FEMA to Host Public Meetings for Comment about Minimum Floodplain Management Standards

ByNews Editor

FEMA is conducting two 90-minute virtual public meetings this month to gather public feedback on the National Flood Insurance Program.

The meeting will focus on the program’s floodplain management standards for land management and use and an assessment of the program’s impact on threatened and endangered species and their habitats.

Initially published in the Federal Register on Oct 12, this request of information is to gather comments on opportunities to update the program’s minimum floodplain management standards to help communities become safer, stronger and more resilient. It also seeks input on minimum floodplain management standards that will promote conservation of threatened and endangered species and their habitats consistent with the Endangered Species Act, Section 7(a)(1).

Each meeting is open to the public and will cover the same content. Participants must register in advance and will be confirmed on a first-come, first-served basis to provide a verbal comment. Registration is open for the following public meetings:

  • The first public meeting will be held from 2:30 – 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Nov. 4. Visit this webpage to register.
  • The second public meeting will be held from 3:30 – 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, Nov. 15. Visit this webpage to register.

On the registration page, registrants can indicate if they have an interest in providing a three-minute verbal comment during a meeting.

Additional information about the Request for Information
The type of feedback that is most useful to the agency includes feedback that:

  • Identifies opportunities for the agency to improve the minimum floodplain management standards for land management and use.
  • Identifies specific program components that promote conservation of threatened and endangered species and their habitats.
  • Refers to specific barriers to community participation.
  • Aligns the program with the improved understanding of flood risk and flood risk reduction approaches.
  • Identifies better incentives for communities and policyholders, particularly for Endangered Species Act-listed species and critical habitats.
  • Offers actionable data.
  • Specifies viable alternatives to existing approaches that meet statutory obligations.

ASFPM formulating its response
The RFI is the first step in a process that we are optimistic will lead to substantive improvements to FEMA’s current programs. ASFPM has reached out to board members, committee co-chairs, and pod facilitators to share their experiences and insights working with FEMA’s NFIP policies to assure our comments address the key problems and opportunities.

Whether you submit your comments verbally or in writing, ASFPM encourages all members to weigh in on this important topic.

Please review the Federal Register notice and the list of questions FEMA provided to help formulate any comments you wish to provide, keeping in mind that you not limited to just those questions. Additional references you may want to use include the ASFPM National Flood Programs & Policies in Review, which contains hundreds of ASFPM board-approved ideas and recommendations that may be applicable to this RFI, and the ASFPM and NRDC Petition for Rulemaking.

If you would like to have your comments included in ASFPM’s response, please send them to Meg Galloway (meg@floods.org) no later than Nov. 24. That will give us time to integrate the comments into a thorough and compelling submission by FEMA’s Dec. 13 deadline. You can also submit directly to the Federal Register.  It is important that FEMA hears from professionals in the flood risk management community in order to ensure that they implement the strongest policies and programs possible.

The comment period closes on Dec. 13. 

 

 

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