Not all communities are participating in the NFIP. Some communities have never participated while others were mapped but then withdrew from the program. The FIRMs of the withdrawn communities still exist and are available online even though they are not effective maps.

A community must be a participating community in the NFIP in order to have valid FEMA mapped SFHAs within it. Communities not participating in the NFIP do not have any valid FEMA mapped SFHAs by virtue of the fact that they are non-participating, even though FEMA flood maps may exist.

FEMA issues a community identification number (CID) to every community including non-participating ones. However, FEMA has not issued a CID to any State. Without a CID, a State can not be a participating community in the NFIP, therefore a FEMA mapped SFHA cannot exist on state owned lands and public rights of way (ROW), and the State cannot be held to the requirements of 44CFR60.