Community Rating System

A community receives a CRS classification from FEMA based upon the total credit for its activities. There are 10 CRS classes: Class 1 requires the most credit points and gives the greatest premium reduction or discount. A community that does not apply for the CRS, or does not obtain the minimum number of credit points, is a Class 10 community and receives no discount on premiums. The qualifying community total points, CRS classes, and flood insurance premium discounts are shown in Table 110-1 from the CRS Coordinator’s Manual.

Public Information (300 Series): This series credits programs that advise people about the flood hazard, encourage the purchase of flood insurance, and provide information about ways to reduce flood damage. These activities also generate data needed by insurance agents for accurate flood insurance ratings.

Mapping and Regulations (400 Series): This series credits programs that provide increased protection to new development. These activities include mapping areas not shown on the FIRM, preserving open space, protecting natural floodplain functions, enforcing higher regulatory standards, and managing stormwater. The credit is increased for growing communities in Section 710.

Flood Damage Reduction Activities (500 Series): This series credits programs for areas in which existing development is at risk. Credit is provided for a comprehensive floodplain management plan, relocating or retrofitting flood-prone structures, and maintaining drainage systems.

Warning and Response (600 Series): This series credits measures that protect life and property during a flood, through flood warning and response programs. There are special credits for warning and response programs that cover areas threatened by flooding due to failure of a levee or dam.

Community Classification (700 Series): In this series, the credit points for each activity undergo final adjustment. In Section 710, the scores for mapping and regulatory activities are adjusted to reflect the community's rate of growth. The points for all the activities are then totaled in Section 720.

For additional information refer to http://crsresources.org/.

Application for a CRS classification is voluntary. A community can request a CRS classification at any time for any activities and elements, provided that:

1. The community can meet all of the responsibilities listed under “Community Responsibilities,” and
2. The credit points add up to at least 500 points, enough to become a Class 9.

The following documentation is needed to request a CRS classification. Both items can be submitted digitally to the Insurance Services Office. Letters needing signatures should be scanned and sent as PDF files. A CRS Letter of Interest template and CRS Quick Check is available on FEMA’s website.

(1) A letter of interest that:

• States that the community is interested in joining the CRS. Designates the community’s CRS Coordinator.
• States that the community will cooperate with the verification process.
• The letter is signed by the community’s chief executive officer (CEO). A sample letter is available by sending an email to the program.

To participate in the CRS, a community must:

• Be in the Regular Phase of the NFIP for at least 1 year.
• Be in full compliance with the minimum requirements of the NFIP. This is documented by a “letter of full compliance” from FEMA Region IX.
• Designate someone to be the CRS Coordinator.
• Maintain flood insurance on all buildings owned by the community that are required to have flood insurance.
• Submit a recertification each year attesting that all credited activities are still being implemented.
• Track the area of the regulated floodplain and the number of buildings in the regulated floodplain each year.
• Keep elevation certificates, Flood Insurance Rate Maps, and Flood Insurance Studies for as long as the community is in the CRS.
• Maintain other records of activities until they are reviewed at the next verification visit.
• Communities with repetitive loss properties have additional requirements. ISO, FEMA, or DWR can provide repetitive loss information to local officials.
• Coastal communities with Limit of Moderate Wave Action (LiMWA) lines on their draft Flood Insurance Rate Maps have an additional requirement. See Section 211.a(6) of the CRS Coordinator’s Manual.

Community CRS Roles

• Chief Executive Officer (CEO): The official who is charged with the authority to implement and administer laws, ordinances, and regulations for the community. The CEO may be a mayor, city or county manager, county executive, or chair of a county board.

• CRS Coordinator: The local official designated by the CEO to coordinate the community’s CRS activities. The CRS Coordinator is the community’s point of contact for verification and recertification.
  

These responsibilities are spelled out in more detail in Sections 114.b and 211(a) of the CRS Coordinator’s Manual. See the page on Application Process on how to apply.

The CRS Coordinator is the person designated by the community's chief executive officer (CEO) as the point of contact for FEMA and ISO on CRS matters. The Community Rating System does not have specific requirements for this office, but here is some guidance based on twenty years of experience.

Prerequisites:

• The person appointed should be familiar with the National Flood Insurance Program and the community’s flood protection activities.
• The person needs to be recognized as speaking for the CEO when materials and assistance are requested from the various community offices and departments.
• The person does not have to be a community employee, but he or she does need the confidence of the CEO and must be authorized to sign documents and certifications on behalf of the community.

Duties:

• Become familiar with the CRS’s operation, prerequisites, and credited activities.
• Assemble and coordinate the materials for the community’s CRS application, cycle verification visits, and annual recertification.
• Complete and sign community certifications, as appropriate for credit.
• Set up verification visits with the ISO/CRS Specialist. This includes determining the time and place and lining up representatives from the offices that implement the credited activities.

Recommendations:

• Most, if not all, CRS credited activities are not implemented by the CRS Coordinator but by other offices and departments. Getting the materials and cooperation from those offices is vital. An effective Coordinator must know what the other offices do and be able to work with them.
• The CRS Coordinator should be an energetic person who is committed to flood protection and improving his or her community.
• The Coordinator should learn about the full range of activities that are credited by the CRS, including those that the community is not currently implementing.
• Being a Certified Floodplain Manager is desirable.

It is recommended that a new CRS Coordinator attend the four day CRS class (E 278) held at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute (EMI) and field deployed to some states. There is no cost for this course and travel is paid for those accepted to EMI. Coordinators can also greatly benefit by participating in one of the local CRS users groups. More information on the class and users groups is available from Insurance Services Office.

• The Insurance Services Office (ISO) will review what was submitted. If it looks like your community can document at least 500 points, a verification visit will be scheduled.
• At the verification visit, ISO will review all activities that you think your community should be credited for.
• Depending on the activity, ISO will want to see your Elevation Certificates, ordinance language, permit records, and other relevant documentation that shows you are implementing the activity.
• Depending on the activity, ISO will want to tour parts of your community to verify implementation on the ground.
• At the end of the visit, ISO will offer to talk to your Chief Executive Officer or other supervisor to go over the findings. These talks stress the positive findings and encourage the community leaders to support good floodplain management practices.
• ISO’s findings are summarized in a draft verification report which is sent to you. The Specialist’s findings and recommendations are reviewed by ISO and later by FEMA.
• Once the recommendations are accepted by FEMA, an official letter is sent to your Chief Executive Officer.
• If your community is accepted into the CRS, FEMA will present you with a plaque. Many communities prefer to have a plaque presentation ceremony to show the governing board, the media, and the public what has been earned due to their good floodplain management programs.
• In August of each year, you will be sent a recertification package that needs to be completed and returned to ISO by October 1. The recertification package lists each item that you are getting credit for and requires, in some cases, examples of what was implemented during the year.

A CRS users group is an informal organization of people interested in the Community Rating System. The organization is usually of people from the same metropolitan area, but there are multi-county and state-wide users groups, too.

They meet and talk and share good ideas. Sometimes they arrange a presentation through their ISO/CRS Specialist and sometimes one or more members will talk about how they implement an activity. When possible, the area’s ISO/CRS Specialist will attend and sometimes they can bring in a CRS technical reviewer or other national expert on a CRS activity. Some users groups have developed and help coordinate activities that result in credit for the participating communities, such as a county-wide public information program strategy.

There is no required organization. CRS committees of state floodplain management associations are organized according to their association by-laws. Others have volunteer leaders who organize the meetings and volunteer secretaries who take minutes. There’s no requirement for minutes, but some groups have found them helpful in informing members who could not make a meeting.

Whoever is interested. Some have been started by state offices and some by state floodplain management associations, but most have been started by local CRS Coordinators who wanted to learn how their neighbors implemented an activity or wanted to share some lessons they learned.

Why not? Often consultants work for several communities and can disseminate the information learned at a meeting to their clients.

There are more than 40 users groups across the nation, including one in Northern California. A map with the users groups is available on the CRS Resources webpage. There is one user group in California.

• Santa Clara County, CA CRS Users Group – Email: Amy Fonseca

For more information, contact Robb Lampa at Robert.Lampa@water.ca.gov.