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August MMC Webinar to Spotlight Florida’s Flood Resiliency and Incentives Program

Florida recently created a Community Rating System (CRS) - Community Assistance Visit (CAV) pilot program to support the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The National Institute of Building Sciences Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC) will spotlight Florida’s implementation in the next MMC webinar, “NFIP and CRS: The Way Forward in Florida,” to be held Tuesday, August 25, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm EDT. The aim of Florida’s CRS-CAV program, which has been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is to increase flood resiliency and incentives in the state’s smaller communities, including those that have been excluded from the CRS program in the past because of building compliance issues.

The FEMA CRS recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities that exceed minimum NFIP standards. (Depending on the community’s level of participation, policyholders can reduce their flood insurance premium rates up to 45 percent.) Besides the benefit of reduced insurance rates, CRS floodplain management activities enhance public safety; reduce damages to property and public infrastructure; avoid economic disruption and losses; reduce human suffering; and protect the environment. The CAV is a major component of the NFIP's Community Assistance Program (CAP). Having a FEMA staff member (or staff of a state agency on behalf of FEMA) visit a community serves a dual purpose: it provides technical assistance to the community and assures that the community is adequately enforcing its floodplain management regulations.

The MMC is hosting this webinar to share Florida’s approach in order to help communities join CRS and improve their flood resiliency. The webinar discussion also will address the effects of the actuarial rates set in the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (BW-12), which serve to reduce risk to the National Flood Insurance Fund.

Bryan Koon, Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, will present this one-hour webinar as an open-forum discussion. Prior to joining the Division in 2011, Koon worked with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. as Operations Manager and Director of Emergency Management. He has emergency management experience within the private sector, federal government and state government. Koon worked at the White House Military Office as a Watch Officer in the President’s Emergency Operations Center while on active duty with the U.S. Navy; spent two years as Training Officer for Presidential Contingency Programs, conducting training and exercises for the White House Military Office, United States Secret Service, FEMA and others; and after concluding his active duty Navy service, served at the White House as a contractor with SRA, International.

About NIBS

National Institute of Building Sciences brings together labor and consumer interests, government representatives, regulatory agencies, and members of the building industry to identify and resolve problems and potential problems around the construction of housing and commercial buildings. NIBS is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization. It was established by Congress in 1974. For more information, visit nibs.org or follow @bldgsciences on Twitter and Facebook.

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