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<br />. The roles, responsibilities, and capabilities of the public, the various levels of government, and
<br />the private sector should be clarified and strengthened, Citizens, businesses, and local and state
<br />legislators need to better understand that the federal government will not always bail them out
<br />after a flood, They must bear their fair share of the risk.
<br />
<br />(a) The optimal federal role would be (I) leadership, including appropriate laws and executive
<br />orders; (2) maintaining solid data, including maps, stream gages, forecasts, flood damage
<br />data, and watershed studies; (3) providing flood insurance and associated mechanisms; and
<br />(4) wielding appropriate incentives and consequences to encourage individuals, communities,
<br />states, and the private sector to take appropriate actions and decisions to reduce flood losses.
<br />Federal agencies must see their role not as "doing" the planning and implementation of
<br />projects, but as facilitators to the development of state and local capability and programs,
<br />
<br />(b) The role of the state government is to provide, as necessary, policy development, technical
<br />assistance to communities, coordination, and prioritization and integration of floodplain
<br />management issues within that state, States should develop, fund, and implement adequate
<br />teclmical and fmancial assistance efforts in order to provide adequate help in building strong
<br />local programs, and to meet the other goals noted above. These state programs should
<br />include, but not be limited to, ongoing coordination of National Flood Insurance Program
<br />activities within each state, States thus should come to view the Community Assistance
<br />Program only as an auxiliary funding source; and the Community Assistance Program itself
<br />should encourage less oversight and more long-range planning and mitigation initiatives,
<br />
<br />In the future, states should expect to help their communities incorporate floodplain
<br />management into other community processes, States should combine resources for disaster
<br />response by joining existing regional emergency compacts, Qualified states should perform
<br />and administer floodplain mapping programs for the Federal Emergency Management
<br />Agency, administer the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and the Flood Mitigation
<br />Assistance Program, and conduct environmental reviews for mitigation projects. States and
<br />communities should be encouraged to develop the capability to do their own engineering
<br />studies and reviews, such as reviewing Letters of Map Revision submissions, Incentives are
<br />needed for states to develop strong dam safety initiatives and integrate them with their flood
<br />hazard programs,
<br />
<br />(c) Local governments must become the focus of hazard mitigation efforts. Using comprehensive
<br />local plans that consider the entire watershed and address multiple community issues and
<br />concerns is the best way to promote appropriate use of floodprone lands. Local governments
<br />need to better integrate floodplain management regulations into their overall land use and
<br />development plans, Mitigation funds should not be available to a locality unless it has in place
<br />a comprehensive mitigation plan, Communities must be provided with the tools,
<br />responsibility, rewards, and a workable process through which they can move toward
<br />sustainable floodplain management The participation of their citizens, the private sector, and
<br />non-governmental organizations is necessary to achieve disaster-resistant communities; the
<br />Federal Emergency Management Agency's Project Impact initiative is helping selected
<br />communities become models of this kind of integrated, multi-hazard, holistic approach, The
<br />successful activities of communities that participate in the Community Rating System of the
<br />National Flood Insurance Program should be publicized and shared.
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<br />Association of State Floodplain Managers
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<br />National Flood Programs in Review 2000
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