A Couple Quick Items: Federal Government News

- The Washington Business Journal reports that Congress is trying to get the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to move its headquarters from a choice location in the Federal Triangle to another office in order to let the National Gallery of Art expand. One of the locations the FTC could relocate to, according to the article, is Federal Building 8, the office building at 200 C Street that is currently under renovation.

- In other federal government agency news, the WBJ reports that in President Obama's 2012 budget, it calls for delaying the move of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to St. Elizabeths in SE. FEMA's headquarters are currently located at the 600 block of C Street. Under the proposed budget, the delivery of FEMA's new headquarters would be delayed for a year. The headquarters facility was originally supposed to deliver between 2014 and 2016, along with offices for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is headquartered at 500 12th Street, among others.

FEMA Reverses Course on Flood Maps

Earlier this week, according to this article from the Examiner, FEMA officials decided to rescind its plan to expand the floodplain in Downtown DC after city officials said they would address flood concerns around the National Mall. If the new floodplain maps went into effect, homeowners and businesses in the affected area would be required to purchase flood insurance and developers would need to adhere to more stringent design codes. The expanded flood zone included parts of Southwest from 3rd Street to South Capitol Street and Fort McNair.