Comment on new HUD regulations regarding flood risk management:

ASFPM encourages a response to the following new, proposed regulations, for the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard, as it applies to projects in the floodplain for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. If possible, please provide specific situations that would be impacted, and how.

Instructions to comment:

1. By mail to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410-0500.

2. Electronic Submission of Comments. HUD strongly encourages commenters to submit comments electronically. Electronic submission of comments allows the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, ensures timely receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make them immediately available to the public. Comments submitted electronically through the www.regulations.gov website can be viewed by other commenters and interested members of the public. Commenters should follow the instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.

First Proposed Regulatory Update

Comment due date: May 23, 2023

The proposed rule description as posted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development:

This proposed rule would revise HUD's regulations governing floodplain management and the protection of wetlands to implement the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS), in accordance with the Executive order, “Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a Process for Further Soliciting and Considering Stakeholder Input,” to improve the resilience of HUD-assisted or financed projects to the effects of climate change and natural disasters, and provide for greater flexibility in the use of HUD assistance in floodways under certain circumstances. Among other revisions, the rule would provide a process for determining the FFRMS Floodplain that would establish a preference for the climate-informed science approach (CISA), and it would revise HUD's floodplain and wetland regulations to streamline them, improve overall clarity, and modernize standards. This proposed rule would also revise HUD's Minimum Property Standards for one-to-four unit housing under HUD mortgage insurance and under low-rent public housing programs to require that the lowest floor in both newly constructed and substantially improved structures located within the 1-percent-annual-chance (100-year) floodplain be built at least 2 feet above the base flood elevation as determined by best available information, and it would revise a categorical exclusion when HUD performs environmental reviews, and update various HUD environmental regulations to permit online posting of public notices

Second Proposed Regulatory Update

Deadline to comment: June 6, 2023

OMB is proposing revisions to Circular A–94, which provides guidance on benefit-cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis of Federal spending. Circular A–94 was last revised in 1992. These proposed revisions reflect scientific and economic advances since that time. Included in the proposed revisions are changes in the discount rate for benefit-cost analysis. This guidance is separate from Circular A–4, which covers benefit-cost analysis of regulations, rather than spending. Members of the public are encouraged to provide comment.

Link to the circular