[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 58 (Tuesday, March 26, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13764-13766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-7195]


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FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY


Fee Schedule for National Flood Insurance Program Map and 
Insurance Products

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This Notice contains the revised fee schedule for processing 
requests for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) map and 
insurance products available through the FEMA Map Service Center (MSC). 
The changes in the fee schedule will allow FEMA to reduce further the 
expenses to the NFIP by recovering more fully the costs associated with 
producing, retrieving, and distributing particular NFIP map and 
insurance products. This year, with the implementation of the MSC's new 
e-commerce site and conversion of the paper maps and studies to digital 
files, the MSC is also recommending fee charges for the new online 
Internet requests and CD products.

DATES: The revised fee schedule is effective for all requests dated, 
May 1, 2002, or later.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frederick H. Sharrocks, Jr., Chief, 
Mapping Support Branch, Federal Insurance and Mitigation 
Administration, 500 C Street SW., Washington, DC 20472; by telephone at 
(202) 646-2796 or by facsimile at (202) 646-4596 (not toll-free calls), 
by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this Notice, we use ``we,'' 
``our,'' and ``us'' to refer to FEMA.
    This Notice contains the revised fee schedule for processing 
requests for NFIP map and insurance products available through the MSC.

Effective Date

    The revised fee schedule is effective for all written requests, on-
line Internet requests made through the FEMA Flood Map Store, and all 
telephone requests received on or after May 1, 2002. The revised fee 
schedule supersedes the current fee schedule for requests for Map and 
Insurance products, established May 3, 2000.

Evaluations Performed

    To develop the revised fee schedule for requests for particular 
NFIP map and insurance products, we first evaluated the actual costs 
incurred at the MSC for producing, retrieving, and distributing those 
products. We then analyzed historical sales, cost data, and product 
unit costs for unusual trends or anomalies; analyzed the effect of 
program changes, new products, technology investments, and other 
factors on future sales and product costs. The products covered by this 
Notice are discussed in detail below.

Periodic Evaluation of Fees

    As indicated in the Notice published in the Federal Register on May 
3, 2000, a primary component of the fees is the prevailing private 
sector rates charged to FEMA for labor and materials. Because these 
rates and the actual production, retrieval, and distribution costs may 
vary from year to year, we will evaluate the fees periodically and 
publish a revised fee schedule, when appropriate, as a notice in the 
Federal Register Fee Schedule for Requests for Map and Insurance 
Products.
    Our MSC distributes a variety of NFIP map and insurance products to 
a broad range of our customers, including Federal, State, and local 
government officials; real estate professionals; insurance providers; 
appraisers; builders; land developers; design engineers; surveyors; 
lenders; homeowners; and other private citizens. Specifically, our MSC 
distributes the following products:

[[Page 13765]]

     Paper (printed) copies of Flood Hazard Boundary Maps 
(FHBMs);
     Paper (printed) copies of Flood Insurance Rate Maps 
(FIRMs);
     Paper (printed) copies of Digital Flood Insurance Rate 
Maps (DFIRMs);
     Paper (printed) copies of Flood Insurance Study (FIS) 
reports, including the narrative, tables, Flood Profiles, photographs, 
and other graphics;
     Paper (printed) copies of Flood Boundary and Floodway Maps 
(FBFMs), when they are included as an exhibit in the FIS;
     Digital Q3 Flood Data files, which FEMA developed by 
scanning the published FIRM and vectorizing a thematic overlay of flood 
risks;
     Digital Q3 Flood Data files for Coastal Barrier Resource 
Areas (CBRA Q3 Flood Data files);
     Community Status Book, which is a report generated by 
FEMA's Community Information System database that provides pertinent 
map status information for all identified communities;
     Flood Map Status Information Service (FMSIS), through 
which FEMA provides status information for effective NFIP maps;
     Letter of Map Change (LOMC) Subscription Service, through 
which FEMA makes certain types of LOMCs available biweekly on CD-ROM;
     NFIP Insurance Manual (Full Manual), which provides vital 
NFIP information for insurance agents nationwide;
     NFIP Insurance Manual (Producer's Edition), which is used 
for reference and training purposes; and
     Community Map Action List (CMAL), which is a bimonthly 
list of communities and their NFIP status codes.
    Based on our review of actual cost data and future trends, we 
revised our fee schedule for the products listed above to reflect 
actual production costs (i.e., printing and operating costs). 
Specifically, we increased both the processing fee and the shipping 
costs for paper copies of FHBMs, FIRMs, DFIRMs, FBFMs, and FIS reports, 
and we increased the shipping cost only for the Q3 Flood Data Files, 
CBRA Flood Data Files, Community Status Book, FMSIS, LOMC Subscription 
Service, NFIP Insurance Manuals, and CMAL. Federal, State, and local 
governments continue to be exempt from paying fees for the map 
products.
    The MSC is now preparing to distribute its products in several new 
ways. While we will continue to ship paper products, we are ready to 
begin distributing digital products for download directly from the 
Internet and on CD. The following is a description of the MSC's new 
digital products:
     Maps on the Web--raster images of the FIRMs and Floodways 
in TIFF format.
     FIS on the Web--raster images of FIS in PDF format.
     Flood Map CDs without a Database--includes only the raster 
images of the maps and can be purchased by panel or in community, 
county, or state kits.
     F-MIT Light on the Web--a free downloadable flood map 
image view tool, to be used in conjunction with viewing TIFF images 
that supports panning, zooming, and creating a ``firmette''. A firmette 
is a user-defined ``cut-out'' section of the map at 100% map scale 
designed for printing on a standard office printer.
     F-MIT Light on CD--same as
F-MIT Light on the Web, designed for use with the Flood Map CD without 
a Database.
     FEMA's Guidelines and Specifications for Flood Hazard 
Mapping Partners on CD: This document combine previous FEMA 
publications, guidance documents, and memorandums regarding Flood 
Hazard Mapping. The Guidelines reflect recent changes to processes and 
products associated with the implementation of the Map Modernization 
Program, including the Cooperating Technical Partners initiative, new 
Project Scoping procedures, and digital Flood Insurance Rate Map 
(DFIRM) specifications.
    For more information on the map and insurance products available 
from the MSC, we invite interested parties to visit our MSC Web site at 
http://www.fema.gov/msc.
    We show the revised fee schedule for the current products and the 
proposed fee schedule for the new products in the table below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Fee                Shipping
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paper Product or Service:
    Paper copies of FHBM,     $2.00 per panel.....  $0.37 per panel for
     FIRM, DFIRM, or FBFM                            first 10 panels
     panels.                                         plus $0.03 for each
                                                     additional panel.
    Paper copies of FIS (not  $5.00 per FIS volume  $4.00 for first FIS
     including FBFM panels                           plus $0.40 for each
     that are included as                            additional FIS.
     exhibit).
    Hurry Charge for FHBM,    $33.00 per order....  Based on product and
     FIRM, DFIRM, FBFM, or                           units shipped; no
     FIS.                                            additional shipping
                                                     charge if customer
                                                     provides own
                                                     shipping account.
    Q3 Flood Data Files.....  $50.00 per CD-ROM...  $3.65 for first 4 CD-
                                                     ROMs, plus $0.10
                                                     for each additional
                                                     CD-ROM in the same
                                                     order
    CBRA Q3 Flood Data Files  $50.00 per CD-ROM...  $3.65 for first 4 CD-
                                                     ROMs, plus $0.10
                                                     for each additional
                                                     CD-ROM in the same
                                                     order.
    Community Status Book     $2.50 per state.....  $1.00 per state
     (Individual Orders).
                              $20.50 for entire     $4.26 for entire
                               U.S..                 U.S.
    Community Status Book     $50.00 per state....  Not applicable.
     (Annual Subscription).
                              $250.00 for entire
                               U.S..
    FMSIS (Individual         $13 per state.......  $3.65 for first 4 CD-
     Orders).                 $38 for entire U.S..   ROMs, plus $0.10
                                                     for each additional
                                                     CD-ROM in the same
                                                     order.
    FMSIS (Annual             $148 per state......  Not appllicable.
     Subscription).
                              $419 for entire U.S.
    LOMC Subscription         $85 per per issue...  $3.65 for first 4 CD-
     Service (Individual                             ROMs, plus $0.10
     Orders).                                        for each additional
                                                     CD-ROM in the same
                                                     order.
    LOMC Subscription         $2,000..............  Not applicable.
     Service (Annual
     Subscription).

[[Page 13766]]

 
NFIP Insurance Manual:
    (Full Manual)...........  $25.00 per copy for   $4.85 for the
                               complete manual.      initial manual,
                                                     plus $1.32 for each
                                                     semi-annual update.
    NFIP Insurance Manual     $15.00 per copy.....  $4.85 for the
     (Producer's edition).                           initial manual,
                                                     plus $1.32 for each
                                                     semi-annual update.
    CMAL....................  No charge...........  $1.00 for each list.
Internet Products
 (Downloaded from the web):
    FIRMs...................  $1.50 per map panel.  None.
    FIS.....................  $4.00 per study plus  None.
                               $1.50 per floodway.
    F-MIT Light (view tool    Free................  N/A.
     for map images).
CD Products:                    ..................
    Maps on CD without        $1.50 per panel.....  $3.65 for the first
     County Database.                                4 CDs plus $0.10
                                                     for each additional
                                                     CD.
    FIS on CD...............  $4.00 per study plus  $3.65 for the first
                               $1.50 per floodway.   4 CDs plus $0.10
                                                     for each additional
                                                     CD.
    Priority Handling Charge  $33.00..............  N/A.
     added to regular charge.
    F-MIT Light on CD (view   Free................  $3.65.
     tool for map images).
    FEMA's Guidelines and     $2.60...............  $3.65.
     Specifications for
     Flood Hazard Mapping
     Partners on CD.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Payment Submission Requirements

    Fee payments for non-exempt requests must be made to us in advance 
of services being rendered. These payments shall be made in the form of 
a check or money order or by credit card payment. Checks and money 
orders must be made payable, in U.S. funds, to the National Flood 
Insurance Program.
    We will deposit all fees collected to the National Flood Insurance 
Fund, which is the source of funding for providing these services.

    Dated: March 20, 2002.
Robert F. Shea,
Acting Administrator, Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration.
[FR Doc. 02-7195 Filed 3-25-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6718-04-P