Description

• Many NYCHA properties are located in areas at risk to flood hazard—either coastal flood or stormwater flood, or both–which should be mitigated with appropriate flood protection measures.  Determining the appropriate and most effective flood mitigation measures will require a risk exposure assessment, coordination with the applicable federal, state and city regulations and guidelines, and collaboration with NYCHA.
• Work scopes in this area are required to comply with federal, state, and city-led guidance as part of the environmental review process to ensure that flood mitigation is considered as early in the project process as applicable.  

Baseline

• All projects should be identified as occurring within the NYC Coastal Zone or Federal Flood Standard Support Tool (CISA) online flood zones maps. If the project is located within the limits of either of these mapping tools, there will be additional analysis needed to ensure that the proposed project is the best designed project in regard to flood protection.  
  • For projects involving federal discretionary actions, projects shall meet the requirements of FEMA Flood Protection documents and the Federal Flood Risk Management Standards (FFRMS) rule through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review. More information outlining the FFRMS can be found in Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 55 (24 CFR Part 55).   
  • For projects involving city discretionary actions (funding or land use approvals), concurrence with the NYC Waterfront Revitalization Program (WRP) is required. These projects shall comply with guidance released by New York City Department of City Planning (DCP). Projects in compliance and reviewed under CEQR will satisfy any State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) requirement for state discretionary actions occurring on NYCHA development sites within NYC. 
• For New Construction and Substantial Improvement projects, flood mitigation strategies comply with all applicable Federal, State, and Local codes, regulations and standards for flood resistant construction.  
• For all other construction projects, flood mitigation strategies should be evaluated in coordination with NYCHA Sustainability during the project scoping phase.  

Stretch

• New Construction and Substantial Improvement projects meet the 2080 elevation standards provided in the NYC Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines. 
• All other construction projects meet the 2050 elevation standards provided in the NYC Design Guidelines.  

RAD Conversions 

• For RAD Conversions, submit a Flood Hazard Risk Assessment which conforms to requirements outlined in the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines, New York City Stormwater Resiliency Plan, NYC Department of Environmental Protection’s Unified Stormwater Rule, and NYCHA’s Climate Adaptation Plan.  
• Resilience Assessments should include a summary and analysis of climate risks identified using MOCEJ’s Climate Resiliency Design Exposure Screening Tool and FEMA’s National Risk Index (NRI) tool.  
• The analysis of climate risks should also be informed by NYCHA’s Climate Risks and Adaptation Explorer Mapping tool, NYCHA reports and studies, site-specific historical data, and community engagement. 
• Resilience Assessments should include a narrative description of how the baseline scope and potential upgrades respond to the site’s exposure to climate hazards and risks for each development. The narrative should explicitly summarize how the scope of work addresses or mitigates against “relatively high” and “very high” climate risks identified utilizing FEMA’s National Risk Index (NRI) tool. A list of associated repairs in the CNA e-tool and a property-wide disaster response plan (including an evacuation plan) informed by the NRI tool results should also be included, as required per the HUD RAD Notice and are subject to review by HUD. 
• If back-up power is provided to community and/or residential facilities, indicate backup capacity, the energy source, and which critical/non-critical building systems will be powered with time durations. 
• References: 
  • Plans/Guidelines: 
    • NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice Climate Resiliency Design Guidelines (CRDG) 
    • PlaNYC: Getting Sustainability Done Plan
    • NYCHA Climate Adaptation Plan 
    • NYC DEP Unified Stormwater Rule (USWR) 
    • NYC Stormwater Resiliency Plan 
  • GIS Tools: 
    • NYCHA Climate Risks and Adaptation Explorer 
    • New York City Stormwater Flood Maps (arcgis.com) 
    • FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Tool 
  • Screening Tools: 
    • NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice CRDG Exposure Screening Tool