5734 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 25 / Thursday, February 6, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

FEDERAL EMERGENCY

MANAGEMENT AGENCY

44 CFR Parts 65, 70, and 72

RIN 3067–AC53

Identification and Mapping of Special

Flood Hazard Areas, Procedures for

Map Correction, and Procedures and

Fees for Processing Map Changes

AGENCY: Federal Emergency

Management Agency (FEMA).

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule revises the

National Flood Insurance Program

(NFIP) regulations concerning the

identification and mapping of Special

Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) and

correction of NFIP maps by revising the

fee requirements and fee schedule for

processing certain changes to NFIP

maps. Under this final rule, the fees will

be adjusted periodically, but no more

than once annually, to provide for

changes in the prevailing private-sector

labor rate on which the fees are

predicated. Revised fees will be

published as a notice in the Federal

Register.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule is effective

March 10, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Frederick H. Sharrocks, Jr., Chief,

Hazard Identification Branch, 500 C

Street SW., Washington, DC 20472,

(202) 646–2796.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final

rule revises the NFIP regulations

governing identification and mapping of

SFHAs and correction of NFIP maps by

revising the fee requirements and fee

schedule for processing certain changes

to NFIP maps. FEMA established the

current fee requirements under a final

rule published in the Federal Register,

at 57 FR 29036, on June 30, 1992.

This action reduces expenses to the

NFIP and contributes to maintaining the

NFIP as a self-supporting program by:

(1) Establishing flat user fees for most

requests for Conditional Letters of Map

Amendment (CLOMAs), Letters of Map

Revision Based on Fill (LOMR–Fs),

Conditional Letters of Map Revision

Based on Fill (CLOMR–Fs), Letters of

Map Revision (LOMRs), Conditional

Letters of Map Revision (CLOMRs), and

Physical Map Revisions (PMRs); (2)

reducing the number of user fee

categories; (3) requiring full payment of

user fees before FEMA begins work on

a request; (4) changing the initial fee

and hourly rate for LOMR, CLOMR, and

PMR requests based on structural

measures on alluvial fans; (5) limiting

exemptions; and (6) replacing the

mechanism for recovering the

cartographic production costs related to

incorporating map changes made by

letter in Flood Insurance Rate Maps

(FIRMs) and Flood Boundary and

Floodway Maps (FBFMs).

This final rule supersedes the fee

schedules that FEMA established on

June 30, 1992. It also expands the

payment method to include credit card

payments.

The listing of fees that are effective as

of the date of this rule is published as

a notice elsewhere in this issue of the

Federal Register. A primary component

of the fees is the prevailing privatesector rates charged to FEMA for labor

and materials. Because these rates and

the actual review and processing costs

may vary from year to year, FEMA will

evaluate the fees at the end of each

fiscal year and publish revised fee

schedules, when needed, as notices in

the Federal Register.

These revisions to the NFIP

regulations are a result of the continuing

reappraisal of the NFIP to achieve

administrative and fiscal effectiveness

and to encourage sound floodplain

management so that the Program can

realize reductions in the loss of life and

property and in disaster-related

expenditures.

Revisions to Interim Final Rule

FEMA published an interim final rule

concerning these regulation changes in

the Federal Register, at 61 FR 46330, on

August 30, 1996. In the interim final

rule, we invited the public to comment

on the regulation changes within 30

days. One commenter wrote:

In view of the fact that the National Flood

Insurance Program was promulgated by the

United States Congress and assigned to the

Federal Emergency Management Agency as a

regulative measure in order to ensure that

minimal development occurs in the

floodplain areas, I feel that promulgation of

this regulation is a mandate upon local

government in that it closes access to

appealing errors and omissions or changes on

the National Flood Insurance Program

maps * * *. It may well thwart applications

for appropriate regulations and changes due

to the fact that many municipalities and

counties do not have sufficient funding to

cover the costs without overburdening their

budgets. Accordingly, I disagree with the

statement on Page 46631 concerning the

Regulatory Flexibility Act, wherein the

Acting Associate Director of the Mitigation

Directorate certifies that the interim [final]

rule does not have a significant economic

impact on substantial number of small

entities * * *.

There are numerous small communities

and rural counties that adjoin rivers

throughout the United States and are

impacted by flooding. They have not, in

many cases, been offered the opportunity for

protection by levees or urban flood walls

and, therefore, remain at the mercy of the

rivers upon which they were located a

century or two ago. To now require them to

pay fees to have maps revised is not an

acceptable position.

I feel that if the federal government wishes

to continue this program that it should stand

the costs fully for carrying out the

administrative, mapping and implementation

requirements of the National Flood Insurance

Program.

In response to these comments the

changes published in this final rule do

not establish completely new

requirements for the payment of user

fees. They expand an existing system

established during the 1980s to allow

the NFIP to recover costs for providing

certain map products and services and,

at the same time, to allow the NFIP to

remain self-supporting for the historic

average flood loss year. The objective of

the changes is to distribute the costs of

certain products and services equitably

between flood insurance policyholders

and the users of the products and

services, rather than to distribute these

costs to the general taxpayer who may

or may not benefit from the product or

service. This effort is in keeping with 31

U.S.C. 9701, under which the U.S.

Congress allows Federal agencies to

charge fees for products and services. 31

U.S.C. 9701 provides, in part:

‘‘(a) It is the sense of Congress that

each service or thing of value provided

by an agency * * * to a person * * *

is to be self-sustaining to the extent

possible.

‘‘(b) The head of each agency * * *

may prescribe regulations establishing

the charge for a service or thing of value

provided by the agency. * * * Each

charge shall—(1) be fair; and (2) based

on: (A) The costs to the Government; (B)

the value of the service or thing to the

recipient; (C) public policy or interest

served; and (D) other relevant facts.’’

This rule also does not ‘‘close access

to appealing errors and omissions’’ on

the NFIP map as suggested in the

commenter’s September 27 letter.

Community officials and property

owners may continue to appeal

proposed base (1-percent-annualchance) flood elevations shown on NFIP

maps under 44 CFR part 67 of the NFIP

regulations without charge. In addition,

map revision requests submitted under

44 CFR part 65 of the NFIP regulations

will be exempt from fees if the requests

are made to correct mapping or study

analysis errors. Furthermore,

community officials who believe a

FEMA-contracted restudy of flood

hazards is necessary because conditions

have changed since the NFIP map for

their community was last published
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 25 / Thursday, February 6, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 5735

may continue to request such restudies

from FEMA. Funding for such restudies

comes from the National Flood

Insurance Fund, and FEMA bears the

costs of revising the NFIP maps fully as

a result of these restudies.

FEMA is aware that flooding impacts

numerous small communities and rural

counties throughout the United States.

FEMA, working in conjunction with

many State and Federal agencies, works

with these communities to develop an

overall strategy for mitigating the

damage caused by flooding. Numerous

funding options are made available to

communities by FEMA, other Federal

agencies, and State agencies to ensure

proper mitigation options are exercised.

The regulation changes promulgated by

this final rule will have no impact on

those activities.

As indicated in § 72.4(e) of the revised

regulations, the entity that applies to

FEMA through the local community for

review is responsible for the cost of the

review. The local community incurs no

financial obligation under the

reimbursement procedures set forth in

this part as a result of transmitting the

application by another party to FEMA.

Finally, since the requirements for

user fees for certain types of map

changes were established, the number of

requests for CLOMAs, CLOMR–Fs,

LOMR–Fs, CLOMRs, LOMRs, and PMRs

received each year has grown and is

expected to continue to grow. Therefore,

the available statistics do not support

the contention that promulgation of

these regulation changes will ‘‘thwart

applications for appropriate regulations

and changes * * *’’ in the future.

As a result of internal FEMA review,

we incorporated the following changes

in this final rule:

1. We revised § 72.3(c) to include two

new categories to cover LOMR–Fs based

on as-built information for projects for

which CLOMR–Fs were issued

previously by FEMA.

2. We revised Category 6 (now

Category 7) in § 72.3(c) to clarify that

this category does not apply to requests

based on as-built information for

projects involving structural measures

on alluvial fans. The $5,000 initial fee

will be charged to all map revision

requests involving structural measures

on alluvial fans.

3. We added § 72.3(d) which reads: ‘‘If

a request involves more than one of the

above categories, the highest applicable

flat user fee must be submitted.’’

4. We revised § 72.3(e) (now § 72.3(f))

to read: ‘‘The flat user fees for

conditional and final map amendments

and map revisions are based on the

actual costs for reviewing and

processing the requests. The fees for

requests for LOMR–Fs, LOMRs, and

PMRs also include a fee of $35 to cover

FEMA’s costs for physically revising

affected FIRM and FBFM panels to

reflect the map changes.’’

5. We deleted § 72.3(e), which

covered cartographic production fees.

6. We added § 72.5(c), which reads:

(c) Map change requests based on the

following shall be exempt from fees:

(1) Federally sponsored flood-control

projects where 50 percent or more of the

project’s costs are federally funded; and

(2) Detailed hydrologic and hydraulic

studies conducted by Federal, State, or local

agencies to replace approximate studies

conducted by FEMA and shown on the

effective FIRM.

Establishment of Flat User Fees

The existing fee collection process is

complex and requires time-intensive

efforts on the part of FEMA to

administer. More importantly, it also

increases the time required to provide

the requesters with the Letter of Map

Change (LOMC) product or PMR they

require. The current system requires

requesters to submit an initial fee that

is not intended to cover the full review

and processing costs or the cartographic

production costs. Requesters

subsequently receive invoices for the

balance. The current system is

complicated further by the preauthorized spending limits placed on

each product. When FEMA determines

that these limits will be exceeded, we

must obtain written authorization before

proceeding with their review. We must

then delay the request until we receive

the written authorization.

Under this final rule, FEMA charges

a single flat user fee for most LOMC and

PMR requests, thereby reducing the

turnaround time for preparing and

issuing determination letters and

reducing FEMA costs of administering

the fee-charge system. FEMA can

recover more of the actual costs than are

recovered by the current system and

redistribute the overall cost of

operations.

Requirement for Full Payment Before

Work Begins

Under this final rule, the requester

must submit the full fee payment before

FEMA begins work on most map change

requests. This minimizes the need for

followup invoicing and ensures that

FEMA collects appropriate fees for

services rendered.

Consolidation of Product Categories

Under this final rule, we consolidate

LOMC products and PMRs with similar

review and processing requirements

into the same fee category. As a result,

we reduced the number of fee categories

from 19 to 10.

Limitation of Fee Exemptions

Under current standards, we exempt

requesters from paying user fees when

they submit requests for changes to (1)

remove properties or structures from the

SFHA shown on the FIRM that were

inadvertently included in the SFHA

because of map scale limitations, which

is handled by the LOMA process

detailed in 44 CFR part 70 of the NFIP

regulations; (2) reflect more detailed

information on flooding sources,

floodways, or topographic data; (3)

correct mapping errors or errors in the

effective Flood Insurance Study

analysis; or (4) reflect projects that are

for public benefit and are primarily

intended for flood loss reduction to

insurable structures in identified flood

hazard areas that were in existence prior

to the commencement of the projects.

Such exemptions preclude FEMA from

recovering fees for a substantial volume

of work.

Under this final rule, we maintain the

exemptions for: Requests for LOMAs;

requests to correct mapping or analysis

errors; map change requests based on

federally sponsored flood-control

projects where 50 percent or more of the

project’s costs are federally funded; and

map change requests based on detailed

hydrologic and hydraulic studies

conducted by Federal, State, or local

agencies to replace approximate studies

conducted by FEMA and shown on the

effective FIRM.

Maintenance of Initial Fee for Requests

Based on Structural Measures on

Alluvial Fans

Under this final rule, we maintain the

initial fee for LOMC requests based on

structural measures on alluvial fans.

These requests are rare, the FEMA

engineering review for these requests is

usually very complex, and FEMA’s costs

for processing these requests can

fluctuate significantly. Based on a

review of actual processing costs for

Fiscal Year 1995, we established $5,000

as the initial fee for such requests. The

remaining costs are recovered before we

issue the LOMC, consistent with current

fee-reimbursement practices. Under this

final rule, we increased to $50 the

hourly rate used to calculate the total

fees that must be reimbursed.

National Environmental Policy Act

This final rule is categorically

excluded from the requirements of 44

CFR part 10, Environmental

Consideration. No environmental

impact assessment has been prepared.
5736 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 25 / Thursday, February 6, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Executive Associate Director,

Mitigation Directorate, certifies that this

final rule does not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities in accordance

with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5

U.S.C. et seq., because it is not expected

(1) to have significant secondary or

incidental effects on a substantial

number of small entities, nor (2) to

create any additional burden on small

entities. A regulatory flexibility analysis

has not been prepared.

Executive Order 12612, Federalism

This final rule involves no policies

that have federalism implications under

Executive Order 12612, Federalism,

dated October 26, 1987.

Executive Order 12778, Civil Justice

Reform

This final rule meets the applicable

standards of § 2(b)(2) of Executive Order

12778, Civil Justice Reform.

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory

Planning and Review

Promulgation of this final rule is

required by statute, 42 U.S.C. 4014(f),

which also specifies the regulatory

approach taken in the final rule. To the

extent possible under the statutory

requirements of 42 U.S.C. 4014(f), this

final rule adheres to the principles of

regulation as set forth in Executive

Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and

Review.

List of Subjects in 44 CFR Parts 65, 70,

and 72

Administrative practice and

procedure, Flood insurance,

Floodplains, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Accordingly, 44 CFR Parts 65, 70, and

72 are amended as follows:

PART 65—IDENTIFICATION AND

MAPPING OF SPECIAL FLOOD

HAZARD AREAS

1. The authority citation for part 65

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.;

Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978, 43 FR

41943, 3 CFR, 1978 Comp., p. 329; E.O.

12127, 44 FR 19367, 3 CFR, 1979 Comp.,

p.376.

2. Section 65.4(c) is revised to read as

follows:

§ 65.4 Right to submit new technical data.

* * * * *

(c) Requests for changes to effective

Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) and

Flood Boundary and Floodway Maps

(FBFMs) are subject to the cost recovery

procedures described in 44 CFR part 72.

As indicated in part 72, revisions

requested to correct mapping errors or

errors in the Flood Insurance Study

analysis are not to be subject to the costrecovery procedures.

3. In section 65.5 the heading and

paragraph (d) are revised to read as

follows:

§ 65.5 Revision to special flood hazard

area boundaries with no change to base

flood elevation determinations.

* * * * *

(d) Submission procedures. All

requests shall be submitted to the FEMA

Regional Office servicing the

community’s geographic area or to the

FEMA Headquarters Office in

Washington, DC, and shall be

accompanied by the appropriate

payment, in accordance with 44 CFR

part 72.

4. In section 65.6(g) is revised to read

as follows:

§ 65.6 Revision of base flood elevation

determinations.

* * * * *

(g) Submission procedures. All

requests shall be submitted to the FEMA

Regional Office servicing the

community’s geographic area or to the

FEMA Headquarters Office in

Washington, DC, and shall be

accompanied by the appropriate

payment, in accordance with 44 CFR

part 72.

5. Section 65.8 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 65.8 Review of proposed projects.

A community, or an individual

through the community, may request

FEMA’s comments on whether a

proposed project, if built as proposed,

would justify a map revision. FEMA’s

comments will be issued in the form of

a letter, termed a Conditional Letter of

Map Revision, in accordance with 44

CFR part 72. The data required to

support such requests are the same as

those required for final revisions under

§§ 65.5, 65.6, and 65.7, except as-built

certification is not required. All such

requests shall be submitted to the FEMA

Headquarters Office in Washington, DC,

and shall be accompanied by the

appropriate payment, in accordance

with 44 CFR part 72.

6. In section 65.9 the heading and

paragraph (h) are revised to read as

follows:

§ 65.9 Review and response by the

Administrator.

* * * * *

(h) The required payment has not

been submitted in accordance with 44

CFR part 72, no review will be

conducted and no determination will be

issued until payment is received.

PART 70—PROCEDURE FOR MAP

CORRECTION

7. The authority citation for part 70 is

revised to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.;

Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978, 43 FR

41943, 3 CFR, 1978 Comp., p. 329; E.O.

12127, 44 FR 19367, 3 CFR, 1979 Comp., p.

376.

8. Section 70.9 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 70.9 Review of proposed projects.

An individual who proposes to build

one or more structures on a portion of

property that may be included

inadvertently in a Special Flood Hazard

Area (SFHA) may request FEMA’s

comments on whether the proposed

structure(s), if built as proposed, will be

in the SFHA. FEMA’s comments will be

issued in the form of a letter, termed a

Conditional Letter of Map Amendment.

The data required to support such

requests are the same as those required

for final Letters of Map Amendment in

accordance with § 70.3, except as-built

certification is not required and the

requests shall be accompanied by the

appropriate payment, in accordance

with 44 CFR part 72. All such requests

for CLOMAs shall be submitted to the

FEMA Regional Office servicing the

community’s geographic area or to the

FEMA Headquarters Office in

Washington, DC.

PART 72—PROCEDURES AND FEES

FOR PROCESSING MAP CHANGES

9. The authority citation for part 72 is

revised to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.;

Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978, 43 FR

41943, 3 CFR, 1978 Comp., p. 329; E.O.

12127, 44 FR 19367, 3 CFR, 1979 Comp., p.

376.

10. Section 72.1 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 72.1 Purpose of part.

This part provides administrative and

cost-recovery procedures for the

engineering review and administrative

processing associated with FEMA’s

response to requests for Conditional

Letters of Map Amendment (CLOMAs),

Conditional Letters of Map Revision

(CLOMRs), Conditional Letters of Map

Revision Based on Fill (CLOMR–Fs),

Letters of Map Revision Based on Fill

(LOMR–Fs), Letters of Map Revision

(LOMRs), and Physical Map Revisions

(PMRs). Such requests are based on

proposed or actual manmade alterations

within the floodplain, such as the
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 25 / Thursday, February 6, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 5737

placement of fill; modification of a

channel; construction or modification of

a bridge, culvert, levee, or similar

measure; or construction of single or

multiple residential or commercial

structures on single or multiple lots.

11. Section 72.2 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 72.2 Definitions.

Except as otherwise provided in this

part, the definitions in 44 CFR part 59

are applicable to this part. For the

purposes of this part, the products are

defined as follows:

CLOMA. A CLOMA is FEMA’s

comment on a proposed structure or

group of structures that would, upon

construction, be located on existing

natural ground above the base (1-

percent-annual-chance) flood elevation

on a portion of a legally defined parcel

of land that is partially inundated by the

base flood.

CLOMR. A CLOMR is FEMA’s

comment on a proposed project that

would, upon construction, affect the

hydrologic or hydraulic characteristics

of a flooding source and thus result in

the modification of the existing

regulatory floodway, the effective base

flood elevations, or the Special Flood

Hazard Area (SFHA).

CLOMR–F. A CLOMR–F is FEMA’s

comment on a proposed project that

would, upon construction, result in a

modification of the SFHA through the

placement of fill outside the existing

regulatory floodway.

LOMR. A LOMR is FEMA’s

modification to an effective Flood

Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), or Flood

Boundary and Floodway Map (FBFM),

or both. LOMRs are generally based on

the implementation of physical

measures that affect the hydrologic or

hydraulic characteristics of a flooding

source and thus result in the

modification of the existing regulatory

floodway, the effective base flood

elevations, or the SFHA. The LOMR

officially revises the FIRM or FBFM,

and sometimes the Flood Insurance

Study (FIS) report, and, when

appropriate, includes a description of

the modifications. The LOMR is

generally accompanied by an annotated

copy of the affected portions of the

FIRM, FBFM, or FIS report.

LOMR–F. A LOMR–F is FEMA’s

modification of the SFHA shown on the

FIRM based on the placement of fill

outside the existing regulatory

floodway.

PMR. A PMR is FEMA’s physical

revision and republication of an

effective FIRM, FBFM, or FIS report.

PMRs are generally based on physical

measures that affect the hydrologic or

hydraulic characteristics of a flooding

source and thus result in the

modification of the existing regulatory

floodway, the effective base flood

elevations, or the SFHA.

12. Section 72.3 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 72.3 Fee schedule.

(a) For requests for CLOMRs, LOMRs,

and PMRs based on structural measures

on alluvial fans, an initial fee of $5,000,

subject to the provisions of § 72.4, shall

be paid to FEMA before FEMA begins

its review of the request. The initial fee

represents the minimum cost for

reviewing these requests and is based on

the prevailing private-sector labor rate.

A revision to this initial fee, if

necessary, will be published as a notice

in the Federal Register.

(b) For requests for CLOMRs, LOMRs,

and PMRs based on structural measures

on alluvial fans, the total fee will be

calculated based on the total hours by

FEMA to review and process the request

multiplied by an hourly rate based on

the prevailing private-sector labor rate.

The hourly rate is published as a notice

in the Federal Register. A revision to

the hourly rate, if necessary, shall be

published as a notice in the Federal

Register.

(c) For conditional and final map

revision requests for the following

categories, flat user fees, subject to the

provisions of § 72.4, shall be paid to

FEMA before FEMA begins its review of

the request:

(1) Requests for CLOMAs, CLOMR–

Fs, and LOMR–Fs for single structures

or single lots;

(2) Requests for CLOMAs for multiple

structures or multiple lots;

(3) Requests for CLOMR–Fs and

LOMR–Fs for multiple structures or

multiple lots;

(4) Requests LOMR–Fs for single

structures or single lots based on asbuilt information for projects for which

FEMA issued CLOMR–Fs previously;

(5) Requests for LOMR–Fs for

multiple structures or multiple lots

based on as-built information for

projects for which FEMA issued

CLOMR–Fs previously;

(6) Requests for LOMRs and PMRs

based on projects involving bridges,

culverts, or channels, or combinations

thereof;

(7) Requests for LOMRs and PMRs

based on projects involving levees,

berms, or other structural measures;

(8) Requests for LOMRs and PMRs

based on as-built information for

projects for which FEMA issued

CLOMRs previously, except those based

on structural measures on alluvial fans;

(9) Requests for LOMRs and PMRs

based solely on more detailed data;

(10) Requests for CLOMRs based on

projects involving new hydrologic

information, bridges, culverts, or

channels, or combinations thereof; and

(11) Requests for CLOMRs based on

projects involving levees, berms, or

other structural measures.

(d) If a request involves more than one

of the categories listed above, the

highest applicable flat user fee must be

submitted.

(e) The flat user fees for conditional

and final map amendments and map

revisions are based on the actual costs

for reviewing and processing the

requests. The fees for requests for

LOMR–Fs, LOMRs, and PMRs also

include a fee of $35 to cover FEMA’s

costs for physically revising affected

FIRM and FBFM panels to reflect the

map changes.

(f) Revisions to the fees, if necessary,

shall be published as a notice in the

Federal Register.

13. Section 72.4 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 72.4 Submittal/payment procedures and

FEMA response.

(a) The initial fee shall be submitted

with a request for FEMA review and

processing of CLOMRs, LOMRs, and

PMRs based on structural measures on

alluvial fans; the appropriate flat user

fee shall be submitted with all other

requests for FEMA review and

processing.

(b) FEMA must receive initial or flat

user fees before it will begin any review.

The fee is non-refundable once FEMA

begins its review.

(c) Following completion of FEMA’s

review for any CLOMR, LOMR, or PMR

based on structural measures on alluvial

fans, FEMA shall invoice the requester

at the established hourly rate for any

actual costs exceeding the initial fee

incurred for review and processing.

FEMA shall not issue a determination

letter or revised map panel(s) until it

receives the invoiced amount.

(d) For all map revision requests,

FEMA shall bear the cost of reprinting

and distributing the revised FIRM

panel(s), FBFM panel(s), or

combination.

(e) The entity that applies to FEMA

through the local community for review

is responsible for the cost of the review.

The local community incurs no

financial obligation under the

reimbursement procedures of this part

when another party sends the

application to FEMA.

(f) Requesters shall submit payments

by check or money order or by credit

card. Checks or money orders, in U.S.

funds, shall be made payable to the

National Flood Insurance Program.
5738 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 25 / Thursday, February 6, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

(g) For CLOMA, CLOMR–F, LOMA,

and LOMR–F requests, FEMA shall:

(1) Notify the requester and

community within 30 days as to the

adequacy of the submittal, and

(2) Provide to the requester and the

community, within 60 days of receipt of

adequate information and fee, a

determination letter or other written

comment in response to the request.

(h) For CLOMR, LOMR, and PMR

requests, FEMA shall:

(1) Notify the requester and

community within 60 days as to the

adequacy of the submittal; and

(2) Provide to the requester and the

community, within 90 days of receipt of

adequate information and fee, a

CLOMR, a LOMR, other written

comment in response to the request, or

preliminary copies of the revised FIRM

panels, FBFM panels, and/or affected

portions of the FIS report for review and

comment.

14. Section 72.5 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 72.5 Exemptions.

(a) Requests for map changes based on

mapping or study analysis errors or the

effects of natural changes within SFHAs

shall be exempt from fees.

(b) Requests for LOMAs shall be

exempt from fees.

(c) Map change requests based on the

following shall be exempt from fees:

(1) Federally sponsored flood-control

projects where 50 percent or more of the

project’s costs are federally funded; and

(2) Detailed hydrologic and hydraulic

studies conducted by Federal, State, or

local agencies to replace approximate

studies conducted by FEMA and shown

on the effective FIRM.

15. Section 72.6 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 72.6 Unfavorable response.

(a) Requests for CLOMAs, CLOMRs,

or CLOMR–Fs may be denied or the

determinations may contain specific

comments, concerns, or conditions

regarding proposed projects or designs

and their impacts on flood hazards in a

community. Requesters are not entitled

to any refund of fees paid if the

determinations contain such comments,

concerns, or conditions, or if the

requests are denied. Requesters are not

entitled to any refund of fees paid if the

requesters are unable to provide the

appropriate scientific or technical

documentation or to obtain required

authorizations, permits, financing, etc.,

for which requesters seek the CLOMAs,

CLOMRs, or CLOMR–Fs.

(b) Requests for LOMRs, LOMR–Fs, or

PMRs may be denied or the revisions to

the FIRM, FBFM, or both, may not be in

the manner or to the extent desired by

the requesters. Requesters are not

entitled to any refund of fees paid if the

revision requests are denied or if the

LOMRs, LOMR–Fs, or PMRs do not

revise the map specifically as requested.

16. Section 72.7 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 72.7 Resubmittals.

(a) Resubmittals of CLOMA, CLOMR,

CLOMR–F, LOMR, LOMR–F, or PMR

requests more than 90 days after FEMA

notification that the requests were

denied or after FEMA ended its review

because the requester provided

insufficient information will be treated

as original submissions and subject to

all submittal/payment procedures

described in § 72.4. The procedure in

§ 72.4 also applies to a resubmitted

request (regardless of when submitted)

if the project on which the request is

based has been altered significantly in

design or scope other than as necessary

to respond to comments, concerns, or

other findings made by FEMA regarding

the original submission.

(b) When LOMR, LOMR–F, or PMR

requests are made after FEMA issues

CLOMRs or CLOMR–Fs, the procedures

in § 72.4 and the appropriate fee apply,

as referenced in § 72.3(c). When the asbuilt conditions differ from the

proposed conditions on which FEMA

issued the CLOMRs or CLOMR–Fs, the

reduced fee for as-built requests will not

apply.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No.

83–100, Flood Insurance)

Dated: January 28, 1997.

Richard W. Krimm,

Executive Associate Director, Mitigation

Directorate.

[FR Doc. 97–2963 Filed 2–5–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6718–04–P