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Vigilance Advised as Effort Begins to Modernize Flood Insurance Rate Maps

In an attempt to tackle the Herculean task of prioritizing modernization of the country’s 92,222 FIRMS, the agency released its Multi-Year Flood Hazard Identification Plan (MHIP) on Nov. 24. The draft is open for public review and comment until Jan. 31.

Of greatest concern in the remapping effort are the effects that map modernization will have at the local level. Home builders will need to pay close attention to any changes to the mapped location of the floodplain itself, as well as their current floodplain regulations, including the models used to calculate the base flood elevation and the amount of additional freeboard that communities may require.

One particular item of concern is the inclusion of “future conditions,” or the conditions that would exist within a community once it was fully developed in accordance with current zoning maps and building code requirements. Using future conditions is precarious because the modeling is based on local zoning regulations that typically change over time.

Although federal law precludes FEMA from regulating future conditions, the agency in the past has supported localities that have based the administration and management of floodplains on these speculative development conditions.

NAHB has been successful in convincing FEMA not to regulate future conditions at the federal level. However, in the modernization effort getting underway, the focus will be shifting to the local level and each community will determine how its maps will be updated.

For that reason, builders need to be aware of FEMA’s proposed MHIP schedule and should begin a dialogue with local officials involved in this issue as soon as possible.The first point of contact for any information at a state or local level is the appropriate Floodplain Manager or Flood Insurance Administrator.

Information at the state level can be found on your state government Web site (usually at www.state.postal abbreviation.us). Other sources for this information include the Blue Pages in the center of most phone books and NAHB staff.

Local associations are also advised to assume a proactive role in any and all community outreach programs on this issue to ensure that the home building industry is adequately represented in the remapping cycle.

For further information on FEMA’s map modernization efforts, click here; or e-mail Christopher Galik at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8663.

NAHB’s "FEMA Future Conditions Hydrology Action Kit" also provides a wealth of information on construction in a flood plain, and is a useful resource.

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