II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 487 

To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to allow the rebuilding, 

without elevation, of certain structures that are located in areas having 

special flood hazards and are substantially damaged by fire, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to 

allow the rebuilding, without elevation, of certain structures that are located in areas having special flood hazards and are substantially damaged by fire, 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 ‘‘Fire-Damaged Home 

5 Rebuilding Act of 2015’’. 


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•S 487 IS

1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE AND LOCAL LAND USE 

2 CONTROLS. 

3 Section 1315(a) of the National Flood Insurance Act 

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

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘(3) ALLOWABLE LOCAL VARIANCES FOR CER7 TAIN RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 

9 ‘‘(i) the term ‘covered area’ means an 

10 area having special flood hazards that— 

11 ‘‘(I) is or will be protected by a 

12 levee system— 

13 ‘‘(aa) that meets or will 

14 meet the requirements estab15 lished under section 65.10 of title 

16 44, Code of Federal Regulations, 

17 or any successor thereto; and 

18 ‘‘(bb) with respect to which 

19 adequate progress toward the re20 pair, replacement, or construction 

21 of the levee system has been 

22 made, provided that such prog23 ress is acceptable to the local 

24 floodplain manager; and 

25 ‘‘(II) absent the protection pro26 vided by the levee system, is subject 


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1 to significant base flood elevations of 

2 not less than a reasonable height, as 

3 determined by the Administrator; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘eligible structure’ 

5 means a residential structure that— 

6 ‘‘(I) is located in a covered area; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(II) is substantially damaged by 

9 a fire or other disaster, not including 

10 a flood; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘substantially dam12 aged’, with respect to a structure, means a 

13 structure that incurs substantial damage, 

14 as that term is defined in section 59.1 of 

15 title 44, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

16 any successor thereto. 

17 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION FOR VARIANCES.— 

18 Notwithstanding any other provision of this 

19 title, the adequate land use and control meas20 ures required to be adopted in an area (or sub21 division thereof) pursuant to paragraph (1) may 

22 permit an appropriate State or local authority 

23 to grant a variance described in subparagraph 

24 (C). 


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1 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENTS FOR VARIANCES.—A 

2 variance described in this subparagraph is a 

3 variance from compliance with the adequate 

4 land use and control measures required to be 

5 adopted in an area (or subdivision thereof) pur6 suant to paragraph (1) that allows for the re7 pair and restoration of an eligible structure to 

8 its predamaged condition without elevation of 

9 the structure, after an appropriate State or 

10 local authority determines that— 

11 ‘‘(i) the repaired and restored struc12 ture will be located on the same site as the 

13 structure was located before being substan14 tially damaged by a fire or other disaster, 

15 not including a flood; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the footprint of the repaired and 

17 restored structure will not exceed the foot18 print of the original structure; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the number of floors of the re20 paired and restored structure will not ex21 ceed the number of floors of the original 

22 structure; 

23 ‘‘(iv) no claims payments have been 

24 made under flood insurance coverage under 


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1 this title for damages to or loss of the 

2 structure; 

3 ‘‘(v) the owner of the structure has 

4 owned the structure continually from be5 fore the time of the damage described in 

6 clause (i); and 

7 ‘‘(vi) the repair and restoration of the 

8 structure is for the purpose of occupancy 

9 by the owner of the structure. 

10 ‘‘(D) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF VARIANCES.— 

11 During any calendar year, an appropriate State 

12 or local authority may not grant more than 10 

13 variances in accordance with this paragraph for 

14 a covered area. 

15 ‘‘(E) PROHIBITION.—The Administrator 

16 may not— 

17 ‘‘(i) find that land use and control 

18 measures are inadequate or inconsistent 

19 with the comprehensive criteria for land 

20 management and use under section 1361 

21 because the land use and control measures 

22 permit the granting of a variance in ac23 cordance with this paragraph; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) suspend an area (or subdivision 

25 thereof) from participation in the national 


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1 flood insurance program or place an area 

2 (or subdivision thereof) on probation under 

3 the national flood insurance program be4 cause the area has adopted land use and 

5 control measures that permit the granting 

6 of a variance in accordance with this para7 graph.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. PREMIUM RATES. 

9 Section 1308 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 

10 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4015) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(n) PROHIBITION ON LOWERING PREMIUM RATE

13 FOR STRUCTURES REBUILT PURSUANT TO CERTAIN

14 VARIANCES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this 

15 title, after the repair and restoration of a residential struc16 ture pursuant to a variance granted in accordance with 

17 section 1315(a)(3), the chargeable premium rate for the 

18 structure may not be lower than the rate that otherwise 

19 would apply to the structure if the structure had not been 

20 substantially damaged by a fire or other disaster, not in21 cluding a flood, and repaired and restored pursuant to the 

22 variance.’’. 

Æ 


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