Document
Notice of Adjustment of Public Assistance Thresholds for Floodplain Management and Wetlands Protection Review Process
On November 18, 2025, FEMA published a Federal Register notice increasing the dollar value thresholds that provide exemption from or abbreviation of the floodplain management an...
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
FEMA regulation 44 CFR 9.5 establishes three different dollar value thresholds that provide exemption from or abbreviation of the 8-step floodplain management and wetlands protection process (8-step process) for certain FEMA projects funded through the Public Assistance program. The regulations provide the dollar value amounts “will be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the Department of Labor.”
The November 18, 2025,
Federal Register
notice stated the adjusted thresholds would apply to major disasters “with an incident start date” on or after October 1, 2025, but the notice should have stated the adjusted thresholds apply to major disasters “declared” on or after October 1, 2025. A declaration date is the date the President declares an emergency or major disaster. An “incident period” is the time interval during which the disaster-causing incident occurs. The incident period is established by FEMA in the FEMA-State Agreement and published in the
Federal Register
.
This correction clarifies that the inflation-adjusted thresholds apply to all major disasters declared by the President on or after October 1, 2025, regardless of the start date of the incident associated with the declaration. This revision increases the number of disasters to which the inflation-adjusted thresholds apply, because some disasters declared on or after October 1, 2025, have an incident period before October 1, 2025. This correction eases the regulatory requirements of 44 CFR part 9 because more disasters will benefit from the inflation-adjusted thresholds.
Correction
In FR Doc. 2025-20059, beginning on page 51771 in the
Federal Register
of Tuesday, November 18, 2025, the following corrections are made:
On page 51771, in the second column, in the paragraph under
SUMMARY
, “with an incident start date” is corrected to read “declared.”
On page 51771, in the second column, in the paragraph under
DATES
, “with an incident start date” is corrected to read “declared.”
On page 51771, in the second column, in the second paragraph under
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
, “with an incident start date” is corrected to read “declared.”
Donna Defrancesco,
Director, Office of Environmental Planning and Historic Preservation, Federal Emergency Management Agency.