31 TAC § 361.35. Evaluation of Previous and Current Floodplain Management and Recommendations for Changes to Floodplain Management

(a) Recognizing the extent that previous and current practices may have increased flood risks, including residual risks, and considering broad floodplain management and land use approaches that will avoid increasing flood risks, and avoid negatively affecting neighboring areas, the RFPG shall:

(1) consider the extent to which a lack of, insufficient, or ineffective current floodplain management and land use practices, regulations, policies, and trends related to land use, economic development, and population growth, allow, cause, or otherwise encourage increases to flood risks to both:

(A) existing population and property, and

(B) future population and property.

(2) take into consideration the future flood hazard exposure analysis performed under §361.34 of this title (relating to Future Condition Flood Risk Analyses in the Region), consider the extent to which the 1% annual chance floodplain, along with associated flood risks, may change over time in response to anticipated development and associated population growth and other relevant man-made causes, and assess how to best address these potential changes.

(3) based on the analyses in paragraphs (1) - (2) of this subsection, make recommendations regarding forward-looking floodplain management and land use recommendations, and economic development practices and strategies that should be implemented by entities within the FPR. These region-specific recommendations may include floodplain management and land use standards and should focus on how to best address the changes in paragraph (2) of this subsection for entities within the region. These recommendations shall inform recommended strategies for inclusion in the RFP.

(b) RFPGs may also choose to adopt region-specific, floodplain management or land use or other standards that impact flood-risk, that may vary geographically across the region, that each entity in the FPR must adopt prior to the RFPG including in the RFP any FMEs, FMPs or FMSs that are sponsored by or that will otherwise be implemented by that entity.