Quoting from the release, "Acting Flood Insurance Advocate, David Stearrett, will lead the Interim Office, which specializes in assisting clients and policyholders on National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) issues and is an independent office within FEMA with direct alignment to the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) associate administrator and the FEMA administrator. This Interim Office will operate until a permanent Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate is established in accordance with Section 24 of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 (subject to budget resources)."
This is a congressional mandate. I'm not sure that this is something FEMA wanted to have happen. Is this really something new or was the work already being performed elsewhere in the department? FEMA has taken a lot of heat over its flood map modernization program and I'm thinking establishing this new office is one perceived remedy.
