[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16354-16355]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06525]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Federal Emergency Management Agency
[Docket ID FEMA-2012-0012]
National Flood Insurance Program Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement Scoping Meeting Dates
AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National
Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was published in the May 16, 2012
Federal Register at 77 FR 28891, and requested public comments no later
than July 16, 2012. Thirty-nine comments were received.
Due to the extenuating circumstances caused by the passage of a 5-
year NFIP reauthorization (See Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform
Act of 2012, Pub. L. 112-141, 126 Stat. 405), interested parties
requested an extension of the initial comment period. FEMA reopened the
comment period for submitting public comments to October 9, 2012, for
Docket ID FEMA-2012-0012 through publication in the Federal Register at
77 FR 50706 on August 22, 2012. Two comments were received. The
comments received as part of the NOI will be considered in the
preparation of this PEIS.
This notice sets forth the dates of public scoping meetings FEMA
intends to hold online, as Webinars, to inform the public about FEMA's
intended PEIS process and receive additional comments from the public.
Information on the NFIP PEIS and instructions for online webinar
registration is available on the project Web site at: https://www.fema.gov/programmatic-environmental-impact-statement.
DATES and LOCATIONS: The meetings will take place online, as webinars,
and will be held on April 22, 2014, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. eastern
standard time (EST); May 13, 2014, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. EST; and May
20, 2014, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. EST.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about how to register
for the webinar or for further information on FEMA's PEIS, contact:
Beth Norton, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance and
Mitigation Administration, Risk Reduction Division, Floodplain
Management Branch, 1800 South Bell
[[Page 16355]]
Street, 9th Floor, Arlington, VA 20598-3030. Phone: (202) 646-2716 or
via email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FEMA is developing a Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) of the NFIP to consider the
environmental impacts of the NFIP as it is currently implemented, to
update the 1976 EIS on the NFIP, and to consider potential changes to
the Program's implementation. Public scoping meetings in the format of
online webinars will assist FEMA in determining the scope of issues to
be addressed in the NFIP PEIS and for identifying significant issues
related to a proposed action.
The Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA), a
component of FEMA, administers the NFIP. The three primary components
of the NFIP are Flood Insurance, Floodplain Management, and Flood
Hazard Mapping. More than 22,000 communities across the United States
and its territories participate in the NFIP by adopting and enforcing
floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood damages as a
condition for the availability of Federal flood insurance.
In addition to making Federal flood insurance available and
reducing flood damages through floodplain management regulations, the
NFIP identifies and maps the Nation's floodplains. Mapping flood
hazards creates a broad-based awareness of flood hazards and risks,
provides data needed for effective floodplain management programs, and
enables FEMA to identify actuarial rates for flood insurance premiums.
The NFIP has been evaluated and modified several times, most
recently by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW-
12), which was signed into law on July 6, 2012 and which provides for a
significant reform of the NFIP and extends the program through
September 30, 2017. Implementation of legislative revisions since the
initial National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, including BW-12, the
Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004, and the
Flood Disaster Reform Act of 1973, administrative programmatic
initiatives, public input received on the 2012 Notice of Intent, and
comments received during the online webinars will be used to develop
the PEIS.
FEMA has developed a Purpose and Need statement for evaluating NFIP
proposed action and alternatives which was published in the 2012 NOI
and can be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/ under Docket ID FEMA-
2012-0012. The Purpose and Need statement will include a No Action
option that will analyze the Program as it stands today to include
program changes that have taken place since the 1976 Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement for the Revised Floodplain Management
Regulations of the National Flood Insurance Program. The Proposed
Action is intended to enhance programmatic efficiency and effectiveness
in a manner that will reduce unsound development in the floodplain and
protect environmentally sensitive areas.
The PEIS will analyze a range of reasonable alternatives in order
to consider the impacts of the Proposed Action on all resource areas
required under NEPA at a nationwide, programmatic level, and will
perform additional, more site-specific analysis to support and
illustrate the conclusions of the programmatic level analysis. A list
of draft alternatives for consideration was published in the 2012 NOI
and can be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/ under Docket ID FEMA-
2010-0065. Each alternative analyzed will consist of enhanced program
standards for each of the three primary elements of the NFIP: mapping,
floodplain management, and insurance to consider as part of proposed
modifications.
FEMA also intends to initiate discussions with other Federal
agencies on the scope of this effort and identify cooperating agencies
interested in participating as such in this process. FEMA intends to
work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to comply with the Endangered Species
Act. FEMA also intends to work with the USFWS to comply with the Fish
and Wildlife Coordination Act.
FEMA has received comments from the May 16, 2012 Notice of Intent
(77 FR 28891-28893) and the August 22, 2012 extension of public comment
period (77 FR 50706) issued for the preparation of a PEIS for the
Program. These comments and any additional comments received during the
online webinars will be considered in the preparation of this PEIS.
Any additional meetings will be announced on the project Web site
at: https://www.fema.gov/programmatic-environmental-impact-statement.
Authority: National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as
amended, 42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.; 40 CFR part 1500; 44 CFR part 10.
Dated: March 19, 2014.
W. Craig Fugate,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2014-06525 Filed 3-24-14; 8:45 am]
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