Recap: May Congressional Meeting on Disaster Mitigation
Subcommittee members focused their attention on the costs and benefits of an increasing emphasis on mitigation through FEMA grant programs.
On May 1, 2024, in Washington D.C., the U.S. House’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a subcommittee hearing titled, Disaster Mitigation: Reviewing the Effectiveness and Costs of FEMA’s Resilience Programs.
Subcommittee members focused their attention on the costs and benefits of an increasing emphasis on mitigation through Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant programs, such as the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Program and the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) Grant Program.
In advance of the hearing, the International Code Council rallied nearly 50 building industry organizations to collaborate on a letter which:
- Emphasized the substantial return on investment from adopting and implementing resilient building codes
- Highlighted FEMA’s support and the bipartisan legislation that enables it
- Recognized the significance of Building Safety Month which takes place in May
Additionally, the Code Council received Building Safety Month proclamations from local jurisdictions represented by nearly every subcommittee member, reflecting the strong local support for building safety initiatives.
The letter draws attention to numerous studies recognized by FEMA – as well as the Agency’s own seminal Building Codes Save report — which confirm that modern building codes, like the International Codes®, significantly mitigate the impacts of natural hazards such as hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. FEMA has consistently encouraged the adoption and enforcement of resilient codes at all levels of government, aiming to increase community resilience, protect lives and property, and reduce future federal disaster recovery costs.
Watch the recording of the hearing here.
The Code Council continues to advocate for federal resources to bolster community resilience by offering support on relevant grant applications. For more information on grant opportunities and to access Code Council support, click here.
About the Author
The International Code Council is a nonprofit association that provides a wide range of building safety solutions, including product evaluation, accreditation, certification, codification and training. It develops model codes and standards used worldwide to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures.
