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Friday W ebinar Series
Friday Webinar Series

Join us on a Friday of every month as we present lectures on a variety of business, project management and surveying subjects.
All from the convenience of your office! And most courses have been approved for NY CE credit! Register on our website, www.nysapls.org.

Featured May Program… Featured June Program…

FEMA Letters of Map Amendment (LOMAs) Details of the NSPS Certified Floodplain
Presented by William Nechamen, CFM Surveyor Program
May 3, 2024 Presented by C. Barton Crattie, LS, CFS, CFM
Registration Fees: $49 members, $75 non-members June 7, 2024
1.0 NY CE hour for LS/PE Registration Fees: $49 members, $75 non-members

FEMA Letters of Map Amendment (LOMA) are used to fine tune a FEMA 1.0 NY CE hour for LS/PE (pending)
Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) to determine if a structure on natural This brief introduction webinar will inform New York surveyors
ground, or all or part of a parcel of land, is at or above the Base Flood about the NSPS CFS program. It is intended to answer the many
Elevation (elevation of the one percent annual chance flood). Because even questions participants may have about establishing the CFS program
the most precise maps are not accurate to tenths of a foot, a LOMA as filled in New York and encourage NY Land Surveyors to become Certified
out by a licensed surveyor may be used if it is determined that the lowest Floodplain Surveyors.
grade adjacent to an existing structure, or the lowest point on a parcel or
portion of a parcel, is at or above the Base Flood Elevation. A successful The CSF program provides land surveyors to expand their professional
LOMA does not remove any chance of a flood, but it does remove federal measurement expertise within the discipline of floodplain management,
mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements, and may be used to thus filling that gap between land surveying and floodplain management.
prove to local permitting agencies that a structure is not subject to floodplain Attending the program and passing the exam allows participants to show
development requirements. The course will go over when a LOMA may or that they have the expertise required to be recognized as a Certified
may not apply, how to properly fill out the LOMA form (MT-EZ or MT-1), Floodplain Surveyor and an authority in the field. Currently, there are 10
and how to obtain the FEMA Based Flood Elevation. states offering this certification (that’s 20% of the country).
This course will review why in-depth knowledge is needed for Title 44
By the end of this session participants will be able to: of the Code of Federal Regulations (the legislative root for all FEMA and
1. Explain the purpose of a Letter of Map Amendment. NFIP regulations), CFR 44 and flood insurance regulation for NFIP, Risk
2. Describe when a LOMA may be used and when it cannot be used. Rating 2.0 and the surveyor’s role shifted in importance to the Pre-
3. Explain what information is needed to fill out and submit a LOMA Construction Elevation Certificate.
to FEMA.
By the end of this session participants will be able to:
About our Speaker
Bill Nechamen is Principal and owner of Nechamen Consulting, LLC of 1. Introduce New York surveyors to the NSPS CFS program.
Schenectady, NY, a company dedicated to providing training and 2. Understand the benefits of CFS to New York, the mechanics behind
information related to flood risk and the National Flood Insurance Program. introducing the program.
Bill was the State Floodplain Management Coordinator for the New York 3. Briefly explain tips on properly completing Elevation Certificates and
State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) from 1996 applications for Letters of Map Change.
until 2017. He is the past chair of the Association of State Floodplain About our Speaker
Managers (ASFPM) and serves as co-chair of the ASFPM Floodplain Bart has been working in surveying for 45 years. He holds licenses in Land
Regulations committee. He was a founding member and the first Chair of Surveying in both Georgia and Tennessee. Crattie earned a Bachelor of Fine
the New York State Floodplain and Stormwater Managers Association Arts degree in three-dimensional design from Murray State University –
(NYSFSMA) and currently serves that organization as treasurer and co-chair Murray, Kentucky. He has been certified as a Floodplain Manager (CFM)
of the public policy committee.
since 2008 through the Association of State Floodplain Managers, as well as
Through Nechamen Consulting, Bill provides a variety of floodplain being a Certified Floodplain Surveyor (CFS TN-003) through the Tennessee
management related services, including managing ASFPM’s state to state Association of Professional Surveyors. Crattie represents Tennessee as
mentoring program, developing and providing floodplain management Director with the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) and is
related training, and providing subject matter expertise. He has provided that organization’s Chairman of the Certified Floodplain Surveyor
expert written testimony for the New York State Office of Attorney General committee. After nine years serving on the Board of Directors for the
regarding the impact of the Waters of the U.S. rule on flood risk. He has also Surveyors Historical Society, he has been the Secretary for 10 years. His name
worked on several flood mitigation studies in New York State. He was appears on the masthead of American Surveyor magazine as a contributing
appointed by the Governor to the Reimagining the Erie Canal Task Force writer. Crattie now earns his living strictly doing floodplain management
and the Upstate (NY) Flood Mitigation Task Force. services, teaching and consulting as a Flood Specialist.
Bill has an MS in geography with a concentration in water resources from
the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. In 2016, he was awarded the
Meritorious Lifetime Achievement in Floodplain Management award by the
Association of State Floodplain Managers. Register online at www.nysapls.org

10 EMPIRE STATE SURVEYOR / VOL. 60 • NO 3 / 2024 • MAY/JUNE