# Presentation: 911061

## Floodplain ManagementSESSION 22

**Rivers as a Legal Battleground **
**Federal Policies**
**Prepared by Elliot Mittler, PhD**

**Notes:**
Title Page for Session 2

## Session 22: Federal Policies

**Objectives:**
- Identify the major players in determining water policy.
- Identify what constitutes “clean water.”
- Identify what constitutes an “endangered species.”
- Identify what determines flood risk and expected losses from floods.
- Compare the management of navigable and non-navigable waterways.
- Identify what constitutes water projects being considered “pork.”
- Discuss Federal policy within the context case study floodplains -- Determine how the sum of federal laws is implemented in local jurisdictions.

##  Federal Role in Floodplain Management

- Federal government increasingly most significant player in floodplain management.
- State and local independent policy-making roles reduced
- Local government management being replaced by mandates to implement federal laws and regulations. (FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS) and Map Modernization program may offer more collaborative examples)

## Reasons for Federal Flood Insurance

- Reasons for the Federal government’s decision, to provide flood insurance:
- Recognition that the private insurance industry would not provide flood insurance.
- Floods were causing personal hardships and economic distress which required unforeseen federal disaster relief measures;
- Structural preventive works, including dams and levees, were not sufficient to adequately protect against a growing flood risk.

## Federal Agency Responsibilities in Floodplain Management (Table 22.1) 

| Topic | Significant Federal Law(s) | Federal Agencies with Lead Responsibility |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Navigation | Commerce Clause – Constitution | USACE |
| Flood Damage Reduction | 1- Flood Control Act of 1917 | USACE |
|  | 2- Flood Control Act of 1936 | FEMA |
|  | 3- Flood Control Act of 1960 | USBR |
|  | 4- E.O. 11988 Floodplain Management |   |
|  | 5- Robert  T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act |   |
| Flood Insurance | 1- National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 | FEMA |
|  | 2- Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 |  |
| Stream Bank Erosion Control | Flood Control Act of 1946 | USACE |
| Hydroelectric Power | 1- Federal Power Act of 1920 | FERC |
|  | 2- Electric Consumers Protection Act of 1986 |  |

## Federal Agency Responsibilities in Floodplain Management (Table 22.1 -- continued)

| Topic | Significant Federal Law(s) | Federal Agencies with Lead Responsibility |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Water Supply | Water Supply Act of 1958 | USACE |
|  |  | USBR |
| ` | 1- Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 | EPA |
|  | 2- Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 |  |
|  | 3- Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 |  |
|  | 4- Clean Water Act of 1977 |  |
|  | 5- Water Quality Act of 1987 |  |
| Fish and Wildlife | 1- Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1934 | FWS |
|  | 2- Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 |  |
|  | 3- Endangered Species Act of 1973 |  |
|  | 4- Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980 |  |
| Wetlands Conservation | 1- Water Resources Development Act of 1976 Section 150 | USACE |
|  | 2- E.O. 11990 Protection of Wetlands 1977 |  |
|  |   |  |

## Federal Agency Responsibilities in Floodplain Management (Table 22.1 -- continued)

| Topic | Significant Federal Law(s) | Federal Agencies with Lead Responsibility |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Environmental Quality | 1- National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 | EPA |
|  | 2- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation Liability At of 1980 (a.k.a. “Superfund”) |  |
| Watershed Protection | 1- Conservation of Watersheds Act of 1911 | SCS |
|  | 2- Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954 |  |
| Wild and Scenic Rivers | Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of  1968 | Forest Service |
|  |  | National Park Service |
| Community Development | Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 | HUD |
| Reclamation | Reclamation Act of 1902 | USBR |
| Dams | Dam Safety Act of 1972 | USACE |
| Recreation | 1- “The Fletcher Act” of 1932 | USACE |
|  | 2- Water Project Recreation Act of  1965 | USBR |
|  |   | FWS |

## Discussion 

- Teams should be given time to discuss policy within the context case study floodplains Requirements, and
- Discuss their home work assignment -- Determine how the sum of federal laws is implemented in local jurisdictions