[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 212 (Friday, November 3, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51286-51288]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-23902]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Federal Emergency Management Agency
[Docket ID FEMA-2012-0012]
National Flood Insurance Program Nationwide Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a final nationwide programmatic
environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announces the
availability of a final Nationwide Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement (NPEIS) evaluating the environmental impacts of proposed
modifications to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Pursuant
to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended,
the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQs) regulations for
implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA, and FEMA's Directive
108-1 titled ``Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation
Responsibilities and Program Requirements,'' FEMA has considered
comments received on the NFIP Draft NPEIS, which was issued in April
2017, and identifies FEMA's preferred alternative in the NFIP Final
NPEIS.
DATES: FEMA will publish a Record of Decision no sooner than 30 days
after the date of publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Electronic versions of the NFIP Final NPEIS are available at
the Federal eRulemaking Portal, http://www.regulations.gov by searching
for Docket ID FEMA-2012-0012.
[[Page 51287]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information on the NFIP Final
NPEIS, contact Bret Gates, FEMA, Federal Insurance and Mitigation
Administration, Floodplain Management Division, 400 C Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20472, or via email at [email protected], or by
phone at 202-646-2780.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Flooding has been, and continues to be, a
serious risk in the United States. To address the need, in 1968,
Congress established the NFIP as a Federal program to provide access to
federally backed flood insurance protection. The NFIP is a voluntary
Federal program through which property owners in participating
communities can purchase Federal flood insurance as a protection
against flood losses. In exchange, communities must enact local
floodplain management regulations to reduce flood risk and flood-
related damages. However, the power to regulate floodplain development,
including requiring and approving permits, establishing permitting
requirements, inspecting property, and citing violations, requires land
use authority. The regulation of land use falls under the State's
police powers, which the Constitution reserves to the States, and the
States delegate this power down to their respective political
subdivisions. FEMA has no direct involvement in the administration of
local floodplain management ordinances or in the permitting process for
development in the floodplain.
In addition to providing flood insurance and reducing flood damages
through floodplain management, the NFIP identifies and maps the
nation's floodplains. Maps depicting flood hazard information are used
to promote broad-based awareness of flood hazards, provide data for
rating flood insurance policies, and determine the appropriate minimum
floodplain management criteria for flood hazard areas.
The proposed modifications to the NFIP are needed to (a) implement
the legislative requirements of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance
Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12) and the Homeowner Flood Insurance
Affordability Act of 2014 (HFIAA); and (b) to demonstrate compliance
with the Endangered Species Act (ESA). As stated in the Draft NPEIS the
need to implement the legislative requirements of BW-12 and HFIAA
arises from the recent concerns over the fiscal soundness of the NFIP.
This Final NPEIS considers four alternatives and describes the
potential environmental effects of each alternative. The four
alternatives include:
--Alternative 1 (No Action)
[cir] The No Action Alternative refers to the current
implementation of the NFIP. The No Action Alternative is prescribed by
Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR 1502.14(d)) and
serves as a benchmark against which impacts of the alternatives can be
evaluated.
--Alternative 2 (Legislatively Required Changes, Floodplain Management
Criteria Guidance, and Letter of Map Change [LOMC] Clarification)
(Preferred Alternative)
[cir] Phase out of subsidies on certain pre-FIRM properties (non-
primary residences, business properties, severe repetitive loss
properties, substantially damaged or improved properties, and
properties for which the cumulative claims payments exceed the fair
market value of the property) at a rate of 25 percent premium increases
per year.
[cir] Phase out of subsidies on all other pre-FIRM properties
through annual premium rate increases of an average rate of at least 5
percent, but no more than 15 percent, per risk classification, with no
individual policy exceeding an 18 percent premium rate increase.
[cir] Implement a monthly installment plan payment option for non-
escrowed flood insurance policies.
[cir] Clarify that pursuant to 44 CFR 60.3(a)(2), a community must
obtain and maintain documentation of compliance with the appropriate
Federal or State laws, including the ESA, as a condition of issuing
floodplain development permits.
[cir] Clarify that the issuing of certain LOMC requests (i.e., map
revisions) is contingent on the community, or the project proponent on
the community's behalf, submitting documentation of compliance with the
ESA.
--Alternative 3 (Legislatively Required Changes, Proposed ESA
Regulatory Changes, and LOMC Clarification)
[cir] Phase out of subsidies on certain pre-FIRM properties (non-
primary residences, business properties, severe repetitive loss
properties, substantially damaged or improved properties, and
properties for which the cumulative claims payments exceed the fair
market value of the property) at a rate of 25 percent premium increases
per year.
[cir] Phase out of subsidies on all other pre-FIRM properties
through annual premium rate increases of an average rate of at least 5
percent, but no more than 15 percent, per risk classification, with no
individual policy exceeding an 18 percent premium rate increase.
[cir] Implement a monthly installment plan payment option for non-
escrowed flood insurance policies.
[cir] Establish a new ESA-related performance standard in the
minimum floodplain management criteria at 44 CFR 60.3 that would
require communities to obtain and maintain documentation that any
adverse impacts caused by proposed development, including fill, to ESA-
listed species and designated critical habitat will be mitigated to the
maximum extent possible.
[cir] Clarify that the exception to the no-rise performance
standard in the floodway applies only to projects that serve a public
purpose or result in the restoration of the natural and beneficial
functions of floodplains.
[cir] Increase the probation surcharge applicable to NFIP
communities placed on probation from $50 to $100.
[cir] Clarify that the issuance of certain LOMC requests (i.e., map
revisions) is contingent on the community, or the project proponent on
the community's behalf, submitting documentation of compliance with the
ESA.
--Alternative 4 (Legislatively Required Changes, ESA Guidance, and LOMC
Clarification)
[cir] Phase out of subsidies on certain pre-FIRM properties (non-
primary residences, business properties, severe repetitive loss
properties, substantially damaged or improved properties, and
properties for which the cumulative claims payments exceed the fair
market value of the property) at a rate of 25 percent premium increases
per year.
[cir] Phase out of subsidies on all other pre-FIRM properties
through annual premium rate increases of an average rate of at least 5
percent, but no more than 15 percent, per risk classification, with no
individual policy exceeding an 18 percent premium rate increase.
[cir] Implement a monthly installment plan payment option for non-
escrowed flood insurance policies.
[cir] Utilize the existing performance standard in 44 CFR
60.3(a)(2) to implement a new policy/procedure requiring communities to
ensure that, for any floodplain development for which a floodplain
development permit is sought, the impacts to ESA-listed species and
designated critical habitat are identified and assessed and, if there
are any potential adverse impacts to such species and habitat as a
result of such development, that the community obtain and maintain
documentation that the proposed floodplain development will be
undertaken in compliance with the ESA.
[cir] Clarify that the issuance of certain LOMC requests (i.e., map
revisions) is contingent on the community, or the project proponent on
the community's
[[Page 51288]]
behalf, submitting documentation of compliance with the ESA.
Environmental topics addressed in the Final NPEIS include air
quality, noise, land use and planning, geology and soils, water
resources, biological resources, cultural resources, aesthetics/visual
resources, infrastructure, socioeconomic resources, hazardous waste and
materials, and climate change. Best management practices and mitigation
measures that could alleviate environmental effects have been
considered and are included where relevant within the Final NPEIS. The
proposed alternatives do not have natural or depletable resource
requirements because they are changes in policy or regulation that do
not involve any physical activities for which resources would be
required. For these alternatives, no significant or unavoidable adverse
impacts are anticipated.
The Final NPEIS considers comments on the Draft NPEIS, including
those submitted during the public comment period that officially began
on April 7, 2017 and ended on June 6, 2017, following a 60-day comment
period. Appendix M provides the Draft NFIP comments with FEMA
responses, and notes revisions in the Final NPEIS.
The NFIP Final NPEIS is available for viewing on the Federal
eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID FEMA-
2012-0012.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.; 40 CFR part 1500; FEMA
Instruction 108-1-1.
Dated: October 20, 2017.
Brock Long,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2017-23902 Filed 11-2-17; 8:45 am]
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