Scalise Sends Letter to FEMA Blasting Agency for Lack of Transparency Regarding Risk Rating 2.0 Rollout
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) wrote a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell expressing serious concerns regarding the lack of transparency surrounding the agency's rollout of Risk Rating 2.0. Whip Scalise called out FEMA for refusing to meet with Members of Congress and local flood protection officials amid heightened concerns from families across Louisiana who will experience premium increases under Risk Rating 2.0. Additionally, Whip Scalise urged FEMA to provide immediate transparency about Risk Rating 2.0 methodology.
"Louisiana families and families across our nation should not be left holding the bill for FEMA's inability to be transparent about the very system it is already implementing," Whip Scalise wrote. "This is causing tremendous harm to families, and I urge your agency to take immediate action to provide much needed transparency regarding Risk Rating 2.0 methodology, including how mitigation measures are taken into account, and how individual risk is calculated under this new NFIP rating structure."
Louisiana leaders and stakeholders also spoke out about FEMA's lack of transparency with the implementation of Risk Rating 2.0:
"Risk Rating 2.0 will have devastating impacts to the citizens of Jefferson Parish because premium increases are not reflecting the risk shown on our recently updated Flood Insurance Rate Maps. Since Hurricane Katrina, we have invested billions of mitigation dollars in extensive upgrades to our infrastructure and residential mitigation. Although we understand the need for more equitable flood insurance premiums, transparency about calculation of true risk needs to be better communicated to communities and property owners,"said Cynthia Lee Sheng, President, Jefferson Parish.
"In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, Risk Rating 2.0 is just another punch to the gut of our residents. This program is not about addressing risk as FEMA would like us to believe. It's about making it harder for our residents and thousands like them to live the American Dream. This rating system is not only damaging our potential for economic growth but also discredits the work that we have done in Lafourche for decades on our Hurricane Protection System. Our residents have taxed themselves for years with no help from the federal government and for FEMA to not even meet with us and our levee districts is a true slap in the face,"said Archie Chaisson, President, Lafourche Parish.
"We are concerned about the future of Risk Rating 2.0 and its potential negative impacts to our citizens and communities. We are hopeful that FEMA will recognize the concerns and address the need for further studies before implementation,"said Mike Cooper, President, St. Tammany Parish.
"Last week, at the Association of Levee Boards of Louisiana and the Mississippi Valley Flood Control Association annual meetings, I met with many Levee District operators from Louisiana, throughout the Mississippi Valley and in other parts of the country who expressed serious concerns and uncertainty on how Risk Rating 2.0 would impact those folks protected by our levee systems. We simply don't know how FEMA is considering our tremendous investments in flood protection infrastructure up and down the river, including Louisiana, in their process of setting rates. Further, there is a grave concern on how this revolutionary new NFIP rating system will impact the value of properties that have for years been in the program. Generally, and especially with the proposed elimination of FEMA's Grandfathering Policy for all properties under Risk Rating 2.0, the feeling is that FEMA has lost touch with the benefits of the NFIP as a program. They are simply looking at insurance. In Louisiana, in my post-Hurricane Ida discussions with folks who have been flooded for the first time by this record-breaking storm, it is disheartening to have to tell them that above everything else they are struggling with at this time, they may not afford to rebuild their homes due to the astronomical increase in the cost of flood insurance. Further, nobody can tell them what they could even do to mitigate these increased flood insurance costs as building above the Base Flood Elevation has little impact on their quoted rates. These folks, and countless others in Louisiana who have never flooded but have had flood insurance for years, feel like they are simply being cast aside," said Dwayne Bourgeois, Executive Director, North Lafourche Conservation, Levee, and Drainage District.
"Risk Rating 2.0 fails to capture the reduced risk of flooding by local improvements on levees, environmental restoration, and building standards by the local communities. It fails to provide the main goal of the program, which is to provide affordable flood insurance," said Windell Curole, General Manager, South Lafourche Levee District.
You can find the text of the letter below, and click here for a PDF of the letter.
Dear Administrator Criswell:
"I write to you regarding my serious concerns with the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) implementation and lack of transparency surrounding Risk Rating 2.0. Given the severe and expansive impacts that Risk Rating 2.0 will have on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and its policyholders, it is unconscionable that your agency has refused my request for a meeting between NFIP leadership and some of Louisiana's most knowledgeable flood protection officials. Policyholders need more information on FEMA's methodologies under Risk Rating 2.0, and this information should be widely available given its significant and potentially unsustainable impacts throughout the country.
"FEMA's refusal to meet with local flood protection experts is disturbing and only exposes further transparency issues with the ongoing implementation of Risk Rating 2.0. I strongly urge FEMA to reevaluate its decision to continue its misinformation campaign and begin to be transparent with Congress, flood protection experts, and policyholders across this country who still have serious questions regarding Risk Rating 2.0.
"As implementation of Risk Rating 2.0 has already begun, I have heard from families in my district who will face dramatic premium increases that are just untenable. Since implementation for existing policies under Risk Rating 2.0 will not occur until April 1, 2022, we expect that the concerns we have heard to date will only be echoed by millions more families in the coming months since 80 percent of Louisiana policyholders and 77 percent of policyholders nationally will see premium increases under Risk Rating 2.0. I am increasingly concerned that families across this country could drop their flood insurance, or in some cases even lose their homes, due to the unjustified and unaffordable cost of flood insurance under Risk Rating 2.0 despite communities' efforts to mitigate and protect against future flooding, placing the viability of NFIP in jeopardy.
"I have discussed these concerns with the people in South Louisiana who are experts on flood protection and mitigation, including levee protection, home elevations, and coastal restoration, and it is increasingly frustrating and disappointing that there is still inadequate and insufficient information on how these protection efforts will be recognized under Risk Rating 2.0. People should be rewarded, not penalized, for taking lifesaving measures to mitigate and protect against future floods. Moreover, an unwillingness to meet with the very people whose job it is to provide protection for families and communities is unacceptable.
"Louisiana families and families across our nation should not be left holding the bill for FEMA's inability to be transparent about the very system it is already implementing. This is causing tremendous harm to families, and I urge your agency to take immediate action to provide much needed transparency regarding Risk Rating 2.0 methodology, including how mitigation measures are taken into account, and how individual risk is calculated under this new NFIP rating structure. The American people deserve better, and I eagerly await your response."