II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1276 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

to carry out a pilot program to enhance the mapping of urban flooding 

and associated property damage and the availability of that mapped 

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

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 1, 2019 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency to carry out a pilot program to 

enhance the mapping of urban flooding and associated 

property damage and the availability of that 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 2019’’. 

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

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

10 Emergency Management Agency. 

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

12 respect to a unit of general local government, that 

13 the unit borders a body of water that— 

14 (A) is more than 2,000 square miles in 

15 size; and 

16 (B) is not a river. 

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

18 respect to a unit of general local government, that— 

19 (A) the unit is a coastal unit; and 

20 (B) the body of water that the unit borders 

21 is— 

22 (i) an ocean; or 

23 (ii) a large, open body of water, in24 cluding a bay or a gulf, that empties into 

25 an ocean. 


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1 (4) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro2 gram’’ means the pilot program carried out by the 

3 Administrator under this section. 

4 (5) URBAN FLOODING.—The term ‘‘urban 

5 flooding’’— 

6 (A) means the inundation, by water, of 

7 property in a built environment, particularly in 

8 a densely populated area, that— 

9 (i) is caused by falling rain— 

10 (I) collecting on an impervious 

11 surface; or 

12 (II) increasing the level of a body 

13 of water that is located near that built 

14 environment; and 

15 (ii) overwhelms the capacity of drain16 age systems in the built environment, such 

17 as storm sewers; 

18 (B) includes— 

19 (i) a situation in which stormwater 

20 enters a building through a window, door, 

21 or other opening; 

22 (ii) the backup of water through a 

23 sewer pipe, shower, toilet, sink, or floor 

24 drain; 


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1 (iii) the seepage of water through a 

2 wall or a floor; 

3 (iv) the accumulation of water on 

4 property or a public right-of-way; and 

5 (v) the overflow from a body of water, 

6 such as a river, lake, or ocean; and 

7 (C) does not include flooding in an unde8 veloped or agricultural area. 

9 (6) URBANIZED AREA.—The term ‘‘urbanized 

10 area’’ means an area that has been defined and des11 ignated as an urbanized area by the Bureau of the 

12 Census during the most recently completed decennial 

13 census. 

14 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall 

15 carry out a pilot program to make grants to units of local 

16 government to— 

17 (1) enhance the production of maps relating to 

18 urban flooding and associated property damage; and 

19 (2) increase the availability of the maps de20 scribed in paragraph (1) to homeowners, businesses, 

21 and units of local government to enable those enti22 ties to minimize the risk of urban flooding. 

23 (c) OBJECTIVES.—Amounts from grants made under 

24 the pilot program may be used only to carry out activities 

25 that meet the following objectives: 


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1 (1) Developing a methodology for assessing the 

2 risk of urban flooding through the deployment of 

3 technology-based mapping tools that— 

4 (A) are easily understandable by the pub5 lic; and 

6 (B) effectively convey information regard7 ing the level of flood risk. 

8 (2) Providing structure-specific projections of 

9 annual chance flood frequency. 

10 (3) Providing structure-based flood risk assess11 ments. 

12 (4) Providing program design for the mitigation 

13 of the risk of urban flooding. 

14 (5) Incorporating information regarding climate 

15 trends into urban flooding risk assessments. 

16 (6) Making the information described in this 

17 subsection publicly available on the internet through 

18 a web-based portal so as to increase transparency re19 garding homeowner flood risks. 

20 (d) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under the pilot pro22 gram may be made only to— 

23 (A) a unit of general local government that 

24 is located in an urbanized area with a popu25 lation of more than 50,000 individuals; or 


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1 (B) a stormwater management authority of 

2 a unit of general local government described in 

3 subparagraph (A). 

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

5 pilot program may not be made to— 

6 (A) any unit of general local government, 

7 or the stormwater management authority of a 

8 unit of general local government, that pre9 viously received a grant under the pilot pro10 gram; 

11 (B) any unit of general local government if 

12 the stormwater management agency for that 

13 unit previously received a grant under the pilot 

14 program; or 

15 (C) any stormwater management agency of 

16 a unit of general local government if that unit 

17 previously received a grant under the pilot pro18 gram. 

19 (3) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN STORMWATER

20 MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 

22 stormwater management authority that oper23 ates with respect to more than 1 unit of general 

24 local government, the application of that au25 thority shall be considered for purposes of paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1276.IS S1276

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1 graph (2) of this subsection and subsections (f), 

2 (g), and (h)(1) to be made for the largest unit 

3 of general local government with respect to 

4 which that authority operates. 

5 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

6 subparagraph (A) may be construed to limit the 

7 ability of a stormwater management authority 

8 described in that subparagraph to carry out ac9 tivities under a demonstration project in any 

10 other jurisdiction in, or with respect to any 

11 other unit of local government with, which that 

12 authority operates. 

13 (e) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 

14 the pilot program, a unit of general local government or 

15 a stormwater management agency shall submit to the Ad16 ministrator an application in such form and containing 

17 such information as the Administrator shall require. 

18 (f) SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS.— 

19 (1) ANNUAL SELECTION.—Subject to para20 graph (2), and to the submission of approvable ap21 plications, in each fiscal year for which amounts are 

22 made available for grants under the pilot program, 

23 the Administrator shall select, from among applica24 tions submitted under subsection (e) for that fiscal 

25 year, 3 units of general government or stormwater 


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1 management authorities to receive grants under the 

2 pilot program. 

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

4 submission of approvable applications, the Adminis5 trator shall select, in the aggregate over the entire 

6 duration of the pilot program, 12 units of general 

7 government or stormwater management authorities 

8 to receive grants under the pilot program, as follows: 

9 (A) TIER 1.—Three of the applicants se10 lected shall be units of general local govern11 ment, or stormwater management authorities 

12 for those units, each of which has a population 

13 of more than 800,000 individuals, as follows: 

14 (i) PELAGIC COASTAL CITY.—One 

15 shall be— 

16 (I) a unit of general local govern17 ment that is a pelagic unit; or 

18 (II) a stormwater authority for a 

19 unit described in subclause (I). 

20 (ii) NON-PELAGIC COASTAL CITY.— 

21 One shall be— 

22 (I) a unit of general local govern23 ment that— 

24 (aa) is a coastal unit; and 

25 (bb) is not a pelagic unit; or 


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1 (II) a stormwater authority for a 

2 unit described in subclause (I). 

3 (iii) NON-COASTAL CITY.—One shall 

4 be— 

5 (I) a unit of general local govern6 ment that is not a coastal unit; or 

7 (II) a stormwater authority for a 

8 unit described in subclause (I). 

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

10 shall be units of general local government, or 

11 stormwater management authorities for those 

12 units, each of which has a population of more 

13 than 200,000 individuals and not more than 

14 800,000 individuals, as follows: 

15 (i) COASTAL CITIES.—Three shall 

16 be— 

17 (I) units of general local govern18 ment that are coastal units; or 

19 (II) stormwater management au20 thorities for units described in sub21 clause (I). 

22 (ii) NON-COASTAL CITIES.—Three 

23 shall be— 

24 (I) units of general local govern25 ment that are not coastal units; or 


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1 (II) stormwater management au2 thorities for units described in sub3 clause (I). 

4 (C) TIER 3.—Three of the applicants se5 lected shall be— 

6 (i) units of general local government, 

7 each of which has a population of more 

8 than 50,000 individuals and not more than 

9 200,000 individuals; or 

10 (ii) stormwater management authori11 ties for units described in clause (i). 

12 (g) PRIORITY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall se14 lect applicants for grants under the pilot program 

15 based on the extent to which the applications of 

16 those applicants shall achieve the objectives de17 scribed in subsection (c). 

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

19 receive grants under the pilot program under sub20 paragraphs (B) and (C) of subsection (f)(2), the Ad21 ministrator shall give priority to applicants— 

22 (A) that are highly vulnerable to sea level 

23 rise; 


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1 (B) within which are located a military in2 stallation or another facility relating to national 

3 security concerns; or 

4 (C) that have— 

5 (i) populations that are highly vulner6 able to urban flooding; and 

7 (ii) an uneven capacity for flood miti8 gation and response efforts resulting from 

9 socioeconomic factors. 

10 (h) AMOUNT.— 

11 (1) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining the 

12 amount of a grant under the pilot program, the Ad13 ministrator shall consider the population of the 

14 grant recipient, which may be considered in terms of 

15 the tier under subsection (f)(2) with respect to the 

16 recipient. 

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

18 under the pilot program may not exceed 75 percent 

19 of the total cost incurred in carrying out the activi20 ties described in subsection (c). 

21 (i) DURATION.—The Administrator shall require 

22 each recipient of a grant under the pilot program to com23 plete the activities described in subsection (c), which shall 

24 be, subject to subsection (h)(2), carried out using the 

25 grant amounts, not later than 18 months after the date 


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1 on which the recipient initially receives the grant amounts 

2 under the pilot program. 

3 (j) USE OF CENSUS DATA.—The Administrator shall 

4 make all determinations regarding population under the 

5 pilot program by using data from the most recently com6 pleted decennial census by the Bureau of the Census. 

7 (k) GRANTEE REPORTS TO FEMA.—Each recipient 

8 of a grant under the pilot program shall, not later than 

9 30 months after the date on which the recipient initially 

10 receives the grant amounts, submit to the Administrator 

11 a report that describes— 

12 (1) the activities carried out with the grant 

13 amounts; 

14 (2) how the activities carried out with the grant 

15 amounts have met the objectives described in sub16 section (c); 

17 (3) any lessons learned in carrying out the ac18 tivities described in paragraph (2); and 

19 (4) any recommendations for future mapping 

20 modernization efforts by the Federal Emergency 

21 Management Agency. 

22 (l) BIENNIAL REPORTS BY FEMA.—Not later than 

23 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and not 

24 less frequently than once every 2 years thereafter until 

25 the date on which all activities carried out with amounts 


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1 from grants under the pilot program are completed, the 

2 Administrator shall submit to Congress and make avail3 able to the public on an internet website a report that— 

4 (1) describes— 

5 (A) the progress of the activities carried 

6 out with amounts from those grants; and 

7 (B) the effectiveness of technology-based 

8 mapping tools used in carrying out the activi9 ties described in subparagraph (A); and 

10 (2) with respect to the final report that the Ad11 ministrator is required to submit under this sub12 section, includes recommendations to Congress and 

13 the executive branch of the Federal Government for 

14 implementing strategies, practices, and technologies 

15 to mitigate the effects of urban flooding. 

16 (m) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that, because the pilot program is limited with re18 spect to scope and resources, communities that participate 

19 in the pilot program should acknowledge that the most 

20 successful efforts to mitigate the effects of urban flood21 ing— 

22 (1) take a structural-based mitigation approach 

23 with respect to construction, which includes— 

24 (A) recognizing any post-storm damage 

25 that may occur; and 


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1 (B) pursuing designs that proactively mini2 mize future flood damage; 

3 (2) make individuals in the community aware, 

4 through any cost-effective and available means of 

5 education, of the best approaches regarding the con6 struction of properties that are able to survive 

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

8 (3) encourage home and property owners to 

9 consider the measures described in paragraphs (1) 

10 and (2), which are the most cost-effective and pru11 dent ways to reduce the impact of flooding, when 

12 constructing or renovating building components. 

13 (n) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro14 priated for grants under the pilot program— 

15 (1) $1,200,000 for fiscal year 2020; and 

16 (2) $4,300,000 for fiscal year 2021, to remain 

17 available through 2023. 

Æ 


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