II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2187 

To reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2019 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. REED, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. BOOKER, 

Ms. WARREN, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Urban Affairs 

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 ‘‘National Flood Insur5 ance Program Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 


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TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION AND AFFORDABILITY 

Sec. 101. Reauthorization. 

Sec. 102. Cap on annual premium increases. 

Sec. 103. Means tested affordability voucher. 

Sec. 104. Optional monthly installment premium payment plans. 

Sec. 105. Study on business interruption coverage. 

Sec. 106. Cooperative coverage fairness. 

Sec. 107. Coverage limits. 

Sec. 108. Study on participation rates. 

TITLE II—MITIGATION AND MAPPING 

Sec. 201. Mitigation for high-risk properties. 

Sec. 202. Increased cost of compliance coverage. 

Sec. 203. Flood mitigation assistance grants. 

Sec. 204. Urban mitigation opportunities. 

Sec. 205. Community Rating System Regional Coordinator. 

Sec. 206. Mitigation loan program. 

Sec. 207. Revolving loan funds. 

Sec. 208. Mapping modernization. 

Sec. 209. Protected areas. 

Sec. 210. Community-wide flood mitigation activities. 

TITLE III—SOLVENCY 

Sec. 301. Forbearance on NFIP interest payments. 

Sec. 302. Cap on Write Your Own company compensation. 

Sec. 303. Taxpayer protection. 

Sec. 304. Vendor costs; transparency. 

Sec. 305. Availability of NFIP claims data. 

Sec. 306. Refusal of mitigation assistance. 

TITLE IV—POLICYHOLDER PROTECTION AND FAIRNESS 

Sec. 401. Earth movement fix and engineer standards. 

Sec. 402. Coverage of pre-FIRM condominium basements and study on street 

raising. 

Sec. 403. Guidance on remediation and policyholder duties. 

Sec. 404. Appeal of decisions relating to flood insurance coverage. 

Sec. 405. Accountability for underpayments and overpayments by Write Your 

Own companies. 

Sec. 406. Policyholders’ right to know. 

Sec. 407. Increasing statute of limitations for lawsuits. 

Sec. 408. Authority to terminate contractors and vendors. 

Sec. 409. Easing proof of loss requirements. 

Sec. 410. Deadline for claim processing. 

Sec. 411. No manipulation of engineer reports. 

Sec. 412. Improved training of floodplain managers, agents, and adjusters. 

Sec. 413. Attorney fee shifting. 

Sec. 414. DOJ defense against policyholder lawsuits. 

Sec. 415. Pilot program for pre-existing structural conditions. 

Sec. 416. Agent Advisory Council. 

Sec. 417. Disclosure of flood risk information upon transfer of property. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

5 Emergency Management Agency. 

6 (2) FEDERAL FLOOD INSURANCE.—The term 

7 ‘‘Federal flood insurance’’ means an insurance policy 

8 made available under the National Flood Insurance 

9 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.). 

10 (3) NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM.— 

11 The term ‘‘National Flood Insurance Program’’ 

12 means the program established under the National 

13 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et 

14 seq.). 

15 (4) NATIONAL FLOOD MITIGATION FUND.—The 

16 term ‘‘National Flood Mitigation Fund’’ means the 

17 fund established under section 1367 of the National 

18 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104d). 

19 (5) WRITE YOUR OWN COMPANY.—The term 

20 ‘‘Write Your Own Company’’ means a private prop21 erty insurance company that participates in the 

22 Write Your Own Program. 

23 (6) WRITE YOUR OWN PROGRAM.—The term 

24 ‘‘Write Your Own Program’’ means the program 

25 under which the Federal Emergency Management 


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1 Agency enters into a standard arrangement with pri2 vate property insurance companies to— 

3 (A) sell contracts for Federal flood insur4 ance under their own business lines of insur5 ance; and 

6 (B) adjust and pay claims arising under 

7 the contracts described in subparagraph (A). 

8 TITLE I—REAUTHORIZATION 

9 AND AFFORDABILITY 

10 SEC. 101. REAUTHORIZATION. 

11 (a) FINANCING.—Section 1309(a) of the National 

12 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4016(a)) is 

13 amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2019’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘September 30, 2024’’. 

15 (b) PROGRAM EXPIRATION.—Section 1319 of the Na16 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4026) is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2019’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘September 30, 2024’’. 

19 (c) PROGRAM CONTINUATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1310 of the Na21 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

22 4017) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(g) Amounts in the National Flood Insurance Re25 serve Fund established under section 1310A may be credVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:18 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2187.IS S2187

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1 ited to the National Flood Insurance Fund to enter into, 

2 and renew, contracts for flood insurance under this title 

3 during any lapse in appropriations.’’. 

4 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND5 MENTS.—Section 1310A(a)(2) of the National Flood 

6 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4017A(a)(2)) is 

7 amended— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

9 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

10 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

11 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(D) for the purpose described in section 

14 1310(g).’’. 

15 SEC. 102. CAP ON ANNUAL PREMIUM INCREASES. 

16 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered 

17 cost’’ means— 

18 (1) the amount of an annual premium with re19 spect to any policy for flood insurance under the Na20 tional Flood Insurance Program; 

21 (2) any surcharge imposed with respect to a 

22 policy described in paragraph (1), including a sur23 charge imposed under— 

24 (A) section 1304(b) of the National Flood 

25 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4011(b)); or 


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1 (B) section 1308A(a) of the National 

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

3 4015a(a)); and 

4 (3) a fee described in paragraph (1)(B)(iii) or 

5 (2) of section 1307(a) of the National Flood Insur6 ance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4014(a)). 

7 (b) LIMITATION ON INCREASES.—During the 5-year 

8 period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, and 

9 notwithstanding section 1308(e) of the National Flood In10 surance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(e)), the Adminis11 trator may not, in any year, increase the amount of any 

12 covered cost by an amount that is more than 9 percent, 

13 as compared with the amount of the covered cost during 

14 the previous year. 

15 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub16 section (b) may be construed as prohibiting the Adminis17 trator from reducing, in any year, the amount of any cov18 ered cost, as compared with the amount of the covered 

19 cost during the previous year. 

20 (d) AVERAGE HISTORICAL LOSS YEAR.—Section 

21 1308 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 

22 U.S.C. 4015) is amended by striking subsection (h) and 

23 inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of this 

25 section, the calculation of an ‘average historical loss year’ 


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1 shall be computed in accordance with generally accepted 

2 actuarial principles.’’. 

3 (e) DISCLOSURE WITH RESPECT TO THE AFFORD4 ABILITY STANDARD.—Section 1308(j) of the National 

5 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(j)) is 

6 amended, in the second sentence, by inserting ‘‘and shall 

7 include in the report the number of those exceptions as 

8 of the date on which the Administrator submits the report 

9 and the location of each policyholder insured under those 

10 exceptions, organized by county and State’’ after ‘‘of the 

11 Senate’’. 

12 SEC. 103. MEANS TESTED AFFORDABILITY VOUCHER. 

13 Chapter I of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

14 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4011 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

15 the end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 1326. AFFORDABILITY ASSISTANCE. 

17 ‘‘(a) AFFORDABILITY ASSISTANCE FUND.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator 

19 shall establish in the Treasury of the United States 

20 an Affordability Assistance Fund (referred to in this 

21 section as the ‘Fund’), which shall be— 

22 ‘‘(A) an account separate from any other 

23 accounts or funds available to the Adminis24 trator; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) available without fiscal year limita2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts from the Fund 

4 shall be available to provide financial assistance 

5 under subsection (b). 

6 ‘‘(3) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—The Fund shall be 

7 credited with the amounts saved as a direct result 

8 of the limitation imposed under section 1311(b). 

9 ‘‘(b) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

11 ‘‘(A) the term ‘adjusted gross income’ has 

12 the meaning given the term in section 62 of the 

13 Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

14 ‘‘(B) the term ‘eligible household’ means a 

15 household for which— 

16 ‘‘(i) housing expenses exceed 30 per17 cent of the adjusted gross income of the 

18 household in a year; and 

19 ‘‘(ii)(I) the total assets owned by the 

20 household are in an amount that is not 

21 greater than 220 percent of the median 

22 household income for the State in which 

23 the household is located; or 

24 ‘‘(II) with respect to a household that 

25 has a total household income that is not 


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1 greater than 120 percent of the area me2 dian income for the area in which the 

3 household is located, the amount of pre4 miums, surcharges, and fees for a flood in5 surance policy provided under this title in 

6 a year for the household exceeds 1 percent 

7 of the coverage limit of that policy under 

8 section 1306(b); and 

9 ‘‘(C) the term ‘housing expenses’ means, 

10 with respect to a household, the total amount 

11 that the household spends in a year on— 

12 ‘‘(i) mortgage payments; 

13 ‘‘(ii) property taxes; 

14 ‘‘(iii) homeowners insurance; and 

15 ‘‘(iv) premiums for flood insurance 

16 under the national flood insurance pro17 gram. 

18 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.— 

19 ‘‘(A) OTHER FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

20 The Administrator shall provide a voucher, 

21 grant, or premium credit to an eligible house22 hold for a year in an amount that, subject to 

23 subparagraph (B), is equal to the lesser of— 

24 ‘‘(i) the difference between— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the housing expenses of the 

2 household for the year; and 

3 ‘‘(II) 30 percent of the adjusted 

4 gross income of the household for the 

5 year; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the cost of premiums for the 

7 household for flood insurance under the 

8 national flood insurance program for the 

9 year. 

10 ‘‘(B) REDUCTION.—The amount of the as11 sistance provided under subparagraph (A) to an 

12 eligible household shall be reduced by 1 percent 

13 for each percent that the income of the eligible 

14 household exceeds 120 percent of the median 

15 household income for the State in which the 

16 property that is the subject of the assistance is 

17 located. 

18 ‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER AGEN19 CIES.—The Administrator may enter into a memo20 randum of understanding with the head of any other 

21 Federal agency to administer the paragraph 

22 (2)(A).’’. 


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1 SEC. 104. OPTIONAL MONTHLY INSTALLMENT PREMIUM 

2 PAYMENT PLANS. 

3 Section 1308(g) of the National Flood Insurance Act 

4 of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015(g)) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘With respect to’’ and inserting 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL OR MONTHLY OPTION.—Subject 

8 to paragraph (2), with respect to’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(2) MONTHLY INSTALLMENT.—With respect 

11 to a policyholder that opts under paragraph (1) to 

12 pay premiums on a monthly basis, the Administrator 

13 may charge the policyholder an annual fee of not 

14 more than $15. 

15 ‘‘(3) EXEMPTION FROM RULE MAKING; PILOT

16 PROGRAM.—During the period beginning on the date 

17 of enactment of this paragraph and ending on the 

18 date on which the Administrator promulgates regu19 lations carrying out paragraph (1), the Adminis20 trator may, notwithstanding any other provision of 

21 law— 

22 ‘‘(A) adopt policies and procedures to carry 

23 out that paragraph without— 

24 ‘‘(i) undergoing notice and comment 

25 rule making under section 553 of title 5, 

26 United States Code; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) conducting regulatory analyses 

2 otherwise required by statute, regulation, 

3 or Executive order; or 

4 ‘‘(B) carry out that paragraph by estab5 lishing a pilot program that gradually imple6 ments the requirements of that paragraph.’’. 

7 SEC. 105. STUDY ON BUSINESS INTERRUPTION COVERAGE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall conduct 

9 a study on the feasibility and soundness of offering cov10 erage for interruption business losses caused by a flood 

11 under the National Flood Insurance Program (referred to 

12 in this section as ‘‘business interruption coverage’’). 

13 (b) CONTENTS.—In conducting the study under sub14 section (a), the Administrator shall, at a minimum— 

15 (1) evaluate insurance industry best practices 

16 for offering business interruption coverage, including 

17 the types of coverage provided and the utilization 

18 rate; 

19 (2) estimate the potential risk premium rates 

20 for business interruption coverage based on the flood 

21 risk reflected in the flood insurance rate map or 

22 other risk metrics in effect at the time of purchase; 

23 (3) analyze the operational and administrative 

24 expenses associated with providing business inter25 ruption coverage and adjusting claims; 


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1 (4) identify potential obstacles that may prevent 

2 the Administrator from offering business interrup3 tion coverage; 

4 (5) evaluate the benefits of providing business 

5 interruption coverage; 

6 (6) analyze any potential impacts on the finan7 cial position of the National Flood Insurance Pro8 gram; and 

9 (7) develop a feasibility implementation plan 

10 and projected timelines for offering business inter11 ruption coverage. 

12 (c) AVAILABILITY OF EXPERTS.—In conducting the 

13 study under subsection (a), the Administrator may accept 

14 and utilize the personnel and services of any other Federal 

15 agency, and appoint and fix the compensation of tem16 porary personnel without regard to the provisions of title 

17 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the 

18 competitive service, or employ experts and consultants in 

19 accordance with the provisions of section 3109 of such 

20 title, without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and 

21 subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classi22 fication and General Schedule pay rates. 

23 (d) DEADLINE.—The Administrator shall complete 

24 the study required under subsection (a) not later than 


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1 September 30 of the second full fiscal year after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 106. COOPERATIVE COVERAGE FAIRNESS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1306 of the National 

5 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4013) is amended 

6 by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(e) COOPERATIVES.— 

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

9 ‘cooperative building’ has the meaning given the 

10 term in section 1312(d). 

11 ‘‘(2) EQUAL TREATMENT WITH CONDOMIN12 IUMS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

13 an owner of a share of a cooperative building shall 

14 be eligible to purchase flood insurance coverage 

15 under the national flood insurance program on the 

16 same terms as a condominium owner.’’. 

17 (b) PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.—Section 1312 of the Na18 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4019) is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (c)— 

21 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

22 ‘‘AND COOPERATIVE’’ after ‘‘CONDOMINIUM’’; 

23 (B) by inserting ‘‘or owners of a share of 

24 a cooperative building’’ after ‘‘condominium 

25 owners’’; and 


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1 (C) by inserting ‘‘or cooperative associa2 tion’’ after ‘‘condominium association’’ each 

3 place that term appears; and 

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

5 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘coop6 erative association’ and ‘cooperative building’ have the 

7 meanings given the terms by the Administrator.’’. 

8 SEC. 107. COVERAGE LIMITS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1306 of the National 

10 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4013), as amend11 ed by section 106(a), is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (b)— 

13 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

14 by striking ‘‘In addition to any other terms and 

15 conditions under subsection (a), such regula16 tions’’ and inserting ‘‘The Administrator’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘shall be made’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘may be made’’; and 

20 (ii) by striking ‘‘$250,000’’ and in21 serting ‘‘the baseline amount’’; 

22 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘shall be made’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘may be made’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘$100,000’’ and in2 serting ‘‘50 percent of the baseline 

3 amount’’; and 

4 (D) in paragraph (4)— 

5 (i) by striking ‘‘shall be made’’ each 

6 place that term appears and inserting 

7 ‘‘may be made’’; and 

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘$500,000’’ each place 

9 that term appears and inserting ‘‘200 per10 cent of the baseline amount’’; and 

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

12 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

14 in this section, the term ‘baseline amount’, with re15 spect to a property, means the maximum original 

16 principal obligation of a conventional mortgage that 

17 may be purchased by the Federal National Mortgage 

18 Association in the area in which the property as lo19 cated, as established under section 302(b)(2) of the 

20 Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act 

21 (12 U.S.C. 1717(b)(2)). 

22 ‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION.—If, after the date of en23 actment of this subsection, the baseline amount, as 

24 defined in paragraph (1), decreases as compared 

25 with the baseline amount in effect on the day before 


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1 the date of enactment of this subsection, the base2 line amount that was in effect on the day before the 

3 date of enactment of this subsection shall be deemed 

4 to be the baseline amount for the purposes of para5 graphs (2), (3), and (4) of subsection (b).’’. 

6 (b) AUTHORITY OF ADMINISTRATOR TO SELL POLI7 CIES.—The Administrator may sell a policy for flood in8 surance under the National Flood Insurance Program that 

9 meets the requirements of paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) 

10 of section 1306(b) of the National Flood Insurance Act 

11 of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4013(b)), as amended by subsection 

12 (a), without regard to— 

13 (1) section 61.6 of title 44, Code of Federal 

14 Regulations, as in effect on the day before the date 

15 of enactment of this Act; or 

16 (2) any other provision of law. 

17 SEC. 108. STUDY ON PARTICIPATION RATES. 

18 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

19 (1) the term ‘‘500-year floodplain’’ has the 

20 meaning given the term in section 100202(a) of the 

21 Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 

22 2012 (40 U.S.C. 4004(a)); 

23 (2) the terms ‘‘Federal agency lender’’, ‘‘im24 proved real estate’’, and ‘‘regulated lending institu25 tion’’ have the meanings given those terms in section 


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1 3(a) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 

2 (42 U.S.C. 4003(a)); and 

3 (3) the term ‘‘property with a Federally backed 

4 mortgage’’ means improved real estate or a mobile 

5 home securing a loan that was— 

6 (A) made by a regulated lending institu7 tion or Federal agency lender; or 

8 (B) purchased by the Federal National 

9 Mortgage Association or the Federal Home 

10 Loan Mortgage Corporation. 

11 (b) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

12 States shall conduct a study that proposes to address, 

13 through programmatic and regulatory changes, how to in14 crease the rate at which properties in the United States 

15 are covered by flood insurance. 

16 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the study re17 quired under subsection (b), the Comptroller General of 

18 the United States shall— 

19 (1) consider— 

20 (A) expanding participation in the Na21 tional Flood Insurance Program beyond areas 

22 having special flood hazards to areas of mod23 erate or minimum risk with respect to flooding; 

24 (B) automatically enrolling consumers in 

25 the National Flood Insurance Program and 


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1 providing those consumers with the opportunity 

2 to decline such enrollment; and 

3 (C) bundling flood insurance coverage that 

4 diversifies risk across all or multiple forms of 

5 peril; and 

6 (2) determine— 

7 (A) the percentage of properties with Fed8 erally backed mortgages located in an area hav9 ing special flood hazards that are covered by 

10 flood insurance that satisfies the requirement 

11 under section 102(b) of the Flood Disaster Pro12 tection Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4012a(b)); and 

13 (B) the percentage of properties with Fed14 erally backed mortgages located in the 500-year 

15 floodplain that are covered by flood insurance 

16 that would satisfy the requirement described in 

17 subparagraph (A) if that requirement applied to 

18 such properties. 

19 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

21 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 

22 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and 

23 the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep24 resentatives a report regarding the results of the study 

25 conducted under subsection (b). 


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1 TITLE II—MITIGATION AND 

2 MAPPING 

3 SEC. 201. MITIGATION FOR HIGH-RISK PROPERTIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 203 of the Robert T. 

5 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 5133) is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(n) FLOOD MITIGATION ACTIVITIES.—The Presi9 dent shall set aside from the Disaster Relief Fund an 

10 amount equal to 10 percent of the average amount appro11 priated to the Fund during the preceding 10 fiscal years 

12 to provide assistance for mitigation activities under section 

13 1366 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 

14 U.S.C. 4104c) for— 

15 ‘‘(1) severe repetitive loss structures; and 

16 ‘‘(2) properties insured under the national flood 

17 insurance program with the largest increase in the 

18 actuarial risk for the property compared to the actu19 arial risk for the previous fiscal year as a result of 

20 Risk Rating 2.0, as in effect on October 1, 2020.’’. 

21 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made to sec22 tion 203 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

23 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5133) by subsection 

24 (a) shall apply to funds appropriated on or after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act. 


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1 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

2 Effective on October 5, 2023, section 203 of the Robert 

3 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 5133) is amended by redesignating subsection 

5 (n), as added by subsection (a) of this section, as sub6 section (m). 

7 SEC. 202. INCREASED COST OF COMPLIANCE COVERAGE. 

8 Section 1304(b) of the National Flood Insurance Act 

9 of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4011(b)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (4), by redesignating subpara11 graphs (A) through (D) as clauses (i) through (iv), 

12 respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

13 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

14 (3) as subparagraphs (A) through (C), respectively, 

15 and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

16 (3) in subparagraph (C), as so redesignated, by 

17 striking the period at the end and inserting a semi18 colon; 

19 (4) by redesignating paragraph (4) as subpara20 graph (F), and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

21 (5) by inserting after subparagraph (C), as so 

22 redesignated, the following: 

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1 fore the occurrence of damage to or loss of 

2 property which is covered by flood insurance; 

3 ‘‘(E) properties outside an area having 

4 special flood hazards if the communities in 

5 which the properties are located have, under 

6 section 1361, established land use and control 

7 measures for the areas in which the properties 

8 are located; and’’; 

9 (6) by inserting before ‘‘The national flood in10 surance program’’ the following: ‘‘(1) IN GEN11 ERAL.—’’; 

12 (7) in the flush text following subparagraph 

13 (F)(iv), by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ and insert14 ing the following: 

15 ‘‘(2) PREMIUM.—The Administrator’’; and 

16 (8) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT OF COVERAGE.—Each policy for flood 

18 insurance coverage made available under this title shall 

19 provide coverage under this subsection having an aggre20 gate liability for any single property of $60,000. 

21 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE MITIGATION ACTIVITIES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Eligible mitigation meth23 ods the cost of which is covered by coverage provided 

24 under this subsection shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) alternative methods of mitigation iden2 tified in the guidelines issued pursuant to sec3 tion 1361(d); 

4 ‘‘(ii) pre-disaster mitigation projects for el5 igible structures; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) costs associated with the purchase, 

7 clearing, and stabilization of property that is 

8 part of an acquisition or relocation project that 

9 complies with subparagraph (B). 

10 ‘‘(B) ACQUISITION AND RELOCATION PROJECT

11 ELIGIBILITY AND REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An acquisition or relo13 cation project shall be eligible to receive assist14 ance pursuant to subparagraph (A)(iii) only 

15 if— 

16 ‘‘(I) any property acquired, accepted, 

17 or from which a structure will be removed 

18 shall be dedicated and maintained in per19 petuity for a use that is compatible with 

20 open space, recreational, or wetland and 

21 natural floodplain management practices; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(II) any new structure erected on 

24 such property will be— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) a public facility that is 

2 open on all sides and functionally re3 lated to a designated open space; 

4 ‘‘(bb) a restroom; or 

5 ‘‘(cc) a structure that the Admin6 istrator approves in writing before the 

7 commencement of the construction of 

8 the structure. 

9 ‘‘(ii) FURTHER ASSISTANCE.—If an acqui10 sition or relocation project is assisted pursuant 

11 to subparagraph (A)(iii)— 

12 ‘‘(I) no person may apply to a Federal 

13 entity for disaster assistance with regard 

14 to any property acquired, accepted, or 

15 from which a structure was removed as 

16 part of such acquisition or relocation 

17 project; and 

18 ‘‘(II) no Federal entity may provide 

19 disaster assistance for such property. 

20 ‘‘(iii) REQUIREMENT TO MAINTAIN FLOOD

21 INSURANCE COVERAGE.— 

22 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

23 any other provision of law, any assisted 

24 structure shall, at all times, maintain in25 surance against flood damage, in accordVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:18 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2187.IS S2187

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1 ance with Federal law, for the life of such 

2 structure. 

3 ‘‘(II) TRANSFER OF PROPERTY.— 

4 ‘‘(aa) DUTY TO NOTIFY.—If any 

5 part of a property on which an as6 sisted structure is located is trans7 ferred, the transferor shall, not later 

8 than the date on which such transfer 

9 occurs, notify the transferee in writ10 ing, including in all documents evi11 dencing the transfer of ownership of 

12 the property, that such transferee is 

13 required to— 

14 ‘‘(AA) obtain flood insur15 ance in accordance with applica16 ble Federal law with respect to 

17 such assisted structure, if such 

18 structure is not so insured on the 

19 date on which the structure is 

20 transferred; and 

21 ‘‘(BB) maintain flood insur22 ance in accordance with applica23 ble Federal law with respect to 

24 such structure. 


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1 ‘‘(bb) FAILURE TO NOTIFY.—If a 

2 transferor fails to make a notification 

3 in accordance with item (aa) and such 

4 assisted structure is damaged by a 

5 flood disaster, the transferor shall pay 

6 the Federal Government an amount 

7 equal to the amount of any disaster 

8 relief provided by the Federal Govern9 ment with respect to such assisted 

10 structure. 

11 ‘‘(III) ASSISTED STRUCTURE DE12 FINED.—For the purposes of this clause, 

13 the term ‘assisted structure’ means a 

14 structure on property that is part of an ac15 quisition or relocation project assisted pur16 suant to subparagraph (A) that was, as 

17 part of such acquisition or relocation 

18 project— 

19 ‘‘(aa) altered; 

20 ‘‘(bb) improved; 

21 ‘‘(cc) replaced; 

22 ‘‘(dd) repaired; or 

23 ‘‘(ee) restored. 


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1 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE STRUCTURE DEFINED.—For 

2 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘eligible struc3 ture’ means any structure that— 

4 ‘‘(i) was constructed in compliance with 

5 the Flood Insurance Rate Map and local build6 ing and zoning codes in effect on the date of 

7 construction of the structure; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) has not previously been altered, im9 proved, replaced, or repaired using assistance 

10 provided under this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(5) TREATMENT OF COVERAGE LIMITS.—Any 

12 amount of coverage provided for a property pursuant to 

13 this subsection shall not be considered or counted for pur14 poses of any limitation on coverage applicable to such 

15 property under section 1306(b) and any claim on such cov16 erage shall not be considered a claim for purposes of sec17 tion 1307(h) or subsection (a)(3) or (h)(3) of section 

18 1366. 

19 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION.—Notwithstanding any other 

20 provision of law, the Administrator may implement this 

21 subsection by adopting 1 or more standard endorsements 

22 to the Standard Flood Insurance Policy by publication of 

23 such standards in the Federal Register, or by comparable 

24 means.’’. 


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1 SEC. 203. FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE GRANTS. 

2 (a) FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE GRANT PRO3 GRAM PRIORITY.—Section 1366 of the National Flood In4 surance Act (42 U.S.C. 4104c) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), 

7 and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), re8 spectively, and adjusting the margins accord9 ingly; 

10 (B) in the second sentence of the matter 

11 preceding subparagraph (A), as so redesig12 nated, by striking ‘‘assistance shall be’’ and in13 serting the following: ‘‘assistance shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) be’’; 

15 (C) in paragraph (1)(C), as so redesig16 nated, by striking the period at the end and in17 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(2) in addition to the requirement under para20 graph (1)(C), give priority to properties— 

21 ‘‘(A) that are repetitive loss structures; 

22 ‘‘(B) with respect to which the Adminis23 trator makes a determination that the premium 

24 rates with respect to a policy for flood insur25 ance coverage under this title— 

26 ‘‘(i) are unaffordable; or 


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•S 2187 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) will soon become unaffordable as 

2 a result of a risk adjustment under Risk 

3 Rating 2.0, as in effect on the date of that 

4 determination; and 

5 ‘‘(C) for which aggregate losses exceed the 

6 replacement value of the properties.’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (h), by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(4) UNAFFORDABLE.—The term 

10 ‘unaffordable’ means, with respect to the premium 

11 rates for a policy for flood insurance coverage under 

12 this title, that, in a year, those rates are in an such 

13 an amount that the housing expenses (as defined in 

14 section 1326(b)(1)) of the household that is the sub15 ject of the policy are, for that year, more than 30 

16 percent of the adjusted gross income (as defined in 

17 section 1326(b)(1)) of the household for that year.’’. 

18 (b) ADDITIONAL MITIGATION ASSISTANCE.— 

19 (1) APPROPRIATIONS FROM GENERAL FUND OF

20 TREASURY.—For each of the first 5 full fiscal years 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, there is au22 thorized to be appropriated $1,000,000,000 to the 

23 National Flood Mitigation Fund to provide mitiga24 tion assistance under this subsection. 


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1 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The authoriza2 tion of appropriations under subparagraph (A) shall 

3 not be construed to authorize the transfer or cred4 iting to the National Flood Mitigation Fund of any 

5 amounts from the National Flood Insurance Fund. 

6 SEC. 204. URBAN MITIGATION OPPORTUNITIES. 

7 (a) MITIGATION STRATEGIES.—Section 1361(d)(1) 

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

9 4102(d)(1)) is amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

11 the end; 

12 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

13 the end; and 

14 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(C) with respect to buildings in dense 

17 urban environments, methods that can be de18 ployed on a block or neighborhood scale; and 

19 ‘‘(D) elevation of mechanical systems; 

20 and’’. 

21 (b) MITIGATION CREDIT.—Section 1308(k) of the 

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

23 4015(k)) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘shall take into account’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘shall— 


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•S 2187 IS

1 ‘‘(1) take into account’’; 

2 (2) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by strik3 ing the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

5 ‘‘(2) offer a reduction of the risk premium rate 

6 charged to a policyholder in an amount that is not 

7 less than 10 percent of that rate if the policyholder 

8 implements any mitigation method described in 

9 paragraph (1).’’. 

10 SEC. 205. COMMUNITY RATING SYSTEM REGIONAL COORDI11 NATOR. 

12 Section 1315(b) of the National Flood Insurance Act 

13 of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4022(b)) is amended by adding at the 

14 end the following: 

15 ‘‘(5) REGIONAL COORDINATOR.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

17 shall appoint a regional coordinator in each re18 gion served by a Regional Office (as defined in 

19 section 501 of the Homeland Security Act of 

20 2002 (6 U.S.C. 311)) to provide technical as21 sistance to small communities to enable those 

22 communities to effectively participate in and 

23 benefit from the community rating system pro24 gram. 


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1 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA2 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro3 priated such sums as may be necessary to carry 

4 out this paragraph, which shall remain available 

5 until expended.’’. 

6 SEC. 206. MITIGATION LOAN PROGRAM. 

7 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘mitiga8 tion measure’’ means, with respect to a structure, a meas9 ure undertaken to reduce the risk of flood damage to the 

10 structure. 

11 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator may es12 tablish a pilot program through which the Administrator 

13 may provide low-interest loans to policyholders under the 

14 National Flood Insurance Program for the purposes de15 scribed in subsection (c). 

16 (c) PURPOSES OF LOANS.—A loan provided to a pol17 icyholder under the pilot program established under sub18 section (b) shall be used to undertake mitigation measures 

19 with respect to the insured property that cost less than 

20 the cost of the estimated amount of premiums that would 

21 be paid with respect to the property during the 50-year 

22 period beginning in the year in which the loan is made 

23 and if those mitigation measures were not undertaken. 


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•S 2187 IS

1 (d) SALE OF PROPERTY.—If a property with respect 

2 to which a loan has been made under this section is sold, 

3 upon that sale, the outstanding loan balance shall— 

4 (1) be repaid using the proceeds of the sale; or 

5 (2) carry over to the purchaser of the property 

6 if the purchaser so consents before the execution of 

7 the sale. 

8 SEC. 207. REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter I of the National Flood 

10 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4011 et seq.), as 

11 amended by section 103, is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 1327. STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS FOR FLOOD 

14 MITIGATION. 

15 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY RATING SYSTEM.—The term 

17 ‘Community Rating System’ means the community 

18 rating system program carried out under section 

19 1315(b). 

20 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The term ‘eligible 

21 State’ means a State, the District of Columbia, and 

22 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

23 ‘‘(3) INSULAR AREA.—The term ‘insular area’ 

24 means— 

25 ‘‘(A) Guam; 


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•S 2187 IS

1 ‘‘(B) American Samoa; 

2 ‘‘(C) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

3 Mariana Islands; 

4 ‘‘(D) the Federated States of Micronesia; 

5 ‘‘(E) the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 

6 ‘‘(F) the Republic of Palau; and 

7 ‘‘(G) the United States Virgin Islands. 

8 ‘‘(4) INTENDED USE PLAN.—The term ‘in9 tended use plan’ means a plan prepared under sub10 section (d)(1). 

11 ‘‘(5) LOW-INCOME GEOGRAPHIC AREA.—The 

12 term ‘low-income geographic area’ means an area 

13 described in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 301(a) 

14 of the Public Works and Economic Development Act 

15 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3161(a)). 

16 ‘‘(6) LOW-INCOME HOMEOWNER.—The term 

17 ‘low-income homeowner’ means the owner of a pri18 mary residence, the household income of which in a 

19 taxable year is not more than 80 percent of the me20 dian income for the area in which the residence is 

21 located. 

22 ‘‘(7) PARTICIPATING STATE.—The term ‘par23 ticipating State’ means an eligible State that— 

24 ‘‘(A) has entered into an agreement under 

25 subsection (b)(1); and 


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•S 2187 IS

1 ‘‘(B) agrees to comply with the require2 ments of this section. 

3 ‘‘(8) PRE-FIRM BUILDING.—The term ‘pre4 FIRM building’ means a building for which con5 struction or substantial improvement occurred before 

6 the effective date of the initial Flood Insurance Rate 

7 Map published by the Administrator under section 

8 1360 for the area in which the building is located. 

9 ‘‘(9) REPETITIVE LOSS STRUCTURE.—The term 

10 ‘repetitive loss structure’ has the meaning given the 

11 term in section 1370(a). 

12 ‘‘(10) SEVERE REPETITIVE LOSS PROPERTY.— 

13 The term ‘severe repetitive loss property’ has the 

14 meaning given the term in section 1307(h). 

15 ‘‘(11) STATE LOAN FUND.—The term ‘State 

16 loan fund’ means a flood mitigation assistance re17 volving loan fund established by an eligible State 

18 under this section. 

19 ‘‘(12) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘tribal 

20 government’ means the recognized government of an 

21 Indian tribe, or the governing body of an Alaska Na22 tive regional or village corporation, that has been de23 termined eligible to receive services from the Bureau 

24 of Indian Affairs. 

25 ‘‘(b) GENERAL AUTHORITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

2 enter into an agreement with an eligible State to 

3 provide a capitalization grant for the eligible State 

4 to establish a revolving fund that will provide fund5 ing assistance to help homeowners, businesses, non6 profit organizations, and communities reduce flood 

7 risk in order to decrease— 

8 ‘‘(A) the loss of life and property; 

9 ‘‘(B) the cost of flood insurance; and 

10 ‘‘(C) Federal disaster payments. 

11 ‘‘(2) TIMING OF DEPOSIT AND AGREEMENTS

12 FOR DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the 

14 last day of the fiscal year following the fiscal 

15 year in which a capitalization grant is made to 

16 a participating State under paragraph (1), the 

17 participating State shall— 

18 ‘‘(i) deposit the grant in the State 

19 loan fund of the State; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) enter into 1 or more binding 

21 agreements that provide for the State to 

22 distribute the grant funds for purposes au23 thorized under subsection (c) such that— 

24 ‘‘(I) in the case of the initial 

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•S 2187 IS

1 tion, not less than 75 percent of the 

2 amount of the grant shall be distrib3 uted before the end of the 2-year pe4 riod beginning on the date on which 

5 the funds are deposited in the State 

6 loan fund of the State; and 

7 ‘‘(II) in the case of any subse8 quent grant made to a State under 

9 this section, not less than 90 percent 

10 of the amount of the grant shall be 

11 distributed before the end of the 1- 

12 year period beginning on the date on 

13 which the funds are deposited in the 

14 State loan fund of the State. 

15 ‘‘(B) NONCOMPLIANCE.—Except as pro16 vided in subparagraph (C), if a participating 

17 State does not comply with subparagraph (A) 

18 with respect to a grant, the Administrator shall 

19 reallocate the grant in accordance with para20 graph (3)(B). 

21 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION.—The Administrator 

22 may not reallocate any funds under subpara23 graph (B) to a participating State that violated 

24 subparagraph (A) with respect to a grant made 


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1 during the same fiscal year in which the funds 

2 to be reallocated were originally made available. 

3 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

5 shall allocate amounts made available to carry 

6 out this section to participating States— 

7 ‘‘(i) for the participating States to de8 posit in the State loan funds established by 

9 the participating States; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) except as provided in paragraph 

11 (6), in accordance with the requirements 

12 described in subparagraph (B). 

13 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements 

14 described in this subparagraph are as follows: 

15 ‘‘(i) Fifty percent of the total amount 

16 made available under subparagraph (A) 

17 shall be allocated so that each partici18 pating State receives the percentage 

19 amount that is obtained by dividing the 

20 number of properties that were insured 

21 under the national flood insurance pro22 gram in that State in the fiscal year pre23 ceding the fiscal year in which the amount 

24 is allocated by the total number of prop25 erties that were insured under the national 


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•S 2187 IS

1 flood insurance program in the fiscal year 

2 preceding the fiscal year in which the 

3 amount is allocated. 

4 ‘‘(ii) Fifty percent of the total amount 

5 made available under subparagraph (A) 

6 shall be allocated so that each partici7 pating State receives a percentage of funds 

8 that is equal to the product obtained under 

9 clause (iii)(IV) with respect to that partici10 pating State after following the procedures 

11 described in clause (iii). 

12 ‘‘(iii) The procedures described in this 

13 clause are as follows: 

14 ‘‘(I) Divide the total amount col15 lected in premiums for properties in16 sured under the national flood insur17 ance program in each participating 

18 State during the previous fiscal year 

19 by the number of properties insured 

20 under the national flood insurance 

21 program in that State for that fiscal 

22 year. 

23 ‘‘(II) Add together each quotient 

24 obtained under subclause (I). 


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1 ‘‘(III) For each participating 

2 State, divide the quotient obtained 

3 under subclause (I) with respect to 

4 that State by the sum obtained under 

5 subclause (II). 

6 ‘‘(IV) For each participating 

7 State, multiply the amount that is 50 

8 percent of the total amount made 

9 available under subparagraph (A) by 

10 the quotient obtained under subclause 

11 (III). 

12 ‘‘(iv) Except as provided in paragraph 

13 (5), in a fiscal year— 

14 ‘‘(I) a participating State may 

15 not receive more than 15 percent of 

16 the total amount that is made avail17 able under subparagraph (A) in that 

18 fiscal year; and 

19 ‘‘(II) if a participating State, 

20 based on the requirements under 

21 clauses (i) through (iii), would, but 

22 for the limitation under subclause (I) 

23 of this clause, receive an amount that 

24 is greater than the amount that the 

25 State is authorized to receive under 


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•S 2187 IS

1 that subclause, the difference between 

2 the authorized amount and the 

3 amount otherwise due to the State 

4 under clauses (i) through (iii) shall be 

5 allocated to other participating 

6 States— 

7 ‘‘(aa) that, in that fiscal 

8 year, have not received an 

9 amount under subparagraph (A) 

10 that is more than the authorized 

11 amount under subclause (I) of 

12 this clause; and 

13 ‘‘(bb) by using the require14 ments under clauses (i) through 

15 (iii), except that a participating 

16 State may receive an allocation 

17 under this subclause only if the 

18 allocation does not result in the 

19 State receiving a total amount 

20 for the fiscal year under subpara21 graph (A) that is greater than 

22 the authorized amount under 

23 subclause (I). 

24 ‘‘(4) NO REVOLVING FUND REQUIRED.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

2 other provision of this section, and subject to 

3 subparagraph (B), a participating State that 

4 receives less than $4,000,000 under paragraph 

5 (3)(B) in a fiscal year may distribute the funds 

6 directly in the form of grants or technical as7 sistance for a purpose described in subsection 

8 (c)(2), without regard to whether the State has 

9 established a State loan fund. 

10 ‘‘(B) STATE MATCHING.—A participating 

11 State that exercises the authority under sub12 paragraph (A) in a fiscal year shall provide 

13 matching funds from non-Federal sources in an 

14 amount that is equal to 25 percent of the 

15 amount that the State receives under paragraph 

16 (3)(B) in that fiscal year for purposes described 

17 in subparagraph (A). 

18 ‘‘(5) ALLOCATION OF REMAINING FUNDS.— 

19 After allocating amounts made available to carry out 

20 this section for a fiscal year in accordance with 

21 paragraph (3), the Administrator shall allocate any 

22 remaining amounts made available for that fiscal 

23 year to participating States, using the procedures 

24 described in clauses (i) through (iii) of paragraph 

25 (3)(B). 


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1 ‘‘(6) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—The Adminis2 trator shall reserve not more than 1.5 percent of the 

3 amount made available to carry out this section in 

4 a fiscal year— 

5 ‘‘(A) for administrative costs incurred in 

6 carrying out this section; 

7 ‘‘(B) to provide technical assistance to re8 cipients of grants under this section; and 

9 ‘‘(C) to enter into grant agreements with 

10 tribal governments and insular areas, with the 

11 grant funds to be distributed— 

12 ‘‘(i) according to criteria established 

13 by the Administrator; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) for a purpose described in sub15 section (c)(2). 

16 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts deposited in a 

18 State loan fund, including repayments of loans made 

19 from the fund and interest earned on the amounts 

20 in the fund, shall be used— 

21 ‘‘(A) consistent with paragraph (2) and 

22 subsection (g), to provide financial assistance 

23 for— 

24 ‘‘(i) homeowners, businesses, and non25 profit organizations that are eligible to 


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•S 2187 IS

1 participate in the national flood insurance 

2 program; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) any local government that par4 ticipates in the national flood insurance 

5 program; 

6 ‘‘(B) as a source of revenue and security 

7 for leveraged loans, the proceeds of which shall 

8 be deposited in the State loan fund; or 

9 ‘‘(C) for the sale of bonds as security for 

10 payment of the principal and interest on rev11 enue or general obligation bonds issued by the 

12 participating State to provide matching funds 

13 under subsection (f), if the proceeds from the 

14 sale of the bonds are deposited in the State 

15 loan fund. 

16 ‘‘(2) PURPOSES.—A recipient of financial as17 sistance provided through amounts from a State 

18 loan fund— 

19 ‘‘(A) shall use the amounts to reduce— 

20 ‘‘(i) flood risk; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) potential claims for losses cov22 ered under the national flood insurance 

23 program; 

24 ‘‘(B) shall use the amounts in a cost-effec25 tive manner under requirements established by 


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•S 2187 IS

1 the State, which may require an applicant for 

2 financial assistance to submit any information 

3 that the State considers relevant or necessary 

4 before the date on which the applicant receives 

5 the assistance; 

6 ‘‘(C) shall use the amounts for projects 

7 that— 

8 ‘‘(i) meet design and construction 

9 standards established by the Adminis10 trator; 

11 ‘‘(ii) are located in communities 

12 that— 

13 ‘‘(I) participate in the national 

14 flood insurance program; and 

15 ‘‘(II) have developed a State or 

16 community flood risk mitigation plan 

17 that has been approved by the Admin18 istrator under section 1366; 

19 ‘‘(iii) address— 

20 ‘‘(I) a repetitive loss structure or 

21 a severe repetitive loss property; or 

22 ‘‘(II) flood risk in the 500-year 

23 floodplain, areas of residual flood risk, 

24 or other areas of potential flood risk, 


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•S 2187 IS

1 as identified by the Administrator; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(iv) address current risk and antici4 pate future risk, such as sea-level rise; 

5 ‘‘(D) may use the amounts— 

6 ‘‘(i) for projects relating to— 

7 ‘‘(I) structural elevation; 

8 ‘‘(II) floodproofing; 

9 ‘‘(III) the relocation or removal 

10 of buildings from the 100-year flood11 plain or other areas of flood risk, in12 cluding the acquisition of properties 

13 for such a purpose; 

14 ‘‘(IV) environmental restoration 

15 activities that directly reduce flood 

16 risk; 

17 ‘‘(V) any eligible activity de18 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through 

19 (G) of section 1366(c)(3); or 

20 ‘‘(VI) other activities determined 

21 appropriate by the Administrator; 

22 ‘‘(ii) with respect to a project de23 scribed in clause (i), only for expenditures 

24 directly related to a project described in 

25 that clause, including expenditures for 


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•S 2187 IS

1 planning, design, and associated pre-con2 struction activities; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) to acquire, for the purposes of 

4 permanent protection, land, buildings, or a 

5 conservation easement from a willing seller 

6 or grantor; 

7 ‘‘(E) may not use the amounts— 

8 ‘‘(i) to construct buildings or expand 

9 existing buildings, unless the activity is for 

10 the purpose of flood mitigation; 

11 ‘‘(ii) to improve any structure, unless 

12 the recipient has obtained flood insurance 

13 coverage, which shall be maintained for the 

14 useful life of the structure, in an amount 

15 that is not less than the lesser of— 

16 ‘‘(I) the eligible project costs with 

17 respect to the structure; and 

18 ‘‘(II) the maximum insurable 

19 limit for the structure under the na20 tional flood insurance program cov21 erage for the structure; 

22 ‘‘(iii) to improve a residential property 

23 with an appraised value that is not less 

24 than 125 percent of the limitation on the 

25 maximum original principal obligation of a 


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•S 2187 IS

1 conventional mortgage that may be pur2 chased by the Federal National Mortgage 

3 Association or the Federal Home Loan 

4 Mortgage Corporation in the area in which 

5 the property is located, as established 

6 under section 302(b)(2) of the Federal Na7 tional Mortgage Association Charter Act 

8 (12 U.S.C. 1717(b)(2)) and section 

9 305(a)(2) of the Federal Home Loan 

10 Mortgage Corporation Act (12 U.S.C. 

11 1454(a)(2)); 

12 ‘‘(iv) for the direct benefit of a home13 owner if the annual household adjusted 

14 gross income of the homeowner during the 

15 previous fiscal year was not less than 

16 $200,000, as annually adjusted by the Ad17 ministrator to reflect changes in the Con18 sumer Price Index for All Urban Con19 sumers, as published by the Bureau of 

20 Labor Statistics of the Department of 

21 Labor and rounded to the nearest $25; or 

22 ‘‘(v) to acquire real property or an in23 terest in real property unless the property 

24 is purchased from a willing seller; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) to the maximum extent practicable, 

2 shall, in using those amounts, give priority to 

3 projects that assist low-income homeowners and 

4 low-income geographical areas. 

5 ‘‘(d) INTENDED USE PLANS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After providing the oppor7 tunity for public review and comment, each partici8 pating State shall annually prepare a plan that iden9 tifies, for the year following the date of issuance of 

10 the intended use plan, the intended uses of the 

11 amounts available in the State loan fund of the par12 ticipating State. 

13 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION DURING PREPARATION.— 

14 Each participating State, in preparing an intended 

15 use plan, shall ensure that the State agency with 

16 primary responsibility for floodplain management— 

17 ‘‘(A) provides oversight with respect to the 

18 preparation of the intended use plan; and 

19 ‘‘(B) consults with any other appropriate 

20 State agency, including agencies responsible for 

21 coastal and environmental management. 

22 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—A participating State shall, 

23 in each intended use plan— 

24 ‘‘(A) include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) an explanation of the mitigation 

2 and resiliency benefits the State intends to 

3 achieve, including by— 

4 ‘‘(I) reducing future damage and 

5 loss associated with flooding; 

6 ‘‘(II) reducing the number of se7 vere repetitive loss properties and re8 petitive loss structures in the State; 

9 ‘‘(III) decreasing the number of 

10 flood insurance claims in the State; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(IV) increasing the rating under 

13 the Community Rating System for 

14 communities in the State; 

15 ‘‘(ii) information with respect to the 

16 availability of, and the application process 

17 for receiving, financial assistance from the 

18 State loan fund of the State; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the criteria and methods estab20 lished for the distribution of amounts from 

21 the State loan fund of the State; 

22 ‘‘(iv) the amount of financial assist23 ance that the State anticipates providing 

24 to— 


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1 ‘‘(I) local government projects; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(II) projects for homeowners, 

4 business, or nonprofit organizations; 

5 ‘‘(v) the expected terms of the assist6 ance provided under clause (iv); and 

7 ‘‘(vi) a description of the financial sta8 tus of the State loan fund and the short9 term and long-term goals of the State loan 

10 fund; and 

11 ‘‘(B) provide, to the maximum extent prac12 ticable, that priority for the use of amounts 

13 from the State loan fund shall be given to 

14 projects that— 

15 ‘‘(i) address severe repetitive loss 

16 properties and repetitive loss structures; 

17 ‘‘(ii) assist low-income homeowners 

18 and low-income geographic areas; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) address flood risk for pre-FIRM 

20 buildings. 

21 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.—Each participating State 

22 shall publish and periodically update a list of all 

23 projects receiving funding from the State loan fund 

24 of the State, which shall include identification of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the community in which the project is 

2 located; 

3 ‘‘(B) the type and amount of assistance 

4 provided for each project; and 

5 ‘‘(C) the expected funding schedule and 

6 date of completion of each project. 

7 ‘‘(e) FUND MANAGEMENT.—Amounts in a State loan 

8 fund shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) remain available for providing financial as10 sistance under this section until distributed; 

11 ‘‘(2) if the amounts are not required for imme12 diate distribution or expenditure, be invested in in13 terest-bearing obligations; and 

14 ‘‘(3) except as provided in subsection (i), in15 clude only— 

16 ‘‘(A) amounts received from capitalization 

17 grants made under this section; 

18 ‘‘(B) repayments of loans made from the 

19 fund; and 

20 ‘‘(C) interest earned on amounts in the 

21 fund. 

22 ‘‘(f) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) FULL GRANT.—On or before the date on 

24 which a participating State receives a capitalization 

25 grant, the State shall deposit into the State loan 


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1 fund of the State, in addition to the amount of the 

2 capitalization grant, an amount from non-Federal 

3 sources that is not less than 20 percent of the total 

4 amount of the capitalization grant. 

5 ‘‘(2) REDUCED GRANT.—If, with respect to a 

6 capitalization grant, a participating State deposits in 

7 the State loan fund of the State an amount from 

8 non-Federal sources that is less than 20 percent of 

9 the total amount of the capitalization grant that the 

10 participating State would otherwise receive, the Ad11 ministrator shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) reduce the amount of the capitaliza13 tion grant received by the State to the amount 

14 that is 5 times the amount so deposited; and 

15 ‘‘(B) in accordance with subsection (b)(5), 

16 allocate the difference between the amount that 

17 the participating State would have received if 

18 the State had complied with paragraph (1) and 

19 the amount of the reduced grant that the par20 ticipating State receives under subparagraph 

21 (A). 

22 ‘‘(g) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—Unless otherwise pro23 hibited by State law, a participating State may use the 

24 amounts deposited into a State loan fund under this sec25 tion only— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to make a loan, on the condition that— 

2 ‘‘(A) the interest rate for the loan is not 

3 more than the market interest rate; 

4 ‘‘(B) the recipient of the loan will begin 

5 making principal and interest payments on the 

6 loan not later than 1 year after the date on 

7 which the project for which the loan was made 

8 is completed; 

9 ‘‘(C) the loan will be fully amortized not 

10 later than 20 years after the date on which the 

11 project for which the loan was made is com12 pleted, except that, in the case of a loan made 

13 for a project in a low-income geographic area or 

14 to a low-income homeowner, the State may pro15 vide a longer amortization period for the loan if 

16 that longer period— 

17 ‘‘(i) ends on a date that is not later 

18 than 30 years after the date on which the 

19 project is completed; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) is not longer than the expected 

21 design life of the project; 

22 ‘‘(D) the recipient of the loan dem23 onstrates, based on verified and documented in24 formation that, as of the date on which the loan 

25 is made, the recipient has a reasonable ability 


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1 to repay the loan, according to the terms of the 

2 loan, except that this subparagraph may not be 

3 construed to authorize any reduction or limita4 tion in efforts to comply with the requirements 

5 of subsection (c)(2)(F); and 

6 ‘‘(E) payments of principal and interest 

7 with respect to the loan will be deposited into 

8 the State loan fund; 

9 ‘‘(2) to buy or refinance the debt obligation of 

10 a local government at an interest rate that is not 

11 more than the market interest rate; 

12 ‘‘(3) to guarantee, or purchase insurance for, a 

13 local obligation, the proceeds of which finance a 

14 project eligible for assistance under this section, if 

15 the guarantee or purchase, as applicable, would— 

16 ‘‘(A) improve credit market access; or 

17 ‘‘(B) reduce the interest rate with respect 

18 to the obligation; 

19 ‘‘(4) as a source of revenue or as security for 

20 the payment of principal and interest on revenue or 

21 general obligation bonds issued by the State if the 

22 proceeds of the sale of the bonds will be deposited 

23 into the State loan fund; or 

24 ‘‘(5) to earn interest on those amounts. 


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1 ‘‘(h) ASSISTANCE FOR LOW-INCOME HOMEOWNERS

2 AND LOW-INCOME GEOGRAPHIC AREAS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

4 provision of this section, if a participating State uses 

5 amounts from a State loan fund to provide financial 

6 assistance under subsection (c) in a low-income geo7 graphic area or to a low-income homeowner, the 

8 State may provide additional subsidization to the re9 cipient of the assistance, including forgiveness of the 

10 principal of a loan. 

11 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—For each fiscal year, the 

12 total amount of additional subsidization provided by 

13 a participating State under paragraph (1) may not 

14 exceed 30 percent of the amount of the capitaliza15 tion grant allocated to the State for that fiscal year. 

16 ‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATION OF FUND.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A participating State may 

18 combine the financial administration of a State loan 

19 fund with the financial administration of any other 

20 revolving fund established by the State if— 

21 ‘‘(A) combining the administration of the 

22 funds would— 

23 ‘‘(i) be convenient and avoid adminis24 trative costs; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) not violate the law of the State; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) the Administrator determines that— 

4 ‘‘(i) amounts obtained from a grant 

5 made under this section, amounts obtained 

6 from the repayment of a loan made from 

7 a State loan fund, and interest earned on 

8 amounts in a State loan fund will be— 

9 ‘‘(I) accounted for separately 

10 from amounts from other revolving 

11 funds; and 

12 ‘‘(II) used only for purposes au13 thorized under this section; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) after consulting with the appro15 priate State agencies, the authority to es16 tablish assistance priorities and carry out 

17 oversight and related activities, other than 

18 financial administration, with respect to 

19 flood assistance remains with the State 

20 agency with primary responsibility for 

21 floodplain management. 

22 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE AND TECHNICAL

23 COSTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, a 

2 participating State may use the amount de3 scribed in subparagraph (B) to— 

4 ‘‘(i) pay the reasonable costs of ad5 ministration of the programs under this 

6 section, including the recovery of reason7 able costs incurred in establishing a State 

8 loan fund; 

9 ‘‘(ii) provide appropriate oversight of 

10 projects authorized under this section; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) provide technical assistance and 

12 outreach to recipients in the State of 

13 amounts under this section, including with 

14 respect to updating hazard mitigation 

15 plans and participating in the Community 

16 Rating System, in an amount that is not 

17 more than 4 percent of the funds made 

18 available to the State under this section. 

19 ‘‘(B) DESCRIPTION.—The amount de20 scribed in this subparagraph is an amount 

21 equal to the sum of— 

22 ‘‘(i) any fees collected by a partici23 pating State to recover the costs described 

24 in subparagraph (A)(i), regardless of the 

25 source; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the greatest of— 

2 ‘‘(I) $400,000; 

3 ‘‘(II) 0.2 percent of the value of 

4 the State loan fund of a State, as of 

5 the date on which the valuation is 

6 made; and 

7 ‘‘(III) an amount equal to 7 per8 cent of all grant awards made to a 

9 participating State for the State loan 

10 fund of the State under this section 

11 for the fiscal year. 

12 ‘‘(3) AUDIT AND REPORT.— 

13 ‘‘(A) AUDIT REQUIREMENT.—Not less fre14 quently than biennially, each participating State 

15 shall conduct an audit of the State loan fund of 

16 the State. 

17 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Each participating State 

18 shall submit to the Administrator a biennial re19 port regarding the activities of the State under 

20 this section during the period covered by the re21 port, including— 

22 ‘‘(i) the result of any audit conducted 

23 by the State under subparagraph (A); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a review of the effectiveness of 

2 the State loan fund of the State with re3 spect to— 

4 ‘‘(I) the intended use plans of the 

5 State; and 

6 ‘‘(II) meeting the objectives de7 scribed in subsection (b)(1). 

8 ‘‘(4) OVERSIGHT.—In conducting oversight with 

9 respect to State loan funds established under this 

10 section, the Administrator— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall— 

12 ‘‘(i) periodically audit the funds in ac13 cordance with procedures established by 

14 the Comptroller General of the United 

15 States; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) not less frequently than once 

17 every 4 years, review each State loan fund 

18 to determine the effectiveness of the fund 

19 in reducing flood risk; and 

20 ‘‘(B) may, at any time— 

21 ‘‘(i) make recommendations to a par22 ticipating State with respect to the admin23 istration of the State loan fund of the 

24 State; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) require specific changes with re2 spect to a State loan fund in order to im3 prove the effectiveness of the fund. 

4 ‘‘(j) LIABILITY PROTECTIONS.—The Federal Emer5 gency Management Agency shall not be liable for any 

6 claim based on the exercise or performance of, or the fail7 ure to exercise or perform, a discretionary function or duty 

8 by the Agency, or an employee of the Agency, in carrying 

9 out this section. 

10 ‘‘(k) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall pro11 mulgate such guidance or regulations as may be necessary 

12 to carry out this section, including guidance or regulations 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(1) ensure that each participating State to 

15 which funds are allocated under this section uses the 

16 funds as efficiently as possible; 

17 ‘‘(2) reduce, to the maximum extent prac18 ticable, waste, fraud, and abuse with respect to the 

19 implementation of this section; and 

20 ‘‘(3) require any party that receives funds di21 rectly or indirectly under this section, including a 

22 participating State and a recipient of amounts from 

23 a State loan fund, to use procedures with respect to 

24 the management of the funds that conform to gen25 erally accepted accounting standards. 


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1 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

3 necessary to carry out this section for fiscal years 2020 

4 through 2029.’’. 

5 (b) CONSIDERATION OF MITIGATION MEASURES

6 FUNDED BY STATE LOAN FUNDS IN FLOOD INSURANCE

7 PREMIUM RATES.— 

8 (1) ESTIMATED RATES.—Section 

9 1307(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the National Flood Insurance 

10 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4014(a)(1)(A)(ii)) is amend11 ed by striking ‘‘and similar measures’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘similar measures, and any activities funded 

13 through amounts from a State loan fund established 

14 under section 1326’’. 

15 (2) CHARGEABLE RATES.—Section 1308(b)(1) 

16 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 

17 U.S.C. 4015(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘and 

18 similar measures’’ and inserting ‘‘similar measures, 

19 and any activities funded through amounts from a 

20 State loan fund established under section 1326’’. 

21 SEC. 208. MAPPING MODERNIZATION. 

22 (a) AMENDMENTS TO THE BIGGERT-WATERS FLOOD

23 INSURANCE REFORM ACT OF 2012.—The Biggert-Waters 

24 Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (42 U.S.C. 4004 et 

25 seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 100215 (42 U.S.C. 4101a)— 

2 (A) in subsection (b)(1)— 

3 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 

4 (A) through (E) as subparagraphs (B) 

5 through (F), respectively; 

6 (ii) by inserting before subparagraph 

7 (B), as so redesignated, the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) the Director of the United States Ge9 ological Survey;’’; and 

10 (iii) in subparagraph (F), as so redes11 ignated— 

12 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

13 (i), by striking ‘‘16’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘17’’; 

15 (II) in clause (xiii), by striking 

16 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

17 (III) in clause (xiv), by striking 

18 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

19 and’’; and 

20 (IV) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(xv) an expert in the field of cata23 strophic risk modeling.’’; and 

24 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(m) PRIVATE OR COMMUNITY FLOOD MAPS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES.—In addi2 tion to the other duties of the Council under this 

3 section, not later than 1 year after the date of enact4 ment of this subsection, the Council shall develop 

5 and establish a set of standards, guidelines, and pro6 cedures for— 

7 ‘‘(A) State and local governments, feder8 ally or State-recognized metropolitan planning 

9 organizations (commonly known as ‘MPOs’), 

10 federally or State-recognized councils of local 

11 governments, and federally or State-recognized 

12 rural transportation planning organizations to 

13 use in mapping flood risks and developing alter14 native maps to the flood insurance rate maps 

15 developed by the Administrator; and 

16 ‘‘(B) certification, by the Administrator 

17 not later than 90 days after the date on which 

18 a map developed under subparagraph (A) is 

19 submitted to the Administrator, for use under 

20 the National Flood Insurance Program in the 

21 case of any area covered by a flood insurance 

22 rate map developed or approved by the Admin23 istrator that has not been updated or reissued 

24 during the preceding 3-year period. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT.—On and after the date on 

2 which the Administrator certifies a map under para3 graph (1)(B), the map— 

4 ‘‘(A) shall be considered the flood insur5 ance rate map in effect for all purposes of the 

6 National Flood Insurance Program with respect 

7 to the area covered by the map; and 

8 ‘‘(B) may not be revised, updated, or re9 placed in accordance with the standards, guide10 lines, and procedures established under para11 graph (1) before the expiration of the 3-year 

12 period beginning on that date of certification. 

13 ‘‘(3) EXEMPTION FROM RULEMAKING.—Until 

14 the date on which the Administrator promulgates 

15 regulations implementing paragraphs (1) and (2), 

16 the Administrator may adopt policies and proce17 dures, notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

18 necessary to implement those paragraphs without re19 gard to section 553 of title 5, United States Code, 

20 and without conducting regulatory analyses other21 wise required by statute, regulation, or Executive 

22 order.’’; and 

23 (2) in section 100216 (42 U.S.C. 4101b)— 

24 (A) in subsection (b)— 

25 (i) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik2 ing ‘‘to—’’ and all that follows 

3 through the end of clause (vi) and in4 serting ‘‘to all areas of the United 

5 States;’’; 

6 (II) in subparagraph (B), by 

7 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

8 (III) in subparagraph (C), by 

9 striking ‘‘accurate topography’’ and 

10 all that follows through the period at 

11 the end and inserting ‘‘current and 

12 best remote sensing technology;’’; and 

13 (IV) by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(D) when appropriate, partner with other 

16 Federal agencies and private entities in order to 

17 meet the objectives of the program; and 

18 ‘‘(E) consult and coordinate with the Sec19 retary of Defense, the Director of the United 

20 States Geological Survey, and the Adminis21 trator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

22 Administration to obtain the most up-to-date 

23 maps and other information of those agencies, 

24 including information relating to topography, 

25 water flow, watershed characteristics, and any 


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1 other issues that are relevant to identifying, re2 viewing, updating, maintaining, and publishing 

3 National Flood Insurance Program rate 

4 maps.’’; and 

5 (ii) in paragraph (3)— 

6 (I) in subparagraph (A), by re7 designating clauses (i) and (ii) as sub8 clauses (I) and (II), respectively, and 

9 adjusting the margins accordingly; 

10 (II) by redesignating subpara11 graphs (A) through (E) as clauses (i) 

12 through (v), respectively, and adjust13 ing the margins accordingly; 

14 (III) in the matter preceding 

15 clause (i), as so redesignated, by 

16 striking ‘‘Administrator shall in17 clude—’’ and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘Administrator— 

19 ‘‘(A) shall include—’’; 

20 (IV) in subparagraph (A)(v), as 

21 so redesignated, by striking the period 

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

23 (V) by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 

25 ‘‘(B) may include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) any relevant information that is 

2 obtained under paragraph (1)(D); and 

3 ‘‘(ii) cadastral features, including, for 

4 each cadastral feature— 

5 ‘‘(I) the associated parcel identi6 fication data for that feature; and 

7 ‘‘(II) to the maximum extent 

8 practicable, using public and private 

9 sector address data, the address of 

10 that feature.’’; 

11 (B) in subsection (c)(2)— 

12 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

15 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

16 and’’; and 

17 (iii) by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

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

20 on which the National Geodetic Survey com21 pletes the modernization of the National Spatial 

22 Reference System in 2022, updated to conform 

23 with the geospatial data provided by that sys24 tem; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) spatially accurate in accordance with 

2 the common protocols for geographic informa3 tion systems under section 216 of the E-Gov4 ernment Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note).’’; 

5 (C) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub6 section (g); 

7 (D) by inserting after subsection (e) the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(f) INCORPORATING BUILDING-SPECIFIC FLOOD

10 RISK INFORMATION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years 

13 after the date of enactment of the National 

14 Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization and 

15 Reform Act of 2019, the Administrator, in co16 ordination with, and as recommended by, the 

17 Technical Mapping Advisory Council, shall es18 tablish a dynamic, database-derived digital dis19 play environment for flood hazard risk produc20 tion and dissemination. 

21 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION WITH STATES AND

22 COMMUNITIES.—In designing and constructing 

23 the environment under subparagraph (A), the 

24 Administrator shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) leverage and partner with States 

2 and communities that have successfully im3 plemented the same approach; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) consider adopting the techniques 

5 and technologies used by States and com6 munities described in clause (i) and apply7 ing them nationwide. 

8 ‘‘(2) DIGITAL DISPLAY.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out para10 graph (1), the Administrator shall create a dig11 ital display prompted through dynamic querying 

12 of a spatial, relational building database that 

13 includes— 

14 ‘‘(i) special flood hazard areas and 

15 base flood elevations for purposes of lender 

16 compliance with the requirements under 

17 section 102 of the Flood Disaster Protec18 tion Act of 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4012a); and 

19 ‘‘(ii) structure-specific flood risk infor20 mation, including, for each property ad21 dress— 

22 ‘‘(I) the spatial footprint and ele23 vation of the structure relative to spe24 cial flood hazard areas and base flood 

25 elevations; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the most current elevation 

2 certificate applicable to the property; 

3 ‘‘(III) any letter of map changes; 

4 ‘‘(IV) the full risk premium rate 

5 estimated for the structure under sec6 tion 1307(a)(1) of the National Flood 

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

8 4014(a)(1)) based on elevation data; 

9 ‘‘(V) the disclosure described in 

10 section 1308(l) of the National Flood 

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

12 4015(l)), which shall include— 

13 ‘‘(aa) the extent to which, if 

14 any, the chargeable premium rate 

15 applicable to the property is less 

16 than the full risk premium rate 

17 under section 1307(a)(1) of that 

18 Act (42 U.S.C. 4014(a)(1)); and 

19 ‘‘(bb) an explanation of the 

20 difference described in item (aa) 

21 and the methodology used to rate 

22 the property; 

23 ‘‘(VI) the estimated cost to re24 pair the structure in the case of dam25 age from floods with recurrence interVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:18 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00071 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2187.IS S2187

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1 vals ranging from the 10 percent an2 nual chance event to the 0.2 percent 

3 annual chance event; 

4 ‘‘(VII) the cost-effectiveness of 

5 mitigating the structure using com6 mon methods and how the chargeable 

7 premium rate would change based on 

8 each mitigation method; and 

9 ‘‘(VIII) the claims history of the 

10 structure, including the amount and 

11 date of each loss. 

12 ‘‘(B) PRIVACY REQUIREMENTS.—With re13 spect to the database described in subparagraph 

14 (A), including any data used to create that 

15 database, the Administrator may not dissemi16 nate the database to any person other than the 

17 owner or leaseholder of a property identified in 

18 the database. 

19 ‘‘(3) DATABASE.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) develop a spatial, relational data23 base of buildings in the National Flood In24 surance Program; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) obtain the data necessary to sup2 port the digital display created under para3 graph (2). 

4 ‘‘(B) DATA.—The data obtained under 

5 subparagraph (A) shall include, at a min6 imum— 

7 ‘‘(i) footprints and elevations (includ8 ing lowest adjacent grade and first floor) 

9 from Light Detection and Ranging (com10 monly known as ‘LiDAR’) data collections 

11 or other data collection methods that meet 

12 or exceed the standards for buildings, as 

13 determined by the Administrator; 

14 ‘‘(ii) elevation certificates; 

15 ‘‘(iii) parcel, address, and imagery 

16 data necessary for the identification, as17 sessment, and reduction of flood hazards 

18 for individual properties; 

19 ‘‘(iv) flood insurance rate maps, stud20 ies, and supporting data; 

21 ‘‘(v) letters of map change; and 

22 ‘‘(vi) any other data that the Adminis23 trator determines necessary to collect to 

24 meet the objectives of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(4) DATA PROCUREMENT.—The Administrator 

2 shall obtain any data necessary to establish the envi3 ronment under paragraph (1), including by— 

4 ‘‘(A) directing communities participating 

5 in the National Flood Insurance Program, by 

6 regulation, to collect and supply information, 

7 including elevation data, for each structure that 

8 obtains a construction or other development 

9 permit within— 

10 ‘‘(i) a special flood hazard area; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) an advisory special flood hazard 

12 area adopted by the community; 

13 ‘‘(B) issuing guidelines and standards, as 

14 determined by the Administrator; 

15 ‘‘(C) partnering with other Federal, State, 

16 local, and private stakeholders to the greatest 

17 extent possible to obtain and share existing 

18 data that meets or exceeds the standards deter19 mined by the Administrator under subpara20 graph (B); and 

21 ‘‘(D) contracting with private companies to 

22 obtain new LiDAR data collections or elevation 

23 certificates. 


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1 ‘‘(5) NFIP PREMIUM CREDIT.—The Adminis2 trator shall provide a 1-time premium credit of not 

3 more than $500 to a policyholder for— 

4 ‘‘(A) the purchase of an elevation certifi5 cate; or 

6 ‘‘(B) the purposes of appealing the charge7 able premium rate with respect to the property 

8 to which the premium applies. 

9 ‘‘(6) MASS LETTERS OF MAP CHANGE.—In co10 ordination with States and communities that have 

11 successfully implemented a dynamic, database-de12 rived digital display environment for flood hazard 

13 risk production and dissemination, the Adminis14 trator shall issue guidelines for the adoption and in15 tegration into the program established under sub16 section (a) of LiDAR-based letter of map amend17 ment approaches. 

18 ‘‘(7) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator 

19 shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

20 and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

21 on Financial Services of the House of Representa22 tives an annual progress report on the implementa23 tion of this subsection, which shall include rec24 ommendations to reduce the cost and improve the 

25 implementation of this subsection.’’; and 


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1 (E) in subsection (g), as so redesignated— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘this section 

3 $400,000,000’’ and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘this section— 

5 ‘‘(1) $400,000,000’’; and 

6 (ii) by striking the period at the end 

7 and inserting the following: ‘‘; and 

8 ‘‘(2) $400,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 

9 through 2025.’’. 

10 (b) APPEALS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (A) RIGHT TO APPEAL.—Section 1360 of 

13 the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 

14 U.S.C. 4101) is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(k) APPEALS OF EXISTING MAPS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) RIGHT TO APPEAL.—Subject to paragraph 

18 (6), a State or local government, or the owner or les19 see of real property, that makes a formal request to 

20 the Administrator to update a flood insurance rate 

21 map that the Administrator denies may at any time 

22 appeal the denial in accordance with this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(2) BASIS FOR APPEAL.—The basis for an ap24 peal under this subsection shall be the possession of 

25 knowledge or information that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the base flood elevation level or des2 ignation of any aspect of a flood insurance rate 

3 map is scientifically or technically inaccurate; or 

4 ‘‘(B) factors exist that mitigate the risk of 

5 flooding, including ditches, banks, walls, vegeta6 tion, levees, lakes, dams, reservoirs, basin, re7 tention ponds, and other natural or manmade 

8 topographical features. 

9 ‘‘(3) APPEALS PROCESS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUDICATION.— 

11 The Administrator shall determine an appeal 

12 under this subsection by making a final adju13 dication on the record, after providing an op14 portunity for an administrative hearing. 

15 ‘‘(B) RIGHTS UPON ADVERSE DECISION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) OPTIONAL ARBITRATION.—If an 

17 appeal determined under subparagraph (A) 

18 does not result in a decision in favor of the 

19 State, local government, owner, or lessee, 

20 that party may request that an appeal of 

21 the adverse decision be heard through 

22 independent, non-binding arbitration. 

23 ‘‘(ii) PROCESS.—The Administrator 

24 shall establish a process for arbitration 

25 under clause (i) under which the arbitrator 


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1 provides a non-binding recommendation to 

2 the Administrator. 

3 ‘‘(4) RELIEF.— 

4 ‘‘(A) WHOLLY SUCCESSFUL APPEALS.—If 

5 the Administrator determines, in an appeal 

6 under this subsection, that the property of a 

7 policyholder that had been included in a special 

8 flood hazard area under the flood insurance 

9 rate map is actually not in a special flood haz10 ard area— 

11 ‘‘(i) the policyholder may cancel the 

12 policy at any time during the year in which 

13 the Administrator makes the determina14 tion; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the Administrator shall provide 

16 the policyholder a refund equal to the 

17 amount of— 

18 ‘‘(I) any premiums that the pol19 icyholder paid during the year de20 scribed in clause (i); and 

21 ‘‘(II) any premiums that the pol22 icyholder paid for flood insurance cov23 erage that the policyholder was re24 quired to purchase or maintain during 


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1 the 2-year period preceding the year 

2 described in clause (i). 

3 ‘‘(B) PARTIALLY SUCCESSFUL APPEALS.— 

4 If the Administrator determines in an appeal 

5 under this subsection that mitigating factors 

6 have reduced, but not eliminated, the risk of 

7 flooding to a property, the Administrator 

8 shall— 

9 ‘‘(i) reduce the amount of flood insur10 ance coverage required to be maintained 

11 for the property by the ratio of the suc12 cessful portion of the appeal as compared 

13 to the entire appeal; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) provide the policyholder a refund 

15 equal to the difference between— 

16 ‘‘(I) the amount of any premiums 

17 that the policyholder paid during the 

18 period— 

19 ‘‘(aa) beginning on the later 

20 of— 

21 ‘‘(AA) the date on 

22 which the mitigating factor 

23 was created; or 

24 ‘‘(BB) January 1 of the 

25 second year preceding the 


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1 date on which the deter2 mination is made; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) ending on the date on 

4 which the reduction in the 

5 amount of flood insurance re6 quired, as described in clause (i), 

7 takes effect; and 

8 ‘‘(II) the amount of premiums 

9 that the policyholder would have been 

10 required to pay if the reduced amount 

11 of flood insurance coverage required, 

12 as described in clause (i), had been in 

13 effect during the period described in 

14 subclause (I) of this clause. 

15 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL RELIEF.—The Adminis16 trator may provide additional refunds in excess 

17 of the amounts required under subparagraphs 

18 (A) and (B) if the Administrator determines 

19 that such additional refunds are warranted. 

20 ‘‘(5) RECOVERY OF COSTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) APPEAL EXPENSES.—If a State or 

22 local government, or the owner or lessee of real 

23 property, incurs any expense in connection with 

24 an appeal under this subsection that is based 

25 on a scientific or technical error made by the 


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1 Administrator and that is successful in whole or 

2 part regarding the designation of the base flood 

3 elevation or any aspect of a flood insurance rate 

4 map, including elevation or designation of a 

5 special flood hazard area, the Administrator 

6 shall reimburse the State, local government, 

7 owner, or lessee in accordance with subpara8 graph (B). 

9 ‘‘(B) REIMBURSABLE EXPENSES.—The 

10 Administrator— 

11 ‘‘(i) may reimburse a party under 

12 subparagraph (A) for reasonable expenses 

13 described in that subparagraph— 

14 ‘‘(I) including for a service pro15 vided by a surveyor, engineer, or sci16 entific expert; and 

17 ‘‘(II) to the extent measured by 

18 the ratio of the successful portion of 

19 the appeal as compared to the entire 

20 appeal; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) may not reimburse a party under 

22 subparagraph (A) for— 

23 ‘‘(I) the cost of legal services; or 

24 ‘‘(II) the payment of any fee or 

25 expense, the payment of which was 


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1 agreed to be contingent upon the re2 sult of the appeal. 

3 ‘‘(6) GUIDANCE.—The Administrator shall 

4 issue guidance to implement this subsection, which 

5 shall not be subject to the notice and comment re6 quirements under section 553 of title 5, United 

7 States Code.’’. 

8 (B) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND9 MENTS.—Section 1310(a) of the National Flood 

10 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4017(a)) is 

11 amended— 

12 (i) in paragraph (7), by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

14 (ii) in paragraph (8), by striking the 

15 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

16 and 

17 (iii) by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(9) for providing reimbursements of expenses 

20 of flood insurance rate map appeals under section 

21 1360(k)(5).’’. 

22 (2) DEADLINE FOR ISSUANCE OF GUIDANCE.— 

23 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, the Administrator shall issue the guid25 ance required under subsection (k)(6) of section 


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1 1360 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 

2 (42 U.S.C. 4101), as added by paragraph (1)(A). 

3 SEC. 209. PROTECTED AREAS. 

4 Section 100216(b) of the Biggert-Waters Flood In5 surance Reform Act of 2012 (42 U.S.C. 4101b(b)) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(4) ZONES PROTECTED BY LEVEE SYSTEMS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) APPLICABILITY.—Subject to full im9 plementation of this section, and notwith10 standing any other provision of law, this para11 graph shall apply to a community in which the 

12 Administrator maps or re-maps a levee-im13 pacted area in which the pertinent levee system 

14 fails to meet the minimum design, operation, 

15 and maintenance standards of the National 

16 Flood Insurance Program required for levee ac17 creditation on a National Flood Insurance Pro18 gram rate map. 

19 ‘‘(B) AL ZONES.—For levee-impacted 

20 areas described in subparagraph (A), the Ad21 ministrator shall establish flood risk zones 

22 known as ‘AL Zones’ on the National Flood In23 surance Program rate map. 

24 ‘‘(C) ACTUARIAL RATES.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

2 shall make available flood insurance to 

3 properties in AL Zones at actuarial rates 

4 based upon the risk associated with struc5 tures within the applicable AL Zone. 

6 ‘‘(ii) TEMPORARY RATES.—Until the 

7 Administrator promulgates actuarial rates 

8 for the various AL Zones, a structure with9 in a portion of a community located within 

10 a levee-impacted area described in sub11 paragraph (A) shall be eligible for rates as12 sociated with areas of moderate flood haz13 ards (also known as ‘Standard X zone’ 

14 rates).’’. 

15 SEC. 210. COMMUNITY-WIDE FLOOD MITIGATION ACTIVI16 TIES. 

17 It is the sense of Congress that the Administrator 

18 should consider flood mitigation activities that— 

19 (1) provide benefits to an entire floodplain or 

20 community, or to a portion of such a community; 

21 (2) consider all available and practicable ap22 proaches; and 

23 (3) the Administrator determines— 

24 (A) are technically feasible; 

25 (B) have the highest net benefits; and 


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1 (C) are consistent with mitigation plans 

2 approved by the Administrator. 

3 TITLE III—SOLVENCY 

4 SEC. 301. FORBEARANCE ON NFIP INTEREST PAYMENTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—During the 5-year period begin6 ning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

7 of the Treasury may not charge the Administrator interest 

8 on amounts borrowed by the Administrator under section 

9 1309(a) of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 

10 U.S.C. 4016(a)) that were outstanding as of that date of 

11 enactment. 

12 (b) USE OF SAVED AMOUNTS.—There shall be depos13 ited into the National Flood Mitigation Fund an amount 

14 equal to the interest that would have accrued on the bor15 rowed amounts during the 5-year period described in sub16 section (a), which, notwithstanding any provision of sec17 tion 1367 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 

18 (42 U.S.C. 4104d), the Administrator shall use to carry 

19 out the program established under section 1366 of the Na20 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104c). 

21 (c) NO RETROACTIVE ACCRUAL.—After the 5-year 

22 period described in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 

23 Treasury shall not require the Administrator to repay any 

24 interest that, but for that subsection, would have accrued 


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1 on the borrowed amounts described in that subsection dur2 ing that 5-year period. 

3 SEC. 302. CAP ON WRITE YOUR OWN COMPANY COMPENSA4 TION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1311 of the National 

6 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4018) is amend7 ed— 

8 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub9 section (c); and 

10 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON COMPENSATION; MINIMUM

13 AGENT COMMISSIONS.—In negotiating with appropriate 

14 representatives of the insurance industry under subsection 

15 (a), the Administrator shall ensure that— 

16 ‘‘(1) any reimbursement paid to a property and 

17 casualty insurance company for selling, writing, and 

18 servicing flood insurance policies is not more than 

19 22.46 percent of the aggregate amount of premiums 

20 charged by the insurance company; and 

21 ‘‘(2) an insurance company pays a portion of 

22 the reimbursement described in paragraph (1) to 

23 agents of the company as a commission, in an 

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1 gregate amount of the premiums sold by the 

2 agent.’’. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 Section 1311 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 

5 (42 U.S.C. 4018), as amended by subsection (a), is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘The Adminis8 trator’’ and inserting ‘‘IN GENERAL.—The Adminis9 trator’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (c), as so redesignated by sub11 section (a) of this section, by striking ‘‘For purposes 

12 of subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘DEFINITIONS.— 

13 For purposes of this section’’. 

14 SEC. 303. TAXPAYER PROTECTION. 

15 Section 1360(g) of the National Flood Insurance Act 

16 of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101(g)) is amended— 

17 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘, subject 

18 to the following sentence,’’ after ‘‘at a reasonable 

19 cost’’; and 

20 (2) by inserting after the first sentence the fol21 lowing: ‘‘The Administrator shall develop a fee 

22 schedule based on recovering the actual costs of pro23 viding flood insurance rate maps to such other per24 sons, and shall charge a fee based on the schedule 

25 to any private entity for the use of such a map.’’. 


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1 SEC. 304. VENDOR COSTS; TRANSPARENCY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 100224(d) of the Biggert3 Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (42 U.S.C. 

4 4081 note) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘Not later than 12 months after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis7 trator’’ and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(2) VENDOR COSTS; TRANSPARENCY.—In 

11 issuing the rule under paragraph (1), the Adminis12 trator shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) develop a schedule to determine the 

14 actual costs of Write Your Own vendors, includ15 ing claims adjusters and engineering companies; 

16 ‘‘(B) provide that if a Write Your Own 

17 company requests reimbursement for the costs 

18 of a service or product provided to the company 

19 by a vendor, the Administrator only reimburses 

20 the company for the actual costs of the service 

21 or products; and 

22 ‘‘(C) require that all reimbursements to 

23 Write Your Own companies be made public, in24 cluding a description of the product or service 

25 provided to which the reimbursement per26 tains.’’. 


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1 (b) DEADLINE FOR REVISED RULE.—Not later than 

2 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad3 ministrator shall issue a revised rule under section 

4 100224(d) of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform 

5 Act of 2012 (42 U.S.C. 4081 note), as amended by sub6 section (a). 

7 SEC. 305. AVAILABILITY OF NFIP CLAIMS DATA. 

8 (a) STUDY REQUIRED.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

10 study the feasibility of selling or licensing the use of 

11 historical structure-specific National Flood Insur12 ance Program claims data (referred to in this sec13 tion as ‘‘covered claims data’’) to nongovernmental 

14 entities. 

15 (2) CONTENTS.—In conducting the study re16 quired under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall, 

17 at a minimum— 

18 (A) investigate 1 or more methods of pro19 viding the most specific covered claims data 

20 possible while reasonably protecting policyholder 

21 privacy; 

22 (B) review existing means, as of the date 

23 of enactment of this Act, by which the Federal 

24 Government and nongovernmental entities pro25 vide leases or licenses to private persons, and 


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1 the various regulations, terms, conditions, and 

2 guidance employed; 

3 (C) identify potential uses for covered 

4 claims data and any known risks concerning 

5 those uses, including the risk that private insur6 ance companies will use the data to issue flood 

7 insurance policies with respect to properties 

8 that have the lowest level of flood risk, which 

9 would require the National Flood Insurance 

10 Program to issue those policies with respect to 

11 properties with higher levels of flood risk; 

12 (D) identify mechanisms for determining 

13 the likely market value for access to covered 

14 claims data; 

15 (E) consider whether selling or licensing 

16 the use of covered claims data, as described in 

17 paragraph (1), would be in compliance with sec18 tion 552a of title 5, United States Code; and 

19 (F) recommend actions the Administrator 

20 could take, if any, to prevent unintended con21 sequences associated with the sale or licensing 

22 for private insurance purposes covered claims 

23 data. 

24 (b) REPORT BY ADMINISTRATOR.—Not later than 1 

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1 trator shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Hous2 ing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 

3 on Financial Services of the House of Representatives a 

4 report that contains the results and conclusions of the 

5 study conducted under subsection (a), which shall include 

6 an analysis of any recommendations made by the study. 

7 SEC. 306. REFUSAL OF MITIGATION ASSISTANCE. 

8 Section 1366 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

9 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104c) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 

11 paragraph (1), in the first sentence, by inserting 

12 ‘‘and, with respect to financial assistance described 

13 in paragraph (2), using amounts made available 

14 from the Disaster Relief Fund in accordance with 

15 section 203(n) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

16 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 5133(n))’’ after ‘‘section 1367’’; 

18 (2) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub19 section (i); and 

20 (3) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(h) REFUSAL OF ASSISTANCE.— 

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

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1 sistance made by the Administrator to a policyholder 

2 under the national flood insurance program that— 

3 ‘‘(A) relates to mitigation activities with 

4 respect to the structure insured under that pro5 gram; 

6 ‘‘(B) covers 100 percent of the cost of the 

7 mitigation activities described in subparagraph 

8 (A); 

9 ‘‘(C) permits the policyholder to continue 

10 to live in the structure to which the policy re11 lates; and 

12 ‘‘(D) is carried out under a mitigation 

13 plan. 

14 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—If, after the date of enactment 

15 of this subsection, a policyholder under the national 

16 flood insurance program refuses a bona fide offer of 

17 assistance with respect to the property so insured, 

18 the Administrator shall, notwithstanding any other 

19 provision of this title, increase the chargeable risk 

20 premium rate for flood insurance under this title for 

21 the property by 25 percent each year until— 

22 ‘‘(A) the policyholder accepts the bona fide 

23 offer of assistance; or 

24 ‘‘(B) that chargeable risk premium rate is 

25 actuarially sound.’’. 


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1 TITLE IV—POLICYHOLDER 

2 PROTECTION AND FAIRNESS 

3 SEC. 401. EARTH MOVEMENT FIX AND ENGINEER STAND4 ARDS. 

5 (a) REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION FOR FOUNDATION

6 AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1312 of the Na8 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

9 4019) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(d) REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION FOR FOUNDATION

12 AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of the 

14 Administrator determining coverage under the 

15 standard flood insurance policy under the national 

16 flood insurance program, a rebuttable presumption 

17 that physical damage to the foundation of, or struc18 tural damage to, a structure was not caused by 

19 earth movement shall apply if— 

20 ‘‘(A) flood caused direct physical change to 

21 the structure; and 

22 ‘‘(B) there is damage to the foundation of, 

23 or structural damage to, the structure that was 

24 not present before the flood, as demonstrated 

25 by a certification from the policyholder. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REBUTTAL.—In determining coverage as a 

2 result of the rebuttable presumption under para3 graph (1), an insurance company may rebut the pre4 sumption only by providing the Administrator with 

5 an engineering report that— 

6 ‘‘(A) meets standards issued by the Ad7 ministrator under paragraph (3); and 

8 ‘‘(B) clearly demonstrates that the physical 

9 damage to the foundation of, or structural dam10 age to, a structure described in paragraph (1) 

11 was caused directly by earth movement that 

12 was not caused by— 

13 ‘‘(i) the horizontal pressure from 

14 standing or slow-moving floodwater (com15 monly known as ‘hydrostatic pressure’); 

16 ‘‘(ii) the force of floodwater that 

17 causes the vertical uplift from the under18 side of a horizontal foundation component, 

19 such as a concrete slab, footer, or a struc20 tural floor assembly (commonly known as 

21 ‘buoyancy’); 

22 ‘‘(iii) pressure imposed on an object, 

23 such as a wall of a building, by high-veloc24 ity floodwater or waves flowing against and 


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1 around the building (commonly known as 

2 ‘hydrodynamic force’); 

3 ‘‘(iv) floodwater moving along the sur4 face of the ground causing soil to suddenly 

5 erode or undermine, resulting in failure of 

6 a foundation or to one of the structural 

7 components of the foundation (commonly 

8 known as ‘scouring’); or 

9 ‘‘(v) earth movement otherwise caused 

10 by flood. 

11 ‘‘(3) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

12 issue minimum standards— 

13 ‘‘(A) regarding the form and content of en14 gineering reports used to assist insurance 

15 claims adjusters with respect to carrying out 

16 this subsection; and 

17 ‘‘(B) which shall— 

18 ‘‘(i) include a requirement that any 

19 such engineering report shall be signed and 

20 have a seal affixed by an engineer who is 

21 licensed in the State in which the property 

22 to which the claim relates is located; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) be consistent with generally ac24 cepted practices in— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the field of forensic engi2 neering; and 

3 ‘‘(II) the insurance industry. 

4 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

5 this subsection may be construed to modify the 

6 terms and conditions of the standard flood insurance 

7 policy.’’. 

8 (2) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by 

9 paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to a claim 

10 with a date of loss that is on or after the date that 

11 is 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

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

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

14 issue the standards required under subsection (d)(3) of 

15 section 1312 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 

16 (42 U.S.C. 4019), as added by subsection (a)(1). 

17 SEC. 402. COVERAGE OF PRE-FIRM CONDOMINIUM BASE18 MENTS AND STUDY ON STREET RAISING. 

19 (a) BASEMENT CLARIFICATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1305 of the Na21 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

22 4012) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF INSURANCE FOR PRE-FIRM 

25 CONDOMINIUM BASEMENTS.— 


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

2 ‘pre-FIRM condominium building’ means a condo3 minium building that was not constructed or sub4 stantially improved after the later of— 

5 ‘‘(A) December 31, 1974; or 

6 ‘‘(B) the effective date of the initial flood 

7 insurance rate map published by the Adminis8 trator under section 1360 for the area in which 

9 the building is located. 

10 ‘‘(2) COVERAGE.—The Administrator shall 

11 make flood insurance available to cover the base12 ment of any pre-FIRM condominium building if that 

13 basement serves as a separate residential unit within 

14 that condominium building.’’. 

15 (2) AMENDMENTS TO REGULATIONS.—Not later 

16 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

17 Act, the Administrator shall make any amendments 

18 to the regulations of the Federal Emergency Man19 agement Agency that are necessary as a result of the 

20 amendment made by paragraph (1). 

21 (b) STUDY ON CONSEQUENCES OF STREET-RAIS22 ING.— 

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

24 ‘‘affected property’’ means a property containing an 

25 area— 


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1 (A) the floor of which was located at or 

2 above grade before the community raised the 

3 street adjacent to the property; and 

4 (B) after the street-raising described in 

5 subparagraph (A), that was designated as a 

6 basement because of the street-raising. 

7 (2) STUDY; REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis9 trator shall study and submit to Congress a report 

10 on the consequences of street-raising on flood insur11 ance coverage for an affected property under the 

12 National Flood Insurance Program, including the 

13 cost implications for the property owner. 

14 SEC. 403. GUIDANCE ON REMEDIATION AND POLICY15 HOLDER DUTIES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1312 of the National 

17 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4019), as amend18 ed by section 401(a)(1), is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(e) GUIDANCE ON MOLD REMEDIATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

22 issue guidance relating to the identification of rea23 sonable actions that a policyholder of coverage for 

24 flood insurance made available under this title may 


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1 take to inspect and maintain the property to which 

2 that coverage applies— 

3 ‘‘(A) after a flood recedes; and 

4 ‘‘(B) in order to avoid damage to the prop5 erty that is caused by mold, mildew, moisture, 

6 or water. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing guid8 ance under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 

9 consider— 

10 ‘‘(A) any applicable laws and regulations; 

11 ‘‘(B) the terms and conditions of the 

12 standard flood insurance policy; 

13 ‘‘(C) technical best practices; 

14 ‘‘(D) the costs of remediation in relation to 

15 the condition of a property described in that 

16 paragraph; and 

17 ‘‘(E) the actions that the Administrator 

18 may reasonably expect a policyholder described 

19 in that paragraph to take, given the likely chal20 lenges faced by the policyholder after a flood. 

21 ‘‘(3) REGULAR REVIEW.—The Administrator 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) regularly review the guidance issued 

24 under paragraph (1); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) revise the guidance issued under 

2 paragraph (1) as the Administrator determines 

3 appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL DISTRIBUTION.—The Adminis5 trator shall provide a copy of the guidance issued 

6 under paragraph (1) to a policyholder at the time of 

7 the purchase or renewal of a flood insurance policy 

8 sold under this title.’’. 

9 (b) INITIAL ISSUANCE.—Not later than 1 year after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

11 issue the guidance required under subsection (e) of section 

12 1312 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 

13 U.S.C. 4019), as added by subsection (a) of this section. 

14 (c) ACCESSIBILITY, REASONABLENESS AND DEGREE

15 OF DAMAGE.—Section 1312 of the National Flood Insur16 ance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4019), as amended by sub17 section (a), is amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(f) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN DAMAGE.—For pur19 poses of determining whether damage caused by mold, mil20 dew, moisture, or water to a property shall be excluded 

21 from coverage under the standard flood insurance policy— 

22 ‘‘(1) subject to paragraph (2), only the degree 

23 of damage caused by mold, mildew, moisture, or 

24 water that could have been avoided through inspecVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:18 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00100 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2187.IS S2187

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1 tion and maintenance may be excluded from that 

2 coverage; and 

3 ‘‘(2) the condition of the property to which the 

4 damage relates may not be considered to be attrib5 utable to the policyholder with respect to the prop6 erty, including any failure by the policyholder to in7 spect and maintain the property after a flood re8 cedes, if— 

9 ‘‘(A) the policyholder was denied access to 

10 the property after the flood receded because 

11 of— 

12 ‘‘(i) a lawful government order; 

13 ‘‘(ii) a determination by local authori14 ties that the property— 

15 ‘‘(I) is unsafe or unstable; or 

16 ‘‘(II) shall be condemned; or 

17 ‘‘(iii) otherwise unsafe conditions; 

18 ‘‘(B) a reasonable individual exercising 

19 reasonable judgment could not be expected to 

20 inspect, maintain, or mitigate the damage to 

21 the property under the circumstances; or 

22 ‘‘(C) the policyholder faced particular chal23 lenges, including— 

24 ‘‘(i) practical or financial difficulty in 

25 inspecting or maintaining the property; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the need to address other more 

2 immediate priorities, including— 

3 ‘‘(I) the health and well-being of 

4 the policyholder and the family of the 

5 policyholder; 

6 ‘‘(II) the preservation of basic 

7 items; 

8 ‘‘(III) displacement; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) other issues that make in10 spection and maintenance of the prop11 erty a near-term challenge for the pol12 icyholder; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) the unavailability of contractors 

14 or other individuals to perform any re15 quired inspection and maintenance.’’. 

16 SEC. 404. APPEAL OF DECISIONS RELATING TO FLOOD IN17 SURANCE COVERAGE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205 of the Bunning-Be19 reuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 

20 (42 U.S.C. 4011 note) is amended— 

21 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

22 striking ‘‘Not later’’ and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later’’; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(b) DEADLINE TO FILE APPEAL.—The Director 

2 shall establish a deadline for filing an appeal under this 

3 section that is not less than 1 year after the date on which 

4 the decision being appealed was made. 

5 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION UPON INITIAL DENIAL OF

6 CLAIM.—The Director shall ensure that a claimant is pro7 vided with the rules, forms, and deadlines for an appeal 

8 under this section at the time a claim is first denied in 

9 full or in part, including— 

10 ‘‘(1) the effective date of the denial; 

11 ‘‘(2) a justification for the denial, including 

12 supporting documentation; 

13 ‘‘(3) the date on which the period of limitation 

14 for instituting an action on the claim under section 

15 1333 or 1341 of the National Flood Insurance Act 

16 of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4053 and 4072), as applicable, 

17 will end; and 

18 ‘‘(4) a point of contact through which the 

19 claimant can directly discuss an appeal with a rep20 resentative of the Federal Emergency Management 

21 Agency. 

22 ‘‘(d) DEADLINE TO RESOLVE APPEAL.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

24 after the date on which a policyholder has submitted 

25 all necessary information relating to an appeal under 


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1 this section, the Director shall provide an appeal de2 cision in writing to the policyholder and insurer, in3 cluding specific information for the resolution of the 

4 appeal. 

5 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT.—If the Director does not 

6 comply with the deadline under paragraph (1) with 

7 respect to an appeal, and the policyholder that 

8 brought the appeal is ultimately successful, the Di9 rector shall pay to the policyholder interest on the 

10 claim that is the subject of the appeal, which shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) begin accruing on the date on which 

12 the policyholder files the appeal; and 

13 ‘‘(B) be calculated using the rate of return 

14 on a 3-year Treasury bill, as in effect on the 

15 date described in subparagraph (A). 

16 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION UPON DENIAL OF AP17 PEAL.—If the Director denies an appeal filed by a 

18 policyholder under this section, the Director shall in19 clude with the notice of denial— 

20 ‘‘(A) an explanation of the legal options of 

21 the policyholder for further challenging the de22 nial; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the date on which the period of limi24 tation for instituting an action on the claim 

25 under section 1333 or 1341 of the National 


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1 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4053 

2 and 4072), as applicable, will end. 

3 ‘‘(e) OPTIONAL ARBITRATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

6 Director shall, by regulation, establish a process 

7 through which a flood insurance policyholder, in8 stead of submitting an appeal under this section, 

9 may request that the appeal be heard through inde10 pendent, binding arbitration. 

11 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

12 paragraph (1) may be construed to— 

13 ‘‘(A) require a policyholder to submit to 

14 the arbitration described in that paragraph; or 

15 ‘‘(B) prevent a policyholder from obtaining 

16 judicial review of the results of the arbitration 

17 described in that paragraph.’’. 

18 (b) RELATION TO REGULATIONS AND OTHER LAW.— 

19 Nothing in the amendments made by subsection (a) may 

20 be construed to require the Administrator to repeal the 

21 regulations promulgated under section 205 of the Bun22 ning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act 

23 of 2004 (42 U.S.C. 4011 note), as in effect on the day 

24 before the date of enactment of this Act, or to promulgate 


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1 new regulations, except as necessary to implement those 

2 amendments. 

3 SEC. 405. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR UNDERPAYMENTS AND 

4 OVERPAYMENTS BY WRITE YOUR OWN COM5 PANIES. 

6 Section 1348 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

7 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4084) is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(c) ACCOUNTABILITY FOR UNDERPAYMENTS.—If 

10 the Administrator determines through any audit that the 

11 pool or an insurance company or other private organiza12 tion described in subsection (a) has not adjusted a claim 

13 in accordance with adjusting standards that are in effect 

14 as of the date on which the adjustment is performed and, 

15 as a result of that failure, has underpaid or overpaid a 

16 claim of a policyholder, the penalty imposed by the Admin17 istrator with respect to such a failure may not be less for 

18 an overpayment of a claim than for an underpayment of 

19 a claim. 

20 ‘‘(d) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

21 date of enactment of this subsection, and triennially there22 after, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

23 submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

24 Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Finan25 cial Services of the House of Representatives a report reVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:18 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00106 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2187.IS S2187

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1 garding any fines or other penalties imposed by the Ad2 ministrator under subsection (c).’’. 

3 SEC. 406. POLICYHOLDERS’ RIGHT TO KNOW. 

4 (a) USE.—Section 1312 of the National Flood Insur5 ance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4019), as amended by section 

6 403(c), is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(g) USE OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE REPORTS.— 

8 When adjusting claims for any damage to or loss of prop9 erty that is covered by flood insurance made available 

10 under this title, the Administrator may rely upon technical 

11 assistance reports, as defined in section 1312A(a), only 

12 if the reports are final and are prepared in compliance 

13 with applicable State and Federal laws regarding profes14 sional licensure and conduct.’’. 

15 (b) DISCLOSURE.—Chapter I of the National Flood 

16 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4011 et seq.) is amend17 ed by inserting after section 1312 (42 U.S.C. 4019) the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 1312A. DISCLOSURE OF CLAIMS DOCUMENTS AND 

20 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE REPORTS. 

21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

22 ‘‘(1) the term ‘policyholder’ means any person 

23 listed as a named or additional insured on the dec24 larations page of a policy for flood insurance cov25 erage made available under this title; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘technical assistance report’ 

2 means a report created for the purpose of furnishing 

3 technical assistance to an insurance claims adjuster 

4 assigned under the national flood insurance pro5 gram, including any report created by an engineer, 

6 a surveyor, a salvor, an architect, or a certified pub7 lic accountant. 

8 ‘‘(b) PROVISION OF COPIES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

10 552a of title 5, United States Code, not later than 

11 1 week after the date on which the Administrator re12 ceives a written request, or a request submitted on13 line, from a policyholder, and with respect to a claim 

14 for loss submitted by the policyholder for any dam15 age to or loss of property that is covered by the pol16 icy, the Administrator shall provide a true, complete, 

17 and unredacted copy of— 

18 ‘‘(A) all documents that constitute the 

19 claims file of the insurance company with re20 spect to the claim; 

21 ‘‘(B) any document created by any ad22 juster in scoping the loss, including measure23 ments, photographs, and notes; 

24 ‘‘(C) any estimates of damages with re25 spect to the claim; 


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1 ‘‘(D) any draft and final technical assist2 ance report relating to adjusting and paying or 

3 denying the claim; 

4 ‘‘(E) any proof of loss, supplemental proofs 

5 of loss, or any equivalent notices, together with 

6 supporting documentation, with respect to the 

7 claim; and 

8 ‘‘(F) any document relating to the denial 

9 or partial denial of the claim. 

10 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

11 paragraph (1) may be construed to limit the right of 

12 a policyholder to receive a disclosure under section 

13 552a of title 5, United States Code, or any other 

14 provision of law. 

15 ‘‘(c) DIRECT DISCLOSURE BY WRITE YOUR OWN

16 COMPANIES AND DIRECT SERVICING AGENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A Write Your Own com18 pany or direct servicing agent in possession of any 

19 technical assistance report that is subject to disclo20 sure under subsection (b) may disclose such tech21 nical assistance report without further review or ap22 proval by the Administrator. 

23 ‘‘(2) AFFIRMATIVE NOTIFICATION.—A Write 

24 Your Own company, or any other entity servicing a 

25 claim under the national flood insurance program, 


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1 shall, not later than 30 days after the date on which 

2 the company or entity receives notice of a claim, no3 tify the claimant that the claimant or an authorized 

4 representative of the claimant may obtain, upon re5 quest, a copy of any claim-related document de6 scribed in subsection (b)(1) that pertains to the 

7 claimant.’’. 

8 (c) TRANSMISSION OF REPORT WITHOUT AP9 PROVAL.— 

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

11 ‘‘final engineering report’’ means an engineering re12 port, survey, or other document in connection with 

13 a claim for losses covered by a policy for flood insur14 ance coverage made available under the National 

15 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et 

16 seq.) that— 

17 (A) is based on an on-site inspection; 

18 (B) contains final conclusions with respect 

19 to an engineering issue or issues involved in the 

20 claim; and 

21 (C) is signed by the responsible in charge 

22 or affixed with the seal of the responsible in 

23 charge, or both. 

24 (2) TRANSMISSION.—A Write Your Own com25 pany or a National Flood Insurance Program direct 


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1 servicer may, without obtaining further review or ap2 proval by the Administrator, transmit to a policy3 holder a final engineering report in the possession of 

4 the Write Your Own company or the direct servicer 

5 in connection with a claim submitted by the policy6 holder. 

7 SEC. 407. INCREASING STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR LAW8 SUITS. 

9 (a) GOVERNMENT PROGRAM WITH INDUSTRY AS10 SISTANCE.—Section 1341 of the National Flood Insurance 

11 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4072) is amended to read as fol12 lows: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 1341. ADJUSTMENT AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS AND 

14 JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

15 ‘‘(a) ADJUSTMENT AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.—If 

16 the program is carried out as provided in section 1340, 

17 the Administrator may adjust and make payment of any 

18 claims for proved and approved losses covered by flood in19 surance made available under this title. 

20 ‘‘(b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

21 ‘‘(1) RIGHT OF ACTION.—Upon the denial or 

22 partial denial by the Administrator of a claim de23 scribed in subsection (a), or upon the refusal of a 

24 policyholder to accept the amount allowed upon a 

25 claim described in that subsection, the policyholder 


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1 may institute an action against the Administrator on 

2 the claim in the United States district court for the 

3 district in which the insured property or the major 

4 part thereof shall have been situated if filed not 

5 later than 2 years after the date on which the policy6 holder receives notice of denial or partial denial of 

7 the claim. 

8 ‘‘(2) TOLLING.—In the case of a denial or par9 tial denial of a claim for losses that is appealed 

10 under section 205 of the Bunning-Bereuter-Blu11 menauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 (42 

12 U.S.C. 4011 note), including through arbitration re13 quested under subsection (e) of that section, the lim14 itation to institute an action under this subsection 

15 shall be tolled until the date on which the policy16 holder receives notice of a final determination of 

17 that appeal or arbitration denying the claim in whole 

18 or in part. 

19 ‘‘(3) JURISDICTION.—A court described in 

20 paragraph (1) shall have original exclusive jurisdic21 tion to hear and determine an action under that 

22 paragraph without regard to the amount in con23 troversy.’’. 

24 (b) INDUSTRY PROGRAM WITH FEDERAL FINANCIAL

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1 ance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4053) is amended to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 1333. ADJUSTMENT AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS AND 

4 JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

5 ‘‘(a) ADJUSTMENT AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.—The 

6 insurance companies and other insurers that form, asso7 ciate, or otherwise join together in the pool under this part 

8 may adjust and pay all claims for proved and approved 

9 losses covered by flood insurance in accordance with the 

10 provisions of this title. 

11 ‘‘(b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

12 ‘‘(1) RIGHT OF ACTION.—Upon the denial or 

13 partial denial by any company or other insurer de14 scribed in subsection (a) of a claim described in that 

15 subsection, or upon the refusal of a policyholder to 

16 accept the amount allowed upon a claim described in 

17 that subsection, the policyholder may institute an ac18 tion on the claim against the company or other in19 surer, as applicable, in the United States district 

20 court for the district in which the insured property 

21 or the major part thereof shall have been situated 

22 not later than 2 years after the date on which the 

23 policyholder receives notice of denial or partial denial 

24 of the claim. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TOLLING.—In the case of a denial or par2 tial denial of a claim for losses that is appealed 

3 under section 205 of the Bunning-Bereuter-Blu4 menauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 (42 

5 U.S.C. 4011 note), including through arbitration re6 quested under subsection (e) of that section, the lim7 itation to institute an action under this subsection 

8 shall be tolled until the date on which the policy9 holder receives notice of a final determination of 

10 that appeal or arbitration denying the claim in whole 

11 or in part. 

12 ‘‘(3) JURISDICTION.—A court described in 

13 paragraph (1) shall have original exclusive jurisdic14 tion to hear and determine an action under that 

15 paragraph without regard to the amount in con16 troversy.’’. 

17 SEC. 408. AUTHORITY TO TERMINATE CONTRACTORS AND 

18 VENDORS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of chapter II of the Na20 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4081 et 

21 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 1349. TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS. 

23 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘covered 

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1 party company that provides services to a Write Your Own 

2 company. 

3 ‘‘(b) TERMINATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of law, the Administrator may direct a 

6 Write Your Own company to terminate a contract or 

7 other agreement between a covered entity and the 

8 Write Your Own company if the Administrator— 

9 ‘‘(A) determines that the covered entity 

10 has engaged in conduct that is detrimental to 

11 the national flood insurance program; and 

12 ‘‘(B) not later than 14 days before direct13 ing the termination of the contract or other 

14 agreement, provided notice to the covered entity 

15 and the Write Your Own company with respect 

16 to the termination. 

17 ‘‘(2) APPEAL.—The Administrator shall estab18 lish a process for a covered entity to appeal the ter19 mination of a contract or other agreement under 

20 paragraph (1). 

21 ‘‘(3) EARLY TERMINATION PAYOUTS.—The Ad22 ministrator or a Write Your Own company is not re23 quired to make any early termination payout to a 

24 covered entity with respect to a contract or agree25 ment with the Write Your Own company with reVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:18 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00115 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2187.IS S2187

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1 spect to which the Administrator directs termination 

2 under paragraph (1). 

3 ‘‘(4) CONTRACT TERMS.—The Administrator 

4 shall require each Write Your Own company to in5 clude a reference to the authority of the Adminis6 trator under this section in any contract between a 

7 covered entity and the Write Your Own company.’’. 

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.—The amend9 ment made by subsection (a) shall apply to any contract 

10 or other agreement between a covered entity, as defined 

11 in section 1349(a) of the National Flood Insurance Act 

12 of 1968, as added by subsection (a), and a Write Your 

13 Own company that is entered into on or after the date 

14 of enactment of this Act. 

15 SEC. 409. EASING PROOF OF LOSS REQUIREMENTS. 

16 Section 1312 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

17 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4019), as amended by section 406(a), 

18 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(h) PROOF OF LOSS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF SUPPLE21 MENTAL PROOF OF LOSS.—If a policyholder submits 

22 a proof of loss, or an equivalent submission, for a 

23 claim with respect to a policy for flood insurance 

24 coverage made available under this title by the dead25 line required under the standard flood insurance polVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:18 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00116 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2187.IS S2187

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1 icy, the Administrator may not deny payment for 

2 any supplemental proof of loss submitted for flood 

3 damage sustained from the same flood event on the 

4 basis that the policyholder failed to include the flood 

5 damages on the initial proof of loss. 

6 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF SIGNATURE ON PROOF OF

7 LOSS.—If a policyholder of a policy for flood insur8 ance coverage made available under this title signs 

9 an initial or supplemental proof of loss described in 

10 paragraph (1), that act of signing may not preclude 

11 the policyholder from making supplemental claims 

12 to, or otherwise amending, the initial proof of loss. 

13 ‘‘(i) NO CONDITION OF PAYMENT.—Notwithstanding 

14 any other provision of law, or any term or condition of 

15 a standard flood insurance policy, the Administrator may 

16 not condition payment of an undisputed claim based on 

17 the submission of a signed and sworn to proof of loss.’’. 

18 SEC. 410. DEADLINE FOR CLAIM PROCESSING. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1312 of the National 

20 Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4019), as amend21 ed by section 409, is amended by adding at the end the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(j) DEADLINE FOR APPROVAL OF CLAIMS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

25 provide that, in the case of a claim for damage to 


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1 or loss of property that is covered by a policy for 

2 flood insurance made available under this title— 

3 ‘‘(A) except as provided in paragraph (2), 

4 not later than 60 days after the date on which 

5 a proof of loss or comparable submission is pro6 vided to the Administrator— 

7 ‘‘(i) an initial determination regarding 

8 approval of the claim for payment or dis9 approval of the claim shall be made; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) notification of the determination 

11 described in clause (i) shall be provided to 

12 the policyholder making the claim; and 

13 ‘‘(B) payment of an approved claim shall 

14 be made as soon as possible after that approval. 

15 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION OF DEADLINE.—The Adminis16 trator shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) provide that the period described in 

18 paragraph (1)(A) may be extended by an addi19 tional period of 30 days under extraordinary 

20 circumstances; and 

21 ‘‘(B) by regulation— 

22 ‘‘(i) establish criteria for— 

23 ‘‘(I) demonstrating the extraor24 dinary circumstances described in sub25 paragraph (A); and 


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1 ‘‘(II) determining to which claims 

2 the extraordinary circumstances de3 scribed in subparagraph (A) apply; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) provide that, if the deadline im6 posed under paragraph (1)(A), as extended 

7 under subparagraph (A), if applicable, is 

8 not satisfied, the amount of the claim to 

9 which the deadline relates shall be in10 creased with interest, which shall begin ac11 cruing on the date on which the initial 

12 claim is filed.’’. 

13 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub14 section (a) shall apply to any claim for damage to or loss 

15 of property that is covered by a policy for flood insurance 

16 made available under the National Flood Insurance Pro17 gram that is made after the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 411. NO MANIPULATION OF ENGINEER REPORTS. 

19 Section 1312 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

20 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4019), as amended by section 410(a), 

21 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(k) FINAL ENGINEERING REPORTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

24 ‘‘(A) the term ‘covered claim’ means any 

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1 surance coverage made available under this 

2 title; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the term ‘final engineering report’ 

4 means an engineering report, survey, or other 

5 document in connection with a covered claim 

6 that— 

7 ‘‘(i) is based on an on-site inspection; 

8 ‘‘(ii) contains final conclusions with 

9 respect to an engineering issue or issues 

10 involved in the claim; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) is signed by the responsible in 

12 charge or affixed with the seal of the re13 sponsible in charge, or both. 

14 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON MANIPULATION AND

15 TRANSMISSION TO THIRD PARTIES.—The Adminis16 trator shall require that, in the case of any on-site 

17 inspection of a property by an engineer for the pur18 pose of assessing any covered claim, the final engi19 neering report— 

20 ‘‘(A) may not— 

21 ‘‘(i) include alterations by, or at the 

22 request of, anyone other than the person 

23 responsible for the report; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) be transmitted to any other per25 son before the final engineering report is 


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1 transmitted to the policyholder who sub2 mitted the covered claim; and 

3 ‘‘(B) shall include a certification, signed by 

4 the person responsible for the final engineering 

5 report, that the final engineering report does 

6 not contain any alterations described in sub7 paragraph (A).’’. 

8 SEC. 412. IMPROVED TRAINING OF FLOODPLAIN MAN9 AGERS, AGENTS, AND ADJUSTERS. 

10 (a) LOCAL FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS.—Each regional 

11 office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

12 shall— 

13 (1) provide training to local floodplain man14 agers, agents, and claim adjusters in the region re15 garding the responsibilities and procedures of local 

16 floodplain managers with respect to conducting sub17 stantial damage and substantial improvement deter18 minations; 

19 (2) work with applicable State agencies to pro20 vide the training described in paragraph (1); and 

21 (3) verify that the individuals described in para22 graph (1) are completing the training described in 

23 that paragraph. 

24 (b) MAJOR DISASTER TRAINING.—After a flood that 

25 is declared a major disaster by the President under section 


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1 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer2 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170), the Administrator 

3 shall, if determined appropriate, provide— 

4 (1) refresher training to prepare insurance 

5 claims adjusters for the unique circumstances of the 

6 major disaster; and 

7 (2) any briefings that are necessary to prepare 

8 and inform floodplain managers, agents, and claim 

9 adjusters regarding any atypical circumstances and 

10 issues arising from the natural disaster. 

11 SEC. 413. ATTORNEY FEE SHIFTING. 

12 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS.—Subsection (d) of 

13 section 1312 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 

14 (42 U.S.C. 4019), as added by section 401(a)(1), is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(5) AWARDS FOR COSTS IN ADMINISTRATIVE

17 PROCEEDINGS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the claimant pre19 vails in any appeal to the Administrator of the 

20 disallowance or partial disallowance of a claim 

21 for losses covered by flood insurance made 

22 available under this title, the Administrator 

23 shall award costs of the appeal, including attor24 ney fees, any proceeding expenses, and engiVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:18 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00122 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2187.IS S2187

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1 neering and other expert expenses, to the claim2 ant. 

3 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

4 paragraph, the term ‘prevail’ means to be 

5 awarded a greater amount by the Administrator 

6 than the amount of the last, best offer from the 

7 Administrator with respect to the claim of the 

8 claimant.’’. 

9 (b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

10 (1) GOVERNMENT PROGRAM WITH INDUSTRY

11 ASSISTANCE.—Subsection (b) of section 1341 of the 

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

13 4072), as added by section 407(a), is amended by 

14 adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(4) ATTORNEY FEES AND OTHER LITIGATION

16 COSTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the claimant pre18 vails in an action under this subsection, the 

19 court shall award reasonable costs of litigation, 

20 including attorney fees, litigation expenses, and 

21 engineering and other expert expenses, to the 

22 claimant. 

23 ‘‘(B) SUBROGATION.—Any award under 

24 subparagraph (A) shall be paid by the Adminis25 trator and, upon such payment, the AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:18 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00123 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2187.IS S2187

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1 trator shall be subrogated to the rights of the 

2 claimant to recover such costs for which the 

3 Administrator has compensated the claimant 

4 from any insurance company or other insurer or 

5 insurance adjustment organization that may be 

6 responsible for the disallowance or partial dis7 allowance of the claim. 

8 ‘‘(C) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

9 paragraph, the term ‘prevail’ means to be 

10 awarded a greater amount by the court than 

11 the amount of the last, best offer from the Ad12 ministrator with respect to the claim of the 

13 claimant.’’. 

14 (2) INDUSTRY PROGRAM WITH FEDERAL FINAN15 CIAL ASSISTANCE.—Subsection (b) of section 1333 

16 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 

17 U.S.C. 4053), as amended by section 407(b), is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(4) ATTORNEY FEES AND OTHER LITIGATION

20 COSTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the claimant pre22 vails in an action under this subsection, the 

23 court shall award reasonable costs of litigation, 

24 including attorney fees, litigation expenses, and 


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1 engineering and other expert expenses, to the 

2 claimant. 

3 ‘‘(B) SUBROGATION.—Any award under 

4 subparagraph (A) shall be paid by the Adminis5 trator and, upon such payment, the Adminis6 trator shall be subrogated to the rights of the 

7 claimant to recover such costs for which the 

8 Administrator has compensated the claimant 

9 from any company or other insurer responsible 

10 for the disallowance or partial disallowance of 

11 the claim. 

12 ‘‘(C) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

13 paragraph, the term ‘prevail’ means to be 

14 awarded a greater amount by the court than 

15 the amount of the last, best offer from the in16 surer or Administrator with respect to the claim 

17 of the claimant.’’. 

18 SEC. 414. DOJ DEFENSE AGAINST POLICYHOLDER LAW19 SUITS. 

20 Subsection (b) of section 1341 of the National Flood 

21 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4072), as amended by 

22 section 413(b)(1), is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following: 


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1 ‘‘(5) REPRESENTATION BY DEPARTMENT OF

2 JUSTICE.—If a claimant institutes an action under 

3 this subsection— 

4 ‘‘(A) the Administrator shall refer the mat5 ter to the Attorney General; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the Attorney General— 

7 ‘‘(i) shall represent the Administrator 

8 or the Write Your Own company, as appli9 cable, in the action; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) may not seek to have the court 

11 dismiss an action with potentially meri12 torious claims based on good faith errors 

13 or omissions by the claimant in the claim14 ant’s proof of loss.’’. 

15 SEC. 415. PILOT PROGRAM FOR PRE-EXISTING STRUC16 TURAL CONDITIONS. 

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

18 (1) the term ‘‘covered property’’ means a prop19 erty that is or may be covered by flood insurance 

20 under the National Flood Insurance Program; and 

21 (2) the term ‘‘covered policyholder’’ means a 

22 policyholder or potential policyholder of flood insur23 ance under the National Flood Insurance Program 

24 for a covered property. 


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1 (b) PILOT PROGRAM.—Not later than 180 days after 

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

3 establish a pilot program under which Write Your Own 

4 companies and National Flood Insurance Program direct 

5 servicers shall, at the request of a covered policyholder and 

6 before providing or renewing insurance coverage with re7 spect to a covered property under the National Flood In8 surance Program, investigate the pre-existing structural 

9 condition of the covered property for any issues that could 

10 result in the denial of a claim under the National Flood 

11 Insurance Program for damage to or loss of the covered 

12 property. 

13 SEC. 416. AGENT ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

14 Part C of chapter II of the National Flood Insurance 

15 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4081 et seq.), as amended by sec16 tion 408, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 1350. AGENT ADVISORY COUNCIL. 

18 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a coun19 cil to be known as the Agent Advisory Council (in this 

20 section referred to as the ‘Council’). 

21 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

22 ‘‘(1) MEMBERS.—The Council shall consist of— 

23 ‘‘(A) the Administrator, or the designee of 

24 the Administrator; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) 10 additional members appointed by 

2 the Administrator or the designee of the Ad3 ministrator, of whom— 

4 ‘‘(i) 1 shall be a member of the Na5 tional Association of Insurance Commis6 sioners; 

7 ‘‘(ii) 2 shall be members of the Inde8 pendent Insurance Agents and Brokers of 

9 America; 

10 ‘‘(iii) 1 shall be a member of United 

11 Policyholders; 

12 ‘‘(iv) 1 shall be a representative of the 

13 Emergency Management Institute of the 

14 Federal Emergency Management Agency; 

15 ‘‘(v) 1 shall be a representative of the 

16 Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate of 

17 the Federal Emergency Management 

18 Agency; 

19 ‘‘(vi) 2 shall be members of the Na20 tional Association of Professional Insur21 ance Agents; 

22 ‘‘(vii) 1 shall be a representative of a 

23 recognized professional association or orga24 nization representing homebuilders or land 

25 developers; and 


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1 ‘‘(viii) 1 shall be a representative of a 

2 recognized professional association or orga3 nization representing the real estate indus4 try. 

5 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 

7 Council shall have experience with— 

8 ‘‘(i) contacting policyholders under the 

9 national flood insurance program, includ10 ing with respect to applying for flood in11 surance and processing a claim for damage 

12 to or loss of property that is covered by 

13 flood insurance; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) riverine and coastal flood insur15 ance policies. 

16 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—The Adminis17 trator shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 

18 ensure that the membership of the Council has 

19 a balance of governmental and private mem20 bers, and includes geographic diversity. 

21 ‘‘(C) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—A mem22 ber of the Council— 

23 ‘‘(i) may not, while serving on the 

24 Council, be employed or retained— 


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1 ‘‘(I) by a Federal Emergency 

2 Management Agency contractor or 

3 consultant; or 

4 ‘‘(II) by a nongovernmental enti5 ty that was awarded a Federal grant 

6 during the 5-year period preceding the 

7 date on which the member was ap8 pointed to the Council; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) may not have been employed by 

10 a Federal Emergency Management Agency 

11 contractor or consultant during the 5-year 

12 period preceding the date on which the 

13 member was appointed to the Council. 

14 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In appointing a member 

15 of the Council from an entity described in clauses (i) 

16 through (viii) of paragraph (1)(B), the Adminis17 trator or the designee of the Administrator, as appli18 cable, shall consult with the entity. 

19 ‘‘(4) CHAIRPERSON.—The members of the 

20 Council shall elect 1 member to serve as the chair21 person of the Council (in this section referred to as 

22 the ‘Chairperson’). 

23 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Council shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) provide recommendations to the Adminis25 trator on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) improving the customer experience 

2 for policyholders under the national flood insur3 ance program; 

4 ‘‘(B) training insurance agents that issue 

5 flood insurance policies; and 

6 ‘‘(C) improving the processing and han7 dling of claims for damage to or loss of prop8 erty that is covered by flood insurance; and 

9 ‘‘(2) submit to the Administrator an annual re10 port that includes— 

11 ‘‘(A) a description of the activities of the 

12 Council; and 

13 ‘‘(B) a summary of recommendations made 

14 by the Council to the Administrator. 

15 ‘‘(d) COMPENSATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graph (2), a member of the Council shall receive no 

18 additional compensation for serving on the Council. 

19 ‘‘(2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the 

20 Council may be allowed travel expenses, including 

21 per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with 

22 sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States 

23 Code, while away from their homes or regular places 

24 of business in performance of services for the Coun25 cil. 


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1 ‘‘(e) MEETINGS AND ACTIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) MEETINGS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall 

4 meet not less frequently than twice each year at 

5 the request of the Chairperson or a majority of 

6 the members of the Council. 

7 ‘‘(B) INITIAL MEETING.—The Adminis8 trator, or a designee of the Administrator, shall 

9 request and coordinate the initial meeting of 

10 the Council. 

11 ‘‘(2) ACTION BY MAJORITY VOTE.—The Council 

12 may take action by a vote of the majority of the 

13 members. 

14 ‘‘(f) OFFICERS.—The Chairperson may appoint offi15 cers to assist in carrying out the duties of the Council 

16 under subsection (c). 

17 ‘‘(g) STAFF.—Upon the request of the Chairperson, 

18 the Administrator may detail, on a nonreimbursable basis, 

19 personnel of the Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate 

20 of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist 

21 the Council in carrying out the duties of the Council. 

22 ‘‘(h) POWERS.—In carrying out this section, the 

23 Council may hold hearings, receive evidence and assist24 ance, provide information, and conduct research as the 

25 Council considers appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(i) REPORT TO CONGRESS AND OMB.—The Admin2 istrator shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Hous3 ing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on 

4 Financial Services of the House of Representatives, and 

5 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget an 

6 annual report on— 

7 ‘‘(1) the recommendations made by the Council; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(2) any recommendations made by the Council 

10 during the year covered by the report that, as of the 

11 date on which the report is submitted, have been de12 ferred or not acted upon, together with an explana13 tory statement with respect to those recommenda14 tions. 

15 ‘‘(j) APPLICABILITY OF THE FEDERAL ADVISORY

16 COMMITTEE ACT.—Section 14 of the Federal Advisory 

17 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the 

18 Council.’’. 

19 SEC. 417. DISCLOSURE OF FLOOD RISK INFORMATION 

20 UPON TRANSFER OF PROPERTY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter I of the National Flood 

22 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4011 et seq.), as 

23 amended by section 207, is amended by adding at the end 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1328. DISCLOSURE OF FLOOD RISK INFORMATION 

2 UPON TRANSFER OF PROPERTY. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—After September 30, 2022, no 

4 new flood insurance coverage may be provided under this 

5 title for any real property unless an appropriate public 

6 body has imposed, by statute or regulation, a duty on any 

7 seller or lessor of improved real estate to provide to any 

8 purchaser or lessee (with respect to a lease for a term that 

9 is not shorter than 30 days) of the property a property 

10 flood hazard disclosure that the Administrator has deter11 mined meets the requirements of subsection (b). 

12 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR SELLERS.—A prop14 erty flood hazard disclosure for the sale of a prop15 erty shall meet the requirements of this subsection 

16 only if the disclosure— 

17 ‘‘(A) is made in writing; 

18 ‘‘(B) discloses any actual knowledge of the 

19 seller of any— 

20 ‘‘(i) prior physical damage caused by 

21 flood to a structure located on the prop22 erty; 

23 ‘‘(ii) prior insurance claim for a loss 

24 covered under the national flood insurance 

25 program or private flood insurance with re26 spect to the property; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) previous notification regarding 

2 the designation of the property as a repet3 itive loss structure or severe repetitive loss 

4 structure (as defined in section 1366(h)); 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(iv) Federal legal obligation to obtain 

7 and maintain flood insurance running with 

8 the property; and 

9 ‘‘(C) is delivered by, or on behalf of, the 

10 seller to the purchaser before the purchaser be11 comes obligated under any contract to purchase 

12 the property. 

13 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR LESSORS.—A prop14 erty flood hazard disclosure for a rental property 

15 with a lease for a term that is not shorter than 30 

16 days shall meet the requirements of this subsection 

17 only if the disclosure— 

18 ‘‘(A) is made in writing; 

19 ‘‘(B) discloses any actual knowledge of the 

20 lessor— 

21 ‘‘(i) of any Federal legal obligation to 

22 obtain and maintain flood insurance run23 ning with the property; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) regarding any prior physical 

2 damage caused by flood with respect to the 

3 unit being leased; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) of the availability of coverage 

5 under this title for contents located in a 

6 structure on the property; and 

7 ‘‘(C) is delivered by, or on behalf of, the 

8 lessor to the lessee before the lessee becomes 

9 obligated under any contract to lease the prop10 erty. 

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

12 this section may be construed as preventing a State 

13 from adopting disclosure requirements in addition to 

14 the requirements of this section.’’. 

15 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FLOOD INSURANCE COV16 ERAGE.—Section 1305(c) of the National Flood Insurance 

17 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4012(c)) is amended— 

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

19 end and inserting a semicolon; 

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

21 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

23 ‘‘(3) given satisfactory assurance that, not later 

24 than October 1, 2022, property flood hazard disclo25 sure requirements will have been adopted for the 


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1 area (or subdivision) that meet the requirements of 

2 section 1328.’’. 

Æ 


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