If your site has not been previously developed, determine whether your site is located within 50 feet of any water bodies. Ensure that you do not develop in areas within 50 feet of a water body.
As an initial step, search the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website for the National Wetlands Inventory mapping program. Through this program, you can download digital data, use the wetlands mapping program, or view wetlands on Google Earth. See an example of the National Wetlands Inventory mapping program in the Documentation Toolkit. See the Resources section for a link to the National Wetlands Inventory mapping program.
As an initial step, search the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website. It provides a Species Report that lists all endangered (E) and threatened (T) species by state, including both plants and animals. See the Resources section for a link to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website, and see an example of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Species Report for Colorado in the Documentation Toolkit.
Determine whether your site is considered habitat for threatened or endangered species. Many people assume that their project is not located on threatened or endangered species habitat; however, you must do the research, as this is more common than you may think.
As an initial step, search for the 100-year floodplain on the FEMA website for your project address. Some states and counties have more information than others, and a number of locations are not accessible through FEMA’s digital mapping program. See the Resources section for a link to the FEMA Map Viewer website.
If your site has been previously developed, you can skip the floodplain requirement. However, it’s still good practice to consider site development and design strategies to mitigate your project’s risk from flooding.
