The Obama administration has issued tougher risk-management standards for federal agencies to use in determining where federally funded buildings, highways and other infrastructure projects in floodplains should be situated.
The new requirements, contained in an executive order that President Obama signed on Jan. 30, drew praise from state floodplain officials and environmental advocates, but also sparked criticism from a construction group and some lawmakers— including eight Republican U.S. Senators, who question the standard's legality.
John Podesta, counselor to the President, and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate said in a blog post, "This new resilience standard will help ensure taxpayer dollars are well spent on infrastructure that can better withstand the impacts of flooding."