10.1-602 - Powers and duties of Department.
§ 10.1-602. Powers and duties of Department.
The Department shall:
1. Develop a flood protection plan for the Commonwealth. This plan shallinclude:
a. An inventory of flood-prone areas;
b. An inventory of flood protection studies;
c. A record of flood damages;
d. Strategies to prevent or mitigate flood damage; and
e. The collection and distribution of information relating to flooding andflood plain management.
2. Serve as the coordinator of all flood protection programs and activitiesin the Commonwealth, including the coordination of federal flood protectionprograms administered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, theUnited States Department of Agriculture, the Federal Emergency ManagementAgency, the United States Geological Survey, the Tennessee Valley Authority,other federal agencies and local governments.
3. Make available flood and flood damage reduction data to localities forplanning purposes, in order to assure necessary local participation in theplanning process and in the selection of desirable alternatives which willfulfill the intent of this article. This shall include the development of adata base to include (i) all flood protection projects implemented by federalagencies and (ii) the estimated value of property damaged by major floods.
4. Assist localities in their management of flood plain activities incooperation with the Department of Housing and Community Development.
5. Carry out the provisions of this article in a manner which will ensurethat the management of flood plains will preserve the capacity of the floodplain to carry and discharge a hundred year flood.
6. Make, in cooperation with localities, periodic inspections to determinethe effectiveness of local flood plain management programs, including anevaluation of the enforcement of and compliance with local flood plainmanagement ordinances, rules and regulations.
7. Coordinate with the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency toensure current knowledge of the identification of flood-prone communities andof the status of applications made by localities to participate in theNational Flood Insurance Program.
8. Establish guidelines which will meet minimum requirements of the NationalFlood Insurance Program in furtherance of the policy of the Commonwealth toassure that all citizens living in flood-prone areas may have the opportunityto indemnify themselves from flood losses through the purchase of floodinsurance under the regular flood insurance program of the National FloodInsurance Act of 1968 as amended.
9. Subject to the provisions of the Appropriations Act, provide financial andtechnical assistance to localities in an amount not to exceed fifty percentof the nonfederal costs of flood protection projects.
(1977, c. 310, § 62.1-44.112; 1981, c. 315; 1987, c. 163; 1988, c. 891; 1989,cc. 468, 497.)