FEMA Panel Of Flood Experts, Mapping Specialists Can't Meet - DHS Can't Finish Security Checks
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The Technical Mapping Advisory Council, or TMAC, is composed of 20 experts tapped by the FEMA administrator to answer complex questions about flood dynamics and flood risk in areas across the United States that are experiencing higher temperatures. Created by Congress in 2012, TMAC’s specific charge is to “ensure that flood insurance rate maps (FIRMs) reflect the best available science and are based on the best available methodologies for considering the impact of future development on flood risk.”
Its findings have direct implications for NFIP, the federal insurance program meant to protect private properties from catastrophic flood losses. Today, NFIP has nearly 5.1 million policyholders and is more than $20 billion in debt, a crisis brought on by unprecedented payouts since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
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A FEMA spokesperson told E&E News last week that only four of TMAC’s members have passed required screenings by the White House and the Department of Homeland Security. “The remaining members are currently pending appointment clearances. As a result ... the TMAC does not have [a] quorum and cannot continue work,” the FEMA official said. Among the individuals awaiting White House clearance is TMAC’s chairman, Jeffrey Sparrow, a professional engineer and certified floodplain manager with Moffatt & Nichol. “I was the chair for the past year, and if my appointment hadn’t lapsed, I would still be the chair,” Sparrow said in a telephone interview. “I think there is a level of frustration,” Sparrow said about the work stoppage. “We have done good work; we’ve invested our time in doing this, but we’re not able to complete our work.”
TMAC’s last official meeting occurred Sept. 25-26, in Reston, Va., two weeks after Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas and one week before Hurricane Michael struck the Florida Panhandle.
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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/femas-panel-of-flood-experts-unable-to-meet-as-losses-mount/