CFM chapter 2 - National Flood Insurance Program
What act did Congress pass in 1968
National Flood Insurance Act
How is a flood defined by NFIP regulations?
"A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from: 1) the overflow of inland or tidal waters, or 2) The unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source." The official definition also includes mudflows and erosion.
What does a community agree to do in the resolution of intent to join the NFIP? (5)
1) Assist the administrator in the delineation of the floodplain. 2) Provide information concerning present use and occupancy of the floodplain. 3) Maintain elevation and floodproofing records on new construction. 4) Cooperate with agencies and firms which undertake to study, survey, map, and identify floodplain areas and cooperate with neighboring communities with respect to the management of adjoining floodplain areas in order to prevent aggravation of existing hazards. 5) Notify the administrator whenever the boundaries of the community have been modified.
What are the regional offices responsible for? (7)
1) Assisting the state NFIP coordinating agencies. 2) Assessing community compliance with the minimum NFIP criteria. 3) Advising local officials responsible for administering the ordinance. 4) Answering questions from design professionals and the public. 5) Helping review and adopt new maps and data. 6) Approving community floodplain management regulations 7) Providing information and training on the flood insurance purchase requirements.
Who uses NFIP maps? (3)
1) Communities, states, and Federal agencies use them as the basis for regulating new floodprone construction 2) Insurance agents use them when rating flood insurance policies, and 3) Lenders and Federal agencies use them to determine when flood insurance must be purchased as a condition of a loan or financial assistance.
The role of the state coordinating agency. (4)
1) Ensuring that communities have the legal authorities necessary to adopt and enforce floodplain management regulations. 2) Establishing minimum state regulatory requirements consistent with the NFIP. 3) Providing technical and specialized assistance to local governments. 4) Coordinating the activities of various state agencies that affect the NFIP.
Sanctions for non-participation (6)
1) Flood insurance will not be available. 2) Existing flood insurance policies will not be renewed. 3) No Federal grants or loans for the acquisition or construction of buildings may be made in identified flood hazard areas under programs administered by Federal agencies such as HUD, EPA, and SBA. 4) No Federal disaster assistance may be provided to repair insurable buildings located in identified flood hazard areas for damage caused by a flood. 5) No Federal mortgage insurance or loan guarantees may be provided in identified flood hazard areas. 6) Federally insured or regulated lending institutions, such as banks, and credit unions, must notify applicants seeking loans for insurable buildings in flood areas that there is a flood hazard and the property is not eligible for Federal disaster relief.
Four strategies of UNPFM
1) Human susceptibility 2) Impacts 3) Flooding itself 4) PReserve and restore
What does a community commit itself to when participating in the NFIP? (5)
1) Issuing or denying floodplain development/building permits. 2) Inspecting all development to assure compliance with the local ordinance. 3) Maintaining records of floodplain development. 4) Assisting in the preparation and revision of floodplain maps. 5) Helping residents obtain information on flood hazard, floodplain map data, flood insurance, and proper construction methods.
What did a community commit itself to when it joined the NFIP? (5)
1) Issuing or denying floodplain development/building permits. 2) Inspecting all development to assure compliance with the local ordinance. 3) Maintaining records of floodplain development. 4) Assisting in the preparation and revision of floodplain maps. 5) Helping residents obtain information on flood hazards, floodplain map data, flood insurance, and proper construction measures.
Three things that can happen if a community doesn't fulfill its NFIP obligations.
1) New buildings will be built subject to flood damage. 2) Insurance on an improperly constructed building may be very expensive. 3) FEMA can impose sanctions on the community to encourage it to correct its floodplain management program.
FEMA's three options when a community doesn't uphold its part of the agreement
1) Reclassification under the Community Rating System (to class 10) 2) Probation 3) Suspension from the program
FEMA administers the NFIP through which two offices?
1) Regional Offices 2) Mitigation Division
What was the NFIP created to do? (4)
1) Transfer the costs of private property flood losses from the taxpayers to floodplain property owners through flood insurance premiums. 2) Provide floodplain residents and property owners with financial aid after floods, especially smaller floods that do not warrant federal disaster aid. 3) Guide development away from flood hazard areas. 4) Require that new and substantially improved buildings be constructed in ways that would minimize or prevent damage during a flood.
When did Congress pass the National Flood Insurance Act?
1968
When did Congress pass the Flood Disaster Protection Act?
1973
When did UNPFM turn in their report?
1979
When did Congress pass the National Flood Insurance Reform Act?
1994
Disaster Mitigation Act - year and purpose
2000. Provides the legal basis for FEMA mitigation planning requirements for State, local and Indian Tribal governments as a condition of mitigation grant assistance. DMA
What was the first map most communities received when joining the NFIP?
A Flood Hazard Boundary Map (FHBM)
What is a pre-FIRM building?
A building built before the effective date of the community's Flood Insurance Rate Map.
When a community applies to join the NFIP, what must it submit?
A resolution of intent to "maintain in force...adequate land use and control measures" and to cooperate with FEMA and its adopted floodplain management ordinance.
What happens to a community in probation?
An additional $50 premium will be charged on policies sold or renewed during the probation period. Probation may be continued for up to one year after the community corrects all program deficiencies.
What is the Write Your Own Program?
An arrangement whereby private insurance companies write and service NFIP flood insurance policies under their own name.
What is the Unified National Program for Floodplain Management?
An interagency task force formed to identify strategies for floodplain management.
Prior to the NFIP, what was federal policy related to flooding?
It was reactive in response to significant events. Focus was on structural measures to control the flooding such as dams, levees, and channel modifications.
CAV and CAC
Community assistance visit or community assistance contact, which FEMA Regional Office or state NFIP coordinating agency can use to review the floodplain management program and permit records of a community.
What did the National Flood Insurance Act do?
Create the National Flood Insurance Program.
Insurance companies set flood insurance rates and coverage rules. True or false?
False. Flood insurance rates and coverage rules are set by FEMA's Federal Insurance Administration.
What were FHBMs replaced by?
Flood Insurance Rate Maps, or FIRMs
What did the National Flood Insurance Reform Act do?
It authorized the Community Rating System, increased the maximum amount of flood insurance coverage, strengthened the mandatory purchase requirement, and established a grant program for mitigation plans and projects.
What are the three basic parts of the NFIP?
Mapping, insurance, and regulations.
How many communities currently participate in the NFIP?
More than 19,000.
What should happen to buildings in NFIP communities over time?
Over time, exposure to flood damage should be reduced, as the older pre-FIRM buildings are replaced by post-FIRM buildings. Eventually a community should have only post-FIRM buildings subject to little or no flood damage.
How does the NFIP work?
Partnership between the Federal Government and local communities. Property owners in participating communities can purchase insurance to protect against flood loss. State and community adopt and enforce regulations to reduce flood damage in identified flood hazard areas.
How insurance rates are set for pre- and post-FIRM buildings.
Post-FIRM buildings' rates are based on how protected they are from the mapped hazard. Pre-FIRM buildings are subsidized by the NFIP - they do not pay actuarial rates.
Where does most of the money come from to pay the expenses of the NFIP?
Premium income. The NFIP has been self-supporting since 1986.
What did the Flood Disaster Protection Act do?
Prohibit most types of Federal assistance for acquisition or construction of buildings in the floodplains of non-participating communities. It also required that buildings located in identified flood hazard areas have flood insurance coverage as a condition of receiving Federal financial assistance or loans from federally insured or regulated lenders, and as a condition for receiving federal disaster assistance.
How did perspectives on floodplain management change with NFIP?
Shift from structural flood control to preventative measures. Shift from taxpayer-based solutions to insurance premium-based solutions.
When did the federal government begin to look at the feasibility of flood insurance.
The 1950s.
What act did Congress pass in 1973?
The Flood Disaster Protection Act.
What did Congress pass in 1994?
The National Flood Insurance Reform Act.
What does the mitigation division do?
The mitigation division, in Washington D.C.: 1) sets national policy for floodplain regulations 2) researches floodplain construction practices, 3) administers the flood hazard mapping program, and 4) administers the insurance portion of the program, setting flood insurance rates, establishing coverage, minoring applications and claims, and marketing flood insurance.
Which FEMA office works directly with communities?
The ten Regional Offices.
Community Assistance Program (CAP)
Under CAP, NFIP funds are available on a 75 percent / 25 percent cost share to help the state coordinating agency provide technical assistance to communities and to monitor and evaluate their work.
What type of government bodies are considered to be "communities" by the NFIP?
Varies from state to state, but can include cities, towns, villages, townships, counties, parishes, special districts, states, and Indian nations with the statutory authority to enact and enforce regulations.
Is there any relation between how a community regulates new construction and flood insurance rates?
Yes. Buildings built in accordance with the community's regulations have a lower risk of flooding and can be insured at lower rates.