Navigating FEMA Floodplains Doesn’t Have to Slow You Down

‍Authors: Jonathan Page, PE, CFM and Jack Kurki-Fox, PE, PhD

If your planned project is located within a FEMA Floodplain, you could be looking at a complex and time consuming permitting process. Any type of site development that involves grading and earthwork within a mapped FEMA floodplain, formally known as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), will require a floodplain development permit through the local community (typically the city, town or county). Just by the nature of water resources and ecosystem restoration projects, they are frequently located within an SFHA, regulatory floodway and/or non-encroachment area. Fortunately, we love working in the floodplain and aren't scared of this permitting hurdle. 

Making sure the permitting process is handled correctly from the start is critical. Proceeding without the required paperwork can result in stop-work orders, monetary fines, other enforcement actions, and even the removal or modification of completed work (worst case scenario). 

When a stream restoration project is in the SFHA, the objective is generally to issue a No Rise/No Impact Certification through technical analysis and hydraulic modeling. However, sometimes the No Rise/No Impact conclusion can’t be achieved, which means a Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR) followed up by a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) from FEMA (your tax dollars at work) will be required to obtain a floodplain development permit from the local community and floodplain administrator. Recently, we have seen local floodplain administrators require a CLOMR and LOMR from FEMA even when we have been able to provide a No Rise Certification through our technical analysis. 

For a project owner, this isn't just a paperwork issue; it’s a significant financial and schedule commitment. FEMA review fees alone currently sit at $14,500 ($6,500 for the CLOMR and $8,000 for the LOMR). That’s before you account for the additional engineering fees required to prepare and process the submittals (think endless federal forms, chasing down signatures, certified letters to affected property owners, 100+ page engineering reports and multiple review cycles with FEMA contractors that have up 90 days to respond after each submittal – bring on the fun). Before your CLOMR review process can begin, you’ll also need to show that your project is compliant with the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Fortunately, Nationwide Permits issued under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) will cover most ESA compliance issues for ecosystem restoration projects (learn more about the permitting process in our post here). You need to bake 6–9 months for the CLOMR into your pre-construction timeline and another 3–6 months for the LOMR after implementation and your as-built drawings are completed.

Every state and local community has its own unique floodplain ordinance. River Mechanics’ staff have decades of experience conducting flood studies, working with local floodplain administrators, and preparing CLOMR/LOMR applications across FEMA Region IV (NC, SC, GA, and TN).  If you are a project owner with a stream or river restoration project in a FEMA floodplain please reach out to us, we’d love to collaborate with you and get you on the way to implementation of your project. 

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