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Period: to
Various Flood Control Acts
Swamp Land Acts of 1849 and 1850;
Mississippi River Commission in 1879;
Missouri River Commission in 1884;
River and Harbor Act of 1902;
Flood Control Act of 1917, the first act aimed exclusively at controlling floods;
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 led to substantial flood control funding. And a series of floods in 1935 and 1936 across the nation were critical in the passage of the Flood Control Act of 1936 -
Flood Control Act of 1936
Prompted by major riverine flood disasters of the 1920’s and 1930’s:
Considerable Federal involvement in protecting life and property from flooding through the use of structural flood-control projects, such as dams and levees -
Federal Insurance Act
Congress proposed an experimental program designed to demonstrate the feasibility of the private sector providing flood insurance;
Never implemented -
Federal Disaster Assistance Administration
Under the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the 1960s, which endeavored to organize response to disasters on a federal level -
Southeast Hurricane Disaster Relief Act
A result of the extensive damagecaused by Hurricane Betsy in the Gulf States;
Provided financial relief for the flooding victims;
Authorized a feasibility study of a national flood insurance program;
Resulting report “Insurance and Other Programs for Financial Assistance to Flood Victims” -
House Document 465, “A Unified National Program for Managing Flood Losses”
The Bureau of the Budget Task Force on Federal Flood Control in 1966 advocated a broader perspective on flood control within the context of floodplain development. -
National Flood Insurance Act
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
Prohibit FEMA from providing flood insurance unless the community adopts and enforces floodplain management regulations that meet or exceed the floodplain management criteria
Identify and maps the Nation’s floodplains -
Flood Disaster Protection Act
Prohibits Federal agencies from providing financial assistance for acquisition or construction of buildings and certain disaster assistance in the floodplains in any community that did not participate in the NFIP by July 1,1975, or within 1 year of being identified as flood-prone;
Mandatory Flood Insurance Purchase Requiremen- Federal agencies and federally insured or regulated lenders had to require flood insurance on all grants and loans in SFHA -
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
The FDAA’s attempt to manage assistance was replaced by a centralized agency – FEMA – in 1979, with President Carter’s Executive Order 12127. It transferred functions once overseen by the Department of Commerce, HUD, and the Office of the President, and the new agency soon saw itself tasked not only with disaster relief but also civil defense, which consumed much of its efforts until the end of the Cold War. -
NFIP Community Rating System (CRS)
Provides discounts on flood insurance premiums in those communities that establish floodplain management programs that go beyond NFIP minimum requirements. Under the CRS, communities receive credit for more restrictive regulations, acquisition, relocation, or floodproofing of flood-prone buildings, preservation of open space, and other measures that reduce flood damages or protect the natural resources and functions of floodplains. -
National Flood Insurance Reform Act
Amends 1968 Act to codify the Community Rating System in the NFIP, and to expand the CRS goals to specifically include incentives for reducing the risk of flood-related erosion and for encouraging measures that protect natural and beneficial floodplain functions. These goals have been incorporated into the CRS and communities now receive credit towards premium reductions for activities that contribute to them. -
FEMA Under Department of Homeland Security
FEMA moved, along with 22 other federal agencies/programs/offices, under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security with the passage of the Homeland Security Act. -
FEMA established as own official entity
Post-Katrina Emergency Reform Act was intended to address many of its “gaps” that contributed to its disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina – for instance, it once again established FEMA as its own official entity. -
2013 Edition of CRS Manual
Some major changes from previous editions