FEMA released the Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) on December 23, 2015. Following the release, public outreach meetings were held in October 2016 to introduce the preliminary maps to the affected communities and collect comments from residents. Since the release of the preliminary FIRM, the Ventura County Public Works Agency and the cities have worked together to perform technical reviews and submit appeals to FEMA to ensure the flood hazard mapping products are produced using the latest technologies and are based on the best available information. Incorporating the review comments and technical appeals, FEMA released a Revised Preliminary FIRM on January 31, 2020. After resolving all comments and appeals, FEMA issued a Letter of Final Determination (LFD) on July 29, 2020 and the Preliminary FIRM became effective on January 29, 2021. According to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations Section 60.3 (d and c), local communities are required to adopt the effective FIRM and the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) reports thereafter.
