Advisory Council urges FEMA to partner with ICC to protect safety and property with current codes

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) statutorily established National Advisory Council (NAC) recently urged the agency to partner with ICC to raise awareness of codes’ mitigation benefits. The report recommended FEMA to encourage up-to-date codes in grant programs that improve community preparedness and resilience. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Congress required the establishment of the NAC—a 35 member cross-section of officials, emergency managers, and emergency response providers from state, local, tribal and territorial governments, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations—to advise FEMA. The Code Council participates in the NAC’s recommendation development process and presented before the NAC in October. According to FEMA, roughly two-thirds of communities that face hazard risk have not adopted hazard resistant codes. Many studies have demonstrated the extensive loss avoidance benefits current codes provide. Read more here about this ongoing effort