USACE

FEMA

Area of
Responsibility

• Flood Risk Management
• Inspection and Assessment of Levees
• Providing Technical Assistance to levee sponsors during an event
• Rehabilitation of Flood Damage Reduction Structures

• Flood Insurance
• Floodplain Management
• Flood Hazard Mapping

Authority

Rehabilitation and Inspection Program (under PL 84-99)

National Flood Insurance Program

Verification/
Requirements

Continuing Eligibility Inspection:

• Routine- annual inspection to verify the project sponsor operates and maintains the levee system to achieve the maximum design level of protection benefits.
• Periodic – more detailed inspection conducted every 5 years, includes routine inspection items, evaluates operational adequacy, structural stability, and safety of system; compares current design and construction criteria with those in place when the levee was built.

Accreditation – the process FEMA uses to show a levee system on a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) or Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) as providing protection from the 1-percent-annual-chance or greater flood(100-year or base flood). This determination is based on the submittal of data and documentation as required by Section 65.10 of the NFIP regulations.

Levee Screening – USACE has developed an electronic screening tool to evaluate the relative risk posed by an individual levee system.  The tool combines inspection data with a preliminary engineering assessment and maximizes the use of existing information and knowledge of levee performance.  The tool will help assess and communicate the general condition of levees currently in the inventory and to assist in the prioritization of levees requiring additional evaluation.  Updated as system changes occur, such as a flood event or new information gathered from future inspections.

Certification – required by Title 44 CFR 65.10, which states that specific structural, operational, and maintenance requirements must be certified by a registered professional engineer or that a Federal agency with responsibility for levee design, such as USACE, may find that the levee has been adequately designed and constructed to provide protection against the base flood.

Who performs
verification

USACE

FEMA/Licensed Professional Engineer
(Private Sector or USACE)

Inspection Rating/ Designation

Acceptable – All items or components are rated as Acceptable.

Accredited - A levee system that FEMA has shown on a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) or Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) as providing protection from the 1-percent-annual-chance or greater flood(100-year or base flood). This determination is based on the submittal of data and documentation as required by Section 65.10 of the NFIP regulations.

Minimally Acceptable – One or more items are rated as Minimally Acceptable or one or more items are rated as Unacceptable and an engineering determination concludes that the Unacceptable items would not prevent the segment/system from performing as intended during the next flood event with flood fighting.

Provisionally Accredited- A one-time designation for a levee system that FEMA has previously accredited with providing 1-percent-annual-chance protection on an effective FIRM or DFIRM, has no known structural deficiencies, and for which FEMA is awaiting data and/or documentation that will demonstrate the levee system’s compliance with the NFIP regulatory criteria cited at 44 CFR Section 65.10, in accordance with signed agreement from the community that it will be provided within 24 months.

Unacceptable – One or more items are rated as Unacceptable and would prevent the segment/system from performing as intended, or a serious deficiency noted in past inspections (which had previously resulted in a minimally acceptable system rating) has not been corrected within the established time frame, not to exceed two years.

De-Accredited- A levee system that was once shown on the FIRM or DFIRM as providing protection from the 1-percent-annual-chance or greater flood, but is no longer accredited with providing this protection because of known structural deficiencies or FEMA has not been provided with sufficient data and documentation to determine that the levee system continues to meet the NFIP regulatory requirements cited at 44 CFR Section 65.10.

Flood Fighting

Flood Fighting is an emergency measure used to reduce the risk of levee failure and is a factor considered when determining a system rating. 

Flood Fighting is not to be considered for accreditation status.

Impacts of
Unsatisfactory
Rating

An Unacceptable rating may result in a levee system becoming inactive in the Rehabilitation and Inspection Program.  The levee system will not be eligible for federal rehabilitation if damaged in a flood or storm event.

An Unacceptable inspection rating by USACE does not automatically “decertify” a levee.

Does not correlate directly, but is a factor in the FEMA findings for accreditation through the NFIP.

Flood insurance is required in high-risk areas as a condition of any mortgage that is federally backed, regulated, or insured.

Zoning restrictions for communities.

Relationships

Past (2007): FEMA asked USACE if it was aware of any issues that may prevent the levees from being able to be certified as part of the process for modernizing and revising Flood Insurance Rate Map data.

Now: Routine and Periodic inspection results are provided to FEMA.