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The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is a program created by the Congress of the United States in 1968 through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (P.L. 90-448). U.S. Congress has the twofold purposes of the NFIP to share the risk of flood losses through flood insurance and to reduce flood damages by restricting floodplain development. The program enables property owners in participating communities to purchase insurance protection, administered by the government, against losses from flooding, and requires flood insurance for all loans or lines of credit that are secured by existing buildings, manufactured homes, or buildings under construction, that are located in the Special Flood Hazard Area in a community that participates in the NFIP. U.S. Congress limits the availability of National Flood Insurance to communities that adopt adequate land use and control measures with effective enforcement provisions to reduce flood damages by restricting development in areas exposed...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines the floodplain as the area that would be flooded by a base flood , which is "the flood which has a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year". In this sense, a base flood is synonymous with a 100-year flood and a floodplain is synonymous with a special flood hazard area . This base flood "is used in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to indicate the minimum level of flooding to be used by a community in its floodplain management regulations." FEMA explains regulatory floodplains in some places including hills as "critical determinations are made by evaluating your community’s rainfall and river flow data, topography, wind velocity, tidal surge, flood control measures, building development (existing and planned) and community maps." Scientists and engineers use statistical analysis of streamflow data to determine the likelihood of flood elevations. Theoretically a 1...

Participation in the NFIP is based on an agreement between local communities and the federal government that states that if a community will adopt and enforce a floodplain management ordinance to reduce future flood risks to new construction in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA), the federal government will make flood insurance available within the community as a financial protection against flood losses. The SFHAs and other risk premium zones applicable to each participating community are depicted on Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). The Mitigation Division within FEMA manages the NFIP and oversees the floodplain management and mapping components of the Program. The intent was to reduce future flood damage through community floodplain management ordinances and provide protection for property owners against potential losses through an insurance mechanism that requires a premium to be paid for the protection. In 2003, the GAO found that repetitive-loss properties cost the program about ...

The program was first amended by the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, which made the purchase of flood insurance mandatory for the protection of property within SFHAs. In 1982, the Act was amended by the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA). The CBRA enacted a set of maps depicting the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS) in which federal flood insurance is unavailable for new or significantly improved structures. The National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 codified the Community Rating System (an incentive program that encourages communities to exceed the minimal federal requirements for development within floodplains) within the NFIP. The program was further amended by the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004, with the goal of reducing "losses to properties for which repetitive flood insurance claim payments have been made." The Biggert–Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (Biggert-Waters) modified the NFIP. At the conclusion of 2011, as Congr...

Letter of Map Amendment edit Insufficient map topographic detail or accuracy can result in the unwarranted determination of Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). An application for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) uses an Elevation Certificate (prepared by a Registered Land Surveyor or Registered Professional Engineer) to ask FEMA to remove the flood insurance requirement on individual properties. Online Letter of map change edit FEMA's website "Change a Flood Zone Designation - Online Letter of Map Change" says homeowners and other interested parties may submit an Online Letter of Map Change (LOMC). FEMA says this can be used for property that was incorrectly included in a flood zone or if the addition of fill has elevated the property above the flood zone. Information on the property's location, legal description, and use of fill are required for FEMA to determine if the property is located in a flood zone. FEMA might request additional information. Letter of Map Revisi...

Findings edit The U.S. Congress finds annual flood losses are increasing at an alarming rate and forms of Federal assistance are often determining factors in the utilization of land and the location and construction of public and of private industrial, commercial, and residential facilities The purpose for such Federal assistance is frustrated where Federal assistance is exposed to flood risks,. A U.S. District Court finds that FEMA determinations of which properties are within the regulatory floodplain affects the location of development: However, just as the transportation agency in NWF v. Coleman controlled the placement of the highway and interchanges, FEMA designates the boundaries of the floodplains on flood maps. Both of these actions affect the location of development. Whether or not FEMA funds the NFIP, in whole or in part, is immaterial because it is undisputed that FEMA is the federal agency charged with administering the NFIP and that is sufficient to qualify as an ...

U.S. Congress requires FEMA to consult with other departments and agencies of the Federal Government, and with interstate, State, and local agencies responsible for flood control in order to make certain that those agencies' programs are consistent with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). For example a U.S. District Court ordered FEMA to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on FEMA’s mapping regulations and FEMA’s revisions of flood maps to determine whether they jeopardize the continued existence of the Puget Sound chinook salmon.: 1177 : This "shall consult" language not only gives FEMA discretion to consult, but appears to require FEMA to consult with other agencies, such as NMFS, to ensure that the NFIP is implemented in a manner that is "mutually consistent" with NMFS's programs.: 1172 - 1173

Prior to the program, property losses stemming from flood damage were largely the responsibility of the property owner, although the consequences were sometimes mitigated through provisions for disaster aid. Today, owners of property in flood plains frequently receive disaster aid and payment for insured losses, which in many ways negates the original intent of the NFIP. Consequently, these policy decisions have escalated losses stemming from floods in recent years, both in terms of property and life. Moreover, certain provisions within the NFIP increase the likelihood that flood-prone properties will be occupied by the people least likely to be in a position to recover from flood disasters, which further increases demand for aid. This is an example of adverse selection. Some factors contributing to increased demand for aid are: citation needed Flood insurance for properties in flood prone areas is mandatory only to secure loans, which makes it somewhat more likely that flood prone p...

President Obama on January 30, 2015 issued Executive Order 13690 requiring Flood Risk Management to anticipate flooding increases over time due to the effects of climate change. A peer review study finds climate change since 1900 may have increased the probability of extreme precipitation events like the August 2016 flooding in south Louisiana. President Trump on August 15, 2017 issued Executive Order 13807 whose Section 6 revokes President Obama's Executive Order 13690.