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Averting Disaster: Building Regulations in the Wake of Hurricane Irma

After Hurricane Irma’s dissipation on September 15, 2017, the residents of Florida can now begin to assess the damage caused by the strongest hurricane making landfall since Katrina in 2005. According to early estimates, Irma has caused over 62 billion dollars in damage. However, amongst the destruction there is a silver lining; the damage caused was significantly limited by building regulations that went into effect in 2002. Homes and buildings that would have otherwise been destroyed by Hurricane Irma were able to survive, and suffered only minor damage.

History of Emergency Prescription Fulfillment Policies in the Wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma

In the midst of a natural disaster people gather their children and pets, try to locate a temporary home, and worry what situation they may come home to. The first things people think to grab have nothing to do with their prescription drugs. However, according to a study performed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, from 2011-2014, 46.9% of the population was prescribed a drug in the last 30 days; prescription drugs are an important factor in many peoples’ lives. When portions of the population are displaced from their homes during a natural disaster, they often forget their pill bottles and/or prescriptions. Thankfully, following Hurricane Katrina, regulations were put in place to help people in these situations.

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma Add Urgency to Congressional Flood Insurance Reform Effort

In 2016, Congress introduced a bill to reform the National Flood Insurance Program.  Proponents of the bill saw it as necessary reform to a debt-ridden and ineffective program, while opponents saw it as an attack against a necessary safeguard for coastal Americans. The National Flood Insurance Program was set to expire at the end of September 2016, until Congress extended the program through December 8, 2017.  As Americans rebuild from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Congress contemplates reform and seeks to keep the program funded past December.

Hurricane Harvey Aftermath Leaves Opportunity for Financial Fraud

On August 30, 2017, Trump signed Proclamation 9632 declaring September 2017 as National Preparedness Month, encouraging “all Americans… take action to be prepared for disaster or emergency by making and practicing their plans,” also citing that fewer than half of American families report having an emergency response plan. While it is important to have a disaster plan in place for your family to take care of their physical needs, it is also vital to be prepared for the possibility of scams and fraudulent activity in the wake of a natural disaster such as Hurricane Harvey.

Navigating the Flood: How Rising Insurance Costs Threaten Communities Amid Climate Change  

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s Risk Rating 2.0 program, implemented in October 2021, represents a significant overhaul of the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) pricing methodology. While the new system aims to more accurately align flood insurance premiums with individual property risks, it has sparked both praise and controversy. The State of Louisiana filed suit against FEMA arguing that it has not provided sufficient transparency regarding the new rating system. Louisiana’s political leadership, including the governor and congressional representatives from both parties, have been advocating for FEMA to reconsider its flood risk assessments in vulnerable regions. They argue that the current Risk Rating 2.0 system fails to adequately account for the significant investmentsmade in flood protection and storm resilience infrastructure since major disasters like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and the severe flooding that impacted the Baton Rouge area in 2016. These leaders contend that these substantial improvements in flood mitigation should be reflected in FEMA’s risk calculations. The lawsuit demands more information about the risk model, which they claim relies on “undisclosed, hypothetical, and abstract possibilities.” The lack of comprehensive information provided directly to policyholders has also been identified as a significant issue.

Regulating the Black Experience

Taelor Thornton Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2024 Advanced Placement (AP) Music History, AP World History, AP Art History, AP European History, and now AP African American History. The College Board (the Board) offers 39 AP classes on many different subjects, and has recently added an African American history course. The …
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Students In Illinois Believe That Title IX Offices Are Failing Them, But Why?

Where Title IX offices exist, controversy follows. While certain students attending four year higher education institutions (HEIs) may feel empowered or supported by their Title IX offices, in my experience, many more feel mistrust, pain, and neglect. In my time as a student at three different HEIs, I was constantly surrounded by women and queer people in pain. Sometimes, this pain came in the form of a friend stating they did not want to engage with the Title IX office because they wholeheartedly believed nothing substantive would come of reporting. Other times, the pain came in the form of large groups of students making it known that they felt betrayed by their school’s Title IX office, unsupported and ill-equipped to advocate for themselves and their friends.

A recent article in the Loyola Phoenix, pointedly entitled, They Just Didn’t Make It Very Easy For Us’: Three Loyola Students Voice Frustrations with Loyola’s Sexual Assault Investigation Process, named only some of the many critiques students have of Title IX offices. The voices of these students are valid. Change can, should, and must be made. Any response which does not acknowledge these two realities ignores the pain so many young people are clearly feeling. Refusal to diligently, and in good faith, work on improving protections for survivors throughout HEI campuses is a failure, in every sense of the term.   

The Unintended Effects of the BEAT Provision on the Insurance Sector

A provision within the new tax overhaul is emerging as a leading concern for the property and casualty insurance sector. The industry recently experienced growing uncertainties about how a vaguely worded provision within the Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) may affect their bottom line. However, the insurance industry is not the only group that may experience these unintentional ramifications; consumers and small businesses are also likely to see an increase in their premiums due to implications of BEAT.

Closing out the 2017-2018 academic year

With less than a week left in the semester, the Journal of Regulatory Compliance editors are hard at work studying for exams, gearing up for summer jobs, or eagerly awaiting graduation. However, before we shutter INSIDE COMPLIANCE for the summer session, I want to take this opportunity to look back over the past year, and how much our members have accomplished.

The Journal of Regulatory Compliance is a young law journal, even for Loyola University Chicago School of Law. It’s only been a few years since our first annual symposium, and the debut of the Center for Compliance Studies here at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. In many ways, this year was an experiment—we debuted a new Board structure, a new editorial process, a new blog format and a new time of year for our Symposia. Despite that uncertainty, the 30-plus members of the Journal of Regulatory Compliance have accomplished extraordinary things.

Harvey Heralds Change: The Combusting Compliance of Emergency Response to Hazardous Materials

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s severe flooding, the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas has made quite the media splash. Rising waters left the plant without power, forcing workers to transfer volatile organic peroxides into large refrigerated trucks with independent generators. In up to six feet of water, several of the trucks’ refrigeration systems failed, resulting in combustion of the hydrogen peroxide, a hazardous material under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards. This is not the first example of chemical plants having issues with natural disasters; there were significant hazardous material concerns after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and more recently the Fukushima nuclear plant in 2011. With no indication that these problems will be resolved, it is important to once again look at regulations placed on chemical plants in response to emergency.