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~ G .. ~ c: SPECIAL PROJECT -- HAZARD MITIGATION -- FEMA-686-AZ & 687-CA The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), as well as all federal agencies, must comply with the requirements of Executive Order 11988, Floodplain Manage- ment (EO 11988). EO 11988 directs the federal agencies to provide leader- ship to reduce the risk of flood loss and preserve the natural and bene- ficial values of floodplains. Before taking any action, BLM must determine whether a proposed action will occur in a floodplain. If the action is to be located in a floodplain, BLM must consider alternatives to avoid adverse effects and incompatible development of the floodplain. If BLM finds that the only practical alternative requires siting in a floodplain, it must modify its action in order to minimize potential harm and use the standards of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as a minimum mitigation measure. BLM approval of construction and development plans on lands leased to concessionaires must conform to EO 11988. A list of required and recommended actions and special considerations, based on existing BLM policy, other federal agency regulations, county laws and conformance to EO 11988, were developed for each concession. The main consideration of the required actions are the new construction and substantial improvement standards of the NFIP. Briefly the NFIP regulations require the first habitable floor of all new construction and substantial improvements to beclevated above the 100 year flood elevation (non-residential buildings may be floodproofed) and construction must be adequately anchored and constructed of materials and methods that minimize flood damage. See Appendix (1) for the NFIP standards. Substantial improvement is defined as: Substantial improvement of a building means any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a building, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the market value of the structure either, a) before the improvement 'or repair is started or b) if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred. Substantial improvement of a mobile home park means any expansion, repair, reconstruction or improvement of the streets, utilities, and pads that equals or exceeds 50% of the value of the streets, utilities and pads before the expansion, repair, reconstruction or improvement commenced. Other important factors considered are: EO 11988 explicitly discourages the placing of fill in the floodplain. In evaluating alternatives to locating in the floodplain as required by EO 11988, BLM has determined that mobile homes and permanent buildings are not compatible uses of the Colorado River floodplain. R.V./camp sites and other outdoor recreational uses may be a compa- tible use of the Colorado River floodplain but mitigation measures must be used when developing facilities. APPENDIX A