FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 17, 2025
Contact:
Chandra Rosenthal (303) 898-0798 [email protected]
Jeff Ruch (510) 213-7928 [email protected]
HUD’s Plan to Weaken Flood Protections on Hold—for Now
After Texas Floods, Rollback Of 500-Year Standard Is Paused
Washington, DC — In the wake of horrific flooding in Texas hill country, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) has put the brakes on 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). HUD’s announced retrenchment of its elevation requirements within the 500-year floodplain has suddenly disappeared from the federal regulatory website. If this regulation is enacted, it appears that HUD will return to analyzing a smaller 100-year floodplain with lower required elevations for the floors and the floodproofing of buildings.
This easing of flood protections for HUD projects is part of a broader Trump administration deregulatory effort designed to reduce costs of new housing. In recent weeks, federal agencies have quietly relaxed flood standards for –
- New construction eligibility for federally guaranteed loans;
- New single-family construction; and
- Federal Emergency Management Agency reconstruction assistance.
The disastrous flooding in Texas has apparently caused the Trump administration to suspend or slow down some of their suspensions of Obama-era floodplain management policies. It is unclear whether this pause is temporary or whether the Trump administration is reconsidering the wisdom of relaxing floodplain protections for housing.
Notably, all five HUD Regional and Field Environmental Officers in Region VI—including those responsible for floodplain management in Texas—are no longer with the agency. They departed during the Trump administration’s broader shake-up of federal agencies.
Affordable housing projects, including public housing, are often sited on real estate of the lowest market value, such as land vulnerable to flooding. Moreover, the density of multifamily housing compounds the loss of life in flooding events.
“Removing floodplain protections to reduce housing costs puts people at serious risk to save a few dollars.” stated Rocky Mountain PEER Director Chandra Rosenthal, noting that many of these relaxations are being fast-tracked without any in-depth review. “Increasing the flood vulnerability of housing just invites future disasters.”
Flooding events of increasing frequency and power are one of the observed effects of climate change. Experts predict that Trump’s promotion of fossil fuels and denial of climate change impacts will ultimately lead to increased flooding vulnerability of American communities.
“If trends continue, the 500-year flood events will become as common as 100-year flood events are now,” added Rosenthal, noting that the U.S. is currently experiencing 1,000-year flood events. “Every year, a greater percentage of Americans are at a greater risk for the type of events that engulfed Texas’ Guadalupe River.”
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View screenshot of removed floodplain relaxation
See recission of flood standards for new construction Eligibility
Look at waiver of new single-family flood requirements
