The No Adverse Impact Legal Guide for Flood Risk Management (a.k.a., the NAI Legal Guide) provides legal resources to inform the decisions of community representatives and municipal attorneys who design, implement, and defend NAI programs. It includes:
- Detailed resources for legal professionals, and
- Legal essentials for floodplain managers and community officials.
This Guide supplements other NAI documents that present tools and guidance for integrating NAI principles into local regulations, policies, and programs. It will help readers to understand, anticipate, and manage legal issues that may arise when a community implements activities that enhance flood resilience, especially when those activities exceed state and federal requirements for floodplain management.
Use this link to view/download the entire NAI Legal Guide:
This Guide is divided into five sections that can be viewed/downloaded individually using the links below.
- Section I – Introduction to No Adverse Impact
- I.A. Local Implementation of NAI
- I.B. A Legal Foundation for NAI
- I.C. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
- I.D. Limitations of Minimum NFIP Standards
- I.E. The NAI Approach
- Section II – Introduction to Legal Concepts for No Adverse Impact
- II.A. Lawsuits
- II.B. Venue – state courts, federal district courts, and federal court of claims
- II.C. Property
- II.D. Sovereign Submerged Land
- II.E. Land Use Limitations
- Section III – Torts
- III.A. Negligence
- III.B. Trespass to Land
- III.C. Nuisance
- III.D. Governmental and Sovereign Immunity from Liability
- Section IV – The Constitution and Its Protection of Property Rights
- IV.A. Fourteenth Amendment
- IV.B. Fifth Amendment
- IV.C. Summary of Takings
- Section V – Federal Laws
- V.A. Generally
- V.B. Executive Orders: Floodplain Stewardship
Section One is an introduction to the concept of No Adverse Impact for those not familiar with its application to flood risk reduction. Section Two focuses on introducing common legal concepts, which is then followed by the detailed legal memos found in Sections Three, Four and Five.
After reviewing this Guide, it is recommended that a community conduct an assessment of its flood risk management activities to see if those activities are legally sound, and where they can be improved by using NAI techniques to better protect its population and natural floodplain functions.
Previous published versions of the NAI Legal Guide and a list of changes are found on the About page.
NAI How-to Guides
A series of How-to Guides provide usable information to help communities implement NAI practices: