HS/HCS/HB 451- The act is designed to enhance flood plain management in Missouri. Any insurance policy issued after March 1, 1998 must contain a notice indicating whether the policy covers flood related losses. Appraisers and real estate agents and brokers are required to disclose any information available to them which would indicate whether a structure is located in a flood hazard area.

A community, including any native Alaskan village located in Missouri, must participate in the National Flood Insurance Program in order to be eligible for federal Hazard Mitigation Grants and Community Development Block Grant funds. Communities may issue zoning variances in flood hazard areas but such variances must comply with federal regulations and communities must comply with federal regulations to remain in good standing with the National Flood Insurance Program. State-owned property in a flood hazard area cannot be developed without a permit issued by the State Emergency Management Agency and such permits must be in conformity with federal regulations.

The Clean Water Commission is authorized to adopt a rule which makes it a rebuttable presumption that a losing stream extends one mile above the point at which the Department of Natural Resources has identified the stream as a losing stream. Losing streams, common in southern Missouri, are those which lose water into underground reservoirs.
DAVID VALENTINE