“A bill to provide for planning and implementation of nonstructural flood risk management solutions, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes definitions for use in this Act. (1) Nonstructural feature, with respect to a project for flood risk management or hurricane and storm damage risk reduction, means structure elevation, structure floodproofing, basement filling, or acquisition of floodplain land and structure demolition or relocation—excluding any such acquisition and demolition or relocation required to implement a structural feature or mitigate flooding induced by a structural feature; (2) Secretary means the Secretary of the Army.
This section makes congressional findings on the benefits and cost-effectiveness of nonstructural flood risk management features (e.g., structure elevation); declares it U.S. policy that such features receive equal consideration to structural features (e.g., levees) in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood risk management and hurricane/storm damage risk reduction feasibility studies and form a fundamental part of the agency's mission; and states the Act's purposes of reaffirming and enhancing the Corps' role in planning and implementing such features. The section further directs the Secretary of the Army to (1) continue, without pause or termination, authorized and funded flood risk management or hurricane/storm damage risk reduction studies and projects that include nonstructural features for which funds are available, resuming any paused since January 20, 2025, within 45 days of enactment unless an exception applies; (2) require district engineers to notify non-Federal interests in writing within 45 days of enactment and every 45 days thereafter on study/project status, schedules, expenditures, and work completed, with additional notices for schedule changes exceeding programmed float or pauses/terminations and annual capability notices beginning February 15, 2027; and (3) provide copies of specified notices to congressional committees. For studies recommending congressional project authorization or cost increases, the section prohibits completion without submitting a Chief's Report to Congress.
This section requires the Secretary of the Army to carry out property acquisition and structure demolition or relocation nonstructural features (i.e., buyouts of flood-prone properties) for flood risk management or hurricane and storm damage risk reduction projects on a voluntary basis, without compelling owner participation. It directs inclusion of specified costs in such projects' land acquisition, easements, rights-of-way, dredged material disposal areas, and relocations, including (1) relocation and temporary housing advisory services; (2) temporary housing for owner-occupants; (3) actual, reasonable, and necessary moving expenses; and (4) supplemental payments above appraised value for low-income owner-occupants (as defined by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development) if a comparable replacement dwelling in a nonhazard-prone area exceeds the appraised value. The section applies to studies for such projects that have not reached the tentatively selected plan milestone by enactment and, at the non-Federal interest's request, to other studies and previously authorized projects (without a general reevaluation study).
This section establishes requirements for structure elevation nonstructural features (i.e., elevating buildings to reduce flood risk) in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects for flood risk management or hurricane and storm damage risk reduction. Specifically, it (1) requires the target design flood elevation to be not lower than local ordinance levels and directs the Secretary of the Army to evaluate costs and benefits of a higher elevation per the most recent ASCE 24 standard; (2) designates as eligible for federal cost-sharing minimum project costs including compliance with all-hazards design loads (e.g., seismic, wind), required utility replacements or repairs, asbestos and lead abatement, elevation of decks/porches/stairs, compliant floor systems and access features, and temporary owner-occupant housing; (3) lists 10 types of documents acceptable for verifying structure ownership (e.g., deeds, mortgages, tax receipts, insurance policies); (4) authorizes non-federal interests to construct such features under project partnership agreements with advance federal funding and permits structure owners to contract directly for the work; and (5) applies these provisions to studies not yet at the tentatively selected plan milestone and, at non-federal request, to studies at that milestone or previously authorized projects (without a general reevaluation study).