II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5199 

To reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. CASEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, and 

for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Fair Flood Protection Act of 2024’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION AND STABILIZATION 

Sec. 101. Reauthorization. 


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Sec. 102. Forbearance on National Flood Insurance Program interest payments. 

Sec. 103. Elimination of Community Rating System. 

Sec. 104. Write Your Own Program reform. 

TITLE II—RATE REPORTING AND POLICYHOLDER ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 201. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 202. Premium transparency. 

Sec. 203. Flood Protection Affordability Program and Trust Fund. 

TITLE III—FEE REDUCTION AND CONSOLIDATION 

Sec. 301. Reserve Fund assessment. 

Sec. 302. Flood Insurance Program Stability Fee. 

TITLE IV—RESILIENCE 

Sec. 401. Levee project identification and development program. 

Sec. 402. Authorization of appropriations for the STORM Act. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Agency. 

5 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Agency’’ means the 

6 Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

7 (3) COMMUNITY RATING SYSTEM.—The term 

8 ‘‘Community Rating System’’ means the community 

9 rating system program carried out under section 

10 1315(b) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

11 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4022(b)). 

12 (4) NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM.— 

13 The term ‘‘National Flood Insurance Program’’ 

14 means the program established under the National 

15 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et 

16 seq.). 


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1 (5) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

2 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given the 

3 term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 

4 U.S.C. 632). 

5 (6) WRITE YOUR OWN COMPANY.—The term 

6 ‘‘Write Your Own Company’’ means a private prop7 erty insurance company that participates in the 

8 Write Your Own Program. 

9 (7) WRITE YOUR OWN PROGRAM.—The term 

10 ‘‘Write Your Own Program’’ means the program 

11 under which the Federal Emergency Management 

12 Agency enters into a standard arrangement with pri13 vate property insurance companies to— 

14 (A) sell contracts for Federal flood insur15 ance under their own business lines of insur16 ance; and 

17 (B) adjust and pay claims arising under 

18 the contracts described in subparagraph (A). 

19 TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION 

20 AND STABILIZATION 

21 SEC. 101. REAUTHORIZATION. 

22 (a) FINANCING.—Section 1309(a) of the National 

23 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4016(a)) is 

24 amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2023’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘September 30, 2034’’. 


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1 (b) PROGRAM EXPIRATION.—Section 1319 of the Na2 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4026) is 

3 amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2023’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘September 30, 2034’’. 

5 (c) RETROACTIVE EFFECTIVE DATE.—If this Act is 

6 enacted after September 30, 2024, the amendments made 

7 by subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect as if enacted 

8 on September 30, 2024. 

9 SEC. 102. FORBEARANCE ON NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE 

10 PROGRAM INTEREST PAYMENTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—During the 20-year period begin12 ning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

13 of the Treasury may not charge the Administrator interest 

14 on amounts borrowed by the Administrator under section 

15 1309(a) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 

16 U.S.C. 4016(a)) that were outstanding as of the date of 

17 enactment of this Act, including amounts borrowed after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act that refinance debts that 

19 existed before the date of enactment of this Act. 

20 (b) USE OF FOREGONE INTEREST PAYMENTS.— 

21 There shall be deposited into the National Flood Mitiga22 tion Fund established under section 1367 of the National 

23 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104d) an 

24 amount equal to the interest that would have accrued on 

25 the borrowed amounts during the 20-year period described 


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1 in subsection (a) at the time at which those interest pay2 ments would have otherwise been paid, which, notwith3 standing any provision of such section 1367, the Adminis4 trator shall use to carry out the program established under 

5 section 1366 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 

6 (42 U.S.C. 4104c). 

7 (c) NO RETROACTIVE ACCRUAL.—After the 20-year 

8 period described in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 

9 Treasury shall not require the Administrator to repay any 

10 interest that, but for that subsection, would have accrued 

11 on the borrowed amounts described in that subsection dur12 ing that 20-year period. 

13 SEC. 103. ELIMINATION OF COMMUNITY RATING SYSTEM. 

14 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

15 (1) The Community Rating System, while well16 intentioned, has provided discounts to policyholders 

17 that are not actuarially justified. 

18 (2) The discounts described in paragraph (1) 

19 have furthered the financial insolvency of the Na20 tional Flood Insurance Program. 

21 (3) With the transition by the Agency towards 

22 individualized premiums rather than community23 based premiums, the Community Rating System 

24 should be phased out. 


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1 (b) PHASE-OUT.—Section 1315(b) of the National 

2 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4022(b)) is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(4) PHASE-OUT.—Not earlier than 2 years 

5 and not later than 4 years after the date of enact6 ment of this paragraph, the Administrator shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) terminate the community rating sys8 tem program established under paragraph (1); 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) remove credits from the premium 

11 rates for policyholders within participating com12 munities.’’. 

13 SEC. 104. WRITE YOUR OWN PROGRAM REFORM. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall— 

16 (1) issue a proposed rule that caps the reim17 bursement that the Agency pays to Write Your Own 

18 Companies— 

19 (A) at not more than 25 percent of the ag20 gregate premiums charged by the Write Your 

21 Own Company; and 

22 (B) taking into account— 

23 (i) the impact of the reimbursement 

24 rate on the overall solvency of the National 

25 Flood Insurance Program; and 


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1 (ii) reimbursement rates offered by 

2 other Federal agencies for similar insur3 ance programs, including programs offered 

4 by the Department of Health and Human 

5 Services and the Department of Agri6 culture; and 

7 (2) issue a proposed rule that caps the amount 

8 that Write Your Own Company pays to an agent of 

9 the company as a commission for flood insurance 

10 premiums sold by the agent. 

11 (b) FINAL RULES.—Not later than 18 months after 

12 the date on which the Administrator issues a proposed rule 

13 under subsection (a), the Administrator shall issue a final 

14 rule for the proposed rule, which shall apply to all flood 

15 insurance policies that are written or renewed on or after 

16 the date that is 6 months after the date of publication 

17 of the final rule. 

18 (c) REASSESSMENT OF CAPS.—The Administrator 

19 may reassess and modify the caps provided in the final 

20 rules issued under subsection (b) through notice and com21 ment rulemaking procedures under section 553 of title 5, 

22 United States Code. 


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1 TITLE II—RATE REPORTING AND 

2 POLICYHOLDER ASSISTANCE 

3 SEC. 201. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that— 

5 (1) it is important to maximize participation in 

6 the National Flood Insurance Program; 

7 (2) in order to do so, Congress must ensure 

8 that flood insurance is affordable for low-income 

9 homeowners, older homeowners on fixed incomes, 

10 and working families; and 

11 (3) it is also important that the National Flood 

12 Insurance Program continues to align its premiums 

13 with actuarially sound rates to provide transparency, 

14 increase public understanding of the true costs of 

15 flood insurance and flood damage, and promote the 

16 long-term financial solvency of the National Flood 

17 Insurance Program. 

18 SEC. 202. PREMIUM TRANSPARENCY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall issue to 

20 each policyholder under the National Flood Insurance 

21 Program, in writing, an annual premium pricing report 

22 with respect to the property of the policyholder, which 

23 shall include— 


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1 (1) the full, risk-based premium for the prop2 erty, as identified under the Risk Rating 2.0 model 

3 or any subsequent pricing model of the Agency; 

4 (2) the applicable premium for the property, in5 clusive of subsidies and caps as determined by sec6 tion 1310A of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

7 1968, as added by section 203 of this Act; and 

8 (3) the anticipated premium for subsequent 

9 years following the report, based on the applicable 

10 pricing model of the Agency and annual limitations 

11 on premium increases established under section 

12 1308(e) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

13 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(e)). 

14 (b) RENTER TRANSPARENCY.—If a policyholder 

15 rents out a property for which coverage is provided 

16 through the National Flood Insurance Program to ten17 ants, the policyholder shall provide a copy of the annual 

18 premium pricing report for the property to the tenants 

19 with the lease for the property. 

20 SEC. 203. FLOOD PROTECTION AFFORDABILITY PROGRAM 

21 AND TRUST FUND. 

22 Chapter I of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

23 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4011 et seq.), as amended by section 301 

24 of this Act, is amended by inserting after section 1310 

25 (42 U.S.C. 4017) the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1310A. FLOOD PROTECTION AFFORDABILITY PRO2 GRAM AND TRUST FUND. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later than 

4 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad5 ministrator shall establish a program to ensure that poli6 cies under the national flood insurance program are af7 fordable by offering subsidized premiums using the for8 mula described in subsection (b). 

9 ‘‘(b) RATE AFFORDABILITY.—The program estab10 lished under subsection (a) shall ensure that policyholders 

11 under the national flood insurance program shall not pay 

12 a premium that is, as a percentage of their household in13 come, higher than the percentage created by dividing their 

14 annual household income by 41,000. 

15 ‘‘(c) SUBSIDY.—If the premium for flood insurance 

16 coverage under the national flood insurance program for 

17 a property owned by a policyholder eligible for assistance 

18 under subsection (b) is greater than the limit set by sub19 section (b), the Administrator shall subsidize the premium 

20 using funds from the Flood Insurance Affordability Trust 

21 Fund established under subsection (d) in the amount 

22 equal to the difference between the stated premium and 

23 the maximum amount chargeable under subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(d) FUND.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within 

2 the Department of the Treasury a fund, which shall 

3 be— 

4 ‘‘(A) known as the ‘Flood Insurance Af5 fordability Trust Fund’ (in this section referred 

6 to as the ‘Fund’); and 

7 ‘‘(B) administered by the Administrator. 

8 ‘‘(2) SHORTFALL.—If amounts in the Fund are 

9 insufficient to cover subsidies required under sub10 section (b), the Administrator is authorized to draw 

11 such sums as may be necessary from the general 

12 fund of the Treasury to provide those subsidies. 

13 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Adminis14 trator shall submit to the Committee on Banking, 

15 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, the Com16 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate, the Com17 mittee on Financial Services of the House of Rep18 resentatives, and the Committee on Appropriations 

19 of the House of Representatives an annual report 

20 detailing— 

21 ‘‘(A) the amount paid out of the Fund 

22 during the year preceding the date on which the 

23 report is submitted; 

24 ‘‘(B) the amount in the Fund as of the 

25 date of the report; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the amount the Fund drew from the 

2 general fund of the Treasury during the year 

3 preceding the date on which the report is sub4 mitted; 

5 ‘‘(D) the amount of appropriations that 

6 the Administrator estimates the Fund will need 

7 for the forthcoming year; and 

8 ‘‘(E) other information as determined im9 portant by the Administrator. 

10 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 There is authorized to be appropriated into the 

12 Fund such sums as are necessary for each fiscal 

13 year to provide the subsidies described in subsection 

14 (c), as informed by the relevant report submitted 

15 under paragraph (3). 

16 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion shall be construed to affect the applicability of the 

18 cap on the annual premium increase under section 

19 1308(e).’’. 

20 TITLE III—FEE REDUCTION AND 

21 CONSOLIDATION 

22 SEC. 301. RESERVE FUND ASSESSMENT. 

23 Chapter I of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

24 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4011 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 1304(b) (42 U.S.C. 4011(b)), by 

2 striking the flush matter following paragraph 

3 (4)(D); 

4 (2) in section 1307(a)(1)(B)(iii) (42 U.S.C. 

5 4014(a)(1)(B)(iii)), by striking ‘‘which shall be re6 covered by a fee charged to policyholders and such 

7 fee shall not be subject to any agents’ commissions, 

8 company expense allowances, or State or local pre9 mium taxes’’; 

10 (3) in section 1308(m)(1) (42 U.S.C. 

11 4015(m)(1)), in the matter preceding subparagraph 

12 (A), by striking ‘‘and the surcharges required under 

13 section 1308A’’; 

14 (4) by striking section 1308A (42 U.S.C. 

15 4015a); and 

16 (5) by striking section 1310A (42 U.S.C. 

17 4017A). 

18 SEC. 302. FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM STABILITY FEE. 

19 (a) IMPOSITION AND COLLECTION.—The Adminis20 trator shall impose and collect a singular annual sur21 charge, which shall be referred to as the ‘‘Flood Insurance 

22 Program Stability Fee’’, in the amount provided in sub23 section (b), on all policies for flood insurance coverage 

24 under the National Flood Insurance Program that are 

25 newly issued or renewed after May 1, 2025. 


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1 (b) AMOUNT.—The amount of the surcharge under 

2 subsection (a) shall be— 

3 (1) except as provided in paragraph (2), 20 per4 cent of the annual premium inclusive of any subsidy 

5 provided under section 1310A of the National Flood 

6 Insurance Act of 1968, as added by section 203 of 

7 this Act; and 

8 (2) 30 percent of the annual post-subsidy pre9 mium, in the case of a policy for any property that 

10 is— 

11 (A) a non-residential property other than a 

12 small business concern; and 

13 (B) a residential property that is not the 

14 primary residence of an individual. 

15 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Of amounts collected by the 

16 Administrator under this section in a given fiscal year— 

17 (1) not less than 50 percent shall be deposited 

18 in the National Flood Insurance Fund established 

19 under section 1310 of the National Flood Insurance 

20 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4017); and 

21 (2) not less than 30 percent shall be deposited 

22 in the Flood Insurance Affordability Trust Fund es23 tablished under section 1310A of the National Flood 

24 Insurance Act of 1968, as added by section 203 of 

25 this Act. 


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1 TITLE IV—RESILIENCE 

2 SEC. 401. LEVEE PROJECT IDENTIFICATION AND DEVELOP3 MENT PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall es6 tablish a program to identify and develop new levees and 

7 levee systems. 

8 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To carry out the program 

9 established under subsection (a), the Administrator shall 

10 solicit applications from— 

11 (1) States or political subdivisions of States; 

12 (2) flood protection authorities; 

13 (3) federally recognized Indian Tribes; and 

14 (4) other public entities as determined by the 

15 Administrator. 

16 (c) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Administrator shall 

17 consider applications for assistance under the program es18 tablished under subsection (a) using the following criteria: 

19 (1) An estimate of the valuation of property lo20 cated behind the proposed levee or system of levees. 

21 (2) The history of severe weather and flooding 

22 events in the community and any projected changes 

23 due to climate change. 


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1 (3) The number of people and percentage of the 

2 overall population in the community that is partici3 pating in the National Flood Insurance Program. 

4 (4) The anticipated cost to construct and oper5 ate the levee or system of levees. 

6 (5) Other considerations, as determined by the 

7 Administrator. 

8 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator 

9 shall provide technical assistance upon request to appli10 cants for the program established under subsection (a), 

11 including by helping applicants to access data regarding 

12 National Flood Insurance Program coverage in the rel13 evant area. 

14 (e) SELECTED PROJECTS.—Upon the selection of ap15 plicants for participation in the program established under 

16 subsection (a), the Administrator shall— 

17 (1) provide technical assistance for applications 

18 submitted to the Agency for funding, including as19 sistance with determining project scope, timeline, 

20 cost, and other considerations as determined by the 

21 Administrator; 

22 (2) prioritize for funding through the hazard 

23 mitigation grant program under section 404 of the 

24 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

25 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c), the Building ReVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:32 Oct 10, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5199.IS S5199

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1 silient Infrastructure and Communities program au2 thorized under section 203 of the Robert T. Stafford 

3 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 5133), and the Flood Mitigation Assistance 

5 program authorized under section 1366 of the Na6 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

7 4104c), applications from selected applicants for 

8 planning, engineering, design, or construction work 

9 for the levee or system of levees described in the ap10 plication; and 

11 (3) direct States and political subdivisions of 

12 States to prioritize allocating funds from revolving 

13 loan funds capitalized by the Safeguarding Tomor14 row Revolving Loan Fund, as established to carry 

15 out section 205 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

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

17 5135), for projects for planning, engineering, design, 

18 or construction work for levees or systems of levees 

19 selected under this section. 

20 (f) CONSULTATION.—In administering the Program, 

21 the Administrator shall consult with— 

22 (1) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; 

23 (2) emergency management agencies from 

24 States with a selected project; and 


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1 (3) other stakeholders, as determined by the 

2 Administrator. 

3 SEC. 402. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE 

4 STORM ACT. 

5 Section 205(n) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

6 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5135) 

7 is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(n) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated $200,000,000 for each 

10 of fiscal years 2025 through 2034 to carry out this sec11 tion.’’. 

Æ 


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