ASFPM Testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management

A Review of Building Codes & Mitigation Efforts to Help Minimize the Costs Associated with Natural Disasters

Chad Berginnis, Executive Director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, presented testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.

Introduction
The Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) is very pleased to offer our thoughts related to the value of hazard mitigation to the nation as it relates to reducing natural disaster costs, as well as to specifically offer our recommendations as they relate to building codes. We thank Chairman Denham and Ranking Member Norton for your attention to the importance of hazard mitigation and specifically how building codes factor into the mix of mitigation tools that can be used. ASFPM’s members are the country’s practictioners who work with flood hazard mitigation programs, land use, and building codes on a daily basis. Given that flooding is the nation’s primary natural hazard and that ASFPM’s mission is to reduce flood losses in the nation, we commend the committee on its leadership in examinig this important issue.

Our testimony will discuss the following key issues:

The rise of disaster losses in the nation

The nation’s need for a coherent, robust and multi-faceted mitigation effort to reduce disaster costs

Mitigation as an investment of taxpayer funds to save taxpayer funds

The effectiveness of non-structural mitigation tools including building codes

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