Scalise again urges FEMA to produce flood insurance program info

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has yet to fully comply with an oversight request seeking documents and information about its National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), prompting another ultimatum from U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).

A bipartisan group of more than 50 congressional members, including from the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee, on May 1 sent a request to FEMA to produce documents and information that could help inform its oversight efforts for the NFIP.

“More than three months later on Aug. 4, 2023, FEMA finally responded with a preliminary production; however, the response falls far short of expectations and appears to consist entirely of publicly available information already known to the requestors,” Rep. Scalise and U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) wrote in a Sept. 18 follow-up letter sent to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.

“At this point, the committee is considering whether a compulsory process is necessary to gain compliance with the May 1 oversight request,” wrote the lawmakers, who thanked Criswell “for at least finally scheduling the requested staff-level briefing to be held on Sept. 20.”

Rep. Scalise and his colleague pointed to recent media reports showing that NFIP’s rising premiums are negatively impacting homeowners, home values, and housing markets, with the population most affected being lower-income Americans who, in some cases, live 30 miles from the coast.

“This oversight initiative is important to provide transparency to the rate setting process, inform policy and appropriations decisions, assess the overall marketplace for flood insurance, and evaluate impacts on program sustainability, affordability and housing markets,” the members wrote. 

To speed up the turnover of documents and information, and as an accommodation to FEMA, the lawmakers said the committee would make two accommodations for the agency: a prioritized list of specific documents requested from the prior letter, and acceptance of “iterative document productions” as long as they’re produced as soon as possible, according to their letter.

“Since FEMA was on notice in committee counsel’s Aug. 24 email that compulsory process could follow, we expect a substantive production by Sept. 25,” wrote Rep. Scalise and his colleague. “If we do not receive a production of responsive documents not already publicly available, we will consider the use of the compulsory process to gain compliance.”