CRS - OSP TOOL

The Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management practices that exceed the minimum requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). In communities participating in the CRS (Community Rating System), the cost of flood insurance premiums is decreased to account for the lower risk of flooding due to the community's initiatives that fulfill the program's three objectives: Reducing and avoiding flood damage to insurable property, strengthening and supporting the insurance aspects of the National Flood Insurance Program, fostering comprehensive floodplain management.

 One of the most promising elements in CRS is Open Space Preservation (OSP) in the floodplain. The purpose of this element is to reward communities that maintain and/or protect the floodplain as open space. In order to be classified as open space, the CRS program requires that the land must be "free from buildings, filling, paving or other encroachment to flood flows." Preservation also has a specific definition under the CRS program; this term refers to land that has "a signed statement from a public or creditable private owner or regulations that prohibit buildings, filling, or other encroachments on flood flows.