[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16354-16355]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06525]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[Docket ID FEMA-2012-0012]


National Flood Insurance Program Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement Scoping Meeting Dates

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National 
Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was published in the May 16, 2012 
Federal Register at 77 FR 28891, and requested public comments no later 
than July 16, 2012. Thirty-nine comments were received.
    Due to the extenuating circumstances caused by the passage of a 5-
year NFIP reauthorization (See Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform 
Act of 2012, Pub. L. 112-141, 126 Stat. 405), interested parties 
requested an extension of the initial comment period. FEMA reopened the 
comment period for submitting public comments to October 9, 2012, for 
Docket ID FEMA-2012-0012 through publication in the Federal Register at 
77 FR 50706 on August 22, 2012. Two comments were received. The 
comments received as part of the NOI will be considered in the 
preparation of this PEIS.
    This notice sets forth the dates of public scoping meetings FEMA 
intends to hold online, as Webinars, to inform the public about FEMA's 
intended PEIS process and receive additional comments from the public. 
Information on the NFIP PEIS and instructions for online webinar 
registration is available on the project Web site at: https://www.fema.gov/programmatic-environmental-impact-statement.

DATES and LOCATIONS:  The meetings will take place online, as webinars, 
and will be held on April 22, 2014, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. eastern 
standard time (EST); May 13, 2014, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. EST; and May 
20, 2014, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. EST.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about how to register 
for the webinar or for further information on FEMA's PEIS, contact: 
Beth Norton, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Insurance and 
Mitigation Administration, Risk Reduction Division, Floodplain 
Management Branch, 1800 South Bell

[[Page 16355]]

Street, 9th Floor, Arlington, VA 20598-3030. Phone: (202) 646-2716 or 
via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FEMA is developing a Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) of the NFIP to consider the 
environmental impacts of the NFIP as it is currently implemented, to 
update the 1976 EIS on the NFIP, and to consider potential changes to 
the Program's implementation. Public scoping meetings in the format of 
online webinars will assist FEMA in determining the scope of issues to 
be addressed in the NFIP PEIS and for identifying significant issues 
related to a proposed action.
    The Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA), a 
component of FEMA, administers the NFIP. The three primary components 
of the NFIP are Flood Insurance, Floodplain Management, and Flood 
Hazard Mapping. More than 22,000 communities across the United States 
and its territories participate in the NFIP by adopting and enforcing 
floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood damages as a 
condition for the availability of Federal flood insurance.
    In addition to making Federal flood insurance available and 
reducing flood damages through floodplain management regulations, the 
NFIP identifies and maps the Nation's floodplains. Mapping flood 
hazards creates a broad-based awareness of flood hazards and risks, 
provides data needed for effective floodplain management programs, and 
enables FEMA to identify actuarial rates for flood insurance premiums.
    The NFIP has been evaluated and modified several times, most 
recently by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW-
12), which was signed into law on July 6, 2012 and which provides for a 
significant reform of the NFIP and extends the program through 
September 30, 2017. Implementation of legislative revisions since the 
initial National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, including BW-12, the 
Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004, and the 
Flood Disaster Reform Act of 1973, administrative programmatic 
initiatives, public input received on the 2012 Notice of Intent, and 
comments received during the online webinars will be used to develop 
the PEIS.
    FEMA has developed a Purpose and Need statement for evaluating NFIP 
proposed action and alternatives which was published in the 2012 NOI 
and can be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/ under Docket ID FEMA-
2012-0012. The Purpose and Need statement will include a No Action 
option that will analyze the Program as it stands today to include 
program changes that have taken place since the 1976 Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Revised Floodplain Management 
Regulations of the National Flood Insurance Program. The Proposed 
Action is intended to enhance programmatic efficiency and effectiveness 
in a manner that will reduce unsound development in the floodplain and 
protect environmentally sensitive areas.
    The PEIS will analyze a range of reasonable alternatives in order 
to consider the impacts of the Proposed Action on all resource areas 
required under NEPA at a nationwide, programmatic level, and will 
perform additional, more site-specific analysis to support and 
illustrate the conclusions of the programmatic level analysis. A list 
of draft alternatives for consideration was published in the 2012 NOI 
and can be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/ under Docket ID FEMA-
2010-0065. Each alternative analyzed will consist of enhanced program 
standards for each of the three primary elements of the NFIP: mapping, 
floodplain management, and insurance to consider as part of proposed 
modifications.
    FEMA also intends to initiate discussions with other Federal 
agencies on the scope of this effort and identify cooperating agencies 
interested in participating as such in this process. FEMA intends to 
work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National 
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to comply with the Endangered Species 
Act. FEMA also intends to work with the USFWS to comply with the Fish 
and Wildlife Coordination Act.
    FEMA has received comments from the May 16, 2012 Notice of Intent 
(77 FR 28891-28893) and the August 22, 2012 extension of public comment 
period (77 FR 50706) issued for the preparation of a PEIS for the 
Program. These comments and any additional comments received during the 
online webinars will be considered in the preparation of this PEIS.
    Any additional meetings will be announced on the project Web site 
at: https://www.fema.gov/programmatic-environmental-impact-statement.

    Authority:  National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as 
amended, 42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.; 40 CFR part 1500; 44 CFR part 10.

    Dated: March 19, 2014.
W. Craig Fugate,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2014-06525 Filed 3-24-14; 8:45 am]
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