44 CFR Part 70

Fed. Emergency Mgmt. Agency, DHS

§ 70.1

§ 68.8 Scope of review.
Review at administrative hearings
shall be limited to: An examination of
any information presented by each appellant within the 90 day appeal period
indicating that elevations proposed by
the Federal Insurance Administrator
are scientifically or technically incorrect; the FIRM; the flood insurance
study; its backup data and the references used in development of the
flood insurance study; and responses by
FEMA to the issues raised by the appellant(s).
[47 FR 23449, May 29, 1982, as amended at 49
FR 33879, Aug. 27, 1984]

§ 68.9 Admissible evidence.
(a) Legal rules of evidence shall not
be in effect at adminstrative hearings.
However, only evidence relevant to
issues within the scope of review under
§ 68.8 shall be admissible.
(b) Documentary and oral evidence
shall be admissible.
(c) Admissibility of non-expert testimony shall be within the discretion of
the board.
(d) All testimony shall be under oath.
(e) Res judicata/ collateral estoppel.
Where there has been a previous determination, decision or finding of fact by
the Director, one of his delegees, an administrative law judge, hearing officer,
or hearing board regarding the base
flood elevations of any other community, such determination, decision, or
finding of fact shall not be binding on
the board and may only be admissible
into evidence if relevant.

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§ 68.10 Burden of proof.
The burden shall be on appellant(s)
to prove that the flood elevation determination is not scientifically or technically correct.
§ 68.11 Determination.
The board shall render its written decision within 45 days after the conclusion of the hearing. The entire record
of the hearing including the board’s decision will be sent to the Administrator for review and approval. The Administrator shall make the final base
flood elevation determination by accepting in whole or in part or by rejecting the board’s decision.

§ 68.12

Relief.

The final determination may be appealed by the appellant(s) to the
United States district court as provided in section 1363(f) of the Act (42
U.S.C. 4104).

PART 69 [RESERVED]
PART 70—PROCEDURE FOR MAP
CORRECTION
MAPPING DEFICIENCIES UNRELATED TO COMMUNITY-WIDE ELEVATION DETERMINATIONS
Sec.
70.1 Purpose of part.
70.2 Definitions.
70.3 Right to submit technical information.
70.4 Review by the Administrator.
70.5 Letter of Map Amendment.
70.6 Distribution of Letter of Map Amendment.
70.7 Notice of Letter of Map Amendment.
70.8 Premium refund after Letter of Map
Amendment.
70.9 Review of proposed projects.
AUTHORITY: 42 U.S.C.
nization Plan No. 3 of
CFR, 1978 Comp., p. 329;
1979, 44 FR 19367, 3 CFR,

4001 et seq.; Reorga1978, 43 FR 41943, 3
E.O. 12127 of Mar. 31,
1979 Comp., p. 376.

MAPPING DEFICIENCIES UNRELATED TO
COMMUNITY-WIDE ELEVATION DETERMINATIONS

§ 70.1

Purpose of part.

The purpose of this part is to provide
an administrative procedure whereby
the Federal Insurance Administrator
will review the scientific or technical
submissions of an owner or lessee of
property who believes his property has
been inadvertently included in designated A, AO, A1–30, AE, AH, A99, AR,
AR/A1–30, AR/AE, AR/AO, AR/AH, AR/
A, VO, V1–30, VE, and V Zones, as a result of the transposition of the curvilinear line to either street or to other
readily identifiable features. The necessity for this part is due in part to
the technical difficulty of accurately
delineating the curvilinear line on either an FHBM or FIRM. These procedures shall not apply when there has
been any alteration of topography
since the effective date of the first

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§ 70.2

44 CFR Ch. I (10–1–21 Edition)

NFIP map (i.e., FHBM or FIRM) showing the property within an area of special flood hazard. Appeals in such circumstances are subject to the provisions of part 65 of this subchapter.
[62 FR 55718, Oct. 27, 1997]

§ 70.2

Definitions.

The definitions set forth in part 59 of
this subchapter are applicable to this
part.
[41 FR 46991, Oct. 26, 1976. Redesignated at 44
FR 31177, May 31, 1979]

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§ 70.3 Right to submit technical information.
(a) Any owner or lessee of property
(applicant) who believes his property
has been inadvertently included in a
designated A, AO, A1–30, AE, AH, A99,
AR, AR/A1–30, AR/AE, AR/AO, AR/AH,
AR/A, VO, V1–30, VE, and V Zones on a
FHBM or a FIRM, may submit scientific or technical information to the
Federal Insurance Administrator for
the Federal Insurance Administrator’s
review.
(b) Scientific and technical information for the purpose of this part may
include, but is not limited to the following:
(1) An actual copy of the recorded
plat map bearing the seal of the appropriate recordation official (e.g. County
Clerk, or Recorder of Deeds) indicating
the official recordation and proper citation (Deed or Plat Book Volume and
Page Numbers), or an equivalent identification where annotation of the deed
or plat book is not the practice.
(2) A topographical map showing (i)
ground elevation contours in relation
to the National Geodetic Vertical
Datum (NVGD) of 1929, (ii) the total
area of the property in question, (iii)
the location of the structure or structures located on the property in question, (iv) the elevation of the lowest
adjacent grade to a structure or structures and (v) an indication of the curvilinear line which represents the area
subject to inundation by a base flood.
The curvilinear line should be based
upon information provided by any appropriate authoritative source, such as
a Federal Agency, the appropriate
state agency (e.g. Department of Water
Resources), a County Water Control

District, a County or City Engineer, a
Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Insurance Study, or a determination by a Registered Professional
Engineer;
(3) A copy of the FHBM or FIRM indicating the location of the property in
question;
(4) A certification by a Registered
Professional Engineer or Licensed
Land Surveyor that the lowest grade
adjacent to the structure is above the
base flood elevation.
[41 FR 46991, Oct. 26, 1976. Redesignated at 44
FR 31177, May 31, 1979, as amended at 48 FR
44544 and 44553, Sept. 29, 1983; 49 FR 4751, Feb.
8, 1984; 50 FR 36028, Sept. 4, 1985; 51 FR 30317,
Aug. 25, 1986; 53 FR 16280, May 6, 1988; 59 FR
53601, Oct. 25, 1994; 62 FR 55719, Oct. 27, 1997]

§ 70.4

Review by the Administrator.

The Administrator, after reviewing
the scientific or technical information
submitted under the provisions of § 70.3,
shall notify the applicant in writing of
his/her determination within 60 days
after we receive the applicant’s scientific or technical information that
we have compared either the ground
elevations of an entire legally defined
parcel of land or the elevation of the
lowest adjacent grade to a structure
with the elevation of the base flood and
that:
(a) The property is within a designated A, A0, A1–30, AE, AH, A99, AR,
AR/A1–30, AR/AE, AR/AO, AR/AH, AR/
A, V0, V1–30, VE, or V Zone, and will
state the basis of such determination;
or
(b) The property should not be within
a designated A, A0, A1–30, AE, AH, A99,
AR, AR/A1–30, AR/AE, AR/AO, AR/AH,
AR/A,V0, V1–30, VE, or V Zone and that
we will modify the FHBM or FIRM accordingly; or
(c) The property is not within a designated A, A0, A1–30, AE, AH, A99, AR,
AR/A1–30, AR/AE, AR/AO, AR/AH, AR/
A,V0, V1–30, VE, or V Zone as shown on
the FHBM or FIRM and no modification of the FHBM or FIRM is necessary; or
(d) We need an additional 60 days to
make a determination.
[66 FR 33900, June 26, 2001]

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Fed. Emergency Mgmt. Agency, DHS

§ 70.9

§ 70.5 Letter of Map Amendment.
Upon determining from available scientific or technical information that a
FHBM or a FIRM requires modification
under the provisions of § 70.4(b), the Administrator shall issue a Letter of Map
Amendment which shall state:
(a) The name of the Community to
which the map to be amended was
issued;
(b) The number of the map;
(c) The identification of the property
to be excluded from a designated A,
AO, A1–30, AE, AH, A99, AR, AR/A1–30,
AR/AE, AR/AO, AR/AH, AR/A, VO, V1–
30, VE, or V Zone.
[41 FR 46991, Oct. 26, 1976. Redesignated at 44
FR 31177, May 31, 1979, as amended at 48 FR
44553, Sept. 29, 1983; 49 FR 4751, Feb. 8, 1984;
50 FR 36028, Sept. 4, 1985; 59 FR 53601, Oct. 25,
1994; 62 FR 55719, Oct. 27, 1997]

§ 70.6 Distribution of Letter of Map
Amendment.
(a) A copy of the Letter of Map
Amendment shall be sent to the applicant who submitted scientific or technical data to the Federal Insurance Administrator.
(b) A copy of the Letter of Map
Amendment shall be sent to the local
map repository with instructions that
it be attached to the map which the
Letter of Map Amendment is amending.
(c) A copy of the Letter of Map
Amendment shall be sent to the map
repository in the state with instructions that it be attached to the map
which it is amending.
(d) A copy of the Letter of Map
Amendment will be sent to any community or governmental unit that requests such Letter of Map Amendment.
(e) [Reserved]
(f) A copy of the Letter of Map
Amendment will be maintained by the
Agency in its community case file.

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[41 FR 46991, Oct. 26, 1976. Redesignated at 44
FR 31177, May 31, 1979, as amended at 48 FR
44544 and 44553, Sept. 29, 1983; 49 FR 4751, Feb.
8, 1984]

§ 70.7 Notice of Letter of Map Amendment.
(a) The Federal Insurance Administrator, shall not publish a notice in the
FEDERAL REGISTER that the FIRM for a
particular community has been amend-

ed by letter determination pursuant to
this part unless such amendment includes alteration or change of base
flood elevations established pursuant
to part 67. Where no change of base
flood elevations has occurred, the Letter of Map Amendment provided under
§§ 70.5 and 70.6 serves to inform the parties affected.
(b) [Reserved]
EDITORIAL NOTE: For a list of communities
issued under this section and not carried in
the CFR see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the Finding Aids
Section of the printed volume and at
www.govinfo.gov.

§ 70.8 Premium refund after Letter of
Map Amendment.
A Standard Flood Insurance Policyholder whose property has become the
subject of a Letter of Map Amendment
under this part may cancel the policy
within the current policy year and receive a premium refund under the conditions set forth in § 62.5 of this subchapter.
[41 FR 46991, Oct. 26, 1976. Redesignated at 44
FR 31177, May 31, 1979]

§ 70.9

Review of proposed projects.

An individual who proposes to build
one or more structures on a portion of
property that may be included inadvertently in a Special Flood Hazard
Area (SFHA) may request FEMA’s
comments on whether the proposed
structure(s), if built as proposed, will
be in the SFHA. FEMA’s comments
will be issued in the form of a letter,
termed a Conditional Letter of Map
Amendment. The data required to support such requests are the same as
those required for final Letters of Map
Amendment in accordance with § 70.3,
except as-built certification is not required and the requests shall be accompanied by the appropriate payment, in
accordance with 44 CFR part 72. All
such requests for CLOMAs shall be submitted to the FEMA Regional Office
servicing the community’s geographic
area or to the FEMA Headquarters Office in Washington, DC.
[62 FR 5736, Feb. 6, 1997]

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