[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 14, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2468-2469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00521]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[Docket ID FEMA-2013-0052]


Termination of the National Flood Insurance Program Pilot 
Inspection Program of Insured Structures by Communities in Monroe 
County, the Village of Islamorada, and the City of Marathon, Florida

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: FEMA is publishing this document to give notice that the pilot 
inspection procedure under the Pilot Inspection Program was terminated 
on June 28, 2013, for Monroe County, the Village of Islamorada, and the 
City of Marathon, Florida.

DATES: Effective Dates: The effective date of termination for the 
inspection procedure for Monroe County, the Village of Islamorada, and 
the City of Marathon, Florida, is June 28, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Stearrett, Federal Insurance and 
Mitigation Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C 
Street SW., Washington, DC 20472, [email protected], (202) 
646-2953.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) 
was established by the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as amended 
(NFIA) (42 U.S.C. 4001-4129). The NFIA authorizes the Administrator of 
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish and carry 
out a national flood insurance program that enables property owners in 
participating communities to purchase insurance as a protection against 
flood losses in exchange for State and community adoption of floodplain 
management regulations that reduce future flood damages. Community 
participation in the NFIP is voluntary, and is based on an agreement 
between communities and the Federal Government. If a community adopts 
and enforces floodplain management requirements to reduce future flood 
risk to new construction and substantial improvements in floodplains, 
the Federal Government will make flood insurance available within the 
community as a financial protection against flood losses. 42 U.S.C. 
4102(c) and 4022(a); 44 CFR 60.1(a).
    In 2000, FEMA established by regulation, at 44 CFR 59.30, a pilot 
inspection procedure under the NFIP to help verify that structures 
comply with the community's floodplain management ordinances and to 
ensure that property owners pay flood insurance premiums commensurate 
with their flood risk. 65 FR 39726, June 27, 2000. The inspection 
procedure requires owners of insured buildings to obtain an inspection 
from community floodplain management officials as a condition of 
renewing the Standard Flood Insurance Policy (SFIP) on the building. 
The pilot procedure applies in the communities of: (1) Monroe County, 
Florida, (2) the Village of Islamorada located in Monroe County, 
Florida, and (3) the City of Marathon, located in Monroe County, 
Florida. 65 FR 39726, June 27, 2000; 67 FR 10631, March 9, 2002; 68 FR 
59126, Oct. 14, 2003.
    The pilot inspection procedure served as an additional tool for the 
three communities to enforce their flood damage prevention ordinances, 
and remain compliant with the NFIP regulations, given unique statutory 
constraints on inspections and rate of growth mandates in Florida, 
housing limits within the communities, and related factors. These 
related factors included: the nature of the flood hazard and damage 
potential; the number of possible violations (an estimated 2,000-4,000 
illegally built enclosures in the entire County); the potential for 
loss of life in the event of a flood; and, the factors described above 
limited the County's ability to determine whether a building with an 
enclosure complies with the local flood damage prevention ordinance.
    FEMA establishes the start date and the termination dates for 
implementing the pilot inspection procedure upon the recommendation of 
FEMA's Regional Administrator and in consultation with each community. 
44 CFR 59.30(c). FEMA is permitted to extend the implementation of the 
inspection procedure with a new termination after consultation with the 
community and based on good cause. 44 CFR 59.30(c). The start date for 
the inspection procedure for Monroe County and the Village of 
Islamorada was January 1, 2001, and October 1, 2002, for the City of 
Marathon. The original termination date for the Village of Islamorada 
and the City of Marathon was January 1, 2004, and was December 31, 
2007, for

[[Page 2469]]

Monroe County. Following consultation with the three communities, FEMA 
determined that additional time was needed and the inspection procedure 
was extended to December 31, 2011 by letter to the communities. Upon 
further consultation and evaluation, the inspection procedure was 
extended to June 28, 2013, to allow for the completion of the 
inspection procedure.
    Following consultation with the three communities, FEMA found that 
the Village of Islamorada, the City of Marathon, and Monroe County, 
Florida, had fulfilled the requirements of the inspection procedure. As 
a result, FEMA notified the three participating communities that the 
pilot inspection procedure under 44 CFR 59.30 would terminate on June 
28, 2013. FEMA is publishing this document to give notice that the 
pilot inspection procedure under the Pilot Inspection Program at 44 CFR 
59.30 was terminated on June 28, 2013 for Monroe County, the Village of 
Islamorada, and the City of Marathon, Florida. FEMA expects that the 
three communities will continue to use their authorities and 
enforcement provisions (e.g., additional inspections during the 
building permit process, other enforcement provisions in their flood 
damage prevention ordinance, or a Section 1316 declaration by FEMA, if 
all other methods fail to bring compliance) beyond June 28, 2013.

    Dated: January 8, 2013.
W. Craig Fugate,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2014-00521 Filed 1-13-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-12-P