Where FEMA Now Publishes NFIP Community Status

FEMA’s Community Status Book (CSB) — not the Federal Register — is now the official record of whether a community participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). That change took effect through a FEMA final rule published at 85 FR 68782, which states: “This rule is effective December 2, 2020.” (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-10-30/pdf/2020-23970.pdf). The rule replaced a regulatory requirement to publish a community’s loss of NFIP eligibility “in the Federal Register” with a requirement to publish it “on the internet or by another comparable method” — and the underlying Code of Federal Regulations text itself shows that shift.

This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.

Key points

• FEMA’s final rule at 85 FR 68782 became effective December 2, 2020.
• The rule removed the Federal Register as the required publication venue for a community’s loss of NFIP eligibility and substituted internet publication or another comparable method.
• 44 CFR 64.6 now directs FEMA to publish and maintain its list of NFIP-eligible communities online or by another comparable method — the named successor record is FEMA’s Community Status Book (CSB).
• FEMA committed to keep publishing transition notices in the Federal Register for six months after the rule’s effective date so communities could adjust to the changed process.
• The same regulatory section, 44 CFR 59.24(a), reads differently depending on which eCFR date you view — direct textual proof the publication method changed.

The rule that moved the record

FEMA’s preamble to the final rule describes the successor record directly: “the CSB provides a list of those communities participating in the NFIP and those communities not participating in the NFIP when those communities are in a currently mapped flood risk area.” (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-10-30/pdf/2020-23970.pdf). That single sentence is the rule’s own statement of where community-participation status now lives.

Prior Rule Text

Before the rule took effect, the eCFR version of 44 CFR 59.24(a) dated January 1, 2020 required a community’s suspension notice to “assure publication in the Federal Register under part 64 of this subchapter of the community’s loss of eligibility for the sale of flood insurance” (https://www.ecfr.gov/on/2020-01-01/title-44/section-59.24). Under that text, the Federal Register was the required venue.

What the rule changed it to

The final rule’s text for the amended 44 CFR 59.24(a) instead requires FEMA to “assure publication of the community’s loss of eligibility for the sale of flood insurance on the internet or by another comparable method” (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-10-30/pdf/2020-23970.pdf). Comparing this wording against the pre-2020 text above, at the same CFR citation, is the direct proof that the publication method — not just the underlying eligibility determination — is what changed.

Community List

The current eCFR text of 44 CFR Part 64 confirms the same shift applies to the master list of participating communities: “FEMA will maintain a list of communities eligible for the sale of flood insurance pursuant to the National Flood Insurance Program (42 U.S.C. 4001-4128). This list will be published and maintained on the internet or through another comparable method.” (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-44/part-64). FEMA’s Community Status Book is the internet-published list this regulation describes.

The transition period

FEMA did not cut over instantly. The rule’s preamble states: “FEMA will continue to publish notices in the Federal Register for six months after the effective date of this rule to notify communities of their NFIP status to allow communities to adjust to the changed process as part of the ongoing outreach efforts.” (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-10-30/pdf/2020-23970.pdf). That six-month window ran from the December 2, 2020 effective date.

What this article does not answer

This article documents where the official publication duty for NFIP community status now sits — it does not state any specific community’s current NFIP participation or eligibility status, because that information lives only in the Community Status Book and was never republished in the Code of Federal Regulations. It does not say whether, or when, any particular community’s status changed as a result of this rule. It does not address whether any specific property floods, sits in a Special Flood Hazard Area, needs flood insurance, or what such coverage would cost. And it does not claim that the transition to internet-only publication is complete for every community nationwide; that would require an exhaustive check of Federal Register notices rather than a single query, and this article does not make that check.

Source records

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-10-30/pdf/2020-23970.pdf https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-44/section-59.24 https://www.ecfr.gov/on/2020-01-01/title-44/section-59.24 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-44/part-64