FLOOD04694

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: The Region VIII Cape Study - A Guide for Staff Performing Community Assistance and Performance Evaluation Visits
• Date: 9/1/1984
• Prepared For: Region VIII
• Prepared By: FEMA
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Historic FEMA Regulatory Floodplain Information

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with a recommendation for action. The assignments can
be performed by FEMA Headquarters (HQ), the FEMA
Regional Office (RO), or the State. In some cases,
other Federal agencies, such as the Corps of Engineers,
have performed CAPE follow-up tasks. Enforcement tasks
can only be performed by FEMA. Map changes can only be
performed through FEMA HQ, although data gathering to
establish the need or scope for changes can be performed
by FEMA RO, or on occasion, by the States or other
Federal agencies. Technical assistance can be performed
by most of these actors. FEMA RO's and the States are
most commonly assigned technical assistance tasks.

Phase IV: Correspondence preparation

A. Introduction: The community should be informed of your
findings by letter. Optimally, two letters should be sent:
one for the local contact and one to the Chief Executive
Officer (Mayor, Commission Chairperson, etc.)

B. Letter to Chief Executive Officer (CEO): The CEO's
letter should be positive, understandable and brief. Save
the details for the local contact's letter. Try not to use
technical terms, but define any that you must include.
Explain any policy issues. The NFIP is complex and may
require some discussion. Most importantly, be positive. A
curt, heavy-handed or negative letter can only be counter-
productive. The more serious a community's inadequacies, the
more we need the cooperation of its political leadership,
Show a cooperative open-minded willingness to work with the
communi ty. Recognize .its successes and the efforts of its
staff. Be sure to name those you are working with and thank
the CEO for their assistance. Address each of the issues
that you raise in Section IX of the Final Report. Where
there are big problems; soften the message by referring to
your findings as "preliminary" and state that you'll be
working with the staff to identify the best course of action.
Don't paint too rosy a picture, but don't undermine the
fOllow-up activities before they've even been start~d. Later
correspondence can take a firmer tone if the community proves
uncooperative.

C.Letter to the Local Contact: This letter should also be
positive in cone, but may need to be more detailed than the
one to the CEO. Gauge the amount of explanation based on
your contact's familiarity with the NFIP and the issues
you'll be raising. Start by thanking them for their help and
mention that you've attached a copy of the letter to the CEO.
Next, address each of the issues identified in Section IX of
the Final Report in sufficient detail to make the action
that's required to resolve it understandable to the reader,
Inform them of any action planned by FEMA or others to assist
in resolving the technical assistance or compliance issues.