II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1098 

To reform the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 to 

responsibly protect homeownership. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 6, 2013 

Mr. VITTER (for himself and Mr. COCHRAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To reform the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act 

of 2012 to responsibly protect homeownership. 

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 ‘‘Responsible Implemen5 tation of Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2013’’. 


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•S 1098 IS

1 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION ON APPLICATION OF CERTAIN PRE2 MIUM ADJUSTMENTS UNDER THE BIGGERT3 WATERS FLOOD INSURANCE REFORM ACT OF 

4 2012. 

5 (a) CLARIFICATION.—Section 1308(h) of the Na6 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(h)) 

7 is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding’’; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—The requirements under 

12 paragraph (1) shall only apply with respect to any 

13 property located in an area— 

14 ‘‘(A) that is participating in the national 

15 flood insurance program; and 

16 ‘‘(B) for which the Administrator has pub17 lished in the Federal Register projected base 

18 flood elevations and designations of areas hav19 ing special flood hazards under section 1363(a) 

20 on or after December 31, 2013.’’. 

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

22 subsection (a) shall take effect as if enacted as part of 

23 the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 

24 (Public Law 112–141; 126 Stat. 916). 


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•S 1098 IS

1 SEC. 3. PHASE-IN OF ACTUARIAL RATES FOR NEWLY PUR2 CHASED HOMES. 

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

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

5 amended— 

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

7 end; 

8 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) not subject to the phase-in requirement 

12 under paragraph (2), which are sold on or after the 

13 date of enactment of the Biggert-Waters Flood In14 surance Reform Act of 2012, and notwithstanding 

15 the requirements of section 1307(g), shall be in16 creased by 20 percent each year, beginning in the 

17 year after the first such sale, until the average risk 

18 premium rate for such properties is equal to the av19 erage of the risk premium rates for properties de20 scribed in paragraph (1).’’. 

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

22 subsection (a) shall take effect as if enacted as part of 

23 the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 

24 (Public Law 112–141; 126 Stat. 916). 


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1 SEC. 4. LOCAL CHOICE TO PROTECT HOMEOWNERS. 

2 The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 

3 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 

4 1308 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 1308A. STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT FLEXI6 BILITY. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall estab8 lish a means by which a State or local government may, 

9 on its own accord or in conjunction with other State or 

10 local governments, submit such payments to the Adminis11 trator as are necessary to fully cover the cost of any pre12 mium for any property within the jurisdiction of the State 

13 or local government. 

14 ‘‘(b) RISK PREMIUM RATE.—The Administrator shall 

15 require that the amount of any payment from a State or 

16 local government under subsection (a) be consistent with 

17 sections 1307 and 1308.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. MITIGATION ASSISTANCE FOR HOMEOWNERS. 

19 Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

20 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c) is 

21 amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL PROVISION RELATING TO FLOOD MITI23 GATION.— 

24 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

25 ‘eligible property’ means— 

26 ‘‘(A) a property— 


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1 ‘‘(i) described in paragraph (1) or (2) 

2 of section 1307(g) of the National Flood 

3 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

4 4014(g)); 

5 ‘‘(ii) for which a policy under the 

6 flood insurance program has lapsed in cov7 erage, as a result of the deliberate choice 

8 of the holder of such policy, as described in 

9 paragraph (3) of section 1307(g) of the 

10 National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 

11 U.S.C. 4014(g)); or 

12 ‘‘(iii) with respect to which a prospec13 tive insured refuses to accept any offer for 

14 mitigation assistance by the Administrator 

15 of the Federal Emergency Management 

16 Agency (including an offer to relocate), as 

17 described in paragraph (4) of section 

18 1307(g) of the National Flood Insurance 

19 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4014(g)); and 

20 ‘‘(B) a property for which the risk pre21 mium rate for flood insurance coverage under 

22 the National Flood Insurance Program in23 creases under section 1308(h) of the National 

24 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

25 4015(h)) on or after July 6, 2012. 


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1 ‘‘(2) MITIGATION AGAINST FUTURE FLOOD2 ING.—In providing hazard mitigation assistance 

3 under this section in connection with flooding, the 

4 Administrator of the Federal Management Agency 

5 shall ensure that not less than 25 percent of the es6 timated aggregate amount of such assistance pro7 vided to a grant recipient is used to elevate, acquire, 

8 or relocate eligible properties, to the extent that eli9 gible properties exist within the jurisdiction of the 

10 grant recipient.’’. 

11 SEC. 6. CONSTRUCTION AND RESTORATION OF FLOOD PRO12 TECTION SYSTEMS. 

13 (a) ADEQUATE PROGRESS ON CONSTRUCTION OF

14 FLOOD PROTECTION SYSTEMS.—Section 1307(e) of the 

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

16 4014(e)) is amended by inserting after the second sen17 tence the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision 

18 of law, in determining whether a community has made 

19 adequate progress on the construction, reconstruction, or 

20 improvement of a flood protection system, the Adminis21 trator shall not consider the level of Federal funding of 

22 or participation in the construction, reconstruction, or im23 provement.’’. 

24 (b) COMMUNITIES RESTORING DISACCREDITED

25 FLOOD PROTECTION SYSTEMS.—Section 1307(f) of the 


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1 National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

2 4014(f)) is amended in the first sentence by striking ‘‘no 

3 longer does so.’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘no longer 

4 does so, and shall apply without regard to the level of Fed5 eral funding of or participation in the construction, recon6 struction, or improvement of the flood protection system.’’. 

7 SEC. 7. APPROPRIATE CREDIT FOR FLOOD CONTROL 

8 STRUCTURES. 

9 Section 1360 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

10 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(k) ACTUAL PROTECTION PROVIDED BY LEVEE

13 SYSTEMS.—The Administrator may not issue a flood in14 surance rate map or an update to a flood insurance rate 

15 map for an area unless— 

16 ‘‘(1) the flood insurance rate map or update 

17 adequately reflects the protection provided by any 

18 levee system in the area against the base flood, re19 gardless of the accreditation status of the levee sys20 tem under section 65.10 of title 44, Code of Federal 

21 Regulations, or any successor thereto; or 

22 ‘‘(2) the community in which any levee system 

23 in the area is located elects not to provide the data 

24 necessary for the Administrator to issue a flood in25 surance rate map or update that adequately reflects 


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1 the protection provided by the levee system against 

2 the base flood.’’. 

Æ 


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