[Federal Register: September 4, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 170)]
[Notices]               
[Page 50689-50690]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04se07-53]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

 
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites 
the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity 
to comment on a proposed revised information collection. In accordance 
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice seeks comments 
concerning information required by FEMA to amend or revise National 
Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Maps to remove certain property from the 
1-percent annual chance floodplain.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: With the passage of the Flood Disaster 
Protection Act of 1973, an owner of a structure, with a federally 
backed mortgage, located in the 1-percent annual chance floodplain, was 
required to purchase federal flood insurance. This was in response to 
the escalating damage caused by flooding and the unavailability of 
flood insurance from commercial insurance companies. As part of this 
effort, FEMA mapped the 1-percent annual chance floodplain in 
communities. However, due to scale limitations, individual structures 
that may be above the base flood cannot always be shown as being out of 
the 1-percent annual chance floodplain. FEMA will issue a Letter of Map 
Amendment (LOMA) or a Letter of Map Revision--Based on Fill (LOMR-F) to 
waive the Federal requirement for flood insurance when data is 
submitted to show that the property or structure is ``reasonably safe 
from flooding'' and at or above the elevation of the base flood. 
Requestors can check on the status of their Letter of Map Amendment 
(LOMA), Letter of Map Revision Based on Fill (LOMR-F), Conditional 
Letter of Map Amendment (CLOMA), and Conditional Letter of Map Revision 
Based on Fill (CLOMR-F) request by visiting FEMA's Mapping Information 
Platform Web site at https://hazards.fema.gov.


Collection of Information

    Title: Revisions to National Flood Insurance Program Maps: 
Application Forms and Instructions for (C)LOMAs and (C)LOMR-Fs.
    Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved 
collection.
    OMB Number: 1660-0015.
    Form Numbers: FEMA Forms 81-87, 81-87A, 81-87B.
    Abstract: The certification forms (referred to as MT-1 series 
forms) are designed to assist requesters in gathering information that 
the FEMA needs to determine whether a certain property is likely to be 
flooded during a flood event that has a one-percent annual chance of 
being equaled or exceeded in any given year (base flood). FEMA Form 81-
87, Property Information, describes the location of the property, what 
is being requested, and what data are required to support the request. 
FEMA Form 81-87A, Elevation Information, indicates what the Base (one-
percent annual chance) Flood Elevation (BFE) for the property is, how 
the BFE was determined, the lowest ground elevation on the property, 
and/or the elevation of the lowest adjacent grade to any structures on 
the property. This information is required in order for FEMA to 
determine if the property that the requester would like removed from 
the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) is at or above the BFE. FEMA Form 
81-87B, Community Acknowledgment, requires that a community official 
certify that the request complies with minimum floodplain management 
criteria specified in 44 CFR 60.3, as per NFIP regulations 44 CFR 
65.5(a)(4).
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households, Business or other for-
profit organizations, and state and local or tribal government.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 58,150.

                                               Annual Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Project/activity (survey,
    form(s), focus group,         Number of       Frequency of     Burden hours       Annual       Total annual
       worksheet, etc.)          respondents       responses      per respondent     responses     burden hours
                                          (A)  (B)..............             (C)     (D) = (AxB)     (E) = (CxD)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Form 81-87, Property                   18,272  Annual (1).......            1.63          18,272          29,783
 Information Form (Homeowners/
 Representatives of
 Homeowner).
Form 81-87A, Elevation Form            18,272  Annual (1).......            1.25          18,272          22,840
 (Surveyors/Engineers).
Form 81-87B, Community                  3,389  Annual (1).......            1.38           3,389           4,677
 Acknowledgment Form
 (Community Officials).
On-line LOMA/LOMR-F Tutorial            1,700  Annual (1).......             0.5           1,700             850
 (Homeowners).
                              ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total....................          41,633  .................            4.76          41,633          58,150
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    Estimated Cost: Cost to respondents is estimated to be $1,258,199 
annually.
    Comments: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments 
on the proposed information collection to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management Budget, Attention: Nathan 
Lesser, Desk Officer, Department of Homeland Security/FEMA, and sent 
via electronic mail to oira_submission@omb.eop.gov or faxed to (202) 
395-6974. Comments must be submitted on or before October 4, 2007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Ms. Cecelia Lynch, FEMA, 
Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration at (202) 646-7045 for 
additional information. You may contact the Records Management Branch 
for copies of the proposed collection of information at facsimile 
number (202) 646-3347 or e-mail address: 
FEMA-Information-Collections@dhs.gov.



[[Page 50690]]


    Dated: August 27, 2007.
John A. Sharetts-Sullivan,
Director, Records Management and Privacy, Office of Management 
Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of 
Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. E7-17486 Filed 8-31-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 9110-09-P