FLOOD07489

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: Appeals, Revisions, and Amendments to Flood Insurance Maps - A Guide for Community Officials
• Date: 1/1/1990
• Prepared By: FEMA
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Historic FEMA Regulatory Floodplain Information

require that each participating community
inform FEMA of any physical changes that affect
BFEs in the community and, within 6 months of
the date such changes occur, submit data that
show the effects of those changes.

In making revisions and amendments, FEMA
must adhere to the same engineering standards
applied in the preparation of the original NFIP
maps and reports. When requesting changes to
NFIP maps and reports, community officials and
property owners must submit adequate
supporting data. Those data, which are
described in the following chapters and in the
NFIP regulations, enable FEMA to review and
evaluate the requests and to carry out its
responsibility to ensure that the flood risk
information presented is scientifically and
technically correct. Over the years, the majority
of community requests for such changes have
been found to be warranted, but FEMA cannot
make changes without adequate supporting
data.

Appeals, Map Revisions, and Map
Amendments

The following terms are encountered during the
processing of NFIP map changes:

. Appeal--A challenge to proposed BFE
determinations during a formal 90-day
appeal period. The changes that result
from successful appeals are incorporated
into the FIRM, FIS report, and/or FBFM
before publication. Ifthe challenge does
not address BFEs, but does address other
flood risk information, such as the 100-
year floodway, it is considered a
"protest." (See Appendix A.)

. Map Revision--A change to an effective
NFIP map. The effective map for a
community is the latest map issued by
FEMA for that community. NFIP maps,
including the BFEs, base flood depths,
floodways, and other flood risk
information they may contain, become
effective after they are published and
distributed. The effective date is shown
in the title box of each panel of the map
and may be labeled as "Effective Date,"
"Revised," or "Map Revised."

When a map revision is warranted, FEMA
will either revise and republish the
affected map panels (and, if necessary,
the FIS report) or issue a letter, referred
to as a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR),
that describes the changes and officially
revises the effective map.

. Conditional Map Revision--A response to
a request that FEMA determine whether
a proposed project, such as a flood-
control structure, would warrant a
revision to an effective NFIP map after
the project is completed. A proposed
structural modification could consist of a
proposed floodplain improvement
project or simply the proposed
placement of fill for the elevation of one
or more structures or parcels of land.

As discussed further in Chapters 2 and S
of this Guide, fees are charged for the
review of requests that are based on
proposed or future actions. FEMA's
comments on such requests are known
as conditional determinations. When
such conditional determinations are
warranted, they are issued in letters,
referred to as Conditional Letters of Map
Revision (CLOMRs). CLOMRs describe the
effect(s) that the proposed project
would have on the effective NFIP map. A
conditional determination does not
revise an effective NFIP map.

. Map Amendment--The exclusion of an
individual structure and/or a legally
described parcel of land that was
inadvertently included in the SFHA
shown on an effective FHBM or FIRM.
When FEMA determines that the
structure or parcel has been
inadvertently included in the SFHA,
FEMA issues a letter, referred to as a
Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA). A
LOMA excludes the structure and/or
parcel of land that was inadvertently
included in the SFHA and officially
amends the effective NFIP map.

The terms defined above refer not only to types
of changes to NFIP maps and reports but also to
the processes under which FEMA will address

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