Federal Action Agenda
From hurricanes to wildfires, natural disasters and more intense and frequent extreme weather events have severe impacts on local and regional infrastructure, the economy, public safety, public health, natural landscapes and environmental quality.
Addressing climate change and building community resilience has long been a priority of NLC. In 2018 Congress passed the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA), to put a greater emphasis on pre-mitigation within FEMA.
NLC calls on the Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to ensure the reforms that are part of the DRRA will help communities rebuild stronger after a disaster and minimize future damage and risk, which will ultimately reduce costs and save taxpayer dollars.
Action and Legislation
- Reauthorize National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
NLC calls on Congress to reauthorize this vital program that helps millions of people recover from the frequent and drastic flooding disasters occurring across the country.
Since September 2017, Congress has passed seven short-term extension for the NFIP – NLC is concerned that without a long-term extension, there will continue to be uncertainty around disaster resilience and the flood insurance rates for businesses and residents.
- H.R. 2157 House Supplemental Disaster Aid Package
H.R. 2157 provides $17.2 billion in FY2019 supplemental appropriations to several federal departments and agencies for expenses related to the consequences of recent wildfires, hurricanes, volcanos, earthquakes, typhoons, and other natural disasters. Before the bill was enacted in June of 2019, the House introduced a supplemental disaster aid package to provide aid and assistance to existing programs. Learn more: https://www.nlc.org/sites/default/files/users/user52651/HR2157_HouseSupplemental_Disaster_Aid_Package.pdf