SEPA Decision for Seattle’s Permanent Floodplain Development Regulations

In February of 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) required Seattle to update our floodplain regulations to include FEMA's new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) and the Flood Insurance Study (FIS). FEMA's adoption of the new map and study also included an audit of Seattle's floodplain regulations. Through the audit, FEMA identified several places in Seattle's code that needed to be amended in order to comply with the minimum standards in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). FEMA included the following required amendments in their audit:

• New definitions and updates to existing definitions to meet minimum standards
• Updates to the regulatory floodway development standards
• The inclusion of newly mapped coastal high hazard flood zone (VE zone) and required regulations for this zone

In order to meet FEMA's requirements, City Council adopted interim Floodplain Development Regulations on July 20, 2020 as Ordinance 126113 and extended interim regulations six times through the following Ordinances:

1. Ordinance 126271 in January 2021, effective February 22, 2021 through February 22, 2022
2. Ordinance 126536 in February 2022, effective February 18, 2022, through August 18, 2022
3. Ordinance 126651 in August 2022, which included amendments to Section 25.06.110 of the Seattle Municipal Code and effective August 17, 2022 through February 17, 2023
4. Ordinance 126763 in February 2023, effective February 15, 2023 through August 15, 2023
5. Ordinance 126885 in August 2023, effective August 15, 2023 through February 15, 2024
6. Ordinance 126994 in February 2024, effective February 13, 2024 through August 13, 2024.

The seventh extension of the interim regulations is expected in August 2024 and has been introduced to the Seattle City Council as Council Bill 120808.

The interim regulations and extensions were to provide additional time for SDCI to develop permanent regulations and to work with the Port of Seattle on the appeal of SDCI's July 2021 SEPA Threshold Determination. These extensions allowed the City to remain in compliance with FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program, which allows property owners in floodplains to purchase new flood insurance, renew existing policies, or obtain federally backed loans.

SDCI updated the proposed permanent Floodplain Development Regulations based on input from the Port of Seattle and has published the Threshold Determination for the updated proposed permanent Floodplain Development Regulations on August 1 in the Land Use and Information Bulletin. The intent of this declaration is to satisfy the requirement of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA; RCW 43.21C), including the requirement to inform the public of agency decisions pursuant to SEPA. This SEPA decision analyzes the full range of regulatory changes that were part of the interim Floodplain Development Regulations adopted in July 2020 and the additional regulatory changes proposed for the permanent Floodplain Development Regulations. The additional changes include SDCI's proposal to increase the elevation for construction from 2-feet to 3-feet above base flood elevation to account for sea level rise and new sections that include standards for the storage of materials and equipment, and standards for accessory structures.

If you have questions regarding the proposed permanent Floodplain Development Regulations or maps, and/or if you would like to be added to SDCI's e-mail distribution list to receive information regarding the permanent regulations, please contact Maggie Glowacki via e-mail at [email protected].