I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1297
To amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to reduce losses caused
by repetitive flooding, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 25, 1999
Mr. BENTSEN 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
reduce losses caused by repetitive flooding, and for other
purposes.
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 ‘‘Repetitive Flood Loss
Reduction Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. REPETITIVE FLOOD LOSS REDUCTION.
Chapter III of the National Flood Insurance Act of
1968 is amended—
(1) by amending section 1370(a)(2) (42 U.S.C.
4121(a)(2)) to read as follows:
‘‘(2) the terms ‘United States’ (when used in a
geographic sense) and ‘State’ mean the several
States and the District of Columbia;’’; and
(2) by adding after section 1367 (42 U.S.C.
4104d) the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 1368. REPETITIVE FLOOD LOSS REDUCTION.
‘‘(a) PROGRAM.—The Director shall carry out a pro-
gram to mitigate repetitive flood losses to structures—
‘‘(1) by purchasing structures in accordance
with subsection (f); and
‘‘(2) by making grants to States, communities,
and local flood management agencies for eligible
mitigation activities described in subsection (c) that
the Director determines—
‘‘(A) have been proposed by the State,
community, or local flood management agency
applying for the grant to reduce repetitive flood
losses pursuant to an evaluation and analysis
(by the State, community, or local flood man-
agement agency) of flood risk and multiple
flood claim structures;
‘‘(B) are likely to provide protection
against flood losses or substantially reduce
damage to structures covered by contracts for
flood insurance available under this title;
‘‘(C) are cost-effective to the National
Flood Insurance Fund;
‘‘(D) are technically feasible and cost-effec-
tive; and
‘‘(E) are consistent with other criteria that
are established by the Director to carry out the
purposes of this section.
‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON GRANT AMOUNTS.—The Direc-
tor shall purchase structures and make grants under this
section to the extent amounts are available pursuant to
appropriation Acts, subject only to the absence of approv-
able applications for such grants or of willing sellers of
appropriate structures.
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE MITIGATION ACTIVITIES.—A grant
made under this section may be used only for eligible miti-
gation activities that are proposed in the application for
the grant and that are described as follows:
‘‘(1) 
Elevation, 
relocation, 
demolition, 
or
floodproofing of structures (including public struc-
tures) located in areas having special flood hazards
or other areas of flood risk.
‘‘(2) Minor physical mitigation efforts that do
not duplicate the flood prevention activities of other
Federal agencies, States, communities, or local flood
management agencies and that lessen the frequency
or severity of flooding and decrease predicted flood
damages, which shall not include major flood control
projects such as dikes, levees, seawalls, groins, and
jetties unless the Director specifically determines in
approving a mitigation project that such projects are
the most cost-effective mitigation activities for pro-
tecting the National Flood Insurance Fund.
‘‘(3) Other mitigation activities that the Direc-
tor considers appropriate and specifies in regula-
tions.
‘‘(d) APPLICATION FOR GRANT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant
under this section, a State, community, or local flood
management agency shall submit an application for
such grant which contains—
‘‘(A) a description of the mitigation activi-
ties for which the grant is requested;
‘‘(B) a description of the structures that
the mitigation activities will protect;
‘‘(C) a statement of the aggregate amount
of payments made under the flood insurance
program under this title pursuant to insurance
claims for structures described pursuant to sub-
paragraph (C);
‘‘(D) information sufficient to demonstrate
that the mitigation activities are eligible under
subsection (c); and
‘‘(E) any other information the Director
may reasonably require.
‘‘(2) TIME
FOR
APPROVAL
OR
REJECTION.—
The Director shall approve or reject an application
for a grant under this subsection not later than 30
days after receiving such application.
‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Director shall
not provide a grant under this section in an amount ex-
ceeding 75 percent of the total cost of the mitigation ac-
tivities to be financed using such grant. The Director shall
may not provide grants under this section for any mitiga-
tion activities unless the State, community, or local flood
management agency that receives the grant certifies, as
the Director shall require, that at least 25 percent of the
total cost of such mitigation activities will be provided
from non-Federal sources.
‘‘(f) PURCHASE
OF
REPETITIVE
SUBSTANTIAL
FLOOD LOSS STRUCTURES.—
‘‘(1) OFFER TO PURCHASE.—Upon determining
that an insured structure is a repetitive substantial
flood loss structure, the Director shall offer to pur-
chase the structure at a price not greater than 125
percent of the fair market value of the structure at
the time of the offer. Any such offer shall explicitly
state that the offer is contingent upon the avail-
ability of amounts under subsections (j) and (k) for
such purchase. Any such offer shall be held open,
and shall not be revocable, during the period that
the structure is covered by flood insurance under
this title.
‘‘(2) ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER.—If an owner of
a repetitive substantial flood loss structure accepts
an offer to purchase the structure made under para-
graph (1), the Director shall purchase the structure,
if amounts are available pursuant to subsections (j)
and (k). The Director may request that the State or
the a local flood management agency that has juris-
diction with respect to the area in which the struc-
ture is located coordinate and carry out the purchase
for the Director under the terms of the offer.
‘‘(3) INCREASED PREMIUMS FOR REFUSAL OF
OFFER.—Notwithstanding section 1308, if the owner
of a repetitive substantial flood loss structure does
not accept an offer made by the Director pursuant
to paragraph (1) during the period after the offer is
made having such duration as the Director shall es-
tablish, thereafter the chargeable premium rate with
respect to the structure shall be an amount equal to
150 percent of the chargeable rate for the structure
at the time that the offer was made (as adjusted by
any other premium adjustments otherwise applicable
to the structure), except as provided in paragraph
(5), and the deductible in connection with insurance
provided under this title shall increase by $5,000
more than the deductible on such insurance at the
time that such offer was made.
‘‘(4) NOTICE
OF
CONTINUED
OFFER.—Upon
each renewal or modification of any flood insurance
coverage under this title for a repetitive substantial
flood loss structure, the Director shall notify the
owner that the offer made pursuant to paragraph
(1) is still open.
‘‘(5) INCREASED PREMIUMS UPON SUBSEQUENT
FLOOD DAMAGE.—Notwithstanding section 1308, if
the owner of a repetitive substantial flood loss struc-
ture does not accept an offer made by the Director
pursuant to paragraph (1) and subsequently a flood
event causes substantial damage to the structure
after such event, the chargeable premium rate with
respect to the structure shall be an amount equal to
150 percent of the chargeable rate for the structure
at the time of the event, as adjusted by any other
premium adjustments otherwise applicable to the
structure and any subsequent increases pursuant to
this paragraph, and the deductible in connection
with insurance provided under this title shall in-
crease by $5,000 more than the deductible on such
insurance at the time of the event.
‘‘(6) LIST OF STRUCTURES.—The Director, in
consultation with regional flood plain administrators,
shall develop and periodically update a list of repet-
itive substantial flood loss structures.
‘‘(7) DEPOSIT OF REVENUES.—All amounts col-
lected from payment of deductible and premium in-
creases pursuant to this subsection shall be depos-
ited into the Repetitive Flood Loss Reduction Fund
created by subsection (j).
‘‘(g) DISPOSITION OF ACQUIRED STRUCTURES.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—As soon as practicable
after acquisition of a structure under this section,
the Director shall offer to transfer the structure to
the local flood management agency that has jurisdic-
tion with respect to the area in which the structure
is located. If such a local flood management agency
does not exists or refuses such offer, the Director
shall offer to transfer the structure to the State
within whose boundaries such structure is located.
‘‘(2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—If an offer to
transfer a structure made pursuant to paragraph (1)
is accepted, the Director shall make such transfer
without compensation and upon such other terms
and conditions as the Director considers necessary
to protect the interests of the United States.
‘‘(h) OVERSIGHT OF MITIGATION ACTIVITIES.—The
Director shall conduct oversight of recipients of grants
under this section to ensure that the grant is used in com-
pliance with approved mitigation activities and that
matching funds certified under subsection (e) are used in
accordance with such certification.
‘‘(i) RECAPTURE.—If the Director determines that a
State, community, or local flood management agency that
has received a grant under this section has not carried
out the mitigation activities as set forth in the mitigation
activity, the Director shall recapture such amounts and
deposit the amounts in the Repetitive Flood Loss Reduc-
tion Fund created by subsection (j).
‘‘(j) REPETITIVE FLOOD LOSS REDUCTION FUND.—
There is hereby created within the Treasury a fund which
shall be known as the ‘Repetitive Flood Loss Reduction
Fund’. Amounts deposited into the Repetitive Flood Loss
Reduction Fund shall be available to the Director to carry
out this section to the extent provided by appropriation
Acts.
‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Director $100,000,000 for fiscal
year 2000 to carry out this section, and such
amounts shall remain available until expended.
‘‘(2) DIVISION OF FUNDS.—Of the amounts ap-
propriated to carry out this section, 90 percent shall
be used for acquisitions under subsection (a)(1) and
10 percent shall be used for grants under subsection
(a)(2).
‘‘(l) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section,
the following definitions apply:
‘‘(1) COMMUNITY.—The term ‘community’ has
the meaning given that term in section 1366(k).
‘‘(2) REPETITIVE
SUBSTANTIAL
FLOOD
LOSS
STRUCTURE.—The term ‘repetitive substantial flood
loss structure’ means a structure covered by a con-
tract for flood insurance under this title that has in-
curred flood-related damage on 3 or more occasions
in which the cumulative cost of repairs is equal to
or greater than 125 percent of the fair market value
of the structure.’’.
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