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4/30/2025
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Carson introduces bill creating flood audit program for homes and business properties
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 STATE HOUSE – To help Rhode Islanders make their property more resilient to the effects of climate change, Rep. Lauren H. Carson is proposing a new flood audit program, similar to the state’s existing energy efficiency audit program.
Under the Rhode Island Property Resilience Act (2025-H 6276), which she introduced April 25, the program would provide homeowners and businessowners with an inspection of their property by a team of trained professionals who would identify risks and potential improvements, large and small, that could be made to protect it from flood damage.
“In my neighborhood in Newport, flooding becomes more frequent and more severe with every passing year, wreaking havoc on homes and businesses. Even inland areas, however, now frequently endure floods due to extreme weather events, changing weather and precipitation patterns and ocean encroachment,” said Representative Carson (D-Dist. 75, Newport). “Floods are costing property owners and our economy more money every year. Every owner needs to know what they can do to make their property more resilient. It’s my hope that if our state can implement a flood audit program and reduce the costs of flood-related property loss, it will not only improve our state’s resilience but also help address the ever-increasing costs of property insurance.”
The program would mimic Rhode Island’s existing energy assessment program, through which a homeowner can request an energy audit team come to their home and identify various improvements that could be made to reduce electricity and heating demands. The energy program includes many free upgrades, such as efficient lightbulbs and thermostats and air leak sealing, as well as substantial subsidies for more expensive upgrades such as insulation.
Representative Carson envisions the same sort of program, where a team of professionals would assess a property for its flood risks, then recommend a variety of ways it could be better protected, such as drainage improvements, floodproofing measures and retrofits such as flood vents, elevating appliances and outdoor changes that redirect water. Simple improvements might be performed for free.
Much as the energy audit program is funded through a surcharge on all customers’ monthly electric bills, the flood audit program would be funded through an annual $25 surcharge on all home and business property insurance policies.
The program would be administered through a contract with a vendor, as the energy program is, and would be overseen by a new Flood Mitigation Council within the executive branch, consisting of the state’s chief resilience officer, representatives of the state Emergency Management Agency, the Coastal Resources Management Council, the state Flood Mitigation Association, the Rhode Island Builders Association and the Act on Coasts Advisory Council, as well as a municipal planner and a representative of the insurance industry.
The bill is an idea that was first proposed in 2016 by the House Commission on Economic Risk Due to Flooding and Sea Rise, a panel Representative Carson led during her first term in the House of Representatives. Legislation sponsored by Representative Carson resulted in a report the following year that recommended implementation of a flood audit program to educate Rhode Islanders on how to mitigate flood risks.
Under Representative Carson’s legislation, the program would build up funding for two years, beginning Jan. 1, 2026, to enable it to begin providing flooding assessment and suggesting resilience improvements on Jan. 1, 2028. The legislation requires that the program engage in outreach, particularly targeted at flood-prone areas, and also requires annual reports that include information on metrics of success including the number of audits performed, percentage of property owners implementing recommendations and information on building permits requesting alteration or elevation of the property as a result of audits.
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Whitty, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-1923
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