IB 

Union Calendar No. 634 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5846 

[Report No. 115–820] 

To require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study 

regarding the buyout practices of the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2018 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. SANFORD, Mr. DUFFY, and Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

JULY 16, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 16, 2018] 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5846 RH

A BILL 

To require the Comptroller General of the United States 

to conduct a study regarding the buyout practices of 

the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and for 

other purposes. 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5846 RH

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 ‘‘Promoting Flood Risk 

5 Mitigation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GAO STUDY REGARDING BUYOUT PRACTICES. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Admin9 istrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agen10 cy; 

11 (2) the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con12 gress’’ means— 

13 (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

14 and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 

15 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

16 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

17 (C) the Committee on Financial Services of 

18 the House of Representatives; and 

19 (D) the Committee on Transportation and 

20 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; 

21 (3) the terms ‘‘buyout practice’’ and ‘‘buyout 

22 program’’ mean a practice or program, as applicable, 

23 under which the Administrator provides assistance to 

24 State and local governments so that those entities 

25 may acquire flood-damaged properties committed to 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5846 RH

1 open space use in perpetuity in accordance with sec2 tion 404(b)(2) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re3 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 5170c(b)(2)); 

5 (4) the term ‘‘eligible property owner’’ means a 

6 policyholder under the National Flood Insurance Pro7 gram with a household income that is not more than 

8 120 percent of the mean household income for the 

9 community in which the primary residence of the pol10 icyholder is located; 

11 (5) the term ‘‘National Flood Insurance Pro12 gram’’ means the program established under the Na13 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 

14 et seq.); 

15 (6) the term ‘‘repetitive loss structure’’ has the 

16 meaning given the term in section 1370(a) of the Na17 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

18 4121(a)); and 

19 (7) the term ‘‘severe repetitive loss structure’’ has 

20 the meaning given the term in section 1366(h) of the 

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

22 4104c(h)). 

23 (b) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Comptroller General of 

24 the United States shall conduct a study to assess— 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5846 RH

1 (1) the efficacy of buyout practices, as in effect 

2 on the date on which the study is conducted; and 

3 (2) ways to streamline the buyout practices de4 scribed in paragraph (1) in order to provide more 

5 timely assistance to a larger number of State and 

6 local governments. 

7 (c) CONSIDERATIONS AND ANALYSIS.—The study con8 ducted under subsection (b) shall consider and analyze the 

9 following: 

10 (1) To the extent possible, current (as of the date 

11 on which the study is conducted) and future trends 

12 with respect to repetitive loss structures and severe re13 petitive loss structures that are insured under the Na14 tional Flood Insurance Program, including, with re15 spect to both inland and coastal areas— 

16 (A) changes in flood risk, flood frequency, 

17 and flood magnitude since the inception of the 

18 National Flood Insurance Program; and 

19 (B) projections for changes in flood risk, 

20 flood frequency, and flood magnitude by 2025, 

21 2050, and 2075. 

22 (2) To the extent possible, buyout practices (as of 

23 the date on which the study is conducted), includ24 ing— 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5846 RH

1 (A) the availability of funding sources for 

2 buyout programs through various grant pro3 grams; 

4 (B) the total number of properties acquired 

5 though buyout programs; 

6 (C) the average length of time for a State 

7 or local government to acquire a flood-damaged 

8 property under a buyout program, with that pe9 riod beginning on the date on which the State or 

10 local government, as applicable, begins partici11 pating in the buyout program; 

12 (D) an estimate of the number of flood-dam13 aged properties that could be acquired from will14 ing property owners under buyout programs 

15 with the full cooperation of State and local gov16 ernments; 

17 (E) the socioeconomic status of recipients of 

18 buyouts under buyout programs; and 

19 (F) examples of successful buyout programs, 

20 including best practices employed. 

21 (3) Administrative, financial, or temporal con22 straints that may impede the timely acquisition of 

23 properties under a buyout program, including— 

24 (A) a lack of communication or cooperation 

25 between the Administrator and the State and 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5846 RH

1 local governments that purchase properties under 

2 a buyout program; 

3 (B) pressures to redevelop a property after 

4 acquiring a property through a buyout program; 

5 and 

6 (C) a lack of adequate funding. 

7 (4) Potential options, methods, and strategies to 

8 address the constraints identified under paragraph 

9 (3), including evaluating the feasibility of— 

10 (A) a pilot program under which— 

11 (i) an eligible property owner may 

12 agree, before a flood event occurs, to have 

13 the primary single-family residence of the 

14 eligible property owner purchased after the 

15 residence has been substantially damaged by 

16 a flood; 

17 (ii) the Administrator may provide— 

18 (I) financial assistance to State 

19 and local governments that are willing 

20 to participate in the program to pur21 chase and acquire the properties of 

22 owners that have incurred substantial 

23 damage from a flood event; and 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 5846 RH

1 (II) a premium credit as an in2 centive to eligible property owners to 

3 agree to participate in the program; 

4 (iii) properties that are acquired— 

5 (I) shall be maintained as open 

6 space in accordance with section 

7 404(b)(2) of the Robert T. Stafford 

8 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist9 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170c(b)(2)); and 

10 (II) may be used for non-struc11 tural mitigation, conservation, and 

12 recreational purposes; and 

13 (iv) not fewer than 5 and not more 

14 than 10 State and local governments shall 

15 participate; and 

16 (B) the role that nonprofit organizations 

17 could play in making buyouts more readily 

18 available or more efficient, similar to the role 

19 that those organizations play in the acquisition 

20 of properties for conservation purposes. 

21 (5) The ecological, financial, and flood risk re22 duction benefits that buyout practices, as in effect on 

23 the date on which the study is conducted, provide, 

24 which shall— 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 5846 RH

1 (A) take into account the differences between 

2 inland and coastal areas; and 

3 (B) include— 

4 (i) examples in which ecosystem res5 toration and other nature-based approaches 

6 have enhanced the reduction of flood risk; 

7 and 

8 (ii) recommendations for best practices. 

9 (6) To the extent possible, an assessment of how 

10 the Administrator may use buyout programs to re11 duce future flood disaster recovery costs that are at12 tributable to future projections of flood risk as a re13 sult of sea level rise, population changes, subsidence, 

14 and other factors. 

15 (7) A cost-benefit analysis of mitigation and 

16 buy-out projects and programs, including an assess17 ment of opportunities and challenges for leveraging 

18 different Federal resources and funding to maximize 

19 the value of Federal investment in disaster mitiga20 tion. 

21 (d) REPORT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

23 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

24 General of the United States shall submit to the ap25 propriate committees of Congress and the AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Jul 16, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5846.RH H5846

dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 5846 RH

1 trator a report that sets forth the analysis, conclu2 sions, and recommendations resulting from the study 

3 conducted under subsection (b). 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

5 paragraph (1) shall detail the feasibility of the Ad6 ministrator establishing, and the processes required 

7 for the Administrator to establish, an alternative 

8 buyout program, such as the pilot program described 

9 in subsection (c)(4)(A). 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS

dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 634 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5846 

[Report No. 115–820] 

A BILL 

To require the Comptroller General of the United 

Agency, and for other purposes. practices of the Federal Emergency Management States to conduct a study regarding the buyout 

JULY 16, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS