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. To avoid catastrophic damage, new structural measures should be built to protect to a flood greater than the I % chance event-the 0.2% chance flood is recommended as a standard, · The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program's review and approval process is greatly improved under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's "managing state" concept and in general. The ASFPM urges the Federal Emergency Management Agency to continue to improve and streamline this process, delegating as much as possible to the states, so federal expertise and funds can be used more efficiently. · Generous and reliable funding is needed for programs that have the most promise for long-term impact. These include technical assistance programs like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Flood Plain Management Services and its Planning Assistance to States Program; mitigation initiatives like the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program; and programs to purchase permanent easements like the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Wetland Reserve and Emergency Watershed Protection programs, In addition, the Administration should ask Congress to declare Flood Mitigation Assistance funds to be non-federal, because they are non-tax dollars. · Some modifications to the insurance aspects of the National Flood Insurance Program would enable it to better support flood loss reduction, These changes include improving the Increased Cost of Compliance eligibility and funding provisions so that more damaged structures are mitigated with assistance from individual flood insurance policies; fmding ways to move toward actuarial rates for policies on repeatedly flooded structures; finding new methods to determine flood risk for insurance purposes so that information useful for community planning and floodplain management can be left on flood maps; and providing an insurance policy benefit for coastal erosion and mudslides only where those hazards are clearly mapped and regulated, The ASFPM believes that this can be done at a net savings to the National Flood Insurance Program, 3. ASSEMBLE AND IMPROVE NECESSARY DATA AND TOOLS One area in which the ASFPM believes federal leadership and resources are paramount is in the collection, development, and maintenance of many types of comprehensive data. We believe that this is an appropriate federal role because it relates to the federal interest in and responsibility for interstate commerce, and in the prevention of future disasters and minimization of federal disaster costs, There is a desperate need for comprehensive, accessible flood damage data-both historical data and the sort that is gathered immediately after floods. One of the reasons that sweeping evaluations are needed today (see below) is that relevant data has not been gathered and catalogued systematically all along, . Additional funding for map programs (including the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Mapping Modernization Plan) is crucial. · Accurate data on the location and number of floodprone structures throughout the nation must be collected and made readily available, . The accuracy and ready availability should be ensured-preferably through a national database- of (I) the information on flood-damaged structures that is already collected by federal agencies, contractors, and others; (2) National Flood Insurance Program claims information, including location of the insured property, amounts of claims payments, and value of the property; and (3) Association of State Floodplain Managers -v. National Flood Programs in Review 2000