II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3153 

To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to establish a pilot 

program to increase the allowable amounts of advance payments under 

the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 26, 2023 

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

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to 

establish a pilot program to increase the allowable 

amounts of advance payments under 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Advance 

5 Payments Modernization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) advance payments made by the Federal 

2 Emergency Management Agency (referred to in this 

3 section as ‘‘FEMA’’) have proven to be beneficial to 

4 those impacted by disasters; 

5 (2) FEMA has provided millions of dollars in 

6 advance payments to policyholders under the Na7 tional Flood Insurance Program who have started 

8 the claims process under that Program; 

9 (3) the payments described in paragraph (2) 

10 are critical in helping policyholders as they begin to 

11 clean up and repair homes that have been devastated 

12 by natural disasters; 

13 (4) while advance payments have proven to be 

14 beneficial to those impacted by disasters, there are 

15 still significant limitations to the process; and 

16 (5) there are technological advances that can 

17 enhance the advance payments program, and FEMA 

18 should harness those advances to improve the cus19 tomer experience and streamline FEMA’s payments 

20 program with the overall goal of easing burdens on 

21 those whose lives have been shattered by natural dis22 asters. 


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1 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM FOR REMOTE NATIONAL FLOOD 

2 INSURANCE PROGRAM CLAIMS. 

3 Part C of chapter II of the National Flood Insurance 

4 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4081 et seq.) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 1349. ADVANCE PAYMENTS PILOT PROGRAM. 

7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) COVERED DATA.—The term ‘covered data’ 

9 means real-time, rapid monitoring data, including 

10 data obtained through remote sensing technology. 

11 ‘‘(2) COVERED PROPERTY.—The term ‘covered 

12 property’ means a property for which the Adminis13 trator has received covered data indicating that 

14 flooding has occurred. 

15 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE POLICYHOLDER.—The term ‘eli16 gible policyholder’ means a person holding coverage 

17 made available under the national flood insurance 

18 program, where the property that is the subject of 

19 that coverage is a covered property. 

20 ‘‘(b) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

21 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 

22 days after the date of enactment of this section, the 

23 Administrator shall establish a pilot program that 

24 uses covered data to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) increase the speed with which claims 

2 payments under the national flood insurance 

3 program are delivered to eligible policyholders; 

4 ‘‘(B) increase the amount, and enhance the 

5 delivery, of advance claims payments under the 

6 national flood insurance program made to eligi7 ble policyholders; and 

8 ‘‘(C) further explore how covered data can 

9 be used to enhance customer service and effi10 ciency with respect to the claims process under 

11 the national flood insurance program. 

12 ‘‘(2) TERMINATION.—The pilot program estab13 lished under paragraph (1) shall terminate on the 

14 date that is 1 year after the date on which the Ad15 ministrator establishes the pilot program. 

16 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

17 date on which the pilot program established under sub18 section (b) terminates, the Administrator shall submit to 

19 Congress a report that describes any measurable changes 

20 that such pilot program has had on— 

21 ‘‘(1) administrative costs with respect to the na22 tional flood insurance program; or 

23 ‘‘(2) the timeliness with which the Adminis24 trator pays claims under the national flood insur25 ance program. 


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1 ‘‘(d) OVERPAYMENT FORGIVENESS.—Notwith2 standing any provision of section 1310, the Administrator 

3 may use amounts in the National Flood Insurance Fund 

4 to forgive any amounts overpaid to an eligible policyholder 

5 as a result of a pre-inspection advance payment provided 

6 under this section.’’. 

Æ 


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