I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5255 

To reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2010 

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. KANJORSKI, Ms. WATERS, and 

Ms. MATSUI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, 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 ‘‘Stable Flood Insurance 

5 Authorization Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 

8 (1) since the enactment of National Flood In9 surance Act of 1968, the National Flood Insurance 

10 Program has been the primary source of reliable, 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5255 IH

1 reasonably priced flood insurance coverage for mil2 lions of American homes and businesses; 

3 (2) today over 5,500,000 homes and businesses 

4 in the United States rely on the National Flood In5 surance Program to provide a degree of financial se6 curity; 

7 (3) several years of below-average flood claims 

8 losses and increased voluntary participation in the 

9 National Flood Insurance Program have allowed the 

10 program to fully service the debt incurred following 

11 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and allowed the pro12 gram to pay $598,000,000 of the principal of that 

13 outstanding debt; 

14 (4) recent lapses in, and short-term reauthor15 izations of, the National Flood Insurance Program’s 

16 ability to write and renew flood insurance coverage 

17 are estimated by the Federal Emergency Manage18 ment Agency and The National Realtors Association 

19 to have adversely impacted or delayed up to 1,350 

20 real estate closings per day; 

21 (5) though long-term authorization and signifi22 cant reforms are needed to further improve the fi23 nancial outlook of the National Flood Insurance 

24 Program, while such comprehensive reforms are con25 sidered, reliable, annual authorization of the proVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:31 May 08, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5255.IH H5255

rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5255 IH

1 gram is an essential element to stabilizing the al2 ready fragile United States housing market; 

3 (6) increased flooding in areas outside des4 ignated special flood hazard areas prompted the Ex5 ecutive and the Congress in 2002 to begin calling for 

6 the National Flood Insurance Program to develop 

7 and disseminate revised, updated flood insurance 

8 rate maps that reflect the real risk of flooding for 

9 properties not previously identified as being located 

10 with in a special flood hazard area; 

11 (7) dissemination of accurate, up-to-date flood 

12 risk information remains a primary goal of the Na13 tional Flood Insurance Program and such informa14 tion should be disseminated as soon as such infor15 mation is collected and available; and 

16 (8) communities should be required to make 

17 their residents aware of updated flood-risk data 

18 while communities are assessing and incorporating 

19 updated flood-risk data into long-term community 

20 planning. 

21 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PRO22 GRAM. 

23 (a) PROGRAM EXTENSION.—Section 1319 of the Na24 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4026) is 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5255 IH

1 amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2008’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘September 30, 2010’’. 

3 (b) FINANCING.—Section 1309(a) of such Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 4016(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 

5 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2010’’. 

6 (c) EXTENSION OF PILOT PROGRAM FOR MITIGA7 TION OF SEVERE REPETITIVE LOSS PROPERTIES.—Sec8 tion 1361A of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 

9 (42 U.S.C. 4102a) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (k)(1), by striking ‘‘2005, 

11 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009’’ and inserting ‘‘2010’’; 

12 and 

13 (2) by striking subsection (l). 

14 SEC. 4. CONSIDERATION OF CONSTRUCTION, RECON15 STRUCTION, AND IMPROVEMENT OF FLOOD 

16 PROTECTION SYSTEMS IN DETERMINATION 

17 OF FLOOD INSURANCE RATES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1307 of the National 

19 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4014) is amend20 ed— 

21 (1) in subsection (e)— 

22 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘con23 struction of a flood protection system’’ and in24 serting ‘‘construction, reconstruction, or im25 provement of a flood protection system (without 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5255 IH

1 respect to the level of Federal investment or 

2 participation)’’; and 

3 (B) in the second sentence— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘construction of a flood 

5 protection system’’ and inserting ‘‘con6 struction, reconstruction, or improvement 

7 of a flood protection system’’; and 

8 (ii) by inserting ‘‘based on the present 

9 value of the completed system’’ after ‘‘has 

10 been expended’’; and 

11 (2) in subsection (f)— 

12 (A) in the first sentence in the matter pre13 ceding paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(without re14 spect to the level of Federal investment or par15 ticipation)’’ before the period at the end; 

16 (B) in the third sentence in the matter 

17 preceding paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, wheth18 er coastal or riverine,’’ after ‘‘special flood haz19 ard’’; and 

20 (C) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a Fed21 eral agency in consultation with the local 

22 project sponsor’’ and inserting ‘‘the entity or 

23 entities that own, operate, maintain, or repair 

24 such system’’. 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5255 IH

1 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

3 the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall promul4 gate regulations to carry out the amendments made by 

5 subsection (a). Section 5 may not be construed to annul, 

6 alter, affect, authorize any waiver of, or establish any ex7 ception to, the requirement under the preceding sentence. 

8 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Administrator of the 

9 Federal Emergency Management Agency shall implement 

10 this section and the amendments made by this section in 

11 a manner that will not materially weaken the financial po12 sition of the national flood insurance program or increase 

13 the risk of financial liability to Federal taxpayers. 

14 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH PREMIUM RATES BY NO15 TICE. 

16 Subsection (a) of section 1308 of the National Flood 

17 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(a)) is amended, 

18 in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or 

19 notice’’ after ‘‘prescribe by regulation’’. 

20 SEC. 6. 3-YEAR DELAY IN EFFECTIVE DATE OF MANDATORY 

21 PURCHASE REQUIREMENT FOR NEW FLOOD 

22 HAZARD AREAS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102 of the Flood Disaster 

24 Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4012a) is amended by 

25 adding at the end the following new subsection: 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5255 IH

1 ‘‘(i) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE OF MANDATORY

2 PURCHASE REQUIREMENT FOR NEW FLOOD HAZARD

3 AREAS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any area 

5 that was not previously designated as an area having 

6 special flood hazards and that, pursuant to any 

7 issuance, revision, updating, or other change in flood 

8 insurance maps that takes effect on or after Sep9 tember 1, 2008, becomes designated as an area hav10 ing special flood hazards, if each State and local 

11 government having jurisdiction over any portion of 

12 the geographic area has complied with paragraph 

13 (2), such designation shall not take effect for pur14 poses of subsection (a), (b), or (e) of this section, or 

15 section 202(a) of this Act, until the expiration of the 

16 3-year period beginning upon the date that such 

17 maps, as issued, revised, update, or otherwise 

18 changed, become effective. 

19 ‘‘(2) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.—A State or local 

20 government shall be considered to have complied 

21 with this paragraph with respect to any geographic 

22 area described in paragraph (1) only if the State or 

23 local government has, before the effective date of the 

24 issued, revised, updated, or changed maps, and in 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 5255 IH

1 accordance with such standards as shall be estab2 lished by the Director— 

3 ‘‘(A) developed an evacuation plan to be 

4 implemented in the event of flooding in such 

5 portion of the geographic area; and 

6 ‘‘(B) developed and implemented an out7 reach and communication plan to advise occu8 pants in such portion of the geographic area of 

9 potential flood risks, the opportunity to pur10 chase flood insurance, and the consequences of 

11 failure to purchase flood insurance. 

12 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

13 paragraph (1) may be construed to affect the appli14 cability of a designation of any area as an area hav15 ing special flood hazards for purposes of the avail16 ability of flood insurance coverage, criteria for land 

17 management and use, notification of flood hazards, 

18 eligibility for mitigation assistance, or any other pur19 pose or provision not specifically referred to in para20 graph (1).’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The second sen22 tence of subsection (h) of section 1360 of the National 

23 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101(h)) is 

24 amended by striking ‘‘Such’’ and inserting ‘‘Except for no25 tice regarding a change described in section 102(i)(1) of 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 5255 IH

1 the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 

2 4012a(i)(1)), such’’. 

3 (c) NO REFUNDS.—Nothing in this section or the 

4 amendments made by this section may be construed to au5 thorize or require any payment or refund for flood insur6 ance coverage purchased for any property that covered any 

7 period during which such coverage is not required for the 

8 property pursuant to the applicability of the amendment 

9 made by subsection (a). 

10 SEC. 7. NOTIFICATION TO HOMEOWNERS REGARDING MAN11 DATORY PURCHASE REQUIREMENT APPLICA12 BILITY AND RATE PHASE-INS. 

13 Section 201 of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 

14 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4105) is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL NOTIFICATION.—The Director, in con17 sultation with affected communities, shall establish and 

18 carry out a plan to notify residents of areas having special 

19 flood hazards, on an annual basis— 

20 ‘‘(1) that they reside in such an area; 

21 ‘‘(2) of the geographical boundaries of such 

22 area; 

23 ‘‘(3) of the provisions of section 102 requiring 

24 purchase of flood insurance coverage for properties 

25 located in such an area, including the date on which 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 5255 IH

1 such provisions apply with respect to such area, tak2 ing into consideration section 102(i); and 

3 ‘‘(4) of a general estimate of what similar 

4 homeowners in similar areas typically pay for flood 

5 insurance coverage.’’. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSKD9S0YB1PROD with BILLS