disasters and to provide relief for suffering communities.

I happen to represent the great State of Colorado's Second Congressional District, and my State is no stranger to catastrophic weather events. Exacerbated by the dangers we face from the threat of climate change, we regularly experience forest fires, tornadoes, and other disasters. Six years ago, we experienced historic flooding most severely impacting Boulder County and Larimer County, both counties in my district.

In September of 2013, we were inundated with heavy rainfall with up to 15 inches of rainfall in 1 week in some areas. The result was devastating flooding across the front range of Colorado.

The storms took the lives of 10 Coloradans and caused nearly $4 billion in damage across 21 counties in our State, the most expensive disaster in Colorado's history. Rivers and creeks overflowed. Waters seeped into the homes of thousands and displaced 18,147 people across our State. Roads and bridges, as you can see here, were completely washed out. Much infrastructure was destroyed.

My district, as I mentioned, contains two of the counties that were the hardest hit by these events, Boulder and Larimer Counties.

Yet, today, more than 6 years later, many of these communities have still not been able to recover from the flooding fully.

Rebuilding from a disaster this severe is a lengthy and expensive process. However, it is made more difficult by Federal grant regulations set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, that require cities and counties to rebuild infrastructure in the exact same way it had been built before the disaster in order to qualify for reimbursement.

If these counties were to rebuild the roads and bridges that were destroyed in the flood the same way they were originally built, it would put these same communities at risk of future disasters once again.

There is a lack of clarity and consistency for these cities and counties, as well as countless other cities and counties across the country, in FEMA's current determination of reimbursements.

Many projects in my district have been deemed ``not cost-effective'' because the counties made an adjustment and wanted to improve their infrastructure, not just rebuild the same road right next to a river that would be washed out again with the next flood.

Now, the good news is, Madam Speaker, that Congress has already acted in a bipartisan way to show that we understand this problem. Section 1235 of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act passed last year, in 2018, and it required that FEMA issue interim guidance, which is based on ``the latest consensus-based codes and standards'' within 60 days of that law being enacted.

Just to give you a sense of context in terms of time, the law was signed by the President on October 5, 2018. It has been almost an entire year since this bill was signed into law, yet FEMA has issued no interim guidance.

I understand. I get it. I recognize that it may take longer than 60 days, maybe 90 days, maybe 120 days. But an entire year?

This endangers not just the financial security of counties in Colorado that have millions of dollars at risk based on the pending project determinations, but it demonstrates a fundamental failure by the United States Government. There is simply no excuse for the extensive delay that FEMA has taken in issuing this interim guidance.

Millions of dollars are at risk every day that counties have to wait to learn if their projects will be reimbursed or covered under FEMA rulemaking.

I know there are hardworking people at FEMA who are doing their jobs each and every day to protect communities across our country, but I would just implore the Agency--and we have certainly communicated this directly to the Agency--that it should not have taken 6 years for communities to rebuild their infrastructure after a flood fully, and it certainly should not be caused by delays from red tape at the Federal level.

Promises were made by the Agency to get this rulemaking done. I urge FEMA to take action to issue this guidance in the last few days of September, as they promised.

We have just a few more days, Madam Speaker, until the month concludes. My constituents are waiting. The counties are waiting. The country is waiting. I ask FEMA to not allow for any other delays, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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