24 C.F.R. Subpart B—Application of Executive Order on Floodplain Management
Title 24 - Housing and Urban Development
(a) Where an environmental review is required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4332, and 24 CFR part 50 or part 58, compliance with this part shall be completed before the completion of an environmental assessment (EA) including a finding of no significant environmental impact (FONSI), or an environmental impact statement (EIS), in accordance with the decision points listed in 24 CFR 50.17 (a) through (h), or before the preparation of an EA under 24 CFR 58.40 or an EIS under 24 CFR 58.36. For types of proposed actions that are categorically excluded from National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements under 24 CFR part 50 (or part 58), compliance with this part shall be completed before the Department's initial (SAMA, conditional, etc.) approval (or the conditional commitment or approval by a grant recipient subject to 24 CFR part 58) of proposed actions in a floodplain. (b) The categorical exclusion of certain proposed actions from environmental review requirements under NEPA and 24 CFR parts 50 and 58 (see 24 CFR 50.20 and 58.35) does not exclude those actions from compliance with this part. (a) Before reaching the decision points described in §55.10(a), HUD (for Department-administered programs) or the grant recipient (for HUD financial assistance subject to 24 CFR part 58) shall determine whether Executive Order 11988 and this part apply to the proposed action. (b) If Executive Order 11988 applies, the approval of a proposed action or initial commitment shall be made in accordance with this part. The primary purpose of Executive Order 11988 is to “avoid direct or indirect support of floodplain development.” (c) The following table indicates the applicability, by location and type of action, of the decision making process for implementing Executive Order 11988 under subpart C of this part. (a) The decision making steps in §55.20 (b), (c) and (g) (steps 2, 3 and 7) shall not apply to the following categories of proposed actions: (1) HUD actions involving the disposition of HUD-acquired multifamily housing projects or “bulk sales” of HUD-acquired one- to four-family properties in communities that are in the Regular Program of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and in good standing (i.e., not suspended from program eligibility or placed on probation under 44 CFR 59.24). (2) HUD's actions under section 223(f) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715n(f)) for the purchase or refinancing of existing multifamily housing projects (including hospitals, nursing homes, board and care facilities, and intermediate care facilities) in communities that are in good standing under the NFIP. (3) HUD mortgage insurance actions for the repair, rehabilitation, modernization or improvement of existing multifamily housing projects (including nursing homes, board and care facilities and intermediate care facilities) and existing one- to four-family properties, in communities that are in the Regular Program of the NFIP and are in good standing, provided that the number of units is not increased more than 20 percent, the action does not involve a conversion from nonresidential to residential land use, and the footprint of the structure and paved areas is not significantly increased. (b) The decision making process in §55.20 shall not apply to the following categories of proposed actions: (1) HUD's mortgage insurance actions and other financial assistance for the purchasing, mortgaging or refinancing of existing one- to four-family properties in communities that are in the Regular Program of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and in good standing (i.e., not suspended from program eligibility or placed on probation under 44 CFR 59.24), where the action is not a critical action and the property is not located in a floodway or coastal high hazard area; (2) Financial assistance for minor repairs or improvements on one- to four-family properties that do not meet the thresholds for “substantial improvement” under §55.2(b)(8); (3) HUD actions involving the disposition of individual HUD-acquired, one- to four-family properties; and (4) HUD guarantees under the Loan Guarantee Recovery Fund Program (24 CFR part 573) of loans that refinance existing loans and mortgages, where any new construction or rehabilitation financed by the existing loan or mortgage has been completed prior to the filing of an application under the program, and the refinancing will not allow further construction or rehabilitation, nor result in any physical impacts or changes except for routine maintenance. (c) This part shall not apply to the following categories of proposed HUD actions: (1) HUD-assisted exempt activities described in 24 CFR 58.34; (2) Policy level actions described at 24 CFR 50.16 that do not involve site-based decisions; (3) HUD's implementation of the full disclosure and other registration requirements of the Interstate Land Sales Disclosure Act (15 U.S.C. 1701–1720); (4) An action involving a repossession, receivership, foreclosure, or similar acquisition of property to protect or enforce HUD's financial interests under previously approved loans, grants, mortgage insurance, or other HUD assistance; (5) A minor amendment to a previously approved action with no additional adverse impact on or from a floodplain; (6) HUD's approval of a project site, an incidental portion of which is situated in an adjacent floodplain, but only if: (i) The proposed construction and landscaping activities (except for minor grubbing, clearing of debris, pruning, sodding, seeding, etc.) do not occupy or modify the 100-year floodplain or the 500-year floodplain (for Critical Actions); (ii) Appropriate provision is made for site drainage; and (iii) A covenant or comparable restriction is placed on the property's continued use to preserve the floodplain; (7) An action for interim assistance, assistance under the section 232(i) Fire Safety Equipment Loan Insurance Program, or emergency activities involving imminent threats to health and safety, and limited to necessary protection, repair or restoration activities to control the imminent risk or damage; (8) HUD's approval of financial assistance for a project on any site in a floodplain for which FEMA has issued: (i) A final Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or final Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) that removed the property from a FEMA-designated floodplain location; or (ii) A conditional LOMA or conditional LOMR if the HUD approval is subject to the requirements and conditions of the conditional LOMA or conditional LOMR; (9) HUD's acceptance of a housing subdivision approval action by the Department of Veterans Affairs or Farmers Home Administration in accordance with section 535 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490o); (10) An action that was, on May 23, 1994, already approved by HUD (or a grant recipient subject to 24 CFR part 58) and is being implemented (unless approval is requested for a new reviewable action), provided that §§55.21 and 55.22 apply where the covered transactions under those sections have not yet occurred, and that any hazard minimization measures required by HUD (or a grant recipient subject to 24 CFR part 58) under its implementation of Executive Order 11988 before May 23, 1994 shall be completed; (11) Issuance or use of Housing Vouchers, Certificates under the Section 8 Existing Housing Program, or other forms of rental subsidy where HUD, the awarding community, or the public housing agency that administers the contract awards rental subsidies that are not project-based (i.e., do not involve site-specific subsidies); and (12) Secondary mortgage operations of the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA). [59 FR 19107, Apr. 21, 1994, as amended at 59 FR 33199, June 28, 1994; 62 FR 15802, Apr. 2, 1997]
Title 24: Housing and Urban Development
PART 55—FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT
Subpart B—Application of Executive Order on Floodplain Management
§ 55.10 Environmental review procedures under 24 CFR parts 50 and 58.
§ 55.11 Applicability of subpart C decision making process.
Table 1---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Type of proposed location Type of proposed action (new ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- reviewable action or an 100-year Area between 100- amendment) Floodways Coastal high floodplain outside and 500-year hazard areas high hazard area floodplain----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Critical actions as defined in Critical actions Critical actions Allowed if the Allowed if the § 55.2(b)(2). not allowed. not allowed. proposed critical proposed critical action is action is processed under processed under § 55.20 \1\. § 55.20 \1\.Non-critical actions not Allowed only if Allowed only if Allowed if the Any non-critical excluded under § 55.12 (b) the proposed the proposed proposed action action is allowed or (c). action is a action: (1) Is is processed without functionally either (a) under § processing under dependent use and designed for 55.20 \1\. this part. processed under location in a § 55.20 \1\. coastal high hazard area or (b) a functionally dependent use; and (2) is processed under § 55.20 \1\.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\1\ Or those paragraphs of § 55.20 that are applicable to an action listed in § 55.12(a).
§ 55.12 Inapplicability of 24 CFR part 55 to certain categories of proposed actions.
