# 119-s-4248: Enhancing Long-Term, Efficient, and Viable Alternatives to Empower Flood-Prone Communities Act of 2026

119-s-4248, Enhancing Long-Term, Efficient, and Viable Alternatives to Empower Flood-Prone Communities Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] (D-RI); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-10).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4248
- As of: 2026-09-10
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4248
- Congress: 119
- Title: Enhancing Long-Term, Efficient, and Viable Alternatives to Empower Flood-Prone Communities Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-03-26
- Sponsor: Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] (D-RI)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-10

## Summary

**Elevating nonstructural flood-risk measures** is the bill's core aim. It would require the Army Corps of Engineers to give buyouts, relocations, and structure elevation equal consideration with traditional built projects while improving planning, transparency, and delivery. - Families and homeowners would see acquisition, relocation, demolition, and elevation options remain voluntary. The federal share could cover moving expenses, temporary housing support, and supplemental payments for low-income owner-occupants when replacement housing costs exceed appraised value. - Economically disadvantaged communities and repeat-loss areas would get bigger federal subsidies. The bill would raise federal cost shares to about 90% for disadvantaged and many repetitive-loss cases and up to 100% for the most severe repetitive-loss properties. - Local governments and project partners would face faster timelines and more federal coordination. Paused studies that include nonstructural features would have to resume within 45 days unless narrow exceptions apply, and the bill creates a national committee, a working group, a Corps center of expertise, and annual reporting to guide implementation.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] (R-NC), 2026-03-26T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Help paying house elevation costs: benefit, medium. If enacted, projects that elevate homes would be able to cover many related costs. Eligible costs would include meeting seismic and wind design loads, required utility repairs, asbestos and lead abatement, raising porches or decks, building new stairs or compliant floor systems, and reasonable temp…
- Help with moving and buyouts: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Corps would treat moving costs, temporary housing, and relocation advisory services as eligible project costs when a nonstructural project requires buyouts or relocation. The Secretary would be allowed to pay a supplemental amount above appraised value for a low‑income owner‑occupan…
- Faster project resumption and oversight: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Corps would have to give written status updates and generally could not pause or stop studies or projects with nonstructural features except for listed reasons. District Engineers would send initial notices within 45 days and then every 45 days. Paused projects since January 20, 202…
- More federal pay for flood projects: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would set new federal cost shares for nonstructural flood measures. The federal share would be 100% for severe repetitive loss structures, 90% for economically disadvantaged communities or repetitive loss structures, and 75% for other nonstructural measures. These shares would…

## Related bills

- 119-s-4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026
- 119-s-4744: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-3492: Essential Caregivers Act of 2025
- 119-s-2904: SHADOW Fleet Sanctions Act of 2026

## Sources
- [119-s-4248 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4248)

## Related
- [119-s-4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4949)
- [119-s-4744: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4744)
- [119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5071)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-3492: Essential Caregivers Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3492)
- [119-s-2904: SHADOW Fleet Sanctions Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2904)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4248 (as of 2026-09-10).