Schepisi-Rudder Bill Allowing Limited Exemption for Raising Structures to FEMA Standards Released by Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 14, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — Legislation permitting owners with a limited exemption from local land use restrictions in order to raise an existing structure to the new elevation level proposed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was released by the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee today.

The bill, A-3890, is sponsored by Assembly Republicans Holly Schepisi, R-Bergen and Passaic, and Assemblyman Scott Rudder, R-Burlington, Atlantic and Camden.

“Expensive lessons were learned after the devastation caused by Super Storm Sandy,” said Schepisi. “Property owners are now faced with the decision of whether or not they should incur the expense to raise their homes or face astronomical increases in their homeowners’ insurance. They shouldn’t be put in a Catch-22 position by a local ordinance prohibiting them from conforming with FEMA’s recommendations. Fairness and logic suggest that government not hinder those who have come to grips with undertaking the exorbitant cost of safeguarding their home.”

The exemption to Schepisi and Rudder’s bill would apply only to the extent necessary to meet the new FEMA base flood elevation applicable to the location in question. A “new FEMA base flood elevation” is defined as any advisory base flood elevation proposed or adopted after October 29, 2012. FEMA’s base flood elevation represents the elevation of a flood with a one percent chance of occurrence during any given year, commonly referred to as a “100-year flood.”