[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 14, Volume 5]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 14CFR1216.203]

[Page 152-153]
 
                     TITLE 14--AERONAUTICS AND SPACE
 
                   CHAPTER V--NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
                          SPACE ADMINISTRATION
 
PART 1216_ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY--Table of Contents
 
            Subpart 1216.2_Floodplain and Wetlands Management
 
Sec.  1216.203  Definition of key terms.

    (a) Action--any NASA activity including, but not limited to, 
acquisition, construction, modification, changes in land use, issuance 
of facilities use permits, and disposition of Federal lands and 
facilities.
    (b) Base flood--is that flood which has a one percent chance of 
occurrence in any given year (also known as a 100-year flood). This term 
is used in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to indicate the 
minimum level of flooding to be used by a community in its floodplain 
management regulations.
    (c) Base floodplain--the 100-year floodplain (one percent chance 
floodplain). Also see definition of floodplain.
    (d) Critical action--any activity for which even a slight chance of 
flooding would be too great, such as storing lunar samples or highly 
toxic or water reactive materials.
    (e) Facility--any item made or placed by a person including 
buildings, structures and utility items, marine structures, bridges and 
other land development items, such as levees and drainage canals.
    (f) Flood or flooding--a general and temporary condition of partial 
or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow of 
inland and/or tidal waters, and/or the unusual and rapid accumulation or 
runoff of surface waters from any source.
    (g) Flood fringe--that portion of the floodplain outside of the 
regulatory floodway (often referred to as ``floodway fringe'').
    (h) Floodplain--the lowland and relatively flat areas adjoining 
inland and coastal waters including flood-prone areas of offshore 
islands, including at a minimum, that area subject to a one percent or 
greater chance of flooding in any given year. The base floodplain shall 
be used to designate the 100-year floodplain (one percent chance 
floodplain). The critical action floodplain is defined as the 500-year 
floodplain (0.2 percent chance floodplain). A large portion of NASA 
coastal floodplains also encompasses wetlands.
    (i) Floodproofing--the modification of individual structures and 
facilities, their sites, and their contents to protect against 
structural failure, to keep water out or to reduce the effects of water 
entry.
    (j) Minimize--to reduce to the smallest possible amount or degree.
    (k) One percent chance flood--the flood having one chance in 100 of 
being exceeded in any one-year period (a large flood). The likelihood of 
exceeding this magnitude increases in a time period longer than one 
year, e.g., there are two chances in three of a larger flood exceeding 
the one percent chance flood in a 100-year period.
    (l) Practicable--capable of being done within existing constraints. 
The test of what is practicable depends upon the

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situation and includes consideration of the pertinent factors, such as 
environment, cost or technology.
    (m) Preserve--to prevent modification to the natural floodplain 
environment or to maintain it as closely as possible to its natural 
state.
    (n) Regulatory floodway--the area regulated by Federal, State or 
local requirements; the channel of a river or other watercourse and the 
adjacent land areas that must be reserved in an open manner; i.e., 
unconfined or unobstructed either horizontally or vertically to provide 
for the discharge of the base flood so the cumulative increase in water 
surface elevation is no more than a designated amount (not to exceed one 
foot as set by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)).
    (o) Restore--to re-establish a setting or environment in which the 
natural functions of the floodplain can again operate.
    (p) Wetlands--those areas that are frequently inundated by surface 
or ground water and normally support a prevalence of vegetative or 
aquatic life that requires saturated or seasonally saturated soil 
conditions for growth and reproduction. Wetlands generally include 
swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas such as sloughs, potholes, 
river overflows, mud flats, wet meadows, and natural ponds. Because all 
NASA wetlands lie in floodplains, and for purposes of simplifying the 
procedures of this subpart, floodplains will be understood as to 
encompass wetlands, except in cases where wetlands factors require 
special consideration. (Also, see definition of floodplain.)
    (q) Support--actions which encourage or otherwise provide incentives 
to undertake floodplain or wetlands development, such as extending roads 
or utilities into or near a floodplain, therefore making floodplain 
development more feasible.