§ 143-215.56.  Delineation of flood hazard areas and 100-year floodplains; powers of Department; powers of local governments and of the Department.

(a) For the purpose of delineating a flood hazard area and evaluating the possibility of flood damages, a local government may:

(1) Request technical assistance from the competent State and federal agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, the North Carolina Geodetic Survey, the North Carolina Geological Survey, and the U.S. Geological Survey, or successor agencies.

(2) Utilize the reports and data supplied by federal and State agencies as the basis for the exercise by local ordinance or resolution of the powers and responsibilities conferred on responsible local governments by this Part.

(b) The Department shall provide advice and assistance to any local government having responsibilities under this Part. In exercising this function the Department may furnish manuals, suggested standards, plans, and other technical data; conduct training programs; give advice and assistance with respect to delineation of flood hazard areas and the development of appropriate ordinances; and provide any other advice and assistance that the Department deems appropriate. The Department shall send a copy of every rule adopted to implement this Part to the governing body of each local government in the State.

(c) A local government may delineate any flood hazard area subject to its regulation by showing it on a map or drawing, by a written description, or any combination thereof, to be designated appropriately and filed permanently with the clerk of superior court and with the register of deeds in the county where the land lies. A local government may also delineate a flood hazard area by reference to a map prepared pursuant to the National Flood Insurance Program. Alterations in the lines delineated shall be indicated by appropriate entries upon or addition to the appropriate map, drawing, or description. Entries or additions shall be made by or under the direction of the clerk of superior court. Photographic, typed or other copies of the map, drawing, or description, certified by the clerk of superior court, shall be admitted in evidence in all courts and shall have the same force and effect as would the original map or description. A local government may provide for the redrawing of any map. A redrawn map shall supersede for all purposes the earlier map or maps that it is designated to replace upon the filing and approval thereof as designated and provided above.

(d) The Department may prepare a floodplain map that identifies the 100-year floodplain and base flood elevations for an area for the purposes of this Part if all of the following conditions apply:

(1) The 100-year floodplain and base flood elevations for the area are not identified on a floodplain map prepared pursuant to the National Flood Insurance Program within the previous five years.

(2) The Department determines that the 100-year floodplain and the base flood elevations for the area need to be identified and the use of the area regulated in accordance with the requirements of this Part in order to prevent damage from flooding.

(3) The Department prepares the floodplain map in accordance with the federal standards required for maps to be accepted for use in administering the National Flood Insurance Program.

(e) Prior to preparing a floodplain map pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, the Department shall advise each local government whose jurisdiction includes a portion of the area to be mapped.

(f) Upon completing a floodplain map pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, the Department shall both:

(1) Provide copies of the floodplain map to every local government whose jurisdiction includes a portion of the 100-year floodplain identified on the floodplain map.

(2) Submit the floodplain map to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for approval for use in administering the National Flood Insurance Program.

(g) Upon approval of a floodplain map prepared pursuant to subsection (d) of this section by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for use in administering the National Flood Insurance Program, it shall be the responsibility of each local government whose jurisdiction includes a portion of the 100-year floodplain identified in the floodplain map to incorporate the revised map into its floodplain ordinance.

(h) To the extent permitted by National Flood Insurance Program requirements, a professionally supervised dam removal, as defined in G.S. 143-215.25, that complies with the requirements of G.S. 143-215.27(c) shall not be required to submit a Letter of Map Revision to the Department.

(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Part, or other applicable statutes, the Department shall grant a permit for the use of an eligible flood hazard area in connection with an airport project for which an airport authority received a no-rise certificate for that airport project where there is no local government that has a clearly demonstrated statutory authority to issue such a permit for the airport project for the use of a flood hazard area pursuant to this Part. In the event the Department does not issue a permit for the airport project within 30 days of its receipt of a written request submitted by an airport authority for an airport project, the permit is deemed issued to the airport authority for the airport project by operation of law. (1971, c. 1167, s. 3; 1973, c. 621, ss. 6, 7; c. 1262, s. 23; 1977, c. 374, s. 2; c. 771, s. 4; 1987, c. 827, ss. 154, 184; 2000-150, s. 1; 2002-165, s. 1.6; 2011-145, s. 19.1(g); 2017-145, s. 1(e); 2023-137, s. 22(b).)