Ohio Floodplain Regulation Criteria is meant to serve as a guide to understanding the various criteria that must be addressed in order to manage the natural resources of the floodplain, adequately protect floodplain development from future flood damages, reduce adverse impacts of floodplain development, and meet or exceed the minimum federal requirements for community participation in the National Flood Insurance Program.
This Fifth Edition revision now contains the basic ODNR Model Flood Damage Reduction Regulations in a combined ordinance/resolution format in Appendix B, that can be downloaded for adoption by either counties or municipalities following the guidance in Chapter 2, Adopting and Amending Local Flood Damage Reduction Regulations.
A listing of local regulations that exceed minimum NFIP standards, representing more than 260 communities, is found in Appendix C. Chapter 3 classifies the various "higher standards" into distinct individual criteria that can be selected and incorporated into the new model. Ohio Floodplain Regulation Criteria is now available in a variety of formats. In addition to being downloaded from this site, versions can be provided electronically on CD-ROM, floppy disk, or by e-mail. Single printed copies can also be obtained.
PLEASE NOTE: ODNR has determined that, to maintain compliance with federal requirements, regulations adopted before 1998 must be updated. Toward that end, ODNR has updated and improved our model regulations. This model is a basic regulation that meets the minimum federal criteria. As you prepare the model to suit your community's needs, feel free to contact our office with any questions. The following document, How to Use the 2006 Flood Damage Reduction Regulations, is intended to assist in these efforts. Do not forget to submit a draft of your regulations to ODNR for review prior to adoption. Your community will not be in compliance with NFIP standards until ODNR has approved your adopted regulations.
For more information, please contact the Division of Water at (614) 265-6750 or by writing to: