Notice2021-18167
Request for Information on the National Flood Insurance Program's Community Rating System
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 23, 2021
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security DepartmentFederal Emergency Management Agency
Abstract
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to receive input from the public on transforming the Community Rating System (CRS) under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to better align with the current understanding of flood risk and flood risk approaches and to incentivize communities to not only manage but also lower their flood risk through floodplain management initiatives. The NFIP's CRS program is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management practices that exceed the minimum requirements of the NFIP for floodplain management. As FEMA undertakes a series of initiatives that will transform the NFIP, the agency is evaluating the CRS program and its potential to support FEMA, State, local, Tribal, and Territorial community goals and needs.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 160 (Monday, August 23, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 160 (Monday, August 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47128-47131]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-18167]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Federal Emergency Management Agency
[Docket ID: FEMA-2021-0021]
Request for Information on the National Flood Insurance Program's
Community Rating System
AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland
Security (DHS).
ACTION: Notice and request for information.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is issuing this
Request for Information (RFI) to receive input from the public on
transforming the Community Rating System (CRS) under the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP) to better align with the current understanding
of flood risk and flood risk approaches and to incentivize communities
to not only manage but also lower their flood risk through floodplain
management initiatives. The NFIP's CRS program is a voluntary incentive
program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management
practices that exceed the minimum requirements of the NFIP for
floodplain management. As FEMA undertakes a series of initiatives that
will transform the NFIP, the agency is evaluating the CRS program and
its potential to support FEMA, State, local, Tribal, and Territorial
community goals and needs.
DATES: Written comments are requested on or before September 22, 2021.
Late-filed comments will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket ID: FEMA-2021-
0021, through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Please note that this RFI period is not rulemaking and the Federal
Rulemaking Portal is being utilized only as a mechanism for receiving
comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Sears, Supervisory Emergency
Management Specialist, Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration,
Federal Emergency Management Agency, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f8bebdb5b9d5bbaaabd5b69d808cb89e9d9599d69c908bd69f978e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2a6c6f676b0769787907644f525e6a4c4f474b044e4259044d455c">[email protected]</span></a>, 202-
212-3800.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Public Participation
Interested persons are invited to comment on this notice by
submitting written data, views, or arguments using the method
identified in the ADDRESSES section.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
Docket ID for this notice. All comments received will be posted without
change to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a>. Commenters are encouraged to
identify the number of the specific question or questions to which they
are responding.
Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or
comments received, go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">http://www.regulations.gov</a> and search for the
Docket ID.
II. Background
Floods are the most common and most destructive natural disaster in
the United States.\1\ Every year, flooding causes hundreds of millions
of dollars in damage to homes and businesses around the United
States.\2\ Anywhere it can rain, it can flood. With 99% of counties in
the United States having experienced a flood \3\ and when just one inch
of water can cause $25,000 in damage in a home,\4\ communities across
the country must make difficult decisions about protecting lives and
property from flooding.
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\1\ See Ready Campaign, Floods (updated Apr. 9, 2021) at <a href="http://www.ready.gov/floods">http://www.ready.gov/floods</a> (last accessed July 15, 2021). See also
National Weather Service, Flood Related Hazards at <a href="http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood-hazards">http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood-hazards</a> (``Approximately seventy-five
percent of all Presidential disaster declarations are associated
with flooding.'') (last accessed July 15, 2021).
\2\ See Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters: Summary
Stats, at <a href="http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/summary-stats">http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/summary-stats</a> (last
accessed July 7, 2021).
\3\ See Historical Flood Risk and Costs at <a href="http://www.fema.gov/data-visualization/historical-flood-risk-and-costs">http://www.fema.gov/data-visualization/historical-flood-risk-and-costs</a> (last accessed,
July 9, 2021)
\4\ See Why Buy Flood Insurance at <a href="http://www.floodsmart.gov/flood-insurance/why">http://www.floodsmart.gov/flood-insurance/why</a> (last accessed July 1, 2021).
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Standard homeowners and commercial property insurance policies do
not cover flood losses. To meet the need for this vital coverage, FEMA
administers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which offers
reasonably priced flood insurance to all properties in communities that
comply with minimum standards for floodplain
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management. To be covered by an NFIP flood insurance policy, a property
must be in a community that participates in the NFIP. To qualify for
the NFIP, a community adopts and enforces a floodplain management
ordinance to regulate development in flood hazard areas.\5\ The
objective of the ordinance is to minimize the potential for flood
damage to future development. Today, over 22,500 communities in the
United States participate in the NFIP.\6\
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\5\ 44 CFR 59.2(b).
\6\ See The Watermark--National Flood Insurance Program
Financial Statements found at: <a href="http://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance/work-with-nfip/watermark-financial-statements">http://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance/work-with-nfip/watermark-financial-statements</a> (last accessed July
27, 2021).
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In 1990, FEMA implemented the Community Rating System (CRS) as a
voluntary program for recognizing and encouraging community floodplain
management activities exceeding the minimum NFIP standards and the CRS
program was fully authorized by the National Flood Insurance Reform Act
of 1994.\7\ Any community \8\ in full compliance with the minimum NFIP
floodplain management requirements may apply to join the CRS program.
Through the CRS program, communities undertaking floodplain management
activities that exceed the minimum floodplain management requirements
of the NFIP earn CRS credits (often referred to as ``points'') that
result in flood insurance premiums discounts for NFIP policyholders who
reside in that community. As of April 2021, over 1,500 communities
participate in the CRS program nationwide. This represents about seven
percent of eligible NFIP communities that could participate in the CRS
program. However, these communities have a large number of NFIP flood
insurance policies--nearly 3.6 million--so more than 70 percent of all
NFIP policies are written in communities participating in the CRS
program.\9\
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\7\ Public Law 103-325, 108 Stat. 2255 (1994).
\8\ ``Community'' means any State or area or political
subdivision thereof, or any Indian tribe or authorized tribal
organization, or Alaska Native village or authorized native
organization, which has authority to adopt and enforce flood plain
management regulations for the areas within its jurisdiction. 44 CFR
59.1.
\9\ FEMA, Community Rating System Fact Sheet, June 2021, at
<a href="http://www.fema.gov/fact-sheet/community-rating-system">http://www.fema.gov/fact-sheet/community-rating-system</a> (last
accessed July 12, 2021).
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The CRS program credits community efforts that exceed the minimum
standards by reducing flood insurance premiums for the community's
policyholders. The CRS program is similar to, but separate from, the
private insurance industry's programs that grade communities on the
effectiveness of their fire suppression and building code enforcement
efforts. CRS program discounts on flood insurance premiums range from 5
percent up to 45 percent based on the level of CRS program credits
awarded to communities. The discounts provide an incentive for
communities to implement new flood protection activities that help save
lives and property when a flood occurs and correlate to FEMA's expected
savings for these local floodplain activities.
To participate in the CRS program, local floodplain management
actions must be described, measured, and evaluated by the CRS program.
The CRS program assigns credits for defined activities. Most activities
are optional; however, some activities are required to achieve higher
Classes. A higher-Class community achieves higher levels of discount; a
Class 1 community achieves the highest discount of 45 percent. The
basic documents detailing the program are the NFIP Community Rating
System Coordinator's Manual (known as the ``CRS Coordinator's Manual'')
and the 2021 Addendum to the NFIP Community Rating System Coordinator's
Manual (known as the ``2021 Addendum'').\10\ Taken together, these
documents set forth the procedures, creditable activities, and the
credit assigned to each activity, and give examples of activities and
how their credit is calculated.
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\10\ Includes both the FEMA, NFIP Community Rating System
Coordinator's Manual, at <a href="http://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_community-rating-system_coordinators-manual_2017.pdf">http://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_community-rating-system_coordinators-manual_2017.pdf</a>,
and the 2021 Addendum to the NFIP Community Rating System
Coordinator's Manual, at <a href="http://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_community-rating-system_coordinator-manual_addendum-2021.pdf">http://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_community-rating-system_coordinator-manual_addendum-2021.pdf</a>. (last accessed July 1, 2021).
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The discounts on premium rates for NFIP flood insurance coverage
are based on flood and erosion risk reduction measures implemented by a
CRS community.\11\ The CRS program provides credit to participating
communities under 19 public information and floodplain management
activities as described in the CRS Coordinator's Manual. To receive
credit, community officials prepare documentation that verifies the
efforts made under the 19 activities. The CRS program activities
include but are not limited to: (1) Public information to advise people
about flood hazards, flood insurance, and ways to reduce flood damage;
(2) mapping and regulations to limit floodplain development or provide
increased protection to new and existing development; (3) flood damage
reduction; and (4) flood preparedness to provide flood warning, levee
safety, and dam safety projects.
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\11\ See 2017 CRS Coordinator's Manual, Appendix D found at
<a href="http://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_community-rating-system_coordinators-manual_2017.pdf">http://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_community-rating-system_coordinators-manual_2017.pdf</a>.
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Based on the total number of credits a community earns, the CRS
program assigns the community to one of ten different Classes. The
community will then receive flood insurance discounts based on the
community's Class. For example, a community earning 4,500 credits or
more qualifies for Class 1, and property owners in the Special Flood
Hazard Area (SFHA) receive a 45 percent discount on their NFIP flood
insurance premiums. Similarly, a community with as few as 500 credits
will be in Class 9 and property owners in the SFHA receive a 5 percent
discount. Communities may receive additional credit for regulating
development outside the SFHA to the same standards as inside the SFHA.
Credits are also available for assessing future flood conditions,
including the impacts of future development, urbanization, and climate
change impacts including sea-level rise. Additionally, communities can
qualify for ``State-based credit'' based on the activities or
regulations a State or regional agency implements within communities. A
community that does not participate in the CRS program, or does not
obtain the minimum number of credit points, is a Class 10 community and
receives no discount on NFIP flood insurance premiums.
FEMA is seeking input on ways the agency can improve the CRS
program: (1) To better align the CRS program with the improved
understanding of flood risk and flood risk approaches that have
developed since the program's inception; (2) to better incentivize
communities and policyholders to become more resilient and to not only
manage, but to lower their vulnerability to flood risk; and (3) to
support the sound financial framework of the NFIP.
While the CRS program today has evolved, the overall approach and
framework of the program has been the same since the start of the
program. As FEMA undertakes many initiatives that will transform the
NFIP, the agency is also evaluating the CRS program and its potential
to support FEMA, State government, Tribal government, Territorial and
community goals and needs. While the agency has made incremental
changes since the CRS program's implementation, the agency is seeking
input to improve the program further through additional programmatic
changes. With the continuous learning around flood, flood risk
management, and flood risk reduction techniques, FEMA now has more
information about and
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understanding of multi-frequency analysis, pluvial flooding, climate
change, and the extent of flood risk outside of the SFHA. FEMA seeks to
make larger improvements within our programs based on these
developments and is now taking a holistic look at the CRS program to
determine how the program can best meet FEMA and stakeholder needs.
As FEMA reviews the CRS program, several foundational assumptions
underpin this programmatic review and improvement effort (called ``CRS
Next''), including that the CRS program will continue to provide whole-
community public benefits through a rewards-based program; the CRS
program will continue to increase both the visibility of comprehensive
flood risk and recognition of actions taken by a community; the CRS
program will support and contribute to the financial soundness of the
NFIP; the CRS program will be simpler for communities to join and
participate in; the CRS program will be simpler for FEMA to explain to
communities and also for communities to explain to their constituents;
the CRS program will clarify that it does not address structure-based
risk reduction activities; and FEMA will avoid duplication between the
approaches of the CRS program and other NFIP Transformation efforts.
FEMA is also further reviewing the CRS program in light of recent
Executive orders focused on equity, climate change, and environmental
justice. FEMA recently sought input through another Request for
Information pursuant to the processes required by Executive Orders
13985, 13990, and 14008 \12\ that require agencies to assess existing
programs and policies to determine if: (1) Agency programs and policies
perpetuate systemic barriers to opportunities and benefits for people
of color and other underserved groups; (2) additional agency actions
are required to bolster resilience to climate change; and (3) agency
programs, policies, and activities address the disproportionately high
and adverse climate-related impacts on disadvantaged communities.\13\
The input received from that Request for Information will also be used
to assist FEMA's initiative to improve and update the CRS program.
Additional comments on equity related to CRS may also be provided
through this RFI.
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\12\ See ``Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved
Communities Through the Federal Government,'' 86 FR 7009 (Jan. 25,
2021); ``Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring
Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis,'' 86 FR 7037 (Jan. 25, 2021);
and ``Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,'' 86 FR 7619
(Feb. 1, 2021).
\13\ Request for Information on FEMA Programs, Regulations, and
Policies, 86 FR 21325 (April 22, 2021).
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FEMA continually evaluates its programs, regulations, and policies,
to identify opportunities to modify, streamline, expand, or repeal.
FEMA does so through legally mandated review requirements (e.g.,
Unified Agenda reviews and reviews under section 610 of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act) and through other informal and long-established
mechanisms (e.g., use of Advisory Councils, feedback from FEMA field
personnel, input from internal working groups, and outreach to
regulated entities and the public). This Federal Register notice
supplements these existing extensive FEMA regulatory and program review
efforts.
II. Request for Input
A. Importance of Public Feedback
FEMA is committed to obtaining public input to drive and focus
FEMA's review of the CRS program. Because Federal regulations and
policies have broad impacts on society in general, members of the
public are likely to have useful information, data, and perspectives on
the benefits and burdens of FEMA's existing programs, regulations,
information collections, and policies. Accordingly, FEMA is seeking
specific public feedback to facilitate the CRS program review and
improvement efforts in the context of equity for all, including those
in underserved communities. With the increasing risk of flooding and
flood damage, in part because of climate change, it is essential that
FEMA reevaluate programs to reduce unnecessary barriers to
participation and effectiveness, to serve all communities, to increase
equity, and to promote preparedness.
B. Maximizing the Value of Public Feedback
This notice contains a list of questions, the answers to which will
assist FEMA in identifying those aspects of the CRS program that may
benefit from modification, streamlining, or expansion. FEMA encourages
public comment on these questions and seeks any other data commenters
believe are relevant to FEMA's efforts. The type of feedback that is
most useful to the agency will identify specific CRS program components
that could benefit from reform; refer to specific barriers to
participation; align the CRS program with the improved understanding of
flood risk and flood risk reduction approaches gained since the
initiation of the program; better incentivize communities and
policyholders to become more resilient and lower their vulnerability to
flood risk; offer actionable data; and specify viable alternatives to
existing approaches that meet statutory obligations.
For example, feedback that contains specific information explaining
a proposed change to the CRS program, how such a change could be
implemented, and why said change would be beneficial (i.e., the
outcomes a proposed change would aim to effect) is more useful to FEMA
than generic feedback that omits these components. FEMA is looking for
new information and new data to support any proposed changes.
Commenters should consider these principles as they answer and
respond to the questions in this notice.
<bullet> Commenters should identify, with specificity, the CRS
program policy or process at issue.
<bullet> Commenters should explain, with as much detail as
possible, why an aspect of the CRS program should be modified,
streamlined, expanded, or repealed, and provide specific suggestions of
ways the agency can better achieve its objectives.
<bullet> Commenters should provide specific data that document the
costs, burdens, and benefits of existing requirements to the extent
they are available. Commenters might also address how FEMA can best
obtain and consider accurate, objective information and data about the
costs, burdens, and benefits of the CRS program and whether there are
existing sources of data that FEMA can use to evaluate the effects of
the CRS program over time.
<bullet> Commenters should identify with specificity administrative
burdens, CRS program requirements, information collection burdens,
waiting time, or unnecessary complexity that may impose unjustified
barriers in general, or that may have adverse effects on equity for
all, including those in underserved communities. This Request for
Information and change effort aligns with broader FEMA efforts to
solicit public comments on FEMA Programs, Regulations, and Policies.
FEMA is seeking additional information specific to the CRS program and
the CRS Next change effort on the topics of equity for all, including
those in underserved communities. Commenters seeking to provide input
on these areas should respond to the questions below in this Request
for Information.
<bullet> Commenters should identify with specificity small or large
reforms that might be justified in light of the risks posed by climate
change, including but not limited to sea-level rise, intense
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rainfall, changing weather patterns, riverine and coastal erosion, and
shifts in future development.
<bullet> Particularly where comments relate to the CRS program's
costs or benefits, comments will be most useful if there are data and
experience under the program available to ascertain the program's
actual impact.
C. List of Questions for Commenters
The below non-exhaustive list of questions is meant to assist
members of the public in the formulation of comments and is not
intended to restrict the issues that commenters may address:
(1) What are the strengths of the current CRS program? What
components of the program are currently working well and why?
(2) What are the challenges with the current CRS program that need
to be addressed and why? How can the CRS program be modified, expanded,
or streamlined to better address or resolve these challenges?
(3) While the CRS program is technically available to all compliant
NFIP communities, is access to the CRS program equitable for all
communities? If not, what changes to the CRS program could make it more
equitable for all communities? How could the CRS program provide better
outreach to disadvantaged communities to encourage participation? How
could the CRS program provide better outreach to households in
disadvantaged communities to encourage participation in the NFIP?
(4) How could the CRS program better promote and/or incentivize
improved reduction of future conditions and risks such as climate
change, sea-level rise, urban flooding, and future development?
(5) How could the CRS program better address the mitigation of
repetitive loss/severe repetitive loss \14\ properties and how could
FEMA further leverage the CRS program to achieve mitigation of
repetitive loss/severe repetitive loss properties?
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\14\ ``Repetitive loss properties'' are those properties for
which two or more claims of more than $1,000 have been paid by the
NFIP within any 10-year period since 1978. ``Severe repetitive loss
properties'' are those as defined in the Flood Insurance Reform Act
of 2004 that are one-four family properties that have had four or
more claims of more than $5,000 or two to three claims that
cumulatively exceed the building's value. CRS considers non-
residential buildings that also meet these criteria to be severe
repetitive loss properties. See National Flood Insurance Program
Community Rating System Coordinator's Manual 2017 and National Flood
Insurance Program Community Rating System Addendum to the 2017 CRS
Coordinator's Manual at <a href="https://www.fema.gov/floodplain-management/community-rating-system">https://www.fema.gov/floodplain-management/community-rating-system</a> (last accessed May 20, 2021).
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(6) How can the CRS program be modified, expanded, or streamlined
to best incentivize participation by communities and flood insurance
policyholders to become more resilient and lower their vulnerability to
flood risk?
(7) How can the CRS program better incentivize floodplain
management, risk management, and/or risk reduction efforts for
communities through CRS discounts, grants, trainings, technical
assistance or other means? Which efforts are most critical for the CRS
program to support?
(8) What existing sources of data can FEMA leverage to better
assist communities to assess, communicate, and drive the reduction of
current and future flood risk? Can FEMA leverage new technologies to
modify or streamline the CRS program? If so, what are they and how can
FEMA use new technologies to achieve the statutory objectives of the
program?
(9) The CRS program provides credits for flood risk reduction
activities. Are there flood risk reduction activities that are not
currently given credit within the CRS program that should be? If so,
what are they and why? Are there flood risk reduction activities that
are currently given excessive credit within the CRS program than they
should be given? If so, what are they and why? Should the CRS program
provide a list of optional risk reduction activities for communities to
choose from or a list of required risk reduction activities, and why?
(10) What successful approaches have been taken by State, local,
Tribal, and Territorial governments that the CRS program could leverage
to better support community participation in the CRS program? In what
ways could the CRS program better support States, Tribes, Territories
and Regions, and flood control and water management districts to
improve community participation in the program? What innovative changes
could the CRS program make to be simpler for communities to join and
maintain participation?
(11) How could the CRS program provide better outreach to
disadvantaged communities to encourage participation? How could the CRS
program provide better outreach to households in disadvantaged
communities to encourage participation in the NFIP?
(11) In what ways could the CRS program facilitate collaboration
across jurisdictional boundaries to support a community's ability to
reduce flood risk? How could the CRS program be modified, expanded, or
streamlined to allow for multi-jurisdictional collaboration efforts to
receive credit under the CRS program?
(12) What opportunities exist for the CRS program to better
integrate with other entities and/or programs? For example, in what
specific ways could the CRS program better work and integrate with
State, local, Tribal, and Territorial programs, including but not
limited to, floodplain management, emergency services, land use
planning and building code administration capital improvement,
transportation, redevelopment, pre- and post-disaster recovery, climate
adaptation, hazard mitigation planning, watershed management, and/or
wetlands, riparian, or environmental management programs? In what
specific ways could the CRS program better work and integrate with
Federal disaster assistance programs or Federal mitigation programs?
FEMA notes that this notice is issued solely for information and
program-planning purposes. Responses to this notice do not bind FEMA to
any further actions related to the response.
Deanne Criswell,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2021-18167 Filed 8-20-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-47-P
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