Floodplain bill draws municipal and county officials warning of insurance and planning impacts; no committee vote

Senate Bill 518 drew extended testimony from municipal planners, county officials and private developers after Senator Bart Hester introduced a measure to prevent municipalities from imposing floodplain regulations above the requirements of the federal National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Senator Bart Hester introduced the concept and said the bill would prevent municipalities from adopting floodplain rules that exceed NFIP standards. “What this bill says is we can't regulate floodplains more than the federal government,” he said.

Municipal and county witnesses said a voluntary federal incentive program — the Community Rating System (CRS) — encourages and rewards communities that adopt higher-than-minimum floodplain standards by reducing flood-insurance premiums for local policyholders. Denny McPhate, deputy city manager and floodplain administrator for Hot Springs, told the committee that participation in the CRS yields point-based reductions: each step down in CRS class can lower flood insurance premiums for homeowners. McPhate warned that forbidding local regulation above NFIP minimums would force many communities to withdraw from CRS and raise premiums for residents. “Immediately upon termination of that CRS participation . . . the insurance policies for the local people here in the state of Arkansas is gonna go up,” McPhate said.

City of Rogers witnesses described a specific local development dispute in which municipal compensatory-storage and freeboard requirements made a planned fill/design difficult to permit without acquisition or substantial mitigation costs. John McCurdy, Rogers director of community development, said the city's higher standard and a requirement for compensatory storage were intended to avoid transferring flood impacts onto neighboring properties. “Our whole purpose here is to avoid that from happening,” McCurdy said.

Private developer witnesses asked whether a landowner who meets NFIP minimums should be forced to shoulder the entire cost of a community's higher standard. Eddie Bailey, a property owner in Rogers, said in his reading of the bill an owner who meets federal standards should not be compelled to pay for the community's more stringent local mitigation requirements and proposed that municipalities should buy required mitigation acreage instead of forcing the costs onto private landowners.

Mark Whitmore of the Association of Arkansas Counties said flood maps are often decades old and that increased urbanization, infill and impervious surface can change local flood dynamics. He said counties and cities must retain discretion to address changed conditions. “A flood plain map is decades apart in different areas . . . you got to have that latitude,” Whitmore said.

Committee action: The committee limited testimony time and heard four witnesses over roughly an hour. The chair said he would not call for a vote at the hearing and the measure was left for further consideration.

Provenance: Introductory remarks appear where the sponsor described the bill; public testimony and questioning occupy the remainder of the segment. Topic intro excerpt: “Senate bill 5 18 . . . this particular bill talks about floodplain management.” Topic finish excerpt: “We will continue to discuss it. I'll continue to address these concerns. Thank you for your time.”