As a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), your community is required to follow various rules, such as requiring permits for all development in the V and A zones (as mapped on your community’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps). Development includes “any manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations or storage of equipment or materials.” Adding NFIP requirements to your local bylaws/ordinances and associated regulations can help increase compliance, ensure your community remains in good standing under the NFIP, and decrease unnecessary confusion among permit applicants, as well as boards and departments.
For more information on incorporating NFIP requirements, see the Texas Water Development Board’s Water Resource Planning and Information page.