Federal Flood Risk Management Standard: Public Comment Period Now Open
FEMA has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to amend its regulations to implement the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS) and update the agency’s 8-step decision-making process floodplain reviews. FEMA also proposes a supplementary policy that would further clarify how the agency would apply the FFRMS. The proposed rule would change how FEMA defines a floodplain with respect to certain actions, and FEMA would use natural systems, ecosystem process, and nature-based approaches, where possible, when developing alternatives to locating the proposed action in the floodplain.
ASFPM members are encouraged to participate in this public comment period. Please visit the Federal Register for more information and the supporting documents. Comments are due Dec. 1, 2023.
The National Environmental Policy Act and Executive Order (EO) 11988 on Floodplain Management mandate that federal agencies evaluate their actions to avoid adverse impacts to floodplains and to avoid supporting development in areas at risk of flooding. The FFRMS updates the requirements of EO 11988, directing agencies to use more rigorous criteria for determining acceptable levels of flood risk for federally funded projects and to incorporate natural features or nature-based solutions into project design that reduce local flood risk and increase resilience against flooding.
Prior to the FFRMS, federal agencies used the standard of the 1% annual chance flood for most federally funded projects and the 0.2% annual chance flood for critical actions like fire and police stations, hospitals and facilities that store hazardous materials.
Flood risk has increased across much of the United States due to sea level rise, changing precipitation patterns, and development. As a result, the FFRMS directs federal agencies to consider the effects of future flooding for federally funded actions to further reduce risk of flooding. Applying the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard will allow FEMA to consider best available and actionable climate science in making projects and communities more resilient to increases in flood conditions.
The FFRMS applies only to federally funded actions involving new construction, substantial improvement or repairs to substantial damage. FFRMS also applies to hazard mitigation projects involving structure elevation, dry floodproofing and mitigation reconstruction.
Since August 2021, FEMA has partially implemented the FFRMS. Partial implementation relies on existing regulations to reduce flood risk, increasing minimum flood elevation requirements for structures in areas already subject to flood risk minimization requirements, but not horizontally expanding those areas.
Timeline of Presidential Actions around the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard
- The federal government first proposed the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard nearly a decade ago.
- On January 30, 2015, President Obama issued EO 13690, which created the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard. Many Federal agencies, including FEMA, took steps to implement these actions.
- On September 20, 2016, FEMA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to revise its regulations in order to implement the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard.
- On August 15, 2017, President Trump issued EO 13807, which revoked EO 13690. Accordingly, the notice of proposed rulemaking was withdrawn.
- On May 20, 2021, President Biden issued EO 14030, which reinstated EO 13690. As a result, FEMA re-initiated its efforts to implement EO 13690 and the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard.
Please contact the ASFPM policy team if you have any questions.
