HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04081986 - 1.46 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: Anthony A. Dehaesus o itra
Director of Community Development Costa
DATE: March 21, 1986 Cougy
SUBJECT: Federal Flood Insurance Program
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION
Instruct the Director of Community Development to send a letter to FEMA
expressing County dissatisfaction with the slow production of FIRM maps and
requesting an expedited schedule for the preparation of these maps.
Request our Congressional delegation to assist the County on expediting the
preparation of FIRM Flood Insurance Rate Maps by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
None.
BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION
The Federal Flood Insurance Program was established by Congress in 1968, to deal
with the increasing cost to the Federal treasury to provide emergency financing
for 'low costs loans and grants to areas which are damaged by flooding. This
County entered the Flood Hazard program in October, 1975. This program has two
main phases that are important to government agencies which enter the program.
The "emergency phase" of the flood program created Flood Hazard Boundary Maps
(FHBM) . This delineated flood hazard boundaries based on information readily
available to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) . The purpose of
these maps was to determine areas where Federal flood hazard insurance must be
purchased as a condition of obtaining federally regulated financial assistance
for the construction or substantial improvment of structures in designated flood
hazard areas.
In the second phase of the program, FEMA was to prepare more detailed mapping
based engineering studies to create more accurate flood hazard boundary maps.
These maps are called Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM maps) .
Contra Costa County Urban Creeks Task Force has begun reviewing the issues
relating to flood hazards and flood control facilities within the County. In
Task Force discussions on those issues, the Federal Flood Hazard Management Act
came under scrutiny. The city representatives on the committee pointed out that
they were using FIRM Flood Insurance Rate Maps for their citi s as standard
operating procedure. FIRM Maps for the unincorporate areas d newly formed
i
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: f
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR ?ECO ENDA O OF :BOARD OMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER /
SIGNATURE(S):
77
ACTION OF BOARD ON APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
-------- I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES. AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
eveo ment Dept.CC: Community_- y Dlp p ATTESTED _�
'Public Works Dept.
County Administrator PHIL BA?C OR CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
County Counsel SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
M382/7-83 BY ,DEPUTY
Board of Supervisors -2- March 21, 1986
cities (treated as part of the unincorporated areas) have not been issued by the
Federal Emergency Management Agency. The FIRM Maps for many cities in the
County were first issued back in 1983 and some cities are working off revised
maps.
County staff has been given target date after target date by FEMA staff for the
completion of FIRM Maps for the unincorporated area. These deadlines continue
to slip. We were informed by FEMA staff recently that current estimates for
completion of FIRM Maps for the unincorporated County won't be until October of
1987. This schedule could also slip. In discussing the matter, the Urban
Creeks Task Force unanimously requested our Department to forward a request to
the Board of Supervisors that the Board take action to attempt to speed up the
finalization of FIRM Maps for the portions of the County where they don't exist.
While the County received only moderate flood damage from this winter's storms
compared to adjacent counties, the need to have available to the public the best
available flood management information and programs was underscored. I endorse
the request from the Urban Creeks Task Force and recommend that the Board take
action to try to expedite Federal follow through on this item.
AAD:plp
CGPR