Issues and Options in Flood Hazards Management - PRELIMINARY DRAFT

Congressman Thomas L. Ashley, Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Urban Affairs and Senator William Proxmire, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, have requested that OTA undertake a study in the area of natural hazards. Considering the complexity and scope of such an undertaking, a preliminary analysis has been begun to define what issues are or should be of concern to Congress and where further study could be useful to the Congress. In pursuit of that preliminary analysis, three workshops were held. One, the subject of this paper, dealt with issues and options in flood hazards management and flood insurance. A second workshop dealt with criteria for evaluating the President's anticipated reorganization of federal emergency preparedness and response. A third workshop was concerned with criteria for evaluating the implementation plan required in the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (P.L. 95-124). Each workshop has carried the preliminary analysis a long way toward a detailed understanding of underlying issues and trends relating to natural hazards. A second purpose in these topical workshops was to produce reports which would be of direct and immediate value to the committees of the Congress.