New Legal Resource for Flood Resilience
The No Adverse Impact Legal Guide for Flood Risk Management is a resource for community representatives, municipal attorneys, and floodplain managers who are interested in implementing activities that enhance flood resilience beyond minimum state and federal requirements. The Guide provides legal resources and essentials to anticipate and manage legal issues that may arise during the implementation of these activities. It includes five sections, which introduce the No Adverse Impact approach, legal concepts of NAI, torts and liability, property rights protection, and federal laws related to floodplain stewardship. The Guide is meant to be used in conjunction with other NAI documents to integrate NAI principles into local regulations, policies, and programs, and to help communities better protect their populations and natural floodplain functions.
After reviewing the Guide, communities are encouraged to assess their flood risk management activities to ensure they are legally sound and to consider using NAI techniques to improve them.