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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a Request for Information (RFI) to receive the public’s input on revisions to the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) floodplain management standards for land management and use regulations. FEMA’s authority under the National Flood Insurance Act requires the agency to, from time to time, develop comprehensive criteria designed to encourage the adoption of adequate State and local measures.

The agency will propose regulations to better align the NFIP minimum floodplain management standards with FEMA's current understanding of flood risk, flood insurance premium rates, and risk reduction approaches to make communities safer, stronger, and more resilient to increased flooding. As part of the proposed regulations, FEMA is considering revisions to the NFIP minimum floodplain management standards to better protect people and property in a nuanced manner that balances community needs with the national scope of the NFIP. FEMA will also propose opportunities to make these minimum floodplain management standards improve resilience in communities that have been historically underserved. The proposed revisions to the NFIP minimum floodplain management standards will also consider how to advance the conservation of threatened and endangered species and their habitat. The agency is also reviewing ways to further promote enhanced resilience efforts through the Community Rating System.

During the RFI comment period, FEMA held three public meetings and extended the comment period on the RFI to ensure all interested parties had sufficient opportunity to provide comments. All relevant comments received in response to the RFI have been posted to the public rulemaking docket on the Federal eRulemaking portal at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FEMA-2021-0024/comments and transcripts from the public meetings have also been posted at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FEMA-2021-0024/document.

In April 2023, FEMA requested recommendations from the Technical Mapping Advisory Council (TMAC) on modifying the definition of the Special Flood Hazard Area or modifying how it is calculated. In addition, FEMA requested a recommendation from TMAC on how FEMA might consider changing mapping procedures related to when land is filled. These recommendations will assist FEMA in exploring the feasibility of public comments received from the 2021 RFI.