New York State Insider: Legislative Update: Flood Destroyed Homes.

 

In the wake of Hurricane Ida, I heard from residents whose homes have repeatedly been destroyed by flooding and have little hope that mitigation efforts will provide significant relief. In response, I introduced legislation (S7530) in the Senate, carried by Assemblymember Englebright in the Assembly (A4245), that will expand opportunities for residents to have their flood-destroyed homes purchased or bought out through funding from the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF).  

Currently, this fund can be used for climate change adaptation and mitigation projects, including flood mitigation and coastal resiliency, but not for residential buyouts. This legislation will allow for buyouts as another component of climate change mitigation and adaptation. In the face of repeated and increasing devastation of extreme weather events and the risk of coastal and inland flooding, we need to ensure that we have as many tools as possible to respond, mitigate climate change and provide residents relief.