Letter of Final Determination

A Letter of Final Determination (LFD) is a letter FEMA mails to the Chief Executive Officer of a community stating that a new or updated Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) or Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) will become effective in six months. The letter also notifies each affected flood-prone community participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that it must adopt a compliant floodplain management ordinance by the map effective date to remain participants in good standing in the NFIP.

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View and Download Letters

The Letters of Final Determination lists contains all LFDs distributed to communities for a specific FIRM or DFIRM effective date. The LFD list is prepared biweekly on predetermined Letters of Final Determination dates, six months prior to the FIRM/DFIRM effective date.

Key Terms

  • CID: Community Identification Number
  • State: State in which the community is located
  • Community Name: Community name and type (City, Village, etc.)
  • Title 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 60.3 Existing: The section of the CFR,—Chapter 1, Section 60.3, or 44 CFR 60.3—that the community is already enforcing, as a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program, based on the information shown on the current, effective FIRM
  • CFR 60.3 Revised: The section of 44 CFR 60.3 that the community must adopt and enforce in its floodplain management ordinance before the new or updated FIRM/DFIRM becomes effective.
    • If a change occurs in the 60.3 Existing and the 60.3 Revised codes, this could affect the insurance industry. A change from A to B or B to C could result in a change in the type of policy required and/or premium.
  • Letter Type: The type of LFD that was sent to the community. This is helpful in determining what kind of study took place and whether the insurance industry could be affected.
  • Number of Insurance Policies: The number of flood insurance policies in force (according to the FEMA Community Information System) at the time the LFD list was prepared. This may be compared to the community population to help identify highly insured areas.
  • CTP: Whether or not the community is participating in the Cooperating Technical Partners Program.
  • Number of Panels: Number of new or updated FIRM/DFIRM panels on which the community is shown.

Hard Copy To Digital Enclosures For LFDs

As part of the ongoing FEMA effort to minimize hard copy (paper) distribution of flood hazard information, FEMA has discontinued the distribution of hard-copy enclosures with LFDs. The following documents, previously distributed in paper form with LFDs, are available digitally for viewing or download:

Although FEMA will no longer distribute paper copies of LFD enclosures, hard copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting the FEMA Map Information eXchange.

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