I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4803
To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to ensure homeowners
are provided adequate notice of flood map changes and a fair opportunity
to appeal such changes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 29, 2000
Mr. STARK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Banking and Financial Services
A BILL
To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to
ensure homeowners are provided adequate notice of flood
map changes and a fair opportunity to appeal such
changes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Flood Insur-
ance Program Fairness Act’’.
SEC. 2. NOTIFICATION AND APPEAL OF MAP CHANGES.
Subsection (h) of section 1360 of the National Flood
Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4101(h)) is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘(h) NOTIFICATION AND APPEAL OF FLOOD MAP
CHANGES.—
‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION.—In the case of any change
to flood insurance map panels, including any change
in the form of a letter of map amendment or a letter
of map revision, the Director shall provide notice of
such change by—
‘‘(A) providing the chief executive officer of
each community affected by the change, by reg-
istered mail, a copy of the revised maps for
such community and a statement explaining the
process under this subsection to appeal to the
Director for changes in such revised maps; and
‘‘(B) causing notice of such changes to be
published in the Federal Register, which notice
shall include information sufficient to identify
the communities affected and the changes
made, information explaining how to obtain
copies of the changes and revisions, and a state-
ment explaining the process under this sub-
section to appeal to the Director for changes in
such revised maps.
‘‘(2) APPEALS.—With respect to any change to
a flood insurance map panel, during the 30-day pe-
riod beginning upon the occurrence of the last of the
actions required under subparagraphs (A) and (B)
of paragraph (1), a community affected by the
change may appeal the change by submitting an ob-
jection to the change, in writing, to the Director.
Such an objection may provide additional evidence
relating to the objection or a request for additional
time to obtain information related to the objection.
The right of a community to appeal a change to
flood insurance map panels under this subsection
shall be in addition to any right or opportunity for
a community to appeal such a change under section
1363.
‘‘(3) RESPONSE TO APPEAL.—During the 30-
day period that begins upon the receipt by the Di-
rector of an objection pursuant to paragraph (2), the
Director shall determine whether to deny the objec-
tion, revise the changes to the flood insurance map
panels in response to the objection, or to grant addi-
tional time to the community to obtain evidence re-
lated to the objection. Immediately upon making
such determination, the Director shall notify the
flood insurance map panels resulting from such
determination, of—
‘‘(i) the status of such property with
respect to flood zone and flood insurance
purchase requirements under this Act and
the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973;
and
‘‘(ii) information regarding how and
where to obtain any coverage required and
the estimated cost of such coverage.
‘‘(B) FINAL
DETERMINATIONS.—A final
determination described in this subparagraph
is—
‘‘(i) the expiration of the period under
paragraph (2) without receipt by the Di-
rector of an objection in accordance with
such paragraph;
‘‘(ii) a determination pursuant to
paragraph (3) or (4)(B) to deny an objec-
tion; or
‘‘(iii) a determination pursuant to
paragraph (3) or (4)(B) to revise the
changes to flood insurance map panels in
response to the objection in a manner such
that such panels are altered from the pan-
els in effect before such changes.
‘‘(6) 
EFFECTIVE
DATE
OF
CHANGES.—A
change to a flood insurance map panel shall take
effect—
‘‘(A) with respect to any property for
which such change results in the initial applica-
bility of any requirement under this Act or the
Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 to pur-
chase flood insurance for the property, upon the
expiration of the 6-month period beginning
upon the date that notice under paragraph (5)
is mailed to the owner of such property; and
‘‘(B) with respect to any property for
which such change results in elimination of any
such purchase requirement or decreases the
cost of coverage required, immediately upon the
final determination under paragraph (5) re-
garding such change.
‘‘(7) REIMBURSEMENT OF PROPERTY OWNERS
FOR COSTS INCURRED IN APPEALS.—If an owner of
a real property affected by a change to flood insur-
ance map panels incurs expense in connection with
the services of surveyors, engineers, or similar serv-
ices, but not including legal services, in effecting any
appeal of such change to the Director, which is suc-
cessful in whole or in part, the Director shall reim-
burse such individual for such expense. The amount
of such reimbursement shall be determined by the
Director, based on the ratio of the successful portion
of the appeal as compared to the entire appeal. The
Director shall apply such ratio to the average cost
of such services in the community for jobs of a simi-
lar size.’’.
SEC. 4. NOTIFICATION OF ESTABLISHMENT OF FLOOD ELE-
VATIONS.
Section 1363 of the National Flood Insurance Act of
1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104) is amended by striking the section
designation and all that follows through the end of sub-
section (a) and inserting the following:
‘‘SEC. 1363. (a) In establishing projected flood ele-
vations for land use purposes with respect to any commu-
nity pursuant to section 1361, the Director shall first pro-
pose such determinations—
‘‘(1) by providing the chief executive officer of
each community affected by the proposed elevations,
by registered mail, notice of the elevations, including
a copy of the maps for the elevations for such com-
munity and a statement explaining the process
under this section to appeal for changes in such ele-
vations;
‘‘(2) by causing notice of such elevations to be
published in the Federal Register, which notice shall
include information sufficient to identify the ele-
vation determinations and the communities affected,
information explaining how to obtain copies of the
elevations, and a statement explaining the process
under this section to appeal for changes in the ele-
vations; and
‘‘(3) by publishing the elevations in a prominent
local newspaper.’’.
Æ