I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5569 

To establish a pilot program to enhance the mapping of urban flooding 

and associated property damage and the availability of such mapped 

data to homeowners, businesses, and localities to help understand and 

mitigate the risk of such flooding, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 18, 2018 

Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself, Mr. CULBERSON, and Mr. RUPPERSBERGER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot program to enhance the mapping of 

urban flooding and associated property damage and the 

availability of such mapped data to homeowners, businesses, and localities to help understand and mitigate 

the risk of such flooding, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Flood Mapping Mod3 ernization and Homeowner Empowerment Pilot Program 

4 Act of 2018’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FLOOD MAPPING MODERNIZATION AND HOME6 OWNER EMPOWERMENT PILOT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Federal 

8 Emergency Management Agency shall carry out a pilot 

9 program to make grants to units of local government to 

10 enhance the mapping of urban flooding and associated 

11 property damage and the availability of such mapped data 

12 to homeowners, businesses, and units of local government 

13 to enable them to minimize the risk of such flooding. 

14 (b) OBJECTIVES.—Amounts from grants made under 

15 the pilot program under this section may be used only to 

16 carry out activities to meet the following objectives: 

17 (1) To develop a methodology for assessing 

18 urban flood risk through the deployment of tech19 nology-based mapping tools that are easily under20 standable by the public and effectively convey infor21 mation regarding the level of flood risk. 

22 (2) To provide structure-specific projections of 

23 annual chance flood frequency. 

24 (3) To provide structure-based flood-risk assess25 ments. 


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1 (4) To provide urban flood-risk mitigation pro2 gram design. 

3 (5) To incorporate information regarding cli4 mate trends into urban flooding risk assessments. 

5 (6) To make the information described in this 

6 subsection publicly available on the Internet through 

7 a web-based portal so as to increase transparency re8 garding homeowner flood risks. 

9 (c) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Grants under the pilot pro11 gram under this section may be made only to units 

12 of general local government located in a urbanized 

13 areas, as such term is used by the Bureau of the 

14 Census of the Department of Commerce, having 

15 populations exceeding 50,000 or to stormwater man16 agement authorities of such units of general local 

17 government. 

18 (2) ONE-TIME GRANTS.—A grant under the 

19 pilot program under this section may not be made 

20 to— 

21 (A) any unit of general local governmental, 

22 or stormwater management authority of a unit 

23 of general government, that has previously re24 ceived a grant under the pilot program; 


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1 (B) any unit of general local government if 

2 the stormwater management agency for such 

3 unit has previously received a grant under the 

4 pilot program; or 

5 (C) any stormwater management agency of 

6 a unit of general local government if such unit 

7 has previously received a grant under the pilot 

8 program. 

9 (3) TREATMENT OF STORMWATER MANAGE10 MENT AUTHORITIES.—In the case of a stormwater 

11 management authority that operates with respect to 

12 more than one unit of general local government, the 

13 application of such authority shall be considered for 

14 purposes of paragraph (2) of this subsection and 

15 subsections (e), (f), and (g)(1) to be made for the 

16 largest unit of general local government for which 

17 such authority operates. The preceding sentence 

18 shall not limit the ability of such authority to carry 

19 out activities under the demonstration project in any 

20 other jurisdictions or unit of local government with 

21 respect to which the authority operates. 

22 (d) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 

23 this section a unit of general local government or 

24 stormwater management agency shall submit to the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Apr 24, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5569.IH H5569

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1 ministrator an application in such form and containing 

2 such information as the Administrator shall require. 

3 (e) SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS.— 

4 (1) ANNUAL SELECTION.—Subject to para5 graph (2) and to the submission of approvable appli6 cations, in each fiscal year for which amounts are 

7 made available for grants under the pilot program 

8 under this section the Administrator shall select, 

9 from among applications submitted under subsection 

10 (d) for such fiscal year, 3 units of general govern11 ment or stormwater management authorities to re12 ceive grants under the pilot program under this sec13 tion. 

14 (2) AGGREGATE LIMIT.—Subject only to the 

15 submission of approvable applications, the Adminis16 trator shall select, in the aggregate over the entire 

17 duration of the pilot program under this section, 12 

18 units of general government or stormwater manage19 ment authorities to receive grants under the pilot 

20 program, as follows: 

21 (A) TIER 1.—Three of the applicants se22 lected shall be units of general local govern23 ment, or stormwater management authorities 

24 for such units, having a population exceeding 

25 800,000, as follows: 


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1 (i) PELAGIC COASTAL CITY.—One 

2 shall be a unit of general local government, 

3 or stormwater authority for such a unit, 

4 that is a pelagic unit. 

5 (ii) NON-PELAGIC COASTAL CITY.— 

6 One shall be unit of general local govern7 ment, or stormwater authority for such a 

8 unit, that is a coastal unit, but not a pe9 lagic unit. 

10 (iii) NON-COASTAL CITY.—One shall 

11 be unit of general local government, or 

12 stormwater authority for such a unit, that 

13 is not a coastal unit. 

14 (B) TIER 2.—Six of the applicants selected 

15 shall be units of general local government, or 

16 stormwater management authorities for such 

17 units, having a population exceeding 200,000 

18 but not exceeding 800,000, as follows: 

19 (i) COASTAL CITIES.—Three shall be 

20 units of general local government, or 

21 stormwater management authorities for 

22 such units, that are coastal units. 

23 (ii) NON-COASTAL CITIES.—Three 

24 shall be units of general local government, 


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1 or stormwater management authorities for 

2 such units, that are not coastal units. 

3 (C) TIER 3.—Three of the applicants se4 lected shall be units of general local govern5 ment, or stormwater management authorities 

6 for such units, having a population exceeding 

7 50,000 but not exceeding 200,000. 

8 (f) PRIORITY.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall se10 lect applicants for grants under the pilot program 

11 under this section based on the extent to which their 

12 applications will achieve the objectives set forth in 

13 subsection (b). 

14 (2) TIERS 2 AND 3.—In selecting applicants to 

15 receive grants under the pilot program under this 

16 section pursuant to subparagraphs (B) and (C) of 

17 subsection (e)(2), the Administrator shall give pri18 ority to applicants— 

19 (A) that are highly vulnerable to sea level 

20 rise; 

21 (B) within which are located a military in22 stallation or other facility relating to national 

23 security concerns; or 

24 (C) that have a population that is highly 

25 vulnerable to urban flooding and have an unVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Apr 24, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5569.IH H5569

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1 even capacity for flood mitigation and response 

2 efforts resulting from socioeconomic factors. 

3 (g) AMOUNT.— 

4 (1) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining the 

5 amount of grant under the pilot program under this 

6 section, the Administrator shall consider the popu7 lation of the grant recipient, which may be consid8 ered in terms of the tier under subsection (e)(2) of 

9 the recipient. 

10 (2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The amount of a grant 

11 under the pilot program under this section may not 

12 exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the activities 

13 under subsection (b) to be carried out using the 

14 grant amounts. 

15 (h) DURATION.—The Administrator shall require 

16 each recipient of a grant under the pilot program under 

17 this section to complete the activities under subsection (b) 

18 to be carried out using the grant amounts before the expi19 ration of the 18-month period beginning upon the initial 

20 receipt of grant amounts under the pilot program. 

21 (i) USE OF CENSUS DATA.—The Administrator shall 

22 make all determinations under the pilot program regard23 ing population using the most recent available data from 

24 the decennial census. 


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1 (j) GRANTEE REPORTS TO FEMA.—Each recipient 

2 of a grant under the pilot program under this section 

3 shall, not later than the expiration of the 30-month period 

4 beginning upon the initial receipt of any such grant 

5 amounts, submit to the Administrator a report that de6 scribes— 

7 (1) the activities carried out with amounts from 

8 the grant; 

9 (2) how the activities carried out with such 

10 grant amounts have met the objectives described in 

11 subsection (b); and 

12 (3) any lessons learned in carrying out such ac13 tivities and any recommendations for future map14 ping modernization efforts by the Federal Emer15 gency Management Agency. 

16 (k) BIENNIAL REPORTS BY FEMA.—Not later than 

17 the expiration of the 24-month period beginning on the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, and not later than the 

19 expiration of each successive 24-month period thereafter 

20 until the completion of all activities carried out with 

21 amounts from grants under the pilot program under this 

22 section, the Administrator shall submit to the Congress 

23 and make available to the public on an Internet website 

24 a report that— 

25 (1) describes— 


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1 (A) the progress of the activities carried 

2 out with amounts from such grants; and 

3 (B) the effectiveness of technology-based 

4 mapping tools used in carrying out the activi5 ties described in subparagraph (A); and 

6 (2) with respect to the final report that the Ad7 ministrator is required to submit under this sub8 section, includes recommendations to the Congress 

9 and the executive branch of the Federal Government 

10 for implementing strategies, practices, and tech11 nologies to mitigate the effects of urban flooding. 

12 (l) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 

13 that, because the pilot program is limited with respect to 

14 scope and resources, communities that participate in the 

15 pilot program should acknowledge that the most successful 

16 efforts to mitigate the effects of urban flooding— 

17 (1) take a structural-based mitigation approach 

18 with respect to construction, which includes— 

19 (A) recognizing any post-storm damage 

20 that may occur; and 

21 (B) pursuing designs that proactively mini22 mize future flood damage; 

23 (2) make individuals in the community aware, 

24 through any cost-effective and available means of 

25 education, of the best approaches regarding the conVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Apr 24, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5569.IH H5569

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1 struction of properties that are able to survive 

2 floods, which reduces the cost of future repairs; and 

3 (3) encourage home and property owners to 

4 consider the measures described in paragraphs (1) 

5 and (2), which are the most cost-effective and pru6 dent ways to reduce the impact of flooding, when 

7 constructing or renovating building components. 

8 (m) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

9 following definitions shall apply: 

10 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis11 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

12 Emergency Management Agency. 

13 (2) COASTAL.—The term ‘‘coastal’’ means, with 

14 respect to a unit of general local government, that 

15 the unit borders a body of water that— 

16 (A) exceeds 2,000 square miles in size; and 

17 (B) is not a river. 

18 (3) PELAGIC.—The term ‘‘pelagic’’ means, with 

19 respect to a unit of general local government, that 

20 the unit is a coastal unit and the body of water that 

21 the unit borders is an ocean or other large, open 

22 body of water (including bays and gulfs) that 

23 empties into an ocean. 

24 (4) URBAN FLOODING.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘urban flood2 ing’’ means the inundation of property in a 

3 built environment, particularly in more densely 

4 populated areas, caused either by falling rain 

5 collecting on impervious surfaces or increasing 

6 the levels of nearby water bodies and over7 whelming the capacity of drainage systems, 

8 such as storm sewers, including— 

9 (i) situations in which stormwater en10 ters buildings through windows, doors, or 

11 other openings; 

12 (ii) water backup through sewer pipes, 

13 showers, toilets, sinks, and floor drains; 

14 (iii) seepage through walls and floors; 

15 (iv) the accumulation of water on 

16 property or public rights-of-way; and 

17 (v) the overflow from water bodies, 

18 such as rivers, lakes, and oceans. 

19 (B) EXCLUSION.—Such term does not in20 clude flooding in undeveloped or agricultural 

21 areas. 

22 (n) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro23 priated for grants under the pilot program under this sec24 tion— 

25 (1) $1,200,000 for fiscal year 2019; and 


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1 (2) $4,300,000 for fiscal year 2020, to remain 

2 available through 2022. 

Æ 


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