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              Congressional                                                      ____
           S£  Research Service






The Federal Flood Risk Management

Standard (FFRMS)



July  5, 2023


Flooding is the most frequent and costly natural disaster facing the nation, and floodplain policy has
particular relevance for infrastructure and the federal government's exposure to flood losses and demand
for disaster assistance. The Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS) is a mechanism for
federal agencies to consider and manage current and future flood risk by requiring federally funded
projects to be located out of flood risk areas or constructed to reduce the effects of current and future
flood hazards (including less-frequent larger events). Five executive orders are directly relevant to the
FFRMS.

E.O.  11988

President Carter signed E.O. 11988, Floodplain Management, in May 1977 to require federal actions to
avoid supporting development in the floodplain:
      Federal actions are to avoid, if alternatives are available, supporting development in the
       1%  annual-chance floodplain (also referred to as the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA),
       the 100-year floodplain, or the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) floodplain).
      Under implementation guidance for E.O. 11988, critical actions are to avoid the 0.2%
       annual-chance (500-year) floodplain if alternatives are available.

E.O.  13690

President Obama signed E.O. 13690, Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a
Process for Further Soliciting and Considering Stakeholder Input, in January 2015. It established for
federally funded projects an FFRMS requiring a higher level of flood resilience than E.O. 11988.
Federally funded projects are defined as actions where federal funds are used for new construction,
substantial improvement, or to address substantial damage to structures and facilities. E.O. 13690
modified the E.O. 11988 requirements, largely by redefining the floodplain used for federal floodplain
management  policy.


                                                                Congressional Research Service
                                                                  https://crsreports.congress.gov
                                                                                      IN12193

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