With the backing of 43 parishes, state Attorney Jeff Landry said Thursday he will sue the Federal Emergency Management Agency to block a new flood-risk calculation system that critics say threatens homeowners with bankruptcy and foreclosure.
During a press conference with parish officials and other supporters, Landry said the federal lawsuit will be filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana, with 10 other states listed as plaintiffs. The complaint will allege that the new flood risk assessments put in place by federal agencies are arbitrary and capricious, violate the Administrative Procedure Act and are unconstitutional.
“Throughout Louisiana and many other states, homeowners and small businesses are struggling to afford flood insurance,” the attorney general said during the New Orleans press conference. “The rising costs are directly attributable to federal government bureaucrats taking something that has worked for decades, shrouding it in mystery and then making it worse.”
Louisiana Solicitor General Liz Murrill said Louisiana officials have repeatedly tried to find out what information the new system, Risk Rating 2.0, was based on but had been unsuccessful .It will now be up to a federal judge to force FEMA to divulge this information, Murrill said.
“This is deeply inequitable not only to our state but to people around the country,” Murrill said.
The new FEMA system for flood insurance does not take into account the billions of dollars invested in Louisiana on levees, water pumps and housing upgrades, such as elevating dwellings to protect them during storms, officials said. And the new system also relies on speculation and secrecy, they said.
Parish officials said the new federal risk system could result in the depopulation of coastal regions by destroying their economic value as homeowners are forced to leave.
“It’s getting to the point that they’re being driven out by the federal government,” Landry said.
The lawsuit will seek to enjoin the enforcement of the new flood-risk algorithm and reinstate the previous system, which relied on historical data and whose calculations were transparent, officials said.