Policy Issuance 6-98
Subject: Freeze on Issuance of 3-Year Policies in Monroe County, Florida
Background: The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is based on an agreement between the Federal Government and those flood-prone communities that choose to participate in the program. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will make flood insurance coverage available to property owners provided that the community adopts and enforces floodplain management regulations that meet or exceed the minimum requirements of the NFIP set forth in part 60 of the NFIP Floodplain Management Regulations (44 CFR Part 60).
As a result of the Community Assistance Visits conducted by the FEMA Region IV, it was learned that there may be several thousand buildings in Monroe County, Florida, that are potential violations of the County's floodplain management ordinance. Most of these suspected violations are conversions of the enclosures below elevated buildings that occurred after the building was built, inspected, and a certificate of occupancy issued by Monroe County. The County claims that, under the law, its ability to inspect owneroccupied residential buildings for possible violation, such as the illegal conversion of these enclosures to uses other than parking, storage, or access, is limited. The County assures FEMA that it is willing to take the necessary actions to enforce its ordinance, but it needs help from FEMA.
To assist Monroe County, FEMA is preparing a Proposed Rule that would establish an inspection procedure under the NFIP to use as a means of verifying that structures in a community are compliant with the community's floodplain management ordinance and are properly rated. The proposed inspection procedure would require owners of insured buildings to obtain an inspection from community floodplain management officials as a condition of renewing the Standard Flood Insurance Policy on the building.
In anticipation that the Proposed Rule would be implemented on October 1, 1999, the Mitigation Division is concerned that property owners in Monroe County, who may have learned about the proposed rule, would exercise the three-year term option when renewing their existing policies or when applying for new ones, so as to delay the inspection procedure being applied to them. It is envisioned that the Proposed Rule will establish a maximum time limit to complete the inspections and re-rate the policies.
Policy Decision: The Mitigation Division and the Mitigation Directorate agree that in order to complete the inspection project in a reasonable time frame, the issuance of three-year policies should no longer be permitted in Monroe County, Florida. Accordingly, the WYO companies and the NFIP Direct Servicing Agent are no longer authorized to issue new or renewal three-year term policies in Monroe County, Florida effective January 1, 1999. We encourage the WYO companies to make every effort to notify their agents about this important requirement.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 23-May-2006 16:23:05 EDT