II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1024

To establish a demonstration program to develop new techniques to prevent

coastal erosion and preserve shorelines.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 25 (legislative day, APRIL 19), 1993

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

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

A BILL

To establish a demonstration program to develop new

techniques to prevent coastal erosion and preserve shorelines.

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 ‘‘Local Innovation and

5 Coastal Protection Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROGRAM AUTHORITY.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter III of the National Flood

8 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.) is

9 amended by adding at the end the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1366. EROSION MITIGATION DEMONSTRATION PRO2 GRAM.

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall make grants,

4 with amounts made available from the Coastal Erosion

5 Control Fund established under section 1367, to dem6 onstrate the feasibility of innovative mitigation activities

7 designed to minimize coastal erosion, preserve shorelines,

8 and avoid environmental degradation.

9 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The Director may

10 make grants under this section to—

11 ‘‘(1) any State; and

12 ‘‘(2) any community participating in the na13 tional flood insurance program under this title

14 that—

15 ‘‘(A) has suffered recurring flood damages

16 and claims, as determined by the Director; and

17 ‘‘(B) is in full compliance with the require18 ments under the national flood insurance pro19 gram.

20 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this section

22 may be used to develop and test innovative tech23 niques to minimize coastal erosion and preserve

24 shorelines.

25 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this

26 section, the Director shall give a priority to eligible
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1 recipients that conduct projects to demonstrate the

2 feasibility of techniques that—

3 ‘‘(A) have application to more than 1 loca4 tion;

5 ‘‘(B) substantially broaden the applicability

6 of proven erosion control techniques; or

7 ‘‘(C) avoid permanent structural alter8 ations and rely instead on natural designs, in9 cluding the use of vegetation, or temporary

10 structures, to accomplish their goal.

11 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—The Director shall make

12 grants under this section on the basis of a nationwide com13 petition, in accordance with such application forms and

14 procedures as the Director may establish.

15 ‘‘(e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The total amount of any

16 grant under this section may not exceed $500,000 for any

17 project assisted under this section.

18 ‘‘(f) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—

19 ‘‘(1) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

21 subparagraph (C), a grant under this section

22 may not exceed 3 times the amount that the re23 cipient certifies, as the Director shall require,

24 that the recipient will contribute from non-Fed-
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1 eral funds to carry out activities assisted with

2 amounts provided under this section.

3 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—For pur4 poses of this subsection, the term ‘non-Federal

5 funds’ includes—

6 ‘‘(i) State or local agency funds,

7 ‘‘(ii) any salary paid to staff to carry

8 out the activities of the recipient,

9 ‘‘(iii) the value of the time and serv10 ices contributed by volunteers to carry out

11 such activities (at a rate determined by the

12 Director), and

13 ‘‘(iv) the value of any donated mate14 rial or building and the value of any lease

15 on a building.

16 ‘‘(C) NO MATCH REQUIRED FOR EVALUA17 TION.—No non-Federal contribution is required

18 for the conduct of evaluations under paragraph

19 (2).

20 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the

21 receipt of a grant under this section, the recipient of

22 the grant shall transmit to the Director a report

23 that—
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1 ‘‘(A) evaluates the long-term effectiveness

2 of the techniques that were developed under

3 this section; and

4 ‘‘(B) assesses any impact that such tech5 niques have had on adjacent coastal areas.

6 ‘‘(g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Director shall

7 transmit to the Congress an annual report that—

8 ‘‘(1) summarizes the erosion mitigation tech9 niques developed pursuant to this section;

10 ‘‘(2) describes the status of the Coastal Erosion

11 Control Fund established under section 1367; and

12 ‘‘(3) recommends any legislative or administra13 tive action necessary to further the purpose of this

14 section.

15 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be

16 appropriated to carry out this section, from the Coastal

17 Erosion Control Fund under section 1367, $12,500,000

18 for each of the fiscal years 1994 through 1997.’’.

19 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COASTAL EROSION CONTROL

20 FUND.

21 Chapter III of the National Flood Insurance Act of

22 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.), as amended by section 2,

23 is further amended by adding at the end the following new

24 section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1367. ESTABLISHMENT OF COASTAL EROSION CON2 TROL FUND.

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish in

4 the Treasury of the United States a fund to be known

5 as the Coastal Erosion Control Fund (hereafter in this

6 section referred to as the ‘Fund’), which shall be available,

7 to the extent provided in appropriation Acts, for grants

8 under section 1366.

9 ‘‘(b) CREDITS.—The Fund shall be credited with any

10 premium surcharges assessed under section 1308(e).’’.

11 SEC. 4. INSURANCE PREMIUM MITIGATION SURCHARGE.

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

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

14 by adding at the end the following new subsections:

15 ‘‘(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title,

16 the Director shall assess, with respect to each contract for

17 flood insurance coverage under this title, an annual miti18 gation surcharge of $5. The surcharges shall be paid into

19 the Coastal Erosion Control Fund under section 1367,

20 and shall not be subject to any agents’ commissions, com21 pany expenses allowances, or State or local premium taxes.

22 ‘‘(f) The Director shall not assess any surcharge

23 under subsection (e) if the balance of the Fund exceeds

24 $15,000,000.

25 ‘‘(g) The Director shall transmit to those who paid

26 a surcharge under subsection (e)—
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1 ‘‘(1) an annual report describing the expendi2 tures of the Fund during the preceding fiscal year;

3 and

4 ‘‘(2) any unobligated funds that remain in the

5 Fund at the end of fiscal year 1997.’’.

6 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub7 section (a) shall apply to any contract for flood insurance

8 under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 issued

9 or renewed after the date of enactment of this Act.

10 SEC. 5. INSURANCE RATE INCENTIVES FOR EROSION MITI11 GATION EFFORTS.

12 Chapter III of the National Flood Insurance Act of

13 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.), as amended by sections

14 2 and 3, is further amended by adding at the end the

15 following new section:

16 ‘‘SEC. 1368. INSURANCE RATE INCENTIVES FOR EROSION

17 MITIGATION EFFORTS.

18 ‘‘(a) PREFERRED EROSION MITIGATION MEAS19 URES.—The Director shall evaluate the effectiveness of

20 the erosion mitigation measures funded under section

21 1366 and shall publish a list of the most effective of such

22 measures in the Federal Register.

23 ‘‘(b) RATE INCENTIVES FOR COMMUNITIES.—The

24 Director shall provide incentives in the form of adjust25 ments in the premium rates for flood insurance coverage
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1 in areas that the Director determines have implemented

2 erosion mitigation measures contained in the list published

3 pursuant to subsection (a).’’.

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