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<br />CHAPTER II <br /> <br />BACKGROUND AND SETTING <br /> <br />The Unified National Program for Floodplain Management <br />has its origins in the 1966 report of the Task Force on <br />Federal Flood Control Policy known as House Document 465. <br />1/ It is supported by a continuing recognition of the <br />need for a coordinated Federal-State-local program for <br />managing the Nation's floodplains. House Document 465 <br />recognized that traditional flood control measures alone <br />were not sufficient to achieve flood loss reduction. <br />That document also provided the first major policy <br />level recommendations for alternative techniques includ- <br />ing flood insurance, floodproofing, relocation, forecast- <br />ing and warning, and floodplain regulations. <br /> <br />House Document 465 was accompanied by presidential <br />Executive Order 11296. This Executive Order directed all <br />Federal agencies to "provide leadership in encouraging <br />a broad and unified effort to prevent uneconomic uses <br />and development of the Nation's floodplains and, in <br />particular, to lessen the risk of flood losses in <br />connection with Federal lands and installations and <br />federally financed or supported improvements." <br /> <br />The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (Public Law <br />90-448) called for the President to develop a unified <br />national program for floodplain management. This <br />responsibility was delegated to the Water Resources <br />Council. The first report on "A Unified National <br />Program for Floodplain Management" was published in <br />1976. That report set forth a conceptual framework and <br />recommended Federal and State actions with emphasis on <br />reducing losses through floodplain management. <br /> <br />In May 1977 the President issued Executive Order 11988, <br />Floodplain Management, which superseded and greatly <br />expanded upon its 1966 predecessor. The new Executive <br />Order brings together Federal policies that protect <br />against both flood hazards and natural floodplain <br />degradation. <br /> <br />To reflect the increased concern for natural floodplain <br />values enunciated in Executive Order 11988, the Water <br /> <br />1/ Task Force on Federal Flood Control Policy. A <br />Unified National Program for Managing Flood Losses, <br />House Document 465, 89th Congress, 2nd Session, U.S. <br />Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 1966. <br /> <br />11-1 <br />