Guidance Document (Joining the NFIP)

Joining the
National Flood
Insurance Program
FEMA 496
May 2005

Joining the National Flood Insurance
Program
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was established with the passage of the National
Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is a Federal program enabling property owners in participating communities to purchase insurance as a protection against flood losses in exchange for
State and community floodplain management regulations that reduce future flood damages. Over
20,000 communities participate in the Program.
The decision on whether to join the NFIP is very important
for a community. There is no Federal law that requires a
community to join the Program and community participation
is voluntary. A benefit of participation is that your citizens
are provided the opportunity to purchase flood insurance to
protect themselves from flood losses. Another consideration
is that a community that has been identified by the
Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) as being flood-prone and has
not joined the NFIP within one year of being notified of
being mapped as flood-prone will be sanctioned. This
means that Federal agencies cannot provide financial
assistance for buildings in flood hazards areas.
FEMA is required by law to identify and map the Nation’s
flood-prone areas. The identification of flood hazards serves
many important purposes. Identifying flood hazards creates
an awareness of the hazard, especially for those who live
and work in flood-prone areas. Maps provide States and
communities with the information needed for land use
planning and to reduce flood risk to floodplain
development and implement other health and safety
requirements through codes and regulations. States and
communities can also use the information for emergency
management.
To participate in the NFIP, a community must adopt and
enforce floodplain management regulations that meet or
exceed the minimum requirements of the Program. These
requirements are intended to prevent loss of life and property
and reduce taxpayer costs for disaster relief, as well as
minimize economic and social hardships that result from
flooding.
When FEMA provides a community with a flood hazard
map, the community should carefully review these maps
and determine whether flood insurance and floodplain
management would benefit the community and its citizens.

In making the decision whether to join the NFIP,
communities need to keep in mind that homeowners’
insurance policies generally do not cover flood losses, and
many homeowners and other property owners are often
unaware that their property is flood-prone. Even if your
community has not been identified as flood-prone by
FEMA, your community can still join the NFIP. By
participating in the NFIP, property owners throughout the
community will be able to purchase flood insurance.
Communities that have been identified as flood-prone by
FEMA need to keep in mind that property owners in a nonparticipating community are ineligible for most forms of
disaster assistance within the identified flood hazard areas.
This does not affect communities that have not had flood
hazards identified by FEMA.
What must a community do to join the NFIP?
To join the Program, the community must submit an
application package that includes the following information:
• Application For Participation in the National Flood
Insurance Program (FEMA Form 81-64):
This one-page form asks for the following information:
• Community name
• Chief Executive Officer
• Person responsible for administering the community’s
floodplain management program
• Community repository for public inspection of flood
maps
• Estimates of land area, population, and number of
structures in and outside the floodplain
• Resolution of Intent: The community must adopt a
resolution of intent, which indicates an explicit desire
to participate in the NFIP and commitment to recognize
flood hazards and carry out the
objectives of the Program.

Important Facts You Should Know
Floods are the most common and most costly natural disaster in the United
States.
Before most forms of Federal disaster assistance can be offered, the
President must declare a major disaster.
Flood insurance claims are paid whether or not a disaster has been
Presidentially declared.
The most common form of Federal disaster assistance is a loan, which must
be paid back with interest.

Over the life of a 30-year mortgage, there is a 26-percent (or 1 in 4) chance
that a building in a floodplain will experience a flood that will equal or
exceed the 1-percent-chance flood (100-year flood).
Since 1969, the NFIP has paid over $14 billion in flood insurance claims
that have helped hundreds of thousands of families recover from flood
disasters.
Approximately 25% of all claims paid by the NFIP are for policies outside of
the mapped floodplain.

There are about 4.7 million flood insurance policies in force in more than
20,000 communities across the U.S.
Can your community afford not to participate?

• Floodplain Management Regulations: The community
must adopt and submit floodplain management
regulations that meet or exceed the minimum flood
plain management requirements of the NFIP.
Please contact your FEMA Regional Office or the NFIP State
Coordinating Agency for information about joining the
Program. These offices will provide an application, sample
resolution, and a model floodplain management ordinance.
(See “For Assistance” on the back page for contact information)
What are the requirements that a community must adopt?

The NFIP requirements are designed to ensure that new
buildings and substantially improved existing buildings in
flood-prone areas are protected from flood damages. The
minimum NFIP floodplain management requirements that
a community must adopt are located in Title 44 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (44 CFR) section 60.3. The specific
requirements that a community must adopt depend on the
type of flood hazard data that is provided to the community
by FEMA.
In addition to meeting the requirements of the NFIP, a
community’s floodplain management regulations must be
legally enforceable. This means that the regulations must
meet applicable provisions of State enabling laws, which
authorize communities to enact and enforce floodplain
management regulations and be adopted through a process
that meets applicable State and local due process procedures.
State authority for floodplain management varies from State
to State. Some States require that communities regulate
floodplains to a higher standard than the minimum NFIP
requirements for certain aspects of floodplain management.
Some States have a requirement that communities must
submit their floodplain management regulations to the State
for approval. Communities should contact the State NFIP
Coordinating Agency for assistance on specific State
requirements that must also be met.
As indicated above, the FEMA Regional Office or the NFIP
State Coordinating Agency can provide the community with
a model floodplain management ordinance and guidance
on the specific requirements the community will need to
adopt.

What type of regulations can a community adopt?
Community floodplain management regulations are usually
found in the following types of regulations: zoning
ordinances, building codes, subdivision ordinance,
sanitary regulations, and “stand alone” floodplain
management ordinances. How your community approaches
floodplain management depends on State laws and
regulations and also how your community chooses to
manage its flood hazards.
What happens if a community is identified as floodprone, but does not join the NFIP?
The following sanctions apply if a community does not
qualify for participation in the NFIP within one year of being
identified as flood-prone by FEMA. Non-participating
communities that have not been identified as flood-prone by
FEMA are not subject to these sanctions.
• Property owners will not be able to purchase NFIP
flood insurance policies and existing policies will not
be renewed.
• Federal grants or loans for development will not be
available in identified flood hazard areas under
programs administered by Federal agencies such as
the Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Environmental Protection Agency, and Small Business
Administration.
• Federal disaster assistance for flood damage will not
be provided to repair insurable buildings located in
identified flood hazard areas.
• Federal mortgage insurance or loan guarantees, such
as those written by the Federal Housing Administration
and the Department of Veteran Affairs, will not be
provided in identified flood hazard areas.
• Federally insured or regulated lending institutions, such
as banks and credit unions, are allowed to make
conventional loans for insurable buildings in flood
hazard areas of nonparticipating communities.
However, the lender must notify applicants that the
property is in a flood hazard area and that the property
is not eligible for Federal disaster assistance. Some
lenders may voluntarily choose not to make these loans.

FOR ASSISTANCE
If your community needs assistance to join the NFIP, you can contact the FEMA Regional Office
(see below for address and telephone number). You can also contact your respective State
Coordinating Agency for the NFIP. You can go to http://www.fema.gov/about/contact/regions.shtm
for a listing of the FEMA Regional Offices and the NFIP State Coordinating Agencies.

REGION I
CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT
99 High Street, 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02110
877-336-2734
Region II
NJ, NY, PR, VI
26 Federal Plaza, Ste. 1307
New York, NY 10278
212-680-3609
Region III
DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV
615 Chestnut Street, 6th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-931-5608
Region IV
AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN
3003 Chamblee-Tucker Rd.
Atlanta, GA 30341
770-220-5200
Region V
IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI
536 South Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60605
312-408-5500

Region VI
AR, LA, NM, OK, TX
Federal Regional Center
800 North Loop 288
Denton, TX 76210
940-898-5399
Region VII
IA, KS, MO, NE
2323 Grand Boulevard, Ste. 900
Kansas City, MO 64108
816-283-7061
Region VIII
CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY
Denver Federal Center, Bldg. 710, Box 25267
Denver, CO 80225
303-235-4800
Region IX
AZ, CA, HI, NV, American Samoa, Guam,
Marshall Islands and Northern Mariana Islands
1111 Broadway, Suite 1200
Oakland, CA 94607
510-627-7100
Region X
AK, ID, OR, WA
Federal Regional Center
130 228th Street SW
Bothell, WA 98021-9796
425-487-4600