District Circular Letters

March 21, 2000

BANKING SUPERVISION AND REGULATION:
LOANS IN AREAS WITH SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARDS

To State Member Banks
and U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks
in the Twelfth Federal Reserve District

Revisions to Flood Insurance Rate Maps

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed a section of the restoration of the Los Angeles River levee system that provides flood protection for parts of four communities. As a result, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued Letters of Map Revision on February 25, 2000 that removes the AR Flood Zone from portions of those four communities. However, areas that originally had other types of A or V Zone special flood hazard areas before the AR Zone maps were issued will still have those special flood hazard areas in place after the AR Zone is removed. The enclosed FEMA announcement provides additional information.

FEMA has also revised the Flood Insurance Rate Map for Alameda County, California. The affected communities are the City of Fremont, Hayward, Newark, San Leandro and the City of Union City. The new map, which more closely reflects the existing flood hazards, became effective February 9, 2000.

New FEMA Booklet

FEMA has released a new edition of its booklet, Mandatory Purchase of Flood Insurance Guidelines. Released in September 1999, this edition contains mainly corrections, updates, and some deletions of information. Copies of this booklet, listed as document 83, can be downloaded from FEMA's website or ordered by either calling the FEMA Distribution Center at (800) 480-2520 or by faxing a request to (301) 362-5335.

For Additional Information

For questions about the National Flood Insurance Program, financial institutions can call (800) 427-4661 or visit FEMA's web site at http://www.fema.gov/nfip/.

For additional information regarding the enforcement of the Flood Insurance Provisions of Regulation H or the applicable examination procedures, please contact Mr. Gregory Imm, Consumer Compliance Liaison, at (415) 974-2953, or Ms. Christiane Price, Consumer Compliance Liaison, at (415) 974-2955, both of our Banking Supervision and Regulation Department.

Enclosure (pdf 95 KB)

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO