Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Discussion
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 21-2102, AMENDING CHAPTER 6 (FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT) OF ARTICLE VII (BUILDING REGULATIONS- SEWAGE AND WASTE) OF THE CARSON MUNICIPAL CODE PURSUANT TO FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY MANDATE (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as a condition of continued eligibility for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), requires the City of Carson to add additional language to its existing floodplain management ordinance and otherwise be in compliance with 44 CFR § 60.3(b), as a result of recent modifications made to the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) and Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for Los Angeles County, which both show the location of special flood hazard areas. The modified FIRM and FIS will become effective April 21, 2021, necessitating City adoption of the amended ordinance prior to that time. Adoption of Ordinance No. 21-2102 will satisfy this requirement (Exhibit No. 1).
Some of the changes are minor, adding language that keeps the code in effect if the underlying federal statues change or providing additional notice to property owners about flood zone requirements. These changes are found in Section 8600.15 General Provisions 2. There are also several new sections added under Section 8600.20, Administration, including Subsections C. Alteration or Relocation of a Watercourse; D. Changes in Corporate Boundaries; E. Base Flood Elevation Data; F. Federal Insurance Administrator and Notice of Final Flood Elevations - No Regulatory Floodway Identified; G. Federal Insurance Administrator and Notice of Final Flood Elevation - No Regulatory Floodway Designation; and, Section 8600.30 Regulatory Floodway.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
TAKE the following actions:
1. INTRODUCE and READ by title only, and waive further reading, Ordinance No. 21-2102, “AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARSON, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING CHAPTER 6 (FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT) OF ARTICLE VIII (BUILDING REGULATIONS - SEWAGE AND WASTE) OF THE CARSON MUNICIPAL CODE PURSUANT TO FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY MANDATE”
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III. ALTERNATIVES
1. DO NOT approve the Carson Municipal Code ordinance amendment regulating floodplain management. However, if the recommendation is not approved, the city will be denied continued eligibility in the NFIP.
2. TAKE another action that City Council deems appropriate consistent with the requirements of the law.
IV. BACKGROUND
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) plays an integral role in efforts to both reduce flood losses to property and the loss of natural floodplain functions. Congress established the NFIP with the passage of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The goals of the NFIP are to: (1) decrease the risk of future floods; (2) reduce the cost of adverse consequences of flooding; (3) reduce the demands and expectations for disaster assistance after floods; and (4) preserve and restore natural and beneficial functions of floodplains.
On July 6, 1998, the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) that identified the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) for the City of Carson. On September 30, 2005, FEMA completed the re-evaluation of the flood hazard area in Los Angeles County communities and concluded that the City of Carson was no longer in a flood zone area. The revised FIRM became effective on September 20, 2006. On October 28, 2016, FEMA provided City with preliminary copies of a further revised FIRM and Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report for Los Angeles County, which is slated to become effective April 21, 2021. The FIRM and FIS show the location of special flood hazard areas.
On October 21, 2020, FEMA notified the City that because the FIRM and FIS have been updated and because there are SFHAs (Zone A) contained in flood control channels, FEMA is now requiring ordinance language be added to the Carson Municipal Code to bring City into compliance with Federal Regulations adopted pursuant to the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (44 CFR 60.3(b)). This will include adoption of the effective FIRM and FIS report to which the regulations apply and the modifications made by the map revision. The City is required, as a condition of continued eligibility in the NFIP, to add such additional language to the Carson Municipal Code, prior to April 21, 2021.
Some of the changes are minor, adding language that keeps the code in effect if the underlying federal statues change or providing additional notice to property owners about flood zone requirements. These changes are found in Section 8600.15 General Provisions 2. There are also several new sections added under Section 8600.20, Administration, including Subsections C. Alteration or Relocation of a Watercourse; D. Changes in Corporate Boundaries; E. Base Flood Elevation Data; F. Federal Insurance Administrator and Notice of Final Flood Elevations - No Regulatory Floodway Identified; G. Federal Insurance Administrator and Notice of Final Flood Elevation - No Regulatory Floodway Designation; and, Section 8600.30 Regulatory Floodway.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
NONE
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Floodplain Management Ordinance No. 21-2102 (pgs. 4-15)
Prepared by: Julio Gonzalez, Sustainability Administrator; Gilbert Marquez, P.E. City Engineer