I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2170 

To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to allow the repair, 

expansion, and construction, without elevation, of agricultural structures 

located in special flood hazard zones, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2017 

Mr. LAMALFA (for himself, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. COMER, Mr. 

COOK, Mr. COSTA, Mr. DENHAM, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. KNIGHT, Ms. 

MATSUI, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. NUNES, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. ROYCE of California, Mr. VALADAO, and 

Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to 

allow the repair, expansion, and construction, without 

elevation, of agricultural structures located in special 

flood hazard zones, 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 ‘‘Flood and Agriculture 

5 Risk Management Cost Reduction Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE AND LOCAL LAND USE 

2 CONTROLS. 

3 Subsection (a) of section 1315 of the National Flood 

4 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4022(a)) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(3) ALLOWABLE LOCAL VARIANCES FOR CER7 TAIN AGRICULTURAL STRUCTURES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—Notwithstanding 

9 any other provision of this Act— 

10 ‘‘(i) the land use and control meas11 ures adopted pursuant to paragraph (1) 

12 may not, for purposes of such paragraph, 

13 be considered to be inadequate or incon14 sistent with the comprehensive criteria for 

15 land management and use under section 

16 1361 because such measures provide that, 

17 in the case of any agricultural structure 

18 that is located in an area having special 

19 flood hazards, a variance from compliance 

20 with the requirements to elevate or 

21 floodproof such a structure and meeting 

22 the requirements of subparagraph (B) may 

23 be granted; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) the Administrator may not sus25 pend a community from participation in 

26 the national flood insurance program, or 


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1 place such a community on probation 

2 under such program, because such land 

3 use and control measures provide for such 

4 a variance. 

5 This subparagraph shall not limit the ability of 

6 the Administrator to take enforcement action 

7 against a community that does not adopt ade8 quate variance criteria or establish proper en9 forcement mechanisms. 

10 ‘‘(B) VARIANCE; CONSIDERATIONS.—The 

11 requirements of this subparagraph with respect 

12 to a variance are as follows: 

13 ‘‘(i) The variance is granted by an of14 ficial from a duly constituted State or local 

15 zoning authority, or other authorized pub16 lic body responsible for regulating land de17 velopment or occupancy in flood-prone 

18 areas. 

19 ‘‘(ii) In the case of new construction, 

20 such official has determined— 

21 ‘‘(I) that neither floodproofing 

22 nor elevation of the new structure to 

23 the base flood elevation is practicable; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) that the structure is not lo2 cated in— 

3 ‘‘(aa) a designated regu4 latory floodway; 

5 ‘‘(bb) an area riverward of a 

6 levee or other flood control struc7 ture; or 

8 ‘‘(cc) an area subject to high 

9 velocity wave action or seaward 

10 of flood control structures. 

11 ‘‘(iii) In the case of existing struc12 tures— 

13 ‘‘(I) if such structure is substan14 tially damaged or in need of substan15 tial repairs or improvements, such of16 ficial has determined that neither 

17 floodproofing nor elevation to the base 

18 flood elevation is practicable; and 

19 ‘‘(II) if such structure is located 

20 within a designated regulatory flood21 way, such official has determined that 

22 the repair or improvement does not 

23 result in any increase in base flood 

24 levels during the base flood discharge. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) Such official has determined 

2 that the variance will not result in in3 creased flood heights, additional threats to 

4 public safety, extraordinary public expense, 

5 create nuisances, cause fraud on or victim6 ization of the public, or conflict with exist7 ing local laws or ordinances. 

8 ‘‘(v) Not more than one claim pay9 ment exceeding $1,000 has been made for 

10 the structure under flood insurance cov11 erage under this title within any period of 

12 10 consecutive years at any time prior to 

13 the granting of the variance. 

14 ‘‘(C) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

15 paragraph, the following definitions shall apply: 

16 ‘‘(i) AGRICULTURAL STRUCTURE.— 

17 The term ‘agricultural structure’ has the 

18 meaning given such term in paragraph 

19 (2)(D), except that such term includes not 

20 more than one single-family dwelling lo21 cated on the same property as the agricul22 tural operation, but only if such dwelling is 

23 occupied by the owner or operator of the 

24 operation. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) FLOODPROOFING.—The term 

2 ‘floodproofing’ means, with respect to a 

3 structure, any combination of structural 

4 and non-structural additions, changes, or 

5 adjustments to the structure that reduce 

6 or eliminate flood damage to real estate or 

7 improved real property, water and sanitary 

8 facilities, structures, or their contents.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. PREMIUM RATES. 

10 Section 1308 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

11 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015) is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(n) PREMIUM RATES FOR CERTAIN AGRICULTURAL

14 STRUCTURES WITH VARIANCES.—Notwithstanding any 

15 other provision of this Act, the chargeable premium rate 

16 for coverage under this title for any structure provided a 

17 variance pursuant to section 1315(a)(3) shall be the same 

18 as the rate that otherwise would apply to such structure 

19 if the structure had been dry floodproofed.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. LEVEE-IMPACTED AREAS. 

21 Section 1360 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

22 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101) is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(k) LEVEE-IMPACTED AREAS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject only to full imple2 mentation of subparagraphs (A)(iii) and (B) of sec3 tion 100216(b)(1) of the Biggert-Waters Flood In4 surance Reform Act of 2012 (42 U.S.C. 

5 4101b(b)(1)) and notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of law, if a community that applies to the Ad7 ministrator for the remapping of a levee-impacted 

8 area in which the pertinent levee system fails to 

9 meet the National Flood Insurance Program’s min10 imum design, operation, and maintenance standards 

11 required for levee accreditation on a flood insurance 

12 rate map— 

13 ‘‘(A) the Administrator shall establish 

14 flood risk zones for those areas on such maps 

15 to be known as AL zones; and 

16 ‘‘(B) flood insurance shall be made avail17 able to properties located within such zones at 

18 actuarial rates based upon the risk associated 

19 with structures within the applicable AL zones. 

20 ‘‘(2) TRANSITION.—Before the Administrator 

21 has developed actuarial rates for the various AL 

22 zones, covered structures within the portions of the 

23 community located within the levee-impacted area 

24 shall be eligible for rates associated with areas of 

25 moderate flood hazards.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. MULTIPLE AGRICULTURAL STRUCTURE POLICY 

2 PILOT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Administrator of the Federal 

4 Emergency Management Agency (in this section referred 

5 to as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall carry out a pilot program 

6 under this section that provides for the sale of contracts 

7 for flood insurance coverage under the National Flood In8 surance Act of 1968 that cover multiple non-residential 

9 agricultural structures, as such term is defined in section 

10 1315(a)(2)(D) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 4022(a)(2)(D)), 

11 under a single flood insurance policy. 

12 (b) AVAILABILITY IN REGULAR PROGRAM COMMU13 NITIES.—The Administrator may provide coverage under 

14 the pilot program only for properties located in commu15 nities for which a flood insurance rate map is in effect 

16 and in which the full limits of coverage under the National 

17 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 are available . 

18 (c) LIMIT OF COVERAGE.—Coverage provided under 

19 the pilot program shall not exceed $500,000 aggregate li20 ability per policy for coverage of structures and $500,000 

21 aggregate liability per policy for coverage of contents. 

22 (d) APPLICABLE WAITING PERIODS.—Coverage pro23 vided under the pilot program shall comply with sub24 section (c) of section 1306 of the National Flood Insur25 ance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4013(c)). 


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1 (e) SUBSTANTIAL CONFORMANCE WITH GENERAL

2 POLICY FORM.— 

3 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—Coverage provided under 

4 the pilot program shall be consistent with, and as 

5 substantially identical as possible to, the terms, con6 ditions, and exclusions found in the General Prop7 erty Form of the Standard Flood Insurance Policy, 

8 as set forth in Appendix A(2) to Part 61 of title 44, 

9 Code of Federal Regulations. 

10 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—Notwithstanding any 

11 applicable rulemaking requirements, to the extent 

12 necessary to implement the pilot program under this 

13 section, the Administrator may issue endorsements 

14 to the General Policy Form of the Standard Flood 

15 Insurance Policy, as set forth in the Appendix re16 ferred to in paragraph (1), except that no such en17 dorsement may be issued before the expiration of the 

18 6-month period beginning upon publication of such 

19 endorsement in the Federal Register. 

20 (f) EXCLUSIVE USE OF DIRECT SERVICING

21 AGENT.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, or 

22 arrangements entered into under section 1340 of the Na23 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4071), the 

24 Administrator shall sell contracts for coverage under the 

25 pilot program under this section only through the facilities 


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1 of the Administrator’s direct serving agent for the national 

2 flood insurance program. 

3 (g) LIMITATION ON REFORMATION OF EXISTING

4 POLICIES.—The Administrator may not sell a contract for 

5 coverage under the pilot program under this section for 

6 a structure that covers any period during which the struc7 ture is covered under another contract for insurance cov8 erage made available under the National Flood Insurance 

9 Act of 1968. 

10 (h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec11 tion may be construed to limit or restrict the Administra12 tor’s authority to provide, by regulation, for general terms 

13 and conditions of flood insurance for multiple structures 

14 under one flood insurance policy pursuant to sections 

15 1305 and 1306 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

16 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4012, 4013). 

17 (i) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Administrator may not 

18 sell any policy for flood insurance coverage under the pilot 

19 program under this section before the expiration of the 

20 6-month period beginning upon publication in the Federal 

21 Register of notice describing the pilot program and setting 

22 forth the general terms and conditions of endorsements 

23 to be sold under the program. 

24 (j) TERMINATION.—The pilot program under this 

25 section shall terminate upon, and the Administrator may 


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1 not sell any policy for flood insurance coverage under the 

2 pilot program after, the expiration of the 6-year period 

3 beginning upon the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 (k) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than the expi5 ration of the 5-year period beginning on the date of the 

6 enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit a 

7 report to the Congress describing and evaluating the pilot 

8 program under this section. 

Æ 


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