Floodplain Management Services (FPMS) and Silver Jackets Program

The FPMS Program is authorized by Section 206 of the Flood Control Act of 1960. Under the authority, the Corps of Engineers can provide a full range of technical services and planning guidance that is needed to support effective floodplain management. General services offered under FPMS include: obtaining and interpreting flood and floodplain data (such as flood depths, formation, timing, velocity, and frequency), providing planning guidance on all aspects of floodplain management, and distributing guides, pamphlets, and other available supporting information.

An FPMS funded study is initiated when a state, regional, or local government or Native American Tribe requests Corps of Engineers assistance under the program.  (See sample FPMS assistance letter, FPMS links). Efforts under the requested study program are generally conducted at 100% federal expense. The two exceptions are requests by another federal agency or by a private party. In both cases work is completed on a 100% cost recovery basis. Types of studies that have been conducted in the past under the authorization include: floodplain delineation, dam failure analyses, flood warning study, floodway delineation, flood damage reduction study, flood proofing analysis, and stormwater management assessment.

After a request is received, work done by the Corps of Engineers can begin on a funds-available basis.  The Corps will work with the organization to develop a scope of work and form a project team. The requesting organization may provide voluntary contributions toward the desired services to expand the scope or accelerate the completion. Study requesters are encouraged to furnish available field survey data, maps, historical flood information, etc., to help reduce cost of services.

SILVER JACKETS PROGRAM  Silver Jackets is a USACE initiative developed under the National Flood Risk Management Program. It is mechanism to work collaboratively with federal, state, and local partners to provide focused flood mitigation assistance, identify gaps and barriers to flood risk reduction implementation, and improve on risk communication and leveraging of information and resources.