St. Joseph County, IN Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

290 that the goal is to protect life, limit public flood-control spending, and keep the county eligible for the National Flood Insurance Program. 292 ties the regulated special flood hazard area to the St. Joseph County, Indiana and Incorporated Areas Flood Insurance Rate Map dated January 6, 2011, plus any later FEMA updates, using AE-zone and A-zone designations; where a floodway line isn't drawn for an approximate A Zone, the state Department of Natural Resources' best-available-flood-layer data controls. 293 names the building commissioner as floodplain administrator and requires a floodplain development permit application before construction begins on any activity wholly within, partially within, or in contact with the special flood hazard area.

The application must include a project description, its location relative to roads and streams, a legal description of the site, a surveyor or engineer's letter confirming an elevation benchmark, a site development plan, verification that sewer or septic service is approved, and elevation plans in NAVD 88 for the lowest floor of proposed structures in Zones A, AH and AE. 620, with a separate offense for each day the violation continues, and the floodplain administrator is directed to warn the owner that the unpermitted work is considered a willful act that can suspend standard flood insurance coverage on the property.