IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5846 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 17, 2018 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

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. 

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 ‘‘Promoting Flood Risk 

3 Mitigation Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. GAO STUDY REGARDING BUYOUT PRACTICES. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

6 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad7 ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

8 Agency; 

9 (2) the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con10 gress’’ means— 

11 (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

12 and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 

13 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

14 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

15 (C) the Committee on Financial Services of 

16 the House of Representatives; and 

17 (D) the Committee on Transportation and 

18 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; 

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

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

21 under which the Administrator provides assistance 

22 to State and local governments so that those entities 

23 may acquire flood-damaged properties committed to 

24 open space use in perpetuity in accordance with sec25 tion 404(b)(2) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 


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

2 5170c(b)(2)); 

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

4 policyholder under the National Flood Insurance 

5 Program with a household income that is not more 

6 than 120 percent of the mean household income for 

7 the community in which the primary residence of the 

8 policyholder is located; 

9 (5) the term ‘‘National Flood Insurance Pro10 gram’’ means the program established under the Na11 tional Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 

12 et seq.); 

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

14 meaning given the term in section 1370(a) of the 

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

16 4121(a)); and 

17 (7) the term ‘‘severe repetitive loss structure’’ 

18 has the meaning given the term in section 1366(h) 

19 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 

20 U.S.C. 4104c(h)). 

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

22 the United States shall conduct a study to assess— 

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

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


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1 (2) ways to streamline the buyout practices de2 scribed in paragraph (1) in order to provide more 

3 timely assistance to a larger number of State and 

4 local governments. 

5 (c) CONSIDERATIONS AND ANALYSIS.—The study 

6 conducted under subsection (b) shall consider and analyze 

7 the following: 

8 (1) To the extent possible, current (as of the 

9 date on which the study is conducted) and future 

10 trends with respect to repetitive loss structures and 

11 severe repetitive loss structures that are insured 

12 under the National Flood Insurance Program, in13 cluding, with respect to both inland and coastal 

14 areas— 

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

16 and flood magnitude since the inception of the 

17 National Flood Insurance Program; and 

18 (B) projections for changes in flood risk, 

19 flood frequency, and flood magnitude by 2025, 

20 2050, and 2075. 

21 (2) To the extent possible, buyout practices (as 

22 of the date on which the study is conducted), includ23 ing— 


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1 (A) the availability of funding sources for 

2 buyout programs through various grant pro3 grams; 

4 (B) the total number of properties ac5 quired 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 

10 or local government, as applicable, begins par11 ticipating in the buyout program; 

12 (D) an estimate of the number of flood13 damaged properties that could be acquired from 

14 willing property owners under buyout programs 

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

17 (E) the socioeconomic status of recipients 

18 of buyouts under buyout programs; and 

19 (F) examples of successful buyout pro20 grams, 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 coopera25 tion between the Administrator and the State 


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1 and local governments that purchase properties 

2 under a buyout program; 

3 (B) pressures to redevelop a property after 

4 acquiring a property through a buyout pro5 gram; and 

6 (C) a lack of adequate funding. 

7 (4) Potential options, methods, and strategies 

8 to address the constraints identified under para9 graph (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 

16 by 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 


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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)); 

10 and 

11 (II) may be used for non-struc12 tural mitigation, conservation, and 

13 recreational purposes; and 

14 (iv) not fewer than 5 and not more 

15 than 10 State and local governments shall 

16 participate; and 

17 (B) the role that nonprofit organizations 

18 could play in making buyouts more readily 

19 available or more efficient, similar to the role 

20 that those organizations play in the acquisition 

21 of properties for conservation purposes. 

22 (5) The ecological, financial, and flood risk re23 duction benefits that buyout practices, as in effect 

24 on the date on which the study is conducted, pro25 vide, which shall— 


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1 (A) take into account the differences be2 tween inland and coastal areas; and 

3 (B) include— 

4 (i) examples in which ecosystem res5 toration and other nature-based ap6 proaches have enhanced the reduction of 

7 flood risk; and 

8 (ii) recommendations for best prac9 tices. 

10 (6) To the extent possible, an assessment of 

11 how the Administrator may use buyout programs to 

12 reduce future flood disaster recovery costs that are 

13 attributable to future projections of flood risk as a 

14 result of sea level rise, population changes, subsid15 ence, and other factors. 

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

17 buy-out projects and programs, including an assess18 ment of opportunities and challenges for leveraging 

19 different Federal resources and funding to maximize 

20 the value of Federal investment in disaster mitiga21 tion. 

22 (d) REPORT.— 

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

24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

25 General of the United States shall submit to the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Jul 18, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5846.RFS H5846

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1 propriate committees of Congress and the Adminis2 trator a report that sets forth the analysis, conclu3 sions, and recommendations resulting from the study 

4 conducted under subsection (b). 

5 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

6 paragraph (1) shall detail the feasibility of the Ad7 ministrator establishing, and the processes required 

8 for the Administrator to establish, an alternative 

9 buyout program, such as the pilot program described 

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

Passed the House of Representatives July 16, 2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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