USC - Identification of flood-prone areas

View all text of Subchapter III [§ 4101 - § 4107]

§ 4101. Identification of flood-prone areas

(a) Publication of information; establishment of flood-risk zones; estimates of flood-caused loss

The Administrator is authorized to consult with, receive information from, and enter into any agreements or other arrangements with the Secretaries of the Army, the Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the heads of other Federal departments or agencies, on a reimbursement basis, or with the head of any State or local agency, or enter into contracts with any persons or private firms, in order that he may—

(1) identify and publish information with respect to all flood plain areas, including coastal areas located in the United States, which has special flood hazards, within five years following August 1, 1968, and

(2) establish or update flood-risk zone data in all such areas, and make estimates with respect to the rates of probable flood caused loss for the various flood risk zones for each of these areas until the date specified in section 4026 of this title.

(b) Accelerated identification of flood-risk zones; authority of Administrator: grants, technical assistance, transactions, and payments

The Administrator is directed to accelerate the identification of risk zones within flood-prone and mudslide-prone areas, as provided by subsection (a)(2) of this section, in order to make known the degree of hazard within each such zone at the earliest possible date. To accomplish this objective, the Administrator is authorized, without regard to subsections (a) and (b) of section 3324 of title 31 and section 6101 of title 41, to make grants, provide technical assistance, and enter into contracts, cooperative agreements, or other transactions, on such terms as he may deem appropriate, or consent to modifications thereof, and to make advance or progress payments in connection therewith.

(c) Priority in allocation of manpower and other available resources for identification and mapping of flood hazard areas and flood-risk zones

The Secretary of Defense (through the Army Corps of Engineers), the Secretary of the Interior (through the United States Geological Survey), the Secretary of Agriculture (through the Soil Conservation Service), the Secretary of Commerce (through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the head of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the heads of all other Federal agencies engaged in the identification or delineation of flood-risk zones within the several States shall, in consultation with the Administrator, give the highest practicable priority in the allocation of available manpower and other available resources to the identification and mapping of flood hazard areas and flood-risk zones, in order to assist the Administrator to meet the deadline established by this section.

(d) Plan for bringing communities with flood-risk zones into full program status

The Administrator shall, not later than September 30, 1984, submit to the Congress a plan for bringing all communities containing flood-risk zones into full program status by September 30, 1987.

(e) Review of flood maps

Once during each 5-year period (the 1st such period beginning on September 23, 1994) or more often as the Administrator determines necessary, the Administrator shall assess the need to revise and update all floodplain areas and flood risk zones identified, delineated, or established under this section, based on an analysis of all natural hazards affecting flood risks.

(f) Updating flood maps

The Administrator shall revise and update any floodplain areas and flood-risk zones—

(1) upon the determination of the Administrator, according to the assessment under subsection (e), that revision and updating are necessary for the areas and zones; or

(2) upon the request from any State or local government stating that specific floodplain areas or flood-risk zones in the State or locality need revision or updating, if sufficient technical data justifying the request is submitted and the unit of government making the request agrees to provide funds in an amount determined by the Administrator.

(g) Availability of flood maps

To promote compliance with the requirements of this chapter, the Administrator shall make flood insurance rate maps and related information available free of charge to the Federal entities for lending regulation, Federal agency lenders, State agencies directly responsible for coordinating the national flood insurance program, and appropriate representatives of communities participating in the national flood insurance program, and at a reasonable cost to all other persons. Any receipts resulting from this subsection shall be deposited in the National Flood Insurance Fund, pursuant to section 4017(b)(6) of this title.

(h) Notification of flood map changes

The Administrator shall cause notice to be published in the Federal Register (or shall provide notice by another comparable method) of any change to flood insurance map panels and any change to flood insurance map panels issued in the form of a letter of map amendment or a letter of map revision. Such notice shall be published or otherwise provided not later than 30 days after the map change or revision becomes effective. Notice by any method other than publication in the Federal Register shall include all pertinent information, provide for regular and frequent distribution, and be at least as accessible to map users as notice in the Federal Register. All notices under this subsection shall include information on how to obtain copies of the changes or revisions.

(i) Compendia of flood map changes

Every 6 months, the Administrator shall publish separately in their entirety within a compendium, all changes and revisions to flood insurance map panels and all letters of map amendment and letters of map revision for which notice was published in the Federal Register or otherwise provided during the preceding 6 months. The Administrator shall make such compendia available, free of charge, to Federal entities for lending regulation, Federal agency lenders, and States and communities participating in the national flood insurance program pursuant to section 4017 of this title and at cost to all other parties. Any receipts resulting from this subsection shall be deposited in the National Flood Insurance Fund, pursuant to section 4017(b)(6) of this title.

(j) Provision of information

In the implementation of revisions to and updates of flood insurance rate maps, the Administrator shall share information, to the extent appropriate, with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and representatives from State coastal zone management programs.

(Pub. L. 90–448, title XIII, § 1360, Aug. 1, 1968, 82 Stat. 587; Pub. L. 93–234, title II, § 204, Dec. 31, 1973, 87 Stat. 983; Pub. L. 98–181, title I [title IV, § 451(d)(1), (6), (7)], Nov. 30, 1983, 97 Stat. 1229; Pub. L. 98–479, title II, § 203(j)(2), Oct. 17, 1984, 98 Stat. 2231; Pub. L. 99–120, § 4(a)(3), Oct. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 503; Pub. L. 99–156, § 4(a)(3), Nov. 15, 1985, 99 Stat. 816; Pub. L. 99–219, § 4(a)(3), Dec. 26, 1985, 99 Stat. 1731; Pub. L. 99–267, § 4(a)(3), Mar. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 74; Pub. L. 99–272, title III, § 3010(a)(3), Apr. 7, 1986, 100 Stat. 106; Pub. L. 99–289, § 1(b), May 2, 1986, 100 Stat. 412; Pub. L. 99–345, § 1, June 24, 1986, 100 Stat. 673; Pub. L. 99–430, Sept. 30, 1986, 100 Stat. 986; Pub. L. 100–122, § 1, Sept. 30, 1987, 101 Stat. 793; Pub. L. 100–154, Nov. 5, 1987, 101 Stat. 890; Pub. L. 100–170, Nov. 17, 1987, 101 Stat. 914; Pub. L. 100–179, Dec. 3, 1987, 101 Stat. 1018; Pub. L. 100–200, Dec. 21, 1987, 101 Stat. 1327; Pub. L. 100–242, title V, § 541(c), Feb. 5, 1988, 101 Stat. 1939; Pub. L. 101–137, § 2, Nov. 3, 1989, 103 Stat. 824; Pub. L. 103–325, title V, § 575, Sept. 23, 1994, 108 Stat. 2278; Pub. L. 112–141, div. F, title II, §§ 100219, 100238(b)(1), July 6, 2012, 126 Stat. 932, 958.)