FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 11, 2025
Contact:
Chandra Rosenthal (303) 898-0798 [email protected]
Jeff Ruch (510) 213-7928 [email protected]
HUD Revives Plan to Weaken Flood Protections
Rollback of 500-Year to 100-Year Standard Only Paused After Texas Floods
Washington, DC — With the memory of catastrophic flooding in Texas Hill Country fading, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) is proceeding with previously planned easing of flood protections for public housing, affordable housing, and other HUD-assisted projects, including levees and other flood protection infrastructure, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). In publishing its latest regulatory schedule, HUD has quietly resurrected a plan, put on hold in July, to weaken its once-in-500-years floodplain size and related building and floodproofing regulations to a once-in-100-years standard. The agency is changing risk from a 0.2% annual chance of flooding to a 1% annual chance.
In July, PEER revealed that HUD’s planned relaxation had disappeared, but apparently that pause was only temporary. Reacting to PEER’s reports, six Senate Democrats and Independent Angus King demanded clarification from HUD and justification for any relaxation, but it is unclear if HUD responded to that letter or notified Congress of its latest reversal.
“The political memories of the epic tragedies in Texas did not even last through the summer,” remarked PEER Western Lands and Rocky Mountain Advocate Chandra Rosenthal, recalling flooding in Texas over the Fourth of July which killed at least 136 people and washed away homes and other structures. “People living in public or subsidized housing need greater, not less, protection – precisely because they are often living in places most vulnerable to flooding.”
This easing of flood protections for HUD projects is part of a broader Trump administration deregulatory effort designed to reduce costs of new housing. As part of this drive, federal agencies have also set aside flood standards for federally guaranteed home loans and reconstruction assistance.
The regulatory and political response in Texas stands in stark contrast to federal rollbacks. After a special session, Governor Greg Abbott signed sweeping new measures aimed at strengthening the state’s flood preparedness just as new federal rollbacks do the opposite.
In addition, Trump political orthodoxy denies the role climate change has played in flood events of increasing frequency and power. Experts forecast more catastrophic flooding events, not less.
This change will also increase flood insurance costs for projects. “Making low-income housing more affordable while simultaneously making it more unsafe is the epitome of shortsightedness,” added Rosenthal.
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See HUD’s notice of proceeding with floodplain relaxations
