Aligning Federal Policy on Floodplain Management, Climate Change, and Sustainable Communities
Adopted at the in 2010
WHEREAS, in 1977, President Carter issued Executive Order 11988 'in order to avoid to the extent possible the long and short term adverse impacts associated with the occupancy and modification of floodplains. . ..' and the Order directed all federal agencies to exercise judgment in seeking to reduce flood damage, and impacts to floodplains, by not issuing permits or providing funds for floodplain development where practicable alternatives existed; and
WHEREAS, the Order defines a 'floodplain' as 'the lowland and relatively flat areas adjoining inland and coastal waters, including flood prone areas of offshore land, including at a minimum, that area subject to a one percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year.' Thus, the Order creates a simple line between the activities that occur out of the Federal Emergency Management Agency ('FEMA') regulated floodplain (these activities are not affected) and activities that occur within the FEMA regulated floodplain (these activities are affected); and
WHEREAS, in the 1970s, most significant flood protection facilities were constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers ('Corps') which, recognizing FEMA's use of the 100 year floodplain as relevant for development restrictions, were designed to provide at least 100 year flood protection; and
WHEREAS, once these projects were constructed by the Corps, it was assumed that the protected community would continue to enjoy at least 100 year flood protection, and the restrictive power of the Order would not apply to these existing urban communities; and
WHEREAS, new data and new understandings of levee failure mechanisms, coupled with historic storms, have caused the federal agencies to reclassify urban areas, formerly with at least 100 years flood protection, to now having less than 100 year flood protection; and
WHEREAS, beginning in 2008, a working group of staff from the Corps and FEMA developed a draft update to the Order which reiterates the policies of the Order and further seeks to impose more rigorous standards on Federal agencies' attempted implementation of the Order; and
WHEREAS, decertification of urban areas coupled with a more stringent Order could result in severe new restrictions on Federal spending and permits in existing urban areas, including limitations on the ability of new homeowners to take advantage of HUD loans; and
WHEREAS, application of the Order has the potential to push people out of the dense urban core of many regions and into remote suburban areas, often located in uplands and foothills, because these upland and foothill areas do not have the limitations associated with communities at risk of flood; and
WHEREAS, this induced change in land use and transportation runs exactly counter to the Sustainable Communities Initiative and other related federal policies, and to municipal, regional, state, and federal efforts to significantly reduce the emission of greenhouse gases; and
WHEREAS, the nation and its cities will be unable to meet their greenhouse gas reduction targets if floodplain restrictions preclude federal investment in existing urban areas in 500-year floodplains; and
WHEREAS, in the Sacramento region, for example, the sustainable urban-centered growth strategy directs most growth to the urban floodplain and thereby (1) reduces overall land consumption in the floodplain by 90,000 acres by shifting from 42% to 12% greenfield development, (2) reduces per capita vehicle miles traveled and per capita greenhouse emissions, (3) reduces population and land consumption in the upper watershed and near wetlands and vernal pools, and (4) reduces water consumption; and
WHEREAS, with decertification of levees by the Corps also comes de-accreditation of those same levees by FEMA under the National Flood Insurance Program ('NFIP'). the NFIP requires that FEMA designate lands according to the risk of flooding. Zone X is applied to lands that have at least 100 year flood protection (protection from the 'base flood'). When lands do not have at least 100 year flood protection, those lands are t typically placed into an AE Zone, at which time new building construction cannot occur unless structures are elevated above the 100 year floodplain. However, the AE Zone limits the ability of local communities to collect development fees on new structures, thus eliminating a key funding stream for flood protection improvements; and
WHEREAS, the NFIP special flood hazard zones that would best acknowledge the decreased level of flood protection but still allow additional funding for levee improvements are A99 and AR, which allow limited building coupled with good floodplain management practices. However, the criteria to meet eligibility for these zones have been narrowly interpreted to largely only apply to flood improvement projects authorized and funded by the Federal Government, thus limiting their application and delaying many regions in their goal of reducing flood risk through flood protection improvements. This distinction between federal and non- federal authorization and funding is a relic of the era when the Federal Government was the only entity that could reliably construct flood protection projects; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that, the U.S. Conference of Mayors urges the President to expressly align federal policy on floodplain management, including Executive Order 11988, regulations implementing the National Flood Insurance Program, and the National Objectives, Principles, and Standards for Water and Related Resources, with the Administration's policy initiatives on Climate Change and Sustainable Communities; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, the U.S. Conference of Mayors opposes the adoption of federal policies that would disinvest in existing urbanized areas within floodplains or reverse state and regional efforts to promote more sustainable land use and transportation patterns which reduce greenhouse gas emissions by directing new growth to those existing urbanized areas; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, the U.S. Conference of Mayors calls for modernization of the AR and A99 Special Flood Hazard Zones under the National Flood Insurance Program consistent with the following principles: (i) for A99 Zones, to clarify that the A99 Zone designation is available to communities without respect to the level of Federal investment or participation in the improvements and to clarify the methodology for meeting the 50% completion requirement and 50% expenditure requirement by recognizing the value that the existing levees contribute toward the cost of achieving base flood protection; and (ii) for AR Zones, to establish equitable timeframes for completing levee restoration for an AR Zone so that local communities have the same 10 years offered for projects constructed by the Corps and to create alternative methodologies, such as certification by a professional engineer with peer review, for demonstrating the minimum qualification criteria of at least 33-year protection.