Pasco, WA Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)
FEMA flood zone rules in Pasco, WA, also called floodplain regulations or special flood hazard area (SFHA) rules, determine flood insurance requirements and elevation standards for new construction.
Key Facts
- Permit trigger
- Any construction, fill, or development in a mapped flood hazard area
- Administering official
- Building Inspector / Director of Community & Economic Development
- Floodway construction
- Prohibited absent engineer no-rise certification
- Subdivision threshold
- 50 lots or 5 acres triggers new flood elevation study
- Variance path
- PMC 24.16.080-24.16.090
Summary
Pasco requires a development permit before any construction, fill, or manufactured home placement begins in a mapped area of special flood hazard. The Director of Community and Economic Development, acting through the Building Inspector, reviews every application under PMC Title 24 before other city or state permits can be finalized.
A development permit shall be obtained before construction or development begins within any area of special flood hazard established in PMC 24.12.020. The permit shall be for all structures including manufactured homes, as set forth in PMC 24.08.020, Definitions, and for all development, including fill and other activities, also as set forth in PMC 24.08.020, Definitions.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 4837, passed May 4, 2026).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 24.16 PMC puts the Building Inspector in charge of every flood-hazard development permit. PMC 24.16.010 requires the permit "before construction or development begins within any area of special flood hazard established in PMC 24.12.020," and applies it to manufactured homes and to activities as broadly defined as fill and grading under PMC 24.08.020. The Building Inspector must confirm both that Title 24's own requirements are met and that any other required federal, state, or local approvals are already in hand (PMC 24.16.030). Subdivision proposals of at least 50 lots or five acres must generate their own base flood elevation data if none exists (PMC 24.20.050(4)), and where FIRM data is unavailable the Building Inspector must still confirm proposed construction is "reasonably safe from flooding" using historical flood evidence (PMC 24.20.060).
Inside a mapped floodway, PMC 24.20.120 goes further: it bars encroachments, fill, and new construction outright unless a registered professional engineer certifies, through hydrologic and hydraulic analysis, that the project will not raise base flood levels, and it separately bars new residential construction in the floodway except for limited repairs that don't add ground floor area or exceed 50 percent of the structure's market value in cumulative five-year repair costs. A property owner who wants relief from any of these standards must apply for a variance under PMC 24.16.080-.090 rather than build first and ask later.
Violations & Fines
Building without the PMC 24.16.010 development permit is unpermitted floodplain development, which the Building Inspector can catch on review of any later permit application since PMC 24.16.030 requires cross-checking outstanding approvals. In a designated floodway, building without the engineer's no-rise certification required by PMC 24.20.120(1) is a straight ordinance violation regardless of the structure's size. Owners who build without following the elevation and safety review standards also risk sharply higher federal flood insurance premiums under PMC 24.20.060.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to fill or grade land in a Pasco flood zone?
Can I build in a mapped floodway in Pasco?
Who reviews floodplain permit applications in Pasco?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pasco
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