DAY 218: Trump eliminated Obama rule for flood standards before Harvey hit

Just days before hurricane Harvey hit Texas, causing the worst flood in the history of Houston, Donald Trump eliminated an Obama-era regulation to fight against floods.

On August 15, 2017, barely a week before hurricane Harvey hit Texas, Trump rolled back the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard, supposedly as a way to speed construction of infrastructure.

The regulation had been in place for two years.

The New York Times published on August 15 the following:

But environmental activists, flood plain managers and some conservatives had urged the Trump administration to preserve it, arguing that it protected critical infrastructure and taxpayer dollars.

“The Trump administration’s decision to overturn this is a disaster for taxpayers and the environment,” said Eli Lehrer, president of the R Street Institute, a free-market think tank in Washington. He described the Obama order as a common-sense measure to prevent taxpayer money from being sunk into projects threatened by flooding.

Now Houston is flooded. One has to wonder how many constructions would be at risk of flooding because of Trump's rolling back of the Obama regulation.