Flood Insurance
Program Funding
Annual program obligations reported to SAM.gov.
Funded Projects
Examples of what this program has supported.
Program Objective
To enable personal and business property owners and renters to purchase flood insurance coverage for buildings and/or contents in low-to-moderate flood risk areas, as well as in high-risk flood zones to reduce taxpayer provided federal disaster assistance and to promote wise floodplain management practices in the Nation's high-risk flood zones.
Eligibility
Eligible Applicants
- Government (general)
- Local governments
Federal flood insurance can be made available in any community (a State or political subdivision thereof with authority to adopt and enforce floodplain management measures for the areas within its jurisdiction) that adopts and enforces floodplain management measures consistent with the National Flood Insurance Program regulations.
Beneficiaries
- 11
- 33
- 34
Residential and business property owners, renters and state owned property.
How to Apply
Application Procedure
Community officials must submit an NFIP eligibility application form, which is available from the FEMA, together with: copies of adopted floodplain management measures meeting the minimum standards of 44 CFR Section 60.3(a), 60.3(b), 60.3(c), 60.3(d), and/or 60.3(e), as appropriate for the type of flood hazards identified; a list of any incorporated communities within the applicant's boundaries; and estimates of population and, by kind, of buildings situated in the known flood-prone areas of the community. Such Applications should be submitted to the Mitigation Directorate, FEMA, Washington, DC 20024.
Award Procedure
FEMA reviews the application and if complete, designates the community as participating. The community is informed of its admission, and notice is published in the Federal Register. Residents and property owners may then purchase flood insurance through any property insurance agent or broker.
For complete applications, a maximum of 10 working days is allowed for review and notification.
Communities with one or more identified special flood hazard areas must enter the program within 1 year after the identification of those areas or else prohibitions against Federally related financial assistance for acquisition or construction purposes in identified special flood hazard areas take force. Once the community does qualify, after the prescribed date, these prohibitions are removed. Adequate floodplain management measures must be in effect within 6 months of the date that the special flood hazard area is identified and within 6 months of the date flood water surface elevations are provided.
Program details & compliance
Use of Funds
Allowed Uses
The maximum limits of flood insurance coverage for a building and/or personal property, eligible building types, and more detailed additional flood insurance information is contained in the Flood Insurance Manual available online at https://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance-manual. In a Regular Program Community the residential building limit is $250,000 and non-residential building limit is $500,000. The residential contents limit is $100,000 and the non-residential contents limit is $500,000. Lower limits apply to a limited number of Emergency Program buildings and buildings in Alaska, Guam, Hawaii and U.S, Virgin Islands and are listed in the Flood Insurance Manual. The Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, as amended by the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994, requires the purchase of flood insurance as a condition of receiving any form of Federal or federally-related financial assistance for acquisition or construction, including Federal grants, disaster assistance, the Small Business Administration(SBA) low-interest disaster assistance loans, and mortgage loans from federally regulated lending institutions and Federal Housing Administration ( FHA), Farm Credit Administration, Veterans Administration (VA) or guaranteed mortgages secured by buildings in high-risk flood zones, which are called the Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs). Communities having one or more identified SFHAs must enter into the NFIP within 1 year of the official identification of the SFHAs or be denied Federal financial assistance for acquisition or construction purposes within those areas. Federally regulated conventional sources (i.e., banks, savings and loan associations, or similar lending institutions) are permitted to make conventional loans secured by improved real estate or Manufactured Housing located or to be located in SFHAs of a nonparticipating community which has been formally identified as flood-prone for more than 1 year, but Federal disaster assistance for acquisition or construction purposes will not be available in the event of flood or flood-related property damage. The conventional lender is statutorily required to notify the borrower, before making a loan in such an area, that Federal flood insurance and disaster assistance will not be available to the property.
The Coastal Barrier Improvement Act of 1990 amended the Coastal Barrier Resources Act of 1982 by greatly expanding the acreage included in the designated coastal barrier resources system. The 1990 Act also added "otherwise protected areas." "Otherwise protected areas" are defined as an undeveloped coastal barrier within the boundaries of an area established under Federal, State, or local law, or held by a qualified organization, primarily for wildlife refuge, sanctuary, recreational or natural resource conservation purposes. The 1990 Act prohibits the sale of new flood insurance on or after November 16, 1990 for new construction or substantial improvements of structures located on any new coastal barrier within the Coastal Barrier Resources System designated or modified by this Act. It also prohibits the sale of new flood insurance on or after November 16, 1991 for new construction or substantial improvements of structures located in an otherwise protected area that are not used in a manner consistent with the purpose of the otherwise protected area. Subsequent pieces of legislation have added or deleted areas.
Required Documentation
Same as Applicant Eligibility. 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles does not apply to this program.
Reporting & Compliance
Applicable 2 CFR 200 Subparts
- Subpart F — Audit Requirements