Surface Water Management Division

The Community Rating System (CRS)

The CRS is a voluntary incentive program that encourages communities to adopt floodplain management activities exceeding the minimum National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) requirements.

The CRS is an NFIP program. The NFIP provides federally-backed flood insurance in communities that enact and enforce a floodplain management ordinance to regulate development in flood hazard areas. “The basic objective of the ordinance is to ensure that such development will not aggravate existing flooding conditions and that new buildings will be protected from flood damage.“ (CRS Coordinators Manual, 2007, p. 110-1)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administers the NFIP, as well as the CRS.

The CRS program has three goals: to recognize, encourage, and reward, through the use of flood insurance discounts, community activities that go beyond the minimum NFIP requirements to:

• Reduce flood damage to insurable property
• Strengthen and support the insurance aspects of the NFIP
• Encourage a comprehensive approach to floodplain management

CRS recognizes community efforts beyond NFIP standards by reducing flood insurance premiums for the community’s flood insurance policy holders. The discounts range from 5 to 45 percent. The program offers an incentive for new flood mitigation, planning and preparedness activities that can help protect property in future flood events.

The CRS is modeled after a similar system used in fire insurance rating, which has had a strong impact on the level of support local governments give to their fire protection programs.

How CRS Benefits Communities

Reduced flood insurance rates are only one of the rewards a community receives from participating in the CRS. Other benefits include:

• CRS floodplain management activities provide enhanced public safety, a reduction in damage
  to property and public infrastructure, avoidance of economic disruption and losses, and protection of the environment.
• The CRS program provides a nationally recognized benchmark against which a community can evaluate the effectiveness of its flood program.
• FEMA provides technical assistance in designing and implementing some activities at no charge.
• CRS standing provides an added incentive for the community to maintain its flood programs over the years. A community's CRS status may be affected by the elimination of a flood-related activity or a weakening of the regulatory requirements for new development.
• Implementing some CRS activities, such as floodplain management planning, can help projects covered under this plan qualify for certain other federal assistance programs such as the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program (FMA), the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

FEMA Review

The CRS program credits floodplain management activities in four categories: public Information, mapping and regulations, flood damage reduction and flood preparedness. Every year a community must reaffirm that it is continuing to perform the activities for which it is receiving CRS credit, through a process known as “CRS Recertification.” 

Recertification is an annual activity where communities submit projects completed during the year, progress reports, and similar items that document the implementation of credited activities.

Also on a regular basis – every 5 years for communities in classifications 6-10, every 3 years for communities classified 5 or better – FEMA conducts an audit of communities’ CRS program records. The audit provides an opportunity for the community to verify the credited elements of the program, as well as present any new programs that it has implemented which are eligible for CRS credit.

Snohomish County was accepted in the Community Rating System (CRS) at a Class 5 level in 2006.

Snohomish County’s CRS program was audited by FEMA in November 2009. The results of this audit qualified the County for an improved rating, from Class 5 to Class 4 (see sidebar) effective October 1, 2010.