Snohomish County, WA Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)
FEMA flood zone rules in Snohomish County, 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 required
- Flood hazard permit, SCC 30.43C.020
- Governing maps
- June 19, 2020 FIS and FIRMs
- Floodplain administrator
- County director (SCC 30.65.070)
- Minimum elevation (Unnumbered A)
- 2 feet above highest adjacent grade
- Enforcement
- Chapter 30.85 SCC
Summary
Any development inside a mapped special flood hazard area in unincorporated Snohomish County needs a flood hazard permit before work starts, under SCC 30.43C.020, reviewed against the elevation, floodproofing and floodway standards of chapter 30.65 SCC and FEMA's June 2020 Flood Insurance Study.
30.65.010 Purpose and applicability. The purpose of this chapter is to protect the public health, safety and welfare in those areas subject to periodic inundation due to flooding, and to minimize losses due to flood conditions in the specific areas subject to this chapter by utilizing the methods and provisions set forth herein. The regulations set forth herein shall apply to all development in special flood hazard areas as defined in this title within the jurisdiction of the county. ... 30.43C.020 Flood hazard permit. Prior to any development within a special flood hazard area as defined in SCC 30.91D.250, a flood hazard permit shall be obtained. The department shall have the authority to approve, approve with conditions, or deny a flood hazard permit using a Type 1 administrative decision.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through legislation passed August 12, 2026).
Full Breakdown
65 SCC establishes and regulates Snohomish County's special flood hazard areas. 010 states its purpose to protect the public health, safety and welfare in those areas subject to periodic inundation due to flooding, and to minimize losses due to flood conditions. 040(1) adopts by reference the Federal Insurance Administrator's Flood Insurance Study for Snohomish County, Washington, and Incorporated Areas, dated June 19, 2020, along with the accompanying Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) of the same date, on file at 3000 Rockefeller Avenue in Everett, as the areas this chapter governs.
250, a flood hazard permit shall be obtained. The county's Department of Planning and Development Services decides the permit as a Type 1 administrative decision, approving, conditioning, or denying it. 030. 65's floodproofing, floodway-encroachment, and density-fringe-area requirements, will not significantly increase flooding on other lands, and will not materially pollute or add turbidity to flood waters. 110, requiring new construction and substantial improvements to be anchored against flotation and lateral movement, built with flood-damage-resistant materials, and, where base flood elevation isn't otherwise available, elevated at least two feet above the highest adjacent grade in an Unnumbered A zone. 85 SCC.
Violations & Fines
Developing within a mapped special flood hazard area without a flood hazard permit, or without meeting the anchoring, materials, and elevation standards of SCC 30.65.110 and SCC 30.65.120, violates chapter 30.65 SCC and SCC 30.43C.020. Both chapters are enforced under the county's general code enforcement procedures at chapter 30.85 SCC, which can result in stop-work orders, permit denial, and civil penalties for unpermitted flood-zone development.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to build in a Snohomish County flood zone?
What maps define Snohomish County's flood hazard areas?
How high must a new structure be built in a flood zone without a set base flood elevation?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Snohomish County
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