Small Municipality Flood Relief Act of 2015

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to release a local government from certain land restrictions imposed under the hazard mitigation program, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Small Municipality Flood Relief Act of 2015 2. Hazard mitigation program Section 404(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ( 42 U.S.C. 5170c(b) (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4); and (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following: (3) Authority to remove grant conditions A recipient of assistance for an acquisition or relocation project shall be released from any restriction imposed with respect to a parcel of property under an agreement entered into under paragraph (2)(B) if— (A) the local government that has jurisdiction over the property submits to the State a request for the release; (B) the request is made more than 5 years after the date of the closeout of the acquisition or relocation project; (C) on the date of the request, the parcel is not in an area designated by the Administrator, for purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program, as an area having special flood hazards; (D) the local government certifies that no coercion took place against the original property owner in acquiring the parcel; (E) the State in which the parcel is located approves the request and submits to the Administrator, not later than 60 days after the date of receipt of the request, a recommendation for approval of the request; (F) the local government— (i) repays to the Administrator the amount of hazard mitigation assistance received from the Federal Government under paragraph (1) for the acquisition or relocation project; or (ii) substitutes for the property a different parcel of property that— (I) has at least 2 times the acreage of the original property; (II) is subject to the same restrictions imposed under paragraph (2)(B); (III) will not be subject to the authority to remove the grant conditions provided under paragraph (3); and (IV) is determined to be as cost-effective; and (G) the Administrator gives final approval to the request. .

Summary: Small Municipality Flood Relief Act of 2015 This bill amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to release a local government from certain land restrictions imposed on a parcel under the hazard mitigation program for recipients of acquisition or relocation project assistance if: the local government submits to the state, more than five years after the closeout of the acquisition or relocation project, a request for such release; on the date of the request, the parcel is not in an area designated by FEMA as having special flood hazards; the local government certifies that no coercion took place against the original property owner in acquiring the parcel; the state in which the parcel is located approves the request and submits to FEMA a recommendation for its approval; the local government repays FEMA for the amount of hazard mitigation assistance received for the acquisition or relocation project or substitutes a different parcel that is at least twice as large as, and subject to the same restrictions being released for, the original parcel; and FEMA gives final approval to the request.