44 CFR 59.2 - Description of Program

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44 CFR 59.2 (up to date as of 10/09/2026)
Description of program.

44 CFR 59.2 (Oct. 9, 2026)

This content is from the eCFR and is authoritative but unofficial.

Title 44 —Emergency Management and Assistance
Chapter I —Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security
Subchapter B —Insurance and Hazard Mitigation
Part 59 —General Provisions
Subpart A —General
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.; 6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.

§ 59.2 Description of program.
(a) The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 was enacted by title XIII of the Housing and Urban Development
Act of 1968 (Pub. L. 90-448, August 1, 1968) to provide previously unavailable flood insurance protection
to property owners in flood-prone areas. Mudslide (as defined in § 59.1) protection was added to the
Program by the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1969 (Pub. L. 91-152, December 24, 1969). Floodrelated erosion (as defined in § 59.1) protection was added to the Program by the Flood Disaster
Protection Act of 1973 (Pub. L. 93-234, December 31, 1973). The Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973
requires the purchase of flood insurance on and after March 2, 1974, as a condition of receiving any form
of Federal or federally-related financial assistance for acquisition or construction purposes with respect
to insurable buildings and mobile homes within an identified special flood, mudslide (i.e., mudflow), or
flood-related erosion hazard area that is located within any community participating in the Program. The
Act also requires that on and after July 1, 1975, or one year after a community has been formally notified
by the Federal Insurance Administrator. of its identification as community containing one or more special
flood, mudslide (i.e., mudflow), or flood-related erosion hazard areas, no such Federal financial
assistance, shall be provided within such an area unless the community in which the area is located is
then participating in the Program, subject to certain exceptions. See FIA published Guidelines at §
59.4(c).
(b) To qualify for the sale of federally-subsidized flood insurance a community must adopt and submit to the
Federal Insurance Administrator as part of its application, flood plain management regulations, satisfying
at a minimum the criteria set forth at part 60 of this subchapter, designed to reduce or avoid future flood,
mudslide (i.e., mudflow) or flood-related erosion damages. These regulations must include effective
enforcement provisions.
(c) Minimum requirements for adequate flood plain management regulations are set forth in § 60.3 for floodprone areas, in § 60.4 for mudslide (i.e., mudflow) areas and in § 60.5 for flood-related erosion areas.
Those applicable requirements and standards are based on the amount of technical information available
to the community.
[41 FR 46968, Oct. 26, 1976, as amended at 43 FR 7140, Feb. 17, 1978. Redesignated at 44 FR 31177, May 31, 1979, and amended
at 48 FR 44552, Sept. 29, 1983; 49 FR 4751, Feb. 8, 1984]

44 CFR 59.2(c) (enhanced display)

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