Association of State

ASSOCIATION OF STATE

FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS, INC.

Guidance for The Development of the

FLOOD MAP MODERNIZATION

STATE BUSINESS PLAN

(INTERIM DRAFT REPORT)

Prepared for:Federal Emergency Management AgencyFebruary 2004

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction1

History of Flood Hazard Mapping in the United States2

Purpose of State Business Plan3

Flood Map Modernization State Business Plan3

Vision4

State Role in Map Mod4

Involving CTP’s and Other Agencies in the State Business Plan8

Hazard Mitigation Plan Relationship to Flood Hazard Mapping9

State FPM Strategic Plan: Relationship to Mapping10

Mapping Goals and Needs Assessment 12

2002 Map Modernization Implementation Plan13

How to Determine the Appropriate Level of Mapping Detail14

Estimating Costs 16

Background Information17

Mapping Project Costs17

Simple Cost Estimation Methods17

Unit Costs18

PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION ACTIVITIES19

CTP AND MAS ACTIVITIES19

Organization and Contracting Models21

Identifying Contracting, Technical, and Review Resources21

Organizational Structures23

Alternative Methods of Contracting for Services25

Training Needs and Resources27

Strategies for Obtaining Funding27

Maintaining Capability and Capacity28

STATE BUSINESS PLAN TEMPLATE28

The FEMA Template 28

Two State Examples 28

The Approaches 29

Additional Considerations 29

Long-Term Sustainability 29

TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)

TABLES

TABLE 1 - List of Fundable CAP-MAP Activities5

TABLE 2 - Additional CAP-MAP Funding Activities7

TABLE 3 - Annual FEMA/DHS Targets for Sub-Program Performance Measures12

TABLE 4 - Topographic Data Suitability14

TABLE 5 - Mapping Detail15

TABLE 6 - Cost Calculations17

TABLE 7 - Quantity Units18

TABLE 8 - Summary of Resources22

APPENDICES

Appendix A - Summary of TMAC'S Recommendationsa1

APPENDIX B - FLOOD HAZARD MAPPING ACTIVITIES B1

Appendix C - FEMA's FY03 BUDGET DECISION OVERVIEWC1

APPENDIX D - ASFPM RESOLUTION ON MAP MODERNIZATIOND1

Appendix D - STREAM MILES (BY STATE)e1

Appendix E - FEMA'S STATE BUSINESS PLAN TEMPLATEF1

APPENDIX F - SOUTH CAROLINA BUSINESS PLAN OUTLINEG1

APPENDIX G - CALIFORNIA BUSINESS PLAN OUTLINEH1

ATTACHMENTS

ATTACHMENT 1 - COST ESTIMATING SPREADSHEET

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks are due to the work group that spent many hours on conference calls and a meeting in Chicago (Chicago meeting participants denoted by*) to develop this report.

Participants:

Tom Christensen, California*

Bill DeGroot, Denver UDFCD*

Jason Donham, Arkansas

John Dorman, North Carolina

Brian Hyde, Colorado*

Lisa Jones, South Carolina*

Alan Lulloff, Wisconsin*

Bill Nechamen, New York*

Mark Ogden, Ohio*

Jim Williams, Nebraska*

Rich Zingarelli, Massachusetts

Special thanks are due to Tom Christensen, Bill DeGroot, Brian Hyde, Lisa Jones, Alan Lulloff, Bill Nechamen and Jim Williams for contributing sections of the report.

Thanks is also due the Federal Emergency Management Agency for providing support to ASFPM to work with state and local partners to prepare this report.

Mark Riebau, PE, CFM

ASFPM

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Introduction

Floods are the nation's most common and costly natural disaster. To reduce the ever-growing expense to the federal government related to flooding, Congress established the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in 1968. The NFIP guarantees that flood insurance will be available in communities that agree to adopt land-use regulations so that new development is reasonably protected from flood damages.

Maps depicting flood-hazard areas are not only the foundation of the National Flood Insurance Program, but also the basis of sound floodplain management at the local and state levels. If an area is not mapped as a flood hazard area, local governments may have insufficient basis to regulate new development under their floodplain zoning ordinances. Nor is the sale of flood insurance mandated for areas not mapped in the floodplain. Adequate, accurate, and current maps are essential for the program to function. Without quality mapping, neither land-use regulations nor the insurance elements of the program can be effective.

The courts have ruled that in order for land-use regulations to be "constitutional," the regulations must be clear and the lands where they will be applied must be identified on a map to provide proper public notice. Without building codes, zoning ordinances, health codes and other regulatory measures, the NFIP will not achieve its goal of reducing loss of life and property due to floods.

Maps of areas subject to special risks of floodingproduced by the NFIP is one of the basic and essential tools for flood insurance, floodplain management and flood hazard mitigation. However, due to the manual cartographic processes used, limited topographic information and inadequate funding, the flood hazard maps are inadequate to meet the current needs. Starting in FY03, Congress provided funding to FEMA to implement the Flood Map Modernization Plan developed to address this problem.

FEMA recognizes that while flood hazard mapping is a federal responsibility it is important to involve state, regional, and local governments in this initiative to ensure that the flood hazard maps produced are adequate to meet the needs. In 2002, FEMA requested states to develop state Map Modernization Implementation Plans (MMIP).

In October 2003, FEMA offered states funds to upgrade these plans and develop the Flood Map Modernization State Business Plan. Using the FY2002 State plans as a starting point, states have been asked to identify the projects to be done each year, the role they will play in managing the projects, and the support they will need from FEMA to ramp up to this level. FEMA's Cooperating Technical Partner (CTP) initiative will continue to be the funding mechanism for flood hazard mapping projects. A separate, distinct funding mechanism will be provided for the management activities identified in this plan.

FEMA entered into a cooperative agreement with the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) to develop supplemental guidance for states to use in the development of these plans. This document is the result of the work of the task force that ASFPM formed to develop this guidance.

History of Flood Hazard Mapping in the United States

Mapping of the nation's floodplains began in the 1950's when the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Geological Survey, the Soil Conservation Service (now NRCS), and the Tennessee Valley Authority initiated efforts to delineate flood hazards. Soon after creation of the National Flood Insurance Program in 1968, the US Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) began publishing Flood Hazard Boundary Maps (FHBM). FHBMs were developed using "approximate study techniques." FHBMs were intended to provide an early warning for local officials that flooding could occur in their community. The original plan anticipated that more accurate Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) following completion of detailed studies of the flooding sources would replace FHBMs within 5 years. Detailed Flood Insurance Studies and FIRMs were produced throughout the 1970's for many communities across the country.

ThenAs this program matured:

• HUD realized that instead of 5,000 communities that were originally thought to have significant flooding problems – and, therefore, needed a map - there were in excess of 19,000 communities;
• FEMA was created in 1979 to administer, among other programs, the NFIP;
• In the mid-1980's the Corps of Engineers was directed by OMB to discontinue producing Floodplain Information Reports. These reports, which often became the basis for a FIRM, were perceived to be duplicative of the FIS's being undertaken by FEMA;
• The USGS and NRCS were directed by OMB to discontinue producing floodplain maps based on the same rationale used for the Corps' program;
• FEMA was told to end the "emergency phase" of the NFIP effectively limiting their ability to produce more approximate studies to complete the nation's mapping;
• The number, and costs, of Letters Of Map Amendments (LOMA), Letters Of Map Revisions (LOMR) and Letters Of Map Revisions Based On Fill (LOMR-F)- began to multiply;
• FEMA, after realizing they would likely never receive the funds to prepare all necessary detailed studies, undertook a mass conversion of the remaining Flood Hazard Boundary Maps to Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), without benefit of further detailed studies.

By 1990, there were over 100,000 panels, but there were still large areas of the country for which no maps had been developed. In addition, more and more of the funds earmarked for conducting Flood Insurance Studies (FIS) were diverted to deal with LOMAs, LOMRs, and LOMR-Fs.

In 1994, Congress directed FEMA to establish the Technical Mapping Advisory Council (TMAC). The TMAC (1995-2000) provided a series of recommendations to FEMA to improve the maps and the mapping process.

The Technical Mapping Advisory Council was created in November 1995, including in its membership representatives of a variety of governmental and professional organizations with an interest in floodplain maps. The Council produced five annual reports, each containing specific recommendations to FEMA, and a final report in November 2000 that included a summary of all of the recommendations. Each recommendation, if implemented, would improve the maps and the mapping processes. FEMA made great strides to implement those recommendations that were possible within its existing budget. FEMA also prepared a plan to implement the remaining Council recommendations and requested the resources necessary to fund its Map Modernization Plan. A summary of recommendations from the Technical Mapping Advisory Council's Final Report is included in Appendix A.

Purpose of State Business Plan

A key recommendation of the Technical Mapping Advisory Council was to find ways to encourage state, regional and local government to take an active role in the mapping process based on the philosophy that mapping the nations floodplains should be a federal/state/local partnership.

In order to develop "partnerships" with states and local agencies it is necessary for each party to identify what roles they can undertake. State and local agencies are restricted in what they can do by the laws under which they function and the resources that are provided to them to carry out their responsibilities.

The purpose of the business plan is two-fold:

1. Identify and document the scope and level of effort needed to adequately map all flood hazard areas that have been, or could be developed, and to maintain the maps in the future.
2. Define what management or oversight roles and responsibilities state, local or regional agencies are willing to assume to improve and maintain flood maps, identify the authorities that have been established under law to assume the responsibilities, and estimate the resources required to carryout the functions

FEMA and the NSP will be reviewing each state business plan (as well as the state Map Modernization Implementation Plans from 2002), discussing those plans with regional contacts, and incorporating pertinent aspects of the plans into the Multi-Hazard Implementation Plan (MHIP), as appropriate. The MHIP will be a nationwide, 5-year, rolling plan for implementing Map Modernization that will be prepared by FEMA and the NSP.

Flood Map Modernization State Business Plan

The state plan should describe the breadth and depth of mapping needed within the state. It should describe the total number of stream miles in the state, and miles of coastline if any, that have been mapped as well as the number of miles that still need be mapped. The "plan" should identify the number of miles of stream with floodways that require updating and revision and the miles of mapped streams without floodways where floodways are needed. Identifying population at risk should be part of this analysis. All incorporated communities with streams within their borders should be evaluated to ensure the flood hazard is adequately mapped. This information may not be immediately available and will have to be estimate initially.

Many states prepared Map Modernization Implementation Plans (MMIP) in 2002 that contain some of this information. The state MMIPs should be the starting point for the state business plan and should be updated to reflect any new or better information. The state business plan should be a living document that is updated annually to recognize progress and add new or revised information.

Vision

The Flood Map Modernization State Business Plan should define the role your state is willing to take in the modernization and long-term maintenance of flood hazard maps. Identify the legal authority provided by your state legislature, or if none, what authorities are needed to assume a role. The State Plan should explain the benefits your state will realize by taking a proactive role, not only in the modernization of flood maps, but also in the long-term maintenance of the maps. Identify all state agencies that will be involved and the role each would play. Explain relationships between the state and local or regional agencies that are Cooperating Technical Partners with FEMA, or are actively involved in the modernization and maintenance of their flood maps.

Distinguish between activities directly related to the State Coordination of the NFIP and activities related to flood map modernization and maintenance. Identify other state agencies that have expertise and responsibilities that can support the NFIP coordinating office. Examples may include state GIS and mapping agencies, departments of transportation, emergency management, and others. Identify the federal agencies that provide service within your state that can be expected to partner in the modernization or maintenance of flood maps. Federal agencies may include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Bureau of Reclamation, or U.S. Geological Survey.

State Role in Map Mod

The following table lists activities associated with map modernization and maintenance. The state can assume the responsibility for any or all of these activities. These activities are in addition to states’ traditional role under the CAP-SSSE in need assessment, mapping prioritization, community outreach, and local ordinance review.

This plan focuses on activities associated with oversight/program management vs. CTP activities which are associated with project-related DFIRM production. Following is the list of “management” activities FEMA indicated were fundable in the CAP-MAP application materials.

Table 1 – Fundable CAP-MAP Activities

FUNDABLE CAP MAPPING PHASE II ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY

/

PARTNERS

/

DESCRIPTION

Digital Base Map Inventory / Regional Agency State Agency / The Partner performs an investigation and provides an inventory of base maps meeting FEMA specifications for NFIP communities in a particular region or State.
Digital Base Map Data Sharing / Community
Regional Agency State Agency / The Partner supplies a base map for use in producing a DFIRM. The base map will comply with FEMA minimum accuracy requirements and be distributable by FEMA to the public in hardcopy and electronic formats.
DFIRM Maintenance[1] / Community Regional Agency
State Agency / The Partner assumes responsibility for long-term, periodic maintenance of the DFIRM. This can include base map and/or flood hazard information.
Hydrologic and Hydraulic Review / Community
Regional Agency
State Agency / The Partner reviews hydrologic and hydraulic studies prepared for FEMA-funded flood data updates and/or map revisions processed under Part 65 of the NFIP regulations. The review focuses on compliance with the technical and regulatory requirements contained in Guidelines and Specifications for Flood Hazard Mapping Partners, the pertinent NFIP regulations, as well as standard accepted engineering practices.
Assessment of Community Mapping Needs (to support FEMA’s Mapping Needs Update Support System - MNUSS) / Regional Agency State Agency / The Partner performs a detailed communitybycommunity assessment of mapping needs for every mapped (including flood data updates and map maintenance) and unmapped NFIP community within its jurisdiction. The Partner then submits the results of the assessment to FEMA for inclusion in the MNUSS database.
Technical Standards Agreement / Community
Regional Agency State Agency / The Partner works with FEMA to adopt specific technical standards or processes appropriate for local conditions for NFIP flood mapping purposes.
Information Technology Systems / Community
Regional Agency State Agency / Develop and maintain an Information Technology System to archive, organize, distribute, and otherwise manage effective digital FIRMs, preliminary digital FIRMs, and/or underlying backup data (eg, digital FIRM database, engineering models, etc). The system should distribute this data in an electronic format (eg, web-based, CD-ROM, etc) to the public.
Outreach
Outreach (continued) / Community
Regional Agency State Agency / Informational Mailing - Identify recipients of mass mailing; procure brochures from FEMA (assumes one existing tri-fold brochure in self-mailing format, no envelopes required); print mailing labels; affix proper postage; and take to post office for mailing.
Community Meeting - Determine when and where the meeting will be held; identify staff roles and responsibilities; advertise the meeting; prepare agenda and other handout and presentation materials to explain the purpose of the meeting and the mapping project; provide on-site meeting support to explain the purpose of the mapping project, opportunities for involvement, and how to provide comments; provide opportunity for the public to submit comments; provide on-site logistics and meeting support; and develop evaluation form, distribute, and assess results.
Website Posting - Develop a new website to provide information geared towards the general public, technical audiences, and other stakeholder groups (such as the FEMA website which guides users based on their interest in the maps such as one button for property owners, one for lenders, insurers, etc.); provide an overview of the mapping project; access to preliminary and final FIRMs; contacts and links for furtherinformation on FEMA, State, and other local websites.
Multi-Media Promotional Activities -Develop press release using template provided by FEMA; contact local media and place press release; follow up with media contacts periodically to encourage them to use pres releases in articles, cover key events through live footage of community meetings or other key events; contact radio and television stations to request announcements to advertise meetings; offer to provide knowledgeable officials for interview on radio and/or television talk shows; write articles and publish in trade journals, newsletters, other existing publications that are available to the public; and develop fact sheets, announcements, or brochures and distribute through public libraries, schools, and/or locally-sponsored public events.

FEMA has indicated that this list is not intended to be comprehensive and that other “management” activities can be included in State Business Plan submittals. Following are some additional activities the State may wish to also consider: