Subgrantees must enter into an agreement with the State, with the written concurrence of the Regional Administrator, that provides the following assurances:

(a) The subgrantee will administer the grant and implement the project in accordance with program requirements, 44 CFR part 13, the grant agreement, and with applicable Federal, State, and local laws and regulations.

(b) The State and subgrantee will administer the grant in an equitable and impartial manner, without discrimination on the grounds or race, color, religion nationality, sex, age, or economic status in compliance with section 308 of the Stafford Act (42 U.S.C. 5151) and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. In implementing the grant, the State and the subgrantee will ensure that no discrimination is practiced.

(c) The State and subgrantee will ensure that projects involving alterations to existing structures comply with all applicable State and local codes.

(d) The State and subgrantee will ensure that projects comply with applicable State and local floodplain management requirements. Structures will be elevated to the Base Flood Elevation.

(e) Property owners participating in acquisition projects may receive assistance up to the pre-event fair market value of their real property, except as limited by the eligibility criteria.

(f) The subgrantee will establish a process, which we must approve, whereby property owners participating in acquisition projects may request a review of the appraisal for their property, or request a second appraisal.

(g) The State will reduce buyout assistance by any duplication of benefits from other sources. Such benefits include, but are not limited to, payments made to the homeowner for repair assistance; insurance settlements; legal settlements; Small Business Administration loans; and any other payments made by any source to address the property loss unless the property owner can provide receipts showing that the benefits were used for their intended purpose to make repairs to the property.

(h) Increased Cost of Compliance coverage benefits under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) may be used to match elevation or acquisition and relocation projects. Increased Cost of Compliance claims can only be used for NFIP-approved costs; these can then be applied to the project grant match. This coverage does not pay for property acquisition, but can pay demolition or structure relocation.

(i) The following restrictive covenants must be conveyed in the deed to any property acquired, accepted, or from which structures are removed (“the property”):

(1) The property must be dedicated and maintained in perpetuity for uses compatible with open space, recreational, or wetlands management practices; and

(2) No new structure(s) will be built on the property except as indicated in this paragraph:

(A) A public facility that is open on all sides and functionally related to a designated open space or recreational use;

(B) A public rest room; or

(C) A structure that is compatible with open space, recreational, or wetlands management usage and proper floodplain management policies and practices, which the Administrator of FEMA approves in writing before the construction of the structure begins.

(D) In general, allowable open space, recreational, and wetland management uses include parks for outdoor recreational activities, nature reserves, cultivation, grazing, camping (except where adequate warning time is not available to allow evacuation), temporary storage in the open of wheeled vehicles that are easily movable (except mobile homes), unimproved, permeable parking lots and buffer zones. Allowable uses generally do not include walled buildings, flood reduction levees, highways or other uses that obstruct the natural and beneficial functions of the floodplain.

(3) After completing the acquisition project, no application for future disaster assistance will be made for any purpose with respect to the property to any Federal entity or source, and no Federal entity or source will provide such assistance, even for the allowable uses of the property described above.

(4) Any structures built on the property according to paragraph (i)(2) of this section, must be: Located to minimize the potential for flood damage; floodproofed; or elevated to the Base Flood Elevation plus one foot of freeboard.

(5) The subgrantee or other public property owner will seek the approval of the State grantee agency and our Regional Administrator before conveying any interest in the property to any other party. The subgrantee or other public entity or qualified private nonprofit organization must retain all development rights to the property. Our Regional Administrator will only approve the transfer of properties that meet the criteria identified in this paragraph.

(6) In order to carry out tasks associated with monitoring, we, the subgrantee, or the State have the right to enter the parcel, with notice to the parcel owner, to ensure compliance with land use restrictions. Subgrantees may identify the open space nature of the property on local tax maps to assist with monitoring. Whether the subgrantee obtains full title or a conservation easement on the parcel, the State must work with subgrantees to ensure that the parcel owner maintains the property in accordance with land use restrictions. Specifically, the State may:

(i) Monitor and inspect the parcel every two years and certify that the owner continues to use the inspected parcel for open space or agricultural purposes; and

(ii) Take measures to bring a non-compliant parcel back into compliance within 60 days of notice.

(7) Only as a last resort, we reserve the right to require the subgrantee to bring the property back into compliance and transfer the title and easement to a qualified third party for future maintenance.

(8) Every 2 years on October 1st, the subgrantee will report to the State, certifying that the property continues to be maintained consistent with the provisions of the agreement. The State will report the certification to us.

[66 FR 32669, June 15, 2001, as amended at 74 FR 15353, Apr. 3, 2009]