II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 253

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Received 

DECEMBER 9. 2003

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

Affairs 

AN ACT

To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to 

reduce losses to properties for which repetitive flood insurance claim payments have been made.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Flood Insurance Re3 form Act of 2003’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) the national flood insurance program (A) 

7 identifies the flood risk, (B) provides flood risk in8 formation to the public, (C) encourages State and 

9 local governments to make appropriate land use ad10 justments to constrict the development of land which 

11 is exposed to flood damage and minimize damage 

12 caused by flood losses, and (D) makes flood insur13 ance available on a nationwide basis that would oth14 erwise not be available, to accelerate recovery from 

15 floods, mitigate future losses, save lives, and reduce 

16 the personal and national costs of flood disasters; 

17 (2) the national flood insurance program in18 sures approximately 4,400,000 policyholders; 

19 (3) approximately 48,000 properties currently 

20 insured under the program have experienced, within 

21 a 10-year period, two or more flood losses where 

22 each such loss exceeds the amount $1,000; 

23 (4) approximately 10,000 of these repetitive24 loss properties have experienced either two or three 

25 losses that cumulatively exceed building value or 

26 four or more losses, each exceeding $1,000; 
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1 (5) repetitive-loss properties constitute a signifi2 cant drain on the resources of the national flood in3 surance program, costing about $200,000,000 annu4 ally; 

5 (6) repetitive-loss properties comprise approxi6 mately one percent of currently insured properties 

7 but are expected to account for 25 to 30 percent of 

8 claims losses; 

9 (7) the vast majority of repetitive-loss prop10 erties were built before local community implementa11 tion of floodplain management standards under the 

12 program and thus are eligible for subsidized flood in13 surance; 

14 (8) while some property owners take advantage 

15 of the program allowing subsidized flood insurance 

16 without requiring mitigation action, others are 

17 trapped in a vicious cycle of suffering flooding, then 

18 repairing flood damage, then suffering flooding, 

19 without the means to mitigate losses or move out of 

20 harm’s way; 

21 (9) mitigation of repetitive-loss properties 

22 through buyouts, elevations, relocations, or flood23 proofing will produce savings for policyholders under 

24 the program and for Federal taxpayers through re-
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1 duced flood insurance losses and reduced Federal 

2 disaster assistance; 

3 (10) a strategy of making mitigation offers 

4 aimed at high-priority repetitive-loss properties and 

5 shifting more of the burden of recovery costs to 

6 property owners who choose to remain vulnerable to 

7 repetitive flood damage can encourage property own8 ers to take appropriate actions that reduce loss of 

9 life and property damage and benefit the financial 

10 soundness of the program; and 

11 (11) the method for addressing repetitive-loss 

12 properties should be flexible enough to take into con13 sideration legitimate circumstances that may prevent 

14 an owner from taking a mitigation action. 

15 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF PROGRAM AND CONSOLIDATION OF 

16 AUTHORIZATIONS. 

17 The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 is amend18 ed as follows: 

19 (1) BORROWING AUTHORITY.—In the first sen20 tence of section 1309(a) (42 U.S.C. 4016(a)), by 

21 striking ‘‘through December’’ and all that follows 

22 through ‘‘, and’’ and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘through the date specified in section 1319, and’’. 

24 (2) AUTHORITY FOR CONTRACTS.—In section 

25 1319 (42 U.S.C. 4026), by striking ‘‘after’’ and all 
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1 that follows and inserting ‘‘after September 30, 

2 2008.’’.

3 (3) EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION.—In section 

4 1336(a) (42 U.S.C. 4056(a)), by striking ‘‘during 

5 the period’’ and all that follows through ‘‘in accord6 ance’’ and inserting ‘‘during the period ending on 

7 the date specified in section 1319, in accordance’’. 

8 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR

9 STUDIES.—In section 1376(c) (42 U.S.C. 4127(c)), 

10 by striking ‘‘through’’ and all that follows and in11 serting the following: ‘‘through the date specified in 

12 section 1319, for studies under this title.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM FOR MITIGA14 TION OF SEVERE REPETITIVE LOSS PROP15 ERTIES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Flood Insurance 

17 Act of 1968 is amended by inserting after section 1361 

18 (42 U.S.C. 4102) the following new section: 

19 ‘‘PILOT PROGRAM FOR MITIGATION OF SEVERE

20 REPETITIVE LOSS PROPERTIES

21 ‘‘SEC. 1362. (a) AUTHORITY.—To the extent 

22 amounts are made available for use under this section, the 

23 Director may, subject to the limitations of this section, 

24 provide financial assistance to States and communities for 

25 taking actions with respect to severe repetitive loss prop26 erties (as such term is defined in subsection (b)) to miti-
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1 gate flood damage to such properties and losses to the Na2 tional Flood Insurance Fund from such properties. 

3 ‘‘(b) SEVERE REPETITIVE LOSS PROPERTY.—For 

4 purposes of this section, the term ‘severe repetitive loss 

5 property’ has the following meaning: 

6 ‘‘(1) SINGLE-FAMILY PROPERTIES.—In the case 

7 of a property consisting of one to four residences, 

8 such term means a property that—

9 ‘‘(A) is covered under a contract for flood 

10 insurance made available under this title; and 

11 ‘‘(B) has incurred flood-related damage—

12 ‘‘(i) for which four or more separate 

13 claims payments have been made under 

14 flood insurance coverage under this title 

15 before the date of the enactment of the 

16 Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2003, with 

17 the amount of each such claim exceeding 

18 $5,000, and with the cumulative amount of 

19 such claims payments exceeding $20,000; 

20 ‘‘(ii) for which four or more separate 

21 claims payments have been made under 

22 flood insurance coverage under this title 

23 after the date of the enactment of the 

24 Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2003, with 

25 the amount of each such claim exceeding 
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1 $3,000, and with the cumulative amount of 

2 such claims payments exceeding $15,000; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(iii) for which at least two separate 

5 claims payments have been made under 

6 such coverage, with the cumulative amount 

7 of such claims exceeding the value of the 

8 property. 

9 ‘‘(2) MULTIFAMILY PROPERTIES.—In the case 

10 of a property consisting of five or more residences, 

11 such term shall have such meaning as the Director 

12 shall by regulation provide. 

13 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Amounts provided 

14 under this section to a State or community may be used 

15 only for the following activities: 

16 ‘‘(1) MITIGATION ACTIVITIES.—To carry out 

17 mitigation activities that reduce flood damages to se18 vere repetitive loss properties, including elevation, 

19 relocation, demolition, and floodproofing of struc20 tures, and minor physical localized flood control 

21 projects. 

22 ‘‘(2) PURCHASE.—To purchase severe repetitive 

23 loss properties, subject to subsection (f). 

24 ‘‘(d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), the Director may not provide assistance 

3 under this section to a State or community in an 

4 amount exceeding 3 times the amount that the State 

5 or community certifies, as the Director shall require, 

6 that the State or community will contribute from 

7 non-Federal funds for carrying out the eligible ac8 tivities to be funded with such assistance amounts. 

9 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—

10 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY.—Subject to subpara11 graph (B), the Director may waive the limita12 tion under paragraph (1) for any State, and for 

13 the communities located in that State, with re14 spect to a year, if, for such year—

15 ‘‘(i) 5 percent or more of the total 

16 number of severe repetitive loss properties 

17 in the United States are located in such 

18 State; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the State submits a plan to the 

20 Director specifying how the State intends 

21 to reduce the number of severe repetitive 

22 loss properties and the Director deter23 mines, after consultation with State and 

24 technical experts, that the State has taken 
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1 actions to reduce the number of such prop2 erties. 

3 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—In each waiver under 

4 subparagraph (A), the Director may waive the 

5 limitation under paragraph (1) only to the ex6 tent that the State or community involved is re7 quired to contribute, for each severe repetitive 

8 loss property for which grant amounts are pro9 vided, not less than 10 percent of the cost of 

10 the activities for such properties that are to be 

11 funded with grant amounts. 

12 ‘‘(3) NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—For purposes of 

13 this subsection, the term ‘non-Federal funds’ in14 cludes State or local agency funds, in-kind contribu15 tions, any salary paid to staff to carry out the eligi16 ble activities of the recipient, the value of the time 

17 and services contributed by volunteers to carry out 

18 such activities (at a rate determined by the Direc19 tor), and the value of any donated material or build20 ing and the value of any lease on a building. 

21 ‘‘(e) STANDARDS FOR MITIGATION OFFERS.—The 

22 program under this section for providing assistance for eli23 gible activities for severe repetitive loss properties shall be 

24 subject to the following limitations: 
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1 ‘‘(1) PRIORITY.—In determining the properties 

2 for which to provide assistance for eligible activities 

3 under subsection (c), the Director shall provide as4 sistance for properties in the order that will result 

5 in the greatest amount of savings to the National 

6 Flood Insurance Fund in the shortest period of time. 

7 ‘‘(2) OFFERS.—The Director shall provide as8 sistance in a manner that permits States and com9 munities to make offers to owners of severe repet10 itive loss properties to take eligible activities under 

11 subsection (c) as soon as is practicable. 

12 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—Upon making an offer to pro13 vide assistance with respect to a property for any eli14 gible activity under subsection (c), the State or com15 munity shall notify each holder of a recorded inter16 est on the property of such offer and activity. 

17 ‘‘(f) PURCHASE OFFERS.—A State or community 

18 may take action under subsection (c)(2) to purchase a se19 vere repetitive loss property only if the following require20 ments are met: 

21 ‘‘(1) USE OF PROPERTY.—The State or com22 munity enters into an agreement with the Director 

23 that provides assurances that the property pur24 chased will be used in a manner that is consistent 

25 with the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of sec-
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1 tion 404(b)(2)(B) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

2 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 5170c(b)(2)(B)) for properties acquired, accepted, or 

4 from which a structure will be removed pursuant to 

5 a project provided property acquisition and reloca6 tion assistance under such section 404(b).

7 ‘‘(2) PURCHASE PRICE.—The amount of pur8 chase offer is not less than the greatest of—

9 ‘‘(A) the amount of the original purchase 

10 price of the property, when purchased by the 

11 holder of the current policy of flood insurance 

12 under this title;

13 ‘‘(B) the total amount owed, at the time 

14 the offer to purchase is made, under any loan 

15 secured by a recorded interest on the property; 

16 ‘‘(C) an amount equal to the fair market 

17 value of the property immediately before the 

18 most recent flood event affecting the property; 

19 and

20 ‘‘(D) an amount equal to the replacement 

21 value of the property immediately before the 

22 most recent flood event affecting the property, 

23 except that this subparagraph shall apply in the 

24 case only of a property for which the State or 

25 community taking action under subsection 
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1 (c)(2) determines, and the Director concurs, 

2 that the fair market value referred to in sub3 paragraph (C) of the property is less than the 

4 purchase price of a replacement primary resi5 dence that is of comparable value, functionally 

6 equivalent, and located in the same community 

7 or market area but not in an area having spe8 cial flood hazards. 

9 ‘‘(g) INCREASED PREMIUMS IN CASES OF REFUSAL

10 TO MITIGATE.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which the 

12 owner of a severe repetitive loss property refuses an 

13 offer to take action under paragraph (1) or (2) of 

14 subsection (c) with respect to such property, the Di15 rector shall—

16 ‘‘(A) notify each holder of a recorded inter17 est on the property of such refusal; and 

18 ‘‘(B) notwithstanding subsections (a) 

19 through (c) of section 1308, thereafter the 

20 chargeable premium rate with respect to the 

21 property shall be the amount equal to 150 per22 cent of the chargeable rate for the property at 

23 the time that the offer was made, as adjusted 

24 by any other premium adjustments otherwise 

25 applicable to the property and any subsequent 
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1 increases pursuant to paragraph (2) and sub2 ject to the limitation under paragraph (3). 

3 ‘‘(2) INCREASED PREMIUMS UPON SUBSEQUENT

4 FLOOD DAMAGE.—Notwithstanding subsections (a) 

5 through (c) of section 1308, if the owner of a severe 

6 repetitive loss property does not accept an offer to 

7 take action under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 

8 (c) with respect to such property and a claim pay9 ment exceeding $1,500 is made under flood insur10 ance coverage under this title for damage to the 

11 property caused by a flood event occurring after 

12 such offer is made, thereafter the chargeable pre13 mium rate with respect to the property shall be the 

14 amount equal to 150 percent of the chargeable rate 

15 for the property at the time of such flood event, as 

16 adjusted by any other premium adjustments other17 wise applicable to the property and any subsequent 

18 increases pursuant to this paragraph and subject to 

19 the limitation under paragraph (3). 

20 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON INCREASED PREMIUMS.—

21 In no case may the chargeable premium rate for a 

22 severe repetitive loss property be increased pursuant 

23 to this subsection to an amount exceeding the appli24 cable estimated risk premium rate for the area (or 

25 subdivision thereof) under section 1307(a)(1). 
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1 ‘‘(4) TREATMENT OF DEDUCTIBLES.—Any in2 crease in chargeable premium rates required under 

3 this subsection for a severe repetitive loss property 

4 may be carried out, to the extent appropriate, as de5 termined by the Director, by adjusting any deduct6 ible charged in connection with flood insurance cov7 erage under this title for the property. 

8 ‘‘(5) NOTICE OF CONTINUED OFFER.—Upon 

9 each renewal or modification of any flood insurance 

10 coverage under this title for a severe repetitive loss 

11 property, the Director shall notify the owner that 

12 the offer made pursuant to subsection (c) is still 

13 open. 

14 ‘‘(6) APPEALS.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any owner of a severe 

16 repetitive loss property may appeal a deter17 mination of the Director to take action under 

18 paragraph (1)(B) or (2) with respect to such 

19 property, based only upon the following 

20 grounds: 

21 ‘‘(i) As a result of such action, the 

22 owner of the property will not be able to 

23 purchase a replacement primary residence 

24 of comparable value and that is function25 ally equivalent. 
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1 ‘‘(ii) As a result of such action, the 

2 preservation or maintenance of any pre3 historic or historic district, site, building, 

4 structure, or object included in, or eligible 

5 for inclusion in, the National Register of 

6 historic places will be interfered with, im7 paired, or disrupted. 

8 ‘‘(iii) The flooding that resulted in the 

9 flood insurance claims described in sub10 section (b)(2) for the property resulted 

11 from significant actions by a third party in 

12 violation of Federal, State, or local law, or13 dinance, or regulation. 

14 ‘‘(iv) In purchasing the property, the 

15 owner relied upon flood insurance rate 

16 maps of the Federal Emergency Manage17 ment Agency that were current at the time 

18 and did not indicate that the property was 

19 located in an area having special flood haz20 ards. 

21 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURE.—An appeal under this 

22 paragraph of a determination of the Director 

23 shall be made by filing, with the Director, a re24 quest for an appeal within 90 days after receiv25 ing notice of such determination. Upon receiv-
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1 ing the request, the Director shall select, from 

2 a list of independent third parties compiled by 

3 the Director for such purpose, a party to hear 

4 such appeal. Within 90 days after filing of the 

5 request for the appeal, such third party shall 

6 review the determination of the Director and 

7 shall set aside such determination if the third 

8 party determines that the grounds under sub9 paragraph (A) exist. During the pendency of an 

10 appeal under this paragraph, the Director shall 

11 stay the applicability of the rates established 

12 pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) or (2), as appli13 cable. 

14 ‘‘(C) EFFECT OF FINAL DETERMINA15 TION.—In an appeal under this paragraph—

16 ‘‘(i) if a final determination is made 

17 that the grounds under subparagraph (A) 

18 exist, the third party hearing such appeal 

19 shall make a determination of how much to 

20 reduce the chargeable risk premium rate 

21 for flood insurance coverage for the prop22 erty involved in the appeal from the 

23 amount required under paragraph (1)(B) 

24 or (2) and the Director shall promptly re-
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1 duce the chargeable risk premium rate for 

2 such property by such amount; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) if a final determination is made 

4 that the grounds under subparagraph (A) 

5 do not exist, the Director shall promptly 

6 increase the chargeable risk premium rate 

7 for such property to the amount estab8 lished pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) or 

9 (2), as applicable, and shall collect from 

10 the property owner the amount necessary 

11 to cover the stay of the applicability of 

12 such increased rates during the pendency 

13 of the appeal.

14 ‘‘(D) COSTS.—If the third party hearing 

15 an appeal under this paragraph is compensated 

16 for such service, the costs of such compensation 

17 shall be borne—

18 ‘‘(i) by the owner of the property re19 questing the appeal, if the final determina20 tion in the appeal is that the grounds 

21 under subparagraph (A) do not exist; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) by the National Flood Insurance 

23 Fund, if such final determination is that 

24 the grounds under subparagraph (A) do 

25 exist. 
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1 ‘‘(E) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months 

2 after the date of the enactment of the Flood In3 surance Reform Act of 2003, the Director shall 

4 submit a report to the House of Representatives 

5 and the Senate describing the rules, procedures, 

6 and administration for appeals under this para7 graph. 

8 ‘‘(h) DISCRETIONARY ACTIONS IN CASES OF FRAUD9 ULENT CLAIMS.—If the Director determines that a fraud10 ulent claim was made under flood insurance coverage 

11 under this title for a severe repetitive loss property, the 

12 Director may—

13 ‘‘(1) cancel the policy and deny the provision to 

14 such policyholder of any new flood insurance cov15 erage under this title for the property; or 

16 ‘‘(2) refuse to renew the policy with such policy17 holder upon expiration and deny the provision of any 

18 new flood insurance coverage under this title to such 

19 policyholder for the property. 

20 ‘‘(i) FUNDING.—Pursuant to section 1310(a)(8), the 

21 Director may use amounts from the National Flood Insur22 ance Fund to provide assistance under this section in each 

23 of fiscal years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008, except 

24 that the amount so used in each such fiscal year may not 

25 exceed $40,000,000 and shall remain available until ex-
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1 pended. Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, 

2 amounts made available pursuant to this subsection shall 

3 not be subject to offsetting collections through premium 

4 rates for flood insurance coverage under this title. 

5 ‘‘(j) TERMINATION.—The Director may not provide 

6 assistance under this section to any State or community 

7 after September 30, 2008.’’. 

8 (b) AVAILABILITY OF NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE

9 FUND AMOUNTS.—Section 1310(a) of the National Flood 

10 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4017(a)) is amended—

11 (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

12 end; and 

13 (2) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the 

14 following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(8) for financial assistance under section 1362 

16 to States and communities for taking actions under 

17 such section with respect to severe repetitive loss 

18 properties, but only to the extent provided in section 

19 1362(i); and’’. 

20 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO EXISTING FLOOD MITIGATION AS21 SISTANCE PROGRAM. 

22 (a) STANDARD FOR APPROVAL OF MITIGATION

23 PLANS.—Section 1366(e)(3) of the National Flood Insur24 ance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104(c) is amended by add25 ing at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘The Director 
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1 may approve only mitigation plans that give priority for 

2 funding to such properties, or to such subsets of prop3 erties, as are in the best interest of the National Flood 

4 Insurance Fund.’’. 

5 (b) PRIORITY FOR MITIGATION ASSISTANCE.—Sec6 tion 1366(e) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 

7 (42 U.S.C. 4104c) is amended by striking paragraph (4) 

8 and inserting the following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY FOR MITIGATION ASSISTANCE.—

10 In providing grants under this subsection for mitiga11 tion activities, the Director shall give first priority 

12 for funding to such properties, or to such subsets of 

13 such properties as the Director may establish, that 

14 the Director determines are in the best interests of 

15 the National Flood Insurance Fund and for which 

16 matching amounts under subsection (f) are avail17 able.’’. 

18 (c) COORDINATION WITH STATES AND COMMU19 NITIES.—Section 1366 of the National Flood Insurance 

20 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104c) is amended by adding at 

21 the end the following new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(m) COORDINATION WITH STATES AND COMMU23 NITIES.—The Director shall, in consultation and coordina24 tion with States and communities take such actions as are 

25 appropriate to encourage and improve participation in the 
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1 national flood insurance program of owners of properties, 

2 including owners of properties that are not located in 

3 areas having special flood hazards but are located within 

4 the 100-year floodplain.’’. 

5 (d) FUNDING.—Section 1367(b) of the National 

6 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104d(b)) is 

7 amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the fol8 lowing new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(1) in each fiscal year, amounts from the Na10 tional Flood Insurance Fund not exceeding 

11 $40,000,000;’’. 

12 SEC. 6. FEMA AUTHORITY TO FUND MITIGATION ACTIVI13 TIES FOR INDIVIDUAL REPETITIVE CLAIMS 

14 PROPERTIES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter I of the National Flood 

16 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4011 et seq.) is amend17 ed by adding at the end the following new section:

18 ‘‘GRANTS FOR REPETITIVE INSURANCE CLAIMS

19 PROPERTIES

20 ‘‘SEC. 1323. (a) IN GENERAL.—General.—The Di21 rector may provide funding for mitigation actions that re22 duce flood damages to individual properties for which one 

23 or more claim payments for losses have been made under 

24 flood insurance coverage under this title, but only if the 

25 Director determines that—
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1 ‘‘(1) such activities are in the best interest of 

2 the National Flood Insurance Fund; and 

3 ‘‘(2) such activities can not be funded under the 

4 program under section 1366 because—

5 ‘‘(A) the requirements of section 1366(g) 

6 are not being met by the State or community 

7 in which the property is located; or 

8 ‘‘(B) the State or community does not 

9 have the capacity to manage such activities. 

10 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY FOR WORST-CASE PROPERTIES.—In 

11 determining the properties for which funding is to be pro12 vided under this section, the Director shall consult with 

13 the States in which such properties are located and pro14 vide assistance for properties in the order that will result 

15 in the greatest amount of savings to the National Flood 

16 Insurance Fund in the shortest period of time.’’. 

17 (b) AVAILABILITY OF NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE

18 FUND AMOUNTS.—Section 1310(a) of the National Flood 

19 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4017(a)) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(9) for funding, not to exceed $10,000,000 in 

22 any fiscal year, for mitigation actions under section 

23 1323, except that, notwithstanding any other provi24 sion of this title, amounts made available pursuant 

25 to this paragraph shall not be subject to offsetting 
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1 collections through premium rates for flood insur2 ance coverage under this title.’’. 

3 SEC. 7. ACTUARIAL RATE PROPERTIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1308 of the National 

5 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015) is amended 

6 by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following new 

7 subsection: 

8 ‘‘(c) ACTUARIAL RATE PROPERTIES.—Subject only 

9 to the limitations provided under paragraphs (1) and (2), 

10 the chargeable rate shall not be less than the applicable 

11 estimated risk premium rate for such area (or subdivision 

12 thereof) under section 1307(a)(1) with respect to the fol13 lowing properties: 

14 ‘‘(1) POST-FIRM PROPERTIES.—Any property 

15 the construction or substantial improvement of 

16 which the Director determines has been started after 

17 December 31, 1974, or started after the effective 

18 date of the initial rate map published by the Direc19 tor under paragraph (2) of section 1360 for the area 

20 in which such property is located, whichever is later, 

21 except that the chargeable rate for properties under 

22 this paragraph shall be subject to the limitation 

23 under subsection (e). 

24 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN LEASED COASTAL AND RIVER

25 PROPERTIES.—Any property leased from the Federal 
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1 Government (including residential and nonresidential 

2 properties) that the Director determines is located 

3 on the river-facing side of any dike, levee, or other 

4 riverine flood control structure, or seaward of any 

5 seawall or other coastal flood control structure.’’. 

6 (b) INAPPLICABILITY OF ANNUAL LIMITATIONS ON

7 PREMIUM INCREASES.—Section 1308(e) of the National 

8 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(e)) is 

9 amended by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘Except with respect to properties described under para11 graph (2) or (3) of subsection (c) and notwithstanding’’. 

12 SEC. 8. ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF REPETITIVE LOSS 

13 PROPERTIES. 

14 Section 1364 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

15 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104a) is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(d) ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF REPETITIVE

18 CLAIMS PROPERTIES.—The Director may, if the Director 

19 determines such action is feasible, establish and maintain 

20 a database identifying by location and address all repet21 itive loss structures (as such term is defined in section 

22 1370) and severe repetitive loss properties (as such term 

23 is defined in section 1362(b)). If established, the Director 

24 shall make the database available to the public in a format 

25 that may be searched electronically. Such a database shall 
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1 not include any information regarding ownership of prop2 erties.’’. 

3 SEC. 9. REPLACEMENT OF MOBILE HOMES ON ORIGINAL 

4 SITES. 

5 Section 1315 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

6 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4022) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(c) REPLACEMENT OF MOBILE HOMES ON ORIGI9 NAL SITES.—

10 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION.—The place11 ment of any mobile home on any site shall not affect 

12 the eligibility of any community to participate in the 

13 flood insurance program under this title and the 

14 Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (notwith15 standing that such placement may fail to comply 

16 with any elevation or flood damage mitigation re17 quirements), if—

18 ‘‘(A) such mobile home was previously lo19 cated on such site; 

20 ‘‘(B) such mobile home was relocated from 

21 such site because of flooding that threatened or 

22 affected such site; and 

23 ‘‘(C) such replacement is conducted not 

24 later than the expiration of the 180-day period 

25 that begins upon the subsidence (in the area of 
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1 such site) of the body of water that flooded to 

2 a level considered lower than flood levels. 

3 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub4 section, the term ‘mobile home’ has the meaning 

5 given such term in the law of the State in which the 

6 mobile home is located.’’.

7 SEC. 10. REITERATION OF FEMA RESPONSIBILITY TO MAP 

8 MUDSLIDES. 

9 As directed in section 1360(b) of the National Flood 

10 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101(b)), the Director 

11 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is again 

12 directed to accelerate the identification of risk zones with13 in flood-prone and mudslide-prone areas, as provided by 

14 subsection (a)(2) of such section 1360, in order to make 

15 known the degree of hazard within each such zone at the 

16 earliest possible date.

Passed the House of Representatives November 20, 

2003. 

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL, 

Clerk.