2014-29025. Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Standard Flood Hazard Determination Form

AGENCY:

Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, 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 revision of a currently approved information collection. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice seeks comments concerning the renewal of the Standard Flood Hazard Determination Form which is used by federally regulated lending institutions to determine if a structure is located within an identified Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) and whether flood insurance is available.

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before February 9, 2015.

ADDRESSES:

To avoid duplicate submissions to the docket, please use only one of the following means to submit comments:

(1) Online. Submit comments at www.regulations.gov under Docket ID FEMA-2013-0034. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

(2) Mail. Submit written comments to Docket Manager, Office of Chief Counsel, DHS/FEMA, 500 C Street SW., Room 8NE, Washington, DC 20472-3100.

(3) Facsimile. Submit comments to [phone].

All submissions received must include the agency name and Docket ID. Regardless of the method used for submitting comments or material, all submissions will be posted, without change, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov,, and will include any personal information you provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. You may wish to read the Privacy Act notice that is available via the link in the footer of www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Susan Bernstein, Program Specialist, FEMA, Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA), 202-212-2113 for additional information. You may contact the Records Management Division for copies of the proposed collection of information at facsimile number [phone] or email address: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On September 23, 1994, Section 303(a) of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 was signed into law. Section 303(a) of this Act requires the Federal bank and thrift regulatory agencies to conduct a systematic review of their regulation and written policies in order to improve efficiency, reduce unnecessary costs, and eliminate inconsistencies and outmoded and duplicative requirements. Title V of this Act is the National Flood Insurance Reform Act (NFIRA). Section 528 of the NFIRA requires that FEMA develop a standard hazard determination form for recording the determination of whether a structure is located within an identified Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) and whether flood insurance is available. Section 528 of the NFIRA also requires the use of this form by regulated lending institutions, federal agency lenders, the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and the Government National Mortgage Association for any loan made, increased, extended, renewed or purchased by these entities.

The requirement for federally regulated lending institutions to determine whether a building or mobile home securing a loan is located in an area having special flood hazards and whether flood insurance is available has been in effect since the enactment of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, although the use of a standard form was not required until the enactment of the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994. The establishment of the Standard Flood Hazard Determination form has enabled lenders to provide consistent information.

Collection of Information

Title: Standard Flood Hazard Determination Form.

Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved information collection.

OMB Number: 1660-0040.

FEMA Form: FEMA Form 086-0-32, Standard Flood Hazard Determination Form (SFHDF).

Abstract: FEMA Form 086-0-32, SFHDF is used by regulated lending institutions, federal agency lenders, related lenders/regulators, and the Government. Federally regulated lending institutions complete this form when making, increasing, extending, renewing or purchasing each loan for the purpose is of determining whether flood insurance is required and available. The form may also be used by property owner, insurance agents, realtors, community officials for flood insurance related documentation.

Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.

Number of Respondents: 46,456,460.

Number of Responses: 46,456,460.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 15,330,632 hours.

Estimated Annualized Burden Hours and Costs

Type of respondent	Form name/form No.	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Total number of responses	Average burden per response (in hours)	Total annual burden (in hours)	Average hourly wage rate	Total annual respondent cost
Business or other for-profit	Standard Flood Hazard Determination Form (SFHDF)/FEMA Form 086-0-32	46,456,460	1	46,456,460	0.33 (20 minutes)	15,330,632	$62.05	$951,265,715.60
Total		46,456,460		46,456,460		15,330,632		951,265,715.60
• Note: The “Avg. Hourly Wage Rate” for each respondent includes a 1.4 multiplier to reflect a fully-loaded wage rate.

Estimated Cost: The estimated annual cost to respondents for the hour burden is $951,265,715.60. There are no annual costs to respondents' operations and maintenance costs for technical services. There are no annual start-up or capital costs. The cost to the Federal Government is $4,309.

Comments

Comments may be submitted as indicated in the ADDRESSES caption above. Comments are solicited to (a) evaluate whether the proposed data collection is necessary for the proper performance of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Dated: December 3, 2014.

Charlene D. Myrthil,

Director, Records Management Division, Mission Support, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security.