CRS Updates – 2021 and 2022
Presentations by ISO/Verisk at the 2022 KAMM Conference
Introduction and Overview of the Community Rating System Program – Amanda Gowans, ISO/Verisk
The 2021 Addendum to the CRS Coordinator’s Manual – Amanda Gowans, ISO/Verisk
CRS Videos
CRS Resources Training & Video
CRS Activity 310 Changes for 2021
Community Rating System Webinars
The CRS Webinar Series provides both live and on-demand training to communities. The Series includes basic introductory sessions and more advanced topics, mostly averaging about an hour in length.
Link toWebinars on the Community Rating System to register.
Kentucky’s CRS Program
To learn more about the CRS, join the CRS or improve your existing CRS classification click here for the CRS Resources pages.
Which Kentucky Communities are in CRS?
The CRS is a voluntary program for NFIP-participating communities. As of October 2022, there are 37 Kentucky communities in the CRS.
Link to the table for a full view and/or to the 2021 KY map of CRS communities.
Kentucky State Based Credit
The CRS provides credits to communities for certain state laws, regulations, and standards that support floodplain management within a state and have proven effective in reducing flood damage. This Verification Report is provided to explain the recommendations of Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) to DHS/FEMA concerning state-based credits under the Community Rating System (CRS) within the above state.
State-based credit is awarded to communities for activities that are implemented and enforced by the State. The credit is provided to each community in the State and documentation is not needed from the community. Other potential credit lists the CRS activities where communities may receive CRS credit based on, or due to, state or regional programs that are within the community. The potential credits must be community verified by the ISO/CRS Specialists within each community, since enforcement is done at the community (or regional) level.
Kentucky State Based Credit
Annual Recertification Dates for CRS Communities
Kentucky’s CRS Annual Recertification schedule is May 1. Recertification packages will go to communities approximately 45 days before the due date.
Centralized EC Review Process
The CRS Resource Specialists will be processing the ECs collected at cycle verification visits starting January 1, 2018. ISO has also developed a work and communication flow for the cycle visit EC review process as they work with communities to meet the required verification threshold of 90% correct.
Note that at annual recertification, the centralized review of ECs is a courtesy review to identify problems with the ECs. Results of the review will be sent to the community, with a copy to the ISO/CRS Specialists. This process allows the community time to have the ECs corrected by the next verification cycle visit. The 90% threshold must be met only at the cycle verification visit.
CRS Elevation Certificate Videos
The CRS Program released 8 videos that cover training on the FEMA Elevation Certificate (EC). The videos describe each Section of the EC and explain which fields on the form are required for CRS purposes and why. Each video explains the most common errors we see on the forms and how to avoid them. We also have 2 videos covering general issues associated with ECs such as form date rules, page rules, how to handle annexations, how to handle Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) changes after a building is permitted, and how to document different kinds of buildings. And lastly, we have a video on how to correct and EC once you find one with errors.
The videos should be watched beginning with Section A of the form and ending with “How to Correct an Elevation Certificate.” They are intended to serve community officials, but please feel free to share these videos with the surveyors, engineers, and architects in your community who fill out these forms. They will benefit greatly from them as well.
1. CRS Elevation Certificate Training Series: Section A
2. CRS Elevation Certificate Training Series: Section B
3. CRS Elevation Certificate Training Series: Sections C & D
4. CRS Elevation Certificate Training Series: Sections E & F
5. CRS Elevation Certificate Training Series: Section G
6. CRS Elevation Certificate Training Series: General Issues, Part 1
7. CRS Elevation Certificate Training Series: General Issues, Part 2
8. CRS Elevation Certificate Training Series: How to Correct an Elevation Certificate
Risk Rating 2.0 and CRS
Risk Rating 2.0 (RR 2.0) rating methodology incorporates a wide range of rating variables; however, two major ones that are no longer used are Base Flood Elevations and flood zones. In the old methodology (RR 1.0), properties in moderate-low risk zones (e.g., B, C, X) with minimal losses could qualify for a lower-cost Preferred Risk Policy (PRP); however, they did not receive a CRS discount. If they did not qualify for the PRP, they could be written as a standard-rated Zone X policy and receive 5% or 10% discount depending upon the CRS Class. Buildings in Zone A would get the full discount.
In RR 2.0, because the flood zone is no longer a rating variable, the discount that had applied to just Zone A policies now applies to all policies. So, a policy in Zone X receives the same discount.
Explaining the CRS Discount in Risk Rating 2.0
FEMA Elevation Certificate
Any Elevation Certificate submitted for review dated November 1, 2023 or after must be on the new Elevation Certificate (FF-206-FY22-152).
The new Dry Floodproofing Certificate for Non-Residential Structures must be used as of November 1, 2023 as well. Copies of these forms can be accessed via FEMA’s Underwriting Forms webpage. To access the forms, please copy the link to a folder on your computer and open it from there. You must have Adobe software to open it.
If you have any questions about the use of these forms, please contact your CRS Resource Specialist or your ISO/CRS Specialist.
EC Correction Form
CRS EC Checklist
CRS Required Fields
Dry Floodproofing Certificate for Non-Residential Structures
Class 9 Prerequisite
The CRS program has always required communities to collect and maintain Elevation Certificates for communities to be a CRS Class 9. Details of what must be correct on them and information about other required construction certificates has traditionally been included under Activity 310. The CRS program required a 90% accuracy for all Elevation Certificates collected by a community.
In 2021, the CRS will be issuing an addendum to the 2017 Manual that clarifies the Activity 310 requirements. This addendum will become effective January 1, 2021 - all elevation certificates collected beyond then will be held to this new standard.
Construction Certificate Management Procedures
One of the changes in the 2021 Addendum to the Coordinator’s Manual is a new element CCMP, construction certificate management procedures, under Activity 310 (Elevation Certificates). This element replaces the current EC element and will be worth the same number of credit points. In addition, credit for this element became a Class 9 prerequisite beginning in January 2021 when the 2021 Addendum became effective.
Written procedures are important to the community and to the CRS because they address what certificates the community requires for development in the floodplain and how that community collects, reviews, corrects, maintains, and makes available the floodplain-related construction certificates required by the CRS. These floodplain-related construction certificates include the Elevation Certificate, Floodproofing Certificate for Non-Residential Buildings, and Residential Basement Floodproofing Certificate.
Previously, CRS communities were required to submit a written description of how the community maintains, stores, and provides copies of certificates to inquirers. For credit for element CCMP, a community will need to expand its current construction certificate maintenance procedures to cover the collection, review, and correction process, and require staff to follow these official internal procedures. Also, the procedures will be required to be approved by the head of the department who oversees the staff and duties involved in the procedures. This could mean multiple department heads will be approving these procedures if multiple departments are involved in the procedures. The department head(s) must see the procedures and place their signature on the document for it to be considered “approved.” Accurate and readily available data on a building’s flood zone, elevation, and other construction information are essential to insurance agents for processing an application for a flood insurance.
The CRS wants to be sure everyone knows what the procedures are and follows them so all construction certificates get collected, reviewed, corrected, and maintained appropriately for CRS standards. Formal written procedures, when followed, will assist communities to reach the desired outcome of 90% accuracy needed to maintain participation in the CRS. These procedures are also a Class 9 prerequisite under the 2021 Addendum. A community’s construction certificate management procedures for element CCMP are evaluated only at cycle time.
A community must receive credit for this element to meet the amended Class 9 criteria in the 2021 Addendum. This is an “all-or-nothing” element, meaning there will be no proration of credit. The Addendum specifically lists the required items to cover in the procedures. To receive the full 38 points for this element, a community must make sure that it adequately covers all of the required topics. A CCMP template has been created to guide communities in generating their written management procedures. CCMPs are required for all cycles started after January 1, 2021.
Community Incentives for Nature-Based Flood Solutions
A Guide to FEMA’s Community Rating System for Conservation Practitioners
Nature-based solutions (NBS)—such as open space protection and wetland restoration— can effectively reduce flood risk and are creditable components of the CRS. The conservation community can and should partner with municipalities to plan and design “nature-based solutions” that restore and protect natural areas, reduce flood risk and earn citizens a discount on their flood insurance rate.
Empowering Agents to Protect Communities from Flooding
A one-stop-shop for insurance agents and stakeholders that provides flood insurance education, training and resources needed to sell policies.
Aligning Mitigation Planning and the Community Rating System
FEMA’s local mitigation planning and the CRS program’s Activity 510 Floodplain Management Planning are aimed at guiding communities through a planning process that can help them move from being aware of their natural hazard risk to acting to reduce it. As of June 30, 2025, 21,815 local governments and 194 tribal governments have approved hazard mitigation plans. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five territories also have approved mitigation plans. At the same time, 22,000+ communities participate in the NFIP, and nearly 1,500 of those participate in the CRS.
Obviously, these programs are not mutually exclusive. They were created for different purposes but have the same goal: to help communities reduce threats and losses caused by floods and other natural hazards. After all, 99 percent of communities enrolled in the CRS also engage in local hazard mitigation planning plans. So, if communities are engaging in both kinds of planning, why must they write two different, separate plans?
The National Mitigation Planning Program at FEMA tackled this question in its new publication, Mitigation Planning and the Community Rating System Key Topics Bulletin. This document assumes the perspective of the mitigation planner and is organized around the local mitigation planning requirements. It aligns mitigation planning requirements with Activity 510 Floodplain Management Planning steps, with helpful hints and advice about common challenges associated with coordinating the processes. The Bulletin is intended to help community officials integrate the two planning processes to produce more effective flood mitigation actions and meet the criteria of both programs more efficiently. The full authorities for each process have not changed. They are available in the CRS Coordinator’s Manual (2017).
Communities could save planning participants time, maximize available resources, and add value by building connections to streamline their planning processes. If you’ve thought about developing a combined local mitigation and CRS Activity 510 plan, check it out.
Developing a Substantial Damage Management Plan for Credit Under the Community Rating System
Substantial Damage Management Plan Template
Checklist for a Substantial Damage Management Plan
Substantial Damage Management Plan Presentation
2021 KAMM Annual Conference
Part 1 Substantial Damage Management Plan Alex VanPelt, KDOW
Part 2 -Substantial Damage Management Plan Christina Groves
CRS Credit for Stormwater Management Guide
Stormwater Overview
One of the biggest problems of floodplain management in urbanizing areas is the increase in peak flow and total volume of runoff caused by development within a watershed. As forests, fields, and farms are covered by impermeable surfaces like streets, rooftops, and parking lots, more rain runs off at a faster rate. When an area is urbanized, the rate of runoff can increase five-fold or more if proper mitigation is not provided.
This problem is compounded by changes in the surface drainage system. Stormwater runoff travels faster on streets and in storm drains than it does across forests or fields, or in natural channels. As a result, flooding is more frequent and more severe after development -- channels begin to erode, water quality is diminished, and riparian habitat is lost.
Efforts to reduce the impact of increased runoff resulting from new development or increases in impervious surface in redeveloping a site are known as “stormwater management.” Stormwater management also encompasses many aspects of water quality and includes efforts to reduce erosion and the entry of sediment and pollutants into receiving streams.
Among the objectives of the CRS are flood damage reduction and the protection of natural processes such as water quality and habitat for endangered species. These objectives are addressed by the elements in this CRS activity.
CRS Credit for Stormwater Management Guide
CRS Credit for Stormwater Management is a full 27-page guide, including examples, to help communities tailor their stormwater management and watershed management programs in ways that reduce flood losses, protect natural processes, and earn CRS credit.
This 2020 edition provides background on the creditable management techniques, discusses the legal aspects of such management, and describes various ways to document the creditable activities.
CRS Credits to Protect Habitat Overview
Connecting CRS and Habitat Conservation
CRS was created to encourage flood loss prevention and reduction activities in communities. Those goals are also advanced by promoting natural floodplain functions. As a result, the CRS recently expanded its credits to include such floodplain protection activities. The CRS’s system of credit points now recognizes the tremendous value of the natural areas that border the nation’s rivers, lakes, and oceans. FEMA recognizes that protecting natural functions also helps prevent and reduce flood losses.
Specific CRS Credits That May Be Used to Protect Habitat
The CRS Credit for Habitat Protection guidance is designed for local officials and others who work with the NFIP and apply its floodplain construction standards but may not be familiar with the CRS and its benefits or with the ESA and its requirements. The guidebook reviews the many good floodplain management practices that can protect habitat and help reduce and prevent flood damage.