CTP Success Story


For the past six years North Carolina has been at the forefront of an ongoing effort to expand the involvement of state, regional, and local government agencies in managing the nation's floodplain maps.  In the year 2000, the State of North Carolina signed a Cooperating Technical Partnership (CTP) agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), through which North Carolina became the first Cooperating Technical State (CTS) in the country.  Under that agreement, the State initiated its program to create updated digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) panels for the entire State. 

The ongoing purpose of the floodplain mapping program in North Carolina is to address the extreme flooding hazards and consequences which the State and its communities face from hurricanes, tropical storms, and flooding.  The State's history includes numerous federal disaster declarations due to floods.  The combined storm events that occurred in the year 1999 and 2004 resulted in 95 of the State's 100 counties receiving Federal disaster declarations.  This vulnerability to hurricanes and flooding makes it crucial that communities and property owners have accurate, up-to-date information concerning flood risks.  In the past six years, the State has made significant progress developing new maps to promote the counties and municipalities awareness of their flood risks and thereby appropriately manage those risks.  Now the State is addressing the issue of keeping those maps updated once they have been created.  Because many local governments in North Carolina have indicated that they do not have the resources to maintain their own FIRMs, even after the State has prepared the initial maps, the State has in recent months been negotiating with FEMA to assume responsibility of reviewing requests for Conditional Letters of Map Revision (CLOMRs) and Letters of Map Revision (LOMRs) within North Carolina.  Beginning on July 3, 2006, North Carolina will conduct such reviews, on a pilot basis for at least the next year. We believe that FEMA will continue to delegate MT-2 LOMC processing to the State after the pilot year. 

MT-1 Letters of Map Change (Letters of Map Amendment (LOMAs), conditional Letters of Map Amendment (CLOMAs), Letters of Map Revision-based on Fill (LOMR-Fs), and conditional Letters of Map Revision-based on Fill (CLOMR-Fs) will continue to be processed by FEMA. Submittals for MT-1 LOMCs should continue to be sent to FEMA for processing.

What Floodplain Mapping Responsibility Has the State Assumed?
In accordance with the 2000 CTP agreement between the State of North Carolina and FEMA, the State will now receive and review requests for CLOMRs and LOMRs to FIRMs for communities throughout the state.   Up until this time, all requests for CLOMRs and LOMRs from North Carolina have been reviewed by a private consultant retained by FEMA. As a result of this new arrangement, applicants for CLOMRs or LOMRs anywhere in North Carolina, whether they are local governments or private developers, will submit their requests to the State of North Carolina.

The State of North Carolina will also process all data requests for current models related to CLOMR and LOMR processing.  To request an engineering model for use in developing a CLOMR or LOMR submittal, submit a request through the NC MT-2 LOMC Depot.

Will These Changes be Handled in the Same Manner Throughout North Carolina?
As part of North Carolina's agreement with FEMA, the State will receive all requests, except for sites within Mecklenburg County (see Mecklenburg County website listed below for more information on submitting LOMC requests within the County).  Mecklenburg County Flood Mitigation Program will receive and review requests for locations within Mecklenburg County.  While neither FEMA nor its consultant will review the requests, the final approved LOMCs will bear a joint FEMA and State or County signature.

Where Will Requests for CLOMRs and LOMRs Be Submitted?
As of July 3, 2006, all requests for CLOMRs and LOMRs in North Carolina (outside of Mecklenburg County), and accompanying fees, should be mailed to:

NC MT-2 LOMC DEPOT
P.O. Box 300025
Raleigh, NC 27622-0025

Requests for engineering models for use in developing CLOMR and LOMR submittals should also be sent to the address above. The MT-2 forms remain the same as the existing FEMA MT-2 forms and are available both on FEMA's website and on the State's website at www.ncfloodmaps.com.

How Will the CLOMR/LOMR Process or the Revised FIRMs be Different?
The most obvious and significant procedural change will be that CLOMR and LOMR requests will be sent to Raleigh, or, in the case of Mecklenburg County applications, to Charlotte.  They will no longer be sent to Washington, D.C.  The State of North Carolina and Mecklenburg County are striving to ensure the new submittal process will be a positive change and allow for a more streamlined review.    We will try to make the process as comfortable and familiar as possible and do not anticipate the appearance of map revisions in North Carolina to change as a result of this pilot project.  

How Will These Changes Help Improve Floodplain Maps in North Carolina?
We at the State of North Carolina and our partners at Mecklenburg County believe that the CLOMR/LOMR pilot project will better enable us to pursue our stated floodplain mapping goals of:

? “Compiling current, accurate flood hazard data for sound siting and design decisions,” and
? “Making FIRMs cheaper and faster to update and providing them in digital format to more easily and efficiently alert property owners of the need for flood insurance.”

Through direct communication with applicants, local officials, and other knowledgeable parties, we are in a position to perform the most thorough reviews possible of all CLOMR or LOMR requests in our state.
 
What if I Have Questions or Concerns?
If you have any questions or concerns about the changes described above, please contact John Gerber, P.E., CFM, NCFMP Engineer, 1812 Tillery Place, Raleigh, NC 27604, 919-715-5711 x106, jgerber@ncem.org, www.ncfloodmaps.com.  

For questions or concerns specific to Mecklenburg County, please contact David Goode, P.E., CFM, Project Manager, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services, Flood Mitigation Program, 704-432-3087, David.Goode@mecklenburgcountync.gov, www.charmeck.org/Departments/StormWater/Floodplain+Development+Permits.htm.



July 2006