FEMA has proposed a new rule that details specific actions it will take to implement EO 13690 and the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (found here). According to an alert sent by the Association of Floodplain Managers to its members:

“The policy would provide specific guidelines to implement the FFRMS for FEMA federally-funded projects, which are actions involving the use of FEMA funds for new construction, substantial improvement, or to address substantial damage to a structure or facility.

The policy would select the use of the FFRMS-Freeboard Value Approach to establish the elevation and FFRMS floodplain for FEMA federally-funded projects that are non-critical actions. For FEMA federally-funded projects that are critical actions, the policy would select the use of the FFRMS-Freeboard Value Approach to establish the minimum FFRMS elevation and floodplain for critical actions.

The policy would allow optional use of the FFRMS-Climate-Informed Science Approach to establish the elevation and FFRMS floodplain for critical actions, but only if the elevation established under the FFRMS-CISA is higher than the elevation established under the FFRMS-Freeboard Value Approach. The policy would also encourage early coordination when multiple federal agencies are jointly engaged in an action to ensure a consistent approach to determine which floodplain determination is applied.”

FEMA is calling on the nation’s floodplain management professionals to provide feedback to help inform FEMA policy makers.

Specifically FEMA is hoping to get feedback on:

1) Its proposed approach to implementation generally, and

2) The impact of the proposed elevation requirement on the accessibility of covered facilities under the Fair Housing Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Architectural Barriers Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

To comment:

1) Go to www.regulations.gov

2) In the search bar, type “FEMA-2015-0006”