‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of this section or section 1363, the Direc-
tor may, after any flood-related disaster, establish by 
order interim flood elevation requirements for pur-
poses of the national flood insurance program for 
any areas affected by such flood-related disaster. 
‘‘(2) EFFECTIVENESS.—Such interim elevation 
requirements for such an area shall take effect im-
mediately upon issuance and may remain in effect 
until the Director establishes new flood elevations 
for such area in accordance with section 1363 or the 
Director provides otherwise.’’. 
SEC. 22. NOTIFICATION AND APPEAL OF MAP CHANGES; 
NOTIFICATION 
OF 
ESTABLISHMENT 
OF 
FLOOD ELEVATIONS. 
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, 
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by certified mail, with a return receipt requested, 
notice of the elevations, including a copy of the maps 
for the elevations for such community and a state-
ment explaining the process under this section to ap-
peal for changes in such elevations; 
‘‘(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 in a prominent local news-
paper the elevations, a description of the appeals 
process for flood determinations, and the mailing ad-
dress and telephone number of a person the owner 
may contact for more information or to initiate an 
appeal.’’. 
SEC. 23. CLARIFICATION OF REPLACEMENT COST PROVI-
SIONS, FORMS, AND POLICY LANGUAGE. 
Not later than the expiration of the 3-month period 
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
shall— 
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(1) in plain language using easy to understand 
terms and concepts, issue regulations, and revise any 
materials made available by such Agency, to clarify 
the applicability of replacement cost coverage under 
the national flood insurance program; 
(2) in plain language using easy to understand 
terms and concepts, revise any regulations, forms, 
notices, guidance, and publications relating to the 
full cost of repair or replacement under the replace-
ment cost coverage to more clearly describe such 
coverage to flood insurance policyholders and infor-
mation to be provided by such policyholders relating 
to such coverage, and to avoid providing misleading 
information to such policyholders; 
(3) revise the language in standard flood insur-
ance policies under such program regarding rating 
and coverage descriptions in a manner that is con-
sistent with language used widely in other home-
owners and property and casualty insurance policies, 
including such language regarding classification of 
buildings, basements, crawl spaces, detached ga-
rages, enclosures below elevated buildings, and re-
placement costs; and 
(4) include in each standard flood insurance 
policy a one-page description of the policy using 
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plain language and easy to understand terms and 
concepts. 
SEC. 24. AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL FEMA STAFF. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Di-
rector of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
may employ such additional staff as may be necessary to 
carry out all of the responsibilities of the Director pursu-
ant to this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 
There are authorized to be appropriated to Director such 
sums as may be necessary for costs of employing such ad-
ditional staff. 
SEC. 25. EXTENSION OF DEADLINE FOR FILING PROOF OF 
LOSS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1312 of the National 
Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4019) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) PAYMENT.—’’ before ‘‘The 
Director’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(b) FILING DEADLINE FOR PROOF OF LOSS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In establishing any require-
ments regarding notification, proof, or approval of 
claims for damage to or loss of property which is 
covered by flood insurance made available under this 
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title, the Director may not require an insured to no-
tify the Director of such damage or loss, submit a 
claim for such damage or loss, or certify to or sub-
mit proof of such damage or loss, before the expira-
tion of the 180-day period that begins on the date 
that such damage or loss occurred. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding any dead-
line established in accordance with paragraph (1), 
the Director may not deny a claim for damage or 
loss described in such paragraph solely for failure to 
meet such deadline if the insured demonstrates any 
good cause for such failure.’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (b) of section 1312 
of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as added 
by subsection (a)(2) of this section, shall apply with re-
spect to any claim under which the damage to or loss of 
property occurred on or after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
Æ 
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