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<br />Guide For Approximate Zone A Areas <br /> <br />NFIP Background <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />II. NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM BACKGROUND <br /> <br />In 1968, the United states Congress passed the National Flood <br />Insurance Act, which created the NFIP. Congress recognized <br />that the success of this program required that community <br />participation be widespread, that studies be conducted to <br />accurately assess the flood risk within each participating <br />flood-prone community, and that insurance premium rates be <br />established based on the risks involved and accepted actuarial <br />principles. To meet these objectives, the 1968 Act called <br />for: 1) the identification and publication of information <br />within five years for all floodplain areas that have special <br />flood hazards; and 2) the establishment of flood-risk zones in <br />all such areas to be completed over a IS-year period following <br />the passage of the act. <br /> <br />within the first year of NFIP operation, it became evident <br />that the time required to complete the detailed flood <br />insurance studies would markedly delay implementation in many <br />flood-prone communities. As a result, an interim means for <br />more rapid community participation in the NFIP had to be <br />provided. The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1969 <br />expanded participation by authorizing an Emergency Program <br />under which insurance coverage could be provided at non- <br />actuarial, federally-subsidized rates in limited amounts <br />during the period prior to completion of a community's flood <br />insurance study. <br /> <br />until engineering studies could be conducted for these <br />communities, Flood Hazard Boundary Maps, such as the one shown <br />in Figure 1, "Flood Hazard Boundary Map," which delineated the <br />boundaries of the community's special flood hazard areas, were <br />prepared using available data or approximate methods. The <br />Flood Hazard Boundary Maps identified, on an approximate <br />basis, the areas within a community subject to inundation by <br />the 100-year flood (i.e., Zone A). The 100-year flood has a <br />one-percent chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given <br />year. The Flood Hazard Boundary Map was intended to assist <br />communities in managing floodplain development, and insurance <br />agents and property owners in identifying those areas where <br />the purchase of flood insurance was advisable. <br /> <br />~ <br />I <br /> <br />The Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, which also amended <br />the 1968 Act, required that flood-prone communities be <br />notified of their flood hazards to encourage program <br />participation. This notification was accomplished through the <br />pUblication of Flood Hazard Boundary Maps for all communities <br />that were identified as containing flood hazard areas. In <br />addition, the 1973 Act required the purchase of flood <br />insurance by property owners who were being assisted by <br /> <br />II-I <br />