Congressman Joe Neguse’s Climate Change Preparedness Proposal Passes the House

The amendment requires a report on how the building codes and standards used by FEMA consider climate resiliency.

Washington D.C.— Congressman Joe Neguse, who represents Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, today passed an amendment out of the U.S. House of Representatives that will help build climate resilient communities, by studying and making recommendations to the building codes and standards used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in order to better prepare for climate change. The amendment passed alongside H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, a comprehensive infrastructure package introduced by House Democrats and is modeled after legislation introduced earlier in the year by Congressman Neguse, the Climate Resilient Communities Act, a bill that was inspired by emergency management officials in Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, who have struggled to obtain needed funds to rebuild after the historic 2013 floods.

“As communities across the country are faced with the task of rebuilding after extreme weather events that will occur increasingly with climate change, it’s essential that they are able to prioritize climate resiliency and smart infrastructure,” said Congressman Joe Neguse. “My amendment will provide recommendations for FEMA to improve their use of building codes and standards to take into account climate impacts and risks, and ensure that the infrastructure in our communities is resilient and equipped for the future. I am proud to see it pass out of the House today along with a comprehensive array of needed infrastructure investments for our nation.”

“We know that climate change is going to result in more severe weather events in the years to come,” said Boulder County Commissioner Chair Deb Gardner. “This provision is an important step forward in making sure that when we do need to rebuild and recover from the next flood, fire, or other disaster, we can do so in ways that will better prepare us for future disasters without being constrained by outdated or inadequate building codes and standards.”

Specifically, the amendment would require the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study on the benefits of pre-disaster mitigation measures, and a review of the current building codes and standards used by the Agency, with recommendations for how FEMA could improve their use of these codes and further support the adoption of hazard resistant codes by states, territories, and tribes to ensure communities are prepared for climate change.

In 2013, Colorado experienced historic flooding, with Boulder and Larimer Counties in the 2nd district experiencing some of the most severe impacts in the state. The flooding took the lives of ten Coloradans and caused nearly $4 billion in damage across the state, and many Colorado communities are still struggling to fully recover. Requirements used by FEMA that required cities and counties to rebuild infrastructure in the exact way it had been built before the disaster in order to qualify for reimbursement made the recovery process more difficult for these communities.

View the amendment text here. A fact sheet on the Moving Forward Act is available here.