I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4905 

To provide for improvements to National Flood Insurance Program rate 

maps, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 30, 2018 

Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia (for himself and Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To provide for improvements to National Flood Insurance 

Program rate maps, 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 ‘‘Improvement of Map5 ping, Addresses, Geography, Elevations, and Structures 

6 Act of 2018’’ or the ‘‘IMAGES Act of 2018’’. 

7 SEC. 2. NATIONAL FLOOD MAPPING PROGRAM. 

8 (a) INCLUSION OF PLANIMETRIC FEATURES IN RATE

9 MAPS.—Section 100216(b)(3) of the Biggert-Waters 


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1 Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (42 U.S.C. 

2 4101b(b)(3)) is amended— 

3 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

4 the end; 

5 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking the period 

6 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

8 ‘‘(F) planimetric features, including, for 

9 each planimetric feature— 

10 ‘‘(i) the associated parcel identifica11 tion data for such planimetric feature; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) to the maximum extent prac13 ticable, using public and private sector ad14 dress data, the address of such planimetric 

15 feature.’’. 

16 (b) FORMAT OF RATE MAPS.—Section 100216(c)(2) 

17 of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 

18 2012 (42 U.S.C. 4101b(c)(2)) is amended— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

20 the end; 

21 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 

22 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

24 ‘‘(D) not later than 5 years after the date 

25 that the National Geodetic Survey completes 


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1 the National Spatial Reference System 2022, 

2 updated to conform with the geospatial data 

3 provided by such system; and 

4 ‘‘(E) spatially accurate in accordance with 

5 the common protocols for geographic informa6 tion systems under section 216 of the E-Gov7 ernment Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note).’’. 

8 (c) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.—Section 100216 

9 of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 

10 2012 (42 U.S.C. 4101b) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub12 section (k); and 

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(f) STREAM FLOW NETWORKS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall co17 ordinate with the United States Geological Survey to 

18 ensure that, to the extent necessary to maintain the 

19 stream flow networks critical to the National Flood 

20 Insurance Program, flood risk mapping, and flood 

21 risk assessments— 

22 ‘‘(A) the stream gage stations in such 

23 stream flow networks are operational and use 

24 modern hardware; 


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1 ‘‘(B) such stream flow networks are suffi2 ciently densified by adding new stream gage 

3 stations in high-risk areas; 

4 ‘‘(C) inactive critical stream gage stations 

5 in such stream flow networks are reactivated; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(D) the speed of the geospatial real-time 

8 data feeds from such stream gage stations is in9 creased. 

10 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

11 ‘‘(A) STREAM FLOW NETWORK.—The term 

12 ‘stream flow network’ means a network of 

13 stream flow gages maintained under the direc14 tion of the United States Geological Survey and 

15 its partners that is used to measure or record 

16 the flow of water down a stream or river, or 

17 through an entire watershed system, and trans18 mit such information using a geospatial real19 time data feed. 

20 ‘‘(B) STREAM GAGE STATION.—The term 

21 ‘stream gage station’ means a device installed 

22 at the edge of a river or stream that measures 

23 or records the flow of water down the stream 

24 and additional information such as water 


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1 height, water chemistry, and water tempera2 ture. 

3 ‘‘(g) AVAILABILITY OF DATA TO PUBLIC.—The Ad4 ministrator shall make available to the public on the 

5 website of the Federal Emergency Management Agency a 

6 national geospatial data repository that— 

7 ‘‘(1) provides access to the raw data used to in8 clude the planimetric features and parcel identifica9 tion data in National Flood Insurance Program rate 

10 maps; 

11 ‘‘(2) to the extent that such data is available, 

12 allows users to view, query, and obtain such data at 

13 multiple levels of detail, including down to the prop14 erty level; 

15 ‘‘(3) allows users to view flood risks, flood in16 surance zones, and flood elevations; 

17 ‘‘(4) provides access to flood mapping and re18 lated information such as— 

19 ‘‘(A) hydrologic and hydraulic models used 

20 in determining flood risk; 

21 ‘‘(B) structure footprints where available; 

22 ‘‘(C) flood depth grids; 

23 ‘‘(D) flood risk reports; 

24 ‘‘(E) flood risk assessments (Hazus anal25 yses); 


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1 ‘‘(F) hazard mitigation plans; and 

2 ‘‘(G) other flood risk products at the dis3 cretion of the Administrator; and 

4 ‘‘(5) maintains and disseminates such data in a 

5 consistent manner. 

6 ‘‘(h) ENSURING CURRENT DATA.—Not less fre7 quently than once every 5 years, the Administrator shall 

8 verify that each National Flood Insurance Program rate 

9 map contains data that is current and credible. 

10 ‘‘(i) QUALIFICATIONS-BASED SELECTION CON11 TRACTING.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a contract 

13 awarded by the Administrator under this Act, or by 

14 an entity receiving a grant under this Act, for pro15 gram management, architectural and engineering 

16 services, or surveying and mapping, such a contract 

17 shall be awarded to a contractor selected in accord18 ance with the procedures described in section 1103 

19 of title 40, United States Code (or an applicable 

20 equivalent State qualifications-based statute). The 

21 Administrator, or entity, as the case may be, shall 

22 require such contractor, as a condition of such con23 tract, to award any subcontract for program man24 agement, architectural and engineering services, or 

25 surveying and mapping in accordance with the proVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Jan 31, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4905.IH H4905

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1 cedures described in the previous sentence, or the 

2 applicable equivalent State statute. 

3 ‘‘(2) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW.—Nothing 

4 in this subsection shall supersede any applicable 

5 State licensing law governing professional licensure. 

6 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

7 ‘‘(A) ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING

8 SERVICES.—The term ‘architectural and engi9 neering services’ has the meaning given that 

10 term in section 1102 of title 40, United States 

11 Code. 

12 ‘‘(B) SURVEYING AND MAPPING.—The 

13 term ‘surveying and mapping’ includes 

14 geospatial activities associated with measuring, 

15 locating, and preparing maps, charts, or other 

16 graphical or digital presentations depicting nat17 ural and man-made physical features, phe18 nomena, and legal boundaries of the earth, in19 cluding the following: 

20 ‘‘(i) Topographic Engineering Sur21 veying, including acquisition of topographic 

22 oriented surveying and mapping data for 

23 design, construction, master planning, op24 erations, as-built conditions, precise struc25 ture stability studies using conventional 


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1 and electronic instrumentation, photo2 grammetric, LiDAR, remote sensing, iner3 tial, satellite, and other manned and un4 manned survey methods as applicable. 

5 ‘‘(ii) Hydrographic Engineering Sur6 veying, including acquisition of hydro7 graphic oriented surveying and mapping 

8 data for design, construction, dredging, 

9 master planning, operations, and as-built 

10 conditions using conventional and elec11 tronic instrumentation, and photogramme12 tric, remote sensing, inertial, satellite, side 

13 scan sonar, subbottom profiling, and other 

14 surveying methods, as applicable. 

15 ‘‘(iii) Land Surveying, including prop16 erty and boundary surveys, monumenta17 tion, marking and posting, and preparation 

18 of tract descriptions, using conventional, 

19 electronic instrumentation, photogramme20 tric, inertial, satellite, and other survey 

21 methods, as applicable. 

22 ‘‘(iv) Geodetic Surveying, including 

23 first, second, and third order horizontal 

24 and vertical control surveys, geodetic as25 tronomy, gravity and magnetic surveys 


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1 using conventional, electronic instrumenta2 tion, photogrammetric, inertial, satellite, 

3 and other survey methods, as applicable. 

4 ‘‘(v) Cartographic Surveying, includ5 ing acquisition of topographic and hydro6 graphic oriented surveying and mapping 

7 data for construction of maps, charts, and 

8 similar products for planning, flood anal9 ysis, and general use purposes using con10 ventional and electronic instrumentation, 

11 photogrammetric, inertial, satellite, mobile, 

12 terrestrial, and other survey methods, as 

13 applicable. 

14 ‘‘(vi) Mapping, charting, and related 

15 geospatial database development, including 

16 the design, compilation, digitizing, attrib17 uting, scribing, drafting, printing and dis18 semination of printed or digital map, 

19 chart, and related geospatial database 

20 products associated with planning, engi21 neering, operations, and related real estate 

22 activities using photogrammetric, geo23 graphic information systems, and other 

24 manual and computer assisted methods, as 

25 applicable. 


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1 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) PLANIMETRIC FEATURE.—The term ‘pla3 nimetric feature’ means the geographic elements and 

4 features— 

5 ‘‘(A) that are independent of elevation, 

6 such as roads, structure footprints, and rivers 

7 and lakes; 

8 ‘‘(B) which are represented on maps to 

9 show the true location and size of the elements 

10 in relationship to each other, as they are seen 

11 from the air; and 

12 ‘‘(C) that are mapped from LiDAR or aer13 ial photography by employing basic photo14 grammetry. 

15 ‘‘(2) PARCEL IDENTIFICATION DATA.—The 

16 term ‘parcel identification data’ means the informa17 tion associated with a parcel of land, including the 

18 geographic location, unique parcel identifier, bound19 aries, structures contained within the parcel, zoning 

20 classification, and owner.’’. 

21 (d) FUNDING FOR ELEVATION DATA.—Section 1310 

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

23 4017) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(g) ALLOCATION FROM THE NATIONAL FLOOD IN25 SURANCE FUND.—Each fiscal quarter the Administrator 


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1 shall allocate from the National Flood Insurance Fund an 

2 amount equal to 5 percent of any revenue collected under 

3 section 1308(b)(3) for use for creating or maintaining cur4 rent and accurate National Flood Insurance Program 

5 Rate Maps.’’. 

6 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

7 100216(j) of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform 

8 Act of 2012, as so redesignated by the preceding provi9 sions of this Act, is further amended by striking 

10 ‘‘$400,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 through 

11 2017’’ and inserting ‘‘$500,000,000 for each of fiscal 

12 years 2018 through 2023’’. 

Æ 


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