[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 212 (Friday, November 3, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51286-51288]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-23902]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[Docket ID FEMA-2012-0012]


National Flood Insurance Program Nationwide Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a final nationwide programmatic 
environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announces the 
availability of a final Nationwide Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (NPEIS) evaluating the environmental impacts of proposed 
modifications to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Pursuant 
to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, 
the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQs) regulations for 
implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA, and FEMA's Directive 
108-1 titled ``Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation 
Responsibilities and Program Requirements,'' FEMA has considered 
comments received on the NFIP Draft NPEIS, which was issued in April 
2017, and identifies FEMA's preferred alternative in the NFIP Final 
NPEIS.

DATES: FEMA will publish a Record of Decision no sooner than 30 days 
after the date of publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency's Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Electronic versions of the NFIP Final NPEIS are available at 
the Federal eRulemaking Portal, http://www.regulations.gov by searching 
for Docket ID FEMA-2012-0012.

[[Page 51287]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information on the NFIP Final 
NPEIS, contact Bret Gates, FEMA, Federal Insurance and Mitigation 
Administration, Floodplain Management Division, 400 C Street SW., 
Washington, DC 20472, or via email at [email protected], or by 
phone at 202-646-2780.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Flooding has been, and continues to be, a 
serious risk in the United States. To address the need, in 1968, 
Congress established the NFIP as a Federal program to provide access to 
federally backed flood insurance protection. The NFIP is a voluntary 
Federal program through which property owners in participating 
communities can purchase Federal flood insurance as a protection 
against flood losses. In exchange, communities must enact local 
floodplain management regulations to reduce flood risk and flood-
related damages. However, the power to regulate floodplain development, 
including requiring and approving permits, establishing permitting 
requirements, inspecting property, and citing violations, requires land 
use authority. The regulation of land use falls under the State's 
police powers, which the Constitution reserves to the States, and the 
States delegate this power down to their respective political 
subdivisions. FEMA has no direct involvement in the administration of 
local floodplain management ordinances or in the permitting process for 
development in the floodplain.
    In addition to providing flood insurance and reducing flood damages 
through floodplain management, the NFIP identifies and maps the 
nation's floodplains. Maps depicting flood hazard information are used 
to promote broad-based awareness of flood hazards, provide data for 
rating flood insurance policies, and determine the appropriate minimum 
floodplain management criteria for flood hazard areas.
    The proposed modifications to the NFIP are needed to (a) implement 
the legislative requirements of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance 
Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12) and the Homeowner Flood Insurance 
Affordability Act of 2014 (HFIAA); and (b) to demonstrate compliance 
with the Endangered Species Act (ESA). As stated in the Draft NPEIS the 
need to implement the legislative requirements of BW-12 and HFIAA 
arises from the recent concerns over the fiscal soundness of the NFIP.
    This Final NPEIS considers four alternatives and describes the 
potential environmental effects of each alternative. The four 
alternatives include:
--Alternative 1 (No Action)
    [cir] The No Action Alternative refers to the current 
implementation of the NFIP. The No Action Alternative is prescribed by 
Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR 1502.14(d)) and 
serves as a benchmark against which impacts of the alternatives can be 
evaluated.

--Alternative 2 (Legislatively Required Changes, Floodplain Management 
Criteria Guidance, and Letter of Map Change [LOMC] Clarification) 
(Preferred Alternative)

    [cir] Phase out of subsidies on certain pre-FIRM properties (non-
primary residences, business properties, severe repetitive loss 
properties, substantially damaged or improved properties, and 
properties for which the cumulative claims payments exceed the fair 
market value of the property) at a rate of 25 percent premium increases 
per year.
    [cir] Phase out of subsidies on all other pre-FIRM properties 
through annual premium rate increases of an average rate of at least 5 
percent, but no more than 15 percent, per risk classification, with no 
individual policy exceeding an 18 percent premium rate increase.
    [cir] Implement a monthly installment plan payment option for non-
escrowed flood insurance policies.
    [cir] Clarify that pursuant to 44 CFR 60.3(a)(2), a community must 
obtain and maintain documentation of compliance with the appropriate 
Federal or State laws, including the ESA, as a condition of issuing 
floodplain development permits.
    [cir] Clarify that the issuing of certain LOMC requests (i.e., map 
revisions) is contingent on the community, or the project proponent on 
the community's behalf, submitting documentation of compliance with the 
ESA.

--Alternative 3 (Legislatively Required Changes, Proposed ESA 
Regulatory Changes, and LOMC Clarification)

    [cir] Phase out of subsidies on certain pre-FIRM properties (non-
primary residences, business properties, severe repetitive loss 
properties, substantially damaged or improved properties, and 
properties for which the cumulative claims payments exceed the fair 
market value of the property) at a rate of 25 percent premium increases 
per year.
    [cir] Phase out of subsidies on all other pre-FIRM properties 
through annual premium rate increases of an average rate of at least 5 
percent, but no more than 15 percent, per risk classification, with no 
individual policy exceeding an 18 percent premium rate increase.
    [cir] Implement a monthly installment plan payment option for non-
escrowed flood insurance policies.
    [cir] Establish a new ESA-related performance standard in the 
minimum floodplain management criteria at 44 CFR 60.3 that would 
require communities to obtain and maintain documentation that any 
adverse impacts caused by proposed development, including fill, to ESA-
listed species and designated critical habitat will be mitigated to the 
maximum extent possible.
    [cir] Clarify that the exception to the no-rise performance 
standard in the floodway applies only to projects that serve a public 
purpose or result in the restoration of the natural and beneficial 
functions of floodplains.
    [cir] Increase the probation surcharge applicable to NFIP 
communities placed on probation from $50 to $100.
    [cir] Clarify that the issuance of certain LOMC requests (i.e., map 
revisions) is contingent on the community, or the project proponent on 
the community's behalf, submitting documentation of compliance with the 
ESA.

--Alternative 4 (Legislatively Required Changes, ESA Guidance, and LOMC 
Clarification)

    [cir] Phase out of subsidies on certain pre-FIRM properties (non-
primary residences, business properties, severe repetitive loss 
properties, substantially damaged or improved properties, and 
properties for which the cumulative claims payments exceed the fair 
market value of the property) at a rate of 25 percent premium increases 
per year.
    [cir] Phase out of subsidies on all other pre-FIRM properties 
through annual premium rate increases of an average rate of at least 5 
percent, but no more than 15 percent, per risk classification, with no 
individual policy exceeding an 18 percent premium rate increase.
    [cir] Implement a monthly installment plan payment option for non-
escrowed flood insurance policies.
    [cir] Utilize the existing performance standard in 44 CFR 
60.3(a)(2) to implement a new policy/procedure requiring communities to 
ensure that, for any floodplain development for which a floodplain 
development permit is sought, the impacts to ESA-listed species and 
designated critical habitat are identified and assessed and, if there 
are any potential adverse impacts to such species and habitat as a 
result of such development, that the community obtain and maintain 
documentation that the proposed floodplain development will be 
undertaken in compliance with the ESA.
    [cir] Clarify that the issuance of certain LOMC requests (i.e., map 
revisions) is contingent on the community, or the project proponent on 
the community's

[[Page 51288]]

behalf, submitting documentation of compliance with the ESA.
    Environmental topics addressed in the Final NPEIS include air 
quality, noise, land use and planning, geology and soils, water 
resources, biological resources, cultural resources, aesthetics/visual 
resources, infrastructure, socioeconomic resources, hazardous waste and 
materials, and climate change. Best management practices and mitigation 
measures that could alleviate environmental effects have been 
considered and are included where relevant within the Final NPEIS. The 
proposed alternatives do not have natural or depletable resource 
requirements because they are changes in policy or regulation that do 
not involve any physical activities for which resources would be 
required. For these alternatives, no significant or unavoidable adverse 
impacts are anticipated.
    The Final NPEIS considers comments on the Draft NPEIS, including 
those submitted during the public comment period that officially began 
on April 7, 2017 and ended on June 6, 2017, following a 60-day comment 
period. Appendix M provides the Draft NFIP comments with FEMA 
responses, and notes revisions in the Final NPEIS.
    The NFIP Final NPEIS is available for viewing on the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID FEMA-
2012-0012.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.; 40 CFR part 1500; FEMA 
Instruction 108-1-1.

    Dated: October 20, 2017.
Brock Long,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2017-23902 Filed 11-2-17; 8:45 am]
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