Housing and Urban Development Department Proposed Rule

2023-05699: Floodplain Management and Protection of Wetlands; Minimum Property Standards for Flood Hazard Exposure; Building to the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard

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Summary

This proposed rule would revise HUD's regulations governing floodplain management and the protection of wetlands to implement the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS), in accordance with the Executive order, "Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a Process for Further Soliciting and Considering Stakeholder Input," to improve the resilience of HUD-assisted or financed projects to the effects of climate change and natural disasters, and provide for greater flexibility in the use of HUD assistance in floodways under certain circumstances. Among other revisions, the rule would provide a process for determining the FFRMS Floodplain that would establish a preference for the climate-informed science approach (CISA), and it would revise HUD's floodplain and wetland regulations to streamline them, improve overall clarity, and modernize standards. This proposed rule would also revise HUD's Minimum Property Standards for one-to-four unit housing under HUD mortgage insurance and under low-rent public housing programs to require that the lowest floor in both newly constructed and substantially improved structures located within the 1-percent-annual-chance (100-year) floodplain be built at least 2 feet above the base flood elevation as determined by best available information, and it would revise a categorical exclusion when HUD performs environmental reviews, and update various HUD environmental regulations to permit online posting of public notices.

The agency’s own summary, as published.

What this changes

Amends 4 parts of the Code of Federal Regulations — the standing rules this notice rewrites.

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