WEBINAR SERIES

Resiliency the New Sustainability

Sponsored by

ABOUT US

The Pennsylvania Association of State Floodplain Managers is a statewide organization of floodplain managers, engineers, planners, local, state and federal officials, and water resource professionals whose purpose is to:

• Promote public awareness of integrated floodplain management;

• Promote a liaison and to encourage the exchange of ideas and information among individuals and groups concerned with floodplain management

• Inform concerned individuals and groups of pending floodplain management legislation, regulation, and related matters in order to advance the effective implementation of floodplain management

MEMBERSHIP

A PAFPM membership gives you access to training, workshops, newsletter, conferences, and networking opportunities.

Memberships are valid for 1 year (July 1 - June 30)

Contact us at flood@pafpm.org with questions about membership.

NEWS

Resiliency the New Sustainability Webinars:Wednesdays in September 2020 @ noonNext Wednesday: Funding Options for Municipalities Implementing Stormwater BMPs+ Streams in Equilibrium are ResilientRegistration @ PAFPM.org

PAFPM- Floodplain Management Training:March 16/17thHarrisburg, PASAVE THE DATE

HOUSEKEEPING

PAFPM Webinars:

• Attendees will be muted during presentations• Presentations will be approx. 1 hour, 30mins for Q&A• Use the Q&A box during the presentation• Certificates will be emailed to attendees• If you encounter any issues during the webinar email us

at flood@pafpm.org

WEBINAR SERIES

Resiliency the New Sustainability

Sponsored by

RIVERINE

DAM/LEVEE

INCREASED RAINFALL

HURRICANES/TROPICAL STORMS

Types of flooding in PA

SEA LEVEL RISE

URBAN/INFRASTRUCTURE

LAKE

TIDAL

Types of flooding in PA

Flood Resiliency in the News

PRESENTERSMaurie KellyDirector of Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA) Penn State University

Bill BradfieldNFIP CoordinatorPEMA

PENNSYLVANIA FLOOD RISK MAPPING TOOL

pafloodrisk.psu.edu

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

Purpose & Goals

Objectives

Partners

Site

Application Overview

Questions

Survey

PURPOSE & GOALS

The overall goal of this project is to develop and deploy a new Pennsylvania Flood Risk Mapping Application.

The purpose of developing this application is to ensure that communities in Pennsylvania understand their flood risk and the importance of addressing that risk; that they are more willing to engage with the Mapping Partner and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to analyze their risks; and that individuals, such as flood plain managers, and organizations are more informed and better primed to take action to reduce their risk and the risk to their communities.

A secondary goal of this project is to increase collaboration and awareness by engaging stakeholders from a broad range of organizations.

OBJECTIVES

Objective 1: Engage key stakeholders and acquire input on functionality of the Pennsylvania Flood Risk Mapping application.

Objective 2: Develop and deploy a user-friendly PA Flood Risk Mapping application to the public.

Objective 3: Build awareness across the state about the PA Flood Risk Mapping application to ensure that communities in Pennsylvania understand their flood risk.

PARTNERS

FEMA

PEMA

PSU

OUTREACH

Susquehanna River Basin Commission

US Army Corps of Engineers

PAFPM

Counties

PA FLOOD RISK TOOL FUNCTIONALITY

Public Mode Address Search Zoom to County Click on a Point to View Dashboard Change Basemaps Create reports View/Download DFIRM

Advanced Mode Measuring Additional Data Layers

DATA LAYERS

Effective Flood Hazard Zones

Preliminary Flood Zones Transparency function enabled for Effective Flood Hazard Zones and Preliminary Flood Zones

Links to FEMA Changes Since Last FIRM Viewer

BASE MAPS

2019 NAIP

Bing Streets

Bing Imagery

Planning to add PEMA imagery once state is completed later this year.

USING THE APPLICATION

Users can simply type in an address, zoom to a county, or click on a point on the map.

The tool bar is located on the left side of the map frame.

Using the tool panel, users can change basemaps, select data layers, and view the legend.

APPLICATION HOME & TOOL BAR

ZOOM TO AN ADDRESS/POINT

DASHBOARD: NO RISK

DASHBOARD: RISK

DASHBOARDFlood Information (coded red, yellow, green) Zone Flood Depth CRSC Stream Name

Location:

Parcel (where available) Huc8 Elevation County Municipality

Download: Risk Summary Report DFIRM Download

3D Visualization Tool

RISK SUMMARY REPORT

DFIRM DOWNLOAD

3D VISUALIZATION TOOL

SURVEY

A survey has been developed to lead users through the basic functions of the application and capture comments.

http://smeal.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4TwoQUxP36q6BXn

We would really appreciate your taking a few moments to try out the application and provide feedback.

1

The New “DRAFT” Pennsylvania Floodplain Model Ordinance

Bill Bradfield, CFM, NFIP Program Manager, PEMA

PAFPM September Webinar SeriesSeptember 16, 2020

2

NFIP Roles: Federal and State Federal

• National program oversight• Risk identification (mapping)• Establish development/building standards• Provide technical assistance to state/communities/agencies• Provide insurance coverage

State• State program oversight• Establish development/building standards• Provide technical assistance to local communities/agencies• Evaluate and document floodplain management activities

3

NFIP Roles: Local Local Officials and Floodplain Administrators

• Adopt and enforce a floodplain management ordinance compliant with federal/state laws

• Issue or deny development • Inspect development and maintain records• Make substantial damage determinations

Development oversight is a local responsibility

4

Floodplain Management RegulationsThe Ordinance NFIP participating municipalities in PA agreed to adopt and enforce

an ordinance meeting the minimum requirements of the NFIP and PA Act 166

The Ordinance must

• Be legally enforceable

• Applied uniformly throughout the community

Floodplain regulations are usually found in one or a combination of five regulation types: “stand alone,” zoning ordinances, building codes, subdivision regulations, and sanitary regulations

5

PA Suggested Provisions Stand-alone “model” ordinance

Includes the provisions needed to meet NFIP and PA Act 166 requirements

Also includes suggested higher standards

PA Act 166 Requirements

• Restrictions on hazardous material storage

• Regulated high-risk land uses (including manufactured homes)

• 50-foot Setbacks / Buffers

6

Higher Standards Recommended higher standards are

included in the model ordinance, such as:

• 1.5 feet of freeboard

• Repetitive Loss Provisions

• Conservation / Open Space Preservation

• Estimate 1% elevation in Zone A

• Lower threshold for Substantial Damage (<50%, i.e. 40%)

7

Why Update? Periodic review

• Last update was April 2016

• Hoping at least bi-annual moving forward

Updates to the regulations

Feedback from municipalities, agencies, others• What works? What could be improved?

8

Ordinance Update Team Made up of 13 members that represent the following:

• Federal: FEMA Region 3 FM&I

• State: PEMA, PA Municipal League, DCED

• Local Development Districts

• Counties (rural), City of Philadelphia

• Several have dual role with PA Assoc. of FP Managers

Meet every 4-8 weeks via conference call• Started in February 2020

Ordinance broken intro sections and covered as a group for consistency

9

Challenges Difficulty with a “one-size-fits-all” ordinance

Rectifying urban vs. rural concerns• Urban: Mixed-use structures, Multi-Family

• Rural: Agricultural structures/fences, limited capacity

Some confusion across floodplain regulations• 2009/2015/2018 I-Codes vs. NFIP Regs 44 CFR 59.1

10

Challenges

Floodplain Definition Matrix (courtesy of Josh Lippert)

11

So What’s New in 2020? Not many significant revisions as not much has changed

• FEMA’s “Floodplain Management Policy for Agricultural and Accessory Structures” (February 2020)

Allows wet-floodproofing of new structures in certain situations via variance

Inclusion of PEMA for all floodplain development notifications• Currently only states DCED

Primary aim is to clarify what current exists:• Moving definitions to the front of the ordinance

• Better correlation between definitions (NFIP vs. IBC/ASCE 24 technical guidance)

12

Ongoing Ordinance Goals/Challenges Updating floodplain provisions of Codes from 2009 to

2015 (at a minimum)• UCC Review & Advisory Committee (RAC) currently making

recommendations for 2021 adoption – ongoing

• Currently there is no freeboard requirement in Pennsylvania for new construction, but most municipalities adopt the higher standard

IBC 2018 Appendix G incorporates ASCE Standard 24• Better agreement across regulations

• ASCE 24: Coastal considerations, 24” freeboard for critical infrastructure

13

Disaster-Resistant Codes in PA

https://geo.stantec.com/National_BCATS_Portal/viewer/

Per FEMA/ISO, only 10% of the municipalities in PA have adopted disaster-resistant building codes (both 2015/2018 IBC and IRC)

14

Ongoing Ordinance Goals/Challenges Third party enforcement

• May focus only on building codes (2009) with no freeboard requirement, when floodplain ordinance requires it

Better coordination of State and Federal permits• All permits should be in hand before floodplain permit is issued

• Reinforce that State/Federal permits do not exempt municipal floodplain permit

Pushing higher standards while ensuring regulations are enforceable• Looks great on paper, but can it be effectively enforced?

15

Ongoing Ordinance Goals/Challenges CLOMR/LOMR requirements

• These are simply not getting submitted although they are addressed in the ordinance

• Alteration and/or Relocation of a stream/watercourse requires:1) FEMA and DCED/PEMA notification2) FEMA’s conditional approval of such action prior to permitting the encroachments to occur

16

Rolling Out the Updated Ordinance Training, training,

training…

Looking to establish procedural documents to assist municipalities• When is a CLOMR/LOMR

required?

• How to permit existing structures?

17

Resources

• Where can you find the state model ordinance?• PEMA Floodplain Management website:https://www.pema.pa.gov/Floodplain-Management/Documents/PA-Model-Ordinance-LevelD.pdf

18

Resources

• Recommended: FEMA’s “Reducing Flood Losses Through the International Codes”, 5th Edition, October 2019

QUESTIONS

Visit our webpage @PAFPM.ORG

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