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Supporting Local Loss Reduction PlanningAnalyzing flood risk and developing long-range strategies for floodplain management are essential for ensuring that new development does not exacerbate local flood risks or create downstream flood hazards. This year, the Community Rating System (CRS) has revised several of its planning requirements and added a new element to its floodplain management planning category to provide additional credit toward improving the community's class rating and increasing associated NFIP premium discounts. And now tools are available to help floodplain managers track flood hazards and guide regional growth in a way that does not adversely impact their community or downstream residents and businesses.CRS Activity 510: Floodplain Management Planning Minor adjustments were made in the requirements in this category to match the credit criteria with planning requirements under the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. Now, a multi-hazard mitigation plan approved by a FEMA Regional Office will receive credit under this activity. In addition, a new CRS element, area analysis, provides credit for communities that provide an intensive review of the problems and flood protection alternatives in repetitive loss areas. Points for this element can be received in addition to or instead of the credit for a full floodplain management or hazard mitigation plan, which is required if a community has 10 or more repetitive loss properties. New Tools The 2006 CRS Coordinator's Manual offers some new credits and sources of assistance for communities conducting an area analysis. One part of an analysis is to collect and record the data on flood and building conditions in the repetitive loss areas on new database software developed by FEMA. National Flood Mitigation Data Collection Tool 
This new FEMA software provides a step-by-step process to gather information about each building in
the area to be analyzed. If the analysis concludes that site-specific approaches should be pursued,
the data and the software can be helpful in determining which measures would be most appropriate.
Use of the Data Collection Tool also facilitates updating FEMA's repetitive loss database. Data from
the community's work can be sent digitally to FEMA using the Tool's formatting. Copies of the Tool
are available at no cost by e-mailing
NFIPCRS@iso.com or downloading from
FEMA's
Data Collection Tool page (it is a very large file).No Adverse Impact No Adverse Impact (NAI) is a concept developed and encouraged by the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM). NAI seeks to ensure that local flood problems are not increased by new development in the floodplain. For local governments, NAI floodplain management offers a framework to design programs and standards that meet their actual needs, not just the requirements of a federal or state agency. 
The ASFPM has published a manual for understanding and implementing No Adverse Impact floodplain management. A Toolkit for Common Sense Floodplain Management offers 108 pages of step-by-step instructions, guidelines, and real-life examples of the NAI approach to floodplain management. It also has a crosswalk that relates tools in the toolkit to CRS credit. The toolkit can be downloaded free from the ASFPM website. CRS communities can order a free hard copy from NFIPCRS@iso.com. Reducing Damage from Localized Flooding FEMA Publication 511, Reducing Damage from Localized Flooding, is intended to help local officials understand what they can do to reduce the damage, public and private costs, and disruption that result from shallow, localized flooding. This is flooding that all too often escapes the attention received by larger floods and often takes place in areas that are not clearly mapped or subject to floodplain development regulations. The handbook is especially helpful for communities wrestling with repetitive loss areas subject to localized flooding. It can be downloaded free from FEMA's Publication 511 page.  Need More Information? Check out the details about all CRS activities at the NFIP's CRS Resource Center. Click on the "Resources" tab for links to the CRS Coordinator's Manual, CRS forms and newsletters, and contact information for FEMA Regional Offices, CRS/ISO Specialists, and State NFIP Coordinators. |
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Last updated on January 2, 2007
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