Howard County, MD Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Howard County's floodplain management subtitle, Title 16, Subtitle 7, treats the special flood hazard area shown on FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Maps for the county, effective November 6, 2013, and any later revisions, as off-limits to unpermitted work. Section 16.706(a) requires a permit before a person begins any development or construction wholly within, partially within, or in contact with a flood hazard area established under Section 16.703, and it lists filling, grading, construction of new structures, substantial improvement of an existing building including repair of substantial damage, placement or replacement of a manufactured home, erecting a temporary structure, and altering a watercourse as covered activities.

The Director of Public Works, acting as Floodplain Administrator under Section 16.708, reviews each application to confirm the work will be reasonably safe from flooding and that all required federal, state, and local approvals, including any Maryland Department of the Environment nontidal-waters permit, have been obtained. Once issued, a permit is valid only if the applicant actually starts work within 180 days; Section 16.706(c) lets the Floodplain Administrator grant one or more written extensions of up to 90 days each, but only if the flood hazard area and base flood elevation data used to issue the permit has not since been amended or revised.

The floodplain itself is split into three parts under Section 16.702: the floodway, which must carry the one-percent annual chance flood without raising the water surface more than one foot; the floodway fringe; and the approximate floodplain, where the boundary has not been surveyed in detail. Recreational vehicles cannot be parked or stored in a special flood hazard area at all under Section 16.705(d), and new water and sewer systems built in the floodplain must be designed to minimize floodwater infiltration under Section 16.705(e).