The Floodplain Administrator is hereby appointed by the Board
of Supervisors or the County Administrator to administer and implement
this chapter and is referred to herein as the "Floodplain Administrator."
The Floodplain Administrator may [44 CFR 59.22(b)]:
A. Do the work himself or herself. In the absence of a designated Floodplain
Administrator, the duties are conducted by the Buchanan County Administrator.
B. Delegate duties and responsibilities set forth in this chapter to
qualified technical personnel, plan examiners, inspectors, and other
employees.
C. Enter into a written agreement or written contract with another community
or private sector entity to administer specific provisions of this
chapter. Administration of any part of this chapter by another entity
shall not relieve the community of its responsibilities pursuant to
the participation requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program
as set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations at 44 CFR 59.22.
The duties and responsibilities of the Floodplain Administrator,
or his or her designee, shall include but are not limited to (44 CFR
60.3):
A. Review applications for permits to determine whether proposed activities
will be located in the special flood hazard area (SFHA).
B. Interpret floodplain boundaries and provide available base flood
elevation and flood hazard information.
C. Review applications to determine whether proposed activities will
be reasonably safe from flooding and require new construction and
substantial improvements to meet the requirements of this chapter.
D. Review applications to determine whether all necessary permits have
been obtained from the federal, state, or local agencies from which
prior or concurrent approval is required; in particular, permits from
state agencies for any construction, reconstruction, repair, or alteration
of a dam, reservoir, or waterway obstruction (including bridges, culverts,
drain pipes, structures), any alteration of a watercourse, or any
change of the course, current, or cross section of a stream or body
of water, including any change to the 100-year frequency floodplain
of free-flowing nontidal waters of the state.
E. Verify that applicants proposing an alteration of a watercourse have
notified adjacent communities, the Department of Conservation and
Recreation (Division of Dam Safety and Floodplain Management), and
other appropriate agencies (VADEQ, USACE), and have submitted copies
of such notifications to FEMA.
F. Approve applications and issue permits to develop in flood hazard
areas if the provisions of this chapter have been met, or disapprove
applications if the provisions of this chapter have not been met.
G. Inspect, or cause to be inspected, buildings, structures, and other
development for which permits have been issued to determine compliance
with this chapter or to determine if noncompliance has occurred or
violations have been committed.
H. Review elevation certificates and require incomplete or deficient
certificates to be corrected.
I. Submit to FEMA, or require applicants to submit to FEMA, data and
information necessary to maintain FIRMs, including hydrologic and
hydraulic engineering analyses prepared by or for Buchanan County,
within six months after such data and information becomes available
if the analyses indicate changes in base flood elevations.
J. Maintain and permanently keep records that are necessary for the
administration of this chapter, including:
(1) Flood Insurance Studies, Flood Insurance Rate Maps (including historic
studies and maps and current effective studies and maps), and letters
of map change; and
(2) Documentation supporting issuance and denial of permits, elevation
certificates, documentation of the elevation (in relation to the datum
on the FIRM) to which structures have been floodproofed, inspection
records, other required design certifications, variances, and records
of enforcement actions taken to correct violations of this chapter.
K. Enforce the provisions of this chapter, investigate violations, issue
notices of violations or stop-work orders, and require permit holders
to take corrective action.
L. Advise the Board of Floodplain Appeals regarding the intent of this
chapter and, for each application for a variance or appeal, prepare
a staff report and recommendation.
M. Administer the requirements related to proposed work on existing
buildings:
(1) Make determinations as to whether buildings and structures that are
located in flood hazard areas and that are damaged by any cause have
been substantially damaged.
(2) Make reasonable efforts to notify owners of substantially damaged
structures of the need to obtain a permit to repair, rehabilitate,
or reconstruct. Prohibit the noncompliant repair of substantially
damaged buildings except for temporary emergency protective measures
necessary to secure a property or stabilize a building or structure
to prevent additional damage.
N. Undertake, as determined appropriate by the Floodplain Administrator
due to the circumstances, other actions which may include but are
not limited to: issuing press releases, public service announcements,
and other public information materials related to permit requests
and repair of damaged structures; coordinating with other federal,
state, and local agencies to assist with substantial damage determinations;
providing owners of damaged structures information related to the
proper repair of damaged structures in special flood hazard areas;
and assisting property owners with documentation necessary to file
claims for increased cost of compliance coverage under NFIP flood
insurance policies.
O. Notify the Federal Emergency Management Agency when the corporate
boundaries of the Buchanan County have been modified and:
(1) Provide a map that clearly delineates the new corporate boundaries
or the new area for which the authority to regulate pursuant to this
chapter has either been assumed or relinquished through annexation;
and
(2) If the FIRM for any annexed area includes special flood hazard areas
that have flood zones that have regulatory requirements that are not
set forth in this chapter, prepare amendments to this chapter to adopt
the FIRM and appropriate requirements, and submit the amendments to
the governing body for adoption; such adoption shall take place at
the same time as or prior to the date of annexation and a copy of
the amended regulations shall be provided to Department of Conservation
and Recreation (Division of Dam Safety and Floodplain Management)
and FEMA.
P. Upon the request of FEMA, complete and submit a report concerning
participation in the NFIP which may request information regarding
the number of buildings in the SFHA, number of permits issued for
development in the SFHA, and number of variances issued for development
in the SFHA.
Q. It is the duty of the Community Floodplain Administrator to take
into account flood, mudslide and flood-related erosion hazards, to
the extent that they are known, in all official actions relating to
land management and use throughout the entire jurisdictional area
of the community, whether or not those hazards have been specifically
delineated geographically (e.g., via mapping or surveying).
The Floodplain Administrator, or his or her designee, shall
make interpretations, where needed, as to the exact location of special
flood hazard areas, floodplain boundaries, and floodway boundaries.
The following shall apply to the use and interpretation of FIRMs and
data (44 CFR 60.3):
A. Where field surveyed topography indicates that adjacent ground elevations:
(1) Are below the base flood elevation in riverine SFHAs, even in areas
not delineated as a special flood hazard area on a FIRM, the area
shall be considered as special flood hazard area and subject to the
requirements of this chapter;
(2) Are above the base flood elevation and the area is labelled as a
SFHA on the FIRM, the area shall be regulated as special flood hazard
area unless the applicant obtains a letter of map change that removes
the area from the SFHA.
B. In FEMA-identified special flood hazard areas where base flood elevation
and floodway data have not been identified and in areas where FEMA
has not identified SFHAs, any other flood hazard data available from
a federal, state, or other source shall be reviewed and reasonably
used.
C. Base flood elevations and designated floodway boundaries on FIRMs
and in FISs shall take precedence over base flood elevations and floodway
boundaries by any other sources if such sources show reduced floodway
widths and/or lower base flood elevations.
D. Other sources of data shall be reasonably used if such sources show
increased base flood elevations and/or larger floodway areas than
are shown on FIRMs and in FISs.
E. If a preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map and/or a preliminary Flood
Insurance Study has been provided by FEMA:
(1) Upon the issuance of a letter of final determination by FEMA, the
preliminary flood hazard data shall be used and shall replace the
flood hazard data previously provided from FEMA for the purposes of
administering this chapter.
(2) Prior to the issuance of a letter of final determination by FEMA,
the use of preliminary flood hazard data shall be deemed the best
available data and used where no base flood elevations and/or floodway
areas are provided on the effective FIRM.
(3) Prior to issuance of a letter of final determination by FEMA, the
use of preliminary flood hazard data is permitted where the preliminary
base flood elevations or floodway areas exceed the base flood elevations
and/or designated floodway widths in existing flood hazard data provided
by FEMA. Such preliminary data may be subject to change and/or appeal
to FEMA.
The delineation of any of the Floodplain Districts may be revised
by Buchanan County where natural or man-made changes have occurred
and/or where more detailed studies have been conducted or undertaken
by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or other qualified agency, or
an individual documents the need for such change. However, prior to
any such change, approval must be obtained from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. A completed LOMR is a record of this approval.
Initial interpretations of the boundaries of the floodplain
districts shall be made by the Floodplain Administrator or his or
her designee. Should a dispute arise concerning the boundaries of
any of the districts, the Floodplain Administrator, or his designee,
shall make the necessary determination. The person questioning or
contesting the location of the district boundary shall be given a
reasonable opportunity to present his case to the Board of Floodplain
Appeals and to submit his own technical evidence if he so desires.
A community's base flood elevations may increase or decrease
resulting from physical changes affecting flooding conditions. As
soon as practicable, but not later than six months after the date
such information becomes available, a community shall notify the Federal
Emergency Management Agency of the changes by submitting technical
or scientific data. The community may submit data via a LOMR. Such
a submission is necessary so that, upon confirmation of those physical
changes affecting flooding conditions, risk premium rates and floodplain
management requirements will be based upon current data. (44 CFR 65.3).