Floodplain Management and Protection of Wetlands; Minimum Property Standards for Flood Hazard Exposure; Building to the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard

This final rule revises HUD's regulations governing floodplain management and the protection of wetlands to implement the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS) in accordance with the Executive Order titled "Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a Process for Further Soliciting and Considering Stakeholder Input." These revisions to HUD's regulations will improve the resilience of HUD-assisted or financed projects to the effects of climate change and natural disasters and provide for greater flexibility in the use of HUD assistance in floodways under certain circumstances. Among other revisions, this rule provides a process for determining the extent of the FFRMS floodplain, with a preference for a climate-informed science approach (CISA) to making this determination. The rule also revises HUD's floodplain and wetland regulations to streamline, improve overall clarity, and modernize standards. Also, this rule revises HUD's Minimum Property Standards for one-to-four-unit housing under HUD's mortgage insurance and low-rent public housing programs to require that the lowest floor in newly constructed structures located within the 1-percent-annual-chance (100-year) floodplain be built at least 2 feet above the base flood elevation (BFE) as determined by best available information. The rule also revises a categorical exclusion when HUD performs environmental reviews and updates various HUD environmental regulations to permit online posting of public notices.