Background
The City of Springfield participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The objectives of the NFIP are to: (1) ensure that new buildings will be free from flood damage; (2) prevent new development from increasing flood damages on existing properties; and (3) ensure the natural and beneficial functions of the floodplain are maintained. Participation in the NFIP allows members of the Springfield community to access federally backed flood insurance. Flood insurance is required for federally backed loans to purchase or build structures  within the floodplain. Participation also ensures the City remains eligible for federal disaster assistance in identified floodplain areas. 

Participation in the NFIP through FEMA also requires that the City adopt and implement measures compliant with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) within the Floodplain Overlay District. From a lawsuit settlement brought by several environmental groups in 2009 FEMA, through the NFIP, was found to be in violation of the Endangered Species Act. In response to the settlement, FEMA began consultations with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), resulting in a 2016 Biological Opinion (BiOp). The report determined that significant changes to implementing the NFIP must be made to avoid “jeopardy, destruction, or adverse modification of critical habitat, and unlawful take of the threatened and endangered species,” including the Upper Willamette River Chinook. 

In 2023, FEMA had yet to take meaningful action to implement the BiOp. Consequently,  FEMA sent the City of Springfield a notice dated July 15, 2024, requiring the City to adopt short-term rules, aka Pre-Implementation Compliance Measures or PICM, in the Floodplain Overlay District to comply with the ESA. FEMA expects communities to enact a PICM path by July 31, 2025. The first step to implementation was choosing among the various PICM pathways by December 1, 2024:

1.      Prohibit all new development in the floodplain. 

2.      Adopt the Model Ordinance into local floodplain ordinances. 

3.      Adopt the Permit-by-Permit approach, which requires a permit application from the applicant to develop a Floodplain Habitat Assessment documenting that their proposed development in the Floodplain Overlay District will achieve “no net loss.”

On December 2, 2024, the Springfield City Council adopted Resolution 2024-37 selecting implementation of FEMA’s Model Ordinance as its PICM pathway. Continued participation in the National Flood Insurance Program will require the City of Springfield to update its rules and regulations for floodplain development.

Project Purpose
The purpose of the Floodplain Overlay District - PICM Amendment Project is to update the Springfield Development Code to comply with FEMA’s requirements of the City, including requirements to protect habitat and achieve no net loss. No net loss is a standard where any development action resulting in negative impacts to one or more key floodplain functions are avoided or mitigated to offset said impacts. Among other things, these amendments may help to achieve no net loss by:

The project objectives are to: 

City staff welcome all questions about the project. We are here to help you. Thank you! 

 
Haley Campbell, Project Manager
541.726.3647
[email protected]

Jeremy Sherer, Floodplain Administrator
541.735.2361 
[email protected]