FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps and Insurance Studies
NOTICE - August 28, 2023
The Town of Rockport has received notice that FEMA has prepared preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM’s) and Flood Insurance Studies (FIS’s) for Essex County. There are two FIRM panels that saw changes in this revision. The preliminary maps are available for review at https://hazards.fema.gov/femaportal/prelimdownload/. A notice of the changes was published in the Federal Register on Monday July 31st, 2023 and in the Boston Globe August 21st, 2023 and August 28th, 2023. Following the second publication in the Boston Globe, there is a 90-day appeal period where FEMA will accept appeals of any owner or lessee of real property who believes their property rights will be adversely impacted by the changes. These appeals must be accompanied by scientific or technical data which challenges the accuracy of the revisions. The Town has reviewed the changes with the Emergency Management Director, the Conservation Agent, and the Building Inspector who have come to the consensus that the changes will not have any adverse impacts, however if any owner or lessee has data to the contrary, please provide it to the Select Board & Town Administrator’s office at Town Hall by October 27th at 1:00 PM. This will give the Town 30 days to review all submissions prior to submitting them to FEMA. The submission must include all required scientific data. The Town is tasked with compiling all appeal data, making a determination on its sufficiency, and sending it to FEMA either on behalf of the owner or lessee or on behalf of the Town if determined to be appropriate. All appeal information as well as questions about the process can be sent to FIRMquestions@rockportma.gov. To view the current FIRM’s visit https://msc.fema.gov/portal/home.