Erie, PA Environmental Rules: Flood Elevation Requirements (2026)

Article 945.05(b)(1) of the Erie Codified Ordinances sets the elevation standard for the city's identified floodplain areas: in Zones AE, A1-30 and AH, any new construction or substantial improvement must have its lowest floor, including any basement, elevated up to or above the Regulatory Flood Elevation. Section 945.09(b)(32) defines Regulatory Flood Elevation as the base flood elevation (BFE) shown on FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Map, or an estimated flood height where none is mapped, plus a freeboard safety factor of one and one-half feet, and specifies that the same 1.5-foot freeboard applies to utilities and ductwork.

Non-residential structures in those same zones face the identical elevate-or-floodproof standard under Section 945.05(b)(2), and any space made watertight below that elevation must meet W1 or W2 floodproofing classifications certified by a registered engineer or architect. Where a FIRM shows no base flood elevation (V and A Zones), Section 945.04(b)(3) directs the Floodplain Administrator to use elevation data from other federal or state sources, or, absent any usable data, to require the lowest floor at least three feet above the highest adjacent grade. Electrical distribution panels must sit at least three feet above the base flood elevation under Section 945.05(c)(11)(A), and ductwork and mechanical equipment must be elevated to or above the Regulatory Flood Elevation or floodproofed under Section 945.05(c)(12).

Streets built in the floodplain must have a finished elevation no more than one foot below the Regulatory Flood Elevation under Section 945.05(c)(5). These standards apply on top of, and where more restrictive than, the 2009 IBC/IRC, ASCE 24 and 34 Pa. Code Chapters 401-405 as adopted by the Commonwealth.