Bipartisan Bill Aims to Restart Nonstructural Flood Projects
A bipartisan pair of senators is pushing to ensure that nonstructural flood risk management solutions remain a core part of the federal toolkit.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced last week a bill, S. 4248 – Enhancing Long-Term, Efficient, and Viable Alternatives to Empower Flood-Prone Communities Act, in response to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ pause on certain flood studies and projects that include nonstructural approaches. The bill would require the Corps to resume that work and give nonstructural strategies equal standing alongside traditional infrastructure like dams, levees, and floodwalls.
Sen. Whitehouse told E&E News that when the USACE evaluated flood risk along Rhode Island’s coastline, “it found that nonstructural measures were the best long-term, cost-effective solution.”
At its core, the legislation focuses on a few practical changes:
- Restarting paused projects within 45 days and preventing future blanket pauses
- Reinforcing equal consideration for nonstructural solutions in all Corps studies
- Reducing barriers to implementation, including higher federal cost shares (up to 90–100% for some properties) and more flexibility for local partners
- Authorizing the Corps to develop and utilize planning approaches that are more appropriate to non-structural designs rather than the standard structural projects
The bill also looks to make it easier to deliver projects at scale—allowing phased implementation and covering costs like temporary housing and relocation support.
A familiar message for floodplain managers
The debate surrounding the Corps’ pause echoes a point ASFPM Executive Director Chad Berginnis made in his Oct. 15 column following testimony by the Corps’ Assistant Secretary Adam Telle last fall: nonstructural approaches aren’t new—and they aren’t niche.
As Berginnis noted, these strategies are often complementary to structural projects, and in many cases—particularly in rural or geographically large areas—more cost-effective than traditional infrastructure. He also emphasized that the Corps already has the authority and technical expertise to deliver these projects at scale, even if implementation processes are still evolving.
For floodplain managers, the takeaway is straightforward: this bill doesn’t introduce new concepts—it reinforces approaches that already work. The difference is whether those tools remain available, funded, and prioritized. ASFPM’s policy team will continue to advocate and support the new legislation, as it addresses major issues that have stymied many worthy and cost-effective nonstructural projects for years.
The bill would require the agency to restart the studies and project construction affected by the pause, and prevent the agency from disbanding its National Nonstructural Committee, which was founded in 1985. We understand the Corps has recently taken the positive step of upgrading the agency’s status afforded nonstructural approaches by establishing a new Center Nonstructural of Expertise to help all Districts and be coordinated from the New Orleans District.
The “pause” was set six months ago to allow the Corps and the Administration to study whether nonstructural projects were an appropriate activity for the Corps, despite clear legislation going back to 1974 that mandates thorough examination of such alternatives in planning and pursuing projects.
Currently, the pause remains in place for many scores of projects across the nation, except for four “pilot” projects under study: a nonstructural portion of Fire Island to Montauk Point in New York; the Green Brook Project in New Jersey, part of the Norfolk Coastal Storm Risk Management Project in VA, and nonstructural elements of the Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Project.