FEMA’s Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration has issued updated Guidance and Technical Reference documents that it uses in its flood mapping and risk analysis program. This spring 2017 maintenance cycle updated technical references and guidance documents to align with the Mapping Information Platform (MIP) redesign project completed in June. There were no standards updates as part of this cycle.
The MIP is the central system of record that FEMA uses to manage flood risk projects for Risk MAP. The changes to the MIP and related guidance affect mapping partners working on flood risk projects who are required to track status and submit deliverables via the MIP. There were 3 technical reference updates, 14 guidance updates, and 1 new transformed guidance that had additional updates to align with the MIP redesign. Most of these updates were minor, however a few documents had significant updates including new information that will tracked in the MIP, changes to the MIP folder structure, new data submission methods, and entering leverage data in the MIP.
FEMA regularly updates these guidance and technical reference documents to ensure ongoing improvements in its flood mapping and risk analysis efforts. The primary location to access Risk MAP standards and guidance is www.fema.gov/guidelines-and-
See Appendix B in the standards for definitions of the acronyms and abbreviations below.
- A summary of the changes to guidance and technical references is below:
Substantial Updates:
Mapping Information Platform (MIP) Guidance: A nearly complete overhaul to reflect the MIP redesign with new content to present updated terminology, new and revised tools, new purchase types, new upload capabilities, new project setup instructions, revised workbench information, new reports, and new studies workflow diagrams. The overhaul also includes removal of outdated content.
Data Capture General Guidance: Updated to remove many of the work-arounds from the old version of the MIP and update data capture information to reflect the new MIP design. Includes new folder structure and Certification of Compliance of Submitted Data Form (i.e. to be used for aerial mapping, hydrology, hydraulics, alluvial fans, coastal and regulatory products required under existing standards).
Data Capture – Workflow Guidance: Extensive revisions to reflect new MIP data capture tasks, folder structure, etc. New content and / or comprehensive revisions for many of the new features that were updated in the MIP including discovery, post preliminary data capture, new terrain/topographic data capture, flood risk products data capture, LAMP data submittals, and general data purchases.
Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) Database Technical Reference: Updated to reflect redesigned MIP elements:
- Comprehensive updates to reflect new terminology, MIP Task Names, and MIP Purchases
- Section 4, Table 2 “FIRM Database Table Deliverables by MIP Data Capture Task” – comprehensively updated to reflect new MIP task names
- Table “S_Topo_Confidence” – guidance information updated to reflect documentation of topographic data versus terrain data, per redesigned MIP task names and content
Data Capture Technical Reference: Updated to reflect MIP redesign elements including:
- Mapping Information Platform (MIP) studies updates and new data upload processes and terminology
- Flood Elevation Determination Docket (FEDD) as final deliverable
- Validation and Independent Quality Assurance (QA)/Quality Control (QC) folders for all Data Capture purchases
- Added Levee, Outreach, Due Process, and General purchases and task folders.
Geospatial Data Coordination (GDC) Guidance: Updated to remove outdated MIP workflow content (e.g. scoping) and a comprehensive update to all items pertaining to the entry of leverage data and how to classify it, as well as changes to the GDC reporting logic and report names.|
Preliminary Distribution and Revised Preliminary Guidance: Updated to add new content for how to create and manage the Revised Preliminary Project in the MIP, including completing the data development tasks and issuing the Revised Preliminary Regulatory Products. Added content for the Preliminary and Revised Preliminary Summary of Map Action (SOMA), specifically for working within the MIP workflow and the new SOMA tool.
Post-Preliminary Deliverables Guidance: Updated to reflect MIP change that all FEDD file components (including final compilation), 90/30 day letters, and revalidation letters will be uploaded. Additionally, outlines requirements for Appeal Initiation and documentation, Record Appeal, and Comment Processing and Tracking steps in MIP. Outlines the requirements for various deliverables related to LFDs.
Guidance Transformation:
SOMA and Revalidation Letters Guidance: First time publication of this guidance, providing new content for capturing the Letters of Map Change (LOMC) locations with regards to the redesigned Community LOMC List Report. Created content for LOMC categorization, specifically as it relates to the new SOMA categories “2a and 2b”. Also provided information on working with the MIP SOMA tool, creating the Preliminary or Revised Preliminary and Final SOMAs, and completing the Revalidation MIP Export.
Minor Updates:
Update terminology, figures, and/or minor workflow steps to align w/ redesigned MIP elements.
- Appeal and Comment Processing Guidance
- Coordinated Needs Management Strategy (CNMS) Technical Reference
- Database Verification Tool (DVT) Guidance
- Discovery Guidance
- Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) Database Guidance
- Key Decision Point (KDP) Process Guidance
- Letter of Final Determination (LFD) Guidance
- Metadata Guidance
- Post-Preliminary Due Process Guidance
