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Chapter 5 Conditional Map Revisions Background Communities, regional agencies, developers and individual property owners often undertak~ floodplain modifications intended to reduce the flood risk in specific areas. Such modifications can range in scope from the simple placement of fill to large-scale flood protection projects. Before proceeding with such modifications, those who propose them often wish to receive some assurance from FEMA that the modifications may eventually be credited with providing flood protection under the NFIP. In carrying out their responsibilities under the NFIP, community officials may wish FEMA to verify that such modifications will not aggravate existing flood hazards. In addition, developers and property owners who intend to construct buildings in or near an SFHA usually must prove to lending institutions and local officials that the placement of fill or other modifications will ensure that after the buildings are constructed they will not be within the SFHA. ' It has become common practice for persons who are planning to undertake floodplain modifications to submit design plans and other engineering data to FEMA and request that FEMA review them. FEMA responses to such requests are to provide omments concerning changes that may eventually be made to the effective NFIP map and are called Conditional Letters of Map Revision (CLOMRs). For communities that propose floodplain modifications, requesting Conditional Map Hevlslons IS not only prudent but, in some Circumstances, required by the NFIP regulations (Section 6S.12). When a participating community proposes to permit an encroachment into a 100-year floodplain where no floodway has been established, and the encroachment will cause a rise of more than 1.0 foot in the BFE, the community must first obtain FEMA's conditional approval of the proposed encroachment under the conditional map revision process. Similarly, the community must also obtain conditional approval from FEMA before permitting an encroachment into a regulatory floodway that could cause any rise in the BFE. (The data that the community must provide to obtain FEMA's conditional approval for such proposed encroachments are described in the section of this chapter entitled "Required Supporting Data and General Technical Guidance. ") With the exception of the federally funded flood protection systems discussed in Chapter 4, floodplain modifications that have not been completed do not warrant revisions to effective NFIP maps. Therefore, CLOMRs, unlike map reVISions, do not actually revise an effective NFIP map. In the conditional map revision process, as In the map revision process, FEMA will generally not Issue a CLOMR unless the proposed modifications involve changes to 100-year flood hazard information. The number of requests for conditional determinations has grown steadily through the years and, consequently, so has the amount of time devoted by FEMA staff to making such determinations. To recoup the costs involved in evaluating proposed floodplain modifications many of which are never actually completed: FEMA has found it necessary to charge fees for conditional determinations. A list of those fees can be found in Section 72.3 of the NFIP regulations. How To Request a Conditional Map Revision A Conditional Map Revision may be requested at any time, either by a community or a private party. Because the CEO of the community is responsible for ensuring that the community meets Its obligations as a participant in the NFIP, either the CEO or a community official designated by the CEO (e.g., floodplain administrator, city planner, or city engineer) should be aware of proposed floodplain modifications that could eventually affect flooding conditions within the community 31