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QiJll73 6. Federal Detailed review of the many federal activities relating to floods and flood- plains is beyond the scope of this report (see reference list). We may note, how- ever, certain key federal agencies which play important roles (which in some cases may be discontinued or restricted due to funding reallocations) in the de- velopment of multi-governmental ap- proaches to floodplain management. a. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) With its establishment by executive order in 1978, FEMA became the lead federal agency for flood hazard miti- gation. Two components of FEMA are closely involved in both pre- and post-flood planning and recovery. FEMA administers the National Flood Insurance Program discussed earlier and administers federal assistance to disaster victims pursuant to a Presi- dential declaration of a "major dis- aster." Both of these activities are conducted through FEMA regional of- fices in the ten federal regions. Ob- viously, FEMA's floodplain manage- ment efforts must be closely coordi- nated with its disaster recovery efforts to accomplish their common objec- tives. b. Army Corps of Engineers For more than a century, the Corps of Engineers has served as the prin- cipal federal agency for flood control. Its structural activities include dams, reservoirs, levees, channel modifica- tion, shore protection works, and other projects to restrain or redirect floods. With a national policy shift towards nonstructural measures dur- ing the 1970's. the role of the Corps has diminished somewhat in relation to FEMA and other agencies. Begin- ning in 1961, however, the Corps conducted its own program of "Flood Plain Information Reports." Flood- plain maps and flood profiles were developed for approximately 4,000 communities until this program was discontinued in the mid-1970's in favor of the flood insurance studies performed by the Federal Insurance Administration (FIA), now part of FEMA. The Corps continues, how- ever, to assist local communities with the development of floodplain regula- tions through its Flood Plain Manage- ment Services Office. The Corps has also conducted many studies in spe- cific urban areas and watersheds under various authorities. In the Charles River watershed in Massachusetts, the New England division of the Corps is implementing a novel approach to basinwide management in cooperation with the state and local governments (see Case Study 6 in Part II). c. Soil Conservation Service (SCS) The Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is concerned with flood problems prin- cipally in "small watershed" areas of fewer than 250,000 acres, under au- thority of Public Law 83-566 (1954). In such areas, SCS may construct small flood control dams and acquire land in cooperation with state and local authorities. Like the Corps, SCS also may facilitate or directly conduct planning studies in specific watersheds for communities. ! II II d. Tennessee Valley Authority (TV A) TV A is a unique federal entity created in 1933 and given wide- ranging authority within the Ten- nessee River Basin. It was established to improve social and economic con- ditions in the Tennessee Valley through flood control, better river navigability, rural electrification, soil erosion control, and related measures. It is best known for the series of nine large, multi-purpose dams it built on the Tennessee River. Despite this mas- sive structural investment, much of the Tennessee Basin has remained sub- ject to flash flooding along tributaries. As early as 1953, TV A initiated a local Flood Relations Program to as- sist states and local governments in de- veloping nonstructural measures for managing their floodplains. This pro- gram, which pioneered the concept of federal technical assistance to non- federal authorities, continues to the present time under TV A. It has in- spired comparable efforts elsewhere under the Corps and FEMA. 19