OAKLAND, Calif. - The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will suspend processing two types of flood map revision requests in 38 California counties starting July 1, 2023. This pause will affect requests for Letters of Map Revision Based on Fill (LOMR-F) and Conditional Letters of Map Revision Based on Fill (CLOMR-F).
Applications from the following 32 counties are newly affected by the suspension: Alameda, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Trinity, Placer, Sacramento, Shasta, Stanislaus, Sutter, Siskiyou, Tehama, Yolo and Yuba. FEMA will also continue the existing suspension, effective August 2020, in these six counties: Los Angeles, Orange, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura. Thus, a total of 38 counties containing designated critical habitat for listed anadromous fish in California are affected.
The suspension will last at least until FEMA formally consults with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as required by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. As part of these consultations, FEMA will evaluate the potential adverse impacts of issuing LOMR-Fs and CLOMR-Fs on identified threatened and endangered species and their habitats in California, particularly anadromous fish. Anadromous species include salmon and similar fish that spend their adult lives in the ocean and spawn in fresh water.
FEMA will continue to process new LOMR-F and CLOMR-F applications received on or before June 30. Requests to reopen CLOMR-F and LOMR-Fs, closed due to inactivity, must also be received before June 30. New requests received after June 30 will not be processed and applicants will be notified. In 2020, Los Angeles, Orange, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties were provided a similar CLOMR-F and LOMR-F application window, and as a result, FEMA will continue to suspend processing in those six counties.
More information is available by calling FEMA’s Map Information Exchange at 1-877-FEMA MAP (1-877-336-2627) or emailing nfip-esa-consultation-2020@fema.dhs.gov.
This announcement will not affect the sale of flood insurance or most flood map changes.
Source: Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency