Union Calendar No. 194

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3445

[Report No. 103–358]

A BILL

To improve hazard mitigation and relocation assistmeasures, and for other purposes. adequacy of current flood control policies and a comprehensive review and assessment of the ance in connection with flooding, to provide for

NOVEMBER 15, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 194

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3445

[Report No. 103–358]

To improve hazard mitigation and relocation assistance in connection with

flooding, to provide for a comprehensive review and assessment of the

adequacy of current flood control policies and measures, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 4, 1993

Mr. APPLEGATE (for himself, Mr. MINETA, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. BOEHLERT,

Mr. VOLKMER, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mr. EMERSON, Mr.

COSTELLO, Ms. DANNER, Mr. WHEAT, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. TALENT, Mr.

CLAY, Mr. EVANS, Mr. SMITH of Iowa, Mr. LEACH, Mr. LIGHTFOOT, and

Mr. NUSSLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Public Works and Transportation

NOVEMBER 15, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on November 4, 1993]

A BILL

To improve hazard mitigation and relocation assistance in

connection with flooding, to provide for a comprehensive

review and assessment of the adequacy of current flood

control policies and measures, and for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘Hazard Mitigation and

5 Flood Damage Reduction Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. HAZARD MITIGATION.

7 (a) FEDERAL SHARE.—Section 404 of The Robert T.

8 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42

9 U.S.C. 5170c) is amended by striking ‘‘50 percent’’ and in10 serting ‘‘75 percent’’.

11 (b) TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 404 of such Act

12 is further amended by striking ‘‘10 percent’’ and all that

13 follows through the period and inserting ‘‘15 percent of the

14 estimated aggregate amounts of grants to be made under

15 this Act (less administrative costs) with respect to such

16 major disaster.’’.

17 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this

18 section shall apply to any major disaster declared on or

19 after June 10, 1993.

20 SEC. 3. PROPERTY ACQUISITION AND RELOCATION ASSIST21 ANCE.

22 Section 404 of The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief

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

24 amended—
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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before

2 ‘‘The President’’; and

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

4 ‘‘(b) PROPERTY ACQUISITION AND RELOCATION AS5 SISTANCE.—

6 ‘‘(1) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—In providing haz7 ard mitigation assistance under this section in con8 nection with flooding, the Director of the Federal

9 Emergency Management Agency may provide prop10 erty acquisition and relocation assistance for projects

11 which meet the requirements of paragraph (2).

12 ‘‘(2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—An acquisition

13 or relocation project shall be eligible for funding pur14 suant to paragraph (1) only if—

15 ‘‘(A) the recipient of such funding is an ap16 plicant otherwise eligible under the hazard miti17 gation grant program established under sub18 section (a); and

19 ‘‘(B) the recipient of such funding enters

20 into an agreement with the Director under which

21 the recipient provides assurances that—

22 ‘‘(i) properties acquired, accepted, or

23 from which structures will be removed

24 under the project will be dedicated and

25 maintained in perpetuity to uses which are
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1 compatible with open space, recreational, or

2 wetlands management practices;

3 ‘‘(ii) new structures will not be erected

4 in designated special flood hazard areas

5 other than (I) public facilities which are

6 open on all sides and functionally related to

7 a designated open space, (II) rest rooms,

8 and (III) structures which are approved in

9 writing before the start of construction by

10 the Director; and

11 ‘‘(iii) no future disaster assistance for

12 damages relating to flooding will be sought

13 from or provided by any Federal source for

14 any property acquired or accepted under

15 the acquisition or relocation project.’’.

16 SEC. 4. FLOOD CONTROL AND FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT

17 POLICIES.

18 (a) STUDIES.—The Secretary of the Army shall con19 duct studies to assess national flood control and floodplain

20 management policies.

21 (b) CONTENTS.—The studies conducted under this sec22 tion shall—

23 (1) identify critical water, sewer, transportation,

24 and other essential public facilities which currently

25 face unacceptable flood risks;
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1 (2) identify high priority industrial, petrochemi2 cal, hazardous waste, and other facilities which re3 quire additional flood protection due to the special

4 health and safety risks caused by flooding;

5 (3) evaluate current Federal, State, and local

6 floodplain management requirements for infrastruc7 ture improvements and other development in the

8 floodplain and recommend changes to reduce the po9 tential loss of life, property damage, economic losses,

10 and threats to health and safety caused by flooding;

11 (4) assess the adequacy and consistency of exist12 ing policies on nonstructural flood control and dam13 age prevention measures and, where appropriate,

14 identify incentives and opportunities for greater use

15 of such nonstructural measures;

16 (5) identify incentives and opportunities for en17 vironmental restoration as a component of the Na18 tion’s flood control and floodplain management poli19 cies;

20 (6) examine the differences in Federal cost-shar21 ing for construction and maintenance of flood control

22 projects on the Upper and Lower Mississippi River

23 systems and assess the effect of such differences on the

24 level of flood protection on the Upper Mississippi

25 River and its tributaries; and
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1 (7) assess current Federal policies on pre-event

2 repair and maintenance of both Federal and non-Fed3 eral levees and recommend Federal and non-Federal

4 actions to help prevent the failure of these levees dur5 ing flooding.

6 (c) CONSULTATION.—In conducting studies under this

7 section, the Secretary of the Army shall consult the heads

8 of appropriate Federal agencies, representatives of State

9 and local governments, the agricultural community, the in10 land waterways transportation industry, environmental or11 ganizations, recreational interests, experts in river hydrol12 ogy and floodplain management, other business and com13 mercial interests, and other appropriate persons.

14 (d) REPORT.—Not later than June 30, 1995, the Sec15 retary of the Army shall transmit to Congress a report on

16 the results of the studies conducted under this section.

17 SEC. 5. FLOOD CONTROL MEASURES ON UPPER MIS18 SISSIPPI AND LOWER MISSOURI RIVERS AND

19 THEIR TRIBUTARIES.

20 (a) STUDIES.—The Secretary of the Army shall con21 duct studies of the Upper Mississippi River and Lower Mis22 souri River and their tributaries to identify potential solu23 tions to flooding problems in such areas and to recommend

24 specific water resources projects that would result in eco-
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1 nomically and environmentally justified flood damage re2 duction measures in such areas.

3 (b) CONTENTS.—The studies conducted under this sec4 tion shall—

5 (1) reflect public input;

6 (2) include establishment of baseline conditions

7 to allow for a full assessment of economic and envi8 ronmental costs and benefits associated with flood

9 damage reduction projects and changes in land use

10 patterns;

11 (3) identify options for development of com12 prehensive solutions for improved long-term flood

13 plain management;

14 (4) identify feasibility studies of specific projects

15 or programs that are likely to improve flood damage

16 reduction capabilities;

17 (5) assess the impact of the current system of lev18 ees and flood control projects and current watershed

19 management and land use practices on the flood levels

20 experienced on the Upper Mississippi River and

21 Lower Missouri River and their tributaries in 1993

22 and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a full range of

23 alternative flood damage reduction measures, includ24 ing structural and nonstructural measures, such as

25 the preservation and restoration of wetlands;
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1 (6) recommend flood control improvements and

2 other flood damage reduction measures to reduce eco3 nomic losses, damage to public facilities, and the re4 lease of hazardous materials from industrial, petro5 chemical, hazardous waste, and other facilities caused

6 by flooding of the Upper Mississippi River and Lower

7 Missouri River and their tributaries; and

8 (7) assess the environmental impact of current

9 flood control measures and the flood control improve10 ments recommended under this section.

11 (c) CONSULTATION.—In conducting studies under this

12 section, the Secretary of the Army shall consult the heads

13 of other Federal agencies with water resources and flood14 plain management responsibilities.

15 (d) REPORT.—Not later than June 30, 1995, the Sec16 retary of the Army shall transmit to Congress a report on

17 the results of the studies conducted under this section.

18 SEC. 6. EMERGENCY RESPONSE.

19 Section 5(a)(1) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act authorizing

20 construction of certain public works on rivers and harbors

21 for flood control, and for other purposes’’, approved August

22 18, 1941 (33 U.S.C. 701n(a)(1)), is amended by inserting

23 before the first semicolon the following: ‘‘, or in implementa24 tion of nonstructural alternatives to the repair or restora-
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1 tion of such flood control work if requested by the non-Fed2 eral sponsor’’.

3 SEC. 7. TREATMENT OF REAL PROPERTY BUYOUT PRO4 GRAMS.

5 (a) INAPPLICABILITY OF URA.—The purchase of any

6 real property under a qualified buyout program shall not

7 constitute the making of Federal financial assistance avail8 able to pay all or part of the cost of a program or project

9 resulting in the acquisition of real property or in any

10 owner of real property being a displaced person (within the

11 meaning of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real

12 Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970).

13 (b) DEFINITION OF ‘‘QUALIFIED BUYOUT PRO14 GRAM’’.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘qualified

15 buyout program’’ means any program that—

16 (1) provides for the purchase of only property

17 damaged by the major, widespread flooding in the

18 Midwest during 1993;

19 (2) provides for such purchase solely as a result

20 of such flooding;

21 (3) provides for such acquisition without the use

22 of the power of eminent domain and notification to

23 the seller that acquisition is without the use of such

24 power;
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1 (4) is carried out by or through a State or a

2 unit of general local government; and

3 (5) is being assisted with amounts made avail4 able for—

5 (A) disaster relief by the Federal Emergency

6 Management Agency; or

7 (B) other Federal financial assistance pro8 grams.