EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT association OF TEXAS

A new interim FEMA policy requires certain structures in Special Flood Hazard Areas to conform to higher flood elevation standards if they use Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant funds.

FEMA published the Partial Implementation of the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard for Hazard Mitigation Assistance Programs (Interim) (FEMA Policy FP-206-21-0003) to better align with Executive Order 14030 Climate-Related Financial Risk to strengthen the state of resilience nationwide. This follows the announcement of the new standard in the Fiscal Year 2021 Notices of Funding Opportunities for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) programs.

The interim policy is effective on Aug. 27, 2021. In addition to BRIC and FMA, it also applies to the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) for any major disaster declared on or after Aug. 27, and assistance authorized for all 59 COVID-19 disaster declarations. In addition, it applies to HMGP Post Fire for any Fire Mitigation Assistance Grant (FMAG) declarations issued on or after Aug. 27.

The interim policy partially implements the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS) by requiring higher flood elevations established by the Freeboard Value Approach for certain actions such as elevation, dry floodproofing, and mitigation reconstruction in the Special Flood Hazard Area. The Freeboard Value Approach is the Base Flood Elevation plus two feet. Under the interim policy, FEMA does not require the partial implementation FFRMS Freeboard Value Approach if using it would cause the project to be unable to meet applicable program cost-effectiveness requirements. To learn more about the interim policy, please visit FEMA.gov.

For a copy of Interim Policy FP-206-21-0003, click here

For a copy of EO 14030, click here