7 CFR Part 1970
Subpart F – Floodplain Management
Executive Summary:
Floodplains are essential to clean water, water recharge, reduction of flood risk, and protection of property, human safety, health and welfare, and fish and wildlife habitat. The subpart assists in implementing the necessary procedures for activities that could adversely affect floodplains. The purpose of this policy is to provide direction in order to avoid adverse impacts of occupancy, modification, and development of floodplains, and to preserve the beneficial effects of floodplains.
Regulations & Compliance
An eight-step decision making process is used for actions which may have floodplain impacts. This process is also used for actions that involve purchase or repair of existing structures within a floodplain.
Determine if the proposed action is in a floodplain.
- Also determine whether the action has the potential to affect or be affected by a floodplain. If the action won’t occur within the floodplain and no impact is anticipated, then no further action is necessary.
Preliminary public notice and private party notification.
- Notify the public at the earliest possible time of the agency’s intent to carry out an action in the floodplain and involve the affected and interested public in the decision-making process.
Search for practicable alternatives.
- Identify and evaluate alternatives to locating the action in the floodplain, including off-site and on-site alternatives, alternative configurations, and the “no action” alternative. If a practicable alternative exists outside the floodplain, this alternative must be considered.
Identify adverse impacts and beneficial values/functions
- Identify potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts associated with the proposed action. Identify the floodplain’s beneficial functions and values such as water quality improvement, water filtration, floodwater storage, fish and wildlife habitat, aesthetics, and biological productivity. Then, analyze impacts to the natural environment, social concerns, economic and engineering aspects, and legal considerations.
Mitigate adverse impacts
- Mitigation can take place in the form of avoidance, minimization of floodplain impacts, or compensation for impacts, and can include all efforts to minimize the adverse impacts to floodplains identified under step 4. Avoidance can often by accomplished by reviewing alternative layouts, designs, and configurations. Mitigation also employs on-site evaluation including presence of other natural or cultural resources, economic, engineering, and transportation constraints, site access, etc. The applicant should ensure documentation in the environmental file of any efforts to avoid, minimize, and mitigate adverse impacts to the floodplain, including restoration, preservation, or enhancement of the natural and beneficial values of the floodplain.
Re-evaluate alternatives
- Re-evaluate the proposed action to determine if it’s still practicable in light of the remaining exposure to flood hazards, extent to which the action will aggravate hazards, and the potential to disrupt floodplain values. Alternatives preliminarily rejected at step 3 should also be re-evaluated as to whether they are practicable in light of the information gained in steps 4 and 5. The agency may deny financial assistance if the agency determines there are practicable alternatives which would accomplish the proposed action’s purpose and need without floodplain impact, or if there is not a significant need for the proposal, regardless of whether the applicant has an issued permit for the floodplain impacts.
Final Public Notice
- Prepare and provide the public with a finding and public explanation that the final decision is the only practicable alternative, and that there is a significant need for the proposed action.
Implement Proposed action with appropriate mitigation
- When floodplain impacts would occur from an action, but permits are not yet issued, the agency can complete an EA/EIS and publish a FONSI/ROD evaluating the proposed impacts. These documents shall indicate no construction should start until after the permits are issued.
Floodplain Determination
The new implementing guidelines state that “the minimum standard for federal actions… is the 1-percent-annual-change flood elevation and corresponding horizontal floodplain for non-critical actions. Agencies should continue to use the 0.2 percent-annual-change flood elevation and corresponding horizontal floodplain for critical actions.”
Resources:
Google Earth Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM)
7 CFR Part 1970
Subpart G – Wetland Protection
Executive Summary:
Wetlands are essential to providing clean water, recharging water supplies, reducing flood risks, and providing fish and wildlife habitat. This subpart assists in implementing the necessary procedures for activities that could adversely affect wetlands. The purpose of this policy is to provide direction in order to avoid adverse impacts of modification and destruction of wetlands, and to preserve the beneficial effects of wetlands.
Regulations & Compliance
An eight-step decision making process is used for actions which may have adverse wetland impacts. Executive order 11990 requires federal agencies to take action to minimize destruction, loss, or degradation of wetlands and provide opportunity for early public review of these projects.
Determine if the proposed action is in a wetland.
- Determine whether the action has the potential to affect or be affected by a wetland. If the action won’t occur within the wetland and no impact is anticipated, then no further action is necessary.
Preliminary public notice and private party notification.
- Notify the public at the earliest possible time of the agency’s intent to carry out an action in the wetland and involve the affected and interested public in the decision-making process.
Search for practicable alternatives.
- Identify and evaluate alternatives to locating the action in the wetland, including off-site and on-site alternatives, alternative configurations, and the “no action” alternative. If a practicable alternative exists outside the wetland, this alternative must be considered.
Identify adverse impacts and beneficial values/functions
- Identify potential direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts associated with the proposed action. Identify the wetland’s beneficial functions and values such as water quality improvement, water filtration, floodwater storage, fish and wildlife habitat, aesthetics, and biological productivity. Then, analyze impacts to the natural environment, social concerns, economic and engineering aspects, and legal considerations.
Mitigate adverse impacts
- Mitigation can take place in the form of avoidance, minimization of wetland impacts, or compensation for impacts, and can include all efforts to minimize the adverse impacts to wetlands identified under step 4. Avoidance can often by accomplished by reviewing alternative layouts, designs, and configurations. Mitigation also employs on-site evaluation including presence of other natural or cultural resources, economic, engineering, and transportation constraints, site access, etc. The applicant should ensure documentation in the environmental file of any efforts to avoid, minimize, and mitigate adverse impacts to the wetland, including restoration, preservation, or enhancement of the natural and beneficial values of the wetland.
Re-evaluate alternatives
- Re-evaluate the proposed action to determine if it’s still practicable in light of the remaining exposure to flood hazards, extent to which the action will aggravate hazards, and the potential to disrupt wetland values. Alternatives preliminarily rejected at step 3 should also be re-evaluated as to whether they are practicable in light of the information gained in steps 4 and 5. The agency may deny financial assistance if the agency determines there are practicable alternatives which would accomplish the proposed action’s purpose and need without wetland impact, or if there is not a significant need for the proposal, regardless of whether the applicant has an issued permit for the wetland impacts.
Final Public Notice
- Prepare and provide the public with a finding and public explanation that the final decision is the only practicable alternative, and that there is a significant need for the proposed action.
Implement Proposed action with appropriate mitigation
- When wetland impacts would occur from an action, but permits are not yet issued, the agency can complete an EA/EIS and publish a FONSI/ROD evaluating the proposed impacts. These documents shall indicate no construction should start until after the permits are issued.
Required Documentation
The environmental documentation includes the following three components:
- Documentation that there is no practicable alternative to wetland impacts
- Documentation that the proposed project includes all practicable measures to minimize harm to wetlands which may result from such a project
- Documentation that the proposed action does not violate section 363 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (CONACT)
Wetland Definition
Wetlands are defined in section 1970.405. The term “wetland” encompasses a variety of conditions and degrees of wetness. Some wetlands are very easy to recognize because the water sits on the land’s surface for much of the year (permanently or seasonally flooded). Other wetlands exist due to saturation of the soil by groundwater and can be difficult to identify (intermittent or temporarily flooded). Wetlands do not need to be wet year-round. In fact, due to seasonal variations in rainfall and other environmental conditions, most wetlands lack both surface water and waterlogged soils during at least part of the growing season each year.
Helpful Resources
Google Earth KML File of Wetland Data
Kansas City District Corps of Engineers
Little Rock District Corps of Engineers
Memphis Distric Corps of Engineers
Compensatory Mitigation Brochure
