Texas Administrative Code › Title 30 - ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Part 1 - TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 7 - MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING › Section 7.112 - Adoption of Memoranda of Understanding between the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) This rule contains the memorandum of
				understanding (MOU) between the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the
				Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, which sets forth the
				coordination of program responsibility and procedural mechanisms for the
				National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) minimum regulations.
(1) Whereas, under
				44
				CFR §60.12 of Rules and Regulations
				pertaining to the NFIP, the State of Texas is regarded as a community and
				therefore must comply with minimum floodplain management standards established
				for future state developments within identified 100-year floodplains in order
				to participate in the Program; and
(2) Whereas, floodplain or 100-year
				floodplain, as these terms are used in the MOU, means any land area susceptible
				to being inundated by water from any source by that flood which has a one
				percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year; and
(3) Whereas, a condition of receiving future
				federal disaster relief loans and obtaining flood insurance coverage for
				insurable state-owned structures depends on the state's compliance with the
				National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as amended; and
(4) Whereas, the State of Texas has extensive
				and continuing programs for the construction of buildings, roads, and other
				facilities and annually acquires and disposes of lands in flood hazard areas,
				all of which activities significantly influence patterns of commercial,
				residential, and industrial development; and
(5) Whereas, the Texas Department of Criminal
				Justice, here within called the TDCJ, is a state agency with direct
				responsibility for the planning, location, or construction of certain state
				buildings, roads, or other facilities which may be in the floodplains of the
				state; and
(6) Whereas, the TDCJ
				shall represent the state before the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
				(FEMA), or other federal agencies on matters relating to the TDCJ's structures
				and activities in the floodplains of the state; and
(7) Whereas, the TDCJ shall establish a
				floodplain management plan for all its existing and proposed structures and
				activities in the floodplains of the state; and
(8) Whereas, for purposes of this MOU, the
				TDCJ is responsible for its structures and activities in the floodplains of the
				state as defined by the NFIP and related Regulations (44 CFR Chapter 1);
				and
(9) Whereas, the Texas Natural
				Resource Conservation Commission, here within known as the commission, is the
				state agency with primary responsibility for implementing the constitution and
				laws of the state related to floodplain management; and
(10) Whereas, the commission has previously
				been designated as the State Coordinating Agency for the NFIP under the Texas
				Water Code, §§
										16.311 et seq.;
				and
(11) Whereas, under §
										16.318 of the Texas Water
				Code, the commission has statutory authority to adopt and promulgate reasonable
				rules which are necessary for the state's participation in the NFIP.
(12) Whereas, consistent with the intent of
				§§16.311 et seq. of the Texas Water Code, the TDCJ and the commission
				are committed to the development and implementation of a coordinated floodplain
				management program for the state; and
(13) Whereas, consistent with Texas law and
				public policy, the TDCJ and commission mutually desire to protect and maintain
				a high quality environment and the health of the people of the state;
(14) Now, therefore, in consideration of the
				following promises, covenants, conditions, and the mutual benefits to accrue to
				the parties of this MOU, the Parties, desiring to cooperate in function and
				service agree as follows: